Kenner / Hasbro Collecting > Vintage

10,000 plus Vintage Kenner Items on Ebay!

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Tamer:
The house is quiet this morning and I finished my web work a biit early and before I started on my honey do list I came across a Facebook post by Justin from Yakface about the possibility of 5 points of articulation in the new Episode VII Action Figures. I have to be honest with our focus here on full poseability and playability I know there will always be bits and pieces we can use from just about any action figure on a new custom, but from a strictly collecting focus I have seriously thought about forgoing the new Hasbro lines altogether and refocusing on the toys that started it all for me. I then made the mistake of looking at this on ebay:

Star Wars Vintage Kenner Link on Ebay


I mean some of these prices are far superior to the average ten dollar price or more for the modern figures at the same level of articulation. I mean we have seen Wookieballs and other folks just have great fun customizing vintage figures using new parts (Ray has a great 12 inch OTC Boba going on now using a vintage base) and I had wondered if any folks were like me and considering this? I know we all go through our collecting refocuses every now and then, but would you ever consider giving up modern figures to go back to vintage Kenner exclusively? I would love to hear your why and why not!

darthdaddy:
As a parent of a kid who is ravenous for all things Star Wars, I am privy to the inside perspective on what kids want and it isn't 5 POA. The low price point benefits the parents not the kids. The kids want super articulation. I can't tell you how many times my 10 year old teased me about the quality of figures that I grew up with. 5 POA is for parents who have a restricted budget, but still want to buy toys for their kids. It has nothing to do with kids not caring about articulation. That is not accurate information at all.

As far as children's drop in interest when it comes to the Star Wars line, I think that has more to do with Hasbro's character selection. As a parent I can tell you now that young kids don't want OTC characters. My kid isn't as interested in a Luke, Leia, Han and Chewbacca. He has even limited interest in the prequel characters.  The majority of his interest falls in the Clone Wars line. Clone Wars is THIS generation of children's Star Wars, and yet Ahsoka figures were ALWAYS in short supply. The Star Wars line was doing wonderfully when the focus was on creating new product for Clone Wars. Kids were always in the toy aisles. Once Clone Wars was abandoned, sales tanked.

I'm sorry but Hasbro has to change with the times and stop promoting toys that would have sold well in the 70's or 80's. They also need to only release figures from the Prequel Trilogy in limited numbers. Those toys are for a generation that doesn't have the interest enough in toys to make the investment. Not unless they are collectors. ROTS came out 10 years ago. The kids who grew up with the prequels are in late adolescence or in their 20's. They aren't the toy buying demographic.

Clone Wars characters ALWAYS should have been the focus. At least until REBELS comes out next year. It is time to put the Prequels and OTC to rest. Kids don't care as much about these characters anymore. It isn't their Star Wars.  If Hasbro wants to release action figures for the films that have been released so far, it needs to be in collector focused lines, not kid focused lines.

If I were Hasbro, I'd concentrate on figures for the Rebels TV show and on the new movies only, and put all OTC and PTC figures to rest when it comes to selling them in the big chain stores. Hasbro should start a collector's subscription line for OTC & PTC releases so collectors can fill in their Cantina diorama or Jabba Playset. Kids don't care about these films the way we do. It's not their Star Wars.

When you look at the releases on pegs right now, it's obvious adults are in charge of the releases and they are heavily biased by their own interpretation of what Star Wars is. Not even the grown up collectors want a 20th release of Luke or Han Solo as an action figure. Especially with 5 POA.  Hasbro is out of touch.  There is a reason 5 POA figures are already on clearance.

Ideally I'd go for Legacy/ ROTS articulation for all action figure lines, but no Vintage hip articulation unless it's a Jedi or a limber bounty hunter.

Wreckage:
I've been tempted to hit up the 5POA Phase 1 clone Trooper to fill out the troop compartments in a pair of AT-TEs without having to use any of my better articulated clones. That seems to be the one that is always missing, and I still don't want to pay $6 for him. 

Tamer:
Great points by both of you, but would you give up the modern stuff to go back to vintage Kenner?

darthdaddy:

--- Quote from: Tamer on November 10, 2013, 04:02:06 AM ---Great points by both of you, but would you give up the modern stuff to go back to vintage Kenner?

--- End quote ---

No way.  If the future of figures is 5 POA, Hasbro lost another collector.  Elias said he won't collect anymore.

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