Hot Toys Death Star Trooper

[TurdFurgusonsHat]

Oh ... you're right, I overlooked that. It's much more likely that Hot Toys is just stupid, and doesn't know what figures are hot sellers.

It isn't a stretch to say HT release choices have left a lot of money on the table. It's a case by case thing. But you are right, the decision they made to make a porcelain pattern stormtrooper instead of this, meanwhile producing millions upon millions of ST troopers was pure genius on HT part.

 

[SwedishHeat]

It isn't a stretch to say HT release choices have left a lot of money on the table. It's a case by case thing. But you are right, the decision they made to make a porcelain pattern stormtrooper instead of this, meanwhile producing millions upon millions of ST troopers was pure genius on HT part.

So, if someone like Howard Chan or JC Hong or whoever else runs the production at Hot Toys explained to you why they make the decisions they do, would you accept that answer, or would you just tell them they're wrong?

 

[TurdFurgusonsHat]

So, if someone like Howard Chan or JC Hong or whoever else runs the production at Hot Toys explained to you why they make the decisions they do, would you accept that answer, or would you just tell them they're wrong?

Of course I would accept the answer if it was truthful. I might not agree with it, who knows. But making a statement like HT knows their business so they can't ever be wrong about "X" figure's popularity is simply not correct.

 

[SwedishHeat]

Of course I would accept the answer if it was truthful. I might not agree with it, who knows. But making a statement like HT knows their business so they can't ever be wrong about "X" figure's popularity is simply not correct.

That's my point, their business IS to know what figures are popular.

They have all the same information you do, plus ... on top of what you know, they have what they know, like the actual sales numbers, and production costs, so they can determine what makes sense for them to produce.

You don't have enough information to determine what is or is not correct.

 

[Damien]

well we do know they thought he was important enough to go through the trouble of making a prototype

 

[TurdFurgusonsHat]

That's my point, their business IS to know what figures are popular.

They have all the same information you do, plus ... on top of what you know, they have what they know, like the actual sales numbers, and production costs, so they can determine what makes sense for them to produce.

You don't have enough information to determine what is or is not correct.

Care to explain the ST troopers that lingered on the shelves at half price or less for several years then? What good did all that data they have do for them?

 

[SwedishHeat]

Care to explain the ST troopers that lingered on the shelves at half price or less for several years then? What good did all that data they have do for them?

Hot Toys decides what to produce, retailers decide how many to order. If a product is sitting on shelves, that's on the retailers, not Hot Toys.

 

[Mandible]

Hot Toys decides what to produce, retailers decide how many to order. If a product is sitting on shelves, that's on the retailers, not Hot Toys.

Or on the ****** films that no one cares to invest into

 

[SwedishHeat]

Or on the ****** films that no one cares to invest into

Obviously someone cared to invest in them. Collectors placed pre-orders. And they must have been relatively strong to give Sideshow the confidence to order so heavily.

What is this thread about again?

 

[dukefett]

Hot Toys decides what to produce, retailers decide how many to order. If a product is sitting on shelves, that's on the retailers, not Hot Toys.

Retailers choose how many to order sure, but the number of figures offered for The Force Awakens by Hot Toys before the movie came out was nothing but dumb. Very dumb. They did THIRTEEN different trooper releases for that one movie. Dumb doesn't even begin to describe it. They aren't Hasbro, they don't need to bang out every trooper variation immediately.

 

[SwedishHeat]

Retailers choose how many to order sure, but the number of figures offered for The Force Awakens by Hot Toys before the movie came out was nothing but dumb. Very dumb. They did THIRTEEN different trooper releases for that one movie. Dumb doesn't even begin to describe it. They aren't Hasbro, they don't need to bang out every trooper variation immediately.

This is the number one blunder on this forum. Calling something 'dumb' because you don't like that character.

They made four First Order Troopers, and mix & matched to get 14 releases. They got a hell of a lot of mileage out of a relatively small amount of work. That's just smart business.

If you've got $10,000 are you going to put it in something that's going to net you $14,000, or something that's going to net you $20,000?

 

[Wor-Gar]

HT clearly learned its lesson from TFA...

Not much released from The Rise of Skywalker, yet tons from Mando... even RO has come back to life. And I like it.

 

[Futurion]

HT clearly learned its lesson from TFA...

Not much released from The Rise of Skywalker, yet tons from Mando... even RO has come back to life. And I like it.

Fun fact - RO has now more HT figures than The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker together.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Fun fact - RO has now more HT figures than The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker together.

Not only fun but a very telling fact.

 

[SwedishHeat]

Realistically, it's because The Mandalorian is re-using costumes from Rogue One, seeing as how they're more recent and in good shape.

But sure, let's just go ahead and believe that Hot Toys really loves Rogue One and Baze is coming any day now ...

 

[dukefett]

This is the number one blunder on this forum. Calling something 'dumb' because you don't like that character.

They made four First Order Troopers, and mix & matched to get 14 releases. They got a hell of a lot of mileage out of a relatively small amount of work. That's just smart business.

If you've got $10,000 are you going to put it in something that's going to net you $14,000, or something that's going to net you $20,000?

I'm not saying it because I don't like troopers, who said that? I didn't.

I'm saying that because there's zero reason to do 13 different releases. Each one is a $200+ package. They could've done a handful of releases and absolutely covered everything. If the move was super successful and loved they could go back and do more releases. They dug their own hole with that and they have no one to blame but themselves.

 

[Hoody999]

Realistically, it's because The Mandalorian is re-using costumes from Rogue One, seeing as how they're more recent and in good shape.

But sure, let's just go ahead and believe that Hot Toys really loves Rogue One and Baze is coming any day now ...

 

[Malgus]

Realistically, it's because The Mandalorian is re-using costumes from Rogue One, seeing as how they're more recent and in good shape.

But sure, let's just go ahead and believe that Hot Toys really loves Rogue One and Baze is coming any day now ...

Exactly. If not for mandalorian hot toys would have moved on from Rogue One.

 

[Wor-Gar]

All hail Baze! Star Wars Asian Ghostbuster!

Realistically, it's because The Mandalorian is re-using costumes from Rogue One, seeing as how they're more recent and in good shape.

But sure, let's just go ahead and believe that Hot Toys really loves Rogue One and Baze is coming any day now ...

Exactly. If not for mandalorian hot toys would have moved on from Rogue One.

It is so sad that you guys don't like Rogue One. But at least you have the ST.

 

[afaninfull]

I still want to believe the Death Star Trooper is a possibility.
An earlier post made an excellent argument that this is one of the original 12 Star Wars figures and the only one that hasn?t been made in 1/6. From the moment it was previewed, it was met with adoration from the fans on this board. It is also a trooper and with figures like Tarkin, Vader and Stormtroopers to flank, many collectors would have bought multiples.
So, why the 4 year wait?
Wasn?t this figure originally a Solo figure?
Is it possible after the glut of figures from The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, and the fact that Solo was not a blockbuster upon release, Hot Toys had to do a reevaluation?
Now that The Mandalorian has become a merchandising supernova, figures that are from the OT or inspired by it are flying off the shelves.
Perhaps the troopers are a stop gap to not only sell figures but also provide time to craft the more unique characters like Cara, Kuill, Bo Katan, and others who require more lead time to sculpt and get approval.
I truly believe a Death Star Trooper would sell and the timing wasn?t right. This is a figure that will sell whenever it is decided and I hope Hot Toys is just waiting until that right time.