1/6 NEXT Hot Toys STAR WARS Figure...?

[chrisstbh]

Is this guy trolling or just a complete *****? Based on past posts I think *****.

If he thinks anything like Malgus then its probably both.

 

[user 58482]

Next final product announcement captain marvel v2, y/y?

What else is due to release soon? I feel like we won't be seeing more SW figure announcements for a while.

 

[pug205]

Is this guy trolling or just a complete *****? Based on past posts I think *****.

Always a charmer TFH

My first post was just a bit of fun at Malgus and his grand claims of the ST being a successful seller and him saying the other month that the Episode 9 line up will end up matching that of the Mandalorian in terms of figures made.

But the way that for some reason you took that first post as being straight up legit and your aggressive reaction to it, just made going along with it and making more ridiculous posts too tempting to pass up.

 

[Asta]

No what I am saying is that the article is clearly a fake made by internet trolls to support their own misguided views. Howard would never make such comments that are so deeply offensive to us real Star Wars fans. I don't know Jesse but I would say his is an innocent victim in this cruel prank that could put the Hot Toys - Disney relationship in real danger. What if Disney decided to cancel the license deal over it????

It could mean no Bespin Han or C-3PO for the old timers or worse no Admiral Holdo or Maz for us better progressive fans.

So no Malgus doesn't know HT better than Howard because as I said it is clear that this whole article is a fake in the first place.

My first post was just a bit of fun at Malgus and his grand claims of the ST being a successful seller and him saying the other month that the Episode 9 line up will end up matching that of the Mandalorian in terms of figures made.

But the way that for some reason you took that first post as being straight up legit and your aggressive reaction to it, just made going along with it and making more ridiculous posts too tempting to pass up.

So you don't actually believe the article was an elaborate fake?

Because, after all, it's always a consideration to be aware of. The interview itself hasn't made much of an impact in spite of the explosive content. In fact, reading Milk Magazine's Facebook page, some people in Hong Kong had a hard time securing a copy.


The evidence:


1. Milk Magazine is a Hong Kong publication.

2. #966 was a Star Wars special.

3. Jesse Lo is in Hong Kong: "Howard was interviewed by a local magazine regarding starwars. He answered a few questions about hottoys."

4. Jesse Lo posted photos of the article, along with his own translation of the accompanying text.

5. The article is therefore real, and as yet no native reader has called the translation into question.

 

[Smudger9]

A source already confirmed on these boards that HT will make just as many figures from TROS as they do for Mandalorian.

You must realise that?s not even remotely possible. Mandalorian is pushing 20 figures already. The fact that there hasn?t been a single Poe figure from the ST tells you all you need to know.

 

[pug205]

Asta - No of course it is not a fake and I think Howard's honest and open comments are amazing in a world of the usual PR spin and having to keep to the corporate line. It was brilliant to see.

The only part I would say would be close to any truth is that Disney being Disney they could easily be upset by those comments and warn him not to put down their films like that in public again. I wouldn't put it past them.

There was another toy company that mentioned last year how poor the ST was for merchandise sales too but I can't recall who that was now.

 

[Asta]

Asta - No of course it is not a fake and I think Howard's honest and open comments are amazing in a world of the usual PR spin and having to keep to the corporate line. It was brilliant to see.

The only part I would say would be close to any truth is that Disney being Disney they could easily be upset by those comments and warn him not to put down their films like that in public again. I wouldn't put it past them.

There was another toy company that mentioned last year how poor the ST was for merchandise sales too but I can't recall who that was now.

Yes, his candour was surprising to read. As Jesse Lo put it in one of his replies, "And yea he called a spade a spade lol."

 

[user 67922]

There was another toy company that mentioned last year how poor the ST was for merchandise sales too but I can't recall who that was now.

Gentle Giant

 

[Smudger9]

Yes, his candour was surprising to read. As Jesse Lo put it in one of his replies, "And yea he called a spade a spade lol."

Totally refreshing and he?s gone up significantly in my estimation. I?m sick of the current western trend of shielding the truth to avoid offence. Tell it how it is! The ST was an epic failure and it?s merchandise has been toxic to the Star Wars brand.

 

[matticus]

Disney and Lucasfilm have to have some accountability too. Their content hurt sales when they demand the current movie/show be represented in their products. The dust has settled on the ST and the retailers are showing a mirror to what their customers think.

 

[chrisstbh]

I really would be interesting the see the sales figures between ST figures and Mando figures.

 

[RandomHero]

All I know about the sales on merchandise was that until TLJ and then again with TROS, you never saw Star Wars stuff sitting on pegs on until months after initial release.

A good buddy of mine is a massive Star Wars toy collector and he always used to show up outside Toys R Us at like 5am when new Star Wars merch was dropping to he could get first crack when they opened, and through Rogue One, he was never alone. There was always a handful of collectors (or scalpers) also trying to get in to grab stuff. After TLJ, there stopped being demand for the action figures and toys, because it was only parents buying them for their kids, the hardcore collectors with wallets stopped buying for a multitude of reasons. Then, there were Star Wars toys sitting on the pegs at Target and Walmart or wherever for months. I'd never see Star Wars stuff sitting on pegs around the holidays like I saw before Mando came out.

Howard's not kidding - ST sold terribly. Star Wars stuff has always sold like hot cakes, but you never saw an excess of stuff sitting around like we did with the ST. It's really no wonder Mandalorian has been a combination of Star Wars with no BS and a bunch of fan service. They needed to get the collectors with money back.

Anyone who thinks ST stuff sold well is delusional or a troll, and I'm not even trying to be a jerk. ST stuff sold horribly. It's very easy to see that.

 

[DakRen]

I dont doubt at all that ST merchandise didnt always sell as much due to some boring designs but some things did sell really well, it was too far and between to make a positive impact or trend. It wasnt until TROS really that the merchandise decreased overall and sales seemed to decrease. With more production the pegwarming may have been even worse.

As for pegwarming, I have seen many OT ones sitting on shelves like ANH Vader, Yavin Luke was king of pegwarming for a long time, Hoth Leia archive for a long time, and Snowspeeder Pilot Luke. Lukes landspeeder and even the dewback sat around for a while in stores too. This is all from Hasbro merchandise pegwarming observations. We have never seen HT OT figures be overproduced or hard to sell I do not think. It makes sense because HT are expensive compared to Hasbro or LEGO and few want to invest that in ST merchandise aside from Rey and Kylo.

The Mandalorian and CW merchandise definitely helped boost sales as we can see across stores. Mandalorian/CW material is far more memorable and has more interesting characters and designs overall. Especially for HT, there’s no denying the volume of products for Mandalorian/CW vs TROS or the entire ST line altogether.

 

[TurdFurgusonsHat]

I dont doubt at all that ST merchandise didnt always sell as much due to some boring designs but some things did sell really well, it was too far and between to make a positive impact or trend. It wasnt until TROS really that the merchandise decreased overall and sales seemed to decrease. With more production the pegwarming may have been even worse.

As for pegwarming, I have seen many OT ones sitting on shelves like ANH Vader, Yavin Luke was king of pegwarming for a long time, Hoth Leia archive for a long time, and Snowspeeder Pilot Luke. Lukes landspeeder and even the dewback sat around for a while in stores too. This is all from Hasbro merchandise pegwarming observations. We have never seen HT OT figures be overproduced or hard to sell I do not think. It makes sense because HT are expensive compared to Hasbro or LEGO and few want to invest that in ST merchandise aside from Rey and Kylo.

The Mandalorian and CW merchandise definitely helped boost sales as we can see across stores. Mandalorian/CW material is far more memorable and has more interesting characters and designs overall. Especially for HT, there?s no denying the volume of products for Mandalorian/CW vs TROS or the entire ST line altogether.

You need to go back and read Howard Chan's statement again. "Awful" was the term that he used. Another executive said the same publicly. Stop trying to put a false positive spin on this. The ST sales were terrible period.

 

[CrankbaitJon]

I wish I can get a clear shot of the article to see what he said. Either way, whatever words he used, ST sales were bad. Imperial troopers sell fast, First Order troopers don't.

 

[hen88]

I dont doubt at all that ST merchandise didnt always sell as much due to some boring designs but some things did sell really well, it was too far and between to make a positive impact or trend. It wasnt until TROS really that the merchandise decreased overall and sales seemed to decrease. With more production the pegwarming may have been even worse.

As for pegwarming, I have seen many OT ones sitting on shelves like ANH Vader, Yavin Luke was king of pegwarming for a long time, Hoth Leia archive for a long time, and Snowspeeder Pilot Luke. Lukes landspeeder and even the dewback sat around for a while in stores too. This is all from Hasbro merchandise pegwarming observations. We have never seen HT OT figures be overproduced or hard to sell I do not think. It makes sense because HT are expensive compared to Hasbro or LEGO and few want to invest that in ST merchandise aside from Rey and Kylo.

The Mandalorian and CW merchandise definitely helped boost sales as we can see across stores. Mandalorian/CW material is far more memorable and has more interesting characters and designs overall. Especially for HT, there’s no denying the volume of products for Mandalorian/CW vs TROS or the entire ST line altogether.

I can confirm that plenty of OT and PT merchandise have been peg warmers in my area. I bought the Black Series Dagobah Luke/Yoda 2-pack on clearance.

 

[Khev]

Yeah I'd love to see an actual breakdown of ALL sales across all films, trilogies, and eras. Saying that ST sales were "awful" is not the same thing as saying that OT, PT, or TCW sales are "good."

 

[Wor-Gar]

Action figures sales have been declining for years though, haven't they? Kids are spending more time playing video games and posting online rather than playing with action figures, and time is a fixed commodity.

The explosion of 'toys' and merchandize from TV/movies/pop culture items is directly a result of boomers and xers growing up and seeking out their nostalgia. Hot Toys doesn't make these figures for kids -- they make them for adults that have the expendable cash. When the boomers and xers are gone, likely too will be the pop culture toys and merchandise based on TV and movies that those generations grew up on. Millennials and Z will have their own fond memories to mine, and probably a smaller part of that will be movies to make room for gaming and other online experiences they all grew up with.

 

[dukefett]

Action figures sales have been declining for years though, haven't they? Kids are spending more time playing video games and posting online rather than playing with action figures, and time is a fixed commodity.

The explosion of 'toys' and pop culture items is directly a result of boomers and xers growing up and seeking out their nostalgia. Hot Toys doesn't make these figures for kids -- they make them for adults that have the expendable cash. When the boomers and xers are gone, likely too will be the pop culture toys and merchandise based on TV and movies that those generations grew up on. Millennials and Z will have their own fond memories to mine, and probably a smaller part of that will be movies to make room for gaming and other online experiences they all grew up with.

Adults are buying them non-stop. There's practically nothing at Target/Walmart when I go.

 

[TurdFurgusonsHat]

Yeah I'd love to see an actual breakdown of ALL sales across all films, trilogies, and eras. Saying that ST sales were "awful" is not the same thing as saying that OT, PT, or TCW sales are "good."

"For example since Mandalorian is so close to ROTJ, it is easier for us to release figures from the OT. This is exactly what we were waiting for"

"I think lots of fans are disappointed with the sequels. Even me I don?t have any desire to revisit them anytime soon. The sales were awful. Mando is like the dawn. Especially like Luke , he was redeemed , unlike episode 8. Introducing new characters in one movie is not gonna leave an impression. In contrast , mando?s Kuiil leaves you the impression of wisdom, a clear cut personality and very popular as well."


Knock it off. The truth hurts I know.