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Post by tarkintino on Dec 23, 2017 23:35:58 GMT -5
Unfortunately, it's my generation's nostalgia that's running the show these days. Children of the '80s are far enough into their careers that they have disposable cash and a yearning for simpler times. I know the dudes from the Mego Museum contributed to the series and Mego gets a look (maybe not a whole episode though) and the GI Joe and Barbie episodes are supposed to cover the entirety of the those lines not just the 80s stuff, so while 80s (and even 90s now) nostalgia is what is fueling the bulk of the vintage toy business these days, and the series is driven by that since that is what drives the people who made it, there is at least nods to earlier stuff. -M Mego deserves a multi-part documentary all on its own. Arguably, only Sideshow ever held as many major licenses--many at the same time--and succeeded. From DC & Marvel, Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, The Wizard of Oz, The Waltons and other lines, Mego was a true toy/cultural juggernaut in the 1970s. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2017 23:51:53 GMT -5
I know the dudes from the Mego Museum contributed to the series and Mego gets a look (maybe not a whole episode though) and the GI Joe and Barbie episodes are supposed to cover the entirety of the those lines not just the 80s stuff, so while 80s (and even 90s now) nostalgia is what is fueling the bulk of the vintage toy business these days, and the series is driven by that since that is what drives the people who made it, there is at least nods to earlier stuff. -M Mego deserves a multi-part documentary all on its own. Arguably, only Sideshow ever held as many major licenses--many at the same time--and succeeded. From DC & Marvel, Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, The Wizard of Oz, The Waltons and other lines, Mego was a true toy/cultural juggernaut in the 1970s. True, but the money (and interest) in the vintage toy market right now is primarily in 80s and 90s toys, not 70s toys. That's the age where nostalgia is combining with disposable income and people increasing their collecting. Those of us who were kids on the 70s are a bit longer in tooth, past middle age and likely downsizing collections or have already gotten out, so there's fewer buyers and more supply out there than at any point in the last 20-25 years, and it's the folks in the 80s generation who are driving the market and making decisions about what gets focused on in shows like this. There's still collector's out there for older stuff, but it's a smaller market in terms of interest, and I know a lot of vendors who no longer even bring 70s toys to shows because there isn't enough of a market for it to be worth the space it takes up on the tables that could be used to put more in demand product out there that will turn over faster. Much of the sales in the 70s market is from private collector to private collector. Sure Mego was huge and there's enough out there for a documentary, but they signed their own funeral passing on Star Wars and had lots of mismanagement and funding issues that eventually killed them, and currently there's not enough people out there with the funding, interest, and expertise to make such a film (or series of films). There have been a few books out there about Mego, but after small initial print to order runs they only exist as digital books out there because the market isn't there for larger print runs to be viable let along profitable any more. I love Mego, but it's now a niche in the collector's Market and for many who are curious, the Re-Mego stuff is a better fit because it is more affordable. Time will keep passing and collector's of 70s stuff will continue aging out of the market. A few key lines will continue to be in demand because they have gained new audiences (Vintage Star Wars for example) but others will fall into the cracks of nichedom, a process which has already begun. I love the stuff, but I am an old man in the makret and it's the generations that came after me that are the driving force in the market right now, so I would expect 90s toys to get more love and 70s toys to get less as we move forward as that's where the nexus of nostalgia, disposable income and lengthy collecting career ahead of people not behind them lies. -M |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2018 13:34:14 GMT -5
I watched all 4 episodes of the Toys That Made Us that are available on Netflix last night (I rarely binge watch, but I can do so for documentaries much easier than I can for narrative shows as I want to process each episode of narratives but can take in a lot of documentary info before needing to do so). The episodes (Star Wars, Barbie, Masters of the Universe, and G.I. Joe) were all well done and even though I have varying interest in those product lines, I was engrossed by each episode.
-M
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jan 2, 2018 13:39:40 GMT -5
I watched all 4 episodes of the Toys That Made Us that are available on Netflix last night (I rarely binge watch, but I can do so for documentaries much easier than I can for narrative shows as I want to process each episode of narratives but can take in a lot of documentary info before needing to do so). The episodes (Star Wars, Barbie, Masters of the Universe, and G.I. Joe) were all well done and even though I have varying interest in those product lines, I was engrossed by each episode. -M I watched two of the four during the holiday season with my youngest son. We watched the G.I. Joe and the Star Wars episodes. Those were the two which we had moderate interest as I was a G.I. Joe guy as a child and he had both G.I. Joes and Star Wars toys when he was little. Both episodes were very entertaining. Neither of us has any real interest or ties to Barbie or Masters of the Universe so I'm not holding my breath until we watch either. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2018 13:43:40 GMT -5
I watched all 4 episodes of the Toys That Made Us that are available on Netflix last night (I rarely binge watch, but I can do so for documentaries much easier than I can for narrative shows as I want to process each episode of narratives but can take in a lot of documentary info before needing to do so). The episodes (Star Wars, Barbie, Masters of the Universe, and G.I. Joe) were all well done and even though I have varying interest in those product lines, I was engrossed by each episode. -M I watched two of the four during the holiday season with my youngest son. We watched the G.I. Joe and the Star Wars episodes. Those were the two which we had moderate interest as I was a G.I. Joe guy as a child and he had both G.I. Joes and Star Wars toys when he was little. Both episodes were very entertaining. Neither of us has any real interest or ties to Barbie or Masters of the Universe so I'm not holding my breath until we watch either. There were surprisingly interesting things in each of those episodes, as like you I had little interest in either line. The Masters of the Universe episode surprisingly features a bit on Frazetta art and its influence on the creation of the line of toys initially, and the Barbie episode explored the origins of Barbie in a German erotic comic strip character that Ruth Handler essentially stole the look for for Barbie. There was enough interesting things in both to hold my interest through each episode. -M PS oh and the filing the nipples off scene in the Barbie episode was funny enough in itself to make the episode watching |
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,860
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Post by shaxper on Jan 4, 2018 12:01:37 GMT -5
I'm not generally a fan of statues, but I'm wondering if anyone ever produced one of Superman as The Krypton Man:  I'd really like one for my desk. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2018 15:38:56 GMT -5
The hot new toy of 1986...The Interchangables...  hmmm looks familiar...  This is the compnay that bought all the Mego molds & toolings when Mego went out of business and this was their attempt to revive/reinvent the Micronauts line under their own branding (as they didn't get any of the copyrights or trademaks for Micronauts when they got the molds. -M |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2018 11:55:24 GMT -5
The Pop! we never knew we needed:  |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2018 0:37:10 GMT -5
If anyone was interested in the first Wave of Star Wars Forces of Destiny dolls but was put off by the price, the entire wave is on clearnace at great prices at Walmart.
I am waiting on wave 2 (I think March, but Chewie might be out already)
-M
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2018 0:21:04 GMT -5
Toys R Us today announced they are closing over 180 stores in the US over the next few weeks as part of the their bankruptcy reorganization. We have one a few towns over (near the Half Price Books I go to) but I rarely stop in, never find anything when I do and when I see stuff I bought elsewhere it is priced higher than I paid for it at retail, so I am not shocked they are not doing well. The customer service at the one near me is horrid, it's poorly organized, the shelves are full of peg warmers and damaged packages still at full price, and it just seems poorly run and a far cry form the fond memories I used to have to TRU when I was younger.
-M
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Post by The Captain on Jan 25, 2018 7:43:21 GMT -5
@mrp - there are four TRU in the Pittsburgh area closing down as well. I go into the one nearest my house a couple of times per year, usually when my younger daughter has gift money she wants to spend, and I completely agree with your assessment. When I heard the news, the only thing I thought of was "when do the markdowns start", because they do have a decent selection of Funko Pop at that location that I wouldn't pay full price for but might be persuaded to pick some things up at a discount.
And for me, it was always Children's Palace growing up, as TRU did not come into our area until after I was out of the toy phase of my younger days.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2018 18:54:06 GMT -5
The Captain & @mrp ... There is one TRU in my area and the business is doing well and I go there about 3-4 times a year and the staff, toys, and everything else is in good shape ... and there is a Babies R Us too nearby. My sister-in-law (A grandmother of 8 kids) go their monthly and she have no troubles finding stuff and generally done her shopping about 45 minutes or less.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2018 19:08:16 GMT -5
There are two Toys R Us in Albuquerque and one is closing.
I like that one a little more but that probably because I go less often. Still, I won’t complain since I was worried both would close.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2018 18:41:40 GMT -5
Mego Meet is being held in Columbus this year, I might go for the day on Sunday (can't make the Saturday)...
-M
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 8, 2018 19:10:14 GMT -5
Mego Meet is being held in Columbus this year, I might go for the day on Sunday (can;t make the Saturday)... -M That looks like someplace I could get myself in a passel of trouble. |
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