Why I Live In Fear Of A Parallel Discount Line

I didn't plan to write this today, but Mr. Nomadscout is screwing me worse then a car dealership repair shop. THEY WERE ALL TWIXES! We typically keep the Friday fare here a little lighter, but I didn't have any of such material kicking around in the old cabeza when I was pressed into service as a contributor today. This is the only subject I have been noodling that I knew I'd be able to crank out in under three hours. I have another topic that I think will be good for discussion, but I have to do some photography first. Hopefully I'll have that ready next week. I'll take the photographs tomorrow evening while I also might be photographing a Saturday review.

So as you all assuredly know, there is a limited articulation (but more than 5POA) 4" budget line running concurrent with the Vintage Collection. I believe it was first called "Epic Heroes" and is now called "Epic World of Action". The figures have reduced paint applications. The vehicles, as near as I can tell, might have zero paint applications. Everything appears to be cast in color. The figures are retailing for $7.99, and the the traditional "Class I" vehicles, such as speeder bikes, come in at $19.99. Both the price point, and reduced quality are clearly intended for a younger market. All of that is fine and good. Nothing wrong with an affordable line aimed at kids.

What concerns me is that some adult collectors are dipping into this line too. I need to stress that if you are buying product from this line, I am in absolutely no way being critical of you. Everyone should buy what they want to buy. I keep sealed samples of the army builder 4-packs in the white boxes. Who the hell am I to judge what other people collect? That fact that some adult collectors are buying this line is not problematic in a vacuum. The reason that it's worrisome is that the amount of adult Star Wars 3.75"/4" collectors feels like it's at an all time low. We're like the Jedi. We once ruled the galaxy. Now we're reduced to a disorganized band of Order 66 survivors.

The temporary pause of the line in 2015 savaged our numbers, which were already shrinking. The Black Series, and The Retro Collection siphoned off another batch of collectors. We simply can't afford any further fracturing of the market. We live in an era where it feels like we need a majority of the TVC community to buy in on a figure to make it a success. If a Vintage Collection SM-33 is released, how much of its potential market is going to be lost to those that consider the Epic World SM-33 "good enough"? I know it's a slightly different scale, but the "good enough" crowd doesn't seem to be bothered by such things. The POTF2 Ewok Leia is effectively a different scale. She translates to about 6' tall, but some are fine living with that release.

I'm convinced that the reason we don't have a super articulated Baze or Saw is because the 5POA releases ate up too much of the potential market when those characters had the maximum viability. Seemingly no collector passes on a Vintage Collection figure because it's too articulated or too well deco'ed. If the TVC version of a character hits the market first, it maximizes its customer pool. If the budget figure comes to market it first, most collectors will pass because it's under-articulated and under-detailed. But some won't. Will they consider that character "checked off" in their collection? If so, a subsequent TVC release now won't capture the entire market for that character.

I have no idea how to quantify this percentage of market loss. Maybe I'm worrying about something that could happen, but probably won't (it's what we software developers do). Regardless, I think Hasbro should take this into account when line planning. If there are plans to release a figure in both lines, the line that relies on adult collectors needs to hit the market first. That is the safest path. Lastly, I did buy that Mandalorian Swoop Bike. I need a Swoop in my collection, and that's the only one available. I will do a "Special Review" of it once it ships. But if and when a TVC one is released, I will toss the plastic fantastic Epic World version into the circular file.

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