Sci-Fi movies shouldn't have had action figures?

[jds1911a1]

Although come to think of it....

http://www.linkandpinhobbies.com/Graphics/stargate_kawalski.jpg

Despite the fact that it spawned the tv shows, I'm guessing no one is falling over themselves to collect the Stargate movie figures.

while they don't have a collectable value as a toy line (but few lines after 1990 do) they at least made sense at the time. The film was PG, good guy soldiers versus bad guys in egyptian scfi gear, lots of gunfight action, the sculpting was decent and articulation was the standard at the time (post Gijoe RAH big and less articulated was the norm). The film wasn't as successful as it could have been so the toys were less desirable but no film based line lasts long

[MIB41]

I think Lost in Space takes the prize...Run Will Robinson, run!

[Mikey]

Anybody say Stargate (the movie) yet ?

[samurainoir]

while they don't have a collectable value as a toy line (but few lines after 1990 do) they at least made sense at the time. The film was PG, good guy soldiers versus bad guys in egyptian scfi gear, lots of gunfight action, the sculpting was decent and articulation was the standard at the time (post Gijoe RAH big and less articulated was the norm). The film wasn't as successful as it could have been so the toys were less desirable but no film based line lasts long

contextually...

but I don't think this movie has stood the test of time.

Not that Roland Emmerich films aren't good entertaining popcorn movies, but I've found they are not movies I would return to watching over and over again, like say Aliens or Blade Runner (which I think have stood the test of time).

[samurainoir]

it was sucessful enough (they still ended up as a markdown at kb) but the buyers were mostly toy speculators. the same teenagers who were haording comics with variant covers to "get rich" later.
Like Mike I didn't see kids interested in the line.

Those same teenagers are now adults in their twenties and early thirties who hang out on the Spawn forum.
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Just to give some generalized perspective on the popularity of Spawn/McFarlane in comparison to Mego.

And this is pretty consistent with the last time this Spawn discussion came up a few months back, that at any given time there are more than twice the number of Spawn fans online than Mego. Keep in mind as well that Spawn fans also hang around many other general toy forums that have dedicated areas for Spawn/McFarlane.

It might not be our cup of tea, but let's not let the generational gap blind us to the fact that Spawn was arguably the most popular action figure line of the latter half of the nineties, and while there is always speculators, most of them speculate on things they generally like and enjoy at the time. Including Image comics! So it would follow that there would be many of them still active.

[Nostalgiabuff]

i think the xfiles figures were a bad idea. love the show but not really aimed at kids now is it.

[jimsmegos]

I'd have to chime in with the "Austin Powers" lines. The life size "Mini Me" was funny but too creepy.

Thinking about point less action figure lines my big shout out would go to any line based on a video game. Why would a kid want to play with a little hunk of plastic when they can suit up, grab a controller and have their imaginations come to life via full color 3D graphics?

Another line that just popped in my head would have to be the "Avatar" line. I mean, what kid really cared that much about the movie?

[samurainoir]

Thinking about point less action figure lines my big shout out would go to any line based on a video game. Why would a kid want to play with a little hunk of plastic when they can suit up, grab a controller and have their imaginations come to life via full color 3D graphics?

Unless we are talking about Mario or Sonic, I don't think it's kids that are buying Halo and Resident Evil action figures.

My brother is solidly "Generation Nintendo" in his late twenties and he's got the McFarlane Halo figures all over his computer desk while he's engaging in online gaming.

Definitely "Nerd Hummels".

[Brue]

Scully has long since been disposed of but my 3 year old daughter LOVES this guy



she takes him in the bath most of the time

we call him creepy man he is really cryopod

[jds1911a1]

Those same teenagers are now adults in their twenties and early thirties who hang out on the Spawn forum.
SPAWN.COM Message Board - Powered by vBulletin

I've pointed this out previously, but a quick comparison of stats right now...

Spawn Board
Currently Active Users: 392
Threads: 119,710, Posts: 3,638,030, Members: 31,027

Mego Museum
Currently Active Users: 143
Threads: 34,563, Posts: 495,396, Members: 3,391

Just to give some generalized perspective on the popularity of Spawn/McFarlane in comparison to Mego.

And this is pretty consistent with the last time this Spawn discussion came up a few months back, that at any given time there are more than twice the number of Spawn fans online than Mego. Keep in mind as well that Spawn fans also hang around many other general toy forums that have dedicated areas for Spawn/McFarlane.

It might not be our cup of tea, but let's not let the generational gap blind us to the fact that Spawn was arguably the most popular action figure line of the latter half of the nineties, and while there is always speculators, most of them speculate on things they generally like and enjoy at the time. Including Image comics! So it would follow that there would be many of them still active.

Mego is a specialized fan base sure but also the spawn generation as a whole is completely entrhalled with blogging, facebook etc. but Mego was a toy line bought for children who have now grown up into collectors (the same is true for GIJOE and Transformers) spawn is a line that was bought by older collectors from the beginning which is the only statement I am making it wasn't bought for or by children. I doubt there will be as strong or as long of a market for spawn as these other lines have had

[samsallspark]

Alright, I will go on the record right here and say that the aliens/predator line ROCKED! and in the defense of hasbro's stargate line, the whole mess with the kenner merger was to blame.

You want a line of sucky action figures for sci fi. TRENDMASTERS Battlestar galactica! While the cylon itself looks fine the rest were aweful)!

[Captain]

Judging by the sheer amount of them still hanging on the pegs, I would have to say the last Star trek film shouldnt have had action figures. (Ok...it should have....better ones though!!)

[samurainoir]

Mego is a specialized fan base sure but also the spawn generation as a whole is completely entrhalled with blogging, facebook etc. but Mego was a toy line bought for children who have now grown up into collectors (the same is true for GIJOE and Transformers) spawn is a line that was bought by older collectors from the beginning which is the only statement I am making it wasn't bought for or by children. I doubt there will be as strong or as long of a market for spawn as these other lines have had

We are both agreed that the main target for Spawn was not children, but teens. My point was to show you the Spawn/McFarlane collectors that are still out there and they are active right now on that forum! If that doesn't illustrate to you that there is a continued interest in Spawn even today, I guess we can agree to disagree about the existence of my obviously mythical made-up sub-culture of Spawn Collectors.

With that said, I think the relevance to the discussion is whether or not Spawn should have had a movie line or not, and your argument for Stargate would hold true right? It's an indisputable fact that Spawn dominated the toy aisles and was a game-changer for the action figure hobby for well over a decade. No one can really deny the financial success of the line, so a line of movie figures would have made perfect sense to McFarlane Toys would it not? The difference being, McFarlane likely made money from the Spawn figures and the Stargate line wasn't a success at all.

Whether Spawn will have any kind of longevity in the coming decades is something that we'll have to see for ourselves from the comfort of our rocking chairs in the golden years.

[jds1911a1]

We are both agreed that the main target for Spawn was not children, but teens. My point was to show you the Spawn/McFarlane collectors that are still out there and they are active right now on that forum! If that doesn't illustrate to you that there is a continued interest in Spawn even today, I guess we can agree to disagree about the existence of my obviously mythical made-up sub-culture of Spawn Collectors.

With that said, I think the relevance to the discussion is whether or not Spawn should have had a movie line or not, and your argument for Stargate would hold true right? It's an indisputable fact that Spawn dominated the toy aisles and was a game-changer for the action figure hobby for well over a decade. No one can really deny the financial success of the line, so a line of movie figures would have made perfect sense to McFarlane Toys would it not? The difference being, McFarlane likely made money from the Spawn figures and the Stargate line wasn't a success at all.

Whether Spawn will have any kind of longevity in the coming decades is something that we'll have to see for ourselves from the comfort of our rocking chairs in the golden years.

We are aguing different points while I don't get spawn, I never said it doesnt have a following, and I could be proven wrong about the long term lifespan of it (only time can tell) but I will also stand by my statement it will never be as big as Gijoe or transformers because it didn't connect with kids at the time.
Now do I feel it should not have had plastic collectible figures no, that's basically what they were. I had an issue with them in the kids toy aisles. Toy execs talk to making stuff for kids while depending on collector sales (the sme is true for the DC universe line)
I have no problem at all with late teen/adult collectibles since obviously that is a HUGE market who spends alot of money as they have few expenses otherwise. if there wasn't that market Sideshow toys, Dragon, and MCfarlane wouldn't exist. I aonly argue that a general release toy line for a film should be a film a kid would actually have seen. most toys based on r rated films fail miserably. Spawn was the exception because of it's older fans and the change in attitude to post 12 year old action figure buying in the 90's (I know in the mid 80's when I was buying a gijoe or transformers I was always "afraid" to be seen by other kids in my high school and end up ridiculed).