[Vesuvius]

Well, the movies are the commercial in this case. What better way to advertise toys?

[Dorothy]

(Approximate Retail Price: $149.99; Ages 4 & up; Available July 26, 2008)
Updating the fan-favorite MILLENNIUM FALCON toy for the first time since its inception in 1979, Hasbro is launching the largest MILLENNIUM FALCON toy to ever travel the galaxy. The new STAR WARS MILLENNIUM FALCON is approximately 30 percent larger than the original version and includes authentic electronic lights and sounds and can accommodate up to 18 action figures (includes 2 figures, other figures sold separately).

I saw it. It is beautiful. I the Millenium Falcon.

This post has been edited by Dorothy: 06 August 2008 - 02:18 PM

[Vesuvius]

So, Dorothy, are you going to buy it?

[Dorothy]

Heh, no. I'm gonna make other people buy it for me. I haven't been buying expensive gifts for everyone for christmas and birthdays for nothing. Fortunately there is now only less that a month to wait.

And in six months, we can all rejoice over the new amazing wonderment that is... Hobbits in SPAAAACE!

[Vesuvius]

Speaking of the toys, I just got my TV guide today and it had on the cover Heroine Addict Obi-wan from this new CG SW film. And get this, as soon as I turned the page, there was a huge ad for Toys "R" Us going on about "you gotta come in and buy Star Wars toys, like right now!" And on top of that, (the very thing I've been saying all along) McDonalds is releasing a "happy meal" with SW figurines. (I knew it, the value meal had to made to accomidate the product)


Yes friends, the franchise is only alive through marketing. The story is finished and dead. And if Lucas directed Titanic, there'd be playset for that too! Oh, and a frozen Leo Dicaprio figure.

[Toru-chan]

I saw a 'Star Wars Clone Wars' movie poster up in the window of my cinema the other day. I walked past. How times have changed...

This is Lucas' latest whinefest included in his announcement of another Indiana Jones movie.

Meanwhile, the 64-year-old filmmaker has another popular franchise to nurture: "Star Wars." Lucas produced the animated "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," hitting theaters next week. It will be followed in the fall with the start of an animated TV series by the same name, airing on the Cartoon Network and TNT. Lucas plans a live-action "Star Wars" TV series as well, and he's also looking into re-releasing the six "Star Wars" films using new 3-D technology.

The producer-director waxed nostalgic for the days when talking to the press wasn't necessary to promote a film.

"I like when you focus on making movies, you make movies and people go to see them," he said. "But there's this whole other industry that's been created which the world hasn't quite adjusted to or caught up to or figured out. It's the same thing with copyright and all kinds of other things where things are going around that I'm sure at some point will become more civilized.

http://www.sfgate.co...amp;type=movies

Well, George. Just as being a rockstar isn't all booze and babes, being a plastic toy salesman isn't all flannelet shirts and loneliness.

[Toru-chan]

If a reporter slipped some sodium pentahol in Lucas' coffee before and interview, he might say something like this:

"I conceived the 'Clone Wars' movie after a meeting with HASBRO Executives in 2006. They said my Prequel Trilogy really sucked and was fast fading from the public mind. After signing up for another 10 years in 2003, they were really pissed at me. I had to come up with a new way to sell more toys. So I thought cartoons, non-discriminating consumers, CGI, yeah! And in order to maximize profits, we'd have the toys Made in China, through a front-company in Hong Kong. I mean, they could be one of the few companies in Hong Kong that *make* stuff there. It's called plausible denial. And if they outsource their work to slaveshops in China where people, sometimes kids, work in terrible conditions, exposed to toxins, paid a pitance, hey! I'm a businessman, and I'm accountable to my shareholders, Me! Oh, hey, people buy the stuff so it doesn't bother them that much, and if Apple can get away with paying Chinese workers $3 to work a 12-hour day, why can't I?"

http://news.bbc.co.u...ess/5212750.stm
http://query.nytimes...l...C8B63&fta=y
http://arstechnica.c...60612-7039.html
http://www.bnd.com/5...ory/427789.html

[Toru-chan]

Timeline of a Toys Salesman

2003: Hasbro extend Lucas' Star Wars toy contract until 2018, paying him a minimum $505M, which was cut by $85 due to poorer-than-expected-sales:
http://query.nytimes...l...C8B63&fta=y

2005: Lucas announces CGI "Clone War" Cartoon.

2006: HASBRO announces sales of Star Wars toys are falling.
http://news.bbc.co.u...ess/5212750.stm

2006: Western Companies (here Apple) uses Chinese Sweatshops. 12 hour shifts for $3 a day.
http://arstechnica.c...60612-7039.html

2008: Consumer express concern over toys made Chinese
Sweatshops, but continue to buy anyway:
http://www.bnd.com/5...ory/427789.html

Hasbro makes their Star Wars toys at a company in Hong Kong. Many Hong Kong companies outsource to Chinese companies. Hasbro has been caught doing this in the past. Witness the Lead Toy Scandal. Given the price these things sell at in the US, does Hasbro really need to shave costs that low? Well there is Lucas' half-a-billion licensing fee, but some poor kid in a Chinese factory pays for that too...

PS. ChefElf, can you please turn off the 1 hour edit limit on this board? Tried to edit the above message but it was already locked. Sure me and the other three peeps on the board would agree no need for a lock!

This post has been edited by Toru-chan: 11 August 2008 - 07:09 AM

[Vesuvius]

2005: Lucas announces CGI "Clone War" Cartoon.

2006: HASBRO announces sales of Star Wars toys are falling.

Heh heh heh... Either more people are disliking the overuse of CGI or they don't care for toys. I'd say more people want video games and spinoffs into unknown SW territory.

Then you've got companies like Lego that make some really good SW sets, but I don't think their selling as much as Legowould like them to because kids these days love the games. I'll wait for a huge sale at the local toy hole and get discounted SW Legos maybe. Honestly, I'd be buying for the random pieces, the real joy of Lego.

This post has been edited by Vesuvius: 11 August 2008 - 09:22 AM

[Toru-chan]

LA Times has an article about the Toy Merchandising Empire:

Howard Roffman, president of Lucas Licensing, told me that since 1999 they've sold a billion dollars' worth of Lego Star Wars toys. Since 2005, 15 million units of Lego Star Wars computer games have entered the galaxy. Star Wars, in case you've been stranded in an asteroid field for the last 30 years, is "the most successful boys' toy line in history."

Roffman says the toy sales actually "fell off a cliff in 1985" as the original audiences aged out of action-figure mania, and the company waited until the '90s to bring back the merchandise, initially for the rabid fans (now young men), which meant comics, books and ultimately video games in 1993. Now it's a well-oiled Force factory, with 100 global licensees and 100 domestic ones, and some 80 million books in print (including 75 New York Times bestsellers).

Lucas himself oversees the spinoffs in the movie and television arena. For everything else, the licensees get a lot of leeway to create products, though they need Lucas' approval. "For fans to get immersed, there has to be integrity to the universe," adds Roffman. That's why there's a staff dedicated to maintaining continuity between all the different "Star Wars" stories and one man, Leland Chee, charged with updating what's called the "Star Wars Holocron." That's the internal database containing every known fact about the "Star Wars" universe. Printed out, it runs about 12,000 pages.

http://www.latimes.c...0,5475267.story

[Vesuvius]

"the most successful boys' toy line in history" Hmmm, it's not G.I.Joe? Sorry to pee in Hasbro's cornflakes, but SW toys lack articulation. Check out the Emporers Royal Gaurds, (the dudes in red), a whopping two points of joint movement. They're crap. They can't even sit down. They can only move their arms up or down.

There was a Luke figure that had a removable hand, was all beat up, and only had the necessary articulation in the legs to hang upside down on a weather vane. It was highly detailed and came with good accesories, but it was still a limited piece of junk.

G.I.Joes were better by a long shot. Especially the 3 3/4" line of figures.

Blah! But I stopped collecting this junk long ago...

This post has been edited by Vesuvius: 12 August 2008 - 11:40 PM

[Toru-chan]

Sadly this is for real...

OAK BROOK , Ill., Aug. 14 (UPI) -- McDonald's says it has teamed up with Hollywood's Lucasfilm Ltd. for the first time to create a line of "Star Wars"-themed Happy Meals. Inspired by the new animated film and upcoming TV series, the "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" Happy Meals will be available starting Friday and until Sept. 11.

"We're very excited to announce our first-time collaboration with Lucasfilm Ltd., brought to life through our 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' Happy Meal," Rebecca Anderson, the marketing manager for McDonald's USA, said in a statement. "Families and 'Star Wars' fans alike are sure to enjoy this exclusive 'Star Wars' experience at McDonald's."

http://www.starwars....s20080813b.html
http://www.upi.com/E...85041218726484/

Looks like it's Burger King for me...

[Vesuvius]

What did I tell you, it's all about the value meal.

Now I know that this film is directed solely for a very young audience. Those "happy meals" are not going to fill up a 12 year old. Besides, it's all for the toys anyway, and diehard SW fans are only going to get the toy through their "burger jockey" friends.

"Rebecca Anderson, the marketing manager for McDonald's USA, said in a statement. "Families and 'Star Wars' fans alike are sure to enjoy this exclusive 'Star Wars' experience at McDonald's."

I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of this line.

What a waist.

[Toru-chan]

The Lucasfilm marketing machine is much more impressive than the Dumbass heading their animation department: http://www.moviemark...the-clone-wars/

The fanboy employee who pitched this idea must have been hoping for a big promotion. You can buy the 'George Lucas Family Action Figures'.



THIS IS NOT A JOKE. Can you imagine Lucas signing off on it? What an ego! The good news is the price has been marked down from $30 to just $5, so I guess even the bedwetters at theforce.net aren't buying. http://shop.starwars...oduct_id=104664

"Rebecca Anderson, the marketing manager for McDonald's USA, said in a statement. "Families and 'Star Wars' fans alike are sure to enjoy this exclusive 'Star Wars' experience at McDonald's."I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of this line.

I get the impression Lucas isn't selling to kids (who from what the reviewers said of the audiences weren't that excited about it). Lucas sells to franchisees instead. Once the toy is in the Happy Meal, the kid will want it, and get it, whether they want it or not. Yeah. Rebecca Anderson talks like she's taken too much 'E'. Do PR Drones still think anyone believes their crap?

1. Produce a new much-loved movie
2. Get Happy Meal Deal with Fastfood Giant in Decline
3. ????
4. PROFIT!

Which step did George miss?

This post has been edited by Toru-chan: 19 August 2008 - 09:53 PM

[Vesuvius]

The fanboy employee who pitched this idea must have been hoping for a big promotion. You can buy the 'George Lucas Family Action Figures'.

1. Produce a new much-loved movie
2. Get Happy Meal Deal with Fastfood Giant in Decline
3. ????
4. PROFIT!

Which step did George miss?

Oh man, Good ol' ED style of marketing.

BTW, those toys look absolutely rediculous! I knew that portly blue chick and the young jedi were his kids, but I didn't see the Goth Chick, or him in that suit at all... I'll maybe have to skip through EP III so I can laugh at them all.

Alos, I just got a catalogue in the mail and it had some "plush SW figures" in it and Yoda looked more like George Burns than anything! All for profit.