Playmates Toys
- Thread starter captainjellico
- Start date
Ben's great so it's always good to hear from him.
Interesting thoughts on the demise of Eaglemoss - essentially they overextended because the owners were trying to grow the company in order to cash out, but then they hit major cashflow issues and couldn't keep it going. It wasn't any particular decision on the Trek line, which was just one part of the company.
I'm pretty cautiously optimistic about the new figures after hearing that. They obviously know what the market is and think they have a way to make it work. Talking about a SNW bridge is pretty bold!
And a little thing that I love: hexagonal stands instead of yet another Starfleet delta.
Interesting thoughts on the demise of Eaglemoss - essentially they overextended because the owners were trying to grow the company in order to cash out, but then they hit major cashflow issues and couldn't keep it going. It wasn't any particular decision on the Trek line, which was just one part of the company.
I'm pretty cautiously optimistic about the new figures after hearing that. They obviously know what the market is and think they have a way to make it work. Talking about a SNW bridge is pretty bold!
And a little thing that I love: hexagonal stands instead of yet another Starfleet delta.
I'm hoping the only existing Discovery
figures in Playmates' scale will look good alongside these. It was a shame to only see two new, and affordable, Trek figures since the whole thing started in 2017.
It's madness, don't you think? I'm blaming Mcfarlane for getting nervous about putting figures from current shows out there, as I don't think another Kirk and Picard was the best way to begin.
figures in Playmates' scale will look good alongside these. It was a shame to only see two new, and affordable, Trek figures since the whole thing started in 2017.
It's madness, don't you think? I'm blaming Mcfarlane for getting nervous about putting figures from current shows out there, as I don't think another Kirk and Picard was the best way to begin.
IIRC, it was more of a case that when McFarlane had the license, he was immediately told by various suits at the time what to do with it--and if anyone knows Todd McFarlane, they know he hates being told what to do with his own company. One of the last straws was that he wanted to do a screen-accurate DIS phaser from season 1 with lights and sounds that could be sold in stores at an affordable price. He was told he couldn't do that unless he slapped a giant red emitter on it or had it totally repainted in neon colors so that it didn't look like "a real gun" to satisfy US toy safety regulations.
Unsurprisingly, McFarlane said "screw this" and walked away from the license altogether.
Normally, I'd say a bridge playset would never happen, but maybe since they wouldn't have to sell it I stores, it would be semi-viable. It's going to be expensive however (i'd guess $250 minimum).
Since it looks like they're selling Playmates-derived stuff, I'd imagine we'll get that USS Protostar toy since it was likely next in line after the 1701 and 1701-D in the release schedule, presumably the Prodigy phaser as well using the same logic.
Since it looks like they're selling Playmates-derived stuff, I'd imagine we'll get that USS Protostar toy since it was likely next in line after the 1701 and 1701-D in the release schedule, presumably the Prodigy phaser as well using the same logic.
Honestly, the fluorescent red barrel wouldn't have been that big of a deal, the Enterprise Phase Pistols had them, it's not that hard to just paint it over.
Early prototype image
It just wasn't the toy McFarlane wanted to make. Now, he could have made it an "adult collectible" and kept it screen accurate, but it would mean he couldn't sell it in retail stores. Without that larger market, he would be forced to have a much smaller production run than he initially planned, which meant he would have to sell it at a much higher price point than the $35 USD he originally set it at. I don't think McFarlane liked that idea either.
I remember seeing them in comic shops and passing on the figures at the time, but I do recall appreciating that the Picard figure had a variant of the TNG uniform on.
Most Picard figure releases are of the late S7 TNG uniform or Season 5 "Jacket" variant, movies exluded. McFarlane's release had the TNG Variant with two seams running down the front - IIRC these were Season 3 uniforms (Some were re-tailored from the Season 1 Collarless variant?)
You can see this clearest in the image of Data under "Transitional Versions" https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Starfleet_uniform_(2350s-2370s)
But they gave him the Ressikan flute and a First Contact era phaser, neither of which were appropriate for that uniform variant, so I’m not sure how much attention to detail they had, and what was simply based on the reference material provided by CBS!
The Kirk figure was great.
The Kirk figure was great.
Honestly, the red barrel top on the prototype doesn’t really look that bad.
It’s a little interesting that prototype actually has the red tip, which means that McFarlane considered upfront that was going to be a requirement for wide release, and considering that toy safety law has been in place for over 20 years, they shouldn’t have been taken by surprise. I’m now half-wondering if they couldn’t make it anywhere close to that $35 price point, which is the real reason they never moved forward. Although, they probably would have cancelled it anyway after the figures flopped, so I guess it’s a moot point.
That's actually not the original prototype, just the one McFarlane had to demonstrate to please US toy safety regulations. The original displayed at a toy fair had no red emitter, looked like the actual prop from the show, and was at 1:1 scale.
What McFarlane wanted it to be
Toy Fair 2018 presentation
It even would have had a removable type-1 "cricket" phaser that had blue and red light up "beam" settings and sound effects.
