Mattel Ends 6 Inch Figures, Embraces 3.75 Inch Figures. Hasbro Clearly Embraces 6 Inch Figures

 Fans of Jurassic Park/Jurassic World have enjoyed Mattel's take on the toys. Recently they announced a 6 inch scale series called The Amber Collection, with film characters in 6 inch scale going with some dinosaurs built to that scale to give playability and world building environments. I mean, 6 inch scale, or 1:12 is the standard, right? Well, no. At least not when it comes to dinosaur toys. Imagine the size and cost of a 1:12 T-Rex or Brachiosaurus?! Raptors and Compy's are okay. A Triceratops and Stegosaurus is really pushing it. So Mattel made a hard decision: ditching the 1:12 scale for the 1:18 (3.75 inch) figures.

The biggest reason is the cost of plastic has gone up. 6 inch figures retail from $25-$30 in toy stores. Although Mattel probably doesn't pay a royalty to Universal for Jurassic Park/World like Hasbro has to pay for Star Wars and Marvel. So for the most part those Amber Collection figures were the same price and compatible with Marvel Legends and Star Wars Black Series figures. Collectors liked the figures but you could really not have them interact well with dinosaurs.

Mattel also had the Camp Cretacious Line which was geared towards kids and in the 1:18 scale. A couple kids got toys, and before that some JP Legacy characters got the 3.75 treatment (Grant, Ellie and Malcolm) so those figures could interact with JW Owen as well. A 1:18 T-Rex goes for close to $50 at Target and Wal-Mart. Plus it looks good chasing your action figures! Now the Hammond Collection is the new name for Mattel's signature Jurassic Park/World toy line, where you can actually world build. There are vehicles, pack in figures, figures with dinosaurs and on single card boxes humans and dinosaurs, mostly Velociraptors. Characters from all 6 movies will be featured as there are some Lost World vehicles and characters already in stores. Now I know by this point you're asking "This isn't a Jurassic Park blog, you talk Star Wars. What does this have to do with Star Wars?" Well, it has everything to do with Star Wars!

Since 2013, when Hasbro launched the Black Series 6 inch line, that line has become the one they put the most money into. More new figures are made in the 6 inch scale and after this past Wednesday you can see the results for yourself, of the 18 items available on Wednesday June 1st for preorders 13 were Black Series figures, 5 were for the Vintage Collection. In Hasbro's collective mind, 6 inch is the new world building scale. Their Marvel 3.75 line failed, but that was mostly due to not making vehicles and playsets. Mattel and even McFarlane and Spin Masters haven't shied away from making vehicles, and MacFarlane makes 6 inch and 7 inch scale vehicles for their toy lines (1966 Batman & DC Universe). Now I don't know the fees Hasbro pays to Marvel per toy, but insiders estimate Hasbro pays anywhere from the low guess of 20% to the high of 35% to Disney for Star Wars. So if you wonder why that Smuggler's Run Millennium Falcon was $400 at Target last year, and this past year Anton Merric's X-Wing was $110 you have part of your answer there. To spread the cost around you have noticed GI Joe: Classified & Marvel Legends have the same price point per figure, with Hasbro now limiting accessories with GI Joe: Classified to save costs (Hasbro of course actually owns GI Joe, so no fees need to be paid out).  So to make Star Wars toys is already going to cost Hasbro money before getting the mold made, which is why they constantly repack and repaint older figures to be "new" figures, or use kitbashing. The Black Series is known for doing this, especially for the last 2 years. But with the new figures from Kenobi you see why they did it. New molds for the Inquisitors and Clone Wars Maul and Kenobi himself. Aayla is kitbashed from the waist down (Second Sister's legs). 

But world building for the 6 inch line has been tried. Aliens like Greedo warmed pegs, as did Slave, whoops, Huttslayer Leia. X-Wing Luke peg warmed. But the biggest (literally) peg warmer was the 6 inch scale FO TIE Fighter, while other 6 inch scale figures and vehicles (Luke and Rey with their speeders) did sell well. Now there is a Mos Eisley Cantina Band member for the Sixers. And about the creatures....well I won't mention the failed HasLab Rancor.

Mattel found smaller is better. It's better for price, it's also better for scale and in world building. But then there is too small. Fortnite and Star Wars have 2.5 inch toys, with Fortnite being the one that you can bend elbows and knees while Hasbro's Mission Fleet is 5 POA and unlike Fortnite not sculpted to look accurate to source material. Hasbro hasn't come to this realization as of yet. But things Hasbro has to consider are: 1. Is this a profitable line? & 2. Does it still sell? The answers to both are yes. Despite their already high costs Star Wars toys sell...thanks to collectors not kids. It used to be the other way around, kids wanted the toys, parents bought them. Now adult collectors are the top buyers of Star Wars toys and they command the market, putting millions of dollars into Hasbro's pocket, even when a 15 year old sculpt gets used again for a 3.75 action figure (Endor Leia). But now oil prices have doubled. Shipping issues are cropping up. Cheaper PVC plastic for 3.75 scale toys could be used once again, but they don't cut the mustard for 5, 6 or 7 inch figures. Mattel saw the world building possibilities for Jurassic World and not only dove in, but made vehicles and creatures to fit that world. While Hasbro has higher fees for Star Wars, and possibly Marvel as well, there may come a time when Hasbro decides to cut one of the lines. In their case, the 3.75 line would get the ax, similar to what happen with Marvel and they would focus on 6 inch Star Wars just as they would with Marvel. But, if this pays off for Mattel, a smaller line with lots of bells and whistles at a lower price point, maybe, just maybe Hasbro comes to the same conclusion. Mattel has banked on smaller = better. Hasbro is betting bigger = better. Whatever comes out on top remains to be seen.

But in conclusion, while these are 2 separate toy lines through 2 separate companies it is clear that one company thinks smaller figures equal a better world building opportunity while another banks on bigger figures being their world building line. Will one failure or success inspire the other company to take a different action? That is the important question.