Why not get a license people will actually buy?

[dr_cyclops]

I'm 49 and I'm sorry but the ReMegos have to have play value, like SMDM, or Retro Action DC Superheroes. My kids and I play with them all the time.
If I bought any LOST figures, we'd be lost! LOL
Worse yet, I didn't even see one episode of the show!
Same with Big Bang Theory. I only want the guy with the Batman shirt, just for the Batman shirt. If I owned any of them, they would just get wailed on by all the WGSH figures that we play with!

If I had my 'Pardieu', he would wail on all your WGSHs, and take out a 'Gorvil' or two.
Do you think Tom Hanks would sign off on the likeness? Anyone else think this license (Mazes and Monsters) has potential?

[BATMAN89]

You have a very valid point, but to be fair though, the Retro format isn't really geared towards any play value if we are talking about kids wanting them, given that the primary targets of ReMego are nostalgic forty to fifty year old men. Most of us just display ours.

I'm 49 and I'm sorry but the ReMegos have to have play value, like SMDM, or Retro Action DC Superheroes. My kids and I play with them all the time.
If I bought any LOST figures, we'd be lost! LOL
Worse yet, I didn't even see one episode of the show!
Same with Big Bang Theory. I only want the guy with the Batman shirt, just for the Batman shirt. If I owned any of them, they would just get wailed on by all the WGSH figures that we play with!

[BATMAN89]

I'm not. A bunch of completely boring figures of regular people with zero play value. What are you supposed to do? Re-enact your favorite scenes of people standing around talking?

[Iron Mego]

Well, then call me ridiculous, b/c I still do that sometimes, especially when I have kids over here. Sometimes Batman and Superman will join me in the living room and listen to the old Superman radio shows, and they'll fly or act out somethng. Same thing w/ the Superfriends cartoon. They'll come out sometimes to act out a scene, or hang out in the HOJ Dida set or something. And I know I have yet to finish my Batman video on YouTube! Playing w/ your action figures isn't ridiculous. Regression is a great stress reliever.

Pretty sure he was being sarcastic.

[skullface]

In all the talk about Lost not selling....no one said they looked bad. The show ****ed off all of its fans,then you get your toys to market,why would it do anything other than fail?
We have a lot of folks after our money,toys have to look good ,be on the market on time and at the right time. If I was doing it (making toys) I would only go after major classics with a longer shelf life .....but even that can fail. Look at the new Lone Ranger stuff,it is a huge fail,even though it should not be, but if you buy that stuff up like the lego sets for example they will sell great in a few years.

[samurainoir]

Well, then call me ridiculous, b/c I still do that sometimes, especially when I have kids over here.

I'm actually really happy to hear that. I've tried with the kids in my life, but they are more interested in their handheld devices than interacting with other folks these days. Which is a real shame.

[HardyGirl]

Well, then call me ridiculous, b/c I still do that sometimes, especially when I have kids over here. Sometimes Batman and Superman will join me in the living room and listen to the old Superman radio shows, and they'll fly or act out somethng. Same thing w/ the Superfriends cartoon. They'll come out sometimes to act out a scene, or hang out in the HOJ Dida set or something. And I know I have yet to finish my Batman video on YouTube! Playing w/ your action figures isn't ridiculous. Regression is a great stress reliever.

Umm, yeah, me too! I don't play with my dolls and make sound effects or anything like that...cause that would be ridiculous. Yeah, I just display them. That's all.

[weshightower21]

Somebody a few posts back said something about "mamas family" figures. How about "What's Happening" figures. Think about the accessories. Dwayne gets a basketball, Rerun gets a boom box, Dee gets a jar of peanut butter and Rog comes with "Rog Action".

[tylerh]

Even if you get the license, and can hit the numbers, there are also approval processes, and sometimes actor likeness issues that need to be cleared. You can get a GHOSTBUSTERS figure license (For example) be ready to go, but legally you need Bill Murray to sign off on his likeness, and if he is busy, that can take 6-7 months?? So you are already behind.

The licensing game is a tough one.

Im shocked but not shocked at the LOST thing. FOr one, "Mego" is sort of a sub-culture as is... I mean, you have a new show with younger fans, who probably dont want a "70s toy." They are the HOT TOYS generation. It's so freaking hard doing licensed stuff. Im just grateful someone is doing it

[samurainoir]

Umm, yeah, me too! I don't play with my dolls and make sound effects or anything like that...cause that would be ridiculous. Yeah, I just display them. That's all.

Although this does bring up an interesting line of discussion since we are always playing "monday morning quarterback" when it comes to which lines to do, and why such-and-such line would be a hit or not.

Scoring the license for your hypothetical toy company is only the start of the battle. If y'all did get the Krofft or Maude or Grease license, and get them manufactured... How do you get the word out to the fanbase, and then distribute them to that fan base?

This forum gets enough traffic, but there are only so many Mego fans of your specific property here. Given the signal to noise ration on the internet in general, and tmblr, Facebook, twitter, etc. It's likely that many of the more casual fans are completely unaware that they made Krofft of HR Puffnstuff or whatever figures a few years ago. We really are past the point of If You Build it They Will Come these days on the internet.

Then... you manage to get the word out, and the demand starts pouring in? How are you going to fulfill that? How do you get your product into retail outlets? or directly into the hands of the consumer? and all their customer service inquiries.

Just food for thought.

[dr_cyclops]

I've always wanted "Pardieu" and "Gorvil" from "Mazes and Monsters".

[enyawd72]

You have a very valid point, but to be fair though, the Retro format isn't really geared towards any play value if we are talking about kids wanting them, given that the primary targets of ReMego are nostalgic forty to fifty year old men. Most of us just display ours.

Umm, yeah, me too! I don't play with my dolls and make sound effects or anything like that...cause that would be ridiculous. Yeah, I just display them. That's all.

[samurainoir]

I'm not. A bunch of completely boring figures of regular people with zero play value. What are you supposed to do? Re-enact your favorite scenes of people standing around talking?

You have a very valid point, but to be fair though, the Retro format isn't really geared towards any play value if we are talking about kids wanting them, given that the primary targets of ReMego are nostalgic forty to fifty year old men. Most of us just display ours. Although with that said, have you seen the amount of play value MegoScott got out of his Lost figures on his blog?

It could have just been the wrong contemporary property paired with the wrong format at the wrong time. Maybe it would have been a success if it was a limited edition of a couple of hundred Jack figures in 1/6th Hot Toys format costing $150 a pop? These things are difficult to gauge sometimes.

The McFarlane figures initially did well, and those were pretty much display pieces only with zero play value... "nerd hummels" for adult fans of the show.

[EMCE Hammer]

I'm not. A bunch of completely boring figures of regular people with zero play value. What are you supposed to do? Re-enact your favorite scenes of people standing around talking?

I had epic Waltons/Happy Days crossovers when I was a kid. Oh, the conversations we had!

[megoscott]

Well, it turned out to be the wrong audience for figures, those people tended to like artwork and t-shirts and thotchkes. BBP did better with the bobbleheads. Same deal with Dr. Who, I think they did gangbusters on journals and drinkware.

But still, they couldn't move 1,000 units for a show that had 20 million viewers in 2004. So no, F-Troop is a bad idea.