Playmates Toys

[Daedalus]

I also think they should have simply made new characters in the exact 90s retro style.

Instead they made slightly different versions that don't look good on the shelf with the old ones, and have very soft face sculpts.

Yes, definitely.

Eventually, a secondary black series-type line with highly detailed sculpts and solely aimed at the collector market. If that failed you'd have the retro line to fall back on.

The Nacelle Company is by fans for fans—the best possible outfit for this.

That's definitely one of the pluses.

From what I've gleaned from Nacelle's instagram, the first wave will be mixed eras and they're also contemplating a build-a-figure. The latter will only happen if they can keep costs low.

 

[Tomalak]

Build-a-figure could be interesting. Star Trek doesn’t tend to have oversized characters, except for Rok-Tahk.

 

[Daedalus]

Build-a-figure could be interesting. Star Trek doesn’t tend to have oversized characters, except for Rok-Tahk.

Mr Homn with gong

 

[Tomalak]

Mr Homn with gong

Spock Two!

 

[C.E. Evans]

Playmates failed with a mass market approach,..

Playmates problem this go round was trying to get into brick and mortar places like Target and WalMart. These days Trek is too niche to compete with Ninja Turtles, GI Joe, etc… and not trying to make the new offerings match up with the original line.

The brick and mortar stores/mass market is still the place to go if a toy company wants to sell more units and make more money, so it's understandable that Playmates would want to try that again. As they did with the 2009 line, it was their execution of it that was flawed. They went overboard with it for Star Trek XI, and this time, they went too conservative and produced figures that many of their intended customers either already had or simply didn't want, IMO. Too much also hinged on the success (or failure) of Wave 1 for the line to continue. I think there was more anticipation for Prodigy figures & ships, but the bombing of Wave 1 killed that.

Hindsight is always 20/20, but I feel that if any toy company is going to go the retail store market with a Trek toyline, they should start with the current or most recent series with Wave 1 and then go back and sprinkle in the classics in later waves.

 

[Tomalak]

In a world where Star Wars toys warm the pegs in big box stores, that approach was always likely to fail given that Star Trek toys have rarely shifted in big numbers, aside from the 90s heyday. Which itself only really lasted a couple of years for Playmates.

Prodigy was their best chance at that approach, but I think the uncertainty over season 2 was as damaging as the first wave falling flat.

 

[C.E. Evans]

In a world where Star Wars toys warm the pegs in big box stores, that approach was always likely to fail given that Star Trek toys have rarely shifted in big numbers, aside from the 90s heyday. Which itself only really lasted a couple of years for Playmates.

A lot of that has to do with the action figure market in general not doing well at retail. It's become a niche within the increasingly niche retail toy industry, IMO, Unlike in the '80s and '90s, action figures today have either become too expensive for the casual consumer or have been replaced by video games and smart phone apps. As with the case with the comic book industry, it is a much smaller and more exclusive market than it was in the past. There are still many figures that sell out quickly at retail, but they can usually be found being flipped on eBay and similar online outlets.

 

[fireproof78]

The Nacelle Company is by fans for fans—the best possible outfit for this.

Probably not for costs or if their fan tastes run against potential buyers.

The 1/12 scale might be more appealing to other genre collectors though too.

 

[publiusr]

We have had internet billionaires invest in spaceflight—protecting them from market forces early on..competing for COTS money.

The same needs to be done with space toys in general and Trek in specific…prop up space themes as a type of evangelism such that even if they don’t sell immediately—they have a more lasting presence on the shelves and a lower price point than insipid wrestling or car toys that have to make a profit.

This way, parents can select a cheaper option that puts space themes in front of kids and not just adult collectors who work two or more jobs and are still poor.

The universe is just more interesting with space toys in it.

Zuckerberg—you’re worth 200 billion…do this…otherwise half his money on higher taxes will wind up going to endless military spending.

 

[Tomalak]

Musk can make up for the whole Twitter/fascism thing if he funds a Weyoun action figure for me.

 

[Tosk]

Hey now, if a billionaire is gonna fund anything Trek, it better be DS9 on Blu-ray.

 

[Tomalak]

Hey now, if a billionaire is gonna fund anything Trek, it better be DS9 on Blu-ray.

4K UHD please!

 

[somebuddyX]

There's a Guinan on ebay I might get. If I do, it gets me one step closer to my dream of having Picard and Guinan and Guinan's bigass phaser gun teaming up to go shoot Soran on Veridian III

 

[Tosk]

4K UHD please!

Don't be greedy.

 

[fireproof78]

Give me figures over 4k BS.

 

[Paul755]

FWIW a seller in Hong Kong has the Hiya Kirk, Spock and Bones for sale on eBay. Hopefully this means they’ll start popping up on Amazon, EE and others soon.

 

[drt]

FWIW a seller in Hong Kong has the Hiya Kirk, Spock and Bones for sale on eBay. Hopefully this means they’ll start popping up on Amazon, EE and others soon.

Amazon cancelled my preorder ages ago, which probably means they’re not getting as many in as they originally expected.

 

[fireproof78]

FWIW a seller in Hong Kong has the Hiya Kirk, Spock and Bones for sale on eBay. Hopefully this means they’ll start popping up on Amazon, EE and others soon.

Hopefully.

Keeping an eye on it. At least want Kirk and Spock and McCoy.

 

[Paul755]

Hopefully.

Keeping an eye on it. At least want Kirk and Spock and McCoy.

I at least want Kirk. But I’ll pick up Spock and Bones if they are good quality.

 

[Tomalak]

Interesting interview with Brian Volk-Weiss from Nacelle with some more info and hints. The emphasis is on new characters and costumes never done before, and each wave will be mixed in terms of characters and series. They only have the rights up to 2005.

Given the above and the scale, we should probably look at the Art Asylum/DST range and hunt for the gaps.

He is pretty clear there is no Picard in this first line, or Kirk in his Monster Maroons. He does give some hints about the first six figures, with one each from the following:

• Generations - wood-chopping, egg-scrambling, "Oh My"-ing Kirk is the only major gap. Unless it's one of the TNG crew in the naval uniforms, which would be amazing.
• Wrath of Khan - Carol Marcus?
• Star Trek III - David Marcus?
• Star Trek IV - Robin Curtis Saavik? All previous Saavik figures are Kirstie Alley. Or Gillian would be great, to match DST's Kirk and Spock.
• Voyager - S4-7 Janeway? Her only regular figure was the original Playmates release, and maybe one of the 9" dolls. DST never did one. Or Admiral Janeway? Or another Seven of Nine I guess.

And finally one from TNG, although he says he needs to be "coy" about that one, so I guess it could be a crossover figure. He does partially show a prototype, only enough to see that it's a male in a TNG command uniform... Q has been done plenty of times before. Could be Jellico, given that he's in Prodigy now too.

He hopes they will be announced this year, or early 2025.

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