The Action Figure and Toy Collecting and Discussion Thread!

Not just MOTU fans, but DC fans too. That jackass fed us a bunch of lies and blamed the fans when the line failed. No, couldn't be Mattel's awful handling. Fuck him, and good riddance.

 

^ I am feeling the same way: good riddance. He kept saying over and over that he and Mattel were doing things "for the fans" but I never felt that was the case at all. Between the dropped figures, forced "collection subscriptions", and the obvious price gouging the entire business model always felt more like they were bending the fan over the fence.

 

What's just as bad is that quite a few fans out there seem to like and want the idea of having a lot of figures be subscription exclusives because they think that it's a guaranteed way to get new characters and releases. They have so little faith in conventional retail that they're willing to throw all the other collectors who don't like the concept under the bus just to add a handful of new figures to their collections each year.

"They should switch to a subscription or exclusively online business model because regular stores suck" might be good for a handful of collectors, but not most. Most people don't want to be beholden to an online seller for everything they collect, for numerous and valid reasons.

 

I would be more willing to go with a subscription if I felt that what I was getting was something I wanted. Half the time the selections are not what they could be and you have no way of opting out of certain figures. I also felt that Mattel’s pricing was out the window. I would love to have had the Masters of the Universe collections but I simply couldn’t afford them. I think the only value the line has shown since inception was Castle Grey Skull. It was still expensive but the price was very reasonable compared to the rest.

And I finally got around to snapping some pictures of my latest 6-inch Black figures. I admit I had some major reservations about Vader but he turned out rather nice. His robe is too long and the helmet is a little big but from a distance I think I he looks damn good. For once I am actually pleased with all four figures in the wave. I think my only quibble is Luke’s paint aps for his eyes are a little wonky. The iris and pupil are too big.

But here they are. I am posting a picture of the entire figure and a close-up.

Chewbacca



Return of the Jedi Luke



Darth Vader


I should have taken his helmet off so you could see Anakin but I forgot.

Stormtrooper




I decided to get a picture of all my Stormtroopers together. They look fantastic and I want more.

 

With Scott gone, maybe Mattel can finally lose the DC license to someone who can actually do it justice, like maybe Funco(?), before all of those new movies they just announced start coming out, including 2 Justice League movies!

CCC.

 

^ Funco would be a great place for DC to land. I have been very impressed with their work so far.

 

Love your new 6" Black Series figures, Smurf! That entire wave assortment is a winner and even the simple, cheap repaint of a previous release (Sandtrooper Corporal) looks great. I saw a collector post a report that they found at least one of the figures in this new wave at a Toys 'R' Us, so if accurate then it means they're starting to appear in more than just Walgreens stores.

Congrats on those great scores!

 

To be honest, I can't call them a score. I ordered the wave case from Entertainment Earth, like I have all of the waves so far. I feel like a poser just posting in this thread because there was no hunting involved.

I live in an area where there are very, very few chain-stores. The local Walmart (the only game in town) has three small aisles of toys and never has anything of any interest except Barbie and Lego. The most Star Wars they stock is three pegs of 3.5. The local Walgreens doesn't even have a toy section. So, instead of going on the hunt like I once did (one of the reasons I loved living in Nashville), I simply order. It takes all the damn fun out of collecting. All I get to say is "look at what I ordered."

 

You're still a collector who's proud of their toys. It counts.

 

Yes, and if you are the first to post, you give others a chance to see what the inept photographers at the shows can't ever seem to capture, because as a collector, you know what you want to see.

CCC.

 

Most photographs taken at toy shows and conventions aren't usually as good as the ones the average collector can take, that's for sure. Even the official promotional images from the company itself are routinely "sexed up" and enhanced to hide design and other flaws.

 

Unfortunately Mattel and Warner Brothers re-signed for I think another three years earlier this year. The article is somewhere up thread. I'm guessing that the Movie Masters line is dead in favor for the crap Multiverse line?


Having followed some behind the scenes stories about Scott and the infighting and politics with MOTU I'm glad he's gone. For any good he did...he sure did a lot of harm as well.

 

We may not wish to rejoice just yet, actually. This may be baseless, but rumor has it the company that headhunted Neitlich was Hasbro, and he's going to head up the Star Wars Black Series. I can just see it now.

"Guys, we have to end the retail Black Series line, but we have great news for all you Star Wars fans. Coming soon you can join Club Mos Eisley Cantina and get your monthly Star Wars figures all through Hasbro Toy Shop.com! We're not going to tell you what any of the twelve figures we're asking you to commit up front to are, but we will show you this club exclusive oversized Dewback figure! We need to hit a certain number of subscriptions to get this, so go sign up."

Fans ask for figures like Tarkin, Lando, and C-3PO. Scott responds "Sorry, we can't do those figures. They would require to many newly tooled parts."

Months later, the sub fails due to pissed off fans. "Guys, the sub failed and it is all your fault. We won't be going ahead with any more Star Wars Black Series figures."

Then a couple months later: "Star Wars fans have I got great news! Though the sub failed we want to give the line a sendoff with a special wave of multi-colored Clone Troopers. These will come in special Kenner style packaging and retail for $34.99 each. Also, the Dewback that we said multiple times earlier is not going to happen is coming anyways. You can get all of these figures on HasbroToyShop.com, but people who bought our G.I. Joe and Transformers subs will get first crack at them days earlier. Hope they don't sell out."

 

^ I know this isn't Facebook but can I "like" this?

As for images, I work really hard to capture the figures in the best way I can for you kids. I carefully light them so all the detail pops, finesse the poses, and shoot with a long exposure to capture the best focus without the drowning them in flash. You may not realize this but all that work is the reason it takes me forever to post images. I think it is worth it though and I actually enjoy doing it. If I had more room to work I would love to set up a shooting stage with a continues muted background and a fixed lighting rig. Setting up the lights alone can take an hour.

 

^
Hey, whatever you're doing and however long it takes don't apologize, man. The results are outstanding and they're great to look at!

If any figures in the Hasbro Star Wars license ever become "Subscription/Club Membership Only" releases it'll help drive away a lot of the collectors who haven't already gotten bored or even abandoned the company and its product after the disastrous and laughable product quality and retail distribution of the past couple of years. Oh, there's probably somebody in the company who's touting the brilliance of such a business model and all we can do is hope the current suits don't listen to them.

It's hard enough to find anything as-is and we don't need to compound the existing problems by making future figures more expensive, fewer in number and restricted to being a paying member of some club. That just won't be good for long-term collecting.

 

Yeah I read that Scott had accepted a job with another company. I had assumed it was Hasbro...that would suck if he got assigned to the Black Series.

 

Evening ladies and gents. I got a new comic strip coming. My cord is still missing so I can't upload any images but I got some new loot. I found this cool new thrift shop up near where I live and it was like literally walking into an Entertainment Earth magazine. Here's what I got and to whet your appetites. I got the Playmates Abrams Reboot Enterprise model. A playmates 90's original series Harry Mudd, Edith Keeler, Trelane, Talosion gate keeper and Gorn figure. Along with a Star Wars Bossk figure. There's going to be a Gorn family introduced eventually. I also got a few goodies for sets and scenery so stay tuned.

 

This is pretty much exactly what DC collectors were saying under Scott Neitlich's tenure running the line.

I'm really hoping the Hasbro rumors are false. Nothing good can come of him being in charge of any one of their collector lines.

That's quite a haul! Congrats. I'll look forward to seeing what you cook up.

 

Congrats on those great new scores!

Playmates made a figure of Edith Keeler? Man, I am getting increasingly rusty when it comes to the '90s Trek action figure lineup. Post a picture of her if you get a chance, Murdock!