King For a Day

I have a question for you that I have thought a lot about recently, due to the fractious nature of people's collecting habits, and how difficult it would be to actually be making the decisions on the Brand Team, even if one were untethered from the realities of the business world, such as budgets, logistics, market research, corporate directives, retail partnerships, contracts, etc.

We all are passionate about this hobby, and we all have our preferences. Some of those preferences are more shared than others. Many people have preferred sources, like the OT, or The Acolyte, or that one EU book written by that one guy that had that character with the funny face that might be neat as a figure. Others prefer themes like Jedi, or Imperials, or any character that is less than 4 feet tall. You might prefer more articulation, or more screen accuracy, or a figure of a fallen Jedi with 4 arms that rhymes with "smell." You may prefer soft goods, or removable helmets, or figures with blue hair. You might want vac metal, fewer store exclusives, more Haslabs, and way less Tatooine. You might collect them all, you might prefer to complete the crews, you may have a passion for the O96, or you could just want to pay less.

There are so many opinions, it would have to be hard to run the line, feeling you have to answer to every corner of the collecting community, while being restricted by the world realities listed above such that you end up pleasing no one.

If my Jedi self were in charge, I would take the reigns with the attitude that I was going to grow TVC so that it was so successful across the globe that it would please everyone and rake in so much profit that I could take such risks the likes of which have not been seen for decades. My decisions on figure choices, timing, pricing, and marketing would immediately qualify me as a peerless titan of industry. There would be a solid gold statue of me built at the front entrance of Hasbro HQ. Every person on this planet would have at least one Star Wars figure, and large crowds of adoring fans would follow me wherever I went.

But the reality is probably that I would have no idea where to begin, and would probably make terrible decisions due to a lack of knowledge of those aforementioned global forces, and immediately drive the line straight into ground with such velocity that it would register on the (Mike) Richter scale. But I would go down swinging, making sure I got exactly what I wanted out of the opportunity. Here's what my Sith self would probably do, knowing I was doomed no matter what:

• Cease the 6" line immediately. Balance the Scales? I am the scales!
  
• Make a Special Action Figure 137-pack of all the Glups I need to fill the Cantina, the Barge, the Palace, and the Death Star (a Haslab for which I would also launch).
  
• Make an EV-9D9 on a POTF card with coin, for me ol' pal Chris. I'd have a production run of only 5. I'd keep 1 for myself, and Chris could have the other 4 (one to open, one to keep carded, one to get graded, and one to snuggle with at night.)
  
• I would make a Pong Krell figure, so that anyone that wants one can have him. But I would spend whatever last penny I had at my disposal to make the largest production run in the history of manufacturing, so that eventually, the unsold Pong Krells would be buried in a landfill the size of Texas. Kids in faraway lands would have dozens of Pong Krell figures to play with while they wear their "2007 Patriots 19-0 Undefeated Champs!" T-shirts.

Anyway, in all seriousness, if I could pick just one thing for Hasbro to do for TVC, assuring it would have minimal negative impact on the rest of the line and what others might enjoy, I would choose:

• Annual support for previous Haslabs, with a particular emphasis on the Glups I want to fill out those displays.

My real question for you is this:

What is ONE thing you would like to see change in the 3.75" line going forward?

Please pick one thing you'd prefer above all else.

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