Discovery Merchandising
- Thread starter Vger23
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So far I have the "sublimated" T Shirt for Command, the T Shirt that came out last year when a series was first announced, the off white coffee mug with the black Starfleet emblem and the lapel pin sized QMx Command pin.
Doing alright so far! Since there isn't a model yet of Discovery (and I won't be able to justify paying the amount Eaglemoss will want for theirs), I'm going to work on building a basic version of the ship, until hopefully someone else comes out with one at a lower price.
Doing alright so far! Since there isn't a model yet of Discovery (and I won't be able to justify paying the amount Eaglemoss will want for theirs), I'm going to work on building a basic version of the ship, until hopefully someone else comes out with one at a lower price.
Apparently a lot of people want it.
And they said Disco was dead...
I have a 16 year old that pretty much what he listens to on Pandora is disco n 70s funk lol
I want an inflatable tardigrade with Incredible Mushroom-o-Matic Action!
I have all four of the badges and they are really well done. Though they don't have the rank pips (which I prefer).
Ouch!
It shouldn't be just them though.
It seems like there were more TV tie ins from the 70's-80's.
I was keen for the eaglemoss Discovery ship replica, but it’s looking to cost approx $130.00 NZD (New Zealand dollars) - so that’s not going to happen anytime soon...
I might try acquiring the Hallmark Discovery ship instead.
I might try acquiring the Hallmark Discovery ship instead.
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There were also fewer TV shows and channels, so it was easier to sell a mass market toy. Playmates got absolutely burned with the ST09 line, so the only stuff you get for niche genre shows now are for the collector's market. Star Wars is pretty much the only game in town for mass market toys.
Also Discovery is obviously not aimed at children, who were a key part of the success of TNG and the nineties toy line.
This. Times have changed, and the toy market is dominated by Marvel and the like now. The days when even the Bajoran Tricorder got a toy replica are long past, sadly. Even the Diamond Select line dried up. Expensive collector focused stuff is generally all that's available. Or the burgeoning 'unofficial' market on Etsy and so on.
As a hardcore fan of both Star Trek and disco music, that shirt will be mine.
DST screwed up when they found there aren't enough people willing to buy Trek toys to sell them widely in shops, but at the same time their attempts to focus on the collector's market haven't been very successful because they don't seem to appeal to Star Trek collectors.
The only real success story in Trek merchandise since the nineties heyday is the Eaglemoss ships collection.
Because they're awesome.
I have a little DS9 related collection on my desk.
I'd say I'm amazed nobody there could foresee that those would sell like hot cakes, but Star Trek always sucked at marketing...
Don't forget Marvel and DC superhero toys as well as various wrestling action figures. You'll sometimes find more of those than Star Wars toys in some stores.
But Playmates burned themselves with the ST09 line. They must have thought that movie was going to be The Second Coming and put out way too much stuff all at once in Wave 1--and a lot of it wasn't exactly to everyone's liking to begin with. As a result, the big three US retailers quickly got stuck with peg warmers for an entire year, and when it came down for Playmates to do a Wave 2, they collectively said "Forget it."
Hasbro made a similar mistake overestimating the customer base and flooding retailers with their Star Wars Episode I line, but at least it sold well enough to not be a total disaster and keep SW toys coming.
I think the decline or consolidation of mass market toys is connected to the overall decline in brick-and-mortar stores (there are way fewer toy stores out there today) as well as a decline in toy sales period due to an increase in digital entertainment (video games, apps, etc.). Combine all that and it's probably why retailers concentrate more and more on proven sellers and why toy companies now forgo pursuing licenses for genre shows & movies like they did in the '80s and '90s. The fact that there wasn't a toyline for Star Trek Beyond--a movie tailor made for one--likely is a testament to that, IMO.
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