269 replies to this topic

[Dilithium1]

Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!

[Nigel]

Because the movies suck and serious collectors for the most part don't care about collecting memorabilia from a movie they don't care about.

 

You took the words right out of my mouth. I wanted to say that but I didn't want to "offend" anymore. Thanks, VulcanFanatic.

[Razorgeist]

Let me fix this for you.

"In my opinion, the movies suck."

And it isn't just Kelvin Trek that isn't selling well, it's all of Trek.

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

Rather dissapointed but not surpised.

[robster]

Guess I'm the only one who loves these movies and collect stuff from it. Yes,I care that much about the movies that almost everyone else think sucks or whatever. So I hope for more stuff for my collection. And I really do hope the QMx stuff doesn't get cancelled. Kirk from Beyond looks great,and so did the version they had at Comic-Con last summer. Looking forward to seeing what they'll have this year,and to talking with them again.

[1701D]

I love the new movies, I think they're great and just what this franchise needs!!

If DST got the licence to do product based upon them I'd buy it all!!! I'm soooo tired of seeing old Kirk and Spock figures, like I've got dozens! I don't need more, regardless of the fact that these are different because they're statues with no articulation.

I want to see DST go full force into Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond with a full line of articulated action figures! Plus ships from all three movies.

[JMW326]

I love the new movies too. Just watched Beyond again last night for like the 10th time. I plan on o get them QMX Beyond Kirk too.
I would buy DST select figures from he new movies if they made them, and if they had the same level of detail and articulation (and care) as the other select lines.

I found it sad that most of the big toy news sites dont even bother featuring DST any more. You really have to dig to find any DST toy fair coverage these days. So far I haven't been able to find any pictures other than what DST themselves put up. Of course nothing Star Trek. We will see if they put anything up today.

[1701D]

It's because of the reputation DST have. They're a second rate collectibles company. They don't invest in their own identity and it shows. Nothing they do is really exciting when compared to the likes of NECA, Mezco, DC Collectables etc...

It's nothing to do with the licenses they have, it's to do with how they promote them and actually sometimes the quality of them. You compare a DST action figure from any of their lines and put it next to a NECA figure and there's simply no competition, NECA win hands down.

[JMW326]

Completely agree. It also has a lot to do with their service. In the beginning they had great customer service. If you had a problem they would to anything to help you fix it. That came in handy and was greatly appreciated when one out of every three figures had quality issues. Over the years that dwindled and they started taking the "return it to the place you bought it and get your money back" stance. No matter the issue.

I think a big part of the difference between Neca and DST is that Neca isn't afraid to take chances. They will make figures of characters that never existed in the movie or license that they have just because they think it looks cool. They also grow with the times and industry. Their figures have grown from less articulated and less detailed figures to adding more articulation and detail as they evolve.
DST is afraid. Every time they "relaunch" Star Trek they start with Kirk and Spock in the TOS uniforms... again. They go back to Minimates (which should have died a long time ago). They move backwards and decide to make figures that are more statue than anything else while figures under the same select line are completely different.

I have no doubt that if Neca had the Star Trek license we would have a set figures of all of the captains from each show within the first year as well as 3 or 4 versions of seven of nine. They would also mine the aliens of Star Trek for everything they can.

[1701D]

I'll use NECA as an example but this could be applied to DC Collectables, Mezco, Funko...

 

NECA put their image in front of sales. What I mean by that is yes they are driven to decisions by sales and profit like any other company but as a customer, you don't see that. What we all see is the passion they have for creating perfect product for THEIR fans. There's a bigger emphasis on creating quality product and making the NECA brand a brand you simply must collect. No one ever simply has to collect everything DST does. 

 

In comparison, DST are of course driven by sales and profit. The difference is, it shows!

 

Art Asylum were very much driven by creating quality product you simply have to buy. When DST took over, it became more corporate, quality was driven by sales and as a result quality in their Star Trek licence went down faster than the Enterprise in Beyond because they were selling less Star Trek - had Star Trek been with NECA, there would of been less Star Trek product sure but the quality would of remained consistent with what NECA are renowned for. 

 

What DST need is a re brand, bringing their identity up to date and whilst still focused on sales and profit (thats a given), don't show it! Make your customer WANT to collect Diamond Select Product by investing more in bringing together quality toy designers and artists. Impress us with not just a single product, but with the way you promote every licence, be it The Muppets, MARVEL or Star Trek - it shouldn't matter - because people should want to collect everything DST put out.

 

The success of NECA doesn't rely on the popularity of their licences, their licences rely on the popularity of NECA toys and their ability to get us excited over everything they put out.

 

At the moment with DST it all looks a bit slap dash and has done for a while now - that doesn't mean they aren't capable of creating great product, but no one really cares enough about anything they do and for a brand like Star Trek, thats not good news. 

 

I do think that if NECA had the Star Trek licence, I can imagine we'd have been spoilt by a selection of great figures from aspects of Star Trek even the general geek community love/respect. I'd imagine a lot of figures from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan because it's a cult classic in a similar vein to Terminator and Alien. We'd have obviously got figures from TOS and TNG but I do think they'd have given us more of a diverse selection of characters that are popular with Trekkies as well as general geeks - 7of9, Janeway, Gowron, Archer, Sisko, borg drones, Klingon warriors...

 

But then also it relies on CBS giving NECA a licence to do new Star Trek movie figures to ensure their line has relevance to geeks alive today and perhaps not alive in the 80's/90's.

[Alteran195]

I think it's safe to say that the best product DST makes is the electronic ships, and vehicles. While I like the statue like selects for Trek, I really don't get terribly excited about them. I like Khan, but I kind of regret buying him at this point. That could change when I get the Reliant.

NECA is amazing, twice now they've redone the sculpt on their Godzilla figures due to fan feedback. I can't recall a time when DST has done something similar with their products. Christ, with the Borg Queen there was a lot of people saying the pose was stupid, but they just released it anyways.

I'd love NECA to get the figure license, and have DST focus solely on ships and possibly role play items for Trek.

[JMW326]

Alteran, I tried to like a that post but I got a message that said I apparently reached my quota of likes today. Lol

I was a huge supporter of DST when they got the license for Trek. I bought everything. Then they did Battlestar and Stargate and I bought all of those. They had great product for the time. Those old figures still sell on the secondary market for a bunch. Then quality started to drop and fans started to complain. So instead of working on being better, DST decided that they would complain back about their fans being overly critical instead of actually addressing the problem and moving forward with the rest of the industry. DST is clearly stuck in the past. That's bad form.
Now they do have the ability to make great figures. I just got the Marvel Select Doctor Strange figure and think it's one of the best figures they have ever made.
I do however think they need to let someone else do the Trek figures. DST are the wrong people for that part of it. Maybe if they got rid of that part of the license they could work on getting more than one prop and ship out every two to three years.

[1701D]

The ships are fine because no one else does them - doesn't mean NECA wouldn't try...

Even then though, the quality does vary between ships. There's absolutely no consistency and that's DST's downfall.

[Alex]

I'm quite satisfied with DST's ships and accessories, that's their strongpoint. They occasionally have some blunders, and it wouldn't hurt for them to make some long–requested revisions to certain things, but overall those lines are solid. I will note that while not at the level of redoing sculpts, DST did listen to fan feedback on the Enterprise-E, Enterprise–A, and most recently, the NX–01 when it came time for reissues, and in the case of the NX–01, even went and found where they'd "lost" the tooling, so it's not like they're just ignoring us.

 

Having said that, the figure line was far better when it was the 7" articulated variety and DST was trying to do what Play Along's Art Asylum did, which was more in line with NECA than with what DST is doing now. I like the tooling that they had, but want to see improvements to the areas that needed work, even if I pay a little more for a figure. I also want to see them take a chance on DS9 and VGR, even if they make it abundantly clear that the line only continues if the first figures sell, in which case the passionate DS9/VGR fans will likely buy three of each to guarantee that said line succeeds. I feel that the Select line isn't really aimed at the same collectors that the 7" line was, and that as a result, DST isn't getting nearly as much of my money as they could be.

 

As for the ships, I realize they take awhile to be released, but look at what we get when they finally are! The Romulan BoP is a work of art, the NX–01, 1701–A, and 1701–E reissues have all been gorgeous, and I've yet to see a ship from DST that's actually been bad in the "wow, they really screwed that one up" sense where everything just seems to fall off the rails. Let's not forget that Thomas Sasser's unfortunate passing likely threw a wrench into DST's ship designs just as much as factory expansion did. They got hit with something completely out of their control, and finding someone with Mr. Sasser's skills has probably taken them a bit of time. I can't wait for the Reliant, and I honestly want to see DST ramp up their ship releases after that as well. The Enterprise–C, Voyager, and the Defiant are all at the top of my list for the Federation, while any 24th Century Romulan Ship, a Borg geometric shape, and a Klingon K'tinga/D7 are at the top of my alien ship list. In the realm of reissues and variants, an Enterprise–E that retains the ability to cycle through sounds and adds always–on lights is on my list, as is NX–02, the I.S.S. Avenger NX–09, and the U.S.S. Oddyssey and U.S.S. Yamato, both of which are ill–fated Galaxy–class ships that would be great variants of the Enterprise–D. Heck, let's see those parts put to use on a Nebula–class ship while we're at it.

 

I honestly hope that DST gets the license for ships and accessories from DSC, but I also hope that if that happens, that they don't jam a toyline out the door, as that's a great way to have it fail. Wait a season or two and then push the toyline; this worked for GoT and has also worked for Trek in the past, and CBS and DST would be wise to take the same route here.

[Razorgeist]

 

I think it's safe to say that the best product DST makes is the electronic ships, and vehicles. While I like the statue like selects for Trek, I really don't get terribly excited about them. I like Khan, but I kind of regret buying him at this point. That could change when I get the Reliant.

 

 

See now I wouldn't have a problem with that at all. 

 

 

As for the ships, I realize they take awhile to be released, but look at what we get when they finally are! The Romulan BoP is a work of art,

 

 

My thoughst exactly Alex.

[Jay K]

In regards to the ships, other than some quality control issues (which seem to be getting better with each ship), I really can't complain - I love them. I wish they'd move a little quicker in terms of getting them done (because honestly, why does it take so long?), but as long as it's one I want, there's a solid chance I'll absolutely love it.

 

The only thing that really disheartens me in regards to DST, is the way they've written off some of the most popular alien ships altogether - the Romulan Warbird mainly, but seemingly the K't'inga class as well.

[admiralsands]

Interesting thought on NECA making figures, has anyone posed the question to NECA?

[JMW326]

That's a good idea.

[1701D]

I've asked but if they reply they'll probably just be quite generic with their response... we'd love to but currently we don't have the rights kind of thing

[1701D]

Is it at all possible that DST won't even get to releasing the Reliant, Borg Drone and phaser?

For things to be definitely happening, they need to be solicited... so far nothing new from DST's Star Trek range has been so could this mark the end of DST stuff? Could they pull the product we still think is coming?

[Nigel]

I miss the glory days of DST back in the 2000s.