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McFarlane phaser replica scrapped

I wonder if McF acquired the Trek rights as a package deal, without really appreciating what CBS was planning for Discovery. The idea of making a mass-market toy for children, rather than adult collectors, seems bizarre for a TV-MA show with gore and nudity on a barely-there streaming service.

So, in other words, a standard McFarlane license? Their lower-cost toys only barely qualify as "mass-market" or "for children", walking right up to the line in terms of quality and subject where they'd be bumped up to "collectables" at a significant increase in price and manufacturing effort (and God bless them for it), and generally based on M-rated video games and niche animated and comic properties.

The "roleplay" section of their website, where the phaser would live if it ever sees the light of day, also features a special-edition baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire and covered in blood from "The Walking Dead," so I don't think we can reasonably speculate that McFarlane was taken for a ride in terms of Discovery's content or the scope of its potential audience.
 
I'd be okay with this. Prop collecting has never been a cheap hobby.

Yeah, I'd guess a lot of fans would prefer that, especially if it comes out looking as nice as the prototypes.

So, in other words, a standard McFarlane license? Their lower-cost toys only barely qualify as "mass-market" or "for children", walking right up to the line in terms of quality and subject where they'd be bumped up to "collectables" at a significant increase in price and manufacturing effort (and God bless them for it), and generally based on M-rated video games and niche animated and comic properties.

The "roleplay" section of their website, where the phaser would live if it ever sees the light of day, also features a special-edition baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire and covered in blood from "The Walking Dead," so I don't think we can reasonably speculate that McFarlane was taken for a ride in terms of Discovery's content or the scope of its potential audience.

What I find hard to reconcile is the advertised price. Maybe I'm too cynical about Trek merch, but $40 seems like an incredible "value" for what they were promising, so I tend to think they were planning to sell a bunch of these. You can only do that if you have a sizable audience and fairly mainstream distribution.
 
What I find hard to reconcile is the advertised price. Maybe I'm too cynical about Trek merch, but $40 seems like an incredible "value" for what they were promising, so I tend to think they were planning to sell a bunch of these. You can only do that if you have a sizable audience and fairly mainstream distribution.

It doesn't seem that wild compared to the Art Asylum/Diamond Select phasers, especially considering their evolution from the ENT phase pistol back in 2002 to the TSFS phaser in 2014, which has essentially the same feature set for essentially the same price.
 
It doesn't seem that wild compared to the Art Asylum/Diamond Select phasers, especially considering their evolution from the ENT phase pistol back in 2002 to the TSFS phaser in 2014, which has essentially the same feature set for essentially the same price.

Hrm, I didn't realize they were that cheap. I was thinking they were in the $75 range. Maybe I was too wowed by the McF promo materials.

Anyway, I hope McF can make it work, and make it work for the original price.
 
Yeah, I'd guess a lot of fans would prefer that, especially if it comes out looking as nice as the prototypes.



What I find hard to reconcile is the advertised price. Maybe I'm too cynical about Trek merch, but $40 seems like an incredible "value" for what they were promising, so I tend to think they were planning to sell a bunch of these. You can only do that if you have a sizable audience and fairly mainstream distribution.
Plastic and LEDs don't cost that much.
 
I wonder if changing it's color to TOS Phaser blueish grey would allow it to be released without putting orange on it.
 
I wonder if changing it's color to TOS Phaser blueish grey would allow it to be released without putting orange on it.
In actuality, they could release it in any color needed to pass muster with the laws/retailers. Purists are going to disassemble the toy, paint it the proper colors and reassemble it. As long as the detail, LED's and clear/colored pieces are there, the rest is just primer and paint.

Q2
 
An extra grand. This bad boy is coming in at $1,500! :eek:

I think you'd have to be quite a fan to drop that kind of cash on a replica of a secondary prop. I don't know that I'd have recognized that rifle was from Discovery if they hadn't told me. Certainly not at a glance.

That said, I'd like to have the Saurian brandy glasses that Roddenberry.com is selling for $150, so I'm in no position to judge.
 
I think you'd have to be quite a fan to drop that kind of cash on a replica of a secondary prop.

You're thinking from the perspective of an average joe. There's certainly very wealthy Trekkies out there. To those kind of people, $1500 is pocket change they don't even think about. I know a couple of folks who would drop three times that amount on a gaudy purse for their wife with no second thought because they are so obsecenely wealthy. It's absolutely nothing to them.
 
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