Findings From The Carded Vs Loose Discussion

We've been having an ongoing discussion with our friends from the Star Wars The Vintage Collection Facebook group about the importance of cards to Vintage Collection collectors. We opened the discussion up to everyone with our What Kind Of Collector Are You post. John Miko likewise posted a poll in the Facebook group asking the same question with the same options. He posted the results HERE. The poll saw great participation, and I'll let John's own words speak to its significance:

With over 1,200 votes this gives a very sound picture of our community with a confidence level of 95% and + or - 3% margin of error.

So we can make some confident takeaways, and that I shall do, but first, let's look at the results. Thank you to John for putting these great data visualizations together:


The community is almost perfectly hsplit down the middle when it comes to prioritizing cards versus prioritizing loose figures. When it comes to the overall number of figures that are opened versus those that are kept sealed, I feel the split would be similar. For army builders, there would likely be more opened than kept carded, but for non-army builders, I think you'll see more kept carded. The reason being is that loose collectors might only get one of something like Greef Karga, but carded collectors are insane. They tend to get that "just in case" extra ( please don't ask me how I know). So this leads me to takeaway one:

At least half of the Vintage Collection bubbles are not single use.

Hasbro is currently making an effort to remove single use plastics from their packaging. This is admirable, but if feel like this would undermine the Vintage Collection where for half of the purchases, the packaging is the product, and there is no worry about those bubbles and trays ending up landfills. For those of you who do open your figures, please recycle the waste material. The bubbles are made of highly recyclable (and desirable) type 1 plastic. The Vintage Collection needs as many sales as possible in order for the line to keep growing (it's the only way it will grow). If we lose 50% of the sales due to plastic free packaging, which is an anathema to the Vintage Collection, I don't think the line will be around for very long. If the majority of us recycle the plastic waste, there is no need for Hasbro to nix the iconic coffin bubbles. That leads to takeaway two:

Everyone needs to be considerate of the needs of both loose and carded collectors.

As stated above, the line can't afford to alienate any of its customers. We've got a good thing going now, and we need to keep it going. I sometimes get the sense and carded collectors don't respect the wants of loose collectors and vice versa. This frankly stinks. We should all be encouraging things that generate sales, whether or not it floats our personal boats. So carded collectors, it's great that you're satisfied with the VOTC Luke Skywalker, but people who open their figures desperately need that Episode IV Luke updated. Loose collectors, please be cognizant of the fact that Walmart's shipping practices are alienating some collectors even if it has zero impact on you personally. And all long time collectors need to be reminded that new collectors need access to earlier sculpts, so repacks are a necessary and good thing. It all helps grow the line.

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