Hasbro to bring back window packaging in 2024!

[toynewman]

BREAKING NEWS! Window packaging is returning to G.I. Joe Classified, Power Rangers Lightning Collection, Star Wars Black Series and Marvel Legends.

From Hasbro R&C PR:

"We wanted to share an update on packaging for Hasbro’s 6-inch-scale figures. Based on your feedback, we will be re-introducing windows and blisters to our 6-inch fan figures beginning later this year, into 2024 for select products across our portfolio of brands, including, G.I. Joe Classified, Power Rangers Lightning Collection, Star Wars Black Series and Marvel Legends. This will eventually expand to all new 6-inch figure releases.

The new windows and blisters will be made from bio PET or recycled PET helping us achieve our priority of meeting our fans’ expectations for extraordinary packaging and superior design while still developing packaging that minimizes waste and the use of virgin plastic.

Thank you again for being one of our biggest fans and for your continued support of Hasbro."

[Outsiders]

Great... More things that will be busted and/or ripped when Hasbro makes a figure an Walmart exclusive...

[since83]

And this will bring the price up to 30 a figure. 

[Amazing_Spidey]

It's weird when you want to laugh AT a company, and how its moronic idea blew up in its face, rather than feeling actually glad when something like this happens.

[since83]

I honestly didn't mind the new packaging as an opener. I can't imagine how mad id be as a mip displayer though. I was more commenting on them upping the price so much so fast in the last 2 years. Not laughing at the decision itself.

[McHogan]

I was never a fan of the windowless packaging but to see Hasbro walk back this corporate decision is actually a big deal. 

I mean it was a nice gesture but it was poorly implemented from the start. 

My two biggest concerns with not being able to see what I was spending money on was paint apps and actually getting the product that was on the box IN the box.

I was burned by swappers 4 times with plastic packaging. Once when I didn't realize a accessory had been removed and the other three times when buying from Amazon. (Still can't belive Amazon doesn't actually check what they send out!!)

And I've personally seen swap jobs over a couple dozen times. This however doesn't fall at Hasbros feet, this is squarely on the retailers who don't care enough to check. 

With windowless packaging I got burned once. But 1 time in the 1 calendar year of its existence is not great. 

If they could have utilized better security somehow I'm sure my fears would have been eased over time. 

I for one am glad to hear they are returning to plastic windows. I have always recycled my packaging so there will be no guilt from me

[McHogan]

On 4/6/2023 at 9:46 PM, since83 said:

And this will bring the price up to 30 a figure. 

Yikes don't give them ideas. I can see Hasbro rationalizing the return to plastic as an excuse to jack prices. And telling us "Hey, we don't WANT to raise prices but YOU fans gave us no choice for not liking the plastic free packaging"

 

[monron999]

On 4/6/2023 at 9:34 PM, McHogan said:

Yikes don't give them ideas. I can see Hasbro rationalizing the return to plastic as an excuse to jack prices. And telling us "Hey, we don't WANT to raise prices but YOU fans gave us no choice for not liking the plastic free packaging"

 

That's exactly what they're gonna do, with a little "it's a small price to pay to save the environment" old fashioned guilt added to the mix.

[Jmacq1]

I hope they keep some of the things they were doing with the plastic-less packaging, like bracing long/skinny accessories with cardboard and such.  Had a lot less warping issues with things like swords and rifles and such since the changeover to no-plastic packaging, it was one of the things I enjoyed about it.

[TheArrow]

For me, I feel a bit of vindication with my arguments against blind-box packaging.  Once it was announced I knew all kinds of problems would present themselves, but it's been less than 6 months since this packaging plan has been implemented, so I really doubt the "problems' were realized at all, and that Hasbro is just reacting to rumours and fears of bad-press.There's probably been very little trackable problems with the packaging to date, simply because it is so new.
But that said, my own fears about blind-box packaging have started to bear out, but in a different way.
The blind-box Hasbro product I've seen had slumped in quality all across multiple Hasbro action figure brands.  Now, we just address ML here, so I'll focus on just it, but a lot of the reviews of recent product have been........well, weak, imo.
And it's been mostly with paint apps, and this is where the blind-box hides stuff.  If one cannot see IN-HAND before buying, then a purchase is a gamble.  And if the paint apps are weak, then it's a sure loss because we've all been suckered and because we cannot see the item before we buy to be assured of any quality.

We either have to accept it as is, or reject/return it for a refund and THAT is a lousy way to manage a brand based on loyalty and nostalgia.

I'd really like to see Hasbro come clean when all the packaging converts back to window boxes, and is candid about how well blind boxes kept fraud at bay, but i doubt we'll get that data because the change is going to be so short-lived.

[Lord_Scareglow]

 

moving away from any long blabs about this all, I'm glad they decided to change their minds, collector lines should have windows, for many reasons, thanks you Hasbro for this.

[leokearon]

No surprise that their PR stunt didn't work. Plastic Free Packaging could have worked but they handled it so badly, with the lack of security measures and the boring packaging design, but Hasbro took the cheap way and shot themselves in the foot with the retro packaging. It makes me wonder if the new packaging for the "retro" figures will be a more common appearance

[bashpics99]

My guess would be that retailers complained about it, both in term of making the product less appealing (compared with competitior's action figures) thus reducing sales, plus too many issues with returns based on people getting fig swapped.  I'm sure all the collector's complaints helped a bit too but i suspect its really WM and Target that were the main influences behind the decision.

i think hasbro also assumed that their competitors would follow suit and they could then portray themselves as green pioneers.  Or maybe they just thought saving the environment was more of a priority for toy collectors.  i'm sure they are under pressure to reduce plastic from a lot of folks who, in the end, don't buy the product anyhow.

personally i didn't have any problems with missing parts or fig swaps etc, and in fact i think the plastic-free packaging cut down on stuff like warped weapons etc.  my only real beef was that is was just very unappealing packaging when you walk down the toy aisle, especially compared to Mattel, McFarlane, etc.

[monron999]

On 4/7/2023 at 7:19 AM, bashpics99 said:

My guess would be that retailers complained about it, both in term of making the product less appealing (compared with competitior's action figures) thus reducing sales, plus too many issues with returns based on people getting fig swapped.  I'm sure all the collector's complaints helped a bit too but i suspect its really WM and Target that were the main influences behind the decision.

i think hasbro also assumed that their competitors would follow suit and they could then portray themselves as green pioneers.  Or maybe they just thought saving the environment was more of a priority for toy collectors.  i'm sure they are under pressure to reduce plastic from a lot of folks who, in the end, don't buy the product anyhow.

personally i didn't have any problems with missing parts or fig swaps etc, and in fact i think the plastic-free packaging cut down on stuff like warped weapons etc.  my only real beef was that is was just very unappealing packaging when you walk down the toy aisle, especially compared to Mattel, McFarlane, etc.

And there it is in a nutshell. Hasbro almost had nothing to lose. They knew ML had a strong collector base. No one was gonna "stop" collecting due to windowless boxes, but they wanted to be the first to take that step and if everyone else followed they were the revolution leaders and if it failed they always had that "well, we tried" card to play forevermore. Ultimately they still walked away smelling like roses cuz they get to be the savior and use the tried and true "the fans demanded it, and we heard them" angle. I do work in some analytics and i agree that there was very little time to get actual solid sales data, and i'm betting fraud numbers were similar, cuz swappers gonna swap with or without windows, but I'm betting verbal statistics and online discussions and complaints such as the ones we have here were being tracked long before the first box hit the shelf. If I didn't know any better I'd say this was planned from the start. Another price hike to follow in short order as the cherry on top.

[since83]

As an Opener, I actually do wish that Pulse could give us a plasticless option when ordering. That would be a reason Id join premium. I can sometimes grab non mint figures for discount on EE, but what about a club or option button when pre-ordering for non mint. I always feel bad just throwing out artwork and plastic. And to know I got a perfect box and someone who keeps them in couldn't get one as I open it seems a waste. 

In my area, I swear the only reason people work at Target Walmart is to get collectibles and sell em on ebay. I can only find stuff trickling out months after release that hasn't gone up in value on the secondary. I just don't have time for the hunt anymore. I'm primarily an online buyer. So I know I'm in the minority, but I was just starting to like these boxes.

As well, 25 bucks a piece has to be making collectors cut back. Any higher and im gonna have to be much more selective or just quit. Which i said at 22 as well btw lol. But an actual 27 normal 30 exclusive price would really force my hand. 

 

[tarot]

This is great just to stop people from posting valid complaints about the blind box packaging. 

But as an opener who order exclusively online, its just more rubbish in the bin. 

[Satam]

On 4/6/2023 at 10:34 PM, McHogan said:

Yikes don't give them ideas. I can see Hasbro rationalizing the return to plastic as an excuse to jack prices. And telling us "Hey, we don't WANT to raise prices but YOU fans gave us no choice for not liking the plastic free packaging"

 

They were already using PET plastic in their packaging, and if anything, the recycled PET should be cheaper than new. During one of their last presentations to stockholders they seemed to be keenly aware that they'd hit a ceiling with price increases, and that they were actually losing sales because of it.

[Emnems80]

This kind of sucks Hasbro decides this now after all the Avengers and X-Men 60th anniversary stuff comes out. I also don't know much about PET plastic but I hope the bio and recycled PET plastic holds up and doesn't degrade easily for the MIP collectors.

[Satam]

On 4/7/2023 at 12:36 PM, Emnems80 said:

I also don't know much about PET plastic but I hope the bio and recycled PET plastic holds up and doesn't degrade easily for the MIP collectors.

Recycled PET is essentially the same as regular PET. The Bio PET apparently is, too.
 

As far as its structure, Bio-PET is chemically identical to virgin PET #1 plastic. This means it has all of the properties of PET including strong impact resistance, clarity and oxygen barrier properties, while withstanding temperatures up to 65°C [149°F].

In other words, Bio-PET is identical in every way to PET #1, but it’s made from 30% bio-based waste product instead.

[AnotherPunkChef]

When they first announced plastic free, I figured they would just go PET, I thought there was no way they'd alienate an entire branch of collectors....oops...

[TheMarvelMan]

The ecosystems in which we live are doomed.  But that's OK!  At least I can enjoy my MIB action figures!  I am old and have no children or grandchildren who have to try to survive in the trash heap that I am leaving for them to endure.  A win for me!!

[Satam]

PET is the most easily recyclable and most widely recycled of all plastics. The earth isn't screwed because of action figure packaging or plastic straws or lightbulbs or whatever. There are much bigger problems.

[TheArrow]

The amount of plastic in all this packaging is so miniscule that if it was consolidated it wouldn't even amount to 1% of the space in ONE landfill.

[Dabboi]

Hopefully they don't go back to plastic blisters for the figures themselves, and just use the windows. I like the current accessory and figure set-up now.

 

Windowless boxes don't really bother me one way or another. Every Hasbro team, minus the G.I. Joe team, didn't adapt well to them and just included bland renders. Marvel team could've at least used comic artwork or something.

[leokearon]

On 4/8/2023 at 6:13 AM, Dabboi said:

Hopefully they don't go back to plastic blisters for the figures themselves, and just use the windows. I like the current accessory and figure set-up now.

 

Windowless boxes don't really bother me one way or another. Every Hasbro team, minus the G.I. Joe team, didn't adapt well to them and just included bland renders. Marvel team could've at least used comic artwork or something.

Yeah, those plastic blisters are awful. Totally agree with the (lack of) box art, they should have done for all their PFP not just G.I. Joe and Transformers