Most of these companies don't have the capital to guess and hope it comes out okay. Even Star Wars is suffering in the mass market toy department. It is no surprise mass market retailers are tepid on Star Trek toys at the moment considering that outside of a few years it has always been more of a niche market and that shelf space is decreasing.
What is the difference between the $50 prop and the $500 one that is screen accurate and allowed to be sold in the U.S.?
One isn’t being mass produced and not sold in stores(I think) Wow Anovos has already sold 300 of their $500 phasers
MacFarlane could still sell the phaser online then, using that logic. They aren't. They aren't trying to sell them internationally either. Could it be the market for these items simply isn't there based on what they would potentially pay for the rights to sell them?
I’m pretty sure they already bought the rights. It has to do with the orange tip, that’s all. You’re grasping at nothing.
If they can't sell the product then they would be due a refund. As was pointed out earlier in the thread, the explanation they are giving makes no sense. There is a cheap, foam rubber prop phaser being sold that looks much like the MacFarlane phaser. Without any kind of modification to the look. From a distance it would look as much like a gun as the MacFarlane product.
Yeah I feel like it all boils down to money somewhere...…...just don't know at which point in the process.
It seems you're desperate to quash any thought that casts Discovery in an unflattering light. This has nothing to do with the show, but market conditions that all mass market toy manufacturers are dealing with.
I have no doubt money is involved, but it’s related to the orange muzzle. They would have said that was the reason.
The ENT phase pistol also had the orange muzzle because of these laws, and that thing looked even less like a gun
Sometimes what happens is you get to these weird circular conversations where the studios want you to put out something that the retailers don’t want, and vice versa. So, you have to start doing this dance – usually we can figure it out, but we’re just trying to make sure that everybody is sort of in agreement as to what should be and shouldn’t be out there.
The post above is quoted from a MacFarlane representative. It is in the TrekCore article. It was originally given as the explanation two weeks ago.
I wonder if McF acquired the Trek rights as a package deal, without really appreciating what CBS was planning for Discovery. The idea of making a mass-market toy for children, rather than adult collectors, seems bizarre for a TV-MA show with gore and nudity on a barely-there streaming service. Maybe CBS shared some viewing numbers that changed McF's calculus on whether it was worth jumping through the hoops (and possible bad PR) of trying to sell a toy gun to kids. I won't be shocked if it comes back later as an "adult collectible" with no orange cap ... and a much higher price.