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Video on the current and future state of Star Wars merchandise.

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  • enyawd72
    Maker of Monsters!
    • Oct 1, 2009
    • 7904

    Video on the current and future state of Star Wars merchandise.

    Very strong arguments here for Star Wars quickly becoming a dead brand...
    I pretty much agreed with everything this guy said.

  • palitoy
    live. laugh. lisa needs braces
    • Jun 16, 2001
    • 59200

    #2
    I can't watch the video right now but I have been feeling that the whole thing is getting over saturated.

    My local dollar store is brimming with merchandise from the last two films, we eventually have to hit "peak star wars".

    I haven't been to Toys R Us in months, yet I see Star Wars characters every day at the drug store, grocery store and most recently, the hardware store.
    Places to find PlaidStallions online: https://linktr.ee/Plaidstallions

    Buy Toy-Ventures Magazine here:
    http://www.plaidstallions.com/reboot/shop

    Comment

    • emeraldknight47
      Talkative Member
      • Jun 20, 2011
      • 5212

      #3
      I’m not a huge STAR WARS fan, I’ll admit it. I liked the first STAR WARS back when I was a kid and I really liked TESB. Then came ROTJ and the introduction of “cuteness” into the SW Universe as well as the watering down of Darth Vader and they lost me.

      I never did see “THE FORCE AWAKENS” because it looked like a retread of “A NEW HOPE,” but I sure saw A LOT of merchandise, TONS of it, in fact, some of which I STILL see to this very day. There is a carded TFA figure (can’t remember of who) that’s been in my local TRU for going on two years now. It moves around, but it’s THE SAME FIGURE. I can tell from the slight crease in the top of the header card.

      Now “THE LAST JEDI” is only a couple of weeks off, but I’ve been seeing merchandise, in ever growing amounts, for that since probably July and it ain’t going anywhere. Maybe once the movie opens, it’ll start moving, but for the time being, it’s the merchandise bully in the stores that is crowding almost everything (except, perhaps, the ever present Disney Princess and BARBIE lines) else off the shelves. And I have a feeling it’s only begun; there will likely be more waves of TLJ stuff.

      If you put too much merchandise out, at too high a price point, then nothing becomes special and no one’s going to drop the coin on what everyone else has, as well. Just my opinion...
      sigpic Oh then, what's this? Big flashy lighty thing, that's what brought me here! Big flashy lighty things have got me written all over them. Not actually. But give me time. And a crayon.

      Comment

      • Hedji
        Citizen of Gotham
        • Nov 17, 2012
        • 7246

        #4
        I saw this coming 12 parsecs away. It's the Disney way. I think the junk they crank out is so cheap to produce, they just flood the gas stations and supermarkets with everything so that they can appeal to a broader base, and not just the historically narrow collector market. I love Star Wars, but aside from art books, soundtracks, and video releases, I'm done.

        You reach a point where you've got enough stuff, and anything else detracts instead of contributes.

        Goes back to an earlier thread we had about finite collections, and their appeal because you can collect 'em all. With Star Wars, there is no end in sight, and we will die before the toylines do.

        Comment

        • Werewolf
          Inhuman
          • Jul 14, 2003
          • 14615

          #5
          There is just such a glut of pointless merchandise like waffle irons, pizza cutters, spatulas, popcorn poppers, lightsaber barbecue tongs, and on and on and on. Once the merchandise goes beyond the traditional toys, posters and soundtracks it just starts to become off putting.
          You are a bold and courageous person, afraid of nothing. High on a hill top near your home, there stands a dilapidated old mansion. Some say the place is haunted, but you don't believe in such myths. One dark and stormy night, a light appears in the topmost window in the tower of the old house. You decide to investigate... and you never return...

          Comment

          • Earth 2 Chris
            Verbose Member
            • Mar 7, 2004
            • 32498

            #6
            There are iRobot knock-offs in Darth Vader and Stormtropper designs for pete's sake.

            I don't think it's dead, it's just now reached "commodity" level. It's omnipresent like Mickey Mouse.

            Chris
            sigpic

            Comment

            • Hedji
              Citizen of Gotham
              • Nov 17, 2012
              • 7246

              #7
              I agree. Not dead, just unappealing to completist collectors who can't have it all. If it were dead, and money weren't being made, it would go away. That hasn't happened yet. It might, but not yet.

              Comment

              • SKotK
                Career Member
                • Mar 11, 2014
                • 574

                #8
                Originally posted by Werewolf
                There is just such a glut of pointless merchandise like waffle irons, pizza cutters, spatulas, popcorn poppers, lightsaber barbecue tongs, and on and on and on. Once the merchandise goes beyond the traditional toys, posters and soundtracks it just starts to become off putting.
                Yes! All that kind of stuff really has started to annoy me. Had it been a novelty thing that happened only once in a while, I'd think it was great and probably be excited about it. But since the market is flooded with that stuff now, it's really lost its appeal to me.

                Originally posted by Hedji
                I saw this coming 12 parsecs away. It's the Disney way. I think the junk they crank out is so cheap to produce, they just flood the gas stations and supermarkets with everything so that they can appeal to a broader base, and not just the historically narrow collector market. I love Star Wars, but aside from art books, soundtracks, and video releases, I'm done.

                You reach a point where you've got enough stuff, and anything else detracts instead of contributes.
                Nicely put. I reached that point about 10 years back, and I rarely buy any new toys unless it's something amazing I can't live without. Instead, I'm just concentrating on filling in the gaps in my vintage stuff and getting rid of all the newer stuff I didn't really need to have in the first place.

                Originally posted by Hedji
                Goes back to an earlier thread we had about finite collections, and their appeal because you can collect 'em all. With Star Wars, there is no end in sight, and we will die before the toylines do.
                It's kind of a sobering thought on one hand, and yet cheerful on the other: Star Wars merchandise will continue to be produced long after we've passed on. I would never have guessed this back in 1986 when the original line died.

                --SKot
                Look what happens when you aren't allowed to play with "dolls"...

                WANTED: partly-unsealed or bubble-damaged carded Romulan + unbroken plant trap from Mission to Gamma VI

                Comment

                • Werewolf
                  Inhuman
                  • Jul 14, 2003
                  • 14615

                  #9
                  Originally posted by Hedji
                  Not dead, just unappealing to completist collectors who can't have it all.
                  I've never been remotely a completist and I still find the ginormous glut of weird pointless merchandise really unappealing and cringe worthy. It's pretty much killed my interest in SW. But I do agree the SW brand isn't even close to being dead yet. Not until they slap the SW name on everything under the sun. I have no doubt SW aluminum siding and diapers will soon be a thing.
                  You are a bold and courageous person, afraid of nothing. High on a hill top near your home, there stands a dilapidated old mansion. Some say the place is haunted, but you don't believe in such myths. One dark and stormy night, a light appears in the topmost window in the tower of the old house. You decide to investigate... and you never return...

                  Comment

                  • Teemu
                    Persistent Member
                    • Dec 15, 2010
                    • 1742

                    #10
                    The new toys suck and the movie is highly over-rated....who wants to buy "live in the past" 5 points of articulated figures unless its the "retro" kind like from super 7?.This is not 1977. Changing the articulation was a bad move by Hasbro...plus kids are not really buying toys as much like they used considering we live in the time of games,cell phones and gadgets.

                    Comment

                    • Earth 2 Chris
                      Verbose Member
                      • Mar 7, 2004
                      • 32498

                      #11
                      While Star Wars may be dead to die-hard fans, my 16 year old son had a Star Wars hoodie on and my daughter was building a Lego Star Wars set this morning before heading off the school. It will live on through these kids.

                      Chris
                      sigpic

                      Comment

                      • Bruce Banner
                        HULK SMASH!
                        • Apr 3, 2010
                        • 4327

                        #12
                        These days I only collect certain Black Series 6 inch SW figures.
                        The Super Articulated 3.75 inch range becoming exclusive to Walmart didn't help.
                        I do admit I like some of the sculpts of the 5POA 3.75 inch figures.
                        PUNY HUMANS!

                        Comment

                        • ODBJBG
                          Permanent Member
                          • May 15, 2009
                          • 3143

                          #13
                          You can't blame Disney for this. While there might be a tad more Star Wars stuff out there than in years past, Lucas has been oversaturating the market with Star Wars stuff for years. When the new trilogy came out, it really started to hit maximum saturation level and has continued on that path for some time.

                          Comment

                          • Werewolf
                            Inhuman
                            • Jul 14, 2003
                            • 14615

                            #14
                            Yeah, the oversaturation started with Phantom Menace. It's just after nearly two decades all the mountains of crap really starts to reach a breaking point.
                            You are a bold and courageous person, afraid of nothing. High on a hill top near your home, there stands a dilapidated old mansion. Some say the place is haunted, but you don't believe in such myths. One dark and stormy night, a light appears in the topmost window in the tower of the old house. You decide to investigate... and you never return...

                            Comment

                            • CrimsonGhost
                              Often invisible
                              • Jul 18, 2002
                              • 3568

                              #15
                              I couldn't help but laugh at how angry the guy in the video sounded! Cracked me up thru the whole thing.
                              Expectation is the death of discovery.

                              Comment

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