What? No hat on Finn? Forget it then!
LOL!

It would’ve actually sold these.

haaa no way lol. Just a BB-8 glued on. Finn included (no hat on). $54

The Disney Tax is real!

OK, I can’t verify that with any firsthand knowledge, but it sure feels like a real thing. I also can’t say how much profit margin Hasbro bakes into each toy they sell to retailers, but I doubt it varies much from most other big toy manufacturers. My guess would be somewhere in the ballpark of 50%. What I can say is that most retailers price their toys at around 40 – 60% above what they buy them for. This is why they can afford to clearance the remnants at such deep discount. They’ve already made up for it on the front end. Now before everyone gets all up in arms, this is not something exclusive to Star Wars, Hasbro or even toys. It happens across all consumer goods, albeit at differing rates.

PREACH IT!

I don’t think the adult collectors care as much if the pack in “makes sense”. We just want something cool and new. But alas, these things are destined for retail shelves, not just some collectibles website, so making sense to the customer is part of the development process.

I take your point that it is hard for longtime collectors to shell out for the ever increasing prices on vehicles we already have, but I also don’t ever recall, in all my collecting years, Hasbro giving a “discount” on a repacked vehicle simply because the tooling already existed. The bigger problem is what you mention, there are fewer adult collectors and fewer new kids who are interested. The aging collector is the “problem” so to speak. Back when our collections were half the size they are today, we had less issue with a second purchase of vehicle to bolster our armies, now we’ve become far more particular on what we’ll spend our money on and make room for.

Probably right. Way to go, Debbie Downer.

Oh, I SO want that BBSHD figure! I can’t even find that character listed/shown in any of the RO reference books.

Now to be a Debbie Downer. I can’t see Hasbro packing a figure with a vehicle for which it is not the pilot. Maybe if it is a second pack-in in addition to the pilot, but not as the sole pack-in.