New Rumor Concerning the Vintage Collection
So we have a new Star Wars The Vintage Collection rumor we wanted to talked about. Over at Jedi Temple Archives, they mentioned something disturbing. Now this rumor does not come from them but from someone who is familiar with Hasbro. The rumor concerns the status of the 3.75″ figure line; The Vintage Collection. Word has it and remember this is a rumor, that Hasbro will be releasing 20 more vintage collection figures and if sales are poor, Hasbro could scrap the entire line and format.
Basically if no one buys these new figures, Hasbro could pull the plug all together. What that means is no more 3.75″ figures. Period. This alone is disturbing but not unexpected.
The Vintage Collection has suffered poor distribution, several repacked figures and poor character choices. I know some of this has to happen such as the repacks. The Star Wars team is allocated x amount of dollars per year for new product development. To get more figures out and to fill the line, Hasbro has to go the repack way.
These tools are already done and it always the team to focus on some other amazing things. The bad part of this is the character selection. Adding the Wal-Mart Black figures to the assortment early on might have been a poor choice. The first few waves were clearanced out so why would collectors buy more? Hasbro should have went with the last 2 waves INSTEAD of the first 2 waves of Black figures. This is speculation of course but lets face it, EP7 and 8 is not the draw most fans are looking for. OTC and Prequels is what warms fans hearts and releases funds from pockets.
The Main Issue
The bottom line is this, the fans of 3.75″ figures has to man up and buy the line or risk everything going away. That phrase might not be politically correct but I do not care; it’s the truth. Many wait for clearance or Marshalls and that will kill the line. Unfortunately, Hasbro could be done with the line/ format anyway.
The 6 inch Black series is on fire and as collectors we see plenty of releases a year with several being new. More money goes to the Black series and with this format, Hasbro does not have to make any vehicles. While they chose to do some, the line can and will survive without them. Also as of now, no word has come out that Hasbro and Disney will continue the license. Maybe Hasbro will just give up Star Wars and move on. I mean the company now has Power Rangers and so much more. Do they really need Star Wars?
Our Take on The Vintage Collection
Hasbro needs to lose the Star Wars license. Either walk away or have it pulled but it needs to go to someone new. Fans want new toys and the market is sick and tired of unneeded repacks. Snoke come to mind as he was in 2 case assortments. As a retailer new figures sold like crazy but we are stuck with the junk people do not want like Snoke or the Range Trooper. The other option and yes, there is another, Disney could give the license to produce 3.75 inch figures and vehicles to someone else and Hasbro can continue the 6 inch line.
Our personal take away from this is….While Hasbro is the license holder fans should continue to support the line. This coming Force Friday is important folks. Buy the 3,75 inch product and who knows, maybe we can stay the pending execution for a while.
