It would explain....some things
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Wheres Rey? Insider Says Vendors Removed Star Wars Character to Improve Sales'
- Thread starter Branduil
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It would explain....some things
QuantumZebra
Member
Funny you mention that - I just read an anecdote from a lady who was trying to find Inside Out toys for her son, but besides "Anger" all the other toys were ridiculously pink/purple/"marketing execs idea of girly"-fied.
Its nauseating.
Trying to find toys and clothes for my daughters that don't look like they were attacked by glitter and neon pink markers is mind-numbing as well.
I wish there was someone in charge of this monstrosity of gender-based clothing and toy production so I could kick them in the face repeatedly.
Because they (the same guys) were arriving before the stores opened every morning after the trucks arrived and ran to the toy department and bought every short packed figure in quantity. And those toys would turn up a the local comic shop at a significant markup. Parents who were buying for kids usually appear after 5 or weekends only when the had time to shop. I got so sick of obvious parents and adult collectors who were not scalpers asking me to check the stockroom for short packs, I started to stock the aisle at random times to allow more people than just the scalpers to get them. I also sometime held the rare figures in back so when there was a request, I could supply them with one set.
Hell, there was a scalper ring working inside our warehouse when it came to Hotwheels toys. There are rare cars called Treasure Hunts that I never saw, cause the warehouse crew would immediate open up every Hotwheels case and removed them. All were bought by the store employee at opening, and would be sold on eBay.
The thing is with parent and kids getting figures is if they are unable to get what they want rather easily- the kid moves on to other interest. Most parent are not going to do the majority of their shopping for toys on Ebay, specialty toy shops, and drive to numerous store for a toy. They give up after only a few tries. And that is what the marketers do not take in account when they pick the case assortments now days.
- Adult collectors buy out the rare short packed figures for their own collection/profit.
- Kids don't buy anything beyond the over produce figure because they don't have easy access to them.
- Less kids buy toys and move onto video games and computers cause those are plentiful.
- Store tired of getting stuck with the glut of say Spin Blade He-man and Skeletor stop ordering said toyline.
- Toy companies not only lose sale to kids who give up on the line because of selection, also lose vendors who are willing to carry their product.
- The less kid who get into toy collecting when they are young are also less likely to collect toys when they are adults.
-So by relying sales trends from the 70s and 80s, toy companies continue to lose market share because they are not serving the buyers of today. They are not reaching the kids, ignoring the adult collector and the scarcity they make with short packing. By not getting kids when they are young, they are losing out on future adult customers.
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
Violent fucked up sociopaths are interesting. You want to know what made them that way. What draws them to be bloodthirsty, cruel, attraction to power, commanding, and sometimes bold. A hero is well just that, a hero. A well done villain is, complex.
Pilgrimzero
Member
I just want a figure of Rey that's not expensive and actually looks good.
freethoughtbubble
Member
Fucking clueless. I'm glad this is blowing up in their faces.
Yup.
Also, whoever bought into the lame "we didn't want to spoil the plot" excuse is a naive idiot. As if marketers ever cared about that. Also, see previous instances of exactly the same shit (Guardians of the Galaxy etc.) where the prominent female character wasn't a "plot spoiler" but was still missing from the toy set.
Ninja Scooter
Member
the only potential spoiler with Rey is that she is
so really to avoid that all they needed to do was not display Rey
in any pre-release promotional materials, not ignore her entirely.
force powered
holding a light sabre
SolicitorPirate
Member
I have a giant fucking smile on my face given all the posters in that #WheresRey thread who claimed we were just imagining things.
Seriously, nothing here is a surprise to someone who has followed toys in the past few decades.
Seriously, nothing here is a surprise to someone who has followed toys in the past few decades.
MrCunningham
Member
But brooding characters always make for popular merchandise.
Star Wars Toys made 700 Million in the US in 2015.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/us-business/star-wars-toys-generate-more-than-700-million-in-sales-in-2015/article28280892/
Whatever they did, worked.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/us-business/star-wars-toys-generate-more-than-700-million-in-sales-in-2015/article28280892/
Whatever they did, worked.
little boys don't care until you tell them you just gave them a yucky girls toy
Barrel Cannon
Member
Here I was wanting to order the Rey HT figure only and skip all the other ones all this time. Lol dumb execs. They definitely had a gold mine potential with this one and they fucked up big time.
My favorite part of the article:
Action figure toys should have gender-neutral packaging like Pixar's or Disney Infinity/Amiibo and be grouped directly in the middle between the more "feminine" dolls and "masculine" cars. Maybe then female character action figures won't get a supply of exactly 5 per store. And maybe then little girls and little boys won't hesitate to purchase a Star Wars Rey figure in the exact same aisle.
This is what I've concluded myself in the last 5 years. Toy companies like Hasbro are fucking up whole generations of kids' assessments of gender. Only girls can get the pink stuff. Only boys should play with the male action figures. It's that toy division that really irks me. It's weird to see stuff like Despicable Me, Minecraft, and Pixar toys placed right in the middle between girls' and boys' toys. That should've applied to every aisle.
Action figure toys should have gender-neutral packaging like Pixar's or Disney Infinity/Amiibo and be grouped directly in the middle between the more "feminine" dolls and "masculine" cars. Maybe then female character action figures won't get a supply of exactly 5 per store. And maybe then little girls and little boys won't hesitate to purchase a Star Wars Rey figure in the exact same aisle.
QuantumZebra
Member
My favorite part of the article:
This is what I've concluded myself in the last 5 years. Toy companies like Hasbro are fucking up whole generations of kids' assessments of gender. Only girls can get the pink stuff. Only boys should play with the male action figures. It's that toy division that really irks me. It's weird to see stuff like Despicable Me, Minecraft, and Pixar toys placed right in the middle between girls' and boys' toys. That should've applied to every aisle.
Action figure toys should have gender-neutral packaging like Pixar's or Disney Infinity/Amiibo and be grouped directly in the middle between the more "feminine" dolls and "masculine" cars. Maybe then female character action figures won't get a supply of exactly 5 per store. And maybe then little girls and little boys won't hesitate to purchase a Star Wars Rey figure in the exact same aisle.
Yep.
Raising daughters makes it so difficult. If I could find those marketing execs id kick them in their damned faces.
I now find myself in the position of having 2 little girls who love robots, dinosaurs, and Star Wars, and I can't help but wonder if they will be looked at as weird by their peers because of it.
Its fucking awful.
Well, she has been available in multiple scales by Hasbro since September, including 3 3/4", 3 3/4" with a vehicle, 6" black series (in 2 waves no less) and is available in 12" form too.
The only characters that have had more representation in figure form are Kylo Ren and the First Order Stormtrooper, which if you asked me pre-release, the smart money is that those are going to be the most popular toys in the film.
In black series, she was single packed in every case for 2 waves. Typically their case packs have one double packed figure, and it's usually a bit of guesswork to figure out which is going to be most popular. A lot of the times its the trooper because people like to army build,
She may be being scalped a lot, but the toys exist.
This is more on you than anything else.
I have a 7yo daughter myself, and she likes a lot of the same stuff I do. I have never once worried that her interest in superheroes / Star Wars / dinosaurs / etc. would make her an outcast.
I also have a 7 year old daughter who likes Star Wars and video games. From my experience, some of the boys her age don't care or like playing with her, some of them are really aggressive about trying to force her out of their interests because they are afraid of the stuff they like being seen as "for girls." The little girls her age don't seem to care. And almost all of them like Star Wars now.
Took a lot of reinforcing that she can like whatever she likes and if someone has a problem with it then that's their problem, not hers.
Took a lot of reinforcing that she can like whatever she likes and if someone has a problem with it then that's their problem, not hers.
Dinosaurs are the saddest part of the whole gender-marketing. At times they get largely marketed towards boys and you should wonder what makes a vast group of animals a specifically male thing?
Especially when toymakers turn Triceratopses or Stegosauruses into blood drooling sharptoothed maniacs just to "appeal" to boys.
Especially when toymakers turn Triceratopses or Stegosauruses into blood drooling sharptoothed maniacs just to "appeal" to boys.
uncelestial
Member
I don't understand how withholding a toy improves sales? Toy sections are gender-divided a lot of the time, so, what... Having the toy on shelves for girls would've... decreased sales? Or is this more about "sets" with all the figures in?
On the topic of gender specific toys, my boy who is 8 years old asked for the Rey Speeder set from LEGO after we saw the movie together.
You were right all along. You don't shitpost just on Nintendo topics.
You were right all along. You don't shitpost just on Nintendo topics.
AcademicSaucer
Member
Well, there it is.
CapitalismSucks DonkeyBalls
Banned
They forgot about Drey
JimJamJones
Member
BattleMonkey
Member
But the insider! It's blowing up in their face!
entremet
Member
What a fascinating article.
The gender divide thing is sad.
I remember playing with my female cousins all the time growing up. Great memories. It involved a lot gender neutral stuff as well--rollerskates, jacks, frisbee.
It's a complex thing since we're talking about for profit businesses. They're gonna do whatever to increase sales.
The gender divide thing is sad.
I remember playing with my female cousins all the time growing up. Great memories. It involved a lot gender neutral stuff as well--rollerskates, jacks, frisbee.
It's a complex thing since we're talking about for profit businesses. They're gonna do whatever to increase sales.
HammerOfThor
Member
I'm not sure I fully believe the "source". I don't doubt they wanted less Rey, but I can't imagine them completely removing her because she was a girl. I don't buy that they removed the star of the film for that reason.
Its also weird because Hasbro has been making efforts to erase gender lines in their Transformers lines, no idea why they would do the opposite for Star Wars.
Everyone knew Star Wars would sell because its Star Wars. It always does. I just can't buy this "source".
Its also weird because Hasbro has been making efforts to erase gender lines in their Transformers lines, no idea why they would do the opposite for Star Wars.
Everyone knew Star Wars would sell because its Star Wars. It always does. I just can't buy this "source".
VendettaRed07
Member
Even after all the complaints that they overreached and made Rey too "powerful", and give her a "girl power" moment. She still apparently didn't do enough to get these corporate stiffs to pay attention
You know what, I hope in Episode VIII, Rey goes Super Sayan. I hope she shoots death star like lasers out of her eyes blowing up an entire galaxy, and stops Snoak's heart from the other side of the universe by blinking.
You know what, I hope in Episode VIII, Rey goes Super Sayan. I hope she shoots death star like lasers out of her eyes blowing up an entire galaxy, and stops Snoak's heart from the other side of the universe by blinking.
I contributed to those 700 mil.
Did you?
Aren't you gonna take those things out of their boxes?
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
If you were a real Kylo fan you'd have his body pillow.I contributed to those 700 mil.
Did you?
Yoshichan
And they made him a Lord of Cinder. Not for virtue, but for might. Such is a lord, I suppose. But here I ask. Do we have a sodding chance?
BattleMonkey
Member
Most of these toys and such were made before any of them would have seen the movie.
Nostremitus
Member
I almost picked up a set of figures yesterday, but the lack of Rey stopped me. Who wants an incomplete set?
Messypandas
Member
The concept art for VII had her cutting up a star destroyer with a lightsaber.
BronsonLee
Member
I haven't bought any Star Wars merch because I'M A REBEL
Kylo Ren is far more interesting and relatable than Rey to me, in part because he had more depth and internal strife than I expected going in. Felt like Anakin done comptently. Rey is still cool and pretty badass, but not relatable to me. But hell, it's not like I really need characters to be relatable in the first place.
My 7 year old loves Monster High, Every After High super heroes and Star Wars. She has a box full of super heroes and older star wars figures. She would love a Rey toy, but she would prefer something closer to a 11-12" doll than a 3.75" action figure. She's actually pretty exited about that super hero girl line that comes out this year.
Yoshichan
And they made him a Lord of Cinder. Not for virtue, but for might. Such is a lord, I suppose. But here I ask. Do we have a sodding chance?
I do. I seriously dodon't tempt me.
You know you'll just rip them open after losing a game of Hearthstone any day now.
Yoshichan
And they made him a Lord of Cinder. Not for virtue, but for might. Such is a lord, I suppose. But here I ask. Do we have a sodding chance?
I would never
jetsetnickradio
Member
Meh I've always preferred heroine characters over male heroes.
Hehe first thing I thought of.
Hard to do this with only male characters, unless they're trying to promote something different.
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
I went shopping with my mom to get my seven year old cousin a care package to cheer her up after some.... weird.... news.
She ended up trying to get a bunch of glitter jeans for no real reason.
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