Dexter Figure Causes Controversey

[Brazoo]

Wait - I just reread the article - it's not even a group of nutters, just that one goofball and random people on a message board who probably didn't even see the toy!

This to me is a HUGE problem in the media - taking extremely minor position and making it sound like it's an issue.

[Captain]

Yeah, one guy. I think Bif Bang Pow helped play it up a bit themselves...any attention is good right?

[Captain]

[QUOTE=johnnystorm;608712]

When I was a kid there were always stories that Mego wouldnt make a Daredevil figure because it had the word devil in the name. In the early seventies Dodge had to rename their Demon muscle car Dart Sport, due to outrage from the public and the Catholic Church. QUOTE]

And yet we all read comic books about dead children, witches, and demons from Hell and our moms bought them gladly for us (Casper, Wendy, & Hot Stuff)..

Yep, Funny isnt it. ....Actually, I remember there was a tirade against Casper and Hot Stuff back in the past too....Obviously didnt work though. Give some people something to gripe about, no matter how minor an issue, and some of them will make it their lifes work to push their opinions onto the rest of us...Its human nature it seems.

[palitoy]

Yeah, one guy. I think Bif Bang Pow helped play it up a bit themselves...any attention is good right?

Enh, they weren't thrilled about it.

[samurainoir]

It's hard to believe that it's well over two decades since they pulled the Freddy Krueger toys by Matchbox from the shelves. Even harder to believe that he was back exactly a decade later from McFarlane Toys with nary a peep given that he was catered to the growing adult collector community and has been pretty much a constant presence since.

I guess the big difference between Freddy, Jason, etc and Dexter is the fact that you can lump those guys in with more traditional monsters these days. Particularly since there has been a great deal of pop culture camp that has been layered onto them since their debuts three decades ago.

Adult Collectors have been an economic reality in the marketplace for the past 15 years or so, and even a guy I know who's a buyer for Toys R Us Canada has acknowledged that they have been servicing that demographic in addition to their main target, which are the kids and parents.

I really can't imagine ANY kid showing much interest in a Dexter action figure, when there are so many other colourful characters and figures to choose from.

It's not like Scarface, Don Corleone, Patrick Bateman, Sweeney Todd, Hannibal Lector, The Crow and the McFarlane Monsters series 3 (featuring Vlad the Impaler, Elizabeth Bathory, Jack the Ripper, Rasputin, Attila the Hun and Billy the Kid) haven't graced the toystore shelves in recent years.



At least Dexter is a "Good Guy" that only kills the "Bad Guys". Not much difference between him and The Punisher, only kids would be more interested in the Punisher because he's kinda sorta Spiderman's buddy (and has been known to hang out with Archie).

[Werewolf]

I've never been personally fond of toy stores that primarily cater to children carrying figures from R rated movies. Freddy, Jason, Leatherface, etc. I also think it's an odd choice because the figures don't appeal to TRUs main demographic, children, and they never seem to sell very well. But My dislike of it is on the level of that's kinda of odd and a bit of poor taste but shrugs whatever life goes on.

On kind of a related note, I think sometimes adult collectors overemphasize their importance at a retail level at a store like TRU. Yes, they want our business and obviously cater to us to a degree but if it wasn't for their main market, children and families, they would be out of business. The few Dexter or Freddy figures they sell is an absolute pitance in comparison to the huge sales of kid lines like Clone Wars, Barbie and Nintendo.

[samurainoir]

I've honestly never understood the mentality that any retail outlet is incapable of servicing multiple demographics. These days video games for example are as much in the realm of adult consumers as kids, and even Toys R Us reflects this despite the fact that they also sell adult games. The simply rack accordingly, and in most cases, packaging pretty much tells you what is for kids and what is for grownups.

Think of it like a bookstore (and this is what comic book stores should be doing). Most of the bookstore is one entire "adult section" and a specific kids section. It's not like Freddy and Dexter are placed next to Fisher Price. We are all in agreement that Toys R Us is primarily making their money from kids and parents, but I've noticed that the stuff aimed at adults tends to be in one fairly small section in the boys action figure section. Not quite sure there is much in the way of harm there. Most kids really have no interest in a Dexter Action figure or Kiss or whatever is the popular flavour amongst the adult collectors this month.

However, given the fact that it takes a tremendous amount of money to produce an action figure line, given the costs of prototyping and tooling and manufacturing and marketing and shipping and distribution. To say that adult collector lines don't sell very well seems very short sighted. It might not be billions that Star Wars, Transformers etc make, but SOMEONE is certainly making money off of Freddy toys given the fact that there have been about two dozen figures in the past decade in all shapes and sizes. If they didn't sell well, then they wouldn't keep making them.

[ctc]

>It's interesting to speculate on these folks psychologically and why other toy villains don't bother them.

Time. Old=harmless in most people's minds 'cos old means "no longer pertinent." It also means "familiar" for concerned parents. Hence "Back in Black" freaking people out in the 80's, but being used for the tv ads for "Lilo and Stitch" in the 00's.

Don C.

[ODBJBG]

I could see Parents getting upset if their kid came back to them with this when setting them loose in a TRU. That said, it goes to the same thing as TV or anything else... BE A PARENT!

Don't buy your kid a Dexter toy. Problem solved. Violent show on TV? Change the channel.

I would disagree that collectors don't have a stake in TRU, either. All TRUs have a big collector aisle now. A whole aisle dedicated to the stuff on both sides in most TRUs. If that wasn't making TRU money, then they wouldn't do it. TRU changed it's business model in the last few years specifically to cater to older collectors as well as kids, because they were losing money bad in their old "only kids toys" model.

Collectors haven't single handedly saved TRU or anything, but they have been a big part of that puzzle that's helped the company turn around big in recent years. Unfortunately stuff like this threatens to rip that away. Because trust me, TRU will cater to these wackos instead of their buyers.

[BifBangPow! JLabs]

Hi! Good points everyone - we appreciate the open and non-hostile dialog.

First, if you are interested, please read our official response here:
Bif Bang Pow!: Man Raises Concerns Over 'Serial Killer' Doll

#2 - We didn't make this controversy up. Had we done so, we would have properly stocked more Dexter action figures for this holiday season. The action figure featured in the story has sold out directly because of this attention. So yes - we couldn't have asked for better publicity, but no, we didn't properly prepare for it.

#3 - I read the point being made that Dexter is a fictional character that exists in the "real" city of Miami - and that's where some people are drawing the line. Well, last time I checked my Twilight history, Edward Cullen and friends also exist in our real world. Edward Cullen is a murderer and Mattel made a Barbie Doll of him that has been marketed towards children. Our Dexter action figure is not marketed towards children. Bottom line? I hate to break it to people, but fictional characters that "exist" in real locations are still fictional.

#4 - There is no law that says Toys R Us must only sell items to children. They sell adult video games and many other items geared towards adults, as already discussed in this thread.

#5 Jeff McGinnis from the Toledo Free Press is just one of a small number of media outlets that contacted us directly for an official response. Nice read here:
McGinnis: Killers for kiddies? | Toledo Newspaper

What else? It wouldn't be the end of the world if two more people got upset about our The Venture Bros. and The Twilight Zone 8-inch Re-Mego action figures, coming soon to a Toys "R" Us store near you.

[Zemo]

Hi! Good points everyone - we appreciate the open and non-hostile dialog.

First, if you are interested, please read our official response here:
Bif Bang Pow!: Man Raises Concerns Over 'Serial Killer' Doll

#2 - We didn't make this controversy up. Had we done so, we would have properly stocked more Dexter action figures for this holiday season. The action figure featured in the story has sold out directly because of this attention. So yes - we couldn't have asked for better publicity, but no, we didn't properly prepare for it.

#3 - I read the point being made that Dexter is a fictional character that exists in the "real" city of Miami - and that's where some people are drawing the line. Well, last time I checked my Twilight history, Edward Cullen and friends also exist in our real world. Edward Cullen is a murderer and Mattel made a Barbie Doll of him that has been marketed towards children. Our Dexter action figure is not marketed towards children. Bottom line? I hate to break it to people, but fictional characters that "exist" in real locations are still fictional.

#4 - There is no law that says Toys R Us must only sell items to children. They sell adult video games and many other items geared towards adults, as already discussed in this thread.

#5 Jeff McGinnis from the Toledo Free Press is just one of a small number of media outlets that contacted us directly for an official response. Nice read here:
McGinnis: Killers for kiddies? | Toledo Newspaper

What else? It wouldn't be the end of the world if two more people got upset about our The Venture Bros. and The Twilight Zone 8-inch Re-Mego action figures, coming soon to a Toys "R" Us store near you.

Good for you guys

[pmwasson]

What else? It wouldn't be the end of the world if two more people got upset about our The Venture Bros. and The Twilight Zone 8-inch Re-Mego action figures, coming soon to a Toys "R" Us store near you.

More Mego-like figures in Toys R Us? Awesome.

I'm upset that they aren't there yet!!!

[Werewolf]

Well, last time I checked my Twilight history, Edward Cullen and friends also exist in our real world. Edward Cullen is a murderer and Mattel made a Barbie Doll of him that has been marketed towards children. Our Dexter action figure is not marketed towards children. Bottom line? I hate to break it to people, but fictional characters that "exist" in real locations are still fictional.

Twilight is a PG13 movie with sparkly vampires directed at tween girls. Dexter is a show about a serial killer directed at adults. Vampires are also mythical. Serial killers are not. Honestly, Not a fair comparison there.

Other than that, congrats on your sales and publicity.

[MegoSteve]

#3 - I read the point being made that Dexter is a fictional character that exists in the "real" city of Miami - and that's where some people are drawing the line. Well, last time I checked my Twilight history, Edward Cullen and friends also exist in our real world. Edward Cullen is a murderer and Mattel made a Barbie Doll of him that has been marketed towards children. Our Dexter action figure is not marketed towards children. Bottom line? I hate to break it to people, but fictional characters that "exist" in real locations are still fictional.

We all know these characters are fictional. My argument was that there's realistic fiction and unrealistic fiction. It might be irrational, but that's why parents aren't up in arms about the Joker or about Twilight, for that matter. As Werewolf said, serial killers exist in the real world; vampires don't.

#4 - There is no law that says Toys R Us must only sell items to children. They sell adult video games and many other items geared towards adults, as already discussed in this thread.

There's also no law that says a parent can't get upset at seeing a serial killer hero action figure at Toys R Us hanging in the same aisle as the Retro Action figures. I wouldn't care all that much, but I can see where those people are coming from. It's not totally out of left field. 99% of Toys R Us marketing is geared towards children and their parents.

Like I said before, I'm not going to get all up in arms over this, but it's just an odd choice for Toys R Us to even carry this. The controversy has more to do with Toys R Us's choice to carry it rather than your choice to make it as an adult collectible. I'm glad it's sold well as a result.

[BlackKnight]

I saw this figure on the shelf today.
Right next to them Bloody Arse non talked about Resident Evil figures.