Well, while there were some nice looking figures, such as the TOR Republic Soldier, Bespin Leia, and realistic Asoka, there were only a few newer figures. In the grand scheme of things, it'll be a ton of repacks, repaints, and rehashes again. For me, that means looking a lot less for things, because even if they DO make it retail (which most will not due to distribution issues that have never been addressed or solved), they'll be short packed and snatched up. With that said, there really are just so many characters in the SW universe, and only so many that can be made. I'd like to see some more obscure characters made, but that's just me. I'd even like seeing a larger variety of soldiers for army builders, such as different ethnic varieties of human soldiers and different armor variations of soldiers. The figures that people do want, such as the ARC Troopers and such, are short packed and not revisited, while we get yet another Luke in X-Wing pilot gear. The vehicles are uninspiring because they're all repacks. Many of them didn't sell well the first time around, and aren't likely to do so again. The MTT, while cool to a degree, I just don't see many children wanting that because it's not very recognizable except for those of us who are very familiar with TPM.
That's a very good point and is the main reason my vintage purchases have been so few and far between, Really if it's the same fig I already have and only has some minor tweek (Jango fett comes to mind on this one) there is no point in picking it up, same with MU and GI Joe IMO (PS Joe has been worse than SW the past few years, but this year I thought they did better).
It seems to me, based on the press release they sent out, combined with what was shown, that they're still looking for gimmicks for little kids, such as those PODS and AMP'D things, as well as accessories and non-action figure based toys. Sure, they'll sell for one year, but there isn't any staying power in them. I've spoken to friends who have children, and it's been the same story for years: They won't buy 2 Darth Vaders a year, every year. Children are not, and have never, driven this market. It's the collectors who want to see something new and exciting every year that are left out in the cold. Every year, more and more of us leave the hobby because there isn't anything there that makes us want to stay in the game. I collected, well more played with the toys, when I was a kid, and have been collecting since 1995. However, I don't think I bought more than $100 worth of stuff in 2011, and the stuff I really wanted, I never saw at retail one time. There just isn't anything out there that I've seen that makes me want to go out on the old Star Wars hunts of travelling to 3 Walmarts, 3 Targets, 2 Meijers, and a Toys R Us in a day in hopes of finding that one exciting item.
I know some peple who would argue with you about the kids, but I think you are dead on the money with that, I've hardly ever seen kids in the toy isles and when I do it's pretty surpirzing.
For me, what is exciting, is the new Marvel Universe items. Sure, they use a lot of the same molds, but they put out many, many new figures yearly. Even better, they put out some obscure figures every year as well, ones that comic book nerds like me never expect, which is thrilling.
Ah a fellow convert into the ranks of MU, but I will point out that they stand to ruin this line with rehashes of Wolvie, Iron Man, ext. Still it's nice to see Darkhawk or Nova keeping the line fresh.
In closing, well said.
