When toylines jump the shark

[PNGwynne]

Man-Bat, Catwoman, El Dorado, and Metallo were prototyped/ planned, but there were some more wacky original characters as well.

[EmergencyIan]

^ I thought maybe I was one of the few who didn’t know who some of the second wave characters were. I’ve never been literate into the depths of DC or Marvel. From what you’re saying, it sounds like I wasn’t alone. Well, it’s a shame. Imagine if Cyborg, Shazam, Samurai, Mr. Feeeze and Plastic-Man were in the second wave with Green Arrow and Firestorm...then add some more different villains.

- Ian

[palitoy]

I was 15 when wave 2 came out, I remember thinking Doctor Fate was cool but also thinking 'Do kids know who he is?"

Surprising they didn't look at their best sellers and realized that batman needed more exploring.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Doctor Fate was admittedly a bit of an odd choice. He gave me hopes the rest of the JSA would make the line. Sigh.

The Atom, Hawkgirl, or even Zatanna and Elongated Man would have made more sense, to complete the JLA.

Chris

[EmergencyIan]

I guess I never thought of the Fourth World characters bringing down SP since they tied so heavily into the cartoon. But yeah, they should have spread that entire villain wave out over two or more series and also gave us Riddler, Bizarro, Cheetah, Sinestro, Captain Cold, etc.

Chris

I guess wave 2 didn't help. I was still into the line, however. When the second wave came out with Dr. Fate (apologies to Dr. Fate), etc, they started to lose me. Though, I loved Green Arrow and Firestorm. I just wasn't familiar with a lot of the characters, but I tried to be excited by the wave. Ultimately, I lost interest. By the time wave 3 came out, I had moved on, unfortunately... since it was a pretty nice wave.

Saying that, the first wave was so darn good that I'd revisit my collection time and again and admired it. It brought a smile to my face. Kenner did such a good job with Super Powers!

- Ian

[Bruce Banner]

The NA figures are the same height as MOTU. They were just not as muscular originally. This was changed by the last wave. The NA Thunderpunch He-Man has the original MOTU build and even the twist waist punching action.

I guess that's why I mis-remembered them as being shorter.. their overall lack of dynamic muscularity & size.
They just looked so bland and skinny compared to the original MOTU figures.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I guess I never thought of the Fourth World characters bringing down SP since they tied so heavily into the cartoon. But yeah, they should have spread that entire villain wave out over two or more series and also gave us Riddler, Bizarro, Cheetah, Sinestro, Captain Cold, etc.

Chris

[PNGwynne]

I'd tend to agree with what's been said here about Super Powers & MOTU.

But what about Mego WGSH? For me it was Teen Titans. I didn't find out about these until the mid-Eighties as a collector, but their scale and shorty uniforms ticked me off in relation to the classic Robin. TT, instead of Flash, Green Lantern, Luthor, etc? BS I thought. And as a kid, I was so irked that the Superman movie figure were 12" not 8".

[Werewolf]

But not as much as the change in scale to 3.75". One of the things which wowed me when I first saw the original MOTU figures as a kid was their size.

The NA figures are the same height as MOTU. They were just not as muscular originally. This was changed by the last wave. The NA Thunderpunch He-Man has the original MOTU build and even the twist waist punching action.

[Werewolf]

This may sound like heresy but I blame wave 2's heavy reliance of the fourth world villains.

I totally agree. Wave 2 killed it. Darkseid and his gang were horrendous peg warmers.

[Bruce Banner]

The thematic shift of He-Man with the "New Adventures" line did surprise me at the time.
But not as much as the change in scale to 3.75". One of the things which wowed me when I first saw the original MOTU figures as a kid was their size.
(I did enjoy the New Adventures cartoon, I'll admit.)

[palitoy]

One could argue Super Powers kinda jumped the shark in series 3 by NOT giving us the obvious Supergirl, Batgirl, Nightwing, Riddler, etc. Made-up characters like Golden Pharaoh and Cyclotron were issued instead, along with the Justice Jogger. A lot of the figures planned for the later waves were far more promising.

Wave 3 of Super Powers had a lot of good characters, so it's hard to blame those two.

This may sound like heresy but I blame wave 2's heavy reliance of the fourth world villains. It wasn't a bad idea but maybe too much at once. The shelves here were clogged with Kalibak, Darkseid and Desaad. They were earth toned and drab. A lot of stores here never ordered much of wave 3.

Also, yeah, silly vehicles nobody ordered.

[Werewolf]

I don't think the original MOTU toy line ever jumped the shark. Right up to the end of the line they were releasing some truly fantastic figures like Scareglow, Sorceress, Mosquitor, Blade and Horde Trooper. Great sculpts and fun action features.

I think the property jumped with the New Adventures reboot. They stripped away all the fantasy elements and went pure sci-fi. They also got rid of all the original characters except He-Man and Skeletor. He-Man got turned into a space gladiator and Skeletor became a cyborg with a ponytail. Seriously!

[Iron Mego]

For me, jumping the shark is when a toyline goes off in directions it was never intended to rather than the toy company just make a new line for their new idea.

GI Joe, Big Jim and a lot of lines fit in this category.

An example, in the extreme (made up scenario) --- Have an idea for a new toy line .... Office Worker Warriors .... I LIKE IT !!! ..... How about to save money on tooling we'll reused He Man ? ........... Ok, somehow He Man comes to the present day and works in an office with other "Office Warriors" ... Yea, we can do that ... consider it done.

Done and done.

https://www.entertainmentearth.com/prodinfo.asp?number=FU12409

[Mikey]

For me, jumping the shark is when a toyline goes off in directions it was never intended to rather than the toy company just make a new line for their new idea.

GI Joe, Big Jim and a lot of lines fit in this category.

An example, in the extreme (made up scenario) --- Have an idea for a new toy line .... Office Worker Warriors .... I LIKE IT !!! ..... How about to save money on tooling we'll reused He Man ? ........... Ok, somehow He Man comes to the present day and works in an office with other "Office Warriors" ... Yea, we can do that ... consider it done.