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Post by MRPs_Missives on Aug 20, 2024 17:24:11 GMT -5
Side 4 contents, carded Super Powers... I have picked up doubles of some of these on clearance (and an extra Beetle to go with the Bug), and those have been opened and are on display elsewhere, but these are what I have still on the card... I've missed some of these that our local Walmarts never got, and am looking for some of the new wave, so there may be some additions to these if I find them. Mego and Super Powers are the only lines I am buying currently, since the Marvel Retro 3 3/4 line was discontinued. There's rumors that Super Powers may be cancelled as well as nothing new was debuted at SDCC, and there's been lack of any mention of new stuff to be debuted at NYCC, plus the Kickstarter they did for some new vehicles failed to fund, and lots of stuff is getting clearanced at Walmart. Collectors these days seem to favor the larger 6-7 inch scale and smaller lines aren't selling well. The wave with Guy Gardner, Metamorpho et. al may be the last one. We'll see. There's been a line of REH action figures announced that has piqued my interest, I am just waiting to hear what the MSRP is on t, to decide if it is something I want to try to get or not. -M
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Post by MRPs_Missives on Aug 23, 2024 14:52:19 GMT -5
So apparently the McFarlane Super Powers crowd-funding campaign successfully funded in its final days. Sort of. When it launched, the goal was $600K. With a few weeks to go they were nowhere near that mark, so they extended, and discretely lowered the goal to $145K. With the extension, it finally hit the $145 mark, so yay, successfully funded. Except they had to move the goalposts near the end of the campaign to make it look like a success. And the scuttlebutt is they had to cut a deal with one of the big online toy stores like Entertainment Earth of Big Bad Toy Store to make a massive pledge at the end at an extreme discount on the wholesale prices to get it over the finish line even then (again this is rumor not confirmed).
This, combined with nothing scheduled to be announced for the line at NYCC in just a couple of months, has people conjecturing that the line may be discontinued. It's a line that has more repaints and variants than female figures released (there's only been 1-Wonder Woman), and whole waves of figures and vehicles seem to find their way to the clearance racks within weeks of their appearing at Walmart (each of our two local Walmarts had 20+ John Stewart figures on clearance for $3-$4 each and several Wonder Woman, Deathstrokes, and Nightwings at similar prices to try to get rid of that overproduced wave (and they weren't put out on the pegs until the previous wave sold out, which was months after the second wave was available online through places like EE and BBTS) and Batwings and Super Mobiles were priced at $5 each at our local Walmarts for about 3 weeks after last holiday season (the few that are left are still on clearance but now only marked down to $15, not sure what happened there).
I really like this line, and the fact it is hitting some B and C list characters (like Metamorpho and Guy Gardner) and it gave me a Bug to own, but it is not passing the eye test as a successful line, for whatever reason. I am just not sure this scale (3 3/4) has enough appeal in the current market for a line of it to be viable long term. The Kenner Marvel Legends Retro 3 3/4 line suffered the same fate. The Spin Masters line of DC started well, and still has some presence, but they are less expensive, and aimed at younger market that actually plays with the toys, and not the adult collector market, which things like the Super Powers and Marvel Retro line are clearly aimed at because of the nostalgia factor. But that collector demographic seems locked into the 6/7 inch scale or the high end 1/12 stuff from Mezco and the like, not the small scale. They key for the 3 3/4 scale, from the initial Star Wars figures form Kenner, through G.I. Joe and onward was that it was scaled well for vehicles and playsets, whose sales propped up the figure lines and gave the lines greater shelf presence in toy aisles and toy stores. That environment and market doesn't exist anymore and playsets are solely the purview of crowdfunding these days, and even the vehicles for lines like Super Powers aren't cutting it. The 3 3/4 line seems to have been relegated to cheap figures geared towards younger kids for actual play or for budget versions of characters intended for discount and dollar stores. There are exceptions-Super 7 for example, but they charge high end prices for limited articulation and paint jobs and are not generally available in the mass market so you have to special order them directly or through select online retailers (like BBTS or EE for example). It doesn't seem to be a scale or product line that can thrive in the existing brick and mortar retail market, as limited as that is. Maybe the upcoming holiday season can extend the life of the line for a bit, but I am skeptical.
-M
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,754
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Post by shaxper on Aug 23, 2024 21:39:38 GMT -5
So apparently the McFarlane Super Powers crowd-funding campaign successfully funded in its final days. Sort of. When it launched, the goal was $600K. With a few weeks to go they were nowhere near that mark, so they extended, and discretely lowered the goal to $145K. With the extension, it finally hit the $145 mark, so yay, successfully funded. Except they had to move the goalposts near the end of the campaign to make it look like a success. And the scuttlebutt is they had to cut a deal with one of the big online toy stores like Entertainment Earth of Big Bad Toy Store to make a massive pledge at the end at an extreme discount on the wholesale prices to get it over the finish line even then (again this is rumor not confirmed). This, combined with nothing scheduled to be announced for the line at NYCC in just a couple of months, has people conjecturing that the line may be discontinued. It's a line that has more repaints and variants than female figures released (there's only been 1-Wonder Woman), and whole waves of figures and vehicles seem to find their way to the clearance racks within weeks of their appearing at Walmart (each of our two local Walmarts had 20+ John Stewart figures on clearance for $3-$4 each and several Wonder Woman, Deathstrokes, and Nightwings at similar prices to try to get rid of that overproduced wave (and they weren't put out on the pegs until the previous wave sold out, which was months after the second wave was available online through places like EE and BBTS) and Batwings and Super Mobiles were priced at $5 each at our local Walmarts for about 3 weeks after last holiday season (the few that are left are still on clearance but now only marked down to $15, not sure what happened there). I really like this line, and the fact it is hitting some B and C list characters (like Metamorpho and Guy Gardner) and it gave me a Bug to own, but it is not passing the eye test as a successful line, for whatever reason. I am just not sure this scale (3 3/4) has enough appeal in the current market for a line of it to be viable long term. The Kenner Marvel Legends Retro 3 3/4 line suffered the same fate. The Spin Masters line of DC started well, and still has some presence, but they are less expensive, and aimed at younger market that actually plays with the toys, and not the adult collector market, which things like the Super Powers and Marvel Retro line are clearly aimed at because of the nostalgia factor. But that collector demographic seems locked into the 6/7 inch scale or the high end 1/12 stuff from Mezco and the like, not the small scale. They key for the 3 3/4 scale, from the initial Star Wars figures form Kenner, through G.I. Joe and onward was that it was scaled well for vehicles and playsets, whose sales propped up the figure lines and gave the lines greater shelf presence in toy aisles and toy stores. That environment and market doesn't exist anymore and playsets are solely the purview of crowdfunding these days, and even the vehicles for lines like Super Powers aren't cutting it. The 3 3/4 line seems to have been relegated to cheap figures geared towards younger kids for actual play or for budget versions of characters intended for discount and dollar stores. There are exceptions-Super 7 for example, but they charge high end prices for limited articulation and paint jobs and are not generally available in the mass market so you have to special order them directly or through select online retailers (like BBTS or EE for example). It doesn't seem to be a scale or product line that can thrive in the existing brick and mortar retail market, as limited as that is. Maybe the upcoming holiday season can extend the life of the line for a bit, but I am skeptical. -M The first wave looked awful, and the vehicles continue to look childish/cartoony. I really love what the line has become, but they tried to play to kids and adults at the same time and did it poorly, I guess. Honestly, if Imaginext would make their figures 3.25 scale, I'd write them a blank check at this point.
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Post by driver1980 on Aug 30, 2024 13:35:57 GMT -5
Thinking about an automotive topic here, covering all the great cars/motorcycles featured in toylines. Does anyone think that’d be of interest to anyone?
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 30, 2024 13:48:45 GMT -5
Thinking about an automotive topic here, covering all the great cars/motorcycles featured in toylines. Does anyone think that’d be of interest to anyone? I'm not exactly a gear-head, but I'd have some interest. Certainly with regard to some historic vehicles (Mego Batmobile, Hot Wheels Red Baron).
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Post by driver1980 on Sept 23, 2024 7:38:50 GMT -5
Someone shared this on Twitter, and I think they’re awesome:
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Post by MRPs_Missives on Sept 23, 2024 15:23:27 GMT -5
I have Flash and Ming loose form that set... Here's an old pic form when I got Flash: I think the best piece from that set is the inflatable rocket ship that was produced for that set... I've never actually seen one in the wild. -M
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Post by driver1980 on Sept 23, 2024 16:28:33 GMT -5
I have Flash and Ming loose form that set... Here's an old pic form when I got Flash: I think the best piece from that set is the inflatable rocket ship that was produced for that set... I've never actually seen one in the wild. -M Any interest or collecting history in the Defenders of the Earth figures that Galoob produced?
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Post by MRPs_Missives on Sept 23, 2024 18:32:58 GMT -5
The only Defenders of the Earth stuff I have are the recent NECA figures. The other Flash Gordon lines I have things from are the Mattel line mentioned above, the Mego 10 inch line (I only have Zharkov), the 90s Playmate lined based on the really bad 90s animated series and the Biff Bang Pow movie figures in 3 3/4 inch scale.
-M
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