Topic: Hasbro to produce a 6" line called Black Series this year

[Tamer]

One would have thought that for the very first wave, probably the one that will determine whether or not others will get made, that they didn't use more iconic characters, perhaps even the first twelve figures created like farmboy luke, leia, r2, vader, stormy, you get the idea.

And on that same note I also heard a new rumor that there is going to be an SDCC Exclusive 6 inch Figure. What a way to start this line by not being able to get one. Does anyone remember how hard it was to get the Carbon Freeze Set last year? What a way to start.

[Clonehead]

sounds like they are going for the collector hype with this line. I wonder if tunghori will get his hands on these? Kind of harder to smuggle a 6 inch figure out of the factory in your pocket, I would think.

[Luke Sprywalker]

I will not be collecting this line at all. If anyone wants to hear my rant just listen to CAFN episode 48.

[BanthaPooDoom]

Im actually kind of excited to see this finally arriving! I always wondered when SW was going to get into 6 inch figure market and im excited to see the outcome. Also, I think I could have some fun giving it a shot at customizing some of these...

[wraithnine]

Hasbro has completely mismanaged the 3 3/4" line
the only people they have to blame is themselves
Vintage was supposed to be a collector focused line and look what they did to it ,they strangled the Clone Wars line in an attempt to drive collectors off of the line as they want to make  it a kids only line (as i said in the collecting podcast and as Paul Harrison sort of confirmed that the current Star Wars  brand manager is not a fan of the Clone Wars )Hasbro have decided to chase the Kid dollars at the expense of collector dollars (a doomed to failure strategy) you will see the 3 3/4" lines become a very pale reflection of their former selves and this 6" line is to keep the collectors happy whilst they dumb down the other lines,i predict a reduction in the number of figures right across the board ,i suspect that there will be a big hoohah at toyfair about the 6" line and lots of very kids focused items ,they will go mad for fighter pods again,will not acknowledge that the MH line has been a disaster for 3 3/4" collecting .
the danger is that Hasbro has screwed things up so badly that they are gonna possibly alienate the only support they still have and the fact that they were going to delay things to coincide with the 3D releases which have now been postponed indefinatley (which i said i wouldnt be suprised if it happened as Ep1 was a very poor 3D movie)they are left swinging in the breeze, so i believe Toyfair will be a "Fudge" at best.

only time will tell if this line live up to the hype  or gets canned before release.......watch this space.

[Tamer]

Looks like Jay could have joined our overall rant last night. Lets face it, myself included, will buy a few of these. Will it save or revitalize what Hasbro has done to the SW AF Line Up. No way. It is getting to the point where nothing Hasbro does anymore will surprise me.

I also think LE made one of the biggest points last nght when he said how can you make some of the best action figures we have ever seen in the vintage line, yet then fail to deliver them at retail. All of us would probably go past the point of no return if we knew how many were sitting in warehouses now.

[Mr. Black]

First of all, this scale lends itself for the manufacturer to add more detail and use different materials compared to the 1/18 scale figures. From what I've seen so far, I like the overall look of Luke and did I see the R2 somewhere online as well?

However, I have no interest in this line at all. Zero. Nada. Zilch. Hasbro stating this line is for the 30-40 years old dads of today, is just rubbish, in my opinion. Being one myself, I grew up with the Kenner figures, and like DarthDaddy, the 3 3/4" figures are all that interest me.

I don't really uderstand Hasbro's move to 6" either. Over time, many lines have transitioned from whatever scale to the immensely succesful 3 3/4" format. That scale is just perfect for combining playability with articuation, sculpt and collectibility. Imagine the space needed to army buid 6" Stormtroopers.... And of course the possibilities for creating additional vehicles, ships, playsets are abundant. Sure, true scale has been and will be an issue, but one has to compromise between playability and correct scale.

With a 6" line, we can only expect to see figures. I don't see an X-Wing coming for that Luke. Maybe a Speeder Bike or something like that, but that would be about it.

From a customizer's point of view I can see some advantages. Apart from the Marvel Legends figures, a lot of the other lines are pretty hard to come by, at least for me. Having a SW 6" line will add more diversity for the 6" scale customizers. That is, if Hasbro manages to actually get their distribution right....

The latest CAFN episode also addressed the lack of articulation and detail in 3 3/4" figures lately. Don't Force choke me on this, but I actually can see where Hasbro is coming from, regarding the downsizing of p.o.a.. Back when I was a kid, I played a lot with my figures. A lot. This often resulted in joints becoming loose eventually. If you play the heck out of your 16 p.o.a. figure, you'll eventually get a lot of loose joints, to a point where playing with it isn't fun anymore.

Then again, these days kids don't care about action figures anymore, which makes Hasbro's reasoning redundant....  As a customizer, I guess I should follow Sithfire's lead and heavily develop my sculpting skills, buy a Sith load of articuated base bodies and go from there.

On that Luke figure again, I find the lack of a holster and a decent '77 Mark Hamill headsculpt most disturbing....

[zedhatch]

I think Hasbro got turned on to the 6 inch scale by Marvel Legends (when they took over for Toybiz and jacked the price to double taking out the comic as well).  Some say TB went bankrupt but the truth of the matter was that Marvel was in bankruptsy and needed quick revenue, Hasbro was willing to pay for the license up front and they got it, Toybiz never failed, Marvel just moved there toys out of house. 

Knowing that, we can blame Marvel for our woes with this 6 inch line, although since the beginning of ML I have heard people express a desire for a 6-inch SW line.

HOWEVER, I think Hasbro missed the boat here.  They say they are aiming this at us adults, fine, however looking around the message boards those of us in that catagory are getting out of the "Slap brand name on it and we'll buy it" mentality.  Completeists only exist in the vitage areas (My speculation is you can clearly define your goals and wants verses the rat race collecting has become over the past decade resulting in disappointment and overspending).   Add in the fact that Hasbro had made repeating characters to the point of nausium (Vader, r2, Luke, for GI Joe its Snake Eyes, storm shadow and Duke, for Marvel its Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Wolverine< for Transformers its Prime, Megatron, and Bumblebee).  Many collectors are seriously saying "Why do I need 50+ versions of 'X' character?" and as a result have become more selective.  Everywhere I look even people who years ago cheered for the idea of a 6-inch line are changing their tunes to "I'll just get some favorites" which I think is very, very telling. 

Also, everywhere I look everyone is downsizing the collections, The good part is you can get some HTF stuff at reasonable rates (I saw a Darth Reven go for $5 in an action one day, granted he had no accessories but it's still Reven).  Focus (or should I say "foci") is shifting and Hasbro refuses to look at the market and change with the times.  Instead they step backwards looking at ideas that SHOULD have been done 5 years ago.  Not noticing they are losing support by an outdated line of thinking (ie only kids collect 3 & 3/4 inch figures, one look at the many message boards shows this to not be the case). 

Hasbro has been screwing up year after year.  I kind of am laughing at the appologists who kept insisting they knew what they were doing, especially when statements we fans knew to be false ended up coming to light (ie, Clone Wars sold better, then last year CW has been struggling all that time). 

Hasbro needs to address their real issues (distribution, case pack outs, character selection) and get off the BS "Yes man" wagon that perpetuates the problems in collecting or they stand to alienate the last bastions of support they have.   Should THAT happen I doubt they will recover at all. 

[Clonehead]

I do agree with everything you just said and, we will be wAtching.....

[Clonehead]

Just read on scum that a black line boba fett is to be a SDCC exclusive.
I understand that various colors will be available so it could be an animated version or possibly a prototype or McQ deco version.
http://www.rebelscum.com/story/front/The_411_Hasbros_SDCC_2013_Exclusives_150139.asp

[Tamer]

I read that somewhere too. Why in the world wouldn't they make it the TESB or ROTJ version for starters?

[Clonehead]

I read that somewhere too. Why in the world wouldn't they make it the TESB or ROTJ version for starters?

probably so the rest of us wouldnt be mad that fett was an exclusive only. My guess is that they will give us the normal version and use an alternate as the exclusive.

[zedhatch]

It would be moronic to have Fett an exclusive only, then again this is Hasbro. 

[Mr. Black]

Another wise choice by Hasbro. Having such a minor character like Fett as an exclusive is much better than mass producing him and throw him on the market so everyone can have a shot at him. Phew, glad they finally woke up and smelled the coffee! Geez.....

[Luke Sprywalker]

Dear Hasbro, why are you trying to drive your company and the action figure industry off a cliff?