1. It has been shown that art typically depicts the opposite of the social mood. When times are good, art depicts the deeper fears of mankind. When times are bad, art depicts hope for the future. In the case of Star Wars toys, does this trend hold? If so, what were some trends when times where bad and when times were good?

--Daniel

Today? We're in a rut. There's no real desire to escape it, and the line has been pretty samey for a few years.

A lot of toy lines reflect their time and audience. Playmobil famously was originally created to resemble kid drawings. The figures were simple, and they took notice of what kids drew - the humans had no noses or ears, because kids rarely drew noses or ears. Supposedly the early animals tended to follow a similar pattern, with simple horses that were basically stick figures. Kenner's figures weren't quite that simple - but they were fairly detailed for the day and were extremely functional and largely durable toys.

The Vintage Collection and The Black Series have no desire to express anything beyond "realistic articulated figure." If you go back to 1995, we've seen the items go from "buff toys for kids (that adults buy)" to slowly doing more detailed, realistic, and less insanely proportioned bodies. We've seen some weird detours too, but we have also seen signs of creativity. In the 2002-2004 era prices decreased and we saw the first real surge in action features as well as huge accessories. Some figures like Luminara Unduli were basically statues - but stunning. And in the same year we also got a great Bespin Luke with magnet hand, swinging action features, a big antenna, and a bacta tourniquet plus a metal hilt lightsaber. You could be surprised. I am very rarely surprised by any of the current collector figures. They're better than ever, but it's not like a droid dome will make a clicky noise or anything will light up. There are no buttons or switches. They just pose.

I'd say that a generation is desperately clinging on to one interpretation of the past and is acting like it's the way it always was and always will be. There's a chance things could be better if adult fans were receptive to more variety in the online comment sections, but the commenter class is pretty stuck on articulation above all else. In 2007 we might get a figure with a part of a build-a-Cantina-bar, or a moisture vaporator, or a drum for seven bucks. They didn't all have knee or ankle joints, but they were all $7. There was room to innovate and surprise, and go beyond the standard narrow constraints of the increasingly ironic coffin bubble where features went to die.

With The Black Series I would love to see something surprising - but I don't know that the collectors would stand for it. We've seen slow improvement in articulation and deco over 12 years of product, and the fans seem to like it. I doubt they'd want action features, and playsets/vehicles are cost prohibitive. Since the audience is mostly older fans - teens and adults - there may not be much incentive to rethink it or change much. I think a 6-inch figure with some sort of electronic lightsaber would be really cool.

On the other hand LEGO is wide open to anything, which is reflected in their sets and remix lines. It's hard to imagine Hasbro making an X-Wing with TIE Fighter wings slapped on it, but we almost got it in the unproduced Amp'd line. I wonder if it's the age of the customer or just fear of angering internet commenters, but I would absolutely say we're at a point now where there seems to be a fear to experiment. And since super-real paint and tons of articulation mean higher prices, Hasbro has been happy to keep that rut going.

The kid lines have been bouncing around sizes, features, and prices since the scrubbing away of 3 3/4-inch a few years ago but nothing has really hit yet. I would be inclined to blame a lack of cohesion. I think if Lucasfilm and Hasbro stuck to a single message (like "just new movie" or "just The Mandalorian") kids might be be more interested in the toys. Hasbro tried doing more vehicles with Mission Fleet, but it wasn't really a line that orbited a single planet either. Having one line "focus" on a dozen movies and several TV shows is asking a lot from the audience. I'm not even saying to make it based on anything I want - if Hasbro wanted a year of Andor, by gum that would have been interesting.

If you look at Star Wars since 1995, you usually got a package refresh or theme change every 18-24 months. The Vintage Collection seems to really have smothered that. I'd like to see them try something else for a year or two... but bring it back after a short break. Just give the system a chance to reboot for a while, as many customers can't seem to tell what's new or old and stale if the packaging looks the same for seven years.

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2. Is it just me or do the Haslab gunship pilots look a little thick around the middle? I know those guys don’t get a lot of exercise sitting in a cockpit all day, but that seems to be taking things a bit too far in terms of capturing realism.
--Derek

I clicked over to Wookieepedia. Other than some scuffing, Hasbro's Clone Pilots seem almost exactly the same proportions. I remember thinking the 2003 super-articulated Clones were a little thicker too, so it seemed about right for the Pilots.... but as you can see, side-by-side, they're pretty much the same.

Good job, Hasbro!

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FIN

Crowdfunds continue! Mattel has one and Hasbro just finished one, with another running for a while.

Mattel's Snake Lair rocketed toward its goal thanks to a punitive free gift - you're denied a figure if you don't pledge in the first two weeks. I think this is a costly mistake. This can be proven by Hasbro's success with the G.I. Joe Snow C.A.T. which struggled to fund until the final few days... and then sold almost half the massive run in the last 5 days. Hasbro's "carrot" approach paid off big, whereas Mattel's "stick" is likely to result in fewer fans pledging now that it's lacking a figure.

Hasbro's Republic Gunship remake continues along, slowly adding more pledges. If the Joe listing was any example it's entirely possible we'll see a surge of interest if this funds and hits a stretch goal (or two.) My problem is I don't know that it'll enhance my collecting experience. I have a lot of my big ships in a room and I just went in there to compare my big Millennium Falcon to The Ghost, and I've not really seen what's better about The Ghost despite being twice the price. The Falcon has more features, fudged proportions in a pleasing way, and has an escape ship that is scaled to work with most figures. The Ghost can't fit anybody but Hera in that escape ship and the seats are all a little small... and there are no firing rockets, no lights and sounds, and little in the way of sitting on furniture play. As far as I can tell the Gunship doesn't expand beyond being a bigger version of what we've got. Thankfully a lot of fans just want a Gunship, which should hopefully get more interest to it as it moves along.

Geek Dad Life is watching the campaign and charting its progress. We're about halfway through, and it's interesting (frustrating) to see hte Cantina's shortened campaign likely cost me a werewolf. The Gunship gets the benefit of a full funding period, and with about three weeks to go I assume there are chances for people to reconsider - myself included. Right now I'm kind of struggling to give Hasbro $450 + tax + shipping + handling fees when I know I won't ever play with this thing more than the Gunships I already own... and don't play with. Is it worth it? I'm not sure. I didn't give The Ghost a lot of attention either - three of the four figures are still carded, I just used Retro Ahsoka figures so far.

While there are patterns, and spikes, we can see crowdfunding is an unpredictable game. Will people show up for everything? Maybe, but in this economy it's a lot tougher to look at everything and say "money is no object." After the Gunship, I think we're all expecting a Death Star of some sort (as discussed last week) and I anticipate the amount of nitpicking of any expression at any price will be endless. It's too big, it's too small, it's too cheap, it's too expensive, I anticipate every possible complaint will be made on both ends of any possible spectrum. But after that... then what?

Then I think we're going to struggle to agree. I don't think a U-Wing or any Disney-era streaming vehicle that exists solely on the small screen will find success. The Razor Crest was top dog, and The Ghost got to cash in nostalgia and a new series. That kind of synergy is rare, and there will likely not be another ship which will have fans demanding it any time soon. There are a lot of things I would not mind seeing, but can Hasbro sell 8,000 or more Rebel Transports? I don't know. Will fans accept a Sandcrawler that's not bigger than a Power Wheels car? Probably not. As an ex-The Black Series fan, I think the coolest thing would be a 6-inch scale AT-ST. But that's me.

--Adam Pawlus

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