Would you buy this Playskool Set?

[JediTricks]

These things only seemed to hit retailers in my area at the k stores, Kmart and KB. Kmart had a rocky start with theirs but sold out fairly quickly after that yet never ordered again; KB really put their backs into selling this line as my local stores are still getting sets (1 store had a ton of that HTF Ep 2 set). It's too bad WM, TRU, and Target didn't get behind these, they were a surprise hit of last year and deserve better.


I think that if any future is to be had with this line, it has to balance the needs of the mature collectors like ourselves with the intended playskool audience... which basically means ONLY immediately-recognizable characters and vehicles. Figures like Tarkin, Biggs, Shaak-Ti, etc., will be a strain on the cost concerns that Hasbro will naturally have because they'll basically be "extra figures" that kids probably won't get excited about. That's probably the area that has given Hasbro so much pause in continuing the line - but I think it can be overcome and lead into a popular line. Look at the Rescue Heroes figures out now, they're quite popular and have spawned imitators like Spider-Man & Friends and now a Disney-themed line - Star Wars All In One Adventures should continue to be there with them. Hell, that Spidey line keeps chugging on and on even though it seems like it should have died a quick death.

[Darth Jax]

originally posted by tycho
they are cute, and make me feel more like a kid, while as an adult collector, I'm worried about whether re-releases have all the right accessories and paint colors -these are just simple and fun - THEY'RE BACK TO BEING JUST TOYS!

couldn't agree more. i still get giddy when i handle these. the rest of my opened collection gets positioned and left on shelves. the playskool toys get handled weekly.

the set i'd want is a couple of ewoks, at-st, and imperial driver/officer/bikerscout, some generic imperial figure to complete the set as the enemy figure. of course this needs to come after the jabba set i previously requested from hasbro.

[skeeziks22]

Are there really that many people out there that would BUY these toys for themselves. I think they are nice toys for kids to play with, but like all other toys that are nice for kids to play with, I wouldn't buy them. The KBs up in AK have these sitting on the shelves collecting dust... that may be a reason they ended the line so quickly... no one bought them when they first came out.

However, I gave these toys good marks in a recent poll that Hasbro sent me via e-mail... it sounds like they are testing the market for more sets to hit the shelves. I guess this is good news for all you who "love" these... but for me I will admire them as they sit on the store shelves, and then hunt for the 3 3/4" figures.

[tgr3328]

If my son where too young for the regular figures, then I would definitely buy one. That way, he could have his own Star Wars toys to play with. But he likes the regular line of figures (because that's what I have), is too old for us to worry about him choking on the small parts, and does a reasonbly good job of taking care of them.

On the other hand, I will have our first grandchild soon. In a year or two, it will be time to introduce her to the world of Star Wars! I can't wait!

[InsaneJediGirl]

I would buy that AT-AT set in a heatbeat.Its awesome,something to display on my computer without worrying about breaking them.

The sets have also been hard to find in my area.WM had them when the Saga Line first came out,and the sets sold out within a week and I havent seen any since.(Either that,or I'm looking the wrong isle)I would like to see Hasbro continue the Playskool line,a great way to introduce younger kids to collecting!

[El Chuxter]

They could possibly do a "Clone Wars" tie-in set with Kit Fisto (you've got to admit he'd look awesome in this style), Obi-Wan Kenobi, Count Dooku, and maybe a swoop bike or some other pack-in.

[Dar Basra]

My wife and I bought them all for our 2 year old (who turns 3 this weekend), even though we've also since given him regular 3 3/4" figures (sans accessories). We all love them, and look forward to our 2 week old daughter getting to play with them in a year or so. My wife's only complaint is that in all the sets (and we have them all) there's no Leia!

[Equator]

I will buy whatever Playskool Star Wars toys are released.

Just to let everyone know, though -- don't blame Hasbro for the lack of supply of this toy line nor for the fact that it may be dead. As a manufacturer, Hasbro only ships out what the retailers buy. If the company whose store you are shopping at doesn't buy that particular item, then of course you won't find it in their stores. I, too, am disturbed by the difficulty at finding everything I want in Star Wars toys of all types, but I just thought I'd point out that Hasbro shouldn't really be taking all the blame here.

As for the Playskool thing, I actually spoke to Hasbro's V.P. in charge of the Star Wars division at Celebration II last year in Indianapolis. He told me that everyone there at Hasbro was excited about this toy line as well, and that they did in fact have a couple more set ideas on the drawing board at that time. When I asked him if they would ever see production, or if they planned on expanding the Playskool line in the same manner as the Saga stuff, he said it all depends on sales. And of course, to a manufacturer, "sales" does not mean you and I buying the toy, it means the retailers buying the toy. So if the Playskool line has indeed died, we should be blaming Target and WalMart and Toys R Us, all of whom seem to have either never carried it or dropped it right after the first batch for some crazy reason.

No one would be happier than I to see this line of toys continue. They are brilliantly made and of a quality far superior to any of the stuff for older kids and collectors. My Mace Windu Saga figure can almost never hold his lightsaber for more than two seconds, while my Playskool X-Wing can be dropped on the floor from ten feet off the ground and not have a scratch. The use of magnets within the hands of the characters to simulate a "force push" against the Biker Scouts and Wampa is simple but genius, and the way the Millenium Falcon responds to your "repairs" is great.

As much as I love the Saga toys as a collector, I also watch my son play with all of his (both Saga AND Playskool), and honestly the Saga toys are not good for playing with. It's like they were designed solely with the collector in mind and not the kids, and that's what I love so much about the Playskool line. Father AND son can both appreciate them equally.

Someone in one of the previous responses said there is no collector value to the Playskool toy line. Considering how few retailers picked these things up, how hard they have been to find even at the stores that do carry them, and how few people have been buying them to keep them mint in package, I'd say the collectability of these toys is probably BETTER long term than the Saga toys, which are mostly plentiful and are bought just as much by collectors keeping them MOC as by people who open them. Twenty years from now, your MIP Saga Palpatine will be one of thousands, while your MIP Fast Through The Forest will be far more rare a piece.

I'll stop rambling now.

[JediTricks]

I think Hasbro was caught off-guard with how this line did, they didn't know what to expect to show their retailers and too many of those retailers shied away. That is, in part, what Toy Fair and PR people are supposed to do, convince retailers to buy and show them how to market the product to customers. So I do blame Hasbro a little for how the line has floundered out of the gate, but mainly I'm concerned that now they have 2 proven audiences for the line they simply won't exploit that properly and keep the line alive.

[MaltbyRob]

I like the fact that Tycho suggested a lot of new sets, but his suggestions don't seem very realistic. If Hasbro chooses to continue this line, we will probably not get dozens of new sets, with every possible character covered. If we look at the current release objectively, we will see that more realistic is the possibility of 10-12 new sets, released over the next two or three years of peak interest, with a lot of repeats in the characters presented. We're not going to get a complete set of everything everyone could ever want, as these are designed to appeal to kids and not completionest adult collectors. I love these toys, and they have given me hours of pleasure in the 6 months I've owned the full set. I want to see Playskool Star Wars continue, if even only for a few more waves. I say that It's time to get more specific with what we want from hasbro. Posting dozens of ideas is not a clear statement to the people in charge of this line, and does no good. It's greedy and unrealistic. On the other hand, clear, well thought out suggestions to what the fan community would like to see, suggestions that also make good business sense and that might also appeal to children, might carry some weight.

So, let's figure outwhat to expect from the suits...
*In the first and second waves, we had a ratio of 4 figures with the Deluxe Playset (the falcon), 3-4 figures with the medium sized sets (X-wing and Naboo) and 2-3 figures and a beast with the smaller sets.
*Having action features, the X-wing fighter was more expensive to produce than the naboo fighter, and because of this the set only came with 3 figures.
I think that in the future, we can expect no more than three full size figures and a "little" figure (Anikan, R2, Jawa, Yoda, etc.) with any set. This means that we have to choose carefully. As much as I love lobot and would love to see a toy made of him, it's more realistic to expect a Bespin Luke and MAYBE an Ugnaught to come with the Bespin Cloud Car that Tycho Suggested. Heck, it's probably even more of a stretch to expect the Cloud City Car at all. Again, as much as I'd love a Lobot and Cloud City Guard and Bespin Lando, I'd rather see the line sell well.
I suggest the following for the next release, I think that they would sell well with kids and collecters alike, and lend themselves to the Playskool Style...

Deluxe Vehicle Playset
The Slave 1 w/Han in Carbonite
Figures:Boba Fett, IG-88, Bespin Lando, Ugnaught

Mid-Sized Vehicle Sets
Tie Fighter
Figures: Death Star Leia, Imperial Pilot, Grand Moff Tarkin, Imperial R2 Unit
Luke's Landspeeder
Figures: Tatooine Luke, Tusken Raider, Uncle Owen, Jawa

Small Sets
Jabba's Palace Set
Jabba The Hutt w/platform, Gammorean Guard, Slave Leia, Salacious Crumb
Tatooine Escape
Dewback, Tatooine Obi-Wan Kenobi, Sandtrooper, Greedo
Naboo Battle
Jar Jar Binks, Battle Droid, Federation HoverBike Qui-Gon Jinn

These suggestions are modest, but I think reasonable given what we have seen from the line thus far. If these sell well, it might be possible to expand the line to also include booster packs of less popular characters (Lobot, Sebulba, Mon Mothma) mixed with popular characters that don't fit in with a vehicle set (Yoda, Watto, Admiral Akbar) It might even be fun to have a mail away figure or two (Maybe a set of Jango Fett with a baby Boba Fett)
I've tried to preditct what we might expect from Playskool Star Wars based on what we've seen. If we all can agree on a direction then maybe we can persuade Hasbro to give it another go.
What are two or three of your dream sets?