![]() ![]() Recycled Star Wars: What Is and What Isn't But, from a collecting standpoint, that only makes them more interesting. Why spend money developing an entirely new product when an old one can be slightly modified and released not only with minimal expenditure but in a short amount of time as well? Of course, the ease with which such recycled products are capable of being brought to market means that they are often unimaginative or slightly awkward. Consequently, the re-releasing of old products is an option that companies often find very attractive, precisely because it allows for an already-developed product to create new revenue. The money invested in them-and in their steel production molds in particular-represents an investment that the company would like to profit from for as long as possible. ![]() To a toy company with a large and consistent output, the products it has previously developed are valuable assets. Often this corner cutting takes the form of what I like to call product recycling, or the re-issuing of old toys with new marketing emphases. All this makes economizing a central concern for toy makers- where corners can be cut without spoiling a product, they are. ![]() In fact, it typically takes a full year for the entire process to run its course, a fact which means that a toy company must begin developing its products many months prior to the date they're scheduled to hit store shelves. Moreover, the process involved in taking a toy line from the conceptual stages to mass-production requires a lot of time. The expense of producing tooling alone is enough to put the production of something like an action figure line beyond the capacity of all but the most prosperous of toy companies. It involves conceptual and design work, market research, sculpting or pattern making, and the production of steel tooling, or the molds used for injection molding plastic. A look at how Star Wars toys were reworked into other lines, ![]()
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