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McFarlane phaser replica scrapped

C.E. Evans

C.E. Evans

Admiral
Admiral
For those of us who were looking forward to McFarlane's phaser replica, it seems like we're out of luck. Got an email from Big Bad Toy Store where I pre-ordered one saying that McFarlane has decided not to go forward with it.

"Hello,
Thank you for Pre-ordering from BigBadToyStore!

We have been informed by McFarlane Toys that they will not be producing the Star Trek: Discovery Phaser Prop Replica. Unfortunately this means we must cancel our Pre-orders for this item. If this item is re-solicited in the future, we will be sure to publish it on our website once again."

It seems like it was an 11th hour kind of cancelation. It had moved past the prototype stage to actual packaging and putting it out on the market (via pre-orders).
https://scifanatic-wpengine.netdna-...ds/2018/02/toyfair18-mcfarlane-03-525x640.jpg

One thing I had noticed that the phaser couldn't be sold in several US states due to local laws and that recent pictures had featured it with an orange cap on the emitter that is typical of toy guns sold at retail in the US.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c7/63/57/c76357a60b828cadebe7827cad12ed32.jpg

Looks like we're stuck with the $500 USD ones offered by ANOVOS (for now anyway), but I can't help but wonder why McFarlane decided to abort theirs just months away from its release...
 
C.E. Evans said:
It seems like it was an 11th hour kind of cancelation. It had moved past the prototype stage to actual packaging and putting it out on the market (via pre-orders).
https://scifanatic-wpengine.netdna-...ds/2018/02/toyfair18-mcfarlane-03-525x640.jpg

One thing I had noticed that the phaser couldn't be sold in several US states due to local laws and that recent pictures had featured it with an orange cap on the emitter that is typical of toy guns sold at retail in the US.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c7/63/57/c76357a60b828cadebe7827cad12ed32.jpg
Click to expand...

Damn. Do you suppose there's a correlation?
Sorry to hear it's been canceled. I imagine that there will be another, just not anytime soon. You have to wonder... if there is a big bin of these things (1st run for QC, etc) sitting outside a factory in Taiwan somewhere destined for the dump. They'd be worth a fortune.
 
Well this blows. I really wanted one for my collection. Speaking of McFarlane, When is that Kirk and Picard figure supposed to come out? Weren't they due out last month?
 
Well I won't be getting one then! I'm a sucker for cosplay expenses and even I balk at $500 (plus ludicrous shipping, plus import tax at 20%) for a phaser.
 
CaptainMurdock said:
Well this blows. I really wanted one for my collection. Speaking of McFarlane, When is that Kirk and Picard figure supposed to come out? Weren't they due out last month?
Click to expand...
They were. My preorder with BBTS now shows August 2018 instead.
 
ALF said:
Damn. Do you suppose there's a correlation?
Click to expand...
There's a part of me that thinks so. Limiting how many places it can be sold or shipped to has to impact McFarlane's bottom line in some fashion, IMO. And having to add a bright orange cap to the emitters and ruining its onscreen accuracy may have been something that McFarlane didn't want to do. I'd hate to think there might have been any other reasons for the late cancellation.
CaptainMurdock said:
Well this blows. I really wanted one for my collection. Speaking of McFarlane, When is that Kirk and Picard figure supposed to come out? Weren't they due out last month?
Click to expand...
Some online stores have them listed as coming out in late summer, around August or so.
 
I can't imagine the orange cap was the deal breaker. Surely they knew that would be required. That's been a thing for years.

TBH, I never understood how they were going to make it work at that price point. It's like they were aiming for the mass market when the show's on a niche, pay streaming service. Even if we go with the charitable assessments of All Acess' subscription figures, what percentage of those people were going to buy a phaser? Even the first Abrams movie couldn't move toys, and it had a much larger audience and was friendlier to younger viewers.
 
Jadeb said:
I can't imagine the orange cap was the deal breaker. Surely they knew that would be required. That's been a thing for years.

TBH, I never understood how they were going to make it work at that price point. It's like they were aiming for the mass market when the show's on a niche, pay streaming service. Even if we go with the charitable assessments of All Acess' subscription figures, what percentage of those people were going to buy a phaser? Even the first Abrams movie couldn't move toys, and it had a much larger audience and was friendlier to younger viewers.
Click to expand...

That's my suspicion as well. There's not a big enough market for DSC to carry it's own toyline. On top of that, they were aiming for more features at a slightly lower price than the Diamond Select props we've gotten over the years. It may not have been financially possible to do what they wanted to do.
 
Jadeb said:
I can't imagine the orange cap was the deal breaker. Surely they knew that would be required.
Click to expand...
It might be they actually didn't, especially given that Diamond was able to sell TOS and TMP/TWOK phasers at Toys R Us without orange caps. McFarlane kind of made an initial point of it being screen accurate and the orange cap wasn't featured on the packaged prototype they displayed at the last toy fair. It might have been something they discovered they had to do. They could have lived with it as a later photo showed the phaser with a colored-in red tip, or it really just might not have met ultra-cool Todd McFarlane's approval in the end.
TBH, I never understood how they were going to make it work at that price point. It's like they were aiming for the mass market when the show's on a niche, pay streaming service. Even if we go with the charitable assessments of All Acess' subscription figures, what percentage of those people were going to buy a phaser?
Click to expand...
I don't think that's much of an issue for McFarlane since they've done toys for properties with even smaller audiences than Star Trek in the past. The price point may have been based on both similar-sized electronic toys and an anticipated number of units being moved, IMO.
Even the first Abrams movie couldn't move toys, and it had a much larger audience and was friendlier to younger viewers.
Click to expand...
A lot of that had to do with the big three US retailers at the time being flooded with too much product too soon, resulting in peg warmers they had to eventually mark down. Even Star Wars experienced that with their monstrous Episode I line and had to scale it back down afterwards.
BillJ said:
CaptainDave1701 said:
https://www.amazon.com/Rubies-Unisex-Adults-Discovery-Costume-Accessory/dp/B079JWPLZP/
Click to expand...
That listing seems odd. Listed in February, but we are just now finding out about it? Plus, what kind of garbage is it that it is only $16 (US).
Click to expand...
Isn't it made of cloth? It says it has 100% other fibers and is hand washable.
 
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