I understand completely that's what Nacelle wants to do, but I think it's a huge mistake, and including anchor characters shouldn't be "off the table". Filling it with only characters that haven't been done before, specifically to tie into a line that is 20 years old and (in many cases) hard to find, is going to kill this quicker than anything. My point is that the Voyager characters aren't a good substitute for heavy hitters like Kirk, Spock, Picard, etc., and that isn't going to gain them much in the way of new collectors. I'm happy they want to do deep-cut characters, but I see it as a losing strategy to ONLY do those. You have to find a way to attract those folks who might be new to collecting, or who simply missed out 20 years ago.
I have the original series crew from DST, and I'm perfectly happy if we get characters like Chapel and Rand to round them out, but there are MANY who don't have any of these characters at all, and they aren't likely to start if they can't get core members of the crew. Yes, Seven of Nine could work as an anchor for a wave IF the line had been going for at least a few waves and had gotten some of the bigger names in there.
I'm absolutely one of those people that don't have a DST collection and am not going to spend a dime on this line unless it supplies me the foundational characters in their most well known looks. I was collecting toys 20 years ago, but mostly only Transformers and definitely not 6-7" scale figures. I can't just build a Star Trek collection on Kirk in his gangster outfit and Data as Sherlock Holmes or whatever, along with super obscure characters I barely remember.
I'm gonna guess I'm far from alone in seeing the entire line as an easy pass without the basics being provided. And I would have bought some of the obscure figures if I could know I'd be putting them on a shelf with the meat and potatoes figs I really want.
I understand completely that's what Nacelle wants to do, but I think it's a huge mistake, and including anchor characters shouldn't be "off the table". Filling it with only characters that haven't been done before, specifically to tie into a line that is 20 years old and (in many cases) hard to find, is going to kill this quicker than anything. My point is that the Voyager characters aren't a good substitute for heavy hitters like Kirk, Spock, Picard, etc., and that isn't going to gain them much in the way of new collectors. I'm happy they want to do deep-cut characters, but I see it as a losing strategy to ONLY do those. You have to find a way to attract those folks who might be new to collecting, or who simply missed out 20 years ago.
I have the original series crew from DST, and I'm perfectly happy if we get characters like Chapel and Rand to round them out, but there are MANY who don't have any of these characters at all, and they aren't likely to start if they can't get core members of the crew. Yes, Seven of Nine could work as an anchor for a wave IF the line had been going for at least a few waves and had gotten some of the bigger names in there.
I'm absolutely one of those people that don't have a DST collection and am not going to spend a dime on this line unless it supplies me the foundational characters in their most well known looks. I was collecting toys 20 years ago, but mostly only Transformers and definitely not 6-7" scale figures. I can't just build a Star Trek collection on Kirk in his gangster outfit and Data as Sherlock Holmes or whatever, along with super obscure characters I barely remember.
I'm gonna guess I'm far from alone in seeing the entire line as an easy pass without the basics being provided. And I would have bought some of the obscure figures if I could know I'd be putting them on a shelf with the meat and potatoes figs I really want.
This describes my feelings on the line too. I hear Brian keeps mentioning Playmate’s 90s line as an example of what he’s hoping to do by bringing in niche characters. Playmates didn’t do that without giving us our mains first. I n order for this line to succeed it will have to give us those figures that have been done 100 times over already because nobody wants a stand alone Jelicho with all the bells and whistles to put next to an inadequate Picard with late 90s-early 2000’s aesthetics. They are shooting for a line of at least 100 figures but the core characters in their most recognizable looks can be taken care of in about 40 figures. Seems like something that could realistically be accomplished and still give us a diverse and comprehensive line of figures.
@detectivehoag You joke with those Kirk images, but they mention Kirk in wave 2 being a version never made as a figure before. So...one of those versions may happen. And they specifically mention accessories as if they'll the idea of such a niche look.
Regarding making Voyager characters anchors for each wave. It's not a horrible idea. They've never had 6-7" figures. And we're not talking about making each wave centered on them. Just putting one main character per wave. Not a radical change to what they're doing but at least it would be a sign they're willing to make main characters in their most popular looks.
I don't know. This line just fills me with so much doubt. There's almost a stubbornness to the approach. If Nacelle is going to just keep making this line no matter if the sales are good or not. And be willing to eat the costs until main characters in iconic looks are finally made...well then great. But it's so easy to see this line just not succeeding. It's not a good sign so many people are complaining about the lack of main characters in iconic/default looks. Hopefully, sales are just good enough for it to continue until a slight adjustment in the approach of character selection is made.
If each wave is 10 figures, how about 1 main character from each of (TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager, Enterprise) and then 5 minor/cameo characters. Maybe Kirk, Spock, Picard, and Data could stand to be in variations. Actually, I'd alternate Enterprise characters to every other wave.
@detectivehoag You joke with those Kirk images, but they mention Kirk in wave 2 being a version never made as a figure before. So...one of those versions may happen. And they specifically mention accessories as if they'll the idea of such a niche look.
Regarding making Voyager characters anchors for each wave. It's not a horrible idea. They've never had 6-7" figures. And we're not talking about making each wave centered on them. Just putting one main character per wave. Not a radical change to what they're doing but at least it would be a sign they're willing to make main characters in their most popular looks.
I don't know. This line just fills me with so much doubt. There's almost a stubbornness to the approach. If Nacelle is going to just keep making this line no matter if the sales are good or not. And be willing to eat the costs until main characters in iconic looks are finally made...well then great. But it's so easy to see this line just not succeeding. It's not a good sign so many people are complaining about the lack of main characters in iconic/default looks. Hopefully, sales are just good enough for it to continue until a slight adjustment in the approach of character selection is made.
If each wave is 10 figures, how about 1 main character from each of (TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager, Enterprise) and then 5 minor/cameo characters. Maybe Kirk, Spock, Picard, and Data could stand to be in variations. Actually, I'd alternate Enterprise characters to every other wave.
The question is “How stubborn is Brian going to be about not budging on his stance on not doing characters in looks that have already been done before?” It’s pretty infuriating if that turns out to be the hill he chooses to die on. It almost makes me wonder if Paramount has a company that’s going to be doing all the standard looks on the characters we are all begging for and what Nacelle is doing is taking care of all the supporting niche characters? This actually would not be a bad idea actually. It splits the risks over two separate companies. Maybe it could be DST? Brian did hint that the licensing for everything from 2009 Star Trek and all the current shows were not available even though he wanted those too. DST is really top notch now with figures like their Lord of the Rings offerings! If Nacelle and DST were collaborating that would truly be epic!
For me it's really a bit frustrating. I like deep cut characters, but if I'm never going to get the core characters in their basic looks I have a hard time buying into this line at all. I really want to support it since it's so rare to get good Trek figures, but I can't bring myself to invest hundreds of dollars in just deep-cut characters that I'm marginally interested in. I could justify it if I knew I was building to a complete collection that would include the classic figures in classic outfits that I want. I'm fine with the majority of a wave being obscure characters or outfits, but even one core or two characters in a classic uniform a wave would make me more enthusiastic. Make something for everyone, the die-hard fans and the casual collectors.
https://images.app.goo.gl/PrA2WG7whWXDQ1xt9
Figures from The Original Series “Spectre of the Gun” have never been made. If Nacelle Toys just made the gun belts removable and included Phasers, Communicators and Tricorders to replicate the original beam down to the Melkotian planet we would be well on our way to a complete TOS crew! Voila!
I have a different take on all of this. As a toy collector and Star Trek fan, I'm so tired of seeing attempt after attempt at getting a modern ST toy line fizzle and die after one or two waves. Go all the way back to Star Trek 2009 where the toy line for the big budget movie died before they could even finish the build-a-bridge playlet. Since then we've gotten half-hearted attempts from other toy lines that give us Kirk, Spock, Picard, Data, then done. Rinse and repeat with the next hapless license holder. People say they want the foundational characters before getting the deep cuts? Well the sad fact is these ST lines die even with the foundational characters coming right out of the gate and if this new toy line did the same thing there would be no reason to believe they would not do the same.
I applaud this move. The kid from WOK who dies at his post and smears his blood on Kirk's nice white shirt being put into wave one??? That's ballsy. I love it! Let's assume this line is going nowhere regardless (if you look at history, that wouldn't be a wild assumption). Just give me something fresh and new in the time we have. I have a Star Trek display with the heavy hitters already (mostly Playmates). I'll take something new, please.
The kid from WOK who dies at his post and smears his blood on Kirk's nice white shirt being put into wave one??? That's ballsy. I love it!
That's not just any kid, that's Scotty's nephew and he Escaped to Witch Mountain as youngster!
I have a different take on all of this. As a toy collector and Star Trek fan, I'm so tired of seeing attempt after attempt at getting a modern ST toy line fizzle and die after one or two waves. Go all the way back to Star Trek 2009 where the toy line for the big budget movie died before they could even finish the build-a-bridge playlet. Since then we've gotten half-hearted attempts from other toy lines that give us Kirk, Spock, Picard, Data, then done. Rinse and repeat with the next hapless license holder. People say they want the foundational characters before getting the deep cuts? Well the sad fact is these ST lines die even with the foundational characters coming right out of the gate and if this new toy line did the same thing there would be no reason to believe they would not do the same.
I applaud this move. The kid from WOK who dies at his post and smears his blood on Kirk's nice white shirt being put into wave one??? That's ballsy. I love it! Let's assume this line is going nowhere regardless (if you look at history, that wouldn't be a wild assumption). Just give me something fresh and new in the time we have. I have a Star Trek display with the heavy hitters already (mostly Playmates). I'll take something new, please.
There is the fact that those toys from Playmates for the 2009 Star Trek sucked. They were horrible and they didn’t scale good with any other toys. In 2022 Playmates proved once again that they had absolutely no idea what they were doing with the line. DST chose to do a Wave with every version of one character at a time and this didn’t pan out so well either. I believe they were the first to lead to the idea that only figures of Kirk, Picard, Spock and Data were marketable and every other company after followed suit leading to over saturated core characters and no supporting characters. Now Nacelle is reversing that notion and that just seems like the wrong way of going about things too. They need to pepper this line with the heavy hitters. As Kirk said in TWOK, “ Sauce for the Goose!”
So would a deep cut of a mainline character work? Like TMP Spock in Vulcan attire, Disco Bones, half mutated Geordi, Thomas Riker in clean yellow uniform, Troi Goddess of Empathy, Workout spandex Crusher, Romulan Picard?
@detectivehoag You joke with those Kirk images, but they mention Kirk in wave 2 being a version never made as a figure before. So...one of those versions may happen. And they specifically mention accessories as if they'll the idea of such a niche look.
Regarding making Voyager characters anchors for each wave. It's not a horrible idea. They've never had 6-7" figures. And we're not talking about making each wave centered on them. Just putting one main character per wave. Not a radical change to what they're doing but at least it would be a sign they're willing to make main characters in their most popular looks.
I don't know. This line just fills me with so much doubt. There's almost a stubbornness to the approach. If Nacelle is going to just keep making this line no matter if the sales are good or not. And be willing to eat the costs until main characters in iconic looks are finally made...well then great. But it's so easy to see this line just not succeeding. It's not a good sign so many people are complaining about the lack of main characters in iconic/default looks. Hopefully, sales are just good enough for it to continue until a slight adjustment in the approach of character selection is made.
If each wave is 10 figures, how about 1 main character from each of (TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager, Enterprise) and then 5 minor/cameo characters. Maybe Kirk, Spock, Picard, and Data could stand to be in variations. Actually, I'd alternate Enterprise characters to every other wave.
Actually, I was being serious. Granted, the captions were in humor, but the idea was serious, showcasing examples of how they could incorporate lead characters into the line without redundancies. “Brainless” Spock would be another suggestion.
I wouldn’t not get those. I think it’s great that EXO-6 is doing Disco McCoy. EXO-6 isn’t avoiding doing characters in looks that have already been done though. I am certain that if we get a “Kirok” Kirk and never get his Gold Command Shirt version from Nacelle there will be a whole lot of disappointment among collectors. I think Super7’s recent failure with Star Trek Ultimates had more to do with quality of product not meeting customer’s expectations for where the MSRP was set. I personally thought the face sculpts were some of the best ever. The bodies, showed none of the finer details that Nacelle displayed at NYCC. They looked like the much cheaper Playmates offering and Locutus suffers from very loose hip articulation which was very reminiscent of the action figure of Patrick Stewart from Toy Biz’s X-Men 1999 line. Ironic yes, but unacceptable on a $55 figure that you have to also pay shipping on.
We all want this line to be successful and be readily available on Nacelle’s end cap at our local Walmart. I’m not sure that Peter Preston is going to resonate with Walmart’s inventory management people where Gold Command Shirt Kirk will. Fine Star Trek collectibles in the electronics department right by the collected DVD series sets of Star Trek episodes also has the potential of catching the casual fan who isn’t aware that Star Trek collectibles are even available since the demise of the Playmates line in 1999.
These have the potential of crossing from being niche to mainstream once again because Brian Volk-Weis seems to have those channels of communication open for our input and he also seems to have a grip on realizing the importance of generating a buzz outside of the collector community alone.
Any word of ships? I gotta have that goofy Saladin class
Who was the second figure he teased in that interview? I saw Tuvix but couldn't find the other when scrolling.
But here's the thing: is the Nacelle line a sequel to DST's line or the Playmates line? Character selection says Playmates; size says DST. Message is confusingly mixed.
Considering the sheer number of possible characters the line that would best serve Trek would be a gashapon-style line, imho. Do a 12case of blindbox figures 4x a year. You could get insta-crews plus have slots for niche characters and repaints/gear every 3months.
I'd of course recommend my beloved 18th scale like Hiya's doing in their 'Exquisite Mini' style; but a good 24th style could work well too. Get them to $10 each and it's a winner. This 6"-7" scale $30-40 stuff is simply doomed to ever remotely capture *all* of Trek.
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