Why didn't Galoob dominate the action figure market?

[enyawd72]

In looking at some of the stuff they made in the 80's, I'm amazed they didn't become THE action figure company. Their Star Trek TNG figures are superior to the Kenner Star Wars figures of the same period in almost every aspect. The in-scale sculpts, better paint apps, and they have knee articulation! They're at least as good as Super Powers.

Likewise, Their Defenders of the Earth series blow Mattel's Secret Wars out of the water. Larger scale, incredibly detailed paint apps, knee articulation, and individual painted card art. The paintwork on Ming in particular is amazing! Secret Wars had nice sculpts but everything else was cheaply done. Magneto and Dr. Doom don't even have capes.

[Nostalgiabuff]

on the other hand, the Next gen figures had phasers molded into their hands. i don't know that i would call them superior to Kenners Star Wars figures just because of knee articulation. don't forget they came out a few years after the last release of SW, which i believe was 1985.
I also think secret Wars was cooler looking and although not always acurate in what the figures came with, they were still better or at least on par with the Defenders line

[PNGwynne]

I think the Defenders figures are awfully sharp, although I dislike the die-cast element.

[palitoy]

Thye made great toys but the properties didn't turn kids on, Defenders came when there was a glut of Superhero merch on the market and let's face it, Mandrake was never a big deal. TNG had a shaky start as a series and the Galoob stuff came too soon. Once the show hit syndication Playmates cleaned up with the license, the exact same thing happened with the Simpsons line.

[toys2cool]

I liked galoob but Kenner was way better

[Figuremod73]

I think the best thing I saw Galoob do was the Blackstar line. I did like Defender of the earth. Not as good of a company as Kenner though.

http://www.nightstoneunlimited.com/BlackstarToyStuff.htm

[Werewolf]

I hated the Galoob STNG figures had the phasers molded into their hands. Absolutely hated that. Even with the knee articulation, I don't think they were better than Kenner's SW figures. The little Shuttlecraft was nice but playwise it was a boring line for kids. Luke, Han and Darth are much more fun for kids to play with than Picard, Riker and Q. Their most fun toys in the 80s were A-Team and Blackstar.

[mazinz]

It had to do with the actual lines themselves. Kids (Remember I said kids, not adults) will find Stars Wars always cooler than Star Trek and likewise Marvel Superheros will blow Defenders of the Earth out of the water since you cannot compete with Spiderman and Wolverine

Had Galoob acquired a DC comic license or something along those lines to produce better known characters then that might have made the gears shift towards them

[jwyblejr]

Galoob didn't fair well because Hasbro had the one-two punch of G.I. Joe and Transformers.

[Figuremod73]

Galoob didn't fair well because Hasbro had the one-two punch of G.I. Joe and Transformers.

Along with Heman, that usually was my Christmas.

[B-Lister]

The problem was licenses and timing. Galoob was simply too EARLY with the Star Trek license, and Defenders of the Earth was a weak property. Yes I love Flash Gordon and the Phantom (and even Mandrake). But those characters' heydays were long gone by the 80s which is why the cartoon didn't fare well. Too many opportunities missed and you get absorbed by Hasbro, which is what happened.

[enyawd72]

I agree with what most have said about the weak properties Galoob had to work with, but I would've thought licensors would see the quality of their product and pursue them. I guess Remco was in the same boat though. I think their 3 3/4 monster figures blow away the 3 3/4 Star Wars figures of the same year.

[turnbolt]

But I sure love their A-team, Golden Girl and Blackstar lines.

Too bad the properties were weak.

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

They did a lot of good stuff, but I think the biggest problem was that they were shouted down by lines that had more exposure; like anything from Hasbro/Sunbow. The mid 80's saw a glut of action figures, so it was hard for them to get any press. On top of that, a lot of their stuff was too expensive to go the impulse buy route.

Don C.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Galoob made a butt-load of money off Micro-Machines, though! Which is why Hasbro eventually gobbled them up.

They did make good action figures (the Defenders of the Earth were really, REALLY nicely done figures), but as others said, the properties weren't what kids were after.

TNG had a pretty crappy reception amongst kids when it came out, and no wonder. The show was stuffy and boring in it's first few seasons. Molding phasers in the hands of characters who barely used them didn't help.

Chris