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Should Hasbro Do Away With Build-A-Figures In Favor Of Deluxe Figures?


JayC

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Star Wars gets away with it because every wave they release features re-releases, so my guess is they just do much smaller runs of each wave and let the more integral figures saturate through constant re-releasing. For instance, the Yavin ceremony Luke has been in two waves so far this year, as have Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, new Rey, Sith Troopers, and Sith Jet Troopers.

The Euro reprint line honestly seems more like a mea culpa than anything else. I doubt Hasbro is making less money. They probably just partner with Tesco and other big chains to drop-ship from China, cutting down on the costs of importing.

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10 hours ago, Bluecomet said:

deluxe figures with a lower pirce tag...What I don't like about the BAF is getting other characters which I am not interested with (i.e. paladdin in Sasquatch wave).

I think Paladdin has had enough showings in the comics to warrant a figure. I mean the figure itself is better than Spymaster or Blizzard.

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1 hour ago, Benn said:

 

The Euro reprint line honestly seems more like a mea culpa than anything else. I doubt Hasbro is making less money. They probably just partner with Tesco and other big chains to drop-ship from China, cutting down on the costs of importing.

They probably aren't making less money but it doesn't make sense that the exact same figure is at least a tenner less depending on the packaging

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I can't think what this question has to do with anything. Where's the connection? One has NOTHING to do with the other.

Will McDonalds discontinue Chicken McNuggets in favor of McFlurries? Will Walmart stop selling tires in favor of barbecue Pringles?

That being said, I DO see "Rerun" offerings like Monster Venom or Kingpin potentially hurting the BAF business model.

"Who needs to buy the AOA Wave if they're just gonna release Sugar Man as a Deluxe figure a few months later?"

Still, that's a matter of a minor course correction, certainly not a cancellation.

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14 minutes ago, mako said:

Will Walmart stop selling tires in favor of barbecue Pringles?

That sounds like a pretty standard Walmart decision tree, to be honest.

22 minutes ago, leokearon said:

They probably aren't making less money but it doesn't make sense that the exact same figure is at least a tenner less depending on the packaging

It costs me $8 to ship an action figure to my next door neighbour. Shipping from and within the US is insanely expensive. 10€ seems well within reason for the savings you might see from a drop-shipping arrangement with Chinese factories. It's nuts, I agree, but it costs almost nothing to ship from China. You just need to petition Hasbro to open a warehouse in Ireland. 🙂

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While i personally would prefer no BAF and more accessories (imagine if every figure came with an alternate head or two),  it does feel like the BAF motivates sales for a lot of waves and that without BAFs, we wouldn't be seeing as many B,C,and D-list characters receive figures.

Admittedly there isn't really much in the way of data to back that up, but i would just compare two waves - Kingpin wave vs Kree Sentry wave.  The Kingpin wave seemed to sell reasonably well despite having a seemingly lackluster assortment of wave figures (imo, but i don't think i'm alone in thinking that).  OTOH the Kree Sentry wave seemed to hit discount prices fast and the figures pegwarmed in stores for months, and i have to think that the cool reception to the BAF (which, if well-received, should've been a BAF some people would army build) had something to do with that.   But again, all just speculation on my part.

I am all in favor of rereleasing BAFs at $30 price point a year or two after their wave comes out, though.

 

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1 hour ago, mako said:

 

That being said, I DO see "Rerun" offerings like Monster Venom or Kingpin potentially hurting the BAF business model.

"Who needs to buy the AOA Wave if they're just gonna release Sugar Man as a Deluxe figure a few months later?"

Still, that's a matter of a minor course correction, certainly not a cancellation.

But how do we know that Sugar Man will be released down the line? The answer is we don't and that is one of the reasons the BAF will still be around. After all there are plenty of BAFs that haven't been re-released. So you could skip getting a BAF and then it gets re-released later or you may have missed your chance to get hat figure and now have to search for it on eBay.

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1 hour ago, Benn said:

That sounds like a pretty standard Walmart decision tree, to be honest.

It costs me $8 to ship an action figure to my next door neighbour. Shipping from and within the US is insanely expensive. 10€ seems well within reason for the savings you might see from a drop-shipping arrangement with Chinese factories. It's nuts, I agree, but it costs almost nothing to ship from China. You just need to petition Hasbro to open a warehouse in Ireland. 🙂

Shipping and taxes clearly play a part hence why I rarely buy online, still it is baffling that the same figure can be sold for two very different prices when the only difference for the customer  is the packaging.

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Personally, I'd prefer deluxe figures. Since I'm already cutting down on some lines because I have to save up to afford all the figures I REALLY want, not having to buy comic based figures to complete BAFs would open up more figure opportunities for me. I believe the same would be said for those that HAVE to purchase MCU figures without really wanting to in order to complete a BAF.

Unfortunately, I don't see that happening, Hasbro is only finding new uses for unique molds and I understand it from a business point. As a fan, I'm just glad people get the chance to get figures they couldn't complete and still get all the characters they want. Mixed waves and BAFs have me hoping for an eventual Quicksilver, Wong, and other lesser MCU characters that are yet to be made.

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18 hours ago, enzosaurusrex said:

Do people actually think that if Hasbro released figures without BAF parts, that Hasbro would lower the price point of that figure? For proof that they won't, I give you the "Vintage" "Retro" carded figures. Same price point. No BAF. And that X-men "Retro" wave is just peg-warming. An X-men wave is pegwarming. A Captain Marvel BAF-less wave has no chance LOL

It seems as though the vintage packaging costs more, at least that's what i would gather from the prices hasbro charges.  don't know if that's legit or just hasbro jacking up prices to boost profits.  

18 hours ago, Hogun said:

 Although I hope Hasbro doesn't release Okoye as a deluxe figure because that figure isn't worth much on the market right now.

you and me both, although people are still trying to get $50 for her on ebay... dunno if people are paying that price or not though.

13 hours ago, MonsterChris said:

  I'd be much more inclined to pick up a casting of the new head head on Ebay.  The classic Wendigo head is needed, but just pack it in with someone in a future wave like was done with Red Skull/Onslaught/Kitty.

I would think the price for new head would probably be close to the $30 you'd end up paying for a whole new figure, though.  But i can understand your point.  I do think hasbro would be more likely to rerelease "classic" wendigo as a deluxe than tossing the extra head in with another figure, though, or possibly make him part of a set with a Hulk or Wolvie figure. 

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46 minutes ago, bashpics99 said:

I would think the price for new head would probably be close to the $30 you'd end up paying for a whole new figure, though.  But i can understand your point.  I do think hasbro would be more likely to rerelease "classic" wendigo as a deluxe than tossing the extra head in with another figure, though, or possibly make him part of a set with a Hulk or Wolvie figure. 

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My vote is leave it how it is. BAF & Deluxe figures of former BAF, as well as new Deluxe figures.

As many people say, there's too many "Unwanted" figures. -The real solution here is to just stop making so many unwanted figures.

But if people weren't buying full waves of figures, I could see all sorts of different problems down the road. The end of the toy line for one. Not enough sales, no need to keep the brand around. Another possibility would be increased prices to make up for lost sales.

If people are so against buying a full wave of figures with characters that they don't want, in order to complete their BAF, then why not just buy the ones you do want. Then pick up the remaining BAF parts through trades, or ebay, or Facebook sales, etc. It'd save you money. It doesn't shake up the current system. And you'd still get everything you want.

I just don't see the problem with having a BAF. And then potentially a few years later having it as a re-deco Deluxe release, or straight re-release as a Deluxe figure. If people want to roll the dice and not buy full waves in the hopes that the BAF will get re-released, then let em. There'd be no guarantee. I think that most people would still want figure initially rather than waiting. So they'd buy the BAF wave anyways.

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all waves include repaints but they are including new tooling.  The silver samurai was not a repaint and they included the cyclops effect. The upcoming Spiderman vintage wave has a whole new Spiderman. The Peter Parker and gwen seem to have new parts.   It seems to just like any other wave just no baf

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6 hours ago, worldwarhulk said:

As many people say, there's too many "Unwanted" figures. -The real solution here is to just stop making so many unwanted figures.

But who classifies as an Unwanted figure? You can't please everyone, just because you don't want a figure doesn't mean I don't want it. Just because I don't want a figure doesn't mean someone else doesn't want it

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6 hours ago, Gigantor said:

Keep the BAF concept! If it ain't broke, don't fix it! No one is forcing you to buy the entire wave for it & if  you don't like certain characters in said wave, buy the figs you want & get remaining pieces on eBay or via trades/ swaps/ toy shows/ cons. Not rocket science people.

Don't forget selling those unwanted figures on Ebay. I have no problem buying a figure I don't need/want to finish a BAF because I can just dump it on Ebay and make a little scratch to stretch that toy-buying dollar.  Technically, I get annoyed when a wave DOESN'T have a figure I can flip online.

Just, you know, don't be a d--k by trying to sell an open incomplete figure for new figure prices.

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5 hours ago, mako said:

Don't forget selling those unwanted figures on Ebay. I have no problem buying a figure I don't need/want to finish a BAF because I can just dump it on Ebay and make a little scratch to stretch that toy-buying dollar.  Technically, I get annoyed when a wave DOESN'T have a figure I can flip online.

Just, you know, don't be a d--k by trying to sell an open incomplete figure for new figure prices.

Same with BAF pieces. Why should people pay the same or more for a free part that came with a figure as the figure itself

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I'm a cherry picker, so I love when a BAF gets released as a deluxe figure. I wanted that Kingpin for my Daredevil display, but had no desire to own ANY of the figures in that wave, and eBay was FLOODED with BAF-less versions a few weeks after the release, so buying and flipping wasn't really gonna pay off. I'm very happy I don't have to drop $100 for him now. However, I can understand where completionists are coming from on this issue. Having to spend more money on a figure you already own that only has some slight paint or deco changes has gotta be frustrating.

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9 hours ago, mako said:

Don't forget selling those unwanted figures on Ebay. I have no problem buying a figure I don't need/want to finish a BAF because I can just dump it on Ebay and make a little scratch to stretch that toy-buying dollar.  Technically, I get annoyed when a wave DOESN'T have a figure I can flip online.

Just, you know, don't be a d--k by trying to sell an open incomplete figure for new figure prices.

I haven't sold anything on eBay but I'd never try to do it for unfair prices. Years back when the Sentinel wave was out I bought Mr Sinister to complete the BAF, but never removed the figure from the plastic 'cause (1. never cared for him,  and (2. I wanted that Sentinel leg! That was the first and for the longest time, the only BAF I ever bothered to assemble. If I ever were to sell the Sinister it couldn't be for much. Besides the Hasbro update is better.

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I think you guys all make some great points, my personal stance on it is, keep the program as it is, they BAF's allow us to get those obscure low-list characters that probably wouldn't generally sell without a BAF piece, plus the whole program allows for us to get BAF figures that may be more obscure and less-known, that will sell because they are BAFs and because they come with known figures. I am a big fan of the odder characters and the lesser known for the most part SO it would greatly bum me out if say we stopped getting figures like Members of Serpent Society, White Rabbit or Skullbuster. On the other hand if they kept giving us those obscure characters here and there, I'd be more than happy to strictly buy the standard figs and have the BAF sized guys as deluxe's , I love cherry picking waves if I can (if the BAF is something I want I obviously can't) , if BAF figs were strickly Deluxe then it would make the cherry pick game easier, thus saving people like me money, but that's not gonna work for the big men at Hasbro in terms of giving us those odd figs, the large majority isn't going to want a Titus deluxe fig, only as a BAF can that make it to market. I personally am cool with the way it works now, also in terms of being afraid of will that BAF i just built be re-released in a few months, well so far No. because they are always re-deco which isn't techincally the same fig, the new Venom is brock, while the monster was flash/gargan etc, plus I doubt say Warlock is ever going to see a re-release.

 

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