7 replies to this topic

[FHC]

A great many of the older fans of Trek are into buying props having moved beyond toys. A kit to make a communicator just sold for $300 on ebay. I'm lucky that I have spare cash and room for both.

More kids are into Star Wars, except for the high tide that was TNG in the heyday, they always have been. Less talking, more shooting. LOL The new movies may change that?

Oh and I've tried this. I put a figure of Vader on my desk, people go cooool. I put Kirk on my desk and they sort of smile and roll eyes. I put this on my on desk



and everyone wants to pick it up and play with it. That's why the role play stuff sells and figures don't. In my opinion.

Oh a cool thing about that com I posted above, from my collection, it's made almost completly from wood, yes a pine 2"X4".

[Jedigreedo]

I don't think maturity is the problem with Star Trek toys. Rather, it's something that has been badly wounded and the Select line looks, at the moment, like it's just continuing to limp on. Hopefully the figure being revealed today will be something that will excite people, and I think folks have warmed up to Select Spock since it DOES look like a very nice set. Select Kirk, though... eh, we'll be good if the sets are more like Spock, and if Kirk doesn't bomb too hard. I can see Kirk hitting clearances within a month after its release.

Anyway, I don't think Star Trek's problem lies within its maturity, but rather it's always been a finicky property and is very easy to lose control of.

Playmates had a huge success until they made a few bad choices that snowballed into the inevitable decline of their consumer base. Then Art Asylum did really well, as did DST until around TNG wave 3. Quality control took a huge hit with an incompetent factory and DST made some bad choices that inevitably snowballed into ridiculous proportions, and killed consumer interest.

Thing is, I think that was also just a period with poor management on DST's part since both of their Stargate lines suffered from some of the worst decisions ever made, and BSG seemed only fair slightly better. I think it was a very bleak point in DST's history and all the figure lines suffered because of it. And YET Star Trek managed to truck on despite it all. Because people wanted the figures, and it was only until they couldn't take anymore delays or Kirks & Spocks (but mostly Kirks) that it died. It was a slow and painful death.

Neither eventual death of the line was a result of Star Trek or its fanbase becoming too mature - except maybe too mature for ridiculous shenanigans.

As for nuTrek... I feel that, aside from personal biased reasoning, what really hurt that franchise for toys is Playmates just failed so bad, so hard, and so spectacularly with their line. I think someone could write a book on just the incredible incompetency that line was handled with. That certainly has sullied the idea of toys (heck, merchandise in general) based on that franchise, and it has been of no surprise that Hasbro is so far only investing in it with one of their most gimmicky lines ever. I mean, to only be making KRE-O sets - and not even that many of them - shows that they only have about as much faith in the property at the moment as they did with Battleship.

Again, though, it's not a maturity issue. That was just expecting actual decency out of product, which Playmates woefully failed to deliver.

What really tells me that it's not a maturity issue is that I see plenty of comments that people WANT more figures. Of course they're very reluctant about the Select figures, but people really do seem to like Select Spock. Kirk, though... I can only see that figure hitting some deep clearances a month after release. Hopefully it won't tank the line.

So, overall, Trek isn't a property that is too grown up for toys, it's just very delicate. Besides, lots of people were even buying the retro MEGO figures. If something isn't too grown up for toys that are more like dolls than action figures, then it's certainly not too grown up for actual action figures.

Also, outside of action figures, people are obviously very interested in the Trek Tek and the ships. The new slew of ship releases, especially the K-BoP, I've seen welcomed with opened but cautious arms. People REALLY want to believe DST is completely changed for the better now, but there is still so much caution about delays and what they're going to release. My friends' reactions at seeing the release of the K-BoP have been very consistent: first it's "Oh wow!" and then "I can't believe they released something new."

[TheHSBR]

I think you are right JG. There's always a market for action figures from any movie. NECA is doing some real great things with Predator and now they are expanding to other scifi flicks and other movies. What NECA is doing is what Trek should be doing. Do I think little kids are ever going to clamor for Trek figs like they do Star Wars....no. Is there a market for Trek action figures...absolutely. DST is following a pretty good model with the Select line but its not perfect. Whereas NECA is producing high quality figures with multiple paint apps and points of articulation, DST is giving us limited articulation and cool bases. I personally prefer to better articulation and would pay more for such an option and still get the cool bases.

[richpit]

I put this on my on desk



and everyone wants to pick it up and play with it. That's why the role play stuff sells and figures don't. In my opinion.

Oh a cool thing about that com I posted above, from my collection, it's made almost completly from wood, yes a pine 2"X4".

I knew that was a Woody comm! He does amazing work.

[TheHSBR]

People who buy toys are always a minority within any fan base. Examples: sports, comic books, movies. The question is are the Trek minority buying toys even smaller than the other minority groups? I don't think we'll ever know.