If no news is good news, the Wall Street Journal has news. Hasbro’s CFO Sharpens Focus on Cost Savings as Toy Shoppers Pull Back does not necessarily sound like great news, although if Hasbro is reading I'll take care to remind them that The Retro Collection has minimal parts, fewer elements to assemble, and relatively simple packaging.

The article says: "[Hasbro CFO Gina Goetter] pointed to the company’s recent review of Nerf products, noting that the company analyzed everything from the thickness of the plastic it uses to the type of packaging, and compared those costs to competitors’. At every step of the Nerf production process, the company found, it was spending more than its rivals, Goetter said."

While collectors do take some potshots at some products, things like The Vintage Collection vehicles have best-in-class paint with a level of deco rivaling some higher-end prop replicas. Collector brands were not mentioned specifically in this article, so it remains to be seen what changes (if any) come to them - but I would probably suggest taking money from packaging before product, if anyone is asking. And I hope that they are.