Where are the toys?

Discussion in 'Star Trek Movies: Kelvin Universe' started by BriGuy, Jun 10, 2013.

  1. Commishsleer

    Commishsleer Commodore Commodore

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    Hey I know no one cares but I went and bought a Kreo nuTrek single pack figure at Supernova one the weekend and when I opened it (shock horror) it was missing a piece
    That's $5 down the drain. It was Lt Sprog (whoever he/she is)
    Unfortunately at the endof the universe were I live they don't sell any Star Trek figures in stores. So annoyed.
    Phew it's good to get that off my chest LOL
     
  2. jdp13

    jdp13 Ensign Red Shirt

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    I don't know much about Kre-o although I've seen the Star Trek line at the local Toys R Us. I've never used them so I can't say how the quality is, but the bottom line is I really wish we could get some Star Trek Lego's! I'd love to get a Lego Enterprise or maybe a bridge set or something.

    I really think Star Trek in the past (also in the JJ verse) have really missed the boat on the toy tie-ins. I think they could definitely improve ticket sales at the box office with the proper merchandising of toys.
     
  3. publiusr

    publiusr Admiral Admiral

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    Agreed.
     
  4. Therin of Andor

    Therin of Andor Admiral Moderator

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    Friends who've bought the "Star Trek" Kre-o models have been quite impressed. Unfortunately Kre-o is a wannabe rival of Lego - and Lego wasn't interested in getting a Trek license.

    According to Wikipedia, Kre-o is compatible with Lego bricks, Mega Bloks and other building block brands.

    Surely it's also possible to build your own Lego Enterprise?

    (Yeah, it thought so! http://www.happywaffle.com/enterprise/ )

    When I was a kid, I'm sure Lego came in boxes with a whole booklet of different plans. My neighbour built houses, rockets, trains, planes and automobiles from the one set. This concept of an expensive licensed kit - that can seemingly only be assembled into one configuration, like a 3D jigsaw puzzle - has been a more recent phenomenon?
     
  5. E-DUB

    E-DUB Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    It comes down to two things.

    1. They don't know what the fans want.

    2. They don't care what the fans want.

    I'm at the wrong end of the demographic curve for figures but I do like ships and would buy accurate representations of just about any Trek ship I could find. But I'm not going to wander all over the place to find them.

    I can't believe the mentality of a store that puts something off in a corner and then wonders why nobody buys it.

    The market is supposed to be about supply and demand. We're the demand, where's the supply?
     
  6. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    When I was a giblet, I'd build lego scaffolding and cranes around my AMT movie Enterprise model. Then I saw the "real" thing in the 2009 movie:D
     
  7. Therin of Andor

    Therin of Andor Admiral Moderator

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    Adult collector fans, or child toy fans?

    Well what do "the fans" want? Anyone who's been collecting Trek since the 60s has probably long ago run out of room for new stuff. My Star Trek room poured out across the whole house a decade ago. And I only started collecting in 1980.

    And I guess all the people I know who already have their sets of STiD Hot Wheels ships bought them online. Pre-ordered them months ago.

    Well, I've puzzled over the placement of Kre-o stuff myself. But it does seem to be on shelves beside the Lego sets, which makes sense - and stores don't usually need to advertise Lego. The Lego collectors know exactly where to go when they haunt the stores, just as the Barbies (and the 2009 Trek Barbies and Kens) are over in the pink aisle, on the other side of the store.

    Online shopping.

    When you don't know what you want, you browse. In-store or by catalogue.

    When you do know what you want, you find a reliable source before it comes out. Hence I have my IDW comics on standing pre-order at my favourite comic shop, my Pocket Trek novels on standing pre-order at my favourite specialist SF book shop, and Trek action figures (and Trek extended soundtracks) with trusted online sellers as I hear from them via their emailed newsletters.

    The extended "Star Trek: Insurrection" soundtrack came onto pre-order only yesterday. My long-ago pre-ordered DST Spock w/Horta diorama action figure arrives any day now. And my little Kre-o aliens are coming from an eBay "Buy it now" offer.
     
  8. C.E. Evans

    C.E. Evans Admiral Admiral

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    Past experiences have told retailers that our demand isn't that big, so they're not supplying them.

    Even DST only has fairly limited production runs of Trek toys for online stores, but then they mostly aim at a smaller customer base than retail stores do.
     
  9. Therin of Andor

    Therin of Andor Admiral Moderator

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    And they are frustrated in that the stores only ever want to stock variations on Kirk and Spock. The most recent DST action figure wave is a clever way of extending possibilities: Kirk battling TOS Khan, and Spock mindmelding with a Horta.
     
  10. JWD75

    JWD75 Commander Red Shirt

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    I haven't been able find any tie-in toys in my area either. Finally went ahead and ordered the Hotwheels Excelsior online - which is really the only toy that has been released lately that I'm interested in buying. It's unfortunate, but not surprising, that the 09 toys sold as poorly as they did. At the time they were released I had been prepared to buy at least one of everything that I could get my hands on. But when I saw the Playmates toys sitting on the shelves, they were so terrible that I decided to pass on them instead. I had no interest in buying their crappy looking action figures in even one size, let alone two or three. I would have passed on the phaser and communicator even if they had been quality replicas because the movie props themselves were poorly designed, uninteresting, and totally lacked the aesthetic appeal of the TOS originals. The only toy that I did pick up from the 09 line was the Playmates Enterprise, which was actually quite nice. The rest of the 09 toy line, however, should have been sold in a dollar store.
     
  11. drt

    drt Commodore Commodore

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  12. ManOnTheWave

    ManOnTheWave Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Normally, I'm pretty impressed by Square Enix, but those are some oddly small head sculpts.
     
  13. drt

    drt Commodore Commodore

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    I also think that chest articulation makes their upper torso look weird.

    But who am I kidding, I'm getting them anyway...
     
  14. YJAGG

    YJAGG Captain Captain

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    they look like 6-8 inch figures ( no my scale) so not worries about me buying them
     
  15. Therin of Andor

    Therin of Andor Admiral Moderator

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    My set of "Kre-o" aliens (Kre-ons) arrived: Grasia, Keenser, Klingon, Gorn, Captain Nero and Lieutenant Sprog - have all beamed down!

    [​IMG]
    Kre-ons aliens by Therin of Andor, on Flickr

    I love them, and I bought a spare Keenser figure, with the aim to adapting a Playmates' redshirt figure's limbs and torso, for a customized Keenser to go with my 2009 action figures.
     
  16. Beyerstein

    Beyerstein Captain Captain

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    I wonder what the price range on those will be.
     
  17. Killerprise

    Killerprise Lieutenant Junior Grade Red Shirt

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    Because there are people out there who pay big money for an over hyped replica of a piece of junk ship.
     
  18. thumbtack

    thumbtack Commodore Commodore

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    It was announced at Comic-Con that Square Enix will be doing the Into Darkness figures. Series One will be Kirk and Spock. Series Two will be Khan and Uhura.

    They're stuff is pricey but superior.
     
  19. BillJ

    BillJ The King of Kings Premium Member

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    Because there are people out there wiling to pay for it. Because they like it.
     
  20. publiusr

    publiusr Admiral Admiral

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    I guess I'll have to be a drug dealer to afford QMX wares...