At last...
Playmates Toys
- Thread starter captainjellico
- Start date
Link to a video. Can't save it and reupload it:
There were pictures at SDCC including a Pike figure. Last I looked they were listed as expected Q3 2024.
I'm hoping to go with at least Kirk and Spock.
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Fingers crossed, I’d love to get at least Kirk, Spock and Bones if they look good. But I gotta see more than prototype shots.
There hasn’t been any news since they announced no figures. I would have expected something by now if there were. My guess would be the line is dead even if Playmates still holds the license.
On their Facebook page there are some more display pictures, including Pike.
So, I'm cautiously optimistic.
Yeah, if Playmates were going to really try to salvage their Star Trek toyline with ships and role-play props, this year's SDCC would have been the place to announce it and even show some prototypes (at least). But zip. Nada. Not a single mention of Star Trek, although they did announce plans for other stuff all the way into 2025.
On Entertainment Earth they have both the Original Enterprise and ENT-D replicas for sale.
I concur, lack of any announcements from either this year's ToyFair or SDCC leads me to believe they're done.
It'll be interesting to see if HiYa has some success, they might be in a better position because they're already a niche product manufacturer -- Playmates business' structure just isn't geared for that.
Yeah, I always thought the mass market approach was unlikely to work.
Doctor Who fans complain about the toys, but Character Options have been consistently producing figures and role play items for nearly twenty years. There have been ups and downs, but they've always been providing product that the fans want and buy.
It should be possible for Star Trek figures and ships to be produced in a similar way. I can only assume that the cost of the licence makes it unprofitable to do things at a lower price point, which means the only line that seems to be thriving is the premium Exo-6 range of figures.
Hopefully Hiya can hit the sweet spot.
Doctor Who fans complain about the toys, but Character Options have been consistently producing figures and role play items for nearly twenty years. There have been ups and downs, but they've always been providing product that the fans want and buy.
It should be possible for Star Trek figures and ships to be produced in a similar way. I can only assume that the cost of the licence makes it unprofitable to do things at a lower price point, which means the only line that seems to be thriving is the premium Exo-6 range of figures.
Hopefully Hiya can hit the sweet spot.
I would be interested in a Trek line by Character Options made in the same fashion as their Doctor Who toys. I understand it would be problematic given its a British company, and all the distribution issues that would cause, but I feel like they have found the best approach with their current releases.
I might become interested in Hiya Toys if they start releasing figures from the current and past Trek shows, but I'm less incentivised with KT figures as they just seem like better versions of the 3.75 Playmates figures that were released in 2009.
I know they are much more than that, but it's the same issue I have with new companies trying to sell 7" Trek figures. It's stuff I already have, but slightly better. It really eats into the bank account.
My thing is that I already work in the 1/18 scale so having Trek figures that line up with other franchises I enjoy is a huge perk.
Also, the construction of these figures is really unique to me
Also, the construction of these figures is really unique to me
I would be interested in a Trek line by Character Options made in the same fashion as their Doctor Who toys. I understand it would be problematic given its a British company, and all the distribution issues that would cause, but I feel like they have found the best approach with their current releases.
I might become interested in Hiya Toys if they start releasing figures from the current and past Trek shows, but I'm less incentivised with KT figures as they just seem like better versions of the 3.75 Playmates figures that were released in 2009.
I know they are much more than that, but it's the same issue I have with new companies trying to sell 7" Trek figures. It's stuff I already have, but slightly better. It really eats into the bank account.
Probably worth noting that Character keep the prices down by reusing parts from their extensive archive. It's pretty rare that they pay for entirely new tooling, apart from head sculpts.
There are certain characters they simply can't do on the current margins - the paint apps for the Sixth Doctor's coat for example, so all the recent releases have been variants with simpler paint.
So any company taking on Trek would have to deal with the up-front cost of completely new tooling. When Playmates got the line I thought they might reuse their 90s tooling, but aside from some of the figure accessories it was all new.
I've noticed their economic habits, and i'm glad it's paying off for them in this day and age. Still, in a perfect world, it would be nice to have Trek and Who figures in matching scales. I like the detail that can be achieved with the 5.5 inch scale.
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