Playmates Toys

[fireproof78]

That's disappointing.

Well, I'll grab what I want, and then the Hiya toys will be on the list.

 

[Awesome Possum]

I hope they at least expand the roleplay selection beyond old molds from the 90s.

 

[Tomalak]

Not a massive surprise. We can nitpick the character selection, but the market just isn't there for Star Trek action figures. Playmates had a good go at producing a more mass-market, lower-priced line, but it was not to be.

Super7 don't seem to be having much more luck with their Ultimates line, which means the only viable market is the Exo-6 figures which are high-cost, low volume items that suit the aging demographic for Trek collectables.

Hopefully the ships and role play are doing well for them and those will continue.

 

[Sakonna]

Well, I better get to work buying all remaining stock I can find of this line. 7 of these 8 action figures are the best autism fidget toys I've ever found! (Khan doesn't hit, the articulation on that one isn't as satisfying somehow) They have been INCREDIBLE aids for my productivity.

I'm a bit surprised my purchases alone weren't enough to keep the line afloat. I've already been stocking out, cause they wear out.

Though I might be why Target was the one retailer to have positive feedback. That's where I got a lot of mine.

 

[Paul755]

Not a massive surprise. We can nitpick the character selection, but the market just isn't there for Star Trek action figures. Playmates had a good go at producing a more mass-market, lower-priced line, but it was not to be.

Super7 don't seem to be having much more luck with their Ultimates line, which means the only viable market is the Exo-6 figures which are high-cost, low volume items that suit the aging demographic for Trek collectables.

Hopefully the ships and role play are doing well for them and those will continue.

cost is a major issue with Super7. The regular 3 inch figures are 15-20 bucks a piece and the ultimates are around 60.

I’d love to have the Ultimate Riker, Data or upcoming TNG Worf. But it’s so cost prohibitive.

 

[drt]

I hope they at least expand the roleplay selection beyond old molds from the 90s.

They're actually all new molds of stuff they've done before, but kept to their 90s toy aesthetic versus doing something more faithful to the original props like Diamond Select.

 

[NCC-73515]

I looked at the one Picard my Target had a few weeks ago, and it had black smear on the red parts, so I didn't get it

 

[TerryTrek]

There's really no point continuing Prodigy beyond S2, if the toyline was a failure. Current Trek just does not have kid appeal, like it did in the 1990s.

They probably would have stood a better chance if they did SNW figures instead of Michael Burnham. Too late now.

 

[fireproof78]

There's really no point continuing Prodigy beyond S2, if the toyline was a failure. Current Trek just does not have kid appeal, like it did in the 1990s.

Absurdist argument is absurd.

Toys have limited appeal nowadays, including superheroes and Star Wars. Saying to cancel it because of poor toy sales is ridiculous.

 

[Tomalak]

Sales of Prodigy toys had little or nothing to do with it, as the Prodigy line was curtailed and then cancelled before the figures even hit store shelves.

 

[Orphalesion]

Plus...modern cartoons generally aren't made just to promote toy lines. We aren't in the 80s anymore. If merchandize for a cartoon sells particularly well it can lead to the cartoon being extended beyond its original run or revived after it has finished, but toy sales are no longer the lifeblood of cartoons.

That being said I'm really miffed this toy line stopped before they got to the Lower Decks characters. Those were the only ones I would have considered buying.
And their way of releasing characters seems to have been really weird. I get they expected the most popular characters of each show to sell the most but...even if I wanted to get Picard and Data figures, if it isn't assured that they're also gonna release the rest of the Bridge crew from TNG I would be less inclined to get them.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Can you get a model of the USS Prodigy?

 

[fireproof78]

Can you get a model of the USS Prodigy?

Not currently, no, at least officially.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Not currently, no, at least officially.

Well that sucks ... I liked the look of the ship, didn't care much for the show but the ship was cool

 

[fireproof78]

Well that sucks ... I liked the look of the ship, didn't care much for the show but the ship was cool

Given the original pitch was as a kid's show they probably did not lean in to the model crowd, which is far more of an adults and niche hobby center. With it on Netflix now that might shift to more broad promotion demographic, including different merchandising.

 

[Tomalak]

A Prodigy ship toy was planned, but obviously the range was canned before then.

Maybe if the show is a hit on Netflix it could be revived. Playmates have said they still plan to produce ships and role play, so it's not impossible. It would make for a cool toy.

 

[Sakonna]

I wish they'd gone a little more old & new with the initial action figure offerings. Still give us Picard, but Picard from "Picard" and not TNG. Same with Seven, Riker, and Data. SNW-era Spock. Keep Saru & Burnham, maybe also Georgiou or Pike.

Probably wouldn't have changed the outcome, but it seems like they really missed an opportunity to bring some freshness to it. They could have had something new while also keeping the same marquee legacy characters.

 

[Kor]

Thinking about the new Playmates figure line, I thought maybe the line may have faired better if the figures would have just continued the classic 90s line, but with characters and variants from the shows and movies that came since then (with some re-issues of popular classic figures, like the Vintage TMNT line is doing). This would have allowed for them to be integrated into longtime fans' existing action figure collections, instead of standing out thanks to the new size, articulations and proportions. Also, the old Playmates figures had proportionally large heads and hands, and as such were more appealing to children. Not to mention that they already used old molds for the accessories, so those would have fit better if the hands were of the larger proportions of the classic figures.

Now, I don't know if that would have been more successful, it's just something I occasionally think about as a bit of a missed opportunity.

I meant to respond to this before...

Seeing as how Playmates has been re-releasing Ninja Turtles in identical form to the 90s figures, and Kenner has been doing the same with Ghostbusters, it wouldn't have been too much of a stretch to take such an approach to the Trek line. Especially considering that vague marketing language that Playmates gave us before these new figures came out, about how they would be "in the scale that fans are familiar with," and that they would "fit in perfectly" with the 90s figures. Well, they aren't, and they don't.

Kor

 

[fireproof78]

I meant to respond to this before...

Seeing as how Playmates has been re-releasing Ninja Turtles in identical form to the 90s figures, and Kenner has been doing the same with Ghostbusters, it wouldn't have been too much of a stretch to take such an approach to the Trek line. Especially considering that vague marketing language that Playmates gave us before these new figures came out, about how they would be "in the scale that fans are familiar with," and that they would "fit in perfectly" with the 90s figures. Well, they aren't, and they don't.

Kor

I imagine they might try again with a classic line down the road.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I'm skeptical about Playmates doing Trek figures again. At this point, they've now had more failures with Trek than success. They may just decide not to renew their current license after it expires.