New Super7 ReAction photos...Predator, Terminator, more...

[samurainoir]

If you are making Buffy and Firefly figures, aren't you specifically aiming for Whedon fans when you produce for that license? or are you saying that a toy collector in general will have the "collect 'em all" mentality when it comes to reAction, whether they are Buffy/Firefly fans or not?

Unless there is also a hipster youth "Sucklord" component that I'm missing here? Funko's bread and butter is the Pop Vinyls. That seems to be a very young demographic. I have a few, but does anyone else here in the 40+ range collect Pop Vinyls?

The Toy Fans for these specific licenses in ReAction format, would seem to be pretty specifically those that are old enough to feel nostalgic about Star Wars figures (mostly 40+ years old at this point), who also like Buffy and Angel. Aliens seems like a slam dunk in that format for the 40+ crowd, particularly for collectors who want the unproduced "prototypes". Even Goonies seems to be in the ballpark of era. Ditto Back to the Future.

The twenty and thirty-something Buffy/Firefly fans I know, who are also toy collectors seem obsessed with either killer sculpt and articulation, or "chibi/anime" style of Pop Vinyls as folks who grew up on manga. They all see my Megos and inarticulated Star Wars (and even RAH GI Joe oddly enough) as "Dad stuff" which is kinda uncool unless viewed with some maddening hipster irony.

I really think the Museum forums might give us some small indication, given that we grew up on Star Wars figures and "get it"... and even this crowd seems to be bucking at the sculpts. I'm too lazy to dig into the old threads, but weren't most of us hugely excited by the ReAction aliens? I can't remember much in the way of naysayers.

Although inversely, there seems to be zero interest in SH Figure Arts' hugely anime influenced figures... despite the fact that they are 1/9th scale and have heads we can stick on Mego style figures. Yet twenty and thirty year olds are happily plunking down $50-$100 bucks for these figures, something the folks here would absolutely go berserk over when faced with that kind of price point (mostly because we remember when candy bars were a nickel).

Again, I'm not claiming this as any kind of "consensus"... as I described my observations as a "cursory glance". And my own anecdotal opinion is only formed around a younger brother ten years my junior, and studio-mates who have stocked their rooms and our studio full of Anime, Art-Toys and NECA product. To me, they are the core of the Whedon fans this SHOULD be aimed at, but don't seem to have the interest in the ReAction format.

[Aricosaur]

I'm still not sure Generation Y and Z (I don't know what they like to be referred to... Nintendo and Playstation Gen? Net Gen?) whom are the bulk of Whedon fans are going to "get" the retro thing for Buffy and Firefly.

peak over at comments from Whedonesque, it might be the sculpts they are reacting to, but it might be the format in general? They seem to want Pop Vinyls as a cursory glance around the 'net.
http://whedonesque.com/comments/32611

Remember, these are Wheadon fans, not toy fans. "The concensus" on tha internets is a very small sample of the total fan population. Tha internets have not been an accurate gauge of the success of whatever it is that they are upset about. Two Examples:

Transformers fans were outraged when the new Bay Transformers were reveled. The movies have been blockbusters that have made Transformers more popular than they were in the 80s.

When Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure was announced fans of the original Spyro games were so mad that the game developers were resetting the continuity that they sent death threats to the developers. DEATH THREATS! And Skylanders is a huge hit.

I had a lot of fun making my little critique of the Rocketeer and Back to the Future figures a few post ago. Do I think it means anything to the larger world. No.

The marketers at the toy company can worry about what tha internets thinks. I can gripe, complain, praise and buy what I want.

Oh, one more example. A lot of not-toy-fans hated the Alien ReAction figures on tha internets before it came out. Jus' sayin'.

[Remco Monster]

Yeah, but I like BBTS's Pile of Loot feature, and these won't all be coming out the same month.

[Hedji]

Goonies does have the best card art, yes.

Question: why preorder? Wouldn't waiting for in-stock items qualify for the free shipping over $75?

[Remco Monster]

The more I look at some, the more I like them. I also think that with some of the figures, the angle at which the figures are photographed makes them look bad, and the straight on shots used for the backer cards look better.

I am just not very excited for the Universal Monsters. Remco's were FAR better and I have them all. On the fence with most, and will wait to see the production figures.

Really don't like most of the card backs. They just don't look very vintage. With the exception of The Goonies, those are pretty nice.

I just pre-ordered the following from Big Bad Toy Store...

Firefly (set)
The Goonies (set)
The Invisible Man
Jason Voorhees
Freddy Krueger
Michael Myers
Predator (masked)
Predator (open mouth)

[samurainoir]

comments at Whedonesque BEFORE the reveal...

http://whedonesque.com/comments/32368

[samurainoir]

I'm still not sure Generation Y and Z (I don't know what they like to be referred to... Nintendo and Playstation Gen? Net Gen?) whom are the bulk of Whedon fans are going to "get" the retro thing for Buffy and Firefly.

peak over at comments from Whedonesque, it might be the sculpts they are reacting to, but it might be the format in general? They seem to want Pop Vinyls as a cursory glance around the 'net.

http://whedonesque.com/comments/32611

[rche]

For resellers, these are only available in single pack cases. At least, for now. I think that may whittle down the items offered if certain figures don't get as many pre-orders as others.

Small retailers, and hobby resellers are also going to have to make some choices with preordering these as there is an awful lot of product to purchase in single packed cases.

[Hedji]

And yes, Rocketeer's helmet could use some shrinking, but then they'd have to shrink the Cliff Secord head, like Stormtrooper Luke.

[Hedji]

An observation: all of these figures are sculpted with duck-walk feet. Their toes all point outward in a "V" shape. Every one of them. This was not a characteristic of vintage Kenner sculpts. When I think of retro style, I think of both feet parallel to each other. ZICA got that. Look at Mego's Star Trek TMP figures or Mattel's vintage Starbuck or Kenner's Han Solo. None of them had this casual foot stance.

Subtle, yes. But if you're going for a certain look, it's all about subtleties. I wonder if these are all sculpted by the same person.

[enyawd72]

The Universal Monsters are must haves for me...I do wonder why the Dracula cardback is different from all the others though with that small poster inset. Hope they ditch that so it matches the others.

[domino]

I am not liking these at all. I did think the Aliens were good, but again, that was a pre-existing mold. I am interested in the Universal Monsters, Slasher era (Myers, Jason, Freddy, Hellraiser) and Firefly, but they just look wonky. Maybe they will reveal some at Toyfair and they will look better.

[Werewolf]

I think they look like kids toys from the 70s, although Remco pwns a couple of them.

I like the headsculpt on the Remco Frankenstein better. But overall I think I still prefer the new one because of Remco Frank's tiny feet. The new Creature is glorious and finally a Bride! These are going to look SO cool in my Remco mini Monsters playcase.

[Aricosaur]

I am not impressed with these yet. Hopefully these are prototypes that will be refined before release. I'm a huge Rocketeer fan (movie came out when I was a kid) and that figure is not making me jump up and down. I haven't decided if I'll order it yet. I preordered the SMDM figures that are based on a show I hadn't ever even seen and I'm hedging on the figure from one of my favorite movies.

I took some of my vintage Kenner figures that have helmets and put them next to the Rocketeer pic, for comparisons sake. I don't have a Stormtrooper disguise Luke for a full helmet compair (my vintage Kenner collection is rather small) but Lando's helmet shows that the bobble-helmet look is not vintage Kenner. That just looks goofy.The masked Predator (not pictured) looks good but that's 'cause it's a huge headed alien wearing a huge helmet!

I put the BttF lineup side by side so I can judge the likenesses. It's interesting because Marty's face is too angular while Biff's face is too soft and round. And why is Doc Brown's head so huge! That seems to be a problem with a lot of these ReAction guys. Like I said earlier, hopefully that's just rough prototypes. And is it me or does he look more like the 1st Doctor? Ironically, George, probably the least popular of the group, has the best likeness, though his head is still a bit large. He could do with some sort of accessory, maybe some binoculars?

(By the way, that skate board better have a foot peg!)

[sprytel]

A few of these have the right kind of charm. Unfortunately, not the Firefly ones though. I had such high hopes for those.