Well, along with other Raveners, I've been collecting plenty of Star Wars figures over the years as well with Indy. But I'm wandering if anyone feels that the Clone Wars line of figures has taken over/ruined the star wars line of figures for more serious collectors. We got the vintage figures, which are great, but everytime I got the store to see what they got, most of the vintage figures are gone and they're over flowing with the clone wars figures.
I understands the kids dig them, and that it's just another cash cow to Lucas and probably hasbro, but I'm still very disappointed with the direction of the figure line, and of course star wars in general, but that's another rant.
Unfortunately, the adult SW collector demand has dropped precepitiously over the past few years (oddly enough, it directly coincides with my own personal loss of interest - was I really driving the toy line??).
There just isn't a very big adult collector market anymore and Hasbro's choices have reflected that. Speaking only from my personal experience, I've just grown up/got bored with/moved on from my interest in SW collecting.
The Clone Wars line, however, really did help the brand overall.
You shouldn't be "angry" at it for "taking over" the "realistic" (aka adult aka Vintage) line. If anything, the financial success of the Clone Wars toys helped bolster Hasbro's entire SW line.
I personally never cared for the aesthetics and didn't buy them, but thanks to CW, we did get some cool vehicles which, of course are compatible with all the figures.
Sure, there is seemingly a never-ending "glut" of Clone Wars figures on the pegs while the Vintage figures are barely a trickle (at least in my area.)
But the success of the Clone Wars line didn't cannibalize the success of the Vintage (and previous realistic) line(s). It helped Hasbro's overall health.
It may be hard to see it that way when you can only find the CW lines on the shelves, but that's just not the case.
Incidentally, from all indications, Hasbro is going to be moving away from/diminishing the size of the Clone wars anyway.
Indeed, no doubt they sell very well. It just bothers me personally, because, like in your area, the majority of what's on the pegs is CW, and barely any of the vintage. I believe the vintage sells more well the CW, just by the look of things, but I've gotten to where I order most of'em online because I can never find anything in stores.
I go through stages with my collecting, I'll be really big in it, and buy a lot, then my interest will fade, and I won't even look, or acknowledge what I have for months, then out of no where, I'll decide to look, and start buying a bunch of them again. I got several on the way right now.
I did enjoy collecting before CW came out, because there wasn't much of a SW hype going on, so not as many people were buying and I usually always found something good whenever I looked.
I've limited my SW figure collecting to Han and Boba Fett really. I actually watched Clone Wars for a little while and got a few figs of the guys I liked (all 3 of them) but the show is to "lil kiddy" after a while. The good thing with SW is that there will ALWAYS be something you can get your hands on. Unfortunatly right now that isn't much. More will come soon.
I lost interest in keeping up with SW figures years ago, when it became evident that it would be hopeless trying to be a completist. With the new figures at £7.99 each they're a full £7 more than I was paying in the shops when I began collecting!
I just off-loaded most of my carded figures as there was no point having something carded if I had it loose. I'm working on clearing out the vehicles at the moment.
I also got rid of most of my vintage (77-85) SW vehicles, playsets and 12" figures.
The only time I add to the loose collection is when I see them cheap. Though it's annoying when they're both cheap and carded!
