Black Series Titaniums

[Kobayashi]

if hypothetically NECA were to announce that Star Wars would be in their Cinemachines line, would that be cause for excitement?

 

[ReverendStrone]

Sure, some. I think the problem with new companies jumping in tends to be that we see the same ships over and over, whereas longer running lines have a better new to revisited ratio. When it comes to brands, I collect without strict allegiance. I'm just after the best representation of a given class at a size that suits my collecting needs. Based on those criteria, I have yet to buy any HW ships, but I'm certainly open to it. For fighter craft I prefer my minis in the MM or FFG X-wing size range, but I'd love more capital ships at Titanium or Hot Wheels size. Unfortunately neither company has done many, or when they have, I have found better alternatives available in other lines.

 

[djcos25]

Black Series are done for now. JTA interviewed Hasbro at Hascon this weekend. They basically said it sold well enough to extent, but decided to stop and focus on other stuff. It starts around the 5:08 mark.

http://www.jeditemplearchives.com/2017-09-09-hascon17-jedi-temple-archives-interviews-hasbro/

 

[djcos25]

^ That should be Black Series Titaniums are done for now. No edit.

 

[DutchVander]

Just saw the news at JTA. If they'd actually put some effort into Titanium ships it would've done better. How many new titaniums did we get versus what Hot Wheels released? Now they're focusing on other stuff- like the hideous figures that were such a massive success and have pegwarmed twice now. Ughh.

 

[DutchVander]

Looks like there 34 total releases plus the 4 pack- but only 16 new toolings.

 

[Darth_Windu_au]

Not surprising, but that sucks. At least we still have Hot Wheels!

 

[Unreality]

So it's retired...at least until Hasbro gets another wave of inspiration. Oh well, I'm with Windu. At least we have Hot Wheels...and FFG.

 

[saddestmoon]

​That's pretty lame news, if you ask me! Even if the 'writing appeared to be on the wall', so to speak, I can't pretend I'm not disappointed to hear this...

Even though I didn't exclusively collect titaniums, it was always one diecast line that felt like it had been with my collecting for a long time, and had produced a significant range of vehicles spanning most SW media eras (beginning as with Galoob diecasts, and transforming into Hasbro's offerings).

I think what I find most frustrating, is that some of the lines that have been cancelled / non-started - having been brought back or introduced with TFAs - are all diecast SW attempts at movie-accurate vehicles:

1) Disney store diecast vehicles - (Maybe not publicly announced as cancelled, but may as well be, considering no further produced since TFAs)

2) Black Series Titanium vehicles - brought back for TFAs but now cancelled

3) Micromachines - brought back for TFAs but now cancelled

and possibly not as relevant:

4) Hot Wheels Elite scale SW vehicles (which never even saw the light of day, with their original street date, and likely never will) - edit: prolly shouldn't list this, as it's somewhat hypothetical...


Whereas, Hasbro introduces Titanium figures (no one was asking for), and Disney Store carry on with diecast figures, which then means more figure lines being added to further pre-existing figure lines urgh!

Okay - mini-rant over!

 

[Darth_Windu_au]

Let's not forget the ill-fated Titanium Helmet's line, with Hasbro flooding the market with the same 2-packs no-one wants time and time again. Those initial offerings STILL are clogging the pegs at TRU stores here.

 

[darth_sidious]

Its a shame, especially after they confirmed a return of the line for this year at the last convention. They should have said what they did in this interview months ago. Its no wonder people have issues believing what they say with contradictory statements.

Hopefully HW will pick up their game, now that the market is theirs alone. Personally, I prefer only chasing one diecast line, but I preferred the detail on the Titaniums, though I like the stands on the HW better, and their more diverse ship selection. This run for the Titanium line certainly felt limited and restricted to the new media, but they did release some very nice ships.

 

[boris_2]

Added to this the possible news that HW wont be released in UK leaves me firmly with the feeling that the spaceships renaissance that started in 2015 is dead. I shall have to shift my focus back to more expensive or older items

 

[Warsaw_Wonder]

This sucks. I was glad Hasbro was able to keep these at $4.99 although some paint-ops like airbrush were not used like they were in the earlier line.
I would at least like to see an exclusive release featuring 3 new vehicles from each new film.

 

[DarthWhirlygig]

On the "death" (remember, it "died" once before...and actually I think it died a time or two before that) of Titanium ships... well, that's just it -- a death is not a death, they've shown that they hold onto these assets for when the time for rebirth is right.

Of course, if Disney keeps the movies coming and Hot Wheels keeps the ships coming I don't know when that time will be.

Now they're focusing on other stuff- like the hideous figures that were such a massive success and have pegwarmed twice now. Ughh.

Confessional: I had to pull my own arm back to stop myself from grabbing the Phasma Titanium figurine...the one and only character (ok, droids, too) that makes sense in this form...she looks nice!

 

[darth_sidious]

Its true that it could be brought back, but if Hasbro skips the next few movies, there's little point in resurrecting it. HW will dominate the market, and be hard to ever unseat. At least the line went out on a high note, with the Death Star and Krennic's Shuttle - both are great. I think many of us suspected one of the diecast lines would end, because there frankly isn't a need for two lines creating the same ships. I'll miss Titaniums, but I think this third round was its last.

 

[DutchVander]

I really think Titanium could've thrived if it wasn't for licensing allowing the over saturation. When there are 4 ship lines (Disney store, Titanium, Hot wheels, Micromachines) all going at once, its hard for any of them to do well because you're splitting your market too much. I can't believe they allowed Mattel to release the Hot Wheels line in direct competition to Hasbro when Hasbro has carried the license for so long. Sadly, Mattel won the majority market share. I have every Titanium released except the Gold X-wing so I'm not about to start another line, especially when the aesthetic and quality don't match.

 

[Darth_Duranium]

I echo many of the sentiments peeps have just expressed re: the demise of Titanium ships. It's deja vu all over again. :'(
So sad, I loved having both diecast lines slugging it out. Well, at least we have HW and FFG. *somewhere, a dog barks*

Titanium is dead. May it re-rise from the grave yet again. :ninja:

 

[Dark_Jedi_]

I feel all you guys pain. I miss my Micro Machines!!

 

[ReverendStrone]

It is stunning that we find ourselves in this predicament, when you stop and reflect. How can mainline retail mini spaceship toys from the most enduring and successful high profile sci-fi franchise of all time be so difficult to turn into viable product? They can be made for pennies, are small and should be affordable, have obvious collectability, and are based on subject matter with massive reach and multi-hundred million $ holiday season-timed marketing. Surely this kind of toy should be the easiest to make money from? :wtf:

 

[djcos25]

I feel all you guys pain. I miss my Micro Machines!!

I miss my Action Fleet!

 

[Dark_Jedi_]

It is stunning that we find ourselves in this predicament, when you stop and reflect. How can mainline retail mini spaceship toys from the most enduring and successful high profile sci-fi franchise of all time be so difficult to turn into viable product? They can be made for pennies, are small and should be affordable, have obvious collectability, and are based on subject matter with massive reach and multi-hundred million $ holiday season-timed marketing. Surely this kind of toy should be the easiest to make money from? :wtf:

The answers is........

Hasbro's bad decisions!!

 

[BIGLOU75]

So is it safe to say that we won't be seeing The Last Jedi vehicles released by HotWheels in the Black Series Titanium line, along with any other vehicles? And to think I held out on buying these on Force Friday because I thought I'd see them in Titanium. Now I have to hunt them down!

 

[darth_sidious]

Its safe to say we wont be seeing anything new for the Titanium ship line, so if you want the small $5 diecast ships - HW is the way to go. There are only four TLJ ships / vehicles released thus far, so they shouldn't be too difficult to track down. The next time we see Titanium ships will probably be at a discount store to get ride of overstock.

 

[saddestmoon]

I'd suggest picking the Hot Wheels versions up forthwith!

The Titanium ship ain't sailing anywhere anytime soon - and I doubt there are any TLJ titanium vehicles still to come out (if there was a time to release them, it would have been FF2).

Would love to be wrong about this.

 

[darth_sidious]

Not only that, but if there were a final wave before the end, they would have mentioned that in the interview. Likewise, these waves are planned far ahead, so I wonder at what point they determined the DS wave would be the last? Seems to me, they decided the line would go on hiatus a long time ago, otherwise we'd have TLJ ships in a warehouse at this point...

 

[Scimitar]

Well I hate to see this, Black Series is my main collecting focus now, except for the die cast figures, and I really enjoyed the Titanium ships (and helmets which also seem close to the end). It's too bad they think the interest wasn't there because it was, but they made some horrible choices for repacks. Sort of like Mattel is with the HWs starships though, even the clearances didn't clear the old pegwarmers out around here.

 

[Warsaw_Wonder]

I'm hoping that this line is on hiatus and will be back for Ep 9. They can give us 1-2 vehicles per wave from TLJ, Han Solo and Ep 9 at that point.

 

[DutchVander]

I really wish they had kept this line instead of the stupid pegwarming titanium figures. I would love the A-wing and Resistance Bomber in this line. I know Hot Wheels did them, but the quality just doesn't hold up to the Titanium line.

 

[DutchVander]

Speaking of Titanium Figures not selling- EE's daily deal is the original Titanium Clone Trooper for 2.99. These figures are over 10 years old and still in stock at place at super-clearance prices. Why would Hasbro ever consider trying these again? No ships now, even though that was one of the most successful longer running SW lines Hasbro has had, and they bring back one of the worst peg warming lines ever. I just can't wrap my head around their thinking on this.

 

[Darth_Windu_au]

It is stunning that we find ourselves in this predicament, when you stop and reflect. How can mainline retail mini spaceship toys from the most enduring and successful high profile sci-fi franchise of all time be so difficult to turn into viable product? They can be made for pennies, are small and should be affordable, have obvious collectability, and are based on subject matter with massive reach and multi-hundred million $ holiday season-timed marketing. Surely this kind of toy should be the easiest to make money from? :wtf:

Agreed - and given the desirability of 'army builder' type ships it really does boggle the mind how Hasbro managed to ***** it up so badly. Mind you I went into my local TRU yesterday and they had literally three full begs of the 6 inch Black Series First Order Snowtrooper on clearance. No-one wants them, so not only Titanium that Hasbro stuffs up with.

 

[darth_sidious]

I think the two most significant factors in the Titanium line leaving once again are the high level of repacks that gathered dust on the pegs and resulted in a lower profit margin and stores not ordered more. Some stores would order a case or two of a second wave when the first wave for the year resulted in heavy pegwarmers - those numbers don't make the line profitable from what I can see. I'm honestly surprised we don't see tons of these at discount stores. The next factor is the HW line - they seemingly can produce a comparable product at a lower production cost, and pegwarmers don't hurt their bottom line as much. Not to mention, many store seem to favor that brand and will flood their pegs with HW. I believe HW will dominate at retail, giving Titaniums little opportunity to return and be a viable competitor.

 

[boris_2]

Here’s a post from John Stone on the SW Titanium FB group

“I got some news from someone in the know about the Titanium ships. A couple of series were scheduled to come out before Christmas but something happened to their production (not told what) which stopped everything. This of course gave Hot Wheels the upper hand for a few months & that we may start seeing some ship late January to February which is AFTER the new movie coming out. Since Disney is letting both companies supply the SAME ships so this is pretty bad for Titanium. If they get the ships out they will probably be the same as the one already out by HW
”

Interesting as it suggests a production and marketing blunder on Hasbros part rather than a specific decision to go on hiatus

 

[Maverick10126]

Well that pretty much sinks the line. It's going to be hard to convince buyers to buy the silencer and so forth after they already got them from HW.

I for one am considering selling my FO TIE's and getting the HW versions just to have uniformity.

 

[darth_sidious]

Here’s a post from John Stone on the SW Titanium FB group

“I got some news from someone in the know about the Titanium ships. A couple of series were scheduled to come out before Christmas but something happened to their production (not told what) which stopped everything. This of course gave Hot Wheels the upper hand for a few months & that we may start seeing some ship late January to February which is AFTER the new movie coming out. Since Disney is letting both companies supply the SAME ships so this is pretty bad for Titanium. If they get the ships out they will probably be the same as the one already out by HW
”

Interesting as it suggests a production and marketing blunder on Hasbros part rather than a specific decision to go on hiatus

That's odd, if true, it contradicts what Hasbro reps have said at conventions - they in no uncertain terms made it clear both Titaniums and Micro Machines are done after their respective RO releases. Even if they were planned at one time, its likely too late for them at retail, especially if they slated to release the same ships. They might be able to do an online exclusive with HTS (if they were even put into production), but they'd likely end up as clearance fodder.

 

[squidgey]

Very much hope this is true and there's some releases at some point. Much prefer Titanium ships to hot wheels, even though I collect the hot wheels as well

 

[DutchVander]

I really hope this is true. I refuse to hop onto the Hot Wheels bandwagon when I've already got hundreds of titaniums. Here's hoping we eventually get the the TLJ A-wing, Resistance Bomber, and Ski Speeder (and a Blue Squadron X-wing from Rogue One). I really would love to see the Raddus too since we have never seen Home One in titanium.

 

[saddestmoon]

Wow! Very interesting to hear - and hoping we get some TLJ Titaniums.

My picks from TLJ would be the Raddus, the Resistance modified Correlian Corvette (that was destroyed by the Supremacy), and the FO Dreadnaught.

Unfortunately, if Hasbro only scheduled ships from TLJ, already produced by HWs, then we won’t see these at all.

Adding to these titanium wants, from RO: Profundity, Hammerhead Corvette, TIE-Reaper - and from TFAs, Han & Chewies’ Baleen-class freighter, the Quadjumper cargo hauler, and Leias modified Resistance B-wing-bespoke shuttle - and from TLJ: TIE-Silencer, Resistance Nebulon Medical Shuttle, Resistance A-Wing, Resistance Star-fortress Bomber, FO Supremacy, FO shuttle (that Finn, Rose and BB-8 escaped on), Resistance transport, DJs stolen ‘arms dealer’ starship.

That’s just my movie list, never mind all the CW and Rebels starships that haven’t been produced.

I find it absolutely astounding that Hasbro and HW would produce near the exact same ships as each other, rather than produce what the other has not. It makes no sense at all, especially doubling up at almost the same time (rather than releasing shared duplicate ships at different times - if at all - despite not being privy to what the other company might release).

It can’t be that difficult to alternate releases - especially when the list of starships and vehicles is large and vast, ensuring that rival companies almost never need to double-up on releases.

Which makes me wonder if Hasbro and HWs have gone out of their way to intentionally create the same ships at the same time, thereby directly competing ???

:|

 

[TripleZero78]

Despite the redundancy in offerings by both Hot Wheels and the Titanium series, the details, size and features were different enough for me to collect both. The slim offerings by Titanium made that feasible.

If this is indeed true, here's hoping they see the light of retail.

Although it would break the uniformity of the packaging, release them on vintage cards like the die cast line of the 80s. They intend to resurrect the vintage collection in the figure line, release the Titanium (and the Kraken) to coincide. Except, reduce the high ratio of repacks to new releases. Repacks are necessary, but the excess of it has been self defeating in all of their lines.

 

[darth_sidious]

Spotted a single Titanium ship today at Target (Poe's X-wing), no idea how it got there, since they've been clearanced long ago - but I did also see a bunch of RO figure 2-packs, so it might simply have been old stock. We'll see what develops.

 

[boris_2]

Despite the redundancy in offerings by both Hot Wheels and the Titanium series, the details, size and features were different enough for me to collect both. The slim offerings by Titanium made that feasible.

If this is indeed true, here's hoping they see the light of retail.

Although it would break the uniformity of the packaging, release them on vintage cards like the die cast line of the 80s. They intend to resurrect the vintage collection in the figure line, release the Titanium (and the Kraken) to coincide. Except, reduce the high ratio of repacks to new releases. Repacks are necessary, but the excess of it has been self defeating in all of their lines.

You make a good point, the HW ships in the 40th Anniversary packaging was very attractive. Again, it was a line that never made it to the UK