The Action Figure and Toy Collecting and Discussion Thread!

[cooleddie74]

Retail update:

Black Series 6" Wave 2 (Boba, Han, Greedo, Slave Leia) has just been found at brick-and-mortar retail in the United States. Add this to a few reports of people finding Wave 2 of the 3.75" figures and it seems as if all the new Black Series product is just starting to trickle into American stores. Keep your eyes peeled, because a few of the figures in both scales will probably fly off the pegs and shelves.

 

[Saga]

Love the Adipose! I hope we get a Hurt Doctor figure next year.

if we do i bet its in that awful three inch scale series.

 

[nureintier]

I got these two Silent Hill 2 PVC statues recently. I like the Pyramid Head/mannequin one, the nurse, not as much because her hair looks like floppy bunny ears or something. That, and I'm just so sick of "sexy nurses" at this point.

The Robbie the Rabbit looks cool but hasn't been released yet, but I think I'd rather have it than the nurse.

 

[Kira's Mom]

Loki and Thor tagged along when I went to see Thor: The Dark World today. (also known as Thor: Loki, You Little Shit!)

 

[cooleddie74]

Their chair clearly offered no lumbar support.

 

[cooleddie74]

Walmart is going to be selling another round of Black Friday action figure 8-packs starting right after Thanksgiving. There will be Star Wars figures in these 8-pack discount sets just like last year's selections and while there's not even the faintest clue which figures will be included in this year's random mixes there's talk and hope that harder-to-find Vintage Collection figures like Grand Moff Tarkin, Starkiller, the Hoth Rebel Soldier and/or Ponda Baba might emerge from the mists and shadows of whatever warehouses they've been hiding in and be part of the Holiday sets.

The pricepoint on Black Friday will be $25, or $3.12 per figure. It's entirely possible that these sets could just be mixtures of much less desirable figures from the past year or two, but if there's any chance that harder-to-find, scarcer figures that have been in high demand show up in at least some of these discount multipacks then it's worth keeping one's eyes open at local Walmarts on Thanksgiving weekend.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Love the Adipose! I hope we get a Hurt Doctor figure next year.

if we do i bet its in that awful three inch scale series.

That's why I like the 3.75-inch scale.


But if what's rumbling around at various websites about Doctor Who toys is true, the 5-inch scale is pretty much only going to be for periodic classic figures (classic companions & villains mostly), with the 3.75-inch scale for figures from this season of the show onwards (including the upcoming Twelfth Doctor figure).

EDIT:
Switching gears, now, I found an article over at toydirectory.com which reported that action figures have been in steady decline in sales since 2009.
http://www.toydirectory.com/monthly/article.asp?id=5446&____refresh____=1

Basically, its attributing the decline to a number of factors: the lack of strong movie toylines over the years, a lack of advertising for action figures on TV and other media, and the considerable rise in popularity of non-action figure/interactive toys such as Skylanders and Infinity that are steadily taking up more and more space on retail store shelves.

"According to NPD [Toy Market], retail sales of the Skylanders in the U.S. amounted to U.S.$500 million last year. If they had been included in toys rather than video games, they would have dwarfed every single one of Hasbro’s top selling Action Figures.

What is also interesting in this context is that Disney decided to paddle their Infinity boat by themselves rather than going their accustomed route of licensing the thing to Hasbro or Mattel. This did indeed raise a few eyebrows amongst the national Buyers at the major retailers who wonder whether this presages a change in the relationship between Disney and the leading toy companies.

In summary, the [big retail] buyers believe that the Action Figure category – buffeted by technological change, degradation of supporting media and eroding consumer interest – is not going to go back to the good old days. Yes, they think that movie-supported action figures will still sell but that the Skylanders and the Inifinitys of this world will be the decisive future drivers."

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

There's many factors at play. I'm sure the skyrocketing costs, and wretched distribution have had something to do with it as well.

Distribution does seem to be turning around, though. It seems that one of my fears was unfounded. I found Mara Jade at Target today:

I'm not 100% happy with her. Yeesh that forehead. It throws the sculpt way off.

 

[cooleddie74]

Congrats on finding Mara! I have yet to see a single figure from Black Series Wave 2 at any of my local stores.

I call her "Wynonna Jade" because of that hair and forehead, and those Vulcan Ambassador's eyebrows aren't helping her overall appearance. She definitely didn't turn out as well as I hoped based on early announcements and prototype images. Still, from the head on down she looks amazing and she's undoubtedly the best Mara ever made in this scale even with her major flaws.

 

[Saga]

i may actually get Mara if i can find her.

 

[cooleddie74]

Pablo-Jill the Jedi Knight is the Wave 2 figure I'm most interested in getting.

 

[nureintier]

My 12" spock prime came in the mail today. He has a mini-me of himself here: the 4" Spock Prime:

He's going to live on the shelf with my 9" figures. I don't think I have any other 12" figures.

 

[cooleddie74]

While the Captain Pike and the Sulu from the 2009 twelve-inch figure line were notoriously bad shelfwarmers (at least in my area's stores) and could be still be found on markdown shelves as recently as earlier this year, the 12" Spock Prime vanished quickly and seemed to be the best seller of any mass-retail toy associated with the 2009 film. Nero also sold well though not quite as fast as anything connected with Leonard Nimoy.

 

[nureintier]

Those are the only two 2009 film figures I have, though I am considering buying some sort of NuSpock (not sure which size/type) just for the sake of my Spock collection. I bought the 12" loose and it was fairly cheap.

Stores in my area kind of suck and I've never been able to find any decent ST stuff around here. I got the TNG PEZ dispenser set last year at the pharmacy in town, though.

Unrelated: since I was formerly talking about my Farscape figures, I actually had a dream that they had produced more/different figures, including Namtar and Furlow. I wish they really made a Namtar figure. I have the Aeryn figure from the "DNA Mad Scientist" episode where she's mutating and pulling up her shirt to show a little chicken wing thing on her ribs. ^_^ If was more skilled at making custom figures, I would totally attempt a Namtar.

 

[cooleddie74]

If anyone has a Toys "R" Us Express store somewhere in their area and has been wanting a crack at the largely-unreleased and unseen 2012 Naboo Starfighter ship in the Darth Maul packaging then you might want to make a brief stop at your store and check the shelves.

Jedi Temple Archives has reported that the very-in-demand 2012 Naboo Fighter has surfaced in at least one TRU Express store near the West Coast and for $19.99 (the original price had this thing actually made it to mass retail like it should have would have been in the $29.99 - $32.99 range depending on the store).

Just a reminder, this is an all-new Naboo Fighter designed from scratch with a new sliding and locking cockpit canopy and other features unique to this particular mold. It's not the old 1999 Fighter simply tweaked, repainted, slid into new packaging and then sold for a whole lot more.

 

[Kira's Mom]

Found a nice chair for Tasha.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

Clint looks jealous that he doesn't have a chair as awesome as that.

 

[nureintier]

^That is an awesome chair. ^_^

I finally got around to getting the Kirk+Khan figure since I already have the Spock+Horta. Haven't seen it in person yet, though.

 

[cooleddie74]

Nick Fury would look very entertaining on that chair.

 

[Kira's Mom]

I thought of that, but his coat makes it impossible for him to sit! And it's hard to get off.