Are LEGO UCS Sets Filling The Vehicle Void And Siphoning Dollars From TVC?

We are currently in a largely vehicle-less Vintage Collection world. The only TVC vehicle in 2021 is the difficult to acquire Target exclusive Antoc Merrick's X-Wing. 2022 will see the HasLab Razor Crest released, but we haven't yet heard of any other ships. That's pretty lean for the world building scale, which was literally invented so Kenner could bring kids the Millennium Falcon. To put it another way, vehicles are the reason for the 3.75" scale and not the other way around.

It needs to be noted that in no way do I blame Hasbro for the paucity of Vintage Collection vehicles lately. I blame the retailers who are no longer interested in the product thanks in large part to the "wait for clearance" attitude with many collectors when it comes to anything beyond a basic figure. That put a huge dent in the vehicle line. I'm not making excuses for Hasbro; I'm just being fair. I will certainly levy criticisms if I think they are fair, like the fact that Hasbro seems to have put a freeze on all things Star Wars in order to prop up the listless Rancor campaign (which IS going to fund). I wish Hasbro would be willing to give TVC a boost like this, but I digress.

Nonetheless, this TVC vehicle-less-ness exists. It is what it is. Meanwhile, LEGO's recent Ultimate Collector Sets for Star Wars have been stunning. Specifically the $350 USC Republic Gunship and the $800 UCS AT-AT:



This seems to present a twofold problem for Hasbro. One, vehicle focused collectors are going to be tempted by those two sets. I know I am, which would greatly impact my budget for Vintage Collection product. Second, some of those who can't resist temptation are surely going to be converted into LEGO collectors since they are filling the vehicle void.

Again, this is an "it is what it is" situation, and I really don't know what the fix is. LEGO can afford to make low volume direct to customer offerings since there is very little new tooling needed for such things. Aside from crowdfunded HasLab, Hasbro needs to sell through retailers who don't want these bigger ticket items. Hopefully someone smarter can crack this nut.

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