Episode seven figures, and toys

Earlier today I went to the B&F store aka Ben Franklin arts and crafts store downtown and bought the Guavian Enforcer figure along with PZ-4CO.

Was tempted to buy one of the Speeder Bike + black First Order stormtrooper packs but Ill wait until some other time.

 

I grabbed the Armored Up Poe and Finn figures at Target yesterday. The Poe one has been out for a while but the Finn one is new to me. It is him in his armor with a shoulder cannon that makes him look a bit like War Machine from the Avengers movies. I believe that much of the same sculpt is used for the Stormtrooper Finn figure which should be out almost any day now.

 

I've got the Armor Up Boba Fett - it's not a bad figure.

 

I dislike the 5-point articulated figures.

 

I completely agree. The 5 POA figures and the overall feel of the TFA figures points to rushed and shoddy workmanship from Hasbro. Best guess is that they're doing it in an attempt to get the more serious collectors over to buying the Black Collection and thus generating more money instead of sticking to the tried and true method of keeping everything under the same brand.

As for me, I snagged the FO Snowtrooper Officer and Snap Wexley two pack today at Target. It was the only one of about a dozen two packs on the shelf which makes me wonder if this one is short packed or I just happened to get one of the first ones that made it to the shelf.

 

I have not seen that two pack yet. I managed to get Han, Resistance Rey, Unkar Plunk, and Admiral Ackbar but haven't seen that wave since. I wish retail stores would discount so i can convince myself to buy the PZ-4co and other peg warmers.

 

I say get the shelf warmers now while they're there. I had the same thoughts with Starkiller Base Rey back in September and thought that since she was a main that there would be tons of figures to go around. Look where that got me....

 

Agree with Kyle Katarn that Hasbro has really cheaped out with these regular TFA 3.75" figures, and are doing so because the TFA line is aimed at kids - whereas the TBS line is aimed more at the adult collector. However, this approach has really turned me off to both lines. I.e., I don't like the minimal articulation re: the TFA figures, and the new TFA TBS 3.75" figures are extremely HTF & overpriced. So, I'm not collecting either.

Instead, a compromise would have been nice. I.e., they could have produced TFA figures in the regular line that that were at least a little more articulated (though not to TBS levels) & maybe been slightly more expensive - but not TBS prices.

 

This is exactly the route they should go if they're smart. I for one like the 3.75" even not SA, just keep the cost down, but there is too much demand for the SA so they need to figure something out. If Walmart bought rights only, then they should help solve this issue.

 

If we, the fans, are smart, then we won't bother buying another Black Series figure. Buying any black series figure gives Hasbro reason enough to crank out sub par figures for TFA and quite possibly the rest of the films. We have seen how good of a job they can do with making a fully articulated 3.75 inch figure: cloth robes, ability to pose the character holding their weapon with 2 hands, removable accessories, seating them in a natural position in a cockpit and so on - all without jacking the prices up to black series levels. The fact that they do this shows that they have really drifted from where they were even 5 years ago when it was about putting out good figures to where it is now about cranking out the bare minimum and then charging people a lot more. What strikes me as odd is how fans have been oblivious to this money grab the entire time.

 

In general, the Hasbro 3.75" line has been poorly managed during the last 5-6 years - and that's an understatement. It started with the terrible distribution for The Vintage Collection (TVC) figures (2010 - 2012). Sure, the figures were superb - but you couldn't find many of them. I'm still let down by the fact that I never saw many of them, especially the ones I really wanted - i.e. TVC Ponda Baba (Walrus Man), the entire online-only 2012 ROTJ wave (Grand Moff Tarkin, Emperor's Royal Guard, Nien Numb, etc.).

And, the 6" line looks nice (though I don't collect them), but IMHO they're taking away from the 3.75" line...

 

SA figures for episode 8 please, and not so htf at such high prices...

 

For the most part I don't care. My figures all display standing up in rows on the shelves, however figures that should be sitting, should be made so that they can sit. *cough*Rey*cough*

The problem also came from the super articulated figures just got more expensive to produce which jacked up their prices and they weren't selling as well. Between peg warmers, Hasbro's constant rehashing of characters, and their bad distribution issues, they've created a quagmire of unhappy fans.

My question is where in the hell are all of the creatures in Maz's bar? Why haven't they come out w/ a playset for it and been bombarding us w/ weird creatures? Jabba's palace and the cantina are huge fodder for tons of cool, unique characters. We've gotten what, one w/ Maz coming sometime in the future? Doesn't make a lot of sense.

I think they were stupidly not prepared for TFA to be a big deal. They forgot that the prequels hit when the economy was horrible, people were broke, they aren't now. And fans are pissed.

1999 The Phantom Menace - everyone had money.
2002 Attack of the clones - 2005 ROTS - post 9-11 economy was in the crapper world wide.

2016 - everyone and their dog and cat owns/wears Star Wars Merchandise, Hasbro is getting stupidly left behind.

 

This is so true! Why aren't we working behind a marketing desk at Hasbro....ridiculous! You are right PadmeLeiaJaina, where are all those creatures from Maz's castle?

Welcome to the boards Green Greedo! Love your icon.

 

Thanks whostheBossk - yours is awesome too !!

.. I'm buying them all.. but SO much this time has HAD to be online - serious lack of product in stores, NO 3.75 TFA SA figures in store in UK, been a desert here, bought Finn & Poe on eBay, waiting on Rey to land from Japan - this film needed the 1999 Phantom Menace blitz, its been a huge missed opportunity

 

I bought 3 more Black Series 3.75 FO Stormtroopers on Walmart.com last week, have 35. Found a Squad Commander at Walmart's the other day and slapped the chest rig onto one of my Black Series FO Stormtroopers. I sold off all the TFA 5POA figures on ebay.

 

I'm not really collecting the TFA toys (other than two vehicles, so far). However, I am a sucker for aliens. So, I would probably buy at least some of the aliens from Maz's bar/cantina scene. However, since I'm not really into collecting/searching for carded figures anymore (too frustrating), my preference would be boxed sets/dioramas from these scenes - not only would we get more figures at once this way, but they would look great together in a package.

Padme's point about the economy being better in 1999 did have a lot to do with the extreme plethora of the TPM merchandise we saw at the time - that film was definitely over-merchandised (if that's a word). However, I also read that the studio was concerned that TPM wouldn't do well (not sure why), so they wanted to promote the heck out of the film to ensure that everyone wanted to go see this - which worked!

And, yes, the economy was bad in 2002-2005, which had a lot to do with the limited/minimal merchandise for AOTC & ROTS. However, I also believe that Hasbro, etc. saw that a lot of TPM merchandise lingered on store shelves for years after the film came out. So, I'm sure they were more cautious re: merchandising these second two prequel films. It's worth noting that while TPM had huge fast food toy tie-ins, I don't remember that AOTC & ROTS had many fast-food tie-ins.

 

There is going to be a Maz Kanata multipack - it was announced at Toyfair in Feb. See the article here on Rebelscum.

 

Gradually getting the TFA 3.75 SA figures online.. Finn, Rey, Poe.. Kylo next, but waaay over priced and over scarce, Hasbro needs to buck up before Ep.8 - not enough product variety out there in stores

 

Thanks for the info. about the Maz Kanata multi-pack, LAJ_FETT. I don't have this Rey or Finn (I only have the Rey that comes with her speeder), so may pick this up. That being said, I would have preferred if this came with three aliens from that cantina scene - i.e., Maz & two of the others.

However, this is par for the course re: SW alien figures, especially from crowd scenes (i.e., the ANH cantina & ROTJ Jabba scenes): These releases are few & far between - and, when they do come out in boxed sets, they're packaged with other, more common figures in order to "attract" those casual fans/kids who may not be as into these strange aliens . However, speaking just for myself, aliens are the most interesting SW characters out there - and, I would buy any & all OT aliens - no matter how obscure...

 

Recent stuff I got from yesterday to earlier today

3 inch Force Awakens figures. Unkar and another First Order Snowtrooper figure

a boxed set of the Assault Walker with shoulder pauldron Stormtrooper from the downtown B&F store aka Ben Franklin store. They still have 4 more of the assault walker sets and 2 or 3 of the First Order speeder bike and figure box sets

 

The most hilarious thing is that Funko is the only company that seems to know what the heck they're doing. Their stock and distribution has been all but perfect, and the variety of characters is exceptional.

 

Bought a lot online including 2 Snowtroopers, 2 Tie fighters, Unkars 2 thugs, Castable Zuvio, PZ-4CO, Goss Towers and Resistance trooper. Seems many kids have finished playing w/them or Adults downsizing collection.

 

Also my local Meijer had clearance of $3.99 for the figures! Snagged Stormtroopers, Tie Fighters, Resistance troopers, and Snowtroopers that were in a "special" spot.