More TVC:  It’s Working

This is piggybacking a bit on some previous editorials and comments here at Banthaskull, but as we are less than a week away from Star Wars Day product announcements, we should reflect on what the community has accomplished, and also on the damage it can do.

We as a community really need to take a step back and realize the positive trend in our corner of the hobby. The power of fan enthusiasm is real, and it's spectacular. It was this enthusiasm that got TVC re-launched, the Sail Barge made, and most recently, more product volume for the line. However, that same power can backfire. Some of our voices can be disproportionately loud, and that's not good if we are focused narrowly and negatively on the the minutiae, instead of broadly and positively on what is best for the greater 3.75" hobby as a whole. The same voices that got TVC back also helped create the illusion that all collectors wanted was TVC packaging. Wave 1 was a disaster because of that, and it took a couple of years before we were able to right the ship to a degree, and help clarify to Hasbro that the TVC look succeeds in part because it is the most unifying and recognizable packaging, but more so due to the actual product itself.

Whatever the focus of your collection might be, even if it's packaged toys, it's really the variety of the contents of those packages that makes us want to buy them. That was the whole point of the "More TVC" Petition which, through the power of the combined community effort across multiple platforms and channels, got us over 7500 signatures in less than a week. "More" is the one thing we can all agree on. (Well, that, and also that Filthy Sixers are just the worst.) And if you stop and observe for a minute, "more" seems to be happening right before our eyes. No, we're not getting 80-100 figures, multipacks, exclusives, beasts, environments, and vehicles each year. That's simply never going to happen. But we have seen an increase in the number of figures being offered, to the point where Chris wondered aloud if Hasbro might be planning on bumping up 1 or 2 waves into 2021, on top of adding the surprise Gaming Greats wave. That could be 8-12 more figures than we got last year. While the choices of figures might not always please everyone, it's hard to argue that they appeal to at least a decent portion of the 3.75" collecting group, and are also of astoundingly excellent quality. There have been remarkably few stinkers coming out of TVC.

From what I see, Hasbro could safely make 30-35 basic figures per year (6 or 7 waves of 4 or 5 figures each), 10-15 fan channel / gaming greats figures, a large and small vehicle, a diorama playset, a couple of multipacks, and 2 HasLab offerings (one large and one small for a niche figure). Such a line would be pretty awesome. I would be very happy with that kind of annual TVC output. And it seems like it wouldn't take a whole lot to get there from where we are right now. Between the possibly accelerated 2021 wave schedule, the fan channel repacks, the gaming greats line, the Tantive playset, and the Razor Crest, we're well on our way to that. Just thrown in a couple of multipacks, another vehicle, and a HasLab program for tertiary characters, and we could have a very healthy hobby.

It wasn't looking anything like this in 2020. I personally believe that rallying behind the "More TVC" petition was a huge reason for this. If we could all recognize how successful that campaign was, along with other group efforts like Volkerc's Blue Leader X-Wing petition, and John Miko's Vedain petition, we'd realize how good we have it in a world that has changed dramatically from 2008-2012.

We spend a lot of energy bickering over name pill Pantone color matching and convincing Hasbro that a cardback image of Boba Fett wearing airbrushed pajama pants was somehow a good idea. Collectors complain. It's what we do, and that's okay. But if we also realized how our combined efforts are powerful enough to make a real impact (for better or for worse) in how Hasbro is handling TVC, we'd be a lot happier as a group. So if MORE is the one thing we can agree on, and that this will lead to desired results, let's keep focusing on MORE. Because even Little Ani knows, it's working.

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