The Action Figure and Toy Collecting and Discussion Thread!

[OdoWanKenobi]

I have to wonder about the new 12" Hasbro line coming out next year. It's been seven years since the last 12" SW figures were in retail stores and a whole lot of people have moved on and gotten past them as companies like Sideshow and Gentle Giant have produced statues of the same scale or even bigger that basically blow the old 12" sculpts off the face of the planet.

Sideshow's 12 inch figures are fully articulated figures, not statues. They do have a statue line as well, but it's in a different scale.

Retargeting towards kids doesn't seem to work either, though. What flies off of the shelves? The collector oriented figures. Stores can't keep enough of them in stock. Collectors can't find them anywhere because it's snooze you lose on them. What sits and warms the pegs forever? The crummy kid oriented figures. You will STILL find Iron Man 2 figures on store shelves. Not the ones the collectors want, just endless pegs full of the Mark VI. The Batman figures for kids are not selling. They're just taking up shelf space. The Movie Masters, the collectors line, those are selling.

I think the problem is that collectors are so god damn fickle. I can't believe some of the ridiculous arguments I've heard from DC collectors. I've seriously heard someone say that they don't care if Matty is giving us Elongated Man, Wally, Saint Walker, and Larfleeze (all of which are massively fan demanded characters) since they haven't given us Doomsday or Granny Goodness yet. Seriously, they're saying that they will refuse to buy these figures that they want, (and that we all want) because we haven't yet been given these two figures that they want more.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Retargeting towards kids doesn't seem to work either, though. What flies off of the shelves? The collector oriented figures.

I've seen the total opposite. It's the more obscure characters that most people have never heard of (or barely remember seeing onscreen) that sit on the shelves. The more well-known characters tend to be the ones that really sell. Two or three Darth Vaders will always sell, while a Quinlan Vos will become a dust magnet. Jocasta Nu might be sought after heavily by collectors, but retailers would rather have a few more Luke Skywalkers and Han Solos instead.

Stores can't keep enough of them in stock.

A lot of that have to do with them simply being short-packed (usually only 1 to a case). In those instances, it's frequently first come, first served (and hope that there isn't someone who works at the store who gets at 'em first).

 

[cooleddie74]

I've heard lots of rumors that the reason so few people ever found the highly sought-after Jaina and Jacen Solo figures from the tail end of the old Legacy Collection is precisely because their wave was a Toys 'R' Us exclusive and store employees bagged most of them before they ever even hit the pegs of the Star Wars aisle. That very last wave of Legacy also contained the Whiphid Jedi Knight K'Kruhk and the Phase I Dark Trooper, also highly prized figures that command a very hefty premium over on eBay.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I've heard lots of rumors that the reason so few people ever found the highly sought-after Jaina and Jacen Solo figures from the tail end of the old Legacy Collection is precisely because their wave was a Toys 'R' Us exclusive and store employees bagged most of them before they ever even hit the pegs of the Star Wars aisle.

Yes, I've heard that too. And with most TRU stores only carrying a very small number of them anyway (1 or 2 of each tops), the majority of people who wanted those figures were simply out of luck from the get-go.

That very last wave of Legacy also contained the Whiphid Jedi Knight K'Kruhk and the Phase I Dark Trooper, also highly prized figures that command a very hefty premium over on eBay.

It's increasingly becoming the norm for most collectors. Getting stuff at retail is more a matter of luck these days. I still have yet to see another 3.75-inch Black Widow figure from the Avengers movie in stores yet (I got mine only by being in the wrong store at the right time).

 

[cooleddie74]

^
Terrific points there.

On a slightly related note, I just ordered the six new figures in the Jar Jar/Bespin Leia wave of Vintage on the actual black and silver Vintage Collection cardbacks. I already have them on the limited edition, variant "Lost Line" cards made available in the SDCC Carbonite Chamber set, but the regular Vintage design's cooler and I wanted to have both packaging designs.

Besides...with current distribution and restocking I might not even find some or even any of these in stores. Best just to pay a few bucks more for each figure to make sure I get them. By the time you factor in all the gas you waste driving all over town fifty or sixty times to look for the figures you could have just bought them off of eBay for inflated prices and still saved a few bucks.

The Vintage Collection Bespin Leia cardfront is just plain gorgeous and so evocative of my early childhood.

Ah, the early eighties. When toy companies actually took the time to make their packaging classy and stylish. An elegant action figure package...for a more civilized age.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

Oh my Celestia! I actually found a Star Wars figure beyond the TPM wave!

Granted, it was a lone ANH Vader, but yay! Oh, and this is probably the best version of Vader ever made.

 

[cooleddie74]

Oh my Celestia! I actually found a Star Wars figure beyond the TPM wave!

Granted, it was a lone ANH Vader, but yay! Oh, and this is probably the best version of Vader ever made.

Awesome, bro. Glad you scored one of the really awesome ones!

(*High fives OdoWan*)

The VC93 Vader's incredible.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

Actually, I should clarify. This is the best 3 3/4 inch Vader ever made. The best Vader ever made is still this piece of absolute awesome:

 

[cooleddie74]

Big Vader: I shall call him...'Mini-Sith.'

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

I knew that joke was coming

 

[cooleddie74]

The best thing of all about that large Vader is that he's based on A New Hope...fabric draped over his shoulder armor, reddish-tinged eye lenses, and a green button on his chest panel.

A New Hope Vader is best Vader.

Well...to me, anyways.

 

[cooleddie74]

Group shot of Wave 6 on their regular Vintage cardbacks.

Gorgeous. Even if you're not a fan of a couple of these characters or figures(and yes...the ROTS Shock Trooper has the same oversized Phase II Clone helmet as the previous ones...no surprise there)the packaging is amazing. The classic photos on the Leia and Vader are total flashbacks to being a little kid, and though the Sandtrooper uses a picture never before used on any Kenner or Hasbro action figure it looks and feels like it could have come straight out of 1978 or '79.

I like the makeup of the new wave. One new figure for each film in the Saga. Might be the very first time in the Vintage Collection that that's happened.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

My SDCC Bruce Wayne arrived today!

Stately Wayne Manor:

Inside:

But press the key on the piano and:

There's some awesome lights and sounds, too though obviously those are impossible to show in pictures.

 

[cooleddie74]

That's really badass, OdoWan...the whole setup looks pretty awesome! I wish the Big H would put that kind of effort into some Star Wars exclusives, but...nah. They don't usually take that route with lights and sounds unless it's a ship or a vehicle.

 

[Gotham Central]

My SDCC Bruce Wayne arrived today!

Stately Wayne Manor:

Inside:

But press the key on the piano and:

There's some awesome lights and sounds, too though obviously those are impossible to show in pictures.

Thats pretty awesome. And it comes with the EMP Gun!

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

Actually, that's the sticky bomb gun.

 

[cooleddie74]

And it's official.

The final wave of the Vintage Collection (Emperor's Royal Guard, Nien Nunb, Lumat the Ewok, etc.) is an online exclusive with a limited production run. And not shipping until around Thanksgiving or Christmastime. The cheapest case assortment pre-order currently runs about $130 and the first cases all sold out in minutes.



Oh well. It's not like we didn't get the rumor a week or two ago. Guess all we can do is try to score a case of the wave and for as cheap and reasonable a price as possible. At least all 12 figures are new this time...no pointless carry forwards from previous waves that few if any care about and just waste space.

(*Raises glass*)

Salute, Vintage. You were a good lad.

 

[Kira's Mom]

Here's Katniss Barbie!

I think they did a good job with her.

 

[PopBoy]

They need to do a Ripley Barbie. Katniss? KATNISS? Meh! ;-)

 

[cooleddie74]

Nice Katniss Barbie!

On another note, I picked up the six regular, black-and-silver Vintage Collection versions of the six newest figures in the line. Now I have the "Lost Line" variants that debuted at San Diego Comic-Con as well as the regular versions. I like the regular Vintage design and cardfront art/photographs better than the limited edition graphics.

I'd post a pic or two, but my camera's battery is kaput and I haven't replaced it yet.