Pretty standard.
We need Lower Decks Merch. Especially Levar Bearton
- Thread starter Charles Phipps
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The last major push for Star Trek merchandise was for Star Trek 2009. Since then, it's become increasingly insular (hard to find & narrow-marketed), IMO.
Supposedly Beyond was merched to hell and back in China tho. I've seen... trading cards. But heard there was lots and lots more.
Pretty sure the film tanked there so it's probably filling Chinese landfill right now.
Sad but true. The sales appeared to be hit and miss (despite seemingly selling well in my local market) so much so that the second wave was cancelled, more's the pity. Given that even McFarlane was not really willing to try and clear hurdles with the Discovery Phaser to be CA compliant for replica firearms is not a good indication of confidence in the Star Trek merchandising side of things.
Merch is where trek craps the bed, there has always been some kind of section for star wars in stores, but almost nothing for trek.
Some good action figures, play sets, shirts, etc.
Some good action figures, play sets, shirts, etc.
To force companies to make products? 
Trek is undeniably a household name, but when it comes to merchandise, it's extremely more niche than it was in the 1990s. There are still companies lining up to create Trek products, but they tend to be aimed solely at adult collectors, whereas other brands like Star Wars and Marvel target multiple demographics, IMO.
I think it simply is it hasn't sold well. No one wants to take it on because of past history.
There are still companies approaching CBS to make new Trek merchandise--as evident in the OP article in this thread--but I think the main issue is a lack of visibility compared to other brands. You can find Trek collectibles online, but there's a dearth of Trek merchandise in brick & mortar retail stores, and it may be attributed to what happened with the Star Trek 2009 campaign in which Playmates Toys flooded retailers with too much product too soon. The big three US retailers at the time got burned with tons of Wave 1 product they couldn't move months after the movie was released, so they said no to Wave 2, which effectively killed the entire line instantly. Even Hasbro knows that it can only release Star Wars stuff in small waves.
Hasbro sucks and only recently barely improved. I would not rely on them as an example.
Like it or not, Hasbro still knows not to do what Playmates did.
We don’t need Lower Decks merchandise.
Yeah we do
How would you get the animated Cerritos to fit into a shelf display featuring live-action models if they’ve yet to design a canon live-action version? It’s not like the Ghost from Rebels which was upgraded for live action in Rogue One. Should Eaglemoss go for a cartoon version and ignore the commercial value in putting live-action detail onto the ship?
The same goes for a whole bunch of stuff except perhaps action figures of the characters themselves: there is an obvious plus in having those items to fit the real world, where real people could use it in cosplay, for example, but that wouldn’t fly without McMahan approving it far in advance of an actual live-action appearance.
We don't need any merchandise. But, since Star Trek merchandise is being produced it would be nice to have so people can have fun with their favorite shows.
Hasbro is willing to suffer losses and certainly are not favored, especially in the Star Wars collecting community. Playmates may have missteped but that doesn't mean they should immediately follow Hasbro's example.
It's a ship. Whether it's "live action" or "animated" doesn't impact its appearance at all.
Other way around. Hasbro shouldn't follow Playmates' example. It can kill an entire toyline and leave collectors with nothing but incomplete collections.
Neither should follow either example. They should at least try and learn from past mistakes and study the market of their respective lines. Playmates, thus far, seems incapable of doing so. Hasbro, I'll admit, is slowly learning some of their errors from the handling of SW. Slowly, but still some indication of possible insight.
Well, speak the devil's name often enough and he will appear...
https://www.startrek.com/news/playmates-toys-boldly-returns-to-the-star-trek-universe
https://www.startrek.com/news/playmates-toys-boldly-returns-to-the-star-trek-universe
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