Was 2012 SDCC a disappointment for Star Wars 1/6th Collectors?

[cbr600guy]

A gent at the SS booth said that they were having a lot of issues while trying to produce the Grievous figure during production and had to kind of scale back and regroup to figure out what was causing the issues. I bet you we will see it for PO a year from now.

 

[Glennfett]

i too would like to know more about the 3po figure as it looked awesome.
i too felt underwelmed.we got spoiled last yr no doubts.

 

[swsqueakquels]

Lack of improvements aside, I think the way Vader was revealed/displayed wasn't dynamic or exciting enough. It needed to scream "IT'S DARTH VADER!" It's a DX after all, supposedly the "Ultimate."

I mean, even if they don't want to show the Anakin reveal head, we're going into Hoth mode - they could have shown him striding in a snow base dio leading 3-4 snowtroopers. Or SSC's doing some Bespin stuff soon - some orange lighting with him duelling HT Luke Bespin in a Freezing chamber dio - or him and Boba on the same freezing chamber gantry. Or a classic Bespin gantry and have him with hand outstretched to BD Luke Bespin.

Hasbro really went all out with their Hoth and Bespin freeze chamber dios last year.

Just seems like Vader's the #1 character and they displayed him in that "you damn kids"/shaking fist pose that really wasn't much of a grand reveal. Everyone was like "oh, it's another Vader."

i too would like to know more about the 3po figure as it looked awesome.
i too felt underwelmed.we got spoiled last yr no doubts.

It looks incredible, but it appears to be a statue with limited articulation (shrunken SSC PF Threepio sort of) and because it is mostly die-cast metal, it is supposedly going to be close to $400.

There's really not much info on it, but what's interesting is that Puay pointed out that it has the SSC and "Heroes of the Rebellion" logo on it, which suggests maybe it is part of an integration into the 1/6 line - really intriguing.

 

[minivader]

I like the figures (except Obi) presented in the con but the lack of surprises, annoucements, sneak peeks, prototypes, etc really made this years' con just down right boring. Where is Grand Moff Tarkin? Besides the usual 3PO, R2 and Chewie MIA, Tarkin is probably the only character remain to complete the ANH villain line up.

 

[TotalDominAsian]

They honestly get a D from me if I'm grading them. I at least expected to see Jango Fett considering they did Boba, and he's not that different in terms of armor. And the only big/main character they're giving us for this next year is Darth Vader. What else we got? EU Darth Malgus and a Episode 1 Kenobi that not many of us appreciate and even fewer will buy.

 

[Gipetto0812]

Yea I'm definitely disappointed about SDCC's star wars 1/6 stuff. Most of the stuff we already knew was coming. I was at least hoping to see the full final proto or production piece of a finished Greivous.

 

[Niceman]

Yeah, meant to mention TPM Obi, too, really convinced me that HT ought to be doing the head sculpts for any human characters or working very closely with SSC on them to get the likenesses down better. I see trouble ahead for Sideshow if they release a mediocre Tarkin or Dooku at $175.00+, the way these figures are heading (or TPM Obi, for that matter as I don't believe he'll be cheap). Really they need to step up their game and either catch-up to HT or outsource the human head sculpts to them.

As it is, I plan on passing on young Obi. The quality isn't there. They can't ask HT prices and deliver less than HT quality.

I think SS has been wise to focus so much on masked and alien figures lately. I expected that when they did get back to human faces again we'd see a big improvement. This isn't it.

This figure needs to have amazing accessories or be under $100 or no sale.

 

[teemu]

my dissapointment was not being able to pre-order the reveals such as Vader,Batman,Baroness and Major Bludd, so then we also can get an idea of actual release time.

 

[Batty]

This year was a big disappointment after last year's show. The displays for the Snowtroopers and Tusken Raiders looked cool, but there was no surprise. And I think they should've waited for Vader to be fully ready and done a major centerpiece showing the reveal helmet and everything that comes with him. I feel like it's nowhere near ready at this point.

Another disappointment was not seeing the next SW offering from HT. With all the Batman and Avengers figures being pumped out, I though they would've had the next SW figure ready for display. It seems like their plan of doing one SW figure a year might be one every other year at this rate.

 

[gibby]

This is one of the reasons I stopped updating the "in development" or "in production" lists..there were no more surprises anymore, which in turn ruined the christmas morning feeling. Add to it the spoilers from facebook and/or twitter, and it's really stretched one preview night across almost two months.

Funny, but last year I felt like the SW PFs were put on the back burner, while this year the sixth scale was in the outhouse.

Maybe the days of SW are coming to an end for SSC at the con, or they're just shifting the SW focus to the higher end pieces (3 life size busts?!?)?!?

Either way it stings just a little more each passing year.

 

[xequae]

Definitely a let down this year and so has been the last year since SDCC 11. We still don't have Hot Toys Luke and Grevious wasn't even shown this year. The Batman and Marvel Hot Toys lines are constantly getting new figures and we have yet to see a second Star Wars release announced.

The Tusken Raider and Snow Trooper displays were awesome, but I would have loved to see some new figures for Jabba's Palace, Hoth Rebels, Cool Aliens or some one like Dooku in addition to those. It seems they are too focused on Clone Troopers and their isn't enough diversity in the line anymore. Combine that higher and higher prices, it is hard to stay interested in the line.

 

[Qrest Fourstar]

I was let down for this years SDCC. I mena damn, after last years line up was mindblowing, they basically told us all this years releases before hand so other than seeing the two Malgus' and Shaakti, It was anticlamactic.


On the other hand, It kept me from ordering too much ___uff.

Oh, and after the Chewie tease a few weeks ago and getting nothing but a bad pic? Shame on you SS. :-(

 

[swsqueakquels]

This is one of the reasons I stopped updating the "in development" or "in production" lists..there were no more surprises anymore, which in turn ruined the christmas morning feeling. Add to it the spoilers from facebook and/or twitter, and it's really stretched one preview night across almost two months.

Funny, but last year I felt like the SW PFs were put on the back burner, while this year the sixth scale was in the outhouse.

Maybe the days of SW are coming to an end for SSC at the con, or they're just shifting the SW focus to the higher end pieces (3 life size busts?!?)?!?

Either way it stings just a little more each passing year.

I wish they had a clearer schedule for the development/production of these figs.

Several pieces have been announced, then they take years before they see light of day. It becomes confusing as to what their statements mean. They say they are developing a 1/6 Rebo band (January of 2010) and then you realize it's been 2 1/2 years since they said it, with no other word. The PF R2 and C3 are going to be four years from announcement to shipping - that's not exactly a Christmas morning feeling. That's high schooler to college grad time period.

So that cycle of announcement, then peek, then big reveal gets pretty muddy. The announcement-release time gets longer and longer, "hints" get murky, and the prices get higher and higher. SDCC is supposed to be all about excitement, but it's beginning to become nerve wracking - no Grievous - what does that mean? New Vader - how much will it be and what stage of development is that?

 

[rushmore223]

I think they were too busy playing with their Instagram app. to bother with anything else.

Note to Sideshow, Instagramming most of your pictures so they look like crappy photos from 40 years ago, may not be the best way to show off your displays or products. Just my opinion.

Very underwhelmed by SS's showing this year.

So, if next year poorly developed Polaroids are hot, is that how they will show off their product?

And just To say it again, I Hate Instagram.

 

[teemu]

I wish they had a clearer schedule for the development/production of these figs.

Several pieces have been announced, then they take years before they see light of day. It becomes confusing as to what their statements mean. They say they are developing a 1/6 Rebo band (January of 2010) and then you realize it's been 2 1/2 years since they said it, with no other word. The PF R2 and C3 are going to be four years from announcement to shipping - that's not exactly a Christmas morning feeling. That's high schooler to college grad time period.

So that cycle of announcement, then peek, then big reveal gets pretty muddy. The announcement-release time gets longer and longer, "hints" get murky, and the prices get higher and higher. SDCC is supposed to be all about excitement, but it's beginning to become nerve wracking - no Grievous - what does that mean? New Vader - how much will it be and what stage of development is that?

Uh huh...It took a whole year to get Boba Fett,who was revealed last year at SDCC...

Why does it take 9-10 months + for a figure to finally get released? Something that is revealed with pre-order should have a 2-4 month wait from reveal/pre-order to actual release.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Something that is revealed with pre-order should have a 2-4 month wait from reveal/pre-order to actual release.

Why?

I don't like waiting any more than anyone else, but I'm curious why there has to be any delay. Screw tease and preorder. Just show us what you got when it's ready. No expectation, no disappointment. Just: here it is -- buy it or GTFO.

It used to be a fairly steady 6 month window from pre-order to delivery... but when was the last time you got something six months after ordering? That new Iron Man Mark VI was the best -- they showed it, and it was ready to ship. The excitement held as people received it. No one had moved on to other stuff. No cancelations because you got bored with the idea of having the figure, or some new movie caught your obsession over the course of the year, or you went from being 16 years old to 17 and completely changed.

 

[devilof76]

You guys thought there'd be a Landspeeder, Probot and Tauntauns? Really?

I know what you mean about no 1:6 surprises (Malgus? ) but in the weeks leading up to this, I thought expectations were getting out of hand. There was a ton of new stuff leading into this, and even though their SDCC showing was uninspiring, we still have Bossk, Snowtrooper, Tusken Raider and HT Luke on the way. Plus the Deluxe Vader. Between the resources they have available to them given the 1:1 Vader, as well as the reception the 1:6 figure received, my money is still on him living up to the hype.

 

[teemu]

Why?

I don't like waiting any more than anyone else, but I'm curious why there has to be any delay. Screw tease and preorder. Just show us what you got when it's ready. No expectation, no disappointment. Just: here it is -- buy it or GTFO.It used to be a fairly steady 6 month window from pre-order to delivery... but when was the last time you got something six months after ordering? That new Iron Man Mark VI was the best -- they showed it, and it was ready to ship. The excitement held as people received it. No one had moved on to other stuff. No cancelations because you got bored with the idea of having the figure, or some new movie caught your obsession over the course of the year, or you went from being 16 years old to 17 and completely changed.

Actually I was being nice about the 2-4 month timeline...I agree! show and sell as "in stock" just like the SDCC Exclusives...I am impatient as it is

 

[Red Metal]

I guess people have to realize that SW is not at the top fo the pile anymore.

Avengers and to some degree, Amazing Spider-Man have or are currently tearing it up at the box office, while SW slumps along with their horrible CW offering. Alot of companies are looking ahead and not behind. Will SSC or HT ever admit that SW is not their top priority? Of course not. But really what's going to sell better right now - Avengers Loki (that looks ungodly, no pun intended) for $220 or Greivous for (probably) $200+?

I don't think there's a question. Just as SW has slumped in the toy aisle at Walmart, so it is slumping on the high-end stuff as well. Hell, I love SW, but I can see that it's not what it once was, regardless of who makes what for it.

Now to wait for the tomatoes to be thrown..

 

[JonEl]

throws tomato at Red Metal