47 replies to this topic

[ensignmelkor]

Unfortunately, if DST doesn't seen the need for more promotion, product teases, and better communication to keep fans interested, we're not going to change their minds. I don't even bother reading Ask DST anymore. 

[AndyW]

I'm forced to agree with the above poster, I've been buying these products since 2002 and they aren't about to change now.

 

They don't seem that thrilled about, or feel that the Eaglemoss comparison is fair. That's fine, its a point of view, but whatever they think the best approach is, EM's marketing effectiveness with Ben's twitter, info releases on hero collector and trek collective and the general buzz around the products should be a lesson to anyone making trek product to fans.

 

I only get AA/DST info from here and the odd story on trek collective, but I have to really try hard to keep an eye on release dates and when we can expect things. Whereas with EM there is a constant stream of updates, and I don't think anyone can help liking that level of interaction whatever AA/DST say.

[1701D]

Hopefully DST will want or get awarded the new Star Trek series licence and it'll boost their Trek line.

New figures ships and props.

[Alteran195]

Hopefully DST will want or get awarded the new Star Trek series licence and it'll boost their Trek line.

New figures ships and props.

I'd like that, but the problem with it is it will push back stuff they would do from the older shows. 

[1701D]

There's only so much DST have been able to do from the older shows though and whilst it depends on the populairty and success of the new show, DSTs Star Trek line needs an infusion of new Star Trek product and if that's at the expense of reissues of older Star Trek product then that's cool by me.

[DSTZach]

Saying that you only get DST info from here and Trek Collective, then saying that you love Ben's Twitter... well, there you go. Follow our Twitter. Follow our YouTube channel. Follow our Instagram. Read Ask DST. Look at our regularly updated release calendar on artasylum.com, which I Tweet about AND post on Facebook whenever I update it.

 

Trek isn't as big a percentage of our product output, so we aren't going to hire someone JUST to blog/tweet about Trek,and there is no one here who just works on Trek. But I post as much Trek stuff as I do any of our other properties, I respond to every question we get on Twitter and FB, and whenever I see any comments about a prototype that I think sound important, I pass them along. And if you come to our booth at SDCC or C2E2 or NYCC, we're all there, and you can ask the president, or me, and sometimes our product managers what's in the pipeline.

 

I send info to a lot of Trek blogs, and I don't always follow up with them to see if they're covering it, but I think TrekMovie does, and StarTrek.com picks stuff up occasionally. I don't watch as many reviews of our ships as I could, but it's tricky to weed out the knowledgeable from the misinformed, and the opinions from the facts.

 

Just as a matter of point, I would argue that there is more info about Eaglemoss releases because there are more Eaglemoss releases. That's just how it is. I can post more pics of the same ship on a regular basis, but we have been burned by showing unfinished ships in the past. While a CGI representation or in-progress sculpt may not be far off the mark from a 5" die-cast model, it could more significantly misrepresent a 12" ship.

 

And additional items packed in with ships like diagrams and plaques will raise prices, and require more time from the development team, and clog up the approvals process. You'd be getting more stuff, for more money, but less often. I know there are those here who think $65 is a steep price, and wish it were lower.

 

Honestly, I have more important stuff to be doing (Toy Fair prep, sleep), but I come here, not to defend myself/DST, but to respond to concerns.

[Jay K]

...I give up. 1701D had it right when he said they should hire a guy just for Trek, but this post has told me (perhaps all of us?) all we need to know.
 

And additional items packed in with ships like diagrams and plaques will raise prices, and require more time from the development team, and clog up the approvals process. You'd be getting more stuff, for more money, but less often.

 

 

 

[1701D]

I think Zach all we've said here is that DST could be doing a better job at selling what DST does. Ben is one example of how he engages with the fans not just about Trek but Doctor Who also. NECA are another great example of how they've got a consistency to their releases. Mezco... Delays aren't uncommon in the toy industry but nearly all of the toy company's of a similar size to DST are better at engaging with the fans. You guys need to do more and regardless of whether you've been burnt in the past by revealing ships or product before they're ready, it would be cool to have some information regarding your next ship to keep us hooked!

Yes these things take time to build, yes they are expensive to make and ok changes happen along the development process but that doesn't stop DST from truly engaging with the fans and keeping fans interested and getting fans excited about the next product you've got coming down the road.

You're too cautious and that cautious, defensive attitude, "we won't reveal anything until it's practically in shops" is causing people to be turned off of your product. Specifically, Star Trek.

So, Zach, what is the next Starfleet ship being released and what do you guys at DST want to follow the next starfleet ship up with. Fully understanding that plans change.

[ensignmelkor]

1701D--they're not going to tell us. If they were willing to change their promotional strategy they would have done it by now.

[s8film40]

We currently offer all of our Trek items DTC through our site, although the retros are currently only available in case assortments. And Trek is our biggest DTC license, in terms of both pre-orders and in-stock orders, but it is not a significant portion of our sales, most of which are still through retailers. We could advertise the store more, sell more, etc., but then we are taking sales away from other retailers around the world who are currently selling our products, and away from our sister company and distributor, who is trying to service those retailers. The product is out there for people to see, and it is promoted on places like startrek.com and other sites, but I do not think it is not being bought because people don't know we make it.

 

If people are not pre-ordering because they've lost interest, or because they don't like our products, then we can only do so much with promotions. We've been doing this for nearly 10 years, plus AA's run. New products and licenses have arisen; some have just as quickly gone away. But comparing us to Eaglemoss is really like apples and oranges, if you're trying to get us to emulate any sort of strategy they have. Every ship we make is different, every figure we make is different, and they've always taken a lot of development time.

 

BUT maybe that's what Trek fans want now: without weekly new doses of Trek TV, they need small, uniform, easily collectible, no-waiting items that they can buy on a schedule, one by one by one. Not a slam on Eaglemoss product, just an example of something we absolutely cannot do. I could set up a Facebook page solely about our Star Trek items, but Trek is not as large a percentage of our business as it is for Eaglemoss, and knowing Trek fans, it would take up a non-proportional amount of time to maintain it.

 

But new licensors are great. Yaaay new licensors. But getting a licensor who sees potential sales for their product at the retailers they service may not be tied to retailer polling, and may assume a future spike in interest. Not sure how many are coming for the new movie and how many are coming for the new show, and how many are coming for the 50th/classic. I guess we'll see. I don't know some of those companies, but we'll see how the ones that are actually selling in our categories and into our markets do.

 

 

I really like all the work DST has done over the years, but with my interest being primarily action figures there just hasn't been much to buy. If the product I want isn't produced then there's really nothing I can do to support the line. One thing I'm kind of surprised to have never seen is an action figure line use a model similar to Lego Ideas or Kickstarter.

 

I could see it working something like this:

1. Fans submit their ideas for individual figures on a website.

2. Once a certain threshold is met the company determines a cost for the figure based on design, prototyping, tooling etc. and posts it to the site.

3. Fans then are able to pre-order with the contingency that they won't be charged and the figure won't be produced until the goal is met.

4. Once a certain number of pre-orders are met the prototype is created.

5. Finally once the goal is met the figure is produced as well as some excess to go to regular distribution channels.

 

The price could also go up at each stage to encourage early supporters or bonus items could be included to early supporters.

 

In any case however it happens I would love to see DST return to making new action figures, perhaps the new TV series will help as well.

[Dilithium1]

Remember Rule of Acquisition #59 though, Zach....

[VorlonKosh]

I'm not sure I understand why other select lines have incredible articulation, accessories and display bases, but when it comes to Star Trek select, they are basically statues at this point.  Is it a licensing fee that is part of the problem?  For example, Universal Monsters Select vs Star Trek Select. 

[1701D]

I'm not sure I understand why other select lines have incredible articulation, accessories and display bases, but when it comes to Star Trek select, they are basically statues at this point.  Is it a licensing fee that is part of the problem?  For example, Universal Monsters Select vs Star Trek Select.

I think it's been said by Zach here or Chuck on the Q&As that the reason is simply a choice taken by DST to make the Star Trek select figures different in some way to what had come before them.

A return to the kind of detail and quality we got with Art Asylum's Enterprise and TOS line would be cool but maybe beginning with the new TV series if DST are going for that licence (if they're not they might as well just stop producing Star Trek toys altogether)

[tuvok47]

The Selects come with enough extra parts to get multiple poses (except Picard, which I think was a mistake), poses you'd never get with traditional DST articulation.  So I'm baffled by the thought that some think these are statues.

[s8film40]

I only buy the selects for the accessories, already have the same figures from the original run. I honestly never really even paid too much attention to the articulation.

[Alteran195]

I prefer statues to action figures, so the select line doing different arms versus having articulation is better to me. 

[DSTZach]

We'll reveal the next ship at Toy Fair this weekend. And it's not even 100% final, so you got what you want. BUT we are not going to say what the NEXT next ship is, or what we would LIKE to do, beyond the wish-listing Chuck has done in Ask DST. (He actually LISTED the ships he saw as being the most important.) But we'll see how orders are for the BoP, now that we're actually soliciting it (we've already done most of the development work), and we'll see what orders are like for the next one, and we'll use that data to decide what's next. And there will definitely be variants of both ships, as well as new variants of earlier ships. There is often  blowback online to our variants and re-issues, but many people do not understand the number of ships we need to make to justify the cost of the massive tooling involved.

 

Star Trek Select figures are not highly poseable, besides their multiple interchangeable parts, because we have already made poseable action figures of most of the main characters of most of the series. This was meant to be a new type of line, and I think it succeeds in what it does -- putting Trek characters in dynamic poses, with some customizability. The detail and quality have not changed, and you can still fiddle around with the poses on both kinds of figures, or just leave them on a shelf if you like. People still ask for fully poseable figures, but I always tell them to look up the old figures, which are still out there, and anyone who has not been made is probably more of a long shot today. You may see Kahn this weekend, not 100% sure yet.

[trekhunter1701]

What about role playing items? Anything beyond the TNG phaser? Also will you be putting up a video soon of the BOP?

[Jay K]

We'll reveal the next ship at Toy Fair this weekend. And it's not even 100% final, so you got what you want.

Haha, yes, oh thank you for telling us humble peasants about the next thing we're all buying... lol

 

Either way, I still won't believe it until I see it/its name.

[Alex]

We'll reveal the next ship at Toy Fair this weekend. And it's not even 100% final, so you got what you want. BUT we are not going to say what the NEXT next ship is, or what we would LIKE to do, beyond the wish-listing Chuck has done in Ask DST. (He actually LISTED the ships he saw as being the most important.) But we'll see how orders are for the BoP, now that we're actually soliciting it (we've already done most of the development work), and we'll see what orders are like for the next one, and we'll use that data to decide what's next. And there will definitely be variants of both ships, as well as new variants of earlier ships. There is often  blowback online to our variants and re-issues, but many people do not understand the number of ships we need to make to justify the cost of the massive tooling involved.

Zach, this really is great news; I know you're hesitant to reveal an unfinished product, but I personally enjoyed when you guys would show off early concept work knowing full well that things could change over time. For what it's worth, if you're worried that fans might think that what you're showing is final, why not print "Not final product/all details subject to change" in all caps on the little display card that shows what the product is just so that there's no confusion whatsoever. I remember Chuck's wish–listing, and it's something that I actually appreciated very much since it gave me an idea of where you guys wanted to go with the ships. (It's also largely my wish list at this point, so if nothing else, it shows that DST is pretty much on the same page as at least one fan.) As far as variants go, I honestly welcome them, and personally am not fond of the blowback that they sometimes recieve. The only thing I've ever been critical of was SDCC–exclusivity, and you guys kind of addressed that with the constitution–class U.S.S. Defiant when you made it available through your website. As soon as I found out that I could order it, I made sure to do so, and am thrilled to have it. (It arrived on December 23rd and I got it as a Christmas gift from my Dad.) I'm also quite fond of your reissues, particularly when they fix an issue with an earlier run or otherwise refine your ships, so I feel it's worth pointing out that there are some of us who are very positive about variants and reissues and not just those of us engaging in negative blowback.

 

Also, I realize you guys don't have the license to do it now, but if you ever get the license for JJ–verse merchandise, the Romulan BoP is a really easy variant, as you could probably just change the color of the LEDs and the red bussard domes to blue. (For reference, Hallmark's ornament is a JJ–verse Romulan BoP.)

 

Star Trek Select figures are not highly poseable, besides their multiple interchangeable parts, because we have already made poseable action figures of most of the main characters of most of the series. This was meant to be a new type of line, and I think it succeeds in what it does -- putting Trek characters in dynamic poses, with some customizability. The detail and quality have not changed, and you can still fiddle around with the poses on both kinds of figures, or just leave them on a shelf if you like. People still ask for fully poseable figures, but I always tell them to look up the old figures, which are still out there, and anyone who has not been made is probably more of a long shot today. You may see Kahn this weekend, not 100% sure yet.

I'll admit that the Star Trek Select line isn't for me and that I understand that there are other people (e.g. Alteran195) who prefer the "statue" style with interchangeable limbs, but I personally prefer the old highly posable figures. I realize that ENT, TOS, and TNG have largely been covered, but as far as I'm aware, that line never featured any Voyager figures, which are something I'd grab in a heartbeat, and only a handful of DS9 figures. I was extremely interested in Captain Sisko with his command chair and the Kruge/Maltz two–pack, but both of those were cancelled in the pre–order phase, so I obviously wasn't able to get them. I would still love to have a highly posable Sisko+Command Chair figure, and with DS9 having it's 25th anniversary coming up in two years, I would think things might have changed since the last attempt at such a figure was made before the show's 20th anniversary. Likewise I have to wonder if the Kruge/Maltz two–pack would have a better shot now that there's a Kruge/Maltz BoP available along with several other items from The Search for Spock that didn't exist the last time they were attempted.

 

Also, for those of you who might not be able to find Chuck's starship wishlist, it was in AskDST #285. In no particular order, (emphasis added) these are the ships Chuck expressed an interest in:

• Defiant
• Voyager
• Borg Cube
• Enterprise–C
• Reliant
• Romulan TNG
• Klingon TOS

That seems largely in line with what we're asking for around here, (that's basically my realistic wish list, although I'd replace Klingon TOS with Klingon TNG if it were coming before Romulan TNG or the Borg Cube,) so it's not like DST isn't listening to us. Despite the tooling challenges, a TNG–era Romulan ship managed to crack the "top 7" of Chuck's wishlist, so it certainly sounds like DST is trying to give us what we want. Based on what Chuck said in AskDST #285 back in July, it sounds like the next ship could be U.S.S. Voyager.

 

No comment. Not being coy, it’s just the next ship has lots of work to do on it so we’re not ready to say. In fact, at one point the Romulan Bird of Prey was NOT the next ship, but it just worked out that way.

Based on that comment and the list above, Voyager sounds like the most likely candidate for the next ship if it's a Federation ship. The Defiant shouldn't be much more difficult to tool than the Romulan BoP, and the Reliant and Enterprise–C seem like ships that would fall in line with traditional Federation starship releases. When you eliminate alien ships, that pretty much leaves Voyager as the most likely candidate by process of elimination and the ship being complex enough that the Romulan BoP managed to jump ahead of it in the release schedule.

 

1701D, outside of buying what's already available, the next best thing we could do for DST's Trek line is to ask retailers to carry it. Believe it or not, they do listen to their customers, (at least if they want to keep those customers they do,) and if a retailer hears multiple people asking for the same thing, they're usually likely to give it a try. If you know other Trek fans who are into DST's stuff, try to have them make the same requests as you within a few days of each other; multiple requests tend to get faster results, especially for larger chains. Smaller shops that focus on catering to individual customers are usually more likely to order something simply upon request or to take a chance on it if their regulars request it, so don't hesitate to ask a retailer to carry something from DST. By the way, when you're dealing with larger retailers that have multiple locations, if a customer requested item sells well in one location where it's not expected to do well, retailers will typically reexamine similar areas and try offering the same or similar items in those areas as well.

 

EDIT: Dilithium1, the quote you're looking for is actually "(Oh fascinating,) 20 particles of space dust per cubic meter, 52 ultraviolet radiation spikes, and a class two comet. (Well, this is certainly worthy of our attention.)" The parts in parentheses could easily be omitted though.