On a serious note, what about the toys and merchandise?

[Jon1701]

Seems to me that most of the toys that are made for Star Trek (certainly over the last few years), are named at adults. They arent really toys per se, they are collectors items. There was a really good article over on Trekmovie recently ( link ), written by a ten year old. Amongst other things, he mentioned that Star Trek doesnt really have any good toys. They are all stuff you put on your shelf, the stuff you dont take out of the box.

If this movie is to be a hit, we need to appeal to the kids again. Hell, I watched Star Trek when I was two years old, but i'm not sure all of my friends did. Most of us round here will probably have a few Starships and the odd Kirk figure knocking about. Some will have more, some will have less.

But this time, there needs to be a big ol' marketing drive with this new movie. Think of all the Star Wars toys that have come out over the years that are aimed at children. Not Adults. Not Geeks. Children.

Doctor Who has been a massive smash over here in the UK (and it seems, a smaller one in the US), and the stores are littered with Tardis's, Daleks, David Tennant dolls and so forth. Littered.

Will there be a load of cool toys for the kids to play with next Christmas? Will we see foam Spock ears? Will there be a Lego Starship Enterprise and a Kirk Lunchbox? Will you get free Uhura stickers in your Cereal? Will there be 7 different replica figures of the crew (collect em' all!!!) in your Burger King meal?

Will there?

Do you want to see this happen?

Do we take Star Trek too seriously?

I say YES!

Who's with me?

 

[Amaris]

jon1701 said:
Seems to me that most of the toys that are made for Star Trek (certainly over the last few years), are named at adults. They arent really toys per se, they are collectors items. There was a really good article over on Trekmovie recently ( link ), written by a ten year old. Amongst other things, he mentioned that Star Trek doesnt really have any good toys. They are all stuff you put on your shelf, the stuff you dont take out of the box.

If this movie is to be a hit, we need to appeal to the kids again. Hell, I watched Star Trek when I was two years old, but i'm not sure all of my friends did. Most of us round here will probably have a few Starships and the odd Kirk figure knocking about. Some will have more, some will have less.

But this time, there needs to be a big ol' marketing drive with this new movie. Think of all the Star Wars toys that have come out over the years that are aimed at children. Not Adults. Not Geeks. Children.

Doctor Who has been a massive smash over here in the UK (and it seems, a smaller one in the US), and the stores are littered with Tardis's, Daleks, David Tennant dolls and so forth. Littered.

Will there be a load of cool toys for the kids to play with next Christmas? Will we see foam Spock ears? Will there be a Lego Starship Enterprise and a Kirk Lunchbox? Will you get free Uhura stickers in your Cereal? Will there be 7 different replica figures of the crew (collect em' all!!!) in your Burger King meal?

Will there?

Do you want to see this happen?

Do we take Star Trek too seriously?

I say YES!

Who's with me?

I hope so, for all of the examples you cited. Star Trek: The Next Generation was entering it's sixth season when I was in middle school, and believe me, I had the toys. I had the tricorder, the phaser, the light up sound effect Enterprise D, the shuttlecraft light up/sfx, the Romulan Warbird light up/sfx, the entire cast action figures (with phaser beam already emitting ), and starship micro machines. My friends used to tell me that I should have just collected them, but where was the fun in that? I bought toys to play with, not sit on a shelf and collect dust.

So, yes, I hope some great toys come out and I would love to see a resurgence of the Starship light up/sfx toys! I'd be standing in line right behind the other kids at Toys 'R Us.

J.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

A movie about people zipping around the Galaxy in spaceships that doesn't appeal strongly to kids is a great waste of resources.

My understanding, BTW, is that under the current arrangement CBS Paramount is the outfit that rakes in the Trek merchandising rather than Paramount Pictures.

 

[seigezunt]

we've had enough entertainments that start as ideas to pitch toys, and then become movies. Let's just make a good movie.

And, please, God, no McDonald's tie-in. That's the kiss of death.

 

[Matt]

Toys for kids don't have to be crappy.

Look at McFarlane Toys' Spawn line from the early 90s to around 1999. McFarlane still makes all sorts of "toys" but they aren't aimed at children anymore.

Even so, when the Spawn action figure line came out, they were the most detailed, accurate, high quality figures ever.

I think Art Asylum could produce some Trek XI toys that are detailed and accurate enough for grown up collectors, but still fun for kids.

 

[Cary L. Brown]

Starship Polaris said:
A movie about people zipping around the Galaxy in spaceships that doesn't appeal strongly to kids is a great waste of resources.

My understanding, BTW, is that under the current arrangement CBS Paramount is the outfit that rakes in the Trek merchandising rather than Paramount Pictures.

Huh... hard to imagine anyone agreeing to that... unless the film people really, REALLY didn't foresee doing any more movies for a loooooong time.

So, if what you're saying is correct (and I have no reason to doubt your word here), basically, there are a lot of folks at the movie division kicking themselves just about now, I'm guessing?

Further... suppose that this film does change the look of a lot of things. If what you've just said is true, the TV folks don't have a right to reuse stuff specific to the movies...right? They can ONLY license replicas of stuff associated with the TV series.

IF that's all correct... we're literally looking at NO MERCHANDISING WHATSOEVER, it would seem.

I find that very hard to believe. So if you're right, I'm sure that the merchandising lawyers at PPC and CBS are in SERIOUS renegotiations right now.

What's your source, btw?

 

[22 Stars]

Paramount gets the movies, and proceeds from movie merchandise. This is seperate from the CBS Trek stuff and proceeds from that. A very strange arrangement, but the Viacom CBS split did in-fact split the Trek franchise.

This is exactly why CBS should be developing an animated show.

 

[T'Cal]

If they do this movie right, it could appeal to kids, teens, and adults. Yes, merchandising is very important. Toys, action figures, video games, and models will do well with the younger crowd and collectibles will attract the adults. I do hope to see a "Scene It?" DVD game for Trek. There are so many other versions out there for franchises much smaller than Trek.

I, like many here, have my share of collectibles. I hate it when "Star Trek" is stamped or printed on them. Most of the stuff I have has a seal from the Federation, Starfleet, or a ship and says "Star Trek" nowhere visible.

 

[Leroy]

I doubt we'd see any Trek toys lining the shelves of retail stores simply because of the fact that they are convinced that they won't sell since Ent figures did poorly, remember when Wal-Mart wouldn't carry classic TOS figures from Art Asylum?

 

[Therin of Andor]

Leroy said:
I doubt we'd see any Trek toys lining the shelves of retail stores simply because of the fact that they are convinced that they won't sell since Ent figures did poorly, remember when Wal-Mart wouldn't carry classic TOS figures from Art Asylum?

When the new movie is approaching release, the toy company who has won the bid to make the movie tie-in toys (it is already signed up, but not yet announced!) will be lobbying the big chain toy/variety stores to stock and sell the new ST products. Low TV ratings for ENT, a long-dead TV series, won't have much to do with it; in the toy world, you're only as good as your current hit movie/TV show.

 

[ALF]

They can have both.

The can have the kids toys and collector's adult figures.

They asked me if it was okay, and I said "sure, that's fine with me. Bill Cosby."

 

[Cmndr J Crichton]

They should wait. Wait until movie 2. If this one is huge, go all out next time with the merch. Action figures, Fast Food tie-ins, board games, video games, clothing, food items, and everything else. This time, though just have a set of the crew as action figures, an Enterprise model, soundtrack, and mabey even a tie-in game across all platforms: Wii, PS3, 360, PC, DS, PSP.

 

[cultcross]

J. Allen said:

jon1701 said:
Seems to me that most of the toys that are made for Star Trek (certainly over the last few years), are named at adults. They arent really toys per se, they are collectors items. There was a really good article over on Trekmovie recently ( link ), written by a ten year old. Amongst other things, he mentioned that Star Trek doesnt really have any good toys. They are all stuff you put on your shelf, the stuff you dont take out of the box.

If this movie is to be a hit, we need to appeal to the kids again. Hell, I watched Star Trek when I was two years old, but i'm not sure all of my friends did. Most of us round here will probably have a few Starships and the odd Kirk figure knocking about. Some will have more, some will have less.

But this time, there needs to be a big ol' marketing drive with this new movie. Think of all the Star Wars toys that have come out over the years that are aimed at children. Not Adults. Not Geeks. Children.

Doctor Who has been a massive smash over here in the UK (and it seems, a smaller one in the US), and the stores are littered with Tardis's, Daleks, David Tennant dolls and so forth. Littered.

Will there be a load of cool toys for the kids to play with next Christmas? Will we see foam Spock ears? Will there be a Lego Starship Enterprise and a Kirk Lunchbox? Will you get free Uhura stickers in your Cereal? Will there be 7 different replica figures of the crew (collect em' all!!!) in your Burger King meal?

Will there?

Do you want to see this happen?

Do we take Star Trek too seriously?

I say YES!

Who's with me?

I hope so, for all of the examples you cited. Star Trek: The Next Generation was entering it's sixth season when I was in middle school, and believe me, I had the toys. I had the tricorder, the phaser, the light up sound effect Enterprise D, the shuttlecraft light up/sfx, the Romulan Warbird light up/sfx, the entire cast action figures (with phaser beam already emitting ), and starship micro machines. My friends used to tell me that I should have just collected them, but where was the fun in that? I bought toys to play with, not sit on a shelf and collect dust.

So, yes, I hope some great toys come out and I would love to see a resurgence of the Starship light up/sfx toys! I'd be standing in line right behind the other kids at Toys 'R Us.

J.

Gotta go along with both of you - i loved the playmates Star Trek toys when i was a kid, and opening up the toy market to Star Trek again will hopefully hook another generation of kids on playing 'Star Trek' in the playground (at my infants school this was a popular game - even with the kids who'd never even seen the show - the toys were just so cool back then. ahh, for a more innocent time )
Don't overdo it, I don't wanna see Kirk's face everywhere I look, but bring out some solid, decent toys which can tie in to the film and get the kids excited over Star Trek again. Doctor Who did it, Star Trek can do it.

 

[Proximity_Phaser]

Bring back the disc gun!

 

[JacksonArcher]

I'm sure Art Asylum, who is currently licensed to produce Star Trek action figures and collectibles, will assuredly produce the toy line for the new Star Trek, for which I am very eager, considering their amazing work on the many Trek toy lines they've produced so far (TOS, TNG, DS9, ENT).

It should also be interesting to see how much their take on the new Trek figures would differeniate from their take on TOS. I guess that all comes down to Abrams and his team's visual and asesthetic approach to the movie, but comparing the William Shatner Kirk figure to the Chris Pine Kirk figure is a comparison I for one can't wait for (as I'm sure other collectors are anxious for as well).

 

[C.E. Evans]

billcosby said:
They can have both.

The can have the kids toys and collector's adult figures.

Art Asylum has really done a great job with their figures, but I still think it's pretty much aimed at the collector's market (and for very good reason).

Personally, I would love to see a smaller scale and less expensive retail line of figures for Star Trek XI in either the 3.75-inch or 5-inch range with more "old-school" type of articulation and simple accessories. Sure, the facial liknesses won't be exact, but that never stopped Hasbro with their smaller scale Star Wars line.

Art Asylum could still produce bigger collector's market figures with better detail, better articulation, etc.

 

[Akiraprise]

Bring back the micro machine ships. :thumbsup:
I spent many hours playing with those when I was a kid. They were a lot of fun for a kid with a big imagination. Still have them in a box somewhere.

 

[JacksonArcher]

^Ah yes, the Mirco Machine ships were great. I used to love my Voyager ship, which I lost. I still hate the fact that I lost it.

On the upside, I still have the 1701 and the E. :thumbsup:

 

[ManOnTheWave]

C.E. Evans said:
Personally, I would love to see a smaller scale and less expensive retail line of figures for Star Trek XI in either the 3.75-inch or 5-inch range with more "old-school" type of articulation and simple accessories. Sure, the facial liknesses won't be exact, but that never stopped Hasbro with their smaller scale Star Wars line.

This is what I'm hoping for. I think Trek missed the boat when Paramount went with Art Asylum. Resaurus had a plan to make 4 inch figures, vehicles, and playsets a la Hasbro's Star Wars. 'Course, Resaurus is now long dead, but I think their concept would have worked. In this day and age, you don't have to sacrifice much detail in making smaller toys, and you get the added bonus of being able to accessorize. Give the target market a whole world in which to play.

 

[ALF]

JacksonArcher said:
^Ah yes, the Mirco Machine ships were great. I used to love my Voyager ship, which I lost. I still hate the fact that I lost it.

On the upside, I still have the 1701 and the E. :thumbsup:

Have you seen those sexy slick ones from Japan by a company called Furuta? Damn, they are fantastic. Twice as big as the Micro machines, much more sturdy.

I loved the MM series too, but all too often I've get stuck with a "Warped" warp nacelle or something bent weird from the mold.

Anyways, I think you could score a Voyager replacement on good old eBay for 5 bucks, if you really hate the fact that you'd lost it!

I encourage anyone who liked the Micro Machines to check the Furuta line out. The Japanese know a thing or two about cool toys! :thumbsup: