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Isn't it sad when license holders make it as much a part of their business of selling their license as they do bad mouthing the folks who take the risk and lose money on it? Read their latest excuse to their Yahoo group. Embarrassing to say the least.
"Hi Gang,
Yes, thanks for the note and the email. And please be clear, we too surely do feel the frustration about the timing of the Round 2 DC sets. According to the original plan, we should be making Wave 8 by now!
A few of the guys out there tend to bash everything in public forums, and denigrate all the efforts we put into various projects, and that- frankly - gets very wearisome. Getting on the cover of the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, for instance, is a HUGE deal. We’ll be in every comic shop front and center and in many bookstores. And they’ll be advertising that for the entire next year too. And by doing that, we’ll be right in front of the guys (for a year) who make the ordering decisions for the Round 2 sets.
To a lesser extent, the same thing applies to the Tonner Lady Action, the Captain Action Cat series and all the other projects. We can tell you that the first buyer at Toys R Us told us he saw the Sideshow CA statue and Moonstone series every Wednesday when he bought his comics…and that directly led to them buying in for Round 2.
So when some fans denigrated the SDCC panel because there’s no news - we tend to find that debilitating on a personal level. But hey, In a perfect world we would’ve absolutely had a Batman Prototype up there to show everyone.
As discerning fans, we've been defying the odds time and time again with the Round 2 sets. We’re proud to have been able to bring everyone major Marvel characters to add to their collections which was no small feat. Right now, no other company seems to be doing 1/6 scale, let alone classic Silver Age figures, and some of the experts - like the Mattel Barbie line, are faltering. (Sales down 15% vs.YA). And Toys R Us, our lead retailer is struggling. They just had a big round of layoffs and another round is rumored. Round 2 as a company does a poor job at selling licensed toys into other big-box retailers, and beyond that we all know those retailers are having their own troubles.
So the short answer as respects DC is “nothing is for sure”. This whole line was never supposed to happen, and then just about cancelled several times along the way. We were never supposed to secure the DC license and then we did. The comics were supposed to be cancelled and then we took a step up as Dynamite is now our publisher. And as you guys all know by now, there’s lot of things going on behind the scenes too.
We're sorry that we didn't have Round 2 Prototypes to share at the SDCC Contest Panel. We wish, probably more than anybody, because we put so much into this - that we were further along with Round 2 sets. But like the kids used to say “I’m not the boss of them” (i.e. Round2). And we’re certainly not "the boss" of the TRU buyer or the Diamond Buyer either.
All we can assure you is that we’ll continue to put way too much time into Captain Action and that we too are excited to see more costume sets manufactured. We have not abandoned 1/6 scale by any stretch of the imagination. As you know we just announced our new Lady Action figure with Go Hero. Maybe it’s not what you were hoping for or maybe you are unable to afford a higher quality figure, but there are a lot of collectors out there who play in this world. If there wasn't, Sideshow and Hot Toys wouldn't be in business.
The world is rapidly changing in terms of retailing, television programming and manufacturing. It’s not 1967 now and never will be again, but you already know that. We do know that it is extraordinarily frustrating for many guys on this list, and especially collectors like Ed, who never had a Batman set as a kid. (He’s been called liar about that too, btw) and we can assure you it will be very frustrating for all fans everywhere with a very narrow definition of Captain Action as simply a 12 inch action figure. No property works that focused any more, and while we respect everyone’s right to like what they like, we'll continue to work as hard as we can to expand the brand and make better things happen for Captain Action.
Right now, as you all are aware we are working hard on getting a Captain Action Animated Series off the ground. This will be a major game changer and greatly impact the things we will be able to do for the brand as a whole going forward and perhaps alleviate some of the product development frustrations by being able to work with bigger and better companies as we move forward.
As always, we are thankful for the support we have gotten.
Best,
Joe & Ed"
Last year it was TRU fault. This year, it's Round 2. I guess the only question left.. Who will it be next year? Go Hero maybe? Watch out Go Hero... They have it out for you if you can't make any money by investing in their license. LOL.
"Hi Gang,
Yes, thanks for the note and the email. And please be clear, we too surely do feel the frustration about the timing of the Round 2 DC sets. According to the original plan, we should be making Wave 8 by now!
A few of the guys out there tend to bash everything in public forums, and denigrate all the efforts we put into various projects, and that- frankly - gets very wearisome. Getting on the cover of the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, for instance, is a HUGE deal. We’ll be in every comic shop front and center and in many bookstores. And they’ll be advertising that for the entire next year too. And by doing that, we’ll be right in front of the guys (for a year) who make the ordering decisions for the Round 2 sets.
To a lesser extent, the same thing applies to the Tonner Lady Action, the Captain Action Cat series and all the other projects. We can tell you that the first buyer at Toys R Us told us he saw the Sideshow CA statue and Moonstone series every Wednesday when he bought his comics…and that directly led to them buying in for Round 2.
So when some fans denigrated the SDCC panel because there’s no news - we tend to find that debilitating on a personal level. But hey, In a perfect world we would’ve absolutely had a Batman Prototype up there to show everyone.
As discerning fans, we've been defying the odds time and time again with the Round 2 sets. We’re proud to have been able to bring everyone major Marvel characters to add to their collections which was no small feat. Right now, no other company seems to be doing 1/6 scale, let alone classic Silver Age figures, and some of the experts - like the Mattel Barbie line, are faltering. (Sales down 15% vs.YA). And Toys R Us, our lead retailer is struggling. They just had a big round of layoffs and another round is rumored. Round 2 as a company does a poor job at selling licensed toys into other big-box retailers, and beyond that we all know those retailers are having their own troubles.
So the short answer as respects DC is “nothing is for sure”. This whole line was never supposed to happen, and then just about cancelled several times along the way. We were never supposed to secure the DC license and then we did. The comics were supposed to be cancelled and then we took a step up as Dynamite is now our publisher. And as you guys all know by now, there’s lot of things going on behind the scenes too.
We're sorry that we didn't have Round 2 Prototypes to share at the SDCC Contest Panel. We wish, probably more than anybody, because we put so much into this - that we were further along with Round 2 sets. But like the kids used to say “I’m not the boss of them” (i.e. Round2). And we’re certainly not "the boss" of the TRU buyer or the Diamond Buyer either.
All we can assure you is that we’ll continue to put way too much time into Captain Action and that we too are excited to see more costume sets manufactured. We have not abandoned 1/6 scale by any stretch of the imagination. As you know we just announced our new Lady Action figure with Go Hero. Maybe it’s not what you were hoping for or maybe you are unable to afford a higher quality figure, but there are a lot of collectors out there who play in this world. If there wasn't, Sideshow and Hot Toys wouldn't be in business.
The world is rapidly changing in terms of retailing, television programming and manufacturing. It’s not 1967 now and never will be again, but you already know that. We do know that it is extraordinarily frustrating for many guys on this list, and especially collectors like Ed, who never had a Batman set as a kid. (He’s been called liar about that too, btw) and we can assure you it will be very frustrating for all fans everywhere with a very narrow definition of Captain Action as simply a 12 inch action figure. No property works that focused any more, and while we respect everyone’s right to like what they like, we'll continue to work as hard as we can to expand the brand and make better things happen for Captain Action.
Right now, as you all are aware we are working hard on getting a Captain Action Animated Series off the ground. This will be a major game changer and greatly impact the things we will be able to do for the brand as a whole going forward and perhaps alleviate some of the product development frustrations by being able to work with bigger and better companies as we move forward.
As always, we are thankful for the support we have gotten.
Best,
Joe & Ed"
Last year it was TRU fault. This year, it's Round 2. I guess the only question left.. Who will it be next year? Go Hero maybe? Watch out Go Hero... They have it out for you if you can't make any money by investing in their license. LOL.
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