Brick And Mortar Still Matters

This is stemming from a conversation in our forums. One of the things I noticed at Toy Fair is almost a renewed energy with Habsro as they embrace the post Toys R Us world, and furthermore, the post-retail world. This is evidenced by the coordinated roll out of pre-orders across multiple e-tail outlets, to include Hasbro's own direct to consumer portal, Hasbro Pulse, in almost real time as the product was announced at Toy Fair. These are good things. Great things. AMAZING things! But it also has the affect of "preaching to the choir.” Only those who follow the line and monitor fan sites closely will know about this.

It is our contention that there is a much bigger audience for Star Wars collectibles than just those who visit and follow fan sties. Sometimes we think that we represent the entirety of the community, but we don't. Whenever I speak to a fellow consumer in the toy aisle, I would say it's a coin flip as to whether or not they are a fully informed collector. When TBS 3.75" Phase I hit, I talked to a collector who was loading up on the figures in Walmart, and he had no idea that the Vintage Collection had existed just a few months prior. For a large swath of the would-be collecting community, old-timey brick and mortar collecting isn't just "an" option, it's "the" option. If they don't see the product in stores, they don't know it exists. Unfortunately, this requires a constantly refreshed inventory. From Hasbro's perspective, I get it. Trying to distribute a relatively low volume collectible through the few remaining behemoth retailers is anything but practical. It's like trying to steer an 18 wheeler by blowing on it. But there is one thing Hasbro could do.

During the POTF2 days, and perhaps later, Hasbro would engage in "buy-back" programs with their retail partners whenever brick and mortar ground to a halt. We hope Hasbro would consider this again. The Walmart store pictured above (and below) have had 30+ wave one figures stuck on their pegs since Christmas 2018. If nothing is done, they will still be sitting on 30+ wave one figures come Christmas 2019. Aside from the First Order Stormtroopers, none of this product is going to move. This isn't an isolated case. This is endemic of Walmart stores nationwide.

Wave 4 is the most exciting 3.75" wave in a long time. Seemingly no e-tail site can keep it in stock. If we can only get it into stores, it will do wonders to preach to the unconverted (to continue the metaphor from the opening paragraph).

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