Legacy "Vintage" Collection - Now with Ep 2!

[JediTricks]

http://www.toyark.com/news/star-wars...e-blades-2208/

Um, what? The? Fuuuuuuuudddggge?

[FONT=Arial]Vintage Figures (# 97568)
[/FONT] Hasbro will be releasing vintage cardbacks for this years basic figure collection. The pics show (VOTC) was used to illustrate the vintage look and the direction of the line. We will see the actual product at this years Toy Fair.

• [FONT=Arial]Collectors focused SKU[/FONT]
• [FONT=Arial]Collection of best figures in the market[/FONT]
• [FONT=Arial]Episode II on vintage card for the first time[/FONT]
• [FONT=Arial]Select packages will be foiled to create a Bounty Hunt for collectors
  [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]There will also be a Boba Fett vintage mail away for 2010[/FONT]

This sounds like it is related to answers we got and another site got in the last few months. New Legacy Collection packaging to stand out from Clone Wars; the line will have Ep 2, 3, 5, and 6; and it will be the first time Ep 2 will be on vintage-style cardback. I'll highlight the significant passages:

We will have a solution next year to more strongly separate the Legacy product from Clone Wars and Saga Legends. We are working to also differentiate the latter two as well.

The basic figure line that will take over after Legacy / Droid Factory will look a little different [...] It will consists of all new tooled figures (about the same proportion as are in the line now), significant repaints/retooled figures, Saga Legends-type figures, and figures released on basic figure cards for the first time.

The way it looks currently, there will be Fall 2010 waves for EpII, III, V, and VI (not in that order)

From these answers:

Dec 10
JediTempleArchives.com: Looking forward to 2010, we've been seeing indications about potential wave themes for the Legacy basic figure line. Particularly, that there will not be a wave of figures representing A NEW HOPE. Will the Legacy Collection and the following movie based figure line that's set to launch next summer continue to follow an individual movie theme for each wave? And can you give us an indication of which movies will be represented in these waves for 2010?
Hasbro: The EU wave that was shown at Comic Con will be the last of the red/white Legacy series for Spring 2010. The Legacy-type basic figure line scheduled to launch next Fall will follow a wave theme to ensure that each movie gets one focused wave, then we will change to a non-wave based system. The way it looks currently, there will be Fall 2010 waves for EpII, III, V, and VI (not in that order) with EpI and IV getting waves at the beginning of 2011.

Nov 16
SSG: We've been hearing how the TLC line has been having sales troubles going back to its inception in July '08. There have been numerous Hasbro comments about lowered volume due to a shrinking of the hardcore collector base and a virtual drying up of the casual consumer base. Now through Q&A we're hearing about entire waves of basic figures, the bread & butter of the line, possibly getting pushed back or dropped into exclusive territory as brand management tries to ensure that those molds get into collectors' hands at all. Yet through all this, we continue to hear that Saga Legends is a strong seller with the casual consumers and thus with Hasbro's retail partners. While we fans appreciate and admire the drive over the past 6 years to deliver 40 to 50 new figures per year, without entertainment support it appears that pace has become an albatross around the mainline's neck as multiple outside forces such as manufacturing and the economy beat up the line (along with the rest of the toy industry). When fans look at something like the AT-AT Driver figure, which had a chiefly satisfactory figure released only 3 years ago yet now has an entirely new tooling coming up, it seems like the priority to meet x-many new figures per wave is no longer a viable concept, as budgeting for figures that either won't see widespread release at retail or will get pushed back means the next products down the line suffer worse fates is spent across a wave rather than the mainline as a whole. Though not ideal, have you considered merging the mainline figures and Saga Legends back together, scaling back the overall scope of new figures to fit in releases alongside the Legends figures, and cutting down on new resculpted figures when existing ones like the 3-year-old AT-AT Driver would satisfy interest with little or no change? Would focusing all of the non-Clone Wars figures back into a single SKU help keep mainline figures afloat, even if the number of new figures is scaled back significantly?
Hasbro: Thanks for the thoughtful summary of the challenges that we are facing with the "new collector economy." We are determined to keep delivering significant newness in the basic figure line. The basic figure line that will take over after Legacy / Droid Factory will look a little different, along the lines of all the things you mentioned. It will consists of all new tooled figures (about the same proportion as are in the line now), significant repaints/retooled figures, Saga Legends-type figures, and figures released on basic figure cards for the first time. Because of the sheer popularity that Saga Legends has had with its audience, we will keep it going as a separate line but change up the figures some. We believe that it's critical to keep Saga Legends doing, as kids are getting the core heroes and villains (with occasional troops), while fans are adding troops to shore up their forces. However, exactly to your point, we will be refocusing Legends a bit and sending some key figures over into the line that will replace Legacy so there is some core hero traction to that line as well.

Oct 23
SSG: The new packaging so far has been shelved pretty inconsistently by store clerks, with the coloring differences completely overlooked. This makes for a mishmash of Clone Wars and Saga Legends (with Legacy Collection still not hitting at full strength yet) which collectors have to dig through, and therein lies the focus of this question. The new packaging's J-hook is easily the wimpiest one yet, the hook is so shallow that figures are constantly flying off the pegs as consumers look for their figure of choice, leaving the section a total mess and further mixing up the various lines. Why are the J-hooks on the new cards designed like that, and might you be willing to do something to address this problem?
Hasbro: It's too late to change anything, as the last of the Spring Legacy figures are being produced and shipped now. We will have a solution next year to more strongly separate the Legacy product from Clone Wars and Saga Legends. We are working to also differentiate the latter two as well.

[Mr. JabbaJohnL]

I wasn't around during the vintage run, and I'm an opener, but damn it if this isn't exciting. Vintage packaging for new figures, and prequel characters! Too cool!!! Hopefully this really will bring some of the lost collectors back, at least a little bit. I can't wait to see actual pictures.

The same site also has info on The Clone Wars products. It's hard to tell from the tiny picture, and I don't feel like registering, but it looks good on the vehicle but a little cheap and early-90s on the figure. We'll see how the final product looks.

I can't see it, but Yakface says the card calls out a "Battle Game Card" as a pack-in. I wonder, will this be in both Clone Wars and Saga Legends, or what?

I wonder what the Boba Fett mail-away will be? I doubt it would be a Clone Wars version if it's just through the realistic figures, but perhaps that would be a way to "cross streams," so to speak, and get collectors into the other lines. But I can't really see them doing that. The only all-new versions left I can think of would be the all-white one from the behind-the-scenes video, the one used in publicity shots (similar to the vintage and 1995 figures), or perhaps a ROTJ one with a removable helmet or cord. Who knows.

[sith_killer_99]

I will buy vintage style packaged figures, though I do not believe I will buy anything outside the OT.

If this is true, it will be the first time since 2006 that I have seriously looked at collecting Hasbro stuff again.

[Maradona]

The vintage packaging for most toy lines has less plastic wasted and is easier to open. The 25th Anniversary GI Joe line used this packaging style successfully.

[Snowtrooper]

It'll be nice to have prequel figures on vintage cards. Most of us are used to what the original cardbacks look like, so I think it will be neat to see what new ones they come up with. It'll suck that they wont be able to pack the accessories in like they did on the larger bubbles, but it sounds like they were going to cut back on those anyways.

[Rik Duel]

When they say "saga legends-type" figures I wonder if that means straight repackagings or if it could include repainted figures or head-swapped/slightly altered ones.

[Mr. JabbaJohnL]

Here is the larger Clone Wars slide. The packaging doesn't look too bad, actually. Hopefully the colors on the left (here, it's orange) will change to match each character. It sort of looks like a mix between vintage and TAC/LC packaging, what with the weird angles but large character photo.

Also, I wonder if the new vintage-styled cards will have the clamshell? It's a waste of space and material, but they might do it to please the carded collectors. Then again, I can't really imagine putting one with every single figure that comes out.

[bigbarada]

Hmmmm, prequel figures on vintage style packaging are going to be verrrrrry difficult to pass up.

Also, I would like to see Saga Legends take on the vintage look as I would have no problems buying many of them just for the packaging.

Hopefully we'll get some repacks too, because I would LOVE to see 2009's Slave Leia, Giran, AT-AT Driver, Snowspeeder Luke, Utris M'toc, the Scanning Crew Trooper, Hrchek Kal Fas, and DS2 Luke on vintage style cards.

The news for 2010 just keeps getting better and better!

[sith_killer_99]

Also, I wonder if the new vintage-styled cards will have the clamshell? It's a waste of space and material, but they might do it to please the carded collectors. Then again, I can't really imagine putting one with every single figure that comes out.

How I can see how this could become a real mess.

No clam shells (ala GI Joe) = Good

Vintage style cards meaning hole punches in the card itself, resulting in the old "punched" vs. "non-punched" carded collecting. = Bad

If Hasbro is gonna do this they should try to address this issue, either punch 'em all or change to a J hook style like the GI Joe stuff.

[bigbarada]

How I can see how this could become a real mess.

No clam shells (ala GI Joe) = Good

Vintage style cards meaning hole punches in the card itself, resulting in the old "punched" vs. "non-punched" carded collecting. = Bad

If Hasbro is gonna do this they should try to address this issue, either punch 'em all or change to a J hook style like the GI Joe stuff.

I would vote for J-hooks. I remember being extremely annoyed with the way the hole punch worked on the vintage cards when I was a kid. If you wanted the figure at the back of the shelf, then you either had to remove every single figure in front of it or tear the card in order to get the figure off the peg.