Questions About The Toy Industry

[Starchamberfall]

You're dead-on about so many things. Or as they say in Britain, "spot-on"...

 

[beaker]

Also... we have to take into consideration that kids can't be kids now. We have too many people basically just rushing kids into their teens (I feel that's completely unhealthy). Kids DO NOT want toys anymore, 20 year old geeks do. You're seen as a baby if you have toys meant for 8 year olds at age 8. Kids want only the expensive gaming products and gadgets. And that hurt the toy industry in 2 ways, I think.... firstly, when the economy was "good" parents spoiled the crap out of their kids and maxxed out their credit cards. Thus, people stopped buying the smaller, cheaper little toys, and they fell through when we were TOLD the economy was good. And of course, I already said the second one... toys are seen as something for kids and kids don't want to be kids anymore. Same thing that's partially killing the animation industry.

And there are so few licenses out there. I only see the same movie stuff, and it has to be the blockbuster stuff, since TRU has stuff like Megamind exclusively (selling like hotcakes, I might add), and EVERY store I know is desperately trying to get rid of their A-Team stuff. Sigh... if only they did A-Team TV show figures as well... And the wrestling toys... thousands of them. I am kicking myself for not getting Captain Lou and Andy Kaufman... but other than the classics kine, there are just SOOOOooo many different figures of the same guys. Not a huge wrestling buff (and I wish Ultimate Muscle did that good), but even I think an entire wall of similar merchandise is a bit much.

I almost cried a tear of happiness when I saw Phineas and Ferb stuff. A COMEDY cartoon with MERCHANDISE? Surely... surely it can't be true. The last time I saw that was the impossible to find Mattel Cartoon Network line! If only there were more cartoons out there that could have this sort of treatment... If only there were more cartoons PERIOD!

As a huge Sonic fan, Im happy to see Sonic stuff selling out the most and fastest at all Toys R Us's it seems. Kids cant seem to get enough of even the more obscure Sonic universe characters.
I dont see anyone buying wrasslin figures, and I think everyone by now is a bit star wars'd out.

 

[Drtooth]

As a huge Sonic fan, Im happy to see Sonic stuff selling out the most and fastest at all Toys R Us's it seems. Kids cant seem to get enough of even the more obscure Sonic universe characters.
I dont see anyone buying wrasslin figures, and I think everyone by now is a bit star wars'd out.

Well, I have a few problems with the Sonic figure assortment, mainly that it took so long to get Dr. Eggman in the line up. I love Sonic and all, but his fan base almost seems controlled by Furries. Dr. Robotnik/Eggman has been with Sonic since the beginning. Even Tails was introduced in the second game. And he's not even sold separately either.

The only people buying Star Wars now are ubercompletists and kids who only watch Clone Wars. The seasonal bobble heads are the only thing really interesting anymore... who doesn't want Zombie Yoda or Vader bearing gifts?

 

[beaker]

Well, I have a few problems with the Sonic figure assortment, mainly that it took so long to get Dr. Eggman in the line up. I love Sonic and all, but his fan base almost seems controlled by Furries. Dr. Robotnik/Eggman has been with Sonic since the beginning. Even Tails was introduced in the second game. And he's not even sold separately either.

The only people buying Star Wars now are ubercompletists and kids who only watch Clone Wars. The seasonal bobble heads are the only thing really interesting anymore... who doesn't want Zombie Yoda or Vader bearing gifts?

Um, Eggman(is he referred to as Robotnik by anyone? I know most fans call him Eggman) has been represented in both the Toy Island and the Jazwares lines. The Jazwares lines are very new. Remember that it began last year with just the 5" Sonic/Knight/Were-Sonic and a few of the super posers. They had to test the market out. I just was at Toys R Us, and they had Jet the Hawk. I mean they are really going for every character. I just hope they make new 5" figures. I admit tho, Im more of a modern Sonic fan as far as the look. I dont like the "retro" cartoon or sonic game art look, but more of the post Dreamcast Adventure and Sonic X style. I LOVE the sculpt of the 5" Sonic, and am very impressed with the Sonic Colors figure packaging.

Also, "furries" might be one small niche into Sonic, but there's a HUGE section of all kinds of people into Sonic. For one, kids love Sonic regardless of gender. And Sonic has this massive following in England, where they even hold Sonic conventions. England and Australia even had "Sega World" theme parks at one point.
Why do you say the "fanbase is controlled by furries"?
I see 16-35 year old hardcore gamers as one of the most visible of fans, as far as the games. As far as the entire "Sonic Universe", it does seem a bit younger. Im a huge fan of both the game canon and the Archie Sonic comic canon. The fact they give Bean, Fang, and the rest of the super obscure characters starring roles is amazing.

I think Generator Rex to me is the only cool new toy line at Toys R Us next to Sonic, probably the only good action cartoon to come out in awhile...tho I admit "TF Prime" is growing on me.
I just do not see the appeal at all of Toy Story 3 toys, Wrestling/UFC, Bakugan, GI Joe, DC/Marvel dinky toys for $10 a pop, and I hate to say it...as much as a I was a massive Star Wars nerd, I just roll my eyes at all the Star Wars(and even Transformers stuff)

I do love Legos, and am glad to see the Lego company come roaring back to heights never seen before. Its like everyone young and old has Lego mania. Heck the two lego aisles at all the stores near me are always selling out, and theres a super busy Lego store at my local mall.

 

[Drtooth]

Um, Eggman(is he referred to as Robotnik by anyone? I know most fans call him Eggman) has been represented in both the Toy Island and the Jazwares lines. The Jazwares lines are very new. Remember that it began last year with just the 5" Sonic/Knight/Were-Sonic and a few of the super posers. They had to test the market out. I just was at Toys R Us, and they had Jet the Hawk. I mean they are really going for every character. I just hope they make new 5" figures. I admit tho, Im more of a modern Sonic fan as far as the look. I dont like the "retro" cartoon or sonic game art look, but more of the post Dreamcast Adventure and Sonic X style. I LOVE the sculpt of the 5" Sonic, and am very impressed with the Sonic Colors figure packaging.

Also, "furries" might be one small niche into Sonic, but there's a HUGE section of all kinds of people into Sonic. For one, kids love Sonic regardless of gender. And Sonic has this massive following in England, where they even hold Sonic conventions. England and Australia even had "Sega World" theme parks at one point.
Why do you say the "fanbase is controlled by furries"?
I see 16-35 year old hardcore gamers as one of the most visible of fans, as far as the games. As far as the entire "Sonic Universe", it does seem a bit younger. Im a huge fan of both the game canon and the Archie Sonic comic canon. The fact they give Bean, Fang, and the rest of the super obscure characters starring roles is amazing.

I'm just annoyed Eggman gets NO love whatsoever. Of all the Sonic products I see, I always see Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Amy... even Rouge... but never Eggman ... at least anymore. With Mario stuff, you ALWAYS see King Koopa. I'm glad Jazzwares has that Eggman (though again, sold exclusively in set as of now), but I never see Keychains, plush, T-shirts (Come ON! I'm dying for a Snoopingas usual shirt), and all that stuff. Again, currently. They used to... just no more.

And I really dislike the random other Hedgehogs they've been doing lately.

And I have that Toy Island one. I HATE it, I feel it was a waste of 6 bucks better spent on that freakin' Retro roto Gutsman I SHOULD have bought... and I hate it's bleeding visible screws.

That said, I wanna know if Jazzwares would ever plan a Sonic Retro line... It would be great of they made AOSTH Robotnik... right up their with his Sonic Adventure/Sonic x design it's my favorite look for him. If I had the money to waste, I'd see if I could find those Australian Sega Theme park water bottles shaped like him.

Oh, and I had to buy Tails at a comic book store... really... why was he so hard to find? And I so plan on getting the Vector/Espio set with the comic... at least after I try to get the Eggman one.

I wish the Mario toys were that good. The figures are decent... but the posable vynals... they only have that one wave, don't they... sigh... I want a Wario. I got a Lemmy Koopa out of a Japanese surprise egg, though...

 

[beaker]

I'm just annoyed Eggman gets NO love whatsoever. Of all the Sonic products I see, I always see Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Amy... even Rouge... but never Eggman ... at least anymore. With Mario stuff, you ALWAYS see King Koopa. I'm glad Jazzwares has that Eggman (though again, sold exclusively in set as of now), but I never see Keychains, plush, T-shirts (Come ON! I'm dying for a Snoopingas usual shirt), and all that stuff. Again, currently. They used to... just no more.

And I really dislike the random other Hedgehogs they've been doing lately.

And I have that Toy Island one. I HATE it, I feel it was a waste of 6 bucks better spent on that freakin' Retro roto Gutsman I SHOULD have bought... and I hate it's bleeding visible screws.

That said, I wanna know if Jazzwares would ever plan a Sonic Retro line... It would be great of they made AOSTH Robotnik... right up their with his Sonic Adventure/Sonic x design it's my favorite look for him. If I had the money to waste, I'd see if I could find those Australian Sega Theme park water bottles shaped like him.

Oh, and I had to buy Tails at a comic book store... really... why was he so hard to find? And I so plan on getting the Vector/Espio set with the comic... at least after I try to get the Eggman one.

I wish the Mario toys were that good. The figures are decent... but the posable vynals... they only have that one wave, don't they... sigh... I want a Wario. I got a Lemmy Koopa out of a Japanese surprise egg, though...

Actually it seems like Metal Sonic is the big favorite now, since they have three different sized figures of him at TRU. Silver the hedgehog and Shadow are also given merchandise as of late.
I love the fat Eggman UFO plushes on ebay. Even cartoon Eggman was cool. I think the only Rogue figure was the rare and impossible to find Toy Island one, a smaller 2" version and a plush. (I SO want the impossibly rare Fang UFO plush)
Oh, and if you want retro Sonic toys, check out First 4 Figures.
They have a bunch of retro Sonic toys representing the 1991-1993 era. They even have 3" bendy toys of retro amy, knux, sonic, sonic cd metal sonic, tails, etc.
Man, you don't like Toy Island Eggman? Love that figure, much better than the dinky one Jazwares just released.
Im also a massive fan of Sonic X the cartoon. I hated all the 90's Sonic cartoons, and am happy they finally did the series justice.

Whoah, you know about the little known Sega World Australia? They had some sweet Princess Sally merchandise, which sadly is beyond impossibly rare. My problem with the Jazwares 3" line is how utterly dismal the quality is. A lot are broken in the packages or just fall apart when you take them out. Their 5" sonic and weresonic are by far their best products IMHO.
Popco only released a few of the Banpresto Mario vinyls from 2006. Now goldie is releasing them in the same packages, putting the same ones out with the little 2" figurines in every store. Sadly, they havent released any new ones. In Japan they had Wario, Hammer Bros, Princess, etc...sadly, the bootleg knockoffs of Banpresto mario and all other mario merchandise is such a problem, that its almost impossible to find authentic banpresto mario figures on ebay.

Btw, did you ever get into the sonic comics? I have to say Ive fallen totally in love with the Sonic Universe series.

 

[Drtooth]

The Toy Island Dr. Eggman was COMPLETELY held together with screws. The plastic they used was cheap... and it felt like it should have came free with a Burger and kid's sized fries. It looked good in packaging though... but when I opened it up I was beyond disappointed. I don't tolerate visible screws in an action figures no matter who makes them. Plus, he lost his articulation quite easily, leaving his arms drooping to the side loosely. I took it apart and tightened the screws only to have it happen again.

Plus that Gutsman was pretty sweet and I NEVER was able to get it ever again. I hear Jazzwares got the Mega Man license again... hope they're the same quality as the Sonic ones this time around. To be fair, they DID make Dr. Wily, but I would have bought a playset for it.

 

[beaker]

The Toy Island Dr. Eggman was COMPLETELY held together with screws. The plastic they used was cheap... and it felt like it should have came free with a Burger and kid's sized fries. It looked good in packaging though... but when I opened it up I was beyond disappointed. I don't tolerate visible screws in an action figures no matter who makes them. Plus, he lost his articulation quite easily, leaving his arms drooping to the side loosely. I took it apart and tightened the screws only to have it happen again.

Plus that Gutsman was pretty sweet and I NEVER was able to get it ever again. I hear Jazzwares got the Mega Man license again... hope they're the same quality as the Sonic ones this time around. To be fair, they DID make Dr. Wily, but I would have bought a playset for it.

You talking about the vinyl "retro roto" figures or the older sets? Ha, I got the playset *just* for the exclusive Wily.


I wonder if we're talking about two different figures. The one I got is the "Sonic Adventure Dr Robotnik" that came with Baby Kiki the monkey and was released in 2000. Totally amazing figure in my view. Though, I never understood figure collector's dislike of visible screws. To me a bigger sin is figures that break apart easily, or have little to no mobility...worst of all is as Ive been complaining about, tiny figures sold for wayyy too much.(They finally released a Mickey Rourke Whiplash which rocks, as much as the Iron Man figures cost too much for what you get)

Also I wonder if I am the only serious toy collector who sometimes prefers kid's meal toys to their toy store counterparts? I mean let's see, big Avatar figures for a buck versus tiny cheap ones for $10. Happy Meal toys are amazing to me, especially Mcdonalds. I lovvvve the Monsters Inc and Monsters vs Aliens Mcdonalds toys compared to the store bought ones.

Im a huge supporter of Jazwares, but again I have no idea why they have such bad quality on their 3" line. They should have made them more solid, instead of trying to put the articulation into them that large figures have. I can forgive the quality on
the say, Palisades Invader Zim line(known to easily snap and break) because they were trying to put impossible cartoon like
detail and top heavy limbs together.
What did you think of the "Juvi" Sonic or Mugg like Megaman? I cant stand those, as much as I do love "urban vinyl" figures.

By the way, my Target and Walmart is officially only down to
literally less than 10 lines they carry in their toy aisle:
wrestling, dc/marvel, star wars, transformers, ben 10, bakugun, and gi joe, and tron(which are cool but pricey for what you get)
Since Tron is a temporary peg filler, its really just 6-7 toy lines they carry.

I feel bad for kids...man back in the 80's, there had to have been like what, 100 toy lines out at any given time?

 

[Starchamberfall]

Mainstream Comic Book Industry

Do you think there is a connection between the situation in the toy industry and the shape of things at DC/Marvel?

I am a long-time fan of both, and have witnessed who knows how many DC explosions, Marvel implosions and I certainly am rooting for both, but...

It just seems like less, the more they do. And as old hands who once drew for these companies will tell you, the drawing is not up to par, except, interestingly enough, non-traditional, non-comics renderings: paintings, illustrations.

Que penses-tu?

 

[Drtooth]

I honestly never followed major comic book companies, even though I do love most Marvel Characters, and uh... I love Batman from DC... everything about ol' Bats.

Personally, I think it's time for The Tick to make a come back of some sorts. His comics are still being published (though, frankly, I stopped following them halfway through The Tick and Arthur), but I wanna see some more recognition of the character somewhere. Merchandise, perhaps? But I'd LOVE to see a new animated series or a DTV movie... something for adults.

But as far as the fact we have ALL these comic book hero toys go, If they ever made Sam and Max toys, I'd knock a child over to get one. I don't see why they still don't have so much as a Max Plush... I sooo want one that says "Death from Above" when you pull the string. Plus, if they're going to do every single character from the animated Justice League, I wanna see them put out a Static Shock figure. That show was terribly underrated.