Six Million Dollar Man Aciton Figures Wave 2 Images!

[ZICA]

See Craig, why don't you update your product description and prototype pic of Mr. X? And why don't you let preorders run through say November? I recall Wave 1 preorders were still going through last December? What is your hurry to cancel the SMDM line? Lots of collectors have given great advice, and you shot them all down. I'm sure NBC/Universal thought you would create more than 2 figures.

The Wave 1 preorders did run for a long time but the numbers needed to move forward with production were reached within less than a month from the time preorders were started. I only have the license for a certain amount of time and I know how long production on something like this can take. If the numbers aren't reached by the end of this month there won't be enough time to make the figures before the license expires, and I'm not going to pay the amount needed for an extension on it.

Yes, lots of collectors have offered their advice and I appreciate that. As for me shooting that advice down, I've given clear answers as to why certain things won't work, and I've also been speaking from experience. Yes, I'm sure NBC/Universal did think I would make more than two figures, I did too.

[Bionic Chris]

Wait, the Maskatron figure has a removable face? See I had no idea it did, that makes the figure more appealing to me.

See Craig, why don't you update your product description and prototype pic of Mr. X? And why don't you let preorders run through say November? I recall Wave 1 preorders were still going through last December? What is your hurry to cancel the SMDM line? Lots of collectors have given great advice, and you shot them all down. I'm sure NBC/Universal thought you would create more than 2 figures.

[ZICA]

Interesting development on the Kickstarter/licensed property side of things. Capo Toys just launched a Kickstarter for Ryu from Street Fighter. I'll be surprised if it meets it's funding goal of $85K offering essentially a single figure and variants.

With precedent being set by this and even CA in Fresh Monkey's Amazing Heroes line maybe it's worth approaching NBC/Universal to see if it's something they'd consider.

There are some exceptions but for most companies it's not an option. I know it's not for NBC/Universal because I asked early on, and I also know it's not an option for King Features. The guys at Captain Action Enterprises were nice enough to let me go the Kickstarter route if I want to and I just might do that.

[ZICA]

Craig,

Entertainment Earth's description of Wave 2 says it "contains 5 individually packaged action figures (subject to change)", so would you consider releasing just 3 action figures to cut costs: Oscar Goldman, Dr. Rudy Wells, and Evil Robot Mr. X? You could update the advertising pics of the Mr. X action figure showing he has removable face mask, a big selling point to draw the Maskatron fans. And do you recall all the compliments on the artwork of Wave 1? Go back to that cardback style for this "final 3" to attract all the buyers of Wave 1. I understand why some like the photo cards, but with all due respect, I think breaking the look of the line was a bad idea. Bif Bang Pow updated their prototype pics of Astronaut Steve and Barney Hiller months later on Entertainment Earth, so you can do the same. But if you still don't want to make any changes to Wave 2, at least update the pics of the Mr. X action figure on Entertainment Earth and other seller sites showing he has a removable face mask to reveal his scary robot face, that alone would boost preorder sales I bet! You also said the alternate Rudy Wells action figure will have different paint apps, so update the prototype pic of him too.

In the end, I preordered Wave 2 and hope you don't cancel the line. If you have the license a while longer still, please consider our ideas on here to save Wave 2, even if it's the last wave you do. At least do a final 3 for us SMDM collectors that love what you did with the first 3.

Thanks!
Chris

P.S. If your heart is set on the photo cards, you could do Wave 1 again to fix the look of the line, as there are episodes of Steve in his blue track suit and blue sneakers, watch "Wine, Women and War" and "Day of the Robot". But I still think you should do Wave 2 with the cool artwork, Wave 1 has great graphics, and the pics of the actors are still featured on the back...you had the right idea then, just do 3 at a time like those, keep the look of the line consistent.

1. The tooling is the most expensive part of what's needed to make these figures so you want to get as much bang for your buck as you can. The tooling on these figures would be the same if I made 3 or if I made 5.

2. The card art design change was a cost cutting measure to help get the lower retails. Also, I really didn't get many complaints about that change. As a matter of fact, a lot of people seemed to like the change since it was more in line with what Kenner would have done. Also, there were plans to make photo cards of the wave 1 figures if the demand was there.

The sad reality is that collectors just aren't interested in these characters, and I didn't buy the license to make 50 different variations of Steve Austin.

[ThePlayerOnTheOtherSide]

Craig,

Entertainment Earth's description of Wave 2 says it "contains 5 individually packaged action figures (subject to change)", so would you consider releasing just 3 action figures to cut costs: Oscar Goldman, Dr. Rudy Wells, and Evil Robot Mr. X? You could update the advertising pics of the Mr. X action figure showing he has removable face mask, a big selling point to draw the Maskatron fans.

Wait, the Maskatron figure has a removable face? See I had no idea it did, that makes the figure more appealing to me.

[Bionic Chris]

Craig,

Entertainment Earth's description of Wave 2 says it "contains 5 individually packaged action figures (subject to change)", so would you consider releasing just 3 action figures to cut costs: Oscar Goldman, Dr. Rudy Wells, and Evil Robot Mr. X? You could update the advertising pics of the Mr. X action figure showing he has removable face mask, a big selling point to draw the Maskatron fans. And do you recall all the compliments on the artwork of Wave 1? Go back to that cardback style for this "final 3" to attract all the buyers of Wave 1. I understand why some like the photo cards, but with all due respect, I think breaking the look of the line was a bad idea. Bif Bang Pow updated their prototype pics of Astronaut Steve and Barney Hiller months later on Entertainment Earth, so you can do the same. But if you still don't want to make any changes to Wave 2, at least update the pics of the Mr. X action figure on Entertainment Earth and other seller sites showing he has a removable face mask to reveal his scary robot face, that alone would boost preorder sales I bet! You also said the alternate Rudy Wells action figure will have different paint apps, so update the prototype pic of him too.

In the end, I preordered Wave 2 and hope you don't cancel the line. If you have the license a while longer still, please consider our ideas on here to save Wave 2, even if it's the last wave you do. At least do a final 3 for us SMDM collectors that love what you did with the first 3.

Thanks!
Chris

P.S. If your heart is set on the photo cards, you could do Wave 1 again to fix the look of the line, as there are episodes of Steve in his blue track suit and blue sneakers, watch "Wine, Women and War" and "Day of the Robot". But I still think you should do Wave 2 with the cool artwork, Wave 1 has great graphics, and the pics of the actors are still featured on the back...you had the right idea then, just do 3 at a time like those, keep the look of the line consistent.

[Tigger]

Interesting development on the Kickstarter/licensed property side of things. Capo Toys just launched a Kickstarter for Ryu from Street Fighter. I'll be surprised if it meets it's funding goal of $85K offering essentially a single figure and variants.

With precedent being set by this and even CA in Fresh Monkey's Amazing Heroes line maybe it's worth approaching NBC/Universal to see if it's something they'd consider.

I was wondering the same thing... I've heard by many people that using KS with someone else's IP is a no-no. More interesting is why in the world Capcom would license Street fighter to Capo Toys if they had no money to produce these figures. And why would Capo Toys show off an entire wave at Toy Fair months ago with a prospective release date if they don't even have the funds to get ONE of the figures from the wave produced?

[Jeff Cope]

Interesting development on the Kickstarter/licensed property side of things. Capo Toys just launched a Kickstarter for Ryu from Street Fighter. I'll be surprised if it meets it's funding goal of $85K offering essentially a single figure and variants.

With precedent being set by this and even CA in Fresh Monkey's Amazing Heroes line maybe it's worth approaching NBC/Universal to see if it's something they'd consider.

[Jeff Cope]

I've got the 4" Captain Action line in the works along with a few other things.

Craig

Yes you do! :-)

I'm very bummed SMDM will likely not continue, but boy am I looking forward to CA!

[Tigger]

Aw man Such a shame to hear wave 2 most likely won't go into production. I put in a second preorder in hopes of helping but it just seems that the interest from others wasn't there. They looked like beautiful sculpts and the quality of the first wave was so incredibly good that I was eager to get the second wave in my hands. Your dedication to the toy making process and rallying the troops in a shrinking market is admirable and I wish all companies could interact and be as open with fans as you are Craig. Major kudos to you and I really hope you don't have as many more instances like this where preorder numbers prevent us from getting more awesome product!

[Remco Monster]

Makes me sad these aren't going to happen.

I really hope you continue to do the retro 3 3/4" thing, or at the very least keep working with BBP on their retro 3 3/4" figures, because as far as I am concerned, you are the current king of retro 3 3/4".

[ZICA]

Craig and all, first time I've posted here but followed the thread and sorry to see that pre-orders have been so slow for Wave 2. The risk on investment makes complete sense and want you to not only break even, but to make some money so you can keep making cool figures. I pre-ordered 3 sets from Amok Time a few weeks ago and would be willing to get a few more, or invest more, to help get these guys over the line for production. The figures are fantastic and it would be a shame to see them cancelled.

I get why Kickstarter is not an option, but wonder if we couldn't get clever to help Craig get to a solution, or put our money where our mouth is. $30k is a big investment, but looking at campaigns like Legends of Cthulhu which turned out $130k of investment from over 1,100 people, there must be a way to get there for Oscar and the crew.

$50 for 5 figures is a great price, and with simple math, this would mean a minimum of 600 sets need to sell to get back the initial investment. I'm sure the math is not that simple with e-tailer profit and other costs that aren't apparent, not to mention all the hours Craig already has and would continue to spend to deliver the figures. That said, surely there are more than 600 people who would buy these guys, just not that many who are both 1) aware of them and 2) willing to take the pre-order plunge through EE, BBTS and Amok Time.

Put me in the camp that says lack of a Steve Austin variant probably impacted sales, but hard to say how much, with Craig's points on Buck Rogers taken. Super 7 did great with their Alien Reaction sales (and I saw the long lines firsthand at SDCC last year), but a second wave would likely struggle if, say, they had only human characters and no Aliens. I suspect a marketing push could make a difference for Oscar and Rudy and all, and most of the news I've seen has been on this thread (and AFI thanks to Mr. Cope), but I realize that's easier said than done, particularly with time running short.

Just speaking for wave 1, I saw the pre-orders last year at Amok Time and got 3 sets. I kept one set for myself and sold the other 2 at a local toy show to people who knew nothing about them but thought they were awesome, plus a few enthusiastic comments on "Oh yeah, I heard about these guys." I suspect a marketing push could make a difference, and most of the news I've seen has been on this thread, but I realize that's easier said than done.

So, I don't have any easy answers, but curious what Craig and others think. Is there anything we can do other than the obvious "pre-order more sets?" If the numbers were close to making it viable and ordering a few more sets makes a difference, that works too, but seems like we still have a long way to go in a couple of weeks. Can we pull off a grass-roots kickstart without Kickstarter? For example, I'd gladly pay $100 for a set of these guys for myself, and $20 per figure is on par with others from Kickstarter, etc. Or, if enough of us were willing to kick in $300 or $500, for ... well, something (ideas?) .... could we get clever with that?

Last point, hope none of this comes off as complaining. I know it's a tricky market, and fickle to use Craig's term, but I have the utmost respect for him for taking on the investment, time and effort to pull off Steve and Bigfoot, and still hoping we'll see the same for Wave 2.

Thanks for trying to rally the troops in an effort to make Wave 2 happen but I think the writing is on the wall at this point. I had a lot of fun developing the figures but it's time to move on and focus my energy on other projects. I've got the 4" Captain Action line in the works along with a few other things. Life in the toy world goes on.

Craig

[ob1]

Craig and all, first time I've posted here but followed the thread and sorry to see that pre-orders have been so slow for Wave 2. The risk on investment makes complete sense and want you to not only break even, but to make some money so you can keep making cool figures. I pre-ordered 3 sets from Amok Time a few weeks ago and would be willing to get a few more, or invest more, to help get these guys over the line for production. The figures are fantastic and it would be a shame to see them cancelled.

I get why Kickstarter is not an option, but wonder if we couldn't get clever to help Craig get to a solution, or put our money where our mouth is. $30k is a big investment, but looking at campaigns like Legends of Cthulhu which turned out $130k of investment from over 1,100 people, there must be a way to get there for Oscar and the crew.

$50 for 5 figures is a great price, and with simple math, this would mean a minimum of 600 sets need to sell to get back the initial investment. I'm sure the math is not that simple with e-tailer profit and other costs that aren't apparent, not to mention all the hours Craig already has and would continue to spend to deliver the figures. That said, surely there are more than 600 people who would buy these guys, just not that many who are both 1) aware of them and 2) willing to take the pre-order plunge through EE, BBTS and Amok Time.

Put me in the camp that says lack of a Steve Austin variant probably impacted sales, but hard to say how much, with Craig's points on Buck Rogers taken. Super 7 did great with their Alien Reaction sales (and I saw the long lines firsthand at SDCC last year), but a second wave would likely struggle if, say, they had only human characters and no Aliens. I suspect a marketing push could make a difference for Oscar and Rudy and all, and most of the news I've seen has been on this thread (and AFI thanks to Mr. Cope), but I realize that's easier said than done, particularly with time running short.

Just speaking for wave 1, I saw the pre-orders last year at Amok Time and got 3 sets. I kept one set for myself and sold the other 2 at a local toy show to people who knew nothing about them but thought they were awesome, plus a few enthusiastic comments on "Oh yeah, I heard about these guys." I suspect a marketing push could make a difference, and most of the news I've seen has been on this thread, but I realize that's easier said than done.

So, I don't have any easy answers, but curious what Craig and others think. Is there anything we can do other than the obvious "pre-order more sets?" If the numbers were close to making it viable and ordering a few more sets makes a difference, that works too, but seems like we still have a long way to go in a couple of weeks. Can we pull off a grass-roots kickstart without Kickstarter? For example, I'd gladly pay $100 for a set of these guys for myself, and $20 per figure is on par with others from Kickstarter, etc. Or, if enough of us were willing to kick in $300 or $500, for ... well, something (ideas?) .... could we get clever with that?

Last point, hope none of this comes off as complaining. I know it's a tricky market, and fickle to use Craig's term, but I have the utmost respect for him for taking on the investment, time and effort to pull off Steve and Bigfoot, and still hoping we'll see the same for Wave 2.

[starsky]

i'm happy with my buck rogers and tigerman as well as the the steve austin and big foot figures. they are all a dream come true thanks to craig/ zica. i wish zica got the 8 inch license for six million dollar man.

[Remco Monster]

I am 100% behind you Craig.
I would love to see the line continue but if it doesnt then we got three really cool
Figures.
Thank you for that.

THIS! The Bigfoot and Steve are my favorite figures since the 70's/early 80's. Beyond happy they exist.