Tag Archives: collecting

Hasbro + Retail Partner Exclusives: A Recipe for Disaster

Hasbro’s U.S. retailer partnerships with Walmart, Target and Amazon for exclusives are synonymous in the collecting community for being an absolute joke in terms of execution, reliability, ridiculously short preorder windows, and unknown delivery dates.

Sadly, nothing of which I’ve listed above is new to long-time collectors, especially within the past few years, and personally, I feel only so much can be blamed on the lingering effects of the pandemic. More and more collectors are throwing up their arms with the “work” that goes into their hobby, skipping preorders completely, and rolling the dice to see if they can find it at retail later — if at all.

Also, why does Hasbro issue press releases with definitive preorder dates/times only to have retailer do their own thing and launch them (fully or in part) 5-7 hours early? Is the communication between retailers and Hasbro that “off”? Why do new orders (not just Walmart) ship often before preorders that were placed months prior? Why does there have to be technological hoops for customers to jump through in order for us to give those partners our money? We won’t even get into the shipping issues as we all know the greatest offender in that regard.

These days with such long lead-times from preorder to release date (if known), some have forgotten products are even coming or that they were even announced at all. Plus, with rising prices on everything (not just toys), many have succumbed to the fact that Star Wars collecting at its most basic level is more hassle than it is worth and is rarely a “positive preorder experience”.

Episode 9 TVC “Wave 2” Orders Arriving from Amazon

If you pre-ordered the latest TVC offerings via Amazon, you might be receiving them this week, so keep an eye on your inboxes for shipping notices.

Personal Note:  Hopefully it won’t be long before these begin showing up at retail too!  The more of a visual presence Star Wars action figures of all scales have in stores and in front of consumers, the better.  Kids aren’t going to ask their parents for toys that they don’t ever see… the hobby always does better when it appeals to a broader audience than just adult collectors who have to resort to ordering online.

Older Star Wars Stock Galore

Burlington Coat Factory stores are expanding their toy selection as they gear up for the holiday shopping season, and you may come across the Solo Falcon for the low price of $22.99, and Solo Tie Fighter for $9.99.  Thanks to forum member Spooky for the heads up!

In addition, vikingrobot reports that Five Below stores are starting to get in deluxe vehicles (Rogue One packaging) for the low price of $5.00.

New Galaxy of Adventures Line – Your Thoughts

While new figures from both The Vintage Collection and The Black Series seem to be getting quickly purchased at retail, Hasbro’s new Galaxy of Adventures figures seem to be sticking around longer.

However, the high quality on these might surprise you, especially given the price point of $9.99.  Head on over to the forums for a closer look of the one figure I’ve purchased so far, and share your thoughts.

Personal Note:  I love the Jet Trooper figure.  I only wish these were in 3.75″ scale, and we’d seen this type of quality the past few years instead of the 5poa approach.  I’m not interested in a new scale, so I doubt I’ll latch onto this line – but they seem to be very well made and a good value.  I just hope it’s enough to start getting kids interested again.

They don’t make X-Wings like they used to…

Hopefully this is an isolated case, but Yakface staffer Jodo received his new TVC Poe’s X-Wing today, and the back engines were severely warped.  Mine also came in the mail today, and didn’t have this problem.   Several pics of both of our X-Wings are posted in the forums.

Anyone else noticing any quality control issues with this X-Wing?  Let us know, and what your overall thoughts are for this new ship if you’ve gotten your hands on one by now.