Would someone please explain to me why Hasbro can’t pick up their product and deliver it to open ports in another part of the USA? Why do they HAVE to use the West Coast? Is seems Hasbro is content with letting the Star Wars toy line die a slow agonizing death.

Its frustrating to see them struggle with the line like this. There is several really good fan sites that could do polls on what customers want or would like to see to help them. At least have a suggestion box. You make a good point on them banking on the theatrical release of TPM 3D…how come we all saw that not panning out but them? Someone other than a bean counter that has a real passion for Star Wars 3 3/4 figures needs to be leading the show.

Well put. Your point about sometimes there being no good options should be shouted from the rooftops, and not just when it comes to Star Wars figures.
One of the roots of our current despair, or at least 2012 & 2013’s, was the major over-estimate of how well the 3-D release of EI would do. Pegs got clogged, corporate buyers got turned off, and entire lines of Star Wars figures (Droid Factory 2 and the Yoda packaged stuff) met early demises. While I don’t put too much of the blame for this on Hasbro, you would think that there would have been some corporate memory for the disaster that was the 1999-2000 EI product line. Hasbro has some responsibility (to itself and its shareholders) to get its sales forecasts right.
At least it is unlikely that TPM will see wide-theater release again. Please feel free to point out a different event, but as far as I can recall, that movie has led to the two biggest retail debacles in Hasbro’s 20 years with the license.

The investor presentation’s slide about TBS “Appealing to Fans of All Ages” – that has to be code for, “High price point stuff that will appeal to people who spend liberally on Star Wars figures.” Right? Right?!? To get people to drop $14 on a figure (lucky you if taxes don’t add a full dollar to your $12.99 purchase), there has to be quality beyond 5 POA. So I think that a line of SA figures will continue. That said, your concern about the basic line having 5 POA could prove prescient. As though you felt a disturbance in the Force.

When the POTF2 line came out, I would be appalled when figures were worse than their vintage counterparts (cough, Emperor’s Royal Guard, cough). Full-on raging fulminations. If you want to add specks of spittle flying about and tufts of hair being torn out to your mental image of this scene, you might not be that far off.
So I get where you’re coming from on concern about the 5 POA figures. The Endor Leia is going to be definitively worse than the figure that came out in the mid-’80’s. But I’ve found myself in enough no-good-option business situations over the past 20 years and have developed some sympathy for Hasbro’s Star Wars team.

Overall 2014 was better. 2014 the paint apps did improve, but distribution was still a problem. At $11 a figure I would like to be able to pick and choose at retail, but that is hardly an option. I buy my cases online and get stuck with what I get. My perception of what is happening, and I hope I’m wrong, is that Hasbro is moving forward with 5 POA figures as their base figure. I also hope that 5 POA is not the model they plan to use with TFA figures as well. I guess I should have made that clear from the beginning.

Well played.
But on a serious topic, do you think that the 3.75″ line was better in 2013 or 2014? I lean towards 2014 since I liked the Black Series figure mix more. But I can see arguments for 2013.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love collecting Star Wars figures. But as a collector, I hate seeing where the line is heading, and wish there was a way for our voice to be heard other than “voting with dollars” on what we think.

I’m right there with you on your first paragraph Doog!

As far as the second part, yes I have been able to find basically all the figures that have been released in the past year and a half with much persistence and determination. I can’t claim that distribution has not been an issue. But is it Hasbro “incompetence” or is it the retailers not believing that Star Wars (or action figures for that matter) are all that viable in the lull between TCW ending and the dawn of the Sequel Trilogy? Could Hasbro have done more to ensure less of a slow down. Probably, but there is so much more going on here than most care to consider. Stifling rises in production costs coupled with a dramatic drop in interest from the market equals higher retails which circles back to even fewer sales and corporate toy buyers for big retail pushing back. Option 2 is cutting expense from the product to get the retails down which results in a toy that is “less” than what collectors are used to and expect. There is no easy out. Would Hasbro have any interest in producing a niche adult collectibles line of 3.75″ figures at a much higher pricepoint to be sold strictly online or through comic shops? Because with the way things are, I don’t see big box retail supporting that type of thing too deeply.

As far as the paint apps. Yes, I see the problems there as well. I don’t think we are back 100% to where we were pre-2013. Despite the denials, I still have a strong feeling this is directly related to getting the production costs down. Very unfortunate and I do wish there was a way around it. Personally, I have been able to find most every figure with good paint over time and not just buying the first example I see.

You started it.