Once Again, The Vocal Portion Of The Community Gets It Wrong

Last week was a wide array of emotions as the most recent wave of Walmart exclusive Original 96 figures went up for preorder. One of them is the new rocker-ankled Episode IV Stormtrooper. For the purpose of this article, we are going to completely exclude it from the discussion. It's too much of a special case. A statistical outlier, if you will. It's a figure that I would gladly buy one hundred of, and I hope some combination of Hasbro and a retailer gives me that chance some day. We're only going to discuss the other four which are the two Bespin Guards, Helder Spinoza and Idsam Edian, the Imperial Gunner, and the "Sensorscope" R2-D2.

In collecting circles, both here in the comments and on social media, I would describe the reaction to each of the figures thusly:

• Helder Spinoza - Celebratory. This is the first time this character will be released in the modern line.


• Isdam Edian - Excitement. We did get a Sergeant Edian figure in 2009's Legacy Collection, but this is a worthwhile upgrade and an Original 96 cardback.


• Imperial Gunner - Indifference to mild excitement. This is just a slight redeco of 2019's VC147 - Death Star Gunner. That figure was difficult to find, so it gives collectors a second chance, but this isn't a well loved figure due to the undersized helmet.


• "Sensorscope" R2-D2 - This is essentially 2010's VC25 - "Bar2-D2" figure, which isn't a very good figure. This received the most negative reaction of the four being discussed.

Anyone reading the comments in the days since these figures were announced would have been confident that the two Bespin Guards would have sold out shortly after the Stormtrooper, but that's not what happened. As of the time of this writing, the two Bespin Guards are the only two of the five figures that are not sold out. The Imperial Gunner and R2 sold out on day one. You could argue that the Gunner is a minor army builder and lends itself to multiple purchases whereas some collectors would only buy one each of the Guards since they represent unique characters, but you can make no such justification for the R2-D2 figure. Based strictly on the reaction of the vocal fans, that figure should have been clearance fodder.

I'm am not trying to ridicule fans for being wrong, because I am in lockstep with what appears to be the community consensus with respect to the desirability. I am equally as wrong. Seeing R2 sell out on day one made me do a double take. There's a possibility that Walmart ordered a lower quantity of the R2 figure, but I doubt that. It's not like Walmart to under order an "A-list" character. But to reiterate, the purpose of this is not to mock the community for its lack of prognosticative powers. It's to provide caution. The collector community is an echo chamber, and does not speak for the entirety of the customer base. If you take the time to engage with your fellow collectors on social media you are part of the most passionate and engaged segment of the hobby, but you also represent the tip of the iceberg. There is a large silent contingent that is effectively invisible to us just like the bulk of the iceberg under the water line. They might even be serious collectors. They just choose to not engage.

This is why I personally cringe when I read phrases like, "everyone wants". What we really mean is "everyone I talk to wants" which is not necessarily a good indicator of the market. There's a reason why many of the Fans' Choice figures have pegwarmed, meanwhile Darth Vader always sells through (eventually). Even when the wretched swivel elbow 500th Darth Vader was repacked in the Walmart Black Series 3.75" line, the stock sold. While I will never personally absolve Hasbro for the 2018 launch wave fiasco, it was in part brought on by fans saying "everyone wants these figures on Vintage Collection cards."

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