Are Star Wars Collectors Spoiled?
Well simply put, yes. We are a bunch of spoiled brats. To compare, I will talk about Star Trek collecting, and what I have seen from both properties over the 30 plus years I have collected both products. I don't want people reading this thinking I am bashing Star Trek or Star Wars Collectors, far from it. I find Trekkers are just as, if not more passionate than Star Wars fans in wanting their collectables to be high quality, and available. It's just taken longer for Star Wars Collectors to reach the level of Star Trek. So in this post, I will analyze how collectors are in many ways spoiled and why sometimes we can't have nice things because we want perfection. Well, if you keep wanting and searching for perfection, you'll always be disappointed.
Do a search on major toy or collectable websites and you will see Star Wars outnumbers Star Trek by a mile. Easily. There is a lot more. That used to not be the case but when that was, many of you, including the writer were not born yet. In our lifetimes Star Wars rules the merchandise game. More action figures, more props, more role playing items, etc. Star Trek has only had 1 real successful action figure run (Playmates in the 1990's, MEGO Star Trek figures sold well, but not well enough compared to the DC and Marvel heroes) while Star Wars has been a toy shelf staple since 1995. So, Star Trek made models and props their collecting focus. Most models and props are well done, and in the late 1980's and early 1990's role play collecting for Trek exploded, with better detail and electric lights and sounds. The ship models followed suit, with those items being the best selling. Star Trek collectors wanted the best details, and were vocal about getting it, and they did. In 2021, you can see how detailed the larger and smaller starship models, and full size replicas are. Of course, some don't measure up, however those that do sell quite well. Trek fans have long preferred quality over quantity.
In 1995 when Star Wars toys came back, there was a lot of excitement. While Toy Biz had early success with their Marvel and DC Superheroes toy lines, it was the animated Marvel series, Spider-Man and X-Men in the mid 1990's that catapulted those action figures. Kenner in 1990 started doing Batman, which had the Tim Burton film, and soon its own animated show which catapulted them. Star Wars didn't. No new movies, except for a box set of the original editions made available for the last time on VHS, and a theatrical Special Edition release in 1997. No new TV shows either, a big advantage Star Trek had was weekly series and repeats of the Original Series and TNG in syndication. But this is what started Star Wars collectors on their quest for the best. The POTF2 figures had good sculpting for 1995, albeit they all looked overly muscular. Luke looked like He-Man. Han didn't skip arm day at the gym. Leia was proportioned like Lynda Carter (not a complaint). Vader and Chewie were accepted because they were sculpted to look like body builders anyway (Vader in the suit was an actual body builder and trainer, the late, great David Prowse). Fans loudly complained about the face sculpts, especially for Leia, prompting the name "Monkey Face Leia" to describe her 1st offering in POTF2. Several years later, Kenner/Hasbro made changes, new head and body sculpts debuted as POTF2 evolved into the POTJ line. Around this time, vehicles and playsets were offered. The vehicles were mostly made from the same molds as the 1970's and 1980's vehicles, largely unchanged. There were better and more film accurate paint apps, as opposed to stickers. To keep costs down, electronics were mostly scrapped (except for the Millennium Falcon). But playsets took an interesting turn. Gone were the giant Death Star Playset and Ewok Village Playset but in came what could be best described as diorama scenes. The bridge where Luke and Leia swing over the Death Star and the DS detention cell. Endor got the outer doors of the bunker's back door. These would probably have sold well in the 1980's but kids and collectors skipped over these. As one collector put it in a review, "It just looks lazy". Now, the price and retail space has made full size playsets obsolete, and nearly the same with vehicles. Are demanding collectors to blame? Well, partially.
In 2015 when The Force Awakens opened, Hasbro had opted to go back to 5 POA figures for the 3.75 inch toy line and now offered a new scale to collectors: the 6 inch Black Series line. For the 3.75 scale (also called the 1:18 scale), the vehicles went back to the vintage Kenner style of being smaller, and not necessarily "in scale". Collectors noted the high price tags on the vehicles, and waited for them to hit clearance level prices before pouncing. Try getting Poe Dameron's black X-Wing now. It costs a LOT on eBay! However, once collectors got it, they griped about the quality of the plastic, X-Wing cannons dropping, TIE Fighter wings bending, etc. My opinion is without this line, there would be no TIE Silencer, U-Wing, TIE Striker, and other vehicles. The Vintage Collection the last 3 years has had hits with the Rogue One tank, new Tatooine Skiff and Poe Dameron's Orange X-Wing from Episode 9. The prices, however have been insanely high. Shelf space is at a premium in Wal-Mart and Target, the top retail outlets. Back then we had Sears, JC Penny, Wilson's, Howard's, TG & Y, Montgomery Ward, and of course Toys R Us. Of those stores, JC Penny remains as Sears struggles to even exist. While bigger vehicles is what collectors want, with great quality, at retail, and for the price they sell at, collectors say it is too high, and it is. However the value vehicle line got out a lot of stuff at a lower price than the VC stuff, fans could stomach a $40 TIE Fighter from Solo, but the $80 VC TIE Fighter didn't sell until it got clearanced down to $50 & REALLY moved when it went down to $20. Which brings me to the Vintage Collection. For years, fans wanted ball joint hips on figures like the Clonetroopers and Stormtroopers, and the Jedi. Now, ball joints have been in use in 3.75 inch/1:18 scale since 1982's GI Joe line, by Hasbro. And yes, some of the 1st new VC figures got them. Well, sort of. Bespin Luke was one of the first, and while you could wrap his legs around the Bespin antenna accessory from 2002 better than the 2002 Bespin Luke, something got lost: the aesthetics. Now, every figure has "ball joint hips". Except Hasbro Star Wars doesn't really have this. They use a hinge joint which is meant to move like a ball joint but isn't quite like a ball joint. In my opinion, swivel hips make the figures look better, and more natural. Some of these newer figures have what I call the diaper look. Bespin Luke and the 3.75 Black Series Rose Tico are perfect examples of this. Some of these newer figures it works well. Endor Capture Luke, Bespin Han, General Lando, the RO Stormtrooper, the Deathtrooper, Sith Trooper, Ahsoka (Mandalore) they work well. But for Rey (TROS), Maul (Mandalore), and Snoke, they really don't. To counter the ball joint hips, starting in 2016 a new feature was added to the SA 3.75 inch figures: thigh swivels. This has helped, and is a feature that could help good VC figures like Bespin & Endor Capture/Jabba's Palace Luke and Kylo Ren. But sometimes they too don't want to cooperate, and collectors remain largely split on the issue. For most figures, it does help. But as 3.75 fans want more articulation, the cost is really a figure that isn't aesthetically pleasing, and for customizers, much harder to do. But, the quality being put in (sculpting, painting, etc) is amazing. If you have read my VC reviews you'll find most newer figures have no paint issues at all. Now on to the Black Series, which has their 1st ever HasLab project: the Rancor from ROTJ. Have you seen the images?! There is a LOT of detail in the sculpt, even fully articulated fingers, and all for a price of $350. Fans wanted to know what the stretch goals were, and many hoped for Oola, or the Rancor Keeper. But when it was announced that the Gamorrean Guard would be it, and packed on a 1985 style POTF card with coin, fans loudly complained. Unlike VC, I feel like I'm an outsider on the Sixer stuff, so I actually am on Hasbro's side on this. Tooling costs are way up (along with everything but that's for another time). While a brand new figure like Rancor Keeper would be cool, how could Hasbro use that tool again, there really isn't another "fat guy" in the SW universe. Should this be successful, other Rancor's could be made, with various skin typed and eye colors. Oola could be the template for a new Slave Outfit/Huttslayer Leia action figure, but ALLEGEDLY Disney doesn't want those types of collectables having their name stamped on the box. Oola could be a future stretch goal, but the more likely future stretch goal is a Jedi Luke with a bone to put in the Rancor's mouth. Now back to the GG, in the 6 inch line he isn't easily found. Depending on the seller on eBay you could get a new price, but for someone (like me) who is new to the Sixer line it makes sense. You get a hard to find figure, and an incentive to buy 2 Rancor's so you can keep one on that glorious card and open the other one. A new figure wirh a new tooling would up this price, and Hasbro doesn't want to lose money. I have full faith this will be funded, and if I had the space, I'd get it. I barely have enough space for my 3.75 inch scale Rancor. In conclusion, this is the best time to collect Star Wars products and figures. I haven't even touched on the Bandai figure kits or SH Figuarts or Sideshow Toys (these are mortgage level figures and I cannot afford or have the space for them). Collectors for the most part have gotten what they wanted. Bespin Lando and Lobot being brand new VC sculpts, yes. Got them! Gaming Greats for the Black Series and VC, yep. Popular new comic book characters like Dr Aphra? Yep. Jaxxon in the VC, no, but he's in the Black Series. Yes, we Star Wars Collectors are a bunch of spoiled brats. However, we are the ones keeping the lines going, the new stuff we give our kids and play with them, hopefully making them future buyers, and putting down their game controllers for a little while. I admit we're spoiled. And while nothing is perfect, not getting everything we want, is better than getting nothing at all.
Do a search on major toy or collectable websites and you will see Star Wars outnumbers Star Trek by a mile. Easily. There is a lot more. That used to not be the case but when that was, many of you, including the writer were not born yet. In our lifetimes Star Wars rules the merchandise game. More action figures, more props, more role playing items, etc. Star Trek has only had 1 real successful action figure run (Playmates in the 1990's, MEGO Star Trek figures sold well, but not well enough compared to the DC and Marvel heroes) while Star Wars has been a toy shelf staple since 1995. So, Star Trek made models and props their collecting focus. Most models and props are well done, and in the late 1980's and early 1990's role play collecting for Trek exploded, with better detail and electric lights and sounds. The ship models followed suit, with those items being the best selling. Star Trek collectors wanted the best details, and were vocal about getting it, and they did. In 2021, you can see how detailed the larger and smaller starship models, and full size replicas are. Of course, some don't measure up, however those that do sell quite well. Trek fans have long preferred quality over quantity.
In 1995 when Star Wars toys came back, there was a lot of excitement. While Toy Biz had early success with their Marvel and DC Superheroes toy lines, it was the animated Marvel series, Spider-Man and X-Men in the mid 1990's that catapulted those action figures. Kenner in 1990 started doing Batman, which had the Tim Burton film, and soon its own animated show which catapulted them. Star Wars didn't. No new movies, except for a box set of the original editions made available for the last time on VHS, and a theatrical Special Edition release in 1997. No new TV shows either, a big advantage Star Trek had was weekly series and repeats of the Original Series and TNG in syndication. But this is what started Star Wars collectors on their quest for the best. The POTF2 figures had good sculpting for 1995, albeit they all looked overly muscular. Luke looked like He-Man. Han didn't skip arm day at the gym. Leia was proportioned like Lynda Carter (not a complaint). Vader and Chewie were accepted because they were sculpted to look like body builders anyway (Vader in the suit was an actual body builder and trainer, the late, great David Prowse). Fans loudly complained about the face sculpts, especially for Leia, prompting the name "Monkey Face Leia" to describe her 1st offering in POTF2. Several years later, Kenner/Hasbro made changes, new head and body sculpts debuted as POTF2 evolved into the POTJ line. Around this time, vehicles and playsets were offered. The vehicles were mostly made from the same molds as the 1970's and 1980's vehicles, largely unchanged. There were better and more film accurate paint apps, as opposed to stickers. To keep costs down, electronics were mostly scrapped (except for the Millennium Falcon). But playsets took an interesting turn. Gone were the giant Death Star Playset and Ewok Village Playset but in came what could be best described as diorama scenes. The bridge where Luke and Leia swing over the Death Star and the DS detention cell. Endor got the outer doors of the bunker's back door. These would probably have sold well in the 1980's but kids and collectors skipped over these. As one collector put it in a review, "It just looks lazy". Now, the price and retail space has made full size playsets obsolete, and nearly the same with vehicles. Are demanding collectors to blame? Well, partially.
In 2015 when The Force Awakens opened, Hasbro had opted to go back to 5 POA figures for the 3.75 inch toy line and now offered a new scale to collectors: the 6 inch Black Series line. For the 3.75 scale (also called the 1:18 scale), the vehicles went back to the vintage Kenner style of being smaller, and not necessarily "in scale". Collectors noted the high price tags on the vehicles, and waited for them to hit clearance level prices before pouncing. Try getting Poe Dameron's black X-Wing now. It costs a LOT on eBay! However, once collectors got it, they griped about the quality of the plastic, X-Wing cannons dropping, TIE Fighter wings bending, etc. My opinion is without this line, there would be no TIE Silencer, U-Wing, TIE Striker, and other vehicles. The Vintage Collection the last 3 years has had hits with the Rogue One tank, new Tatooine Skiff and Poe Dameron's Orange X-Wing from Episode 9. The prices, however have been insanely high. Shelf space is at a premium in Wal-Mart and Target, the top retail outlets. Back then we had Sears, JC Penny, Wilson's, Howard's, TG & Y, Montgomery Ward, and of course Toys R Us. Of those stores, JC Penny remains as Sears struggles to even exist. While bigger vehicles is what collectors want, with great quality, at retail, and for the price they sell at, collectors say it is too high, and it is. However the value vehicle line got out a lot of stuff at a lower price than the VC stuff, fans could stomach a $40 TIE Fighter from Solo, but the $80 VC TIE Fighter didn't sell until it got clearanced down to $50 & REALLY moved when it went down to $20. Which brings me to the Vintage Collection. For years, fans wanted ball joint hips on figures like the Clonetroopers and Stormtroopers, and the Jedi. Now, ball joints have been in use in 3.75 inch/1:18 scale since 1982's GI Joe line, by Hasbro. And yes, some of the 1st new VC figures got them. Well, sort of. Bespin Luke was one of the first, and while you could wrap his legs around the Bespin antenna accessory from 2002 better than the 2002 Bespin Luke, something got lost: the aesthetics. Now, every figure has "ball joint hips". Except Hasbro Star Wars doesn't really have this. They use a hinge joint which is meant to move like a ball joint but isn't quite like a ball joint. In my opinion, swivel hips make the figures look better, and more natural. Some of these newer figures have what I call the diaper look. Bespin Luke and the 3.75 Black Series Rose Tico are perfect examples of this. Some of these newer figures it works well. Endor Capture Luke, Bespin Han, General Lando, the RO Stormtrooper, the Deathtrooper, Sith Trooper, Ahsoka (Mandalore) they work well. But for Rey (TROS), Maul (Mandalore), and Snoke, they really don't. To counter the ball joint hips, starting in 2016 a new feature was added to the SA 3.75 inch figures: thigh swivels. This has helped, and is a feature that could help good VC figures like Bespin & Endor Capture/Jabba's Palace Luke and Kylo Ren. But sometimes they too don't want to cooperate, and collectors remain largely split on the issue. For most figures, it does help. But as 3.75 fans want more articulation, the cost is really a figure that isn't aesthetically pleasing, and for customizers, much harder to do. But, the quality being put in (sculpting, painting, etc) is amazing. If you have read my VC reviews you'll find most newer figures have no paint issues at all. Now on to the Black Series, which has their 1st ever HasLab project: the Rancor from ROTJ. Have you seen the images?! There is a LOT of detail in the sculpt, even fully articulated fingers, and all for a price of $350. Fans wanted to know what the stretch goals were, and many hoped for Oola, or the Rancor Keeper. But when it was announced that the Gamorrean Guard would be it, and packed on a 1985 style POTF card with coin, fans loudly complained. Unlike VC, I feel like I'm an outsider on the Sixer stuff, so I actually am on Hasbro's side on this. Tooling costs are way up (along with everything but that's for another time). While a brand new figure like Rancor Keeper would be cool, how could Hasbro use that tool again, there really isn't another "fat guy" in the SW universe. Should this be successful, other Rancor's could be made, with various skin typed and eye colors. Oola could be the template for a new Slave Outfit/Huttslayer Leia action figure, but ALLEGEDLY Disney doesn't want those types of collectables having their name stamped on the box. Oola could be a future stretch goal, but the more likely future stretch goal is a Jedi Luke with a bone to put in the Rancor's mouth. Now back to the GG, in the 6 inch line he isn't easily found. Depending on the seller on eBay you could get a new price, but for someone (like me) who is new to the Sixer line it makes sense. You get a hard to find figure, and an incentive to buy 2 Rancor's so you can keep one on that glorious card and open the other one. A new figure wirh a new tooling would up this price, and Hasbro doesn't want to lose money. I have full faith this will be funded, and if I had the space, I'd get it. I barely have enough space for my 3.75 inch scale Rancor. In conclusion, this is the best time to collect Star Wars products and figures. I haven't even touched on the Bandai figure kits or SH Figuarts or Sideshow Toys (these are mortgage level figures and I cannot afford or have the space for them). Collectors for the most part have gotten what they wanted. Bespin Lando and Lobot being brand new VC sculpts, yes. Got them! Gaming Greats for the Black Series and VC, yep. Popular new comic book characters like Dr Aphra? Yep. Jaxxon in the VC, no, but he's in the Black Series. Yes, we Star Wars Collectors are a bunch of spoiled brats. However, we are the ones keeping the lines going, the new stuff we give our kids and play with them, hopefully making them future buyers, and putting down their game controllers for a little while. I admit we're spoiled. And while nothing is perfect, not getting everything we want, is better than getting nothing at all.
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