115 replies to this topic

[bgiles73]

One can only wonder what would happen if Hasbro and Lego were given a license for all of Star Trek. A Star Trek: Lego video game would rule!

[Artistix]

Well, I guess it doesn't bother me as much since in Australia we never received any of the Bridge pieces.

Though ofcourse there are plenty of Bridge Playsets sitting on the shelves in Big W.

I feel really bad for collectors & kids around the world who bought that playset.

I bet Playmates has learnt a lesson....make the first set of any license count, as it may be the only set you release. Especially if your toys look like some crap from the 80's.

[VulcanFanatic]

I have read many posts on this forum about how shoddy the Playmates figures are, and i agree that they could have been better. I wonder what you all would be saying about the line had AA/DST never got the license and no Star Trek figures had been produced since 2000 when Playmates gave up the license. I know that there are are lines that are much nicer than the Playmates line, but i think we have definitely been spoiled by the AA/DST quality for several years now and anything beneath their standard would have been a disappointment to some here. I am just glad we actually got anything in the way of figures and playsets after the long absence of Star Trek from the toy aisles.

[Artistix]

My comment above has a little happy face next to it...as I didn't mean it in a harsh way.

Ofcourse they don't look like toys from the 80's. They are far from the worst toys that have been put on the market lately.

Compare Playmates Uhura to Mattel's Avatar Grace Augustine & tell me which looks like a pile of crap!

We are sci-fi fans. Do we ever think anything we don't then type on a forum!

[pickard]

... i think we have definitely been spoiled by the AA/DST quality for several years now and anything beneath their standard would have been a disappointment to some here.

I realize we're all entitled to our opinions, so I'll just say that I can't understand how anyone could think we've been spoiled by the quality of DST Trek figures over the last few years. To my eye, there has been nothing superior about any aspect of their recent Trek action figure output, and in many ways they've been subpar.

As for the Playmates comparison, I can't compare with what DST might have done if they had the license, I can only compare with the other product being put out at that scale. Hasbro blows them away at 3 3/4". Mattel is probably just as bad as Playmates with their DC line.

To your point, I'd still have been disappointed if the PM figures were at the DST quality level, and I'd still have bemoaned Hasbro not getting the license.

[Gothneo]

There would be no guarantee that Hasbro would have done any better. I give you exhibit A. Indiana Jones.

[bgiles73]

There would be no guarantee that Hasbro would have done any better. I give you exhibit A. Indiana Jones.

The first two waves were horrible, granted, but that hard to find Temple of Doom wave was excellent. I have the whole collection of Hasbro's Indiana Jones line-up. I only hope that Hasbro will give it another shot! It would be nice to get the secondary characters that were shown at SDCC that were going to be in Wave 5! Must be something about Wave 5, no matter which company!

[Gothneo]

well, its pretty true that most toy lines don't really last that long. In the past most lines fizzle out by way 4 or 5. A really good example of a popular line that was pretty much done but got a revival was Toybiz's Marvel Legends.

In that particular case the line was on the ropes and almost done after wave 5 waves 6 & 7 were darn hard to find, but Toybiz managed to pique interest and revive the line with the "Build-a-figure" concept that came out in wave 9.

As a result retailers gave the line another chance and ToyBiz was able to get more of wave 8 out, but wave 9 was just everywhere. That basically doubled the lines life.

Anyway, I digress!

I think that, with the exception of the 90's playmates line, Star Trek has always been more of a niche / collector line. Don't get me wrong, I like many of the products I have, but when you look at the history... Mego, Galoob, Ertl, AA and now DST... it's hard to say that any of them have been particularly successful and long lived!

I think if a line is to last these days (or in the past for that matter) it needs some kind of media tie-in. Star Wars or Power Rangers... are all examples of lines that seem to do well these days, and it's because they have media tie in right now. Star Trek, with TNG, was probably at the height of popularity, and Playmates was able to ride that wave.

Playmates isn't the only company to ever cancel a line that left collectors in the lurch, and as people have said, if wave 2 had come out so that the bridge set could have been completed it would have gone down better with people that were trying to collect the line.

[thecapn]

Anyone ever read Mike Crawford's Action Figure reviews? I read them religiously, and he put out his picks for the best and worst of the year...

Picks 2009


Let's see how Trek did, shall we?

Worst Overall Company: Playmates
Worst Overall Low-End Line: Playmates Star Trek
Worst Figure 18" or Taller: DST Kirk Ultimate Quarter Scale
Worst Male Figure 12" - 18": Bronze, Playmates 12" Captain Kirk
Worst Male Figure Under 5": Silver, Playmates 4" Captain Kirk
Worst Female Figure Under 18": Silver, Playmates 6" Uhura
Worst Vehicle or Playset: Bronze, Playmates Bridge Set

Though it's not all bad: DST won Silver and Bronze in the best prop category for the DST Captain's Chair and Tricorder. But you can see, it's not just us who are complaining. People in general feel ripped off by the lack of quality merchandise out there.

[pickard]

There would be no guarantee that Hasbro would have done any better. I give you exhibit A. Indiana Jones.

I could not disagree more. Not one PM Trek figure was half as good as any figure from Hasbro's Last Crusade or Temple of Doom waves. And there were some gems in the earlier waves.

Yeah, Capn, I saw MWC's year-end awards, and PM, not undeservingly, took a pounding there for both Trek and Terminator.

[Gothneo]

that's what everyone seems to be saying... but Hasbros Indiana Jones line still got canceled and that last wave never saw the light of day (at mass reatail) for most people (like me) so it might as well have not existed.

The line was not a success and it failed because Hasbro produced sub-par product that got no interest at retail.

I'm just saying that Hasbro misses the mark too.

BTW, I'm a fan of MWC. Love his reviews, but if I have to find a criticism it would be that I think he's way to easy on many of his scores. MWC uses a 4 star rating scale and many of the items he is calling the worst of '09 (and railing against) he gave 2 or even 3 stars to!

If many of these items are really the worst I'd think they would be down in the 1/2 star or 1 star range. The Uhura I think is a good example of that. the overall rating was 2.5 stars... which I would take as better then the average toy.

[bgiles73]

Hasbro misses the mark when they try to cheap out. For the most part however, they can't be beat. Every other company out there could learn a thing are two from Hasbro. My only real problem with them is an unwillingness to create playsets. I've been anxiously awaiting a Death Star Playset. The one I had as a kid in the 70's-early 80's has been and always will be something that I would love to see re-imagined like what was done for The Millenium Falcon. My head explodes when I think about what Hasbro could have done for Star Trek 2009 and a bridge playset!

[VulcanFanatic]

My siblings and i had the Death Star playset back in the 70's when it came out and it was neat then, but most kids would balk at such a unsophisticated toy now, and to make one with the electronics, scale and all would mean an expensive set to be sure. That Millenium Falcon was $150 or more at most places- A bit more than your average kid or even adult would want to spend on a toy, no matter how neat it is.

[Gothneo]

Every other company out there could learn a thing are two from Hasbro.

Well, that is one opinion. But the truth is that I don't buy ANY Hasbro products at the moment and am unlikely to buy much in the future. Hasbro took a line, Marvel Legends... a line that was a huge success and following BTW... and drove it into the ground and then beat on it with a bat!

I'm just saying that Hasbro is as flawed as any other company out there, and IMO they are far from hitting on all cylinders. In fact, IMO, Mattel's been putting out much better product with their DCUC, MOTU, Ghost Buster and Movie Masters lines.

[bgiles73]

Well, truth be told. The 3 3/4" scale is my prefered scale for figures and that is what Hasbro is best at. I go for Larger figures with Masters of the Universe and Movie Masters, and in the beginning AA Star Trek, but when you get as many figures as I've amassed over the years, space becomes an issue. I don't buy much in the 6" scale, but what I do get in that scale is usually by NECA and at onetime McFarlane Toys. Unarticulated for the most part, works of art. DST or Playmates 6" scale don't come anywhere close to competing with the sculpts of NECA, maybe some of the ART ASYLUM sculpts from the beginning.My stance is this, Playmates needs to look at what Hasbro is capable at their best, because it's what their product is judged by.

[pickard]

Well, that is one opinion. But the truth is that I don't buy ANY Hasbro products at the moment and am unlikely to buy much in the future. Hasbro took a line, Marvel Legends... a line that was a huge success and following BTW... and drove it into the ground and then beat on it with a bat!

I'm just saying that Hasbro is as flawed as any other company out there, and IMO they are far from hitting on all cylinders. In fact, IMO, Mattel's been putting out much better product with their DCUC, MOTU, Ghost Buster and Movie Masters lines.

Don't forget Mattel's awesome DC 3 3/4" figures and the Avatar line!

Ignore the major clusterfrak of the DCUC distribution, the failure of Movie Masters line (from the then-2nd biggest movie of all time) and the online-only nature of Ghostbusters and MOTU.

[JonWes]

Don't forget Mattel's awesome DC 3 3/4" figures and the Avatar line!

The Avatar figures are actually very cool. I've gotten pretty much all of Wave 1 except the variants. I wish the Star Trek line had been as well made. There are a few blah figures but overall they have some really great details and fun vehicles.

[pickard]

I'll take your word for it that there are some good ones. My reaction may have been just from seeing the "blah" ones.

I wonder how the line is selling, considering the overall success of the movie.

Edit:
I only saw the movie once, but I don't remember the marines carrying giant yellow guns.

[Gothneo]

I did say that everyone has their flaws, and I agree that distribution is Mattels. But if Playmates proved anything it's that good distribution of bad product means nothing. 1st thing a company has to do is make something I actually want to purchase. That's why I said Mattel has better product.

Yes MOTU and Ghostbusters are online only, but they do seem to be a hit with collectors. Hasbro has been doing good with it's Star Wars Bell weather, as well as transformers, and even MU seems to have found a niche of collectors. So I'm not saying they can't make decent product. I am saying that what they make doesn't interest me. I'm also saying that of the lines they had that did interest, me they failed at.

My stance is this, Playmates needs to look at what Hasbro is capable at their best, because it's what their product is judged by.

I think that's a fair statement. All 3 3/4 figures are judged by the Best Hasbro has done. Even Hasbro! See... Hasbro doesn't always do the best that we know they can on their 3 3/4 lines. That's why collectors have to keep buying the same figure again and again!

But I'll give Hasbro this. When they make a fully SA 3 3/4 figure with great detail and paint, its a beautiful thing! I wouldn't touch Hasbro's Star Wars line with long pole before they started doing SA figures ala the Vintage line and I'm not ashamed to say that they got me to purchase a whole bunch of inferior figures along the way. But it was obvious to me that they didn't put the great effort into every figure, just enough to grab you.