The Action Figure and Toy Collecting and Discussion Thread!

[cooleddie74]

Hasbro and the major retailers certainly screwed the pooch this past year. When you have a better chance of finding a figure you want at a TJ Maxx or Five Below discount store than you do at a couple of the largest toy retailers on the entire face of the planet something's gone horridly wrong.

Part of me hopes Disney buys Hasbro and reorganizes the company so it'll have a new, fresh focus on product and stop rehashing and regurgitating all these ancient and dull repaints and repacks just to save a few tooling dollars. The retailers have to stop being so skittish about ordering new product, too, and get their own sorry acts together and restock for their customers, but if Hasbro put out more new and interesting product then the retail sales would improve and the toy department managers would be more likely to want and remember to reorder.

I don't know who's been running Hasbro lately but a cage full of hyperactive spider monkeys would probably do a more competent job of getting a steady stream of good and new product to the buying public.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

Mattel, too. My favorite line out there is DC Universe Classics, as I'm sure you're aware. The line ended this year, and as such there was no DC merchandise to hold shelf space for the longest time. When it restarted with the All Stars wave, there was nobody that wanted to pick it up. Now Unlimited is supposed to be coming out, but will never be found in Wal-Marts or Targets. They've done their seasonal resets already, and there's no room for more DC. Heck, most of them still have stragglers from old DCUC waves. So far, only K-Marts have gotten them, and of course, non of the K-Marts around me. Not to mention the fact that the god-awful looking Injustice figures coming up will kill this line dead.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Hasbro and the major retailers certainly screwed the pooch this past year. When you have a better chance of finding a figure you want at a TJ Maxx or Five Below discount store than you do at a couple of the largest toy retailers on the entire face of the planet something's gone horridly wrong.

Part of me hopes Disney buys Hasbro and reorganizes the company so it'll have a new, fresh focus on product and stop rehashing and regurgitating all these ancient and dull repaints and repacks just to save a few tooling dollars. The retailers have to stop being so skittish about ordering new product, too, and get their own sorry acts together and restock for their customers, but if Hasbro put out more new and interesting product then the retail sales would improve and the toy department managers would be more likely to want and remember to reorder.

I don't know who's been running Hasbro lately but a cage full of hyperactive spider monkeys would probably do a more competent job of getting a steady stream of good and new product to the buying public.

Be careful what you wish for. Disney can be very bottom-line conscious at times and if they ever took control of Hasbro, could tell them to stop making so many figures on obscure characters and just concentrate on the main ones. You think they make too many Darth Vaders now...

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

True. Good luck seeing anything from the Post-ROTJ EU again, either if Disney takes over. I'm pretty sure they'll want to bury that in favor of their new movies.

 

[cooleddie74]

Good points about Disney.

Thanks for the helpful reminder about some of their business practices.

We don't need a dozen more Vaders each year.

 

[Admiral_Young]

The re-issue of the Enterprise-B and Enterprise-D are out next month from Diamond Select finally. As I mentioned before the Enterprise-E is scheduled for March I believe.

http://www.artasylum.com/blog/2013/...-enterprise-are-headed-home-in-new-packaging/

 

[Stephen!]

Not action figures, but toys all the same- got these in addition to the Avengers set.

Is Crusher missing from the STNG set?

 

[cooleddie74]

I'm guessing she's in the set, just hidden behind the Tardis. Beverly was a major character in the series....I couldn't imagine PEZ just leaving her out.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Doesn't appear to be enough space in the packaging behind the Tardis, beside Data and where the box ends, unless that is a little extension that we can't see, it does seem odd to leave her out though. Maybe this is a season two Pez set

 

[cooleddie74]

I found a picture of the TNG set. She's in there.

She was just hidden behind that Tardis.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

I got that set (TNG Pez) for my birthday right before Christmas!! I was touched!

 

[Kira's Mom]

Yes, she's there. The Doctor wanted a new redheaded companion, so he borrowed her.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

The re-issue of the Enterprise-B and Enterprise-D are out next month from Diamond Select finally. As I mentioned before the Enterprise-E is scheduled for March I believe.

http://www.artasylum.com/blog/2013/...-enterprise-are-headed-home-in-new-packaging/

Cool. What's the price point on those? I kick myself for never picking up any of the Art Asylum ships.

 

[cooleddie74]

I solved the mystery of the Battle Droids in the new 2013 Yoda-packaged / green boxed mini-vehicles showing up at Toys "R" Us.

I thought they might have been the old Saga Legends mold from a few years ago with plenty of joint articulation but with a brand new head with sculpted eyes. Turns out they're the Battle Droid mold from the MTT Troop Transport, the one with just five points of articulation (neck, shoulders, hips). The one packed with Obi-Wan was simply repainted with blue Pilot markings and the one that comes with the Clone Gunship Pilot was repainted or remolded red. They have no elbow or knee joints whatsoever, so if the poseability of your droids matters you might want to skip these new sets.

 

[Admiral_Young]

OdoWan I believe Diamond's blog/website lists them for $60 bucks. BBTS is listing the Nemesis Enterprise-E reissue as $49.99 I believe.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

Sigh, no Hot Toys Avengers in January. Just got notice that Black Widow has been bumped to next month. That means that, if the current schedule holds, Widow, Thor, and Loki are all due next month. Ouch! I have a feeling that, with the numerous delays, Loki and Thor will both be pushed back as well.

 

[Dantheman]

Good points about Disney.

Thanks for the helpful reminder about some of their business practices.

We don't need a dozen more Vaders each year.

If Disney does take over Hasbro (or something) and clamps down on what Star Wars stuff gets made, I'd be sorta okay with it, as I don't collect the figures like I did, and that something like the Ice Cream Maker Guy REALLY DID NOT need to be made as a toy.

 

[cooleddie74]

I personally don't mind obscure background characters because those minor cult figures help pad out a wave assortment and keep a steady flow of new product in a given year (plus some Trek and Wars geeks like myself tend to love the background characters that look interesting and have been given their own stories by creative fans, the producers or both).

That said....yeah. Willrow Hood (Ice Cream Maker Guy) was a terrible pegwarmer in stores in my area and while I like and appreciate him a lot of people apparently didn't and still don't. He's one character I don't think we'll ever have to worry about Hasbro repackaging and rereleasing.

In other Star Wars collecting news....

SCORE!

The very first 2013 product is hitting and this is the first one I've seen at local retail.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

Congrats on the score, but looking at that, something is bothering me. What the heck is up with the sudden revert to the basic five articulation points? Toys moved past that over a decade ago. "Super-articulated" is the standard these days.

 

[cooleddie74]

Hasbro's cutting back on tooling costs to try to penny pinch. Plus, any figure that's not the Vintage Collection (or whatever will replace the just-cancelled Legacy/Droid Factory line) will have fewer joints and "more play value" for the kids who still buy these things.

The Battle Droid in this set is the one with 5 points of articulation from the MTT Troop Transport, only with blue highlights painted on it. It looks great (I love blue Battle Droid Pilots) but there are no elbow or knee joints on that mold at all. The Obi-Wan has an incredible head sculpt that looks like Ewan McGregor and puts even the Episode I Vintage Collection head sculpt to complete shame, but he has only 5 joints as well (ball-jointed neck, swivel shoulders, swivel hips).

In other words: these look amazing, but unless you leave them in the package or are just going to leave them standing on a desk as a cool decoration you'll probably be disappointed. These things have adult-oriented film accuracy but kid-themed engineering.