And frankly it's not a terrible approach. While there are tons and tons of minor Thundercats characters that I personally would like to have in my collection - the reality is that there is probably no longer a huge number of characters that can sell enough to warrant production of figures.
And that's even more true for something like Silverhawks. Realistically they could do two more waves of Silverhawks and deliver everything I'd ever need.
So I don't mind them winding some things down and shifting focus. That makes sense. Especially with smaller properties
I don't think that's at all the case for something like Transformers though. Transformers has hundreds of characters that could be done if they were selling well. Likewise Power Rangers and GI Joe. I'm guessing that sales on those properties may not warrant continuing to pay the licensing fees I'm sure Hasbro is extracting.
I think the same is true for Disney and Simpsons. There's no way those lines just ran their course. It's that sales numbers don't justify continuing.
But again, I don't mind if stuff like Silverhawks and Conan run their course and end... I just hope they get replaced with new properties I want in the Ultimates scale and style - stay in that MOTU/Tcats wheelhouse and do Blackstar or Thundarr or Herculoids or whatever
@misfit Yeah, and Flynn's comment basically proves how utterly full of shit he is. The majority of current adult collector lines have already surpassed his '4-5' waves. Not just one or two. Like.. most of them. Maybe all of them? He's just an utter failure trying to 'slam dunk' his critics by bringing up a truism from like 1996 when toy companies were just throwing every possible idea at the wall and if it lasted a few waves then great.
But Flynn is unloading his diaper into the playpen of some of the BIGGEST toy brands on earth, in all of history, and being like 'well, many of these brands don't last more than a few waves.' Fuck are you talking about, Brian? Are you telling me that G.I. Joe and Transformers, as brands, just don't have any staying power? That there's a dearth of interest there? Fucking guy couldn't tell it straight with a laser level.
With some of the recent cancellations, has there been any indication as to whether or not the 2nd wave of Spongebob figures is going to make it out? I haven't grabbed any Ultimate figures yet (though Ren and Stimpy and some of the TMNT figures have been tempting) but I am interested in those ones if Patrick and Squidward are a sure thing. Krabs would be great too, but that's probably about as much as I'd want from a Spongebob line.
@theknightdamien I’d give him credit for that statement if it came when they just announced a new license. Otherwise it’s just revisionist history.
@madmaxx yeah, they’re coming out. Per their status page, they’re done and on the water: https://super7.com/pages/pre-order-status-page
I finally bought the Pinky and the Brain playset.
It doesn’t really match the cage from the show and it is hard to photograph through the bars, but it looks great in person and I’m thrilled to have it.
I love it! I’ve kept both with the plan of doing something similar. I just haven’t got around to buying the cage. I’ve thought about using a small rectangular fish tank, just because where I want to put them is high, dusty, and might be hard to see we’ll through the bars.
If you are collecting Simpsons and didn't prepay, March is looking pretty brutal with all three open waves expected to hit at the same time. Nice planning, Super7.
knowing that this is it for the line is probably going to make picking these up a lot less crucial imo
If you are collecting Simpsons and didn't prepay, March is looking pretty brutal with all three open waves expected to hit at the same time. Nice planning, Super7.
knowing that this is it for the line is probably going to make picking these up a lot less crucial imo
You have to think EE, BBTS, and anyone who didn't charge up front is being hammered with cancellations at this point. I would be extremely upset if I had pre-paid at Super 7 and was being stuck with an incomplete line of deep cut variants. It would be one thing if the family had been made because then you could have a little self-contained Simpsons shelf that made sense, but not with what has been released.
@scottg10 - That's a great idea. Where did you find that - is it a guinea pig habitat? A link would be appreciated...
@misfit - I agree, if you think a line has only 12 to 20 characters to make, actually announcing that at the start might help sales. Doesn't mean you have to stop, or means you are promising to get there if sale are bad, but lay that out. I personally am more likely to pay $50 per figure if I know that it is finite and there is a clear plan to get the core of the license made. (RE:Simpsons - you announce that each of the first four waves will contain one classic family member (Homer, Marge w/Maggie, Bart, Lisa), one supporting cast (Krusty, Burns, Moe, Apu), one kid or friend (Milhouse, Ralph, Barney, Ned) and some oddball characters (Scorpio, Tatum, etc.) then I might have been in. Then if that does well, you repeat with variants of the family, and go deeper into the supporting cast...)
I mean, they could have tried to do 3 waves just for Robin Hood in my opinion.
@kingbowser You are right, it is a bit hard to see through the bars and dust is probably going to be an issue for me as well. I’d love to see your fish tank version when you get to it.
@fac Got it from Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NPGMDYL
If you think a line has only 12 to 20 characters to make, actually announcing that at the start might help sales. Doesn't mean you have to stop, or means you are promising to get there if sale are bad, but lay that out. I personally am more likely to pay $50 per figure if I know that it is finite and there is a clear plan to get the core of the license made. (RE:Simpsons - you announce that each of the first four waves will contain one classic family member (Homer, Marge w/Maggie, Bart, Lisa), one supporting cast (Krusty, Burns, Moe, Apu), one kid or friend (Milhouse, Ralph, Barney, Ned) and some oddball characters (Scorpio, Tatum, etc.) then I might have been in. Then if that does well, you repeat with variants of the family, and go deeper into the supporting cast...)
What is even weirder is that this is essentially the approach they DO take with their more successful lines - TMNT, Thundercats - they roll it out with precisely this formula. So the reasoning to do it so differently with Simpsons didn't make sense even from their own business model. Truly a strange self inflicted wound.
I finally bought the Pinky and the Brain playset.
Did you put alittle globe as in "world domination" toy? LOL anybody notice that?
What is even weirder is that this is essentially the approach they DO take with their more successful lines - TMNT, Thundercats - they roll it out with precisely this formula. So the reasoning to do it so differently with Simpsons didn't make sense even from their own business model. Truly a strange self inflicted wound.
That's why I was willing to defend it as Disney interference. I don't know if that holds up over recent comments that the *next* wave of Simpsons would've been the family, but it's like you said; they had a very successful business model *except* for the two Disney properties.
I don't think the character selection had anything to do with Disney. Brian was pretty upfront when the Disney line started that they were making the characters they wanted to make while conceding they basically had to do Mickey in wave 1 (which I interpreted as they recognized the need for the character, not a Disney mandated thing). He claimed that the "Disney Collector" was confused by their approach and I suppose it's always possible he was putting it on that consumer base as a replacement for Disney itself so as to avoid criticizing the licensor, but I doubt it. The only thing he put on Disney itself was they had a lot of feedback on the packaging and wanted each movie to feature distinct graphics and requested the anniversary acknowledgement for Fantasia. It's possible Super7 originally intended for each figure to have a uniform design to the packaging. The whole Disney/Simpsons fiasco can basically be summed up as Super7 doing its own thing with little regard for its consumer base and it biting them in the ass.
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