RIP, The Clone Wars

[Allie Fox]

If you've listened to the SW podcasts from sites like Yakface with people that have talked to and interviewed the brand managers at Hasbro, you would know how much damage PM3D has done to the SW brand. First of all, they said if PM3D turned a profit, it just barely squeeked by. The 3D conversion process wasn't the expensive part of the re-release. Adverstising and promotion isn't cheap by any stretch. Easy eating up what it took in at the box office. Now there's the damage it did to the SW brand. It just about killed SW at retail. Hasbro is having to rebuild the brand from the ground up. Stores shelves, stock rooms and warehouses are still glutted with PM3D product. One of the Walmart's near me just put out 4 pegs full of PM Ric Olie. Love or hate PM, there is no denying how much damage it did to the brand. No way to sugar coat it, it was an absolute disaster.

Disney cancelling the other 3D prequel releases speaks volumes. Had PM3D been successful they'd be tripping over themselves to get the other movies in the theaters and AOTC and ROTS toys in stores.

Disliking a film and "destroying a brand" don't necessarily go hand in hand. TPM is still one of the highest grossing films of all time. It re-opened "the brand" to a new generation. Fanboys hated (and continue to bash) the film for lack of the spark that got them into Star Wars to begin with. I think some fail to understand they are no longer 6-10 years old anymore.

Fanboys on action figure podcasts don't make much happen in Hollywood. The fact is TPM3D was a decent success for a film already in the can. The conversion process only cost about 10-15M while advertising and promo took up another 15-20M. It did a good bit better than expected when the global market is considered.

If the podcasters want to blame someone for killing the SW at retail, blame the same Hasbro execs that shipped out cases of action figures with three TPM3D Ric Olie figures for every OTC Wedge Antilles. Lucasfilm put out a decent product; love it or hate it, it is successful. Hasbro failed in their marketing strategy to capitalize on it.

[Werewolf]

One of the problems of being a fan of SW is you are often stuck between two extremes. The Lucas can do no wrong and Lucas ruined my child hood. I find neither can be reasoned with. The heavy focus on the prequels (which was a Lucas mandate) has weakened the brand. PM3D was the topper. Hasbro, while far from perfect, is an easy scapegoat. PM3D product didn't sell as well as was hoped, to put it very mildly.It's not just Ric Olie warming the pegs. It's also Qui Gon, Young Obi, rugrat Anakin, etc. Forget "fanboys" the biggest market for SW toys is kids and they aren't buying.

Disney doesn't care about the extreme SW fan fringe of Lucas haters or worshippers. Disney wants money back on their investment. If they considered PM3D a success they would go full steam ahead with the 3D versions of AOTC and ROTS.

[BlackKnight]

I'm I the Only 1 , who doesn't Give a **** About Anything 3-D So FAR ? .