More on the price of exclusives.

[DarthChuckMc]

I think some people, not all, are misinterperating this word "retooling". When HASBRO "retools" a new toy using an existing design, say the Shuttle Tyderium, they don't ACTUALLY use the SAME mold as the one produced in 1983/84. What HASBRO is doing with ALL of the "retooled" vehicles (ie. X-wing, TIE Fighter,etc.) is taking an original toy from 1978-1985, and making a mold from IT. The actual molds for those toys are looooong gone. If they do exist any more, they are probably serverely detereorated(sp) thus making it impossible to make a mass amount of product. Making new molds can cost thousands of dollars. I'm sure the price of making molds has also increased in the 20 or so years since Kenner used them. Not too mention the price of licensing from Lucasfilm. I agree. $125 is pretty steep for a toy, but if the 5,000 limit is true, this would be the companies way of making some sort of a profit off of the "retooling" and cost of plastics, labor, packaging and shipping them to our penny pinching arses.

[DarthMaulSithLord]

That's their own fault. We didn't tell them to make it in limited quantities. Why don't the make 20,000? I'm sure they'll sell. Not everything evolves around US collectors (no pun intended). I bet there are more collectors outside the US.

[Beast]

Yeah, I can deal with the whole $125.00 price tag, sure it's alot but it's almost the last ship left that hasn't been reproduced, and I want one. But what the hell is the limit of 5000 BS? If that was FAO's idea they seriously need to rethink things. I am definatly not going to be a happy camper if I'm not lucky enough to get one of thse.

MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks

[stillakid]

Originally posted by DarthChuckMc
I think some people, not all, are misinterperating this word "retooling". When HASBRO "retools" a new toy using an existing design, say the Shuttle Tyderium, they don't ACTUALLY use the SAME mold as the one produced in 1983/84. What HASBRO is doing with ALL of the "retooled" vehicles (ie. X-wing, TIE Fighter,etc.) is taking an original toy from 1978-1985, and making a mold from IT. The actual molds for those toys are looooong gone. If they do exist any more, they are probably serverely detereorated(sp) thus making it impossible to make a mass amount of product. Making new molds can cost thousands of dollars. I'm sure the price of making molds has also increased in the 20 or so years since Kenner used them. Not too mention the price of licensing from Lucasfilm. I agree. $125 is pretty steep for a toy, but if the 5,000 limit is true, this would be the companies way of making some sort of a profit off of the "retooling" and cost of plastics, labor, packaging and shipping them to our penny pinching arses.

If recouping their cost is the primary concern, why not just make one Shuttle and charge $625,000 for it? With an exclusive of one, it's bound to sell.

Yeah, that was ridiculous. But take the equation in the other direction and actually produce enough product to fill demand, then the price per unit drops considerably. This exclusive nonsense is the problem. FAO knows full well that they have limited outlets and they can only sell a certain amount of product to only the people with access to them. Hasbro is making a BIIGGGGG mistake by giving an exclusive to a small outlet chain like FAO in the first place.

[RooJay]

DarthChuckMc you are absolutely certain they are not using the original mold? Even knowing how meticulous Lucasfilm is about preserving and archiving everything they can? I don't think it's too hard to believe that the original is still around. Plus, I always thought the molds were made of metal, and that's part of what makes them so expensive. Metal doesn't deteriorate. Now, I'm not saying that it's impossible that Hasbro is having to recreate the mold, but even if that were the case, how does that make it more expensive to produce than a completely new item like the Fambaa. By the way, current reports have F.A.O.'s price for this toy at $125!

[Wolfwood319]

If they are indeed limiting to 5000 units, I can cetainly understand it, for 2 reasons.

First, how long did those exclusive Faambas sit on their shelves? They don't want another incident like that.

Second, if they limit it to 5000, they're almost guarenteed that 5000 will sell. Its a safe bet, I don't blame them.

[Beast]

He's right, there was an interview in one of the Toy Collecting magazines a few years ago, saying that the old molds are gone, and they pull a new mold off of a vintage ship. Thats why they go thru the trouble of retooling the ships, not just for to please us, but they have to, because they are making a copy of an original and it looses some detail in the molding process.

MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks

[RooJay]

Those Fambaa's sat on the shelves because they cost $90.

[stillakid]

Originally posted by Wolfwood319
If they are indeed limiting to 5000 units, I can cetainly understand it, for 2 reasons.

First, how long did those exclusive Faambas sit on their shelves? They don't want another incident like that.

Second, if they limit it to 5000, they're almost guarenteed that 5000 will sell. Its a safe bet, I don't blame them.

You're right, we shouldn't blame FAO, except that they shouldn't be demanding exclusives in the first place. They don't have the outlets to adequately deliver product of any kind across a vast area. So, once again, Hasbro is setting themselves up for criticism. They finally produce one of the most requested ships of all time, and then go out of their way to make it next to impossible for anyone to get it.

Faamba wasn't an item that most people were clamoring to get. It came from a movie that wasn't as widely loved as the Original Trilogy films were. There is a lot more interest in "vintage" ships and characters than in any of the new films, so a comparison between Faamba and the Shuttle is a poor way for a company to make decisions.

FAO will come out of it with a nice wad of cash in their hands, and they know it. They're taking advantage of one of the sweetest deals ever offered as far as Star Wars exclusives go. Hasbro deserves every ounce of shame that they get. There is no excuse for this one...at all.

[SithDroid]

I don't like FAO and I never will. they are way too overpriced on everything. It is almost like they have never heard of competition before. I will not be getting this overpriced piece of plastic. There's better things to spend my money on than this RIP OFF!