Most over-rated toyline of all time? What is yours?

[Captain]

Skeleton Warriors.

I was at one of the licensing/marketing meetings for this line, and the creators and Playmates thought they had the hottest thing going since GI JOE himself hit the stands. They really thought this would be a massive hit, and wouldnt listen to any of the naysayers.

I made the mistake of saying I didnt think it would sell to one of the licensors after the meeting....OH BOY did he get mad. Seriously, almost violently angry....never did get any more work from him.....especially after the line did tank!

[huedell]

I think the whole Star Wars toys thing is the most overrated...

...The only reason Kenner got those dinky, poorly articulated, and ugly SW figures up and going was b/c of the movies and their hype. The same might
have been said of the WGSH & Star Trek Megos, with their licensed lead-ins. However, with the exception of POTA (maybe), none of those properties were anywhere near as hot as Star Wars. How many of you who were kids in 1977 would have preferred 12 or 8 in. figs? I know I would have! (esp. 8-in.). Bottom line, the kids took what they could get! And the hype made 'em think that was what they really wanted!

It was not that 3 & 3/4 format that captured any imaginations. The rage for 3 & 3/4 did not translate well into other lines (GI Joe excepted, and those were MUCH better figs than SW, IMO). Micronauts, Buck Rogers, Galactica, et al were probably less successful than AHI/Lincoln 8-in knock-offs/follow-ons were in fishtailing on Mego's success. I'd even stack the 8-in Super Joes success up against some of those failed 3 & 3/4 figs.

There's no way the SW toy line would ever have achieved its success w/o the movie, and I can only imagine how much more popular Star Wars Megos would have been!

JamesD

Hmmmm...

Many thoughts on this.

The one that is clear to me is that wasn't the price point and
playset adaptability a lot better at that size and that quality?

How about quantity of characters easier to make if they are cheaper?
I think that was a plus too.

[fallensaviour]

3 3/4 inch m*a*s*h 4077 figures???

What was I thinking???
They broke way to easy...
Sculpts were good just not great to play with.

[garagesale]

I think the whole Star Wars toys thing is the most overrated. It's got nothing to do with the first 2 & 1/2 (good) SW movies, which I love.

Here's my reasoning:

Hasbro & Marx made success with the 12 in. lines in an honest way: kids loved them.

Mego boldly struck with 8 in. lines, going bravely where no toy co. had gone before, and that was a wild and honest success also.

Bottom line, little boys loved those toys!

The only reason Kenner got those dinky, poorly articulated, and ugly SW figures up and going was b/c of the movies and their hype. The same might have been said of the WGSH & Star Trek Megos, with their licensed lead-ins. However, with the exception of POTA (maybe), none of those properties were anywhere near as hot as Star Wars. How many of you who were kids in 1977 would have preferred 12 or 8 in. figs? I know I would have! (esp. 8-in.). Bottom line, the kids took what they could get! And the hype made 'em think that was what they really wanted!

It was not that 3 & 3/4 format that captured any imaginations. The rage for 3 & 3/4 did not translate well into other lines (GI Joe excepted, and those were MUCH better figs than SW, IMO). Micronauts, Buck Rogers, Galactica, et al were probably less successful than AHI/Lincoln 8-in knock-offs/follow-ons were in fishtailing on Mego's success. I'd even stack the 8-in Super Joes success up against some of those failed 3 & 3/4 figs.

There's no way the SW toy line would ever have achieved its success w/o the movie, and I can only imagine how much more popular Star Wars Megos would have been!

JamesD

[Earth 2 Chris]

Beanie Babies

Ooh, that's a good one. Half finished plush animals that could turn the nicest blue-haired old lady into a raving lunatic. During college I worked at a comic shop during this craze. One of the lowest moments of my life was repeatedly going through the McDonald's drive-thru several times a day during their Beanie promotion, so my boss could resell them in the shop. Oh the shame.

Chris

[Brue]

Beanie Babies

[Earth 2 Chris]

The "new" 90s Star Wars Power of the Force figures were pretty bad, but everyone went ape-crap over them since they were the first Star Wars figures in over 10 years. Everyone was way roided-out, and of course there was Monkey-Face Leia. Some of the later 80s Kenner stuff was actually better. These definitely fit the term "over-rated" since fist fights actually erupted in stores when new cases of these were open amongst throngs of scalpers and legit collectors.

That line has come along way though. The sculpt and paint quality still varies a lot, but for the most part it's a nice line now.

Chris

[spotter]

I was stoked at the idea of them but after superpowers I was very diappointed (not that I didn't buy tons of em I am giving to my son to destroy now becuase they so overflooded) really how many wolverines does 1 line really need

I used them as targets for my rifle ahh the memories

[goldenryan]

yeah, x-men made too many wolverines and the x-force line was unnessary too how many cable figures do you need i like that marvel made the silver surfer and later annihilus for the first time. But i would take super power figures all day before toybiz marvel and x-men even though i'm a marvel guy.

[jds1911a1]

what!!!! when they first came out i was stoked. i gotta disagree with mcfarlane too, the jaws, sleepy hollow and king kong playsets are awesome. i like the edward scissorhands too it's a good thing kenner never made figures for that movie they problably would have sucked

I was stoked at the idea of them but after superpowers I was very diappointed (not that I didn't buy tons of em I am giving to my son to destroy now becuase they so overflooded) really how many wolverines does 1 line really need

[LadyZod]

We're talking OVER RATED, not which lines are horrible.

We're just talking about lines that just weren't as good as people seem to think they were.

With that being said, I agree with the Todd stuff. His stuff was what it was. It wasn't GOLD. It wasn't the best thing since that fish crawled out onto land... they were just toys, that looked a little more detailed. And many seem to agree, as his stuff is not heralded as the second coming anymore.

No, in terms of OVER rating, I think the Marvel Legends fits the bill.

My Superheroes don't need to look like dirty, constipated, super limber hobos to look, well, SUPER. One look at the DC Direct stuff proves that.

(I also think the 4 Horsemen get more kudos than are deserved.)

[ctc]

>Good or bad, McFarlane pioneered the idea of marketing new release toys to collectors

It's a mixed blessing. McFarlane HIMSELF wasn't the problem; but everyone else jumping on the inaction figure bandwagon WAS. figures became the EXCLUSIVE domain of the collector, so while you had upswings in the look of figures you had a HUGE decline in playability. Too expensive, too fragile, too immobile.

Don C.

[huedell]

Ever since I bought the Psycho Circus KISS figures (marked down)
and had pieces of them break at the slightest fall---I've rallied
behind those that criticized the McFarlane toys--granted I love
my McKenzie Bros. figs---but they just sit there LITERALLY
----they are in chairs----statues that by default don't have a chance
of breaking because they are sitting down.

[thunderbolt]

Ya had to go and bring up Liefeld. Its not only fashionable to hate him, its legitimate to hate on him. He's the most overhyped/undertalented artist to ever grace a comics page.

[Werewolf]

I think it's fashionable to hate on McFarlane (just like it's fashionable for comic folks to hate on Rob Liefeld), but he really was a pioneer in the toy industry.

My dislike for fragile sleazy looking statues with one big boot being passed as action figures has nothing to do with fashion. It's a genuine dislike for that garbage. When McToys releases something nice, like the Halo figures, I give the company props. In the past the company has also released some very nice figures, like the first 2 series of Monsters, but the crap far out ways the good in my opinion.

I also strongly disagree with your opinion that we wouldn't have ML if not for Spawn figures. ML brought articulation back to toys. When the ML figures came out McToys was in a rut and had almost gotten to the point of self parody.The crazy articulation in the ML was the total antithesis of all that McToys had become to be identified as.