Subject:
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Re: Star Wars Minifig Packs - Thoughts
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.starwars
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Date:
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Mon, 3 Apr 2000 22:04:15 GMT
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Reply-To:
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cmasi@cmasi^nospam^.chem.tulane.edu
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Viewed:
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1508 times
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I tend to agree with you Kevin. Once a minifig is clasiified as a condtruction toy
and not an action figure then it shouldn't matter whether it is part of a big set
or a small set.
As an aside...while there is obviously some competition between StarWars LEGO and
StarWars action figures I wonder how significant it is. I have never bought a
StarWars action figure, but I have bought a bunch of the LEGO StarWars stuff. A
friend who has been a stars nut for a long time has only purchased an X-Wing, a
Tie/Y-wing combo, and a Speeder Bike set. He puchased a room full of action
figures during the same time period. This isn't a scientific survey, but I
wouldn't be surprised if purchasing choices were divided down those lines. That
is, the goal is to buy LEGO, so StarWars LEGO is purchased instead of some other
theme, or the goal is to buy action figures, so action figures are purshased.
Just thinking out loud,
Chris
Kevin Knoot wrote:
> Hasbro owns the license for "action figures and vehicles over 1 inch tall" and
> Galoob (now Hasbro) owns it for "action figures and vehicles under 1 inch"
>
> How does this relate to TLC? Well, when the contracts were negotiated a couple
> years back, there was an explicit, seperate contract for "Construction Toys"
> which was left open, which was obvously intended for Lego. Hasbro & Galoob
> knew about this "Construction Toy" license, since it was in the papers (this
> was about a year before the Lego license was announced), and it was no secret
> that Lucas wanted to do something with Lego. Ultimately, I'm certain that
> minifigs fall under the "construction toy" definition, even if sold
> individually AND pre-assembled, like the keychains, so if TLC wants to make a
> mini-fig only set, they ceratinly will, and have every right to. It is most
> likely that we haven't seen any do to the fact that its more profitable to sell
> the figs in a larger set than it would be to sell them by themselves. TLC
> knows the demand for Vader, Fett, Han, Chewie et al, and knows that they'll
> make a LOT more $$$ by making us spend $200 to get them (in larger sets) than
> by selling them in a single set for $6.
>
> Just my thoughts on the matter
>
> Kevin
>
> In lugnet.starwars, Eric Joslin writes:
> > Ok, so I've been thinking about Star Wars minifig packs, and I think I might
> > have found a reason we'll never, ever see them, which is sad. But before you
> > hate me and say I'm the bearer of bad tidings, hear me out, because there • might
> > be hope.
> >
> > Ok. So we all know that Hasbro bought Kenner to get the Star Wars license
> > (well, the alternate report that I've heard on that is that Hasbro bought
> > Kenner just to revive the Star Wars line under Kenner's auspices, for an
> > extra-retro feel for old timers like me). Hasbro/Kenner's license is for
> > "action figures, accessories, and playsets". Galoob, meanwhile, secured a
> > license to manufature and sell toys of "vehicles", and therefore could make
> > Micro Machines, Action Fleet, and so on.
> >
> > As the hype for Episode I began ramping up (well, for us *real* SW fans that
> > was a while before the release, like two or three years) Hasbro announced that
> > it has bought Galoob, making them the only manufacturer of Star Wars toys.
> > That's pretty good, when you think of it- every dollar spent by retailers on
> > Star Wars toys was going to be going to Hasbro.
> >
> > Then, LucasFilm and Lego announce the license for Lego toys. Hasbro, of
> > course, thought this was a violation of their licenses, and were told (in
> > court? I don't remember) that the Lego license was for "construction toys".
> >
> > So it is possible that we'll never see a pack of SW minifigs because putting
> > one out would incite Hasbro in some way, or might actually just fully violate
> > licensing agreements.
> >
> > But, I did say something about there being hope, so: With the MTT, you get a
> > great set of parts, and 7 Battle Droids. At that rate, two or three of them
> > combines with other sets, like the Naboo Swamp and Naboo Fighter, and the AAT,
> > and you can have a fairly formidable force of Battle Droids. So maybe Lego
> > will put out a set with a similar number of Stormtroopers, or a smallish set
> > with one or two Stormtroopers. It's a shame that Lego already produced the
> > Landspeeder from Episode IV, because that set would seem to be a natural for
> > inclusion of one, two, or even up to four Stormtroopers. Can anyone else • think
> > of a small-ish vehicle set that could easily include Stormtroopers?
> >
> > Anyway. Slow day at work, so I thought I'd ruminate a bit.
> >
> > eric
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Star Wars Minifig Packs - Thoughts
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| (...) I've been a Star Wars fan as long as I can remember. When the new Power of the Force II (PotF2) figs came out, I got really caught up in trying to get all of them and all the vehicles, etc. When the Micro Machines "Action Fleet" toys started (...) (25 years ago, 4-Apr-00, to lugnet.starwars)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Star Wars Minifig Packs - Thoughts
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| Hasbro owns the license for "action figures and vehicles over 1 inch tall" and Galoob (now Hasbro) owns it for "action figures and vehicles under 1 inch" How does this relate to TLC? Well, when the contracts were negotiated a couple years back, (...) (25 years ago, 3-Apr-00, to lugnet.starwars)
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