C.E. Evans said:
igrokbok said:
And the figures and ships kicked ass and were aweseome. They were also hanging on the clearance rack. WHy? Because no kid wanted to "play" TNG Nemesis or Enterprise.
The toys appealed to collectors and longtime Star Trek fans, but not to kids, IMO. It also didn't help that Trek's popularity was on the decline at the time too and that those productions weren't exactly attractive to kids either.
The demographic may have had something to do with the lines' respective failures at retail (both had media tie-ins retailers
love but neither the TV series nor the film got great reviews, even from fans), I have to put a good deal of the blame on Art Asylum. Simply put; they managed to get their foot in the door with two major North American retailers and blew it.
The ENT figures used rubber pants made of a "space-age polymer" to hide some very generous articulation below the waist. Unfortunately there was nothing on the packaging to call this out so to the average consumer it looked as it there was NO articulation below the waist. This was particularly troubling in the Deluxe sets where the figures came with their respective bridge stations and chairs. A simple image showing the figure seated would have avoided the confusion.
Another issue was the rubber pants themselves. There was some initial concern that, as with many other like materials, the rubber would dry and crack over time. Anyone who remembers the Furby Yoda might still have nightmares about those cracked rubber eyelids. There were some instances of the pants being torn right out of the package but the real joke was that even when seated (which was a difficult pose to achieve because the rubber worked
against the articulation), the figures looked like they were wearing adult diapers underneath. Not a very flattering look.
While AA's founder, Digger, vehemently insisted they'd done their R&D and that the product should wear just fine under normal use, it didn't stop them from putting a disclaimer on the packaging stating that due to the "space-age polymer," the figures should only be stored in the pose they were packaged in. In other words, don't display them in their bridge chairs for too long or that unsightly lump at their crotches could become permanent.
Another problem with the ENT line was the case ratio for the Deluxe bridge stations. Art Asylum really wanted to pack all four modular parts evenly and ship them together but the retailer – in this case Toys "R" Us – insisted on splitting them into two waves; the first with Archer and Reed, the second with T'Pol and Merryweather. Unfortunately sell-
in of the second wave depended greatly on sell-
through of the first. AA knew damned well that fans would prefer to buy all four bridge sections at once but TRU wouldn't take the chance. Consequently too many collectors took a wait & see approach, not wanting to buy half a set unless the second wave was a sure thing. The failure of this category became a self-fulfilling prophecy as the second wave never made it to retail. The few second wave sets that were produced were offered as online exclusives or Art Asylum Collectors Club member premiums.
The
Nemesis line failed for a similar reason; it simply lacked variety. There was only one wave that included Picard, Data, the new villain Shinzon and his lackey the Viceroy. Had AA offered figures in a smaller scale, they'd have been able to distribute the entire bridge crew AND a villain or two. They may have even been able to offer two of the most toyetic vehicles in Trek's history; Picard's dune buggy and the Reman Scorpion. Unfortunately they stuck with the larger scale which may have showed off their sculpting abilities but certainly not their business savvy. (At least these figures didn't have rubber pants.)
Once upon a time there was talk of a Japanese company sub-licensing AA's Trek contract to produce 4-inch scale figures for the Asian market but nothing ever came of it and AA has since been acquired by former business partner Diamond Select Toys.
What frustrates me about DST's business model is not only the scale of the figures but the tedious and era-specific way they're solicited. Even the popular Minimates have stuck to TOS characters for the first three waves. (Sorry modern Trek fans.) At least Playmates mixed it up and offered something for everyone.
