Posted by: @tenime

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I'd like to know if it's the same Krang (or same size, at least) as the Ultimates Bubble Walker we got...

I don't think so. It's exactly the the same size as the original Playmates one is, and the Ultimates Krang is twice as big as the Playmates Krang. 

This review compares the original android body to the Super7 one:

Isn’t it like $85? That’s more than any Ultimates figure. It will pretty much be a statue. I’d wait for a deeeeep discount too, if at all.

I mean, Ultimates Mon*Star was $85...

I managed to find some reviews of the new Krang on YouTube. None come from channels I'm familiar with.

This one (

is the longest, but it's terrible. Skip the first four minutes unless you think Krang "teabagging" April is hilarious. There are some comparisons to other Krangs at the end, but no comparisons to other Super7 figures.

This one ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzeqMusaQe8) is brief and includes a comparison to the original Playmates version. They're essentially the same size so, in theory, this shouldn't scale with Ultimates.

Lastly, this short ( https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4kp8Xt76pwM) at least manages to squeeze in a comparison to a Super7 Donatello. Even though it should technically be even bigger, I think the size works, so if you like everything else you may like it in your collection.

The figure itself though looks super cheap. It's like a well-painted rotocast and I honestly think the vintage version is superior. I don't think the addition of a hamster wheel merits the price tag. Hearing the figure snap together conjures memories of plastic Easter eggs, though admittedly it is that time of year so it's on the brain. Looks like an easy pass for me.

Listening to that new Brian interview. It's your typical same ol' same ol' of truths and excuses and "Well we actually sculpted the things you really wanted but now we can't do anything about it, woops!"

He did confirm that BBTS, EE, and other places are ordering less now though. Which, I think folks figured out going by chatter in this thread.

I watched that interview as well. While I don't expect the head of a company to go out and trash his own product, it still remains incredible to me that he accepts no blame for the fact that customers are ordering less from him and retailers have cut their preorders as well. It was just those wacky, crazy, COVID, times and retailers over-ordered - aww shucks! He could at least acknowledge that they tried some new factories when the supply chain problems were at their height and that the output wasn't the quality they expected. Or maybe they were completely happy with TMNT wave 5 and MMPR wave 1? And the comparison of his product vs what a customizer would do was just silly. No one complains about the paint apps of a Super7 Ultimates by comparing it to what a customizer does. They compare it to what other companies in their field are doing, chiefly NECA since they seem to share a lot of the same licenses these days, and that company puts out better painted stuff at a more affordable price. It just seems like that company needs to adjust how it operates unless this new level of business is fine for them. He was upfront about how preorders dictate what they do, but people aren't preordering in the same numbers they used to. Well Brian, that's because they've felt burned by your company in the past. If they're going to rely on the customer base to do their market research for them they might have a hard go of it going forward. Maybe make a better product and bet on yourself being able to sell something without already having the bird in the hand via a preorder?

I really wonder how much longer Ultimates will run and be a thing.  Even TMNT, which seems to have been their strongest Ultimate's line.

But people are getting burned out by long waits, very hit and miss quality control, and the prices.  And speaking of prices, I imagine before too long Super7 will have to raise prices again on the basic figures.  If $55 is a basic Ultimate now, I could see $60 or $65 being the basic price in a year or so.

Oh, and then there is the fact that with the TMNT Ultimates it seems they can't really, sorta, technically make Ultimates based on the vintage Playmates line, or whatever the Hell is going on there.

I am interested to see what else Super7 can do beyond the vintage Playmates line.  But at the same time, Ultimates of the vintage Playmates line is why I started collecting these, and what I want MOST.

I don't know.  I also can't believe they sell a single ReAction figure.  $20 for a 3.75" Retro style 5 POA figure?  That is crazy.

If these Playmates figures are what they look like, that really takes away any reason to buy the Super7 figures, unless you really need Turtles in 7 inch scale.  Old school toy designs with better articulation, plus actually being allowed to use the old toy designs, and at a much cheaper price.. 

Now this is interesting. But, since it's Playmates, how are they gonna screw up some fundamental detail? Swivel ankles maybe?

@karl_space No paint and super loose joints, probably.

I prefer Ultimates over this, personally, but if Ultimates stops, I might have to go with these instead.

Almost done the latest First Friday w/Flynn. I do really enjoy these interviews because there are interesting behind the scenes tidbits. The idea that the different parts of a production line need to be "Disney certified" gives me more perspective on the two parting ways. 

Ultimately (pun intended) it's in Brian's best interest to do some more research into the high end articulated action figure communities, because it's clear his experience is with static or old school toys and collectibles, and that lens isn't serving him in this market. I'm getting the vibe that he thinks making a figure of the property is enough, like, SilverHawks fans will buy SilverHawks things, so how many SilverHawks fans do we have? Where there are plenty of customers like me who would buy SilverHawks figures if they looked incredible—what he made doesn't look incredible, they look like SilverHawks statues, and they are just too big and too expensive for me to want to buy them if that's all they are. If SHF did a SilverHawks line and released them for $65 each I'd likely get all the main squad. Once someone like wayne_collectors on IG started posing them, I'd start drooling. But S7's were such an easy pass. Outstanding figures at reasonable prices sell reasonably well for the most part, regardless of the IP. My GI Joe collection is proof; I grew up disliking the IP but I love my Classifieds. I wouldn't touch S7's though. 

Their TMNT line is unique since it's a remake of a toy line, not a direct translation of an IP to expensive articulated plastic, and so expectations are uniquely tailored... but even then, people have felt really let down because of QC. I agree with you Misfit, the idea that we're comparing their paint jobs to a customizers is either ignorant or just delusional. I'm comparing S7 to NECA because NECA makes damn gorgeous pieces of art that are for the most part* widely available and affordably priced and sold through major outlets that except returns in case of QC. Every time Flynn tries to caricature his buying audience this way, I can't help but shake my head. 

*eventually and with most lines

@karl_space You nailed it in one. Look at their ankles, you can see the swivel cut. Look at Raphael, the foot is turned. They can't even figure out ankle joints.

@detrimental-fig 

Yup, it's what I noticed, but maybe the pics are just not great? Unlikely, but I'm holding out like 5% hope that there's better articulation there.

On the Flynn interview, I skipped around here and there. The usual stuff. "Why didn't Star Trek fans show up?" Because no one wants $55 Star Trek figures, Brian. Like, there's a fairly simple explanation for all these Ultimates lines drying up that he seems to really want to avoid. I guess I would too if that's the price I had to go with to make things profitable, but there has to be more they could do to cut costs right? I guess we've discussed that in this topic quite a bit, so maybe that's beating a dead horse at this point..

Too soon to tell if this new Playmates line will cause Super7 any harm, at least beyond licensing issues. They may very well just be Mutant Mayhem quality figures that resemble the vintage toy line. If that’s the case they’ll be little more than a novelty and likely not something as successful as MOTU Origins or even Ultimates.

I know some think I go a bit overboard in my criticisms of the man, but I genuinely mean it when I say that I find Brian Flynn to just be such an objectionable blithering asshole. He is so consistent in saying things that ONLY could be stated by someone that IS an idiot, or believes they are TALKING to idiots. That's it. He's either dumb as a bag of used diapers, or a monumentally arrogant cunt. Or equal parts both.

Pre-orders are down because your figures are shoddy. From the design stage to the production stage, they are not made well. Find someone that understands joint tolerances and action figure engineering. And find someone to run the whole thing that actually likes and cares about action figures. Because right now, Super7 fails on every fucking level. If these guys weren't hoarding nostalgia licenses, no one would give a shit about them. That's it. Their entire claim to fame is continuing a line and style made and popularized by a much larger, more innovative company, and then applying that style to as many things as they can get their hands on, Funko POP style.

If MOTUC had never existed, or if Mattel had never allowed Super7 to play in their sandbox, Super7 would be a little 'toys-as-art' indie footnote you've never heard of. They've taken so much fan goodwill and momentum and just squandered it.