RECAP:  Hasbro’s Entertainment Brand Preview Event (NY Toy Fair 2020)

Chris traveled for many hours across 4 states to meet me in NJ. I am in the midst of a particularly difficult project at work that has required me to work nights during the past week. That should have made us very cranky. But we had a good time. We're not angry at all, nor particularly disappointed. We enjoy interacting with the Hasbro team. They're enthusiastic Star Wars fans, who want nothing more than to bring us exciting product. During these various events over the course of the year (typically NYTF and NYCC), we get to have several conversations with the team, and while some of the information we get is off the record, we share whatever we can.

In general, we know that many of you reading this are likely disappointed with the reveals. In the case of The Vintage Collection, Hasbro announced 3 items. This is certainly a very far cry from how things were in the past. Long gone are the days when several waves of figures would be announced at once. But two things have changed dramatically in recent times. The 3.75" collector-focused line has been cut to something like 25% of what it was in the heyday as far as annual volume of offerings. Today it seems maybe we'll get 15-20 basic figures, 2-3 vehicles, and an exclusive or two. But also, years ago you pretty much had NYTF, SDCC, and an occasional Celebration thrown in. These days, Hasbro has made a business decision to be a presence at many more events, both physical and virtual, throughout the year. In any given year, there may be:

New York Toy Fair
Home Entertainment (Release of Blu-Ray)
May the Fourth
Star Wars Celebration
HASCON
Fan Expo Canada
D23
Unboxing Toy Convention
San Diego Comic Con
New York Comic Con
Force Friday (if a new media launch)
Paris Comic Con
MCM Comic Con London
Manga Barcelona
Lucca Comics and Games
Dortmund Comic Con

Yeah. That's a lotta things. So while Hasbro might throw a little more weight behind the tentpole events like NYTF and SDCC, we're just not going see more than 2-3 TVC reveals at any one event. To expect much more is to set oneself up for guaranteed disappointment. The bright side is that rather than concentrated into just a couple of events per year, we get a near constant stream of reveals.

Personally, I feel leaks are also harming TVC. Leaks tend to reduce the impact of the reveals by changing the expectations in advance. If the rumors are accurate, then the thunder has been stolen, while inaccurate rumors tend to disappoint. For full disclosure, we value our partnership with Hasbro when it comes to invitations to events and previews, so we intentionally play by their rules. In all honestly, we might very well be partaking in spreading rumors and leaks if it weren't for that partnership. So by no means are we claiming that we wouldn't under different circumstances. But from our perspective, it just seems harmful to the overall health of the line.

Hasbro has publicly shared with fans that they have aimed for fewer repacks in the main line mix. This creates more desirable waves, but also fewer waves per year. Necessary repacks of main characters are currently reserved for the Fan Channel exclusives, and have zero impact on the main line. This is good news, as it allows consumers access to popular main characters without hurting hardcore collectors that are looking for more secondary or tertiary characters. The VC167 GNK Power Droid is an example of a tertiary character that we'll get very soon. It's an OT droid and an old fan favorite, while it satisfies the Original 92 crowd. We also know that Hasbro looks to get the most bang for their buck when they invest in new tooling. So re-issuing the Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight) from the SDCC Jedi Destiny 3-pack as VC175 is also very predictable, but we should nevertheless be happy that one of the best figures Hasbro has ever made is coming to the main line.

The Slave I re-issue may not be the most exciting release, but it makes sense as a vehicle that not only celebrates the 40th Anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, but also is connected to the DNA of The Mandalorian. Sure the price is about double what it was in 2013. Based on many factors that most of us couldn't possibly know (and yet will claim we do), the price in 2020 will be $150. Luke's Red Five X-Wing was just re-released at $99. Perhaps the Slave I is being produced in smaller numbers, or in the case the size of the item may be a factor, or perhaps the logistics cost more, or maybe the improved paint operations and addition of the vertical stand raise the price significantly. Whatever the reason, it seams crazy to believe that Hasbro would be trying purposely price something so poorly that it would fail.

From our conversations with the Hasbro team, we believe that TVC is in good hands. Corporate executives and accountants probably don't see the Star Wars 3.75" line the same way we do, but in many ways that's a good thing. Chris and I often joke that if left up to the input and desires of the hardcore fans, the line would collapse almost instantly. Hasbro listens to fan input, then meshes that information with heavy market research across a wide cross section of consumers, and then must pass their ideas through Lucasfilm. Not everything that we would like Hasbro to do can make it past those checkpoints, no matter how much we assume the idea is a no-brainer.

Bottom line is that there should be some things coming down the pike that will make fans very happy, but only if we can keep our unreasonable and outdated expectations under control. Otherwise, we're definitely going to be disappointed. And again, don't pay attention to all the rumors. Just saying.

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