Re: MR Blue Clonetrooper helmet...SPOILER ALERT
what's "gotta have" and whats Junk
Okay, JS this is all IMO of course, but lemme see if I can help....
The films:
SW-ANH: We all know the story, so no need to rehash the impact....
SW-ESB: Most sequels at that time were known to suck, so not alot was expected as far as merch sales, until the film hit and lightning struck twice. Also known to be a MAJOR contender for best film in the series, due to its dark themes and better direction, and THAT'S due to Lawrence Kasdan and not George Lucas...
SW-RotJ: By this point EVERYONE knew what was coming in merch sales. (GL financed himself,-a smart move to let him reap ALL profits) Couple that with less than stellar ideas, like cancelling the Wookie planet, and dropping in the Ewoks, IMO this movie turned into a major toy commercial. The "cutesy" disease, IMO starts HERE....(Tarzan yells in a SW movie?!? VOMIT...)
Now, since GL empire is really built on merch sales, (with numbers like
2 billion dollars a year at its heyday how can it NOT be??) the NEW films started out the same...
SW-TPM: Reopened the series, (and we all know what "Jar-Jar" means in street slang) and the toys FLOWED again.
SW-AotC: Things got a little better, and again IMO, due to backlash about all the cutesy BS starting to run rampant since RotJ.
SW-RotS: From all indications this movie might very well restore the "coolness". Rated PG-13, a FIRST for SW, it looks like the "cutesy" is gone for good. Anakin's a true monster and slaughters just about everything, turns into Vader, and all is evil and well with the series. (and the world)
Okay, now lets look at toys....
SW toys as a whole, were decently collectible from ANH, ESB, and certainly even RotJ. Even though mass produced, they were not overdone like the new films...
The newer trilogy toys are SO mass produced, (and really, who in their right mind DOES NOT remember everybody on the planet saying that, "Star Wars toys are worth alot of money...I sure wish I still had..." that when the new films cranked up, they KNEW everybody would buy TONS of plastic toys. Shrewd for sure. But worth anything? No, only the really rare...
Now the PROP replicas on the other hand, are limited, well made, and seem to hold their value. Sabers, helmets, blasters, and statues, will do well if the numbers stay LOW, because there are SOOOO many SW collectors, scalpers, and speculators that there just isn't enough. Then why so low when never before? Because retailers got sick of holding on to TONS of stuff when the hype died down
Better for us collectors this way!
The moral of this story is to STAY AWAY from the toys, unless you just like them. They are nice, BUT they are JUST toys. The Replica's are nice and are NOT toys. Now, many will argue the points made here, and in some circumstances, they might be right. BUT, as a general rule of thumb, esp. investment/return wise, trust me
I have been there and learned some of this stuff the hard way...