-
-
http://www.sideshowcollectors.com/fo...106882&page=19 they must have had one for sale at least ,unless this guy is well connected ,if you know what i mean lolComment
-
^^^Yeah, I wonder about that too, since he oddly is showcasing everything from the booth behind the custom. He must have been the only one who spent $80.00 on the Dr. Evil "exclusive". Cool custom though! That was what I had in mind for my Wolverine. Except I was going to put him in a seamless Hot Toys body with the rubber skin. Really looking forward to it now. Whenever it comes out!Comment
-
I did buy a Wolverine set on friday and it was there last one, I was told IM sold out the day before. Someone did state the other ones were coming via "A slow boat from China". I'll see how this plays out over the next month before I jump shipComment
-
Comment
-
Captain Action has been my favorite toy since I was 8 years old. (The original Ideal version.) I love Captain Action as he is, yes I loved being able to play with him as Superman, Batman and Green Hornet, but I also loved playing with him as CA. You need an imagination to play with him and as a child I had a big imagination. He certainly was not just a mannequin to me.Comment
-
I doubt anyone would disagree with your assessment from a nostalgic point of view. The mannequin reference is really intended just as a commentary regarding the Captain's marketing viability on cups and t-shirts. Someone who grew up with him might appreciate the gesture on some nostalgic level (as your comments suggest), but it's not going to mean anything to someone in today's market. He's a generic figure in tights and a captain's hat. Today's generation can not relate to that image, anymore than they can relate with the Lone Ranger or Green Hornet. But unlike the Ranger and Hornet, the Captain has never enjoyed his moment in the sun. Ideal's line had a very short run and Playing Mantis didn't do much better some 30 years later, because they never acquired a popular license for the costumes. Fifteen years after Mantis, Round 2 has purchased the popular licenses, but the market is still not big enough to sustain the line through a major chain like TRU. And if you can't move costumes like Spider-man and Thor who who have made the movie studios quite wealthy in the merchandise department, then the writing is on the wall that Captain Action does not translate well to the public. And if Spider-man can't help the Captain, then I doubt the Captain himself will make much noise either. This concept really only works for collectors, which means they need to dial back the overhead costs and just focus their resources on buying licenses and making outfits to service that smaller group of buyers. They would probably make better money if they just took the minimum order a factory will allow and grow their consumer base from there. T-shirts, cups, and buttons are just never going to catch fire and make the Captain something on his own that his more popular licensed costumes can't do for him. As kids who loved him in the 60's, it's a fun idea. But it's not a profitable one.Comment
-
MIB41- I agree with your comments about Captain Action not being known by today's kids. But to me the toys of the 60's were the best.
Perhaps if Round 2 did focus more on what CA collectors want and put their money in that direction, it would work out better both for us CA fans and for the company.
I beleive the Superman and Batman sets will be good sellers, especially if TRU carries them, if they actually get made. I hope they do.Comment
-
I understand your love for the Captain himself, but in today's world he just can't compete with Marvel and DC's established superheroes. I had given this some thought, and wondered if they should have explained in more detail how and why he becomes other heroes. Maybe they should have even done some reverse licensing, and gotten either Marvel, DC, or both to create a comic series integrating him into THEIR universes. That would boost his appeal more than anything. Maybe when he assumes the identity of a hero he's able to temporarily mimic their powers as well. There's lots of potential there...Comment
-
To me Captain Action did gain the powers of any hero he turned into. But as a child I gave him his own powers including Super strength , speed and flight. I thought of him as a super hero, not a super spy.
That is a great idea enyawd72- it would be great if DC and/or Marvel DID introduce Captain Action into their universes in a comic book series.Comment
-
I can appreciate that kind of imagination. But I was very small when the Captain was released in 1966. I was only 2 years old then. By the time I was pointing to something like that, I was 4 and had the figure and the Batman costume ('68 I believe). But the figure was very bulky and cumbersome for me. And I can remember the issues I had keeping the Batman two-piece mask together. By the turn of the 70's, the Captain disappeared into pieces as the GI Joe Adventure Team took hold and then Mego came to prominence in '73. I actually have a picture of me in my grandfather's lap holding what looks to be a Mego figure dressed in an over-sized CA Batman suit with a Action Boy Robin mask. How's that for brand blending?
But I can vividly remember playing with him as Batman. He was just very difficult to keep together, which is why he got relegated to the parts box early. As a kid I always thought his look was very cool and very unique (still do). But one thing Ideal did a very good job at, that neither Playing Mantis or Round 2 did, was promote the premise of one figure being all of these heroes. I even remember ad displays that showed him as the figure you dressed to be each of these superheroes. But the emphasis was to buy the figure ONCE and then accessorize as a superhero. Round 2 just threw him on the shelves with the costumes and people had to figure it out. That's not TRU fault. That's all on CA Enterprises and Round 2. They should have made the shipping box open into a display that kept it all together and explained the concept. And they should have emphasized the one figure idea, especially in this economy, so parents or young consumers could put more emphasis on the costumes. I think too many people felt like they were suppose to buy the figure every time and that was too much work and money for one hero. For vintage collectors, that was a choice. But to a new consumer it probably came off as a pointless and pricey feature to build one hero. Had Round 2 actually stayed true to the original premise, and put more money into marketing that idea, they might have seen a little better success. It's still an old idea, but it might have reached a broader audience.
Comment
-
I can see how as a 4 year old you had trouble playing with Captain Action-keeping the 2 piece Batman mask on, etc. I was 8 when I got my first Captain Action, and the next month was my 9th birthday and I got the Supermen set!I can appreciate that kind of imagination. But I was very small when the Captain was released in 1966. I was only 2 years old then. By the time I was pointing to something like that, I was 4 and had the figure and the Batman costume ('68 I believe). But the figure was very bulky and cumbersome for me. And I can remember the issues I had keeping the Batman two-piece mask together. By the turn of the 70's, the Captain disappeared into pieces as the GI Joe Adventure Team took hold and then Mego came to prominence in '73. I actually have a picture of me in my grandfather's lap holding what looks to be a Mego figure dressed in an over-sized CA Batman suit with a Action Boy Robin mask. How's that for brand blending? But I can vividly remember playing with him as Batman. He was just very difficult to keep together, which is why he got relegated to the parts box early. As a kid I always thought his look was very cool and very unique (still do). But one thing Ideal did a very good job at, that neither Playing Mantis or Round 2 did, was promote the premise of one figure being all of these heroes. I even remember ad displays that showed him as the figure you dressed to be each of these superheroes. But the emphasis was to buy the figure ONCE and then accessorize as a superhero. Round 2 just threw him on the shelves with the costumes and people had to figure it out. That's not TRU fault. That's all on CA Enterprises and Round 2. They should have made the shipping box open into a display that kept it all together and explained the concept. And they should have emphasized the one figure idea, especially in this economy, so parents or young consumers could put more emphasis on the costumes. I think too many people felt like they were suppose to buy the figure every time and that was too much work and money for one hero. For vintage collectors, that was a choice. But to a new consumer it probably came off as a pointless and pricey feature to build one hero. Had Round 2 actually stayed true to the original premise, and put more money into marketing that idea, they might have seen a little better success. It's still an old idea, but it might have reached a broader audience.
I agree with you-Round 2 and CA should have created a display like Ideal did explaining the concept and having the sets together with the figure. Of course, Round 2 would like you to buy
a new figure for each uniform set. That would be too expensive for many parents. I had the one CA, that is until my brother broke his arm and my parents bought me the one with the free parachute! (same thing happened with AB!) I used GI Joe for some of the costumes but the boots did not fit GI Joe's feet!
Round 2 and CAE could correct the situation by creating a display for TRU to use next year with the DC sets.Comment
-
Entertainment Earth has Captain Action listed as coming in December.Comment
Tweet
Comment