1. So it seems the remote AT-ACT was a disappointment for retailers and is already on clearance. I was lucky enough to get it for the clearance price, and it seems $150.00 is a really good price for this toy. Do you think this will be the end of Hasbro's big ticket vehicles?
--Bruce

It would be shortsighted to declare this a success or a failure, as we don't know by what metrics Hasbro judges things. By all accounts, the AT-ACT was sold online, at Toys R Us, and a small number of Target stores - possibly a couple of Walmarts - and was marked down in under 30 days. This most likely has less to do with its relative success than it does Target's knee-jerk reaction to mark down things immediately if a "season" comes to an end around a new aisle set date.

Most people - myself included - didn't much like the AT-ACT. I liked the Millennium Falcon from The Force Awakens, but it wasn't as good as the other ones and it was expensive. People complained about the Republic Attack Shuttle and MTT. So from where I sit, all I hear are people who are mad we aren't getting Jabba's Sail Barge or a Death Star - even when Hasbro gives us a good new big vehicle, its greatest crime is often not being something else. Given the proclivity to only make stuff for anniversaries or new movie releases, I can't envision any scenario in which we'll get new vehicles if they're not part of the Disney canon's marketing efforts.

You're going to see cheap AT-ACTs around now - it's been devalued, people aren't buying, and that's a real shame in the cosmic sense, because no toy should be half price within a month. You just make your early adopters feel like chumps and you train everyone else to wait. The $100+ price point has had a lot of problems with Collectory Hasbro properties this year, so I'm banking that you'll see a lot less of it. Until manufacturing techniques change, ay least, because the AT-ACT is pretty cool in the $100-$150 range but $300 is a PS4.

 

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2. What are the chances we might see a new OT X-Wing (either in the smaller Class II line or in the same line as the TFA X-Wings)? That classic ship really needs to be seen again.
--Damian

I would've guessed we would have seen it by now, and we haven't. Seeing that Poe's (not very big) X-Wing was $50 in 2015, a downsized, cheaper version seems impossible. Unless, of course, Hasbro gutted features like landing gear, a pack-in figure, and the rocket launcher. I'd be OK with that. But yeah, I don't think we're going to see one until there's another Rebellion-heavy movie, and when they do I hope we get any of the weird new paint jobs we're starting to see in the movies. (Hey, if Hot Wheels can give us one...)

As with before, we're pretty much at the mercy of the needs of the marketing for whatever new movie or TV show. If you really want one, it's time for fans to start clamoring for "Rogue Squadron: The Series" to follow-up Rebels.

3. Have you had any conversations with Hasbro lately on their thoughts on the "success" of Rogue One vehicles?

It doesn't seem that vehicles are nearly as high priority for Hasbro as they have been in the past. I for one love them and think they do a pretty decent job. However I am concerned that the distribution of their vehicles this fall will lead them to believe that nobody wants the product.

I shop a lot of different Target stores and this is what I saw (and didn't see):

Never saw a Rogue One assortment of Class 1 vehicles stocked. It seems their back stock of TFA vehicles prevented these from every making it to the pegs.
Didn't carry Hera's A-wing as a product in store or online (I think this might be a first for Hasbro's 3.75" line).
AT-ACT had very limited distribution starting mid-December, followed by broad 50% sales after Christmas.
Easily found ample stock the TIE Striker and U-Wing.

Maybe things were better at TRU and Wal-Mart, but I would assume Target is a significant part of Hasbro's distribution channel. (I did manage to track down the Class 1 Imperial Speeder and A-Wing at TRU).

I'd be interested in your thoughts on if we're seeing retailers consciously pull back on vehicles, or if Hasbro intentionally limited sales channel activity. I'm guessing if major retailers like Target don't stock segments of your product then that will lead to the eventual end of that segment.
--Dave

As alluded to above, "success" is hard to nail down. Generally speaking if Hasbro is out of stock and chasing product, that's a runaway hit - even if there's product in stores. I don't know if Hasbro is sitting on any inventory right now, but I can say I didn't feel any real heat with its vehicle product over the last season. (New production of existing, clearance toys should be some sort of mortal sin.) I seemed to see Toys "R" Us' TIE Striker move quite well, and Hera's A-Wing is anecdotally in short supply across the board. (It's popular, I saw lots of them, others may not have seen it at all.)

I don't think the current methodology of the toy industry - new movie at X-mas means no time for kids to see the movie and ask for it before the heavy markdowns start - is a good move. Hasbro could have Force Friday focus on the previous year (or saga), and ship the "next year" movie line around Christmas to keep things from having to be marked down immediately. The way Target and Walmart do business do not support December blockbusters. I'd much rather see a "sneak preview" wave in September to ramp stuff up while they celebrate new figures based on existing characters leading up to a second December launch for just the new movie... but that's me. I want a year-long line, and not one that demands I buy into the new movie before the final cut has been delivered.

As I'm fond of writing, Hasbro developed Rogue One to be a short line. Remember, Episode VIII was originally developed for a May release, so Rogue One was designed to have a 6-month sell-and-replace window. That didn't happen. As such, there was little reason to go whole hog making an entire movie line, and if you look at The Force Awakens it wasn't a heck of a lot better. I'm not concerned about vehicle distribution yet - I'd be more concerned that Hasbro is looking at its spreadsheet and saying "Oh, let's axe anything over fifty bucks."

One last thought I should leave you with might make you a little angry. Remember what sells - it's not what you, the long-term collector, necessarily want. The action figure world has been divided up into multiple strains since the 1990s, so back then it was "figures and vehicles and micro stuff" and now you've also got 6-inch and 20-inch and two flavors of 3 3/4-inch figures - three if you count Disney's droid line. This makes vehicles something of a lesser pillar in the tower that is the line, and things like lightsabers generate a lot more revenue for Hasbro than vehicles. Action figure toys aren't a hall of fame, they're a product of a business that wants your money. And most of that money is going to come from Bladebuilders, which I'd wager few to none of you are buying right now.

 

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I know you don't want to read about Patreon stuff, but it's not like there was a lot happening this week that I really wanted to talk about. I'm glad the digital Carrie Fisher thing is hopefully never going to be discussed again regarding the sequel trilogy. Glad to see Galen Erso action figures are a-coming. There's a new U-J3RK5 record I'm dying to get. There's not a lot left that we know coming for Star Wars, so hopefully Hasbro will have new "classic" wares to show come Toy Fair in just a month.

--Adam Pawlus

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