New Package - Your thoughts?

[Fixer]

We've gone from plain cardbacks to holo stickers to Flashback ...um, things... to Commtech chips, to Force Files and back to plain cardbacks.


It is nice to have the unique cardbacks again, but the FFs were growing on me. Well, there probably won't be more than a dozen figures on these cards anyway until the Ep II/generic Star Wars packaging takes over.

I don't think we'll see a drop in price, even if H-bro starts shipping the figures in baggies. Retailers and the mighty H are still blotting up the red ink from the Ep I fiasco. They need all the bucks they can make on figures that actually sell.

[Mandalorian Candidat]

Why would the price go down? Force files cost less than %0c to make so don't expect to see one

WRONG WRONG WRONG!

The actual force file may cost next to nothing but screwing up all the typesetting, then attempting to fix it multiple times cost as much as the GNP of Chile.

[darth chuck]

Personally, I thought the force files were superfluous garbage in the first place. I say lose them, slap a sticker onto a generic card back and get the price to less than $6.00

Since I have been in Korea, I have had my wife buy my figs for me and I am tired of being nagged for how much I spend on them. sigh - I remember when they were $1.98 retail at the mall. (1980)

In any event, you can't say production costs don't go down by not including a pack-in. Even if it is only a few cents, multiply that by not only U.S. but worldwide distribution.

[Tycho]

I just want to add my voice to those who would appreciate action figure stands as pack-ins. I COULD use those.

With Hasbro buying WOTC, you'd think we could just have those clear Star Wars Insider stands, and that'd be cheap as well as advertise for them. Since the stands are clear (even the SWI logo), they will work into dioramas seamlessly, as well as hold true for folks who just want their loose stuff to stand up.

Generally speaking, I don't need any pack-in. I mean I think the Force Files were the very first pack-in I ever bothered to look at (I am proud to not own a CommTech reader!) and I didn't really bother with Freeze Frames either. Why use a slide projector or "macrobinoculars?" If I wanted to see those scenes, I'd use a VCR ; )

Anyway, I buy the figures because they are Star Wars figures and the sculpts and articulation, detailing, are usually in a constant state of improving every year - as are some of the character selections.

Action figure stands are the only thing I can use. But yeah, go to the Vintage-style large pictures if your going to bother with individual card-backing Hasbro.

[sith_killer_99]

Here's an issue noone seems to have addressed yet. What about re-pack's? We already have lots of figures with Force Files, so what happens when Hasbro ships these things LATER?

Will they ship older figs with JFF's or will they re-pack them without the Force Files?

Before you all start shaking your heads think about this. Hasbro released Darth Vader (same sculpt) on Orange Card, Green Card without Holo, Green Card with Holo, AND Freeze Frame!

So what's to stop them from trying to cash in on those poor variation hunters?

And just think about how rare the Freeze Frame figs became (Coll. 3)! Will we see some poor fool paying $400.00 for a STUPID Jar-Jar with Force File 5-10 years from now?

I still cringe when I think about a $400.00 (MOMC) Weequay Freeze Frame! What a rip-off!

[stillakid]

If the price of a figure is that high just because of a lame packaging difference, maybe it's time to reevaluate collecting all the tiny variations. As I stated on another board, it seems to me that people only collect the minutia because they think that it will bring them huge profits down the line. The only reason for that line of thinking is that the original line rose in value. The only reason for that is because interest waned in the mid-Eighties when the core consumer went to high school and got interested in girls. The differences at this time are enormous starting with the fact that EVERYBODY and their mother collect these things and every new figure that comes out. There is no shortage of figures and most people who collect avidly probably have a fairly complete collection. You'll be hard pressed to find yourself being the only one with all the variations. It's the rarity that makes it valuable.

Having said that, any pack-ins are just bonus junk anyway. Stands would be practical, but we managed through the early years without anything at all.

[Rogue II]

Wasn't the entire point of Force Files to justify a generic cardback and, thus, lower production costs?

And why can't they keep with a decent pack-in for a decent amount of time?

I won't miss the Force Files. Including a stand might be nice, I just hope they don't pack in holographic mini figures or bring back those stupid coins from the POTF days.

[jjreason]

"What are you nuts? Don't you know that coin collecting is the hottest thing going these days?"