Topic: Star Wars unpainted customizable figures .....something hasbro should consider

[dax415]

**One last time.....Sigh.... look man, the point was taking a multiple diversified approach within an already existing structure.  So what if the specifics targets customizers?  The suggestions are just some specifics/brainstorming to get creative without recreating the wheel.  I'm not saying they or anyone else should take an extreme left or right approach and start cranking out one or the other.  In my examples, I even specifically say so.  From here on out, as my sister would say..... "I'm just gonna ignore you now." 

[Darth More]

First off: I think your idea is brilliant!

The Question is: How do we get there?

Short Story: We will!


When I discovered Games Workshop back in 2006 I was amazed by all the miniatures (and the game) they had. Lord of the Rings was the only license they had back then. And I have to admit, it was the stuff that thrilled me the most. But the price tags kept me from buying them. Plus the Star Wars fever had just caught me so I had a collecting focus. I wondered: Why don't they have Star Wars figures, too?
Later I discovered that Wizards of the Coast held the license for their tabletop game: Star Wars Miniatures
What I still had to discover years later: Wizards of the Coast (including Pokémon and MAGIC trading cards) also belong(ed) to Hasbro!

Since Hasbro treat the 3.75" line like a...let's just say they neglect the line in favor of the 6 inch line. Different topic.

But I got two more theses:

1. It's all about the license. Games Workshop is struggling, that's not a secret. Other companies producing model kits like Revell and Italeri don't make the hell of a profit, either. It's a niche hobby that doesn't bring billions of Dollars like STAR WARS. That's why the license was so expensive back in the day and is probably even more expensive now since Disney bought Lucasfilm.
So: Games Workshop could a) not take the license because WotC had it back in the day or b) they were not interested or c) they coudn't afford it. I mean Star Wars was BIG back in 2005.

JDeck made a good point here: We got Star Wars LEGION today - finally! And they're as expensive as the ones from Games Workshop if not even more. That leads me to the next assumption that production is not cheap for these in (2018-)2020 and/or the license is crazy expensive, indeed!

But will we see models with 0 points-of-articulation in 1/18 scale (3.75") from any other manufacturer? I strongly doubt it because Hasbro have the license on that scale. Even though Bandai is allowed to "compete" with Hasbro through their S.H. FiguArts line in 1/12 scale. That NEVER happened before!

The only company that could make these figures you suggest is probably Hasbro at the moment.

2. But will the third largest toy company in the world (after MATTEL and LEGO) make this happen? They went back to 5 POA in their 3.75" line because Disney suggested this to them. The Hasbro brand team confirmed this when I talked to them at Comic Con Dortmund, Germany back in December 2019. Also to cut tooling-costs and to keep the MRSP down while other factors - such as minimum wages (fortunatly) -rose in China at the same time.

Technically they will do everything there's demand for. That means we as collectors, customizers and customers have to make a lot of noise now, if we want them to make this!

You're exactly right: It wouldn't be a problem for them! I mean they produce figurines for all their diffferent tabletop games such as MONOPOLY!

Are there other examples?
Yes! Remember the figures that were included in our cereal back in 1999? You could see an image of the character inside the figurine.
Or what about those key chains? These figures are actually in 1/24 scale like most of Hasbro's vehicles!
And I'm sure you could paint them better






Do I want to support your idea as a customizer?
HELL YES!

And here's my solution: I think it's unlikely that Hasbro will make these. Even the key chains didn't sell like hot cakes.
BUT I see our solution in 3D printing. A friend of mine whi is an engineer in 3D printing already did it. He took a couple figures, scanned them in different poses and just printed them. I'll ask him for some pics!
Printers become better and better, but one still has to work by the printing lines.
In my opinion, this is part of the future for us customizers!


I'm actually taking the hard way since I don't have a 3D printer, yet. I could also ask my buddy while I'm thinking of it right now.
Anyway my plan was/is to make moulds of the TLC BAD HK-50 droid. One for the head, one for the torso and 2-3 moulds of legs and arms in different poses. That's definitely more expensive than scanning and 3D printing, but the parts will be nice and smooth - no more saning/polishing needed.


So this is the way for us I think!

Great idea, again! Thanks for starting this topic, which goes excellently with Tamer's topic about 3D printing in general:


http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=10769.0



- Philipp

[Tamer]

Does anyone remember how many times I asked Hasbro if we would ever get an AT-TE and they kept saying no? We got one!

Now I am saying this is the exception and not the rule, but if we keep hammering at em (which I plan to do and I know other sites will as well) we can hopefully at least keep the 3.75" line going long enough for the 6" line to get saturated and then perhaps we will see a more even mix of new products in both lines. Its gonna take awhile, but we just gotta keep pushing the superaticulated 3.75" line every chance we get and by that I mean new products not just recards and rehashes. I know I plan on making at least one of my questions for each new round about the status of this line in some way. There are some bright minds here that can perhaps word a question better than me and be professional asking about the status of the line.

[Darth More]

Does anyone remember how many times I asked Hasbro if we would ever get an AT-TE and they kept saying no? We got one!

You're exactly right: Never say never! Stamina. In fact it was you who contributed to the persistance so that we eventually got the AT-TE!

(…) I know I plan on making at least one of my questions for each new round about the status of this line in some way. There are some bright minds here that can perhaps word a question better than me and be professional asking about the status of the line.

What do you mean by the last part of your reply? Who do you mean? I hopeHasbro will stay in touch with their fans as they have been recently. And even more imporanty: I hope they listen and actually do what fans request!



The more I think of your idea, the more I like it. Bandai already sell model kits of 1/12 scale figures. As far as I know most parts need to be painted here. I actually planned on sharing these on a different topic, but this occasion seems perfect.
These prototypes are an example of how your concept could look like before and after being painted. Heck, Hasbro could just take the cheapest PVC or whatever plastic they use in one color, make the parts, put them in a bag/box and they’re done. No tooling and you know they like the taste of cutting costs.



- Cheers!

pictures attached


Add: Got issues with my internet connection. My reply got lost in space. Need to edit the post and try to restore it. Hope I remember the text. Darn it.

[dax415]

Well, I'm chime in a bit... I think a 2 prong lobbying would be the way to go.  I'm gonna give you a butchered understanding/logic, so those who know better, bear with me, lol.

Hasbro --->  Distributors  ---->   Consumers

We shouldn't just lobby Hasbro..... we should also be lobbying the distributors..... Walmart, Target, .....ALL of them.  Think about it..... they are the ones forking over the big bucks right away BEFORE we can get our mits on them.  So trying to get a bit of influence on that end too could only help in my opinion.  Not that any of what I'm saying is earth shattering, lol.

[Clonehead]

I love the idea! It would sell like hot cakes and possibly bring new interest back into the scale.  I don’t think it would happen. It felt like hasbro was more “in tune” with the custom community back when they had a more glorious 3 3/4 inch set of lines going. Seems different now
  I feel for the 3 3/4 line collectors and remember the toy isle glory of days past. I still want a six inch scale Gonk droid though.
    Brilliant points all around. It occurred to me reading this that an important consideration that Hasbro could be taking in their stealthy phasing out of 3 3/4 product could be centered around the basic law of shipping. What takes more space to ship and how much is it worth. The less space the cases take, the less they should cost to ship. If a case of 3 3/4 figures is half the size of a case of six inchers, is it worth that much less revenue than the product in the 6 inch case?
   With the red box Black series figures, you might have fit two and a half carded 3 3/4 figures “a guess of volume” to 1 6 inch figure. Now the 40th carded six inch figures, while taller with their card, they are thinner when stacked and would fit more to a case, I’ll bet.

[Aude]

Dax- Never suggested you said Hasbro should take an extreme approach to cranking out anything. I don’t think you read my post. 🤷🏼

Phillip- Yes, I think blanks from Hasbro would be lovely.   Many of us would be delighted to buy them; they are a customizing dream product. Lately I’ve been buying more SW figures to take apart than to keep together, and I’ve heard similar sentiments from other customizers. Unfortunately, I don’t see any chance of this dream becoming a reality with the current team at Hasbro. I don’t say that as a pessimist; I’m just trying to be realistic here. Petitioning Hasbro, their wonderful retail partner Walmart, or anyone else for unassembled stormtrooper bits in a baggie seems counterproductive and at odds with the current push for more new 3.75” figures.

Yes, 3D printing appears to be the likely future of the hobby as more of us buy printers and learn how to use the software to edit and scale existing models or design our own. And although Hasbro still have the 3.75” SW license, they have no interest in preventing hobbyists from creating and selling SW character likenesses. So yes, with these new technologies people have already begun offering figures or pieces of figures to the collecting community. This is already happening and will continue while the company with the official license squanders it. I think you are absolutely correct that this is the way forward, especially with the current state of 3.75”.

Tamer- The AT-TE had been featured in two films and two cartoon series (now three?) and was released at a time when Hasbro were still pumping out new product and willing to take risks on large vehicles and obscure characters. The AT-TE had recognition from recent/current media and appealed to a fairly wide demographic. Unpainted, unassembled blanks are meant for one small slice of the collecting community. Diversifying offerings is great, but how would you advocate for 3.75” blanks from a company that seems intent on phasing that scale out of existence?

[Tamer]

I just remember the resounding no we got each time we asked and then Deryl's smile when we asked again and he said yes. Good stuff that. And you never know.

[dax415]

@Aude ..... first off... your good to go buddy, we obviously just have a different feeling about things.

What I will say about the customizer thing is this.... it would be completely ignorant to dismiss it as a viable market.  In my example, it doesn't just fill a roll for customizers.... what about the person just wanting access to a missing part?  what about the possibility of it being the new "father/son" project? ...it would be cheaper than working on a old car.  It's not something you would have to restrict and apply to one scale either if done right.  Fact of the matter... customization of action figures has been part of the seen since its existence..... ever switch our your action figures loadout?  you've done customization, ever switch the heads/helmets?  you've done customization.  The main reason why we have two terms for it, "kit bashing" and "customization" is to distinguish the particulars of the customization that's happening.  Some people are so talented they can sculpt, paint, ...practically reforge their own figure altogether.  It's been a solid thing ever since I could remember, especially with 80's GI Joe 3 3/4 action figures.  All one had to was unscrew somethings and reassemble.... poof!  It was incredibly easy to make a "new" GI Joe figure... want the original back?  Same process.  My suggestion is just a variant way of restoring/reintroducing this same concept.  There's nothing magical, mysterious, foreign, or out of the realm of practicality.  I remember a brief time working for Gamestop when both Target and Best Buy first instituted used game(s) buy back and resale.  I was a bit shocked and curious as to why management was laughing and didn't feel threatened at all by these moves.  That reason was pure and simple..... "They don't have our system, tactic, knowledgebase, or experience to pull it off.  Cause if they did, we'd be out of business."  From that standpoint... the used game market, my managers were right, that was 7 or 8 years ago.  So if something like my suggestion is going to have impact, a great gameplan and execution would be needed.

[JDeck]

Why not get outer rim traders to do it? That's exactly what they do is make unpainted parts, mostly for 6" though. The main focus for Hasbro is to fix distribution first and foremost, then give 3.75 the same attention as 6". That would be an amazing thing. Be careful what you wish for, you might get it along with unintended consequences. Everyone wanted 5poa to go away, because they thought it would mean more SA 3.75. Look what we got. 5" super articulated cartoon figures. At least 5poa had good sculpts and accessories. Now we have peanuts.

[Aude]

Tamer- I’m afraid those DePriest days are long gone. 🤔

Dax- Yes, I’ve made a figure or two lately.😉 I agree with just about everything you said. I agree that the market for these parts, although a niche market, is definitely there. That’s not the issue. Hasbro is the issue. 3.75” is on life support, and Hasbro put it there. Nothing that they’ve done suggests that this idea would be of interest to them; quite to the contrary. They want 3.75” to die. If it wasn’t a legacy line with 40+ years of history, it would already be gone. My question then is this: how do you or anyone else hope to convince them that the scale they want to kill is worth saving (in this case, with blanks & spare parts)? I wonder whether the current push for more NEW TVC will even be enough to sway them.

The size of the market for pieces/blanks is only part of the equation. Think also about all the figures Hasbro have released. How many would be available? How would they decide? Kit bashing is fun, but as you also know, not all keys peg into all sockets. What if the piece you bought didn’t fit? What if it broke during extraction/insertion? Can you imagine the headache returned blanks would cause? Would the company enjoy eating shipping costs for something so small? Hasbro would have to completely overhaul their articulation system if they were to market joints (e.g. arm pegs, knee pegs, ankle pegs) as interchangeable since currently the joint rotor & key are permanently attached to the limb. Is selling blank pieces really as simple and easy as it might seem?

[dax415]

Why not get outer rim traders to do it? That's exactly what they do is make unpainted parts, mostly for 6" though. The main focus for Hasbro is to fix distribution first and foremost, then give 3.75 the same attention as 6". That would be an amazing thing. Be careful what you wish for, you might get it along with unintended consequences. Everyone wanted 5poa to go away, because they thought it would mean more SA 3.75. Look what we got. 5" super articulated cartoon figures. At least 5poa had good sculpts and accessories. Now we have peanuts.

So by this statement you mean we should accept whatever they dish out?  5poa at the same price point as SA once was is ok with you?  We shouldn't hold them accountable to a decent standard?   

[JDeck]

Why not get outer rim traders to do it? That's exactly what they do is make unpainted parts, mostly for 6" though. The main focus for Hasbro is to fix distribution first and foremost, then give 3.75 the same attention as 6". That would be an amazing thing. Be careful what you wish for, you might get it along with unintended consequences. Everyone wanted 5poa to go away, because they thought it would mean more SA 3.75. Look what we got. 5" super articulated cartoon figures. At least 5poa had good sculpts and accessories. Now we have peanuts.

So by this statement you mean we should accept whatever they dish out?  5poa at the same price point as SA once was is ok with you?  We shouldn't hold them accountable to a decent standard?

.


I'm saying they should focus on distribution and more new figures. 5poa was half the cost of TVC.  This doesn't fit in the TVC brand, so they'll end up getting rid of TVC and replacing it with Hero Masher's. Leave well enough alone. Focus on distribution and more figures.

[dax415]

This is where you and Aude completely detract and miss the point of what I'm saying.  The two of you are harping on the details as if I'm offering some sort of one size fits all solution to keeping 3 3/4.  I NEVER said selling blanks, repacks, and parts is going to justify their profit margin...... you are literally honing in on one tiny aspect and using it to blow things up to fit your view of what I'm saying.  Feel free to stay there with that mindset and miss things, I'm not gonna further try and explain things to you especially when I already mentioned a diversified approach (yeah, that includes everything from fine tuning product distribution to physical action figure offerings).  Like I previously said, if I went nitty gritty and comprehensive... I'd be doing somebody's else's job for them.  I don't work for free and I'm not gonna lay down the foundry for blatant ranting and excessive critiscism especially when I don't know enough of what the current team is going through.  The bottom line is this.... they don't want to do 3 3/4 at the moment... they are seemingly choosing to put all of there eggs in one basket.  Otherwise they wouldn't of launched and invested so much in 6" Joe figures too.  What I don't appreciate is being led on that 3 3/4 figures are going to be a thing and continually seeing vaporware or 5poa scraps.    Huge point is, there isn't a excuse for closing down the line, vaporware, accepting 5 POA as the new standard when it's clear demand/desire is there for SA.... NOT even what you're saying with "focus on distribution" makes sense.  The 6" line is being distributed/marketed just fine....  If you or anyone else is gonna point to the Star Wars Rogue One Hovertank.... that wasn't distribution.... it wasn't a kink in the current framework.  That's just flat out sloppy work, work that somebody should of been on top of.  How hard would it have been to include a pilot when you damn well know the thing was seen in the movie with 2 of them?  How hard would it of been to make an additional pilot in the wave assortment available with a simultaneous release?  It's also not as simple as pointing at hasbro either, the retailer/distributor putting out product to coincide with things that makes sense.... it's also on them too.  I'm sorry, but that again boils down to..... somebody dropped the ball or it simply wasn't something they wanted to do.  I don't buy this "distribution" is the bulk of the downfall explanation whatsoever.  Distribution is more of a systemic thing, otherwise we'd be seeing alot more gooberish happenings with the 6" line.

[JDeck]

I'm sorry if you can't explain it in a way that makes sense I can't support it, neither will Hasbro. What I mean by focus on distribution is, actually have TVC figures on the shelf when they're supposed to be released. I went to Walmart the last four weeks, nothing, and before that it was nothing but skiff guard Lando. Something they should have gotten a year ago. So far I've only seen  maybe 4 out of 14 waves hit stores and mostly Walmart. We can't talk with our wallet unless they fix this obvious problem. Even online retailers aren't meeting demand. If you don't pre-order then tough luck, even then you might not get it. It took 7 months to get my case of stormtroopers.

Like I said, ask Outer rim traders or any number of custom parts dealers, because they specialize in this niche market.