Status of McFarlane DSC Action Figures & Toys?

[seigezunt]

There's a guy I follow on Twitter, @CRM_Productions, who does these amazing custom figures.

 

[Mudd]

The orange barrel thing is a pretty lame excuse.

 

[fireproof78]

And yet will cost them a lot of money.

 

[Mudd]

Well, they'd do well not to overpay for licenses with little value to them.

 

[fireproof78]

Cost of business since they already paid.

ETA: To be clear the legal ramifications of McFarlane failing to comply will cost them substantially if the phasers have to go through a CA port:

20160. (a) Any imitation firearm manufactured after July 1, 2005, shall, at the time of offer for sale in this state, be accompanied by a conspicuous advisory in writing as part of the packaging, but not necessarily affixed to the imitation firearm, to the effect that the product may be mistaken for a firearm by law enforcement officers or others, that altering the coloration or markings required by state or federal law or regulations so as to make the product look more like a firearm is dangerous, and may be a crime, and that brandishing or displaying the product in public may cause confusion and may be a crime. (23932)

(b) Any manufacturer, importer, or distributor that fails to comply with this advisory for any imitation firearm manufactured after July 1, 2005, shall be liable for a civil fine for each action brought by a city attorney or district attorney of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for the first action, five thousand dollars ($5,000) for the second action, and ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for the third action and each subsequent action. (23933)

20165. (a) Any person who, for commercial purposes, purchases, sells, manufactures, ships, transports, distributes, or receives, by mail order or in any other manner, an imitation firearm, except as authorized by this section, is liable for a civil fine in an action brought by the city attorney or the district attorney of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each violation. (23934)

(b) The manufacture, purchase, sale, shipping, transport, distribution, or receipt, by mail or in any other manner, of an imitation firearm is authorized if the device is manufactured, purchased, sold, shipped, transported, distributed, or received for any of the following purposes: (23935)

(1) Solely for export in interstate or foreign commerce. (23936)

(2) Solely for lawful use in theatrical productions, including motion picture, television, and stage productions. (23937)

(3) For use in a certified or regulated sporting event or competition. (23938)

(4) For use in military or civil defense activities, or ceremonial activities. (23939)

(5) For public displays authorized by public or private schools. (23940)

Source
And this is just a brief snippet of the laws that concern this specific facet. Given how large the CA market is to manufacturers, as well as the number of ports that goods go through McFarlane clearly needs to evaluate this extremely carefully or risk further cost to their business.

It is not a small thing.

 

[KennyB]

Cost of business since they already paid.

ETA: To be clear the legal ramifications of McFarlane failing to comply will cost them substantially if the phasers have to go through a CA port:

Source
And this is just a brief snippet of the laws that concern this specific facet. Given how large the CA market is to manufacturers, as well as the number of ports that goods go through McFarlane clearly needs to evaluate this extremely carefully or risk further cost to their business.

It is not a small thing.

So why doesn't it apply to Anovos?

 

[fireproof78]

So why doesn't it apply to Anovos?

Perhaps because it is a kit that gets assembled, versus a fully assembled unit.

 

[drt]

Perhaps because it is a kit that gets assembled, versus a fully assembled unit.

The Anovos phaser isn't a kit that the customer assembles, but i believe Anovos does the final assembly themselves in the US, which is maybe what you were saying.

 

[fireproof78]

The Anovos phaser isn't a kit that the customer assembles, but i believe Anovos does the final assembly themselves in the US, which is maybe what you were saying.

Honestly, reading the last update by Anovos, where (if I read correctly) assembly is done in Asia, I'm not sure what the difference is. I certainly was misremembering the Anovos one vs. the McFarlane one, as both are complete units. But, even Anovos mentions in an update that it required considerable planning to ensure they could comply with legal guidelines.

So, the cost may have simply increased too much for McFarlane. Again, this is my speculation but there is a cost that came along with it, and not just to McFarlane, but also Anovos.

 

[Kor]

Perhaps it has something to do with one being a $500 prop replica and one being a $50 toy?

Kor

 

[137th Gebirg]

Honestly, reading the last update by Anovos, where (if I read correctly) assembly is done in Asia, I'm not sure what the difference is. I certainly was misremembering the Anovos one vs. the McFarlane one, as both are complete units. But, even Anovos mentions in an update that it required considerable planning to ensure they could comply with legal guidelines.

So, the cost may have simply increased too much for McFarlane. Again, this is my speculation but there is a cost that came along with it, and not just to McFarlane, but also Anovos.

The only extra cost they should incur is hiring a summer intern to mask and spray paint all the muzzles blaze orange at minimum wage. The rest of the model and out-of-the-box paint job should remain unchanged from their original plan. It's starting to make me wonder if there's more going on with this than just the dumbass muzzle color law and they're just using that as convenient cover for something else happening behind the curtains.

 

[fireproof78]

The only extra cost they should incur is hiring a summer intern to mask and spray paint all the muzzles blaze orange at minimum wage. The rest of the model and out-of-the-box paint job should remain unchanged from their original plan. It's starting to make me wonder if there's more going on with this than just the dumbass muzzle color law and they're just using that as convenient cover for something else happening behind the curtains.

I am wondering if there is more to the story as well, but I also know from airsoft manufacturers that CA has strict requirements, including with packaging and shipping. I'm sure there is more to the story, but given that even Anovos had to review the legal requirements, which means that they had to do a legal review, which adds to the cost.

 

[drt]

It's starting to make me wonder if there's more going on with this than just the dumbass muzzle color law and they're just using that as convenient cover for something else happening behind the curtains.

It has to be telling that they’ve apparently abandoned releasing any more action figures - and if that’s because bread-and-butter Kirk and Picard didn’t sell well they may not want to stomach the risk around anything Discovery related.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Starting to wonder if they're at risk of imminently losing their license and maybe they're cutting their losses so they don't take too much of a bath when the cord gets cut.

 

[starfleettanner]

Starting to wonder if they're at risk of imminently losing their license and maybe they're cutting their losses so they don't take too much of a bath when the cord gets cut.

Just makes you wonder WHY they took the license to begin with. I don't get it, either produce the things you promised us, or don't lie to us saying you're going to make a line of Star Trek toys, because they obviously arent!

 

[Mudd]

They neither promised nor lied. They changed their plans based on the best information they had. It's not like they'd taken anyone's money.

 

[BillJ]

Just makes you wonder WHY they took the license to begin with. I don't get it, either produce the things you promised us, or don't lie to us saying you're going to make a line of Star Trek toys, because they obviously arent!

They did release two figures (Kirk and Picard), which likely didn't sell well. That put an end to the line. No one keeps tossing money at a product that is losing them money.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Yep. Really starting to think that's what this is all about.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Apparently it's not just McFarlane that's having problems selling Star Trek toys. Gentle Giant announced early last year they were going to produce a line of "micromachine-type" ships from DIS, but nothing has come of that beyond a few prototypes unveiled at Toy Fair 2018.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulnomad/40522971702

After a year of listing those ships as "pending licensor approval," Gentle Giant has recently deleted them from their website.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Oh yeah, I remember hearing about those. More Disco-related vaporware.