Larger Scale Mattel & EMCE

[zeedox]

So I didn't buy the Ghostbusters, Didn't buy Zod first time around, but when Superman came out my wife ordered me Superman and Zod and the box just came.

I haven't even opened the UPS box yet. I do daydream about mego often tho and wonder what ties this larger line has to the retro mattels. Perhaps historically this will be the new 1/6 megos? If you notice they do have the same price variation not like the 100+ hot toys or 80+ sideshow etc.

[ODBJBG]

There aren't any ties to the Retro-Action stuff.

[Earth 2 Chris]

The only tie I guess is that they are made by Mattel. They aren't connected to EMCE anymore than the DC Universe Classics are, as far as I know.

Chris

[Brown Bear]

I'd be all over some 12" Retro Action EMCE dudes.

[torgospizza]

I'd be all over some 12" Retro Action EMCE dudes.

I'd like to see some 1/6 Star Trek with larger versions of the 1/9 head sculpts. EMCE would do it right, but I imagine Playmates holding the license would prohibit that. Which is a bummer.

[johnmiic]

I'd like to see some 1/6 Star Trek with larger versions of the 1/9 head sculpts. EMCE would do it right, but I imagine Playmates holding the license would prohibit that. Which is a bummer.

Playmates doesn't currently hold any Trek license. Their Abramsverse Trek toys bombed and they got out of the Trek toy business. I do wonder what happens to those old 1/9 molds for heads and stuff after they lose the license.

I know model kit molds go to whoever holds the current license. So Original Trek Model Kits have gone from AMT to AMT/Lindsey to ERTL to Polar Lights/Round 2. The molds are not destroyed. Is that the case with toys? The MEGO molds were stolen and vandalized when MEGO hit the skids. So EMCE had to reverse engineer all their Trek re-issues. In a way that's a damn shame. It would'a been nice to hear the new releases were from the original molds. Hasbro can still re-issue classic SW figures if they want because they have the Kenner molds. They did re-release classic SW Vehicles with updated electronics on many occasions, ( Falcon, AT_AT, A-Wing, B-Wing, X-Wing, Tie Fighters, etc.).

Sculptors have little in the way of rights. They get no credit in the toy industry so I assume if Paramount/CBS wanted those heads re-sized for EMCE; Paramount/CBS have only to ask for it be done? I don't think Mattel tho would adapt other manufacturers super-hero heads for their lines- or sci-fi heads for that matter.

[ODBJBG]

Playmates still has the Trek license. Just because they chose not to continue making them, doesn't mean they don't have the master license. They had planned for a classic Trek 3 3/4 line, but decided to put it on hold along with all their other Trek stuff. I would imagine they're hoping to do something again when a new movie or show comes out. They paid big bucks for the master license, they've probably got it for some time.

Hasbro re-releasing old Kenner stuff has nothing to do with who owns molds or licenses. Hasbro bought out Kenner years ago. So they have the rights to all of Kenner's stuff, and have maintained them over the years since the two merged.

[johnmiic]

What if another company wanted to do MEGO-like Next Gen figures? Can they request to use the Playmates heads only re-sized for the Type 2 body? Can Paramount/CBS say, "Give those sculpts to so-and-so.", similar to how the model kit industry works?

[ODBJBG]

I'm not sure, because I'm not entirely clear on what all Playmates license entails. Obviously Diamond's agreement allows them to produce figures of various types (including EMCE's stuff I assume) despite the Playmates deal.

Playmates molds are probably owned by Playmates, though. They've repurposed some of their other molds, like EXO-Squad toys, so I would assume they retain ownership of them. Now if EMCE wanted to shrink Playmates molds, they could, assuming they worked out a deal with Playmates.

But that sounds like a lot of work and chances are Playmates would want some dough or a cut of the profits.

Of course without the license, Playmates has little to no use for the molds. Which is why you often will see new license holders get ahold of another company's molds. Because sometimes they will sell them off. Given that Playmates didn't use their classic molds for their newest Star Trek line, I'm curious if they even have those molds anymore. They very well may have been destroyed. That said, for Playmates 25th Anniversay TMNT figures, they dusted off their old Ninja Turtle molds, so they may still have them and just opted not to use them.

[johnmiic]

Were the 12" Abrams Trek figures built on the same 12" body Playmates used on Trek in the 1990's? I really can't imagine them throwing away/destroying Trek molds of anything. They know-as we have all seen-Trek has many lives and comes back in cycles.

[torgospizza]

Were the 12" Abrams Trek figures built on the same 12" body Playmates used on Trek in the 1990's?

Nope, totally new bodies. Much better ones, in fact. It would have been a killer line if only the sculpting were better. From what I gather, Chris Pine is one of those guys like Mark Hamill or Viggo Mortensen that are very hard to sculpt.

[boynightwing]

It would be cool if someone down the road scaled the Zod and Reeves heads to 8inch for customs.