My Nemesis Retro Collection Has Returned To Its Evil Ways

Let me start this article off by alienating almost everyone reading this. I am 100% a Retro Collection fan and customer. The title is meant to be lighthearted. The Return of the Jedi box set from last year was honestly one of my favorite products in 2023. I can't tell you what a thrill I get from owning a productized vintage-style Yak Face figure on a near mint card with a clear bubble. I just wish it didn't have that stupid fake distressed printed on the card and the garish "Retro Collection" sticker. Both need to go. I have absolutely no problem with the Retro Collection. I just personally continue to hate the way Hasbro uses it, and the resources they dedicate to it.

I bought the Retro Collection Episode I box set because I'm a weak-minded fool, but I bristled at the notion of Prequel Trilogy retro figures. It doesn't make sense to me. The 1999 figures are already retro and pretty poor by today's standards. Taking bad figures and making them worse is frustrating to me. What's next? Retro Collection Droids figures, but instead of reproducing the 1985 styling, Hasbro reimagines them as the even more primitive 1978 figures? Sise Fromm can get split skirt legs and a vinyl cape. It will be a incredible.

I think a lot of occasional Retro Collection fans such as myself agree with the notion that if the media postdates the vintage Kenner era, it's not suitable for Retro. Have any of them been a hit? Aside from maybe the first Retro Mando with the patchwork armor and the Cara Dune, none of the new media Retro seem to have sold particularly well. The Obi-Wan Kenobi wave in particular glutted like it was made up of straight cases of Legacy Collection Yarna figures. That Obi-Wan Kenobi wave performed so poorly that I didn't even stop at Ollies the last time I was in the neighborhood because I know that (and Island Journey Rey) would be the only 3.75" Star Wars product they had.

Still, having said all of that, I do not begrudge anyone for whom newer media Retro Collection are their thing, but such product must be managed properly. When the Episode I Retro Collection box set hit Target stores in modest numbers and then entered the clearance pipeline, I was impressed. I felt like Hasbro and Target properly managed a product with what I contend is niche appeal. They made just a tick more product than demand, which is the sweet spot for this stuff. Then I happened into my local Target yesterday and saw this:




That's five of the Phantom Menace Retro Box sets, one of which was assuredly from the initial shipment that was previously on slight clearance. They're back to full price. The initial rollout of this product likely met the demand, in part because the expression won't appeal to casual collectors who like to pick and choose their favorites and not buy entire waves. These will likely take up a longer residency on Target's shelves than Sinatra did at the Sands.

You may be asking why I care. It's because poor selling Hasbro Star Wars reflects negatively on all product lines, particularly at brick and mortar. I'm led to believe that Vintage Collection has already caught a stray from a poor selling Black Series product. I can't image that a shelf-warmer in the same scale and packaging style would do TVC any favors. I now get the appeal of Retro Collection when it comes to vintage Kenner reproductions and vintage Kenner should-have-beens. I pray Hasbro starts skating only in that lane. Bring me more Retro of the last 17 and Droids figures, please.

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