Howard Chan Interview

[Knightstalker]

I’ve wanted a Dark Empire Luke for years, bring that on Howard!

Same, loved his look in that series.

 

[Cap'n Cook]

Bespin.

With Leia ready and Han in production also.

I meant it could be a mistranslation.

“Ep5 Han, Lando.”

The comma could very well be a pause. Could be Donald Glover Lando for all we know.

 

[Otomofan]

I have never bought a Hot Toys SW product.

If they make an actual Dark Empire Luke, I'd preorder first day.

I don't think there's a chance in hell though, but it's nice to know that there are still people out there that love the series as much as I did.

 

[Prime Clone]

I recall a Q&A with Howard back before Hot Toys got the full SW licence, when they’d only done Bespin Luke.

Bespin Han, Anakin and Padme were supposed to be the next figures. Not a lot has changed!

 

[Prime Clone]

I have never bought a Hot Toys SW product.

If they make an actual Dark Empire Luke, I'd preorder first day.

I don't think there's a chance in hell though, but it's nice to know that there are still people out there that love the series as much as I did.

Yes, Dark Empire is the thing I most miss from the EU. Even Lucas said he would have done something like that had he done a direct sequel to the OT.

You never know, it wouldn’t be HT’s first non-canon figure.

 

[darth toffeeman]

Yes, Dark Empire is the thing I most miss from the EU. Even Lucas said he would have done something like that had he done a direct sequel to the OT.

You never know, it wouldn’t be HT’s first non-canon figure.

I class the Hot Toys Squad Leader Stormtrooper as the first non Canon figure tbh. A dark empire Luke, perhaps with the EU 'force projection' head would be great.

 

[Hoody999]

Yes, Dark Empire is the thing I most miss from the EU. Even Lucas said he would have done something like that had he done a direct sequel to the OT.

You never know, it wouldn’t be HT’s first non-canon figure.

Is Holiday Special Boba Fett canon ?

BTW that thing must be selling in huge numbers.......

 

[Prime Clone]

Is Holiday Special Boba Fett canon ?

BTW that thing must be selling in huge numbers.......

No, that was the main one I was thinking of, along with a few non-canon Stormtrooper variants.

Incidentally, Sideshow did quite a few EU figures that are now non-canon.

 

[NDSam]

Is Holiday Special Boba Fett canon ?

BTW that thing must be selling in huge numbers.......

Haha Yeah i would love to see the big numbers EU releases would pull down compared to the OT. ST too for that matter. I think HT are really onto something with their hi tech way of gauging interest.

They can produce whatever figures they want and it is great for fans of those other lines but from a business perspective it doesn't make since not to focus on the OT.

 

[Malgus]

Such BS. They use the con to gauge interest? In what way? How many pic tags they get on IG?

It’s not like they take polls or are on the floor engaging fans. Hell, the SIdeshow reps were barely on the floor this year. And previous years, you’d ask them questions about the likelihood of figures coming out and they had no clue.

It all boils down to what HC wants.

Exactly. They make what they want to make. There is no way HT employees are at these conventions conducting polls or reading English speaking forums to determine what to make.

 

[S. Griffin]

Gauging interest at cons?? Sideshow team at these shows don’t know **** about the HT releases or teases displayed at THEIR booth let let alone any of THEIR protos. At Celebration seems like they’re just trained to pitch the proto unpainted R2 (new at the time) and the demo pieces you could play with. Asked them about Tank Trooper and other Rogue One figures and they just gave me derpy answers.
The poll Hoody(?) brought up would give a proper sense of what collectors truly want. Internet HT... use it!

I've been told a few times at SDCC when talking to Sideshow folks that there is some communication before the Con with Hot Toys about what they're bringing (more like how many figures and how big they are than specifically what) and where stuff will go, but it's typically with the higher ups, who generally aren't at the show. Hot Toys brings the figures themselves, sets up themselves with little communication with the Sideshow people on the convention floor, then the Hot Toys people go back to China until the Con is over, and they come back and pack up and take their protos and stuff back with them, again with very little communication with Sideshow's staff.

 

[Getter Dragon]

EU figures will sell WAY BETTER than anything from the ST. ST merch is dead in the water.

 

[Hoody999]

EU figures will sell WAY BETTER than anything from the ST. ST merch is dead in the water.

You think ? I thought us here as Star Wars fans were the niche group. But EU would be the niche in a niche.

 

[Johnny Utah]

The only ST figure that interested me enough to buy was Old Han.

 

[Jayrod88]

ESB Han and Lando?? Yes!!!
I want Hot toys to bust out some Cantina/Jabba figures, but first, Lets Get Some Ewoks!!!

 

[Getter Dragon]

You think ? I thought us here as Star Wars fans were the niche group. But EU would be the niche in a niche.

I read an interview with the CEO of Hasbro where he said Star Wars toy sales were well below expectations this past holiday season. And what SW toys were filling 99% of store shelves at that time? TLJ. Since Dec, I see TLJ/TFA toys on clearance on a regular basis, but good luck finding anything OT during a toyhunt. I've yet to see a vintage Hasbro Hoth Rebel Trooper in the wild, but pegs and pegs full of Rey, Jyn, Ducktrooper, Snoke, Kylo, etc. I truly believe consumers don't care much for Disney Star Wars.

On the other hand, anything OT sells. The PT (as bad as those movies are), has some very cool Star Wars designs and characters that people love and nostalgia is strong with the PT right now. EU fans are a pretty rabid group and I think they will slurp up any EU merch they see, ESPECIALLY now that the Disney ST is such a massive let down. I am not an EU fan, but I will readily admit that the EU provided OT Sequel storylines and characters that are way better than the hot garbage we got from Darth Kennedy and Johnson.

 

[morphosis]

I read an interview with the CEO of Hasbro where he said Star Wars toy sales were well below expectations this past holiday season. And what SW toys were filling 99% of store shelves at that time? TLJ. Since Dec, I see TLJ/TFA toys on clearance on a regular basis, but good luck finding anything OT during a toyhunt. I've yet to see a vintage Hasbro Hoth Rebel Trooper in the wild, but pegs and pegs full of Rey, Jyn, Ducktrooper, Snoke, Kylo, etc. I truly believe consumers don't care much for Disney Star Wars.

On the other hand, anything OT sells. The PT (as bad as those movies are), has some very cool Star Wars designs and characters that people love and nostalgia is strong with the PT right now. EU fans are a pretty rabid group and I think they will slurp up any EU merch they see, ESPECIALLY now that the Disney ST is such a massive let down. I am not an EU fan, but I will readily admit that the EU provided OT Sequel storylines and characters that are way better than the hot garbage we got from Darth Kennedy and Johnson.

Your story is a bit out of date. They explained why sales were low for TLJ and they actually picked up for Solo and their stock rose in the 2nd Quarter 2018.

TLJ sales were low because they released them too early, in September 2017. TFA sold EXTREMELY WELL for almost 2 years starting in 2015, they made $700 million in the USA alone and the toy industry in 2015 was up 6.7% because of Star Wars The Force Awakens. And most financial people figured there would be a decline for the next movie anyway. Only natural since the 10 year hype is over.

And just a few weeks ago CEO Brian Gardner just talked about 2018 sales, this is from July after their 2018 earnings presentation:

“Star Wars revenue grew slightly in the quarter. In the U.S. point-of-sale was positive. Our product line for Solo: A Star Wars Story was well received by consumers as was our fan focus, Black Series and new vintage collection. Outside the U.S. we are successfully selling through carryforward inventory.”

And further:

“Star Wars in revenue terms was up a bit in the quarter and we’re seeing POS up in the high single-digits in the U.S. even ex Toys“R”Us and up higher if you include Toys“R”Us. We’re also engaging across a number dimensions not only kid oriented product but the fan oriented products performing quite strongly in Black Series. We had a very successful launch of our HasLab product which was the sale barge if you recall where we crowd-funded that and we ended up with nearly twice as many subscribers as we had required in order to move forward with that product.

And then of course Episode nine comes December 20, 2019. What I’ve said all along we still believe which is that with Star Wars having more and more regular entertainment and visibility to that entertainment that the brand would contribute at a more sustained higher-level and that’s what we’re seeing is that in fact Star Wars will probably look similar to a year ago and the days of surging in a movie year and shrinking in a non-movie year probably behind us instead it just becomes a really strong contributor year for year and quite good for us.”

Even when ToysRUs filed for bankruptcy and the toy business overall took a hit, Hasbro stocks rose because they are promising a good future with new toys and technology they are working on, which is very much about Star Wars products. They also obtained Power Rangers recently which will be a big money maker for them as well.

 

[Getter Dragon]

TLJ sales were low because they released them too early

Thanks for pointing out there is a more recent interview, but what he talks about there is irrelevant to my original point (in fact, he might be proving my point). Of course Solo would sell better than ST stuff because it is connected to the OT and I am not commenting on the profitability of Hasbro in general. What I am stating is that OT & PT sells, ST does not.

Saying TLJ sales were low due to an early release is a 1000 truckloads of horse crap - sales are bad because no one cares. To be fair, he is not going to publicly admit TLJ sales are poor because the movie was a divisive dumpster fire that failed to engage audiences, so he has to make up some other phoney baloney excuse. No CEO is going to belittle a licensee or provide the real reasons a brand is declining to the public.

In regards to his comments on Episode 9, I can't wait to hear the pathetic excuses "We released toys too late!" from Lucasfilm, Disney, Hollywood, and toy makers etc. when that movie fails to make more money than Jumanji 2 at the box office and its merchandise joins TLJ/TFA gathering dust on store shelves.

I would not bet on seeing very many Hot Toys figures from Episode 9 other than Rey, BB8, Luke, Kylo, and a trooper; the same tired releases.

 

[morphosis]

OT & PT sells, ST does not.

700+ million in 2015/16 for TFA toys was record breaking and a huge success. the movie was also a huge success.

TLJ didn’t do as well as TFA. oh well. Hasbro is doing just fine. HTs is doing just fine. Time to move on. No need to debate if we like a move or not in a HC interview thread.

 

[chengda85]

Q5) Clone troopers @ SDCC all by HT or Sideshow?
A5) HT assist sideshow in development of Troopers 10 years ago. Now HT will focus more them.