Trek Toys: Playmates v Art Asylum

[Gotham Central]

So apparently Paramount has given Playmates the rights to the Trek XI merchandising. While I know that Plamates makes their products for the mass market, I personally think that they should have stuk with Art Asylum.

AA's Star Trek work has been phenomenal. They've managed to produce amazing prop and rhip reproductions that are both high quality while not being maddively expensive. THe AA TOS communicator is about the same price as the old Playmates communicator but it MUCH more detailed. Hell, they giver Master Replicas a run for their money when it comes to quality vs price

Actually try to make their starships screen accurate (unlike playmates which cut all sorts of corners to the points that some of their ships are barely recognizable)

Anyone else a fan of Art Asylum's Trek line?

 

[Icemizer]

I thought the AA ships were much better than the playmates especially the horrid gold editions. I do miss the old playmates 12 inch figures though they were pretty good.

 

[FalTorPan]

Art Asylum's stuff is better, but I don't buy Trek collectibles like I once did, and I'm not super-excited about the upcoming movie, so I'm not fazed by the decision to grant the movie's toy license to Playmates.

 

[Captain Randy Hall]

So apparently Paramount has given Playmates the rights to the Trek XI merchandising. While I know that Plamates makes their products for the mass market, I personally think that they should have stuk with Art Asylum.

Anyone else a fan of Art Asylum's Trek line?

That would be me. We had a thread about this a week ago or so in which I said that Playmates was great if you wanted to run from one store to another hoping that the guys with booths at the next convention didn't get them all.

Today was a perfect example of why I like AA. Every time a new set of figures came out from Playmates, I had to drive from Toys R Us to the Wal-Mart and maybe, if I was lucky, I'd get all the new releases. Or maybe not.

When I got to my comic book store this afternoon, a set of Kirk and Spock from ST:TMP I had ordered a couple of months ago was there for me along with my usual stack of comics. This was like the arrival of a two-fer that came in last month featuring Kirk and Spock from "Amok Time" were ready and waiting for me.

I agree that AA should have gotten the chance to produce the figures since they were doing that during the "dark times" and then Playmates swoops in when there's real quatloos to be made and they better produce some terrific figures and props because if they aren't as good as AA, I might forget to run from one toy store to another and hope that the figures show up on time and in great shape.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I prefer Playmates, since I absolutely refuse to grow up.

While it's inevitable that people would want to pit Playmates and Art Asylum against one another, they're really two very different toy companies with two different approaches. Art Asylum--or Diamond Direct, to be more exact these days--was always geared towards more high-end stuff and with extreme attention to detail. They're aimed at the limited collector's market, IMO. For many people, the only way you can get them is though the mail since retail stores (and even some comic book shops) generally don't.

In comparison, Playmates always seemed more focused on making toys that kids could really play with. Their stuff seemed to be made for more rough & tumble play. The detail wasn't always great, but they were easier on the wallet and you could find 'em almost anywhere, even in a Walgreens store...

I'm actually very excited that Playmates is doing toys for the new movie--especially when I learned they'll be doing it in the 3.75-inch range--but I think they're also making figures in a larger range that will have more detail.

Of course the irony is that Art Asylum made a few Trek toys for Playmates towards the end of their run...

 

[clint g]

Like C.E Evans said, they are companies that gear towards two different markets...which is why it surprises me that the license isnt given to both companies Art Asylum can make the toys for the collector with deep pockets and Playmates can make the toys for the kids that I'm sure Paramount hopes will come flocking to the movies

 

[Bryan316]

Do you want figures and ships in stores before and during the movie's theatrical release, or do you want them promised to be there in May yet have them actually show up just in time for Christmas (if we're lucky)?

 

[cb31]

Ooohhhh!!! I'm excited about the 3 3/4 inch figures...my favorite!