MisterPL Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 Trek merchandise sold best when there was a constant reminder of the franchise on television. Back in the 70s it was the original series in reruns. In the 80s and 90s it was TNG, DS9, and VOY in first-run syndication. Fans could find those shows just about anywhere. Now there's little chance of stumbling across Star Trek while channel surfing because 1) there's SO much more competing content available and 2) new Trek is reserved for movie theaters and streaming services. Unless a feature film hits it big and has legs or CBS decides to broadcast the All Access shows as reruns in syndication, it's unlikely the franchise will attract new fans the way they did with TNG-era shows. That said, timing is everything, and that's something retailers and manufacturers have struggled with from the start. The right product at the right time is key and there have been plenty of cautionary tales from a number of licensees to prove that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterPL Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 1 hour ago, fwoosheyman said: As much as I love ST:TNG there’s no way product from that show will be a success in a mass market store like Walmart in 2018. What about TOS product at Target? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fwoosheyman Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 2 minutes ago, MisterPL said: What about TOS product at Target? I doubt it. More than likely those will be clearanced and still sitting months from now. I don’t see trek, Charlie’s angels, Brady bunch, Happy Days and I dream of genie dolls (yea I know it’s MEGO but they are still dolls) being big sellers in a target toy section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterPL Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 In the post-TRU era, I'm expecting the unexpected. As a retailer exclusive, it might do well since it's not competing with other stores. We'll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjwspider Posted August 26, 2018 Share Posted August 26, 2018 On 8/23/2018 at 2:56 PM, fwoosheyman said: As much as I love ST:TNG there’s no way product from that show will be a success in a mass market store like Walmart in 2018. No Star Trek merchandise will be a success in a mass market store unless Trek becomes much more popular. Figures from the Abrams Trek were a dud, so was the Kreo line and Mega Bloks sets. I honestly feel like the only successful ST line was the original Playmates line from late 1992. It was the only ST line that I fully collected and I had figures lining my room. Given the current action figure market, and the popularity of Marvel and DC figures, there doesn't seem to be a lot of room for nearly any other property - Star Wars included. Without a marketable property to reach kids (something Discovery isn't), it's difficult to even think about decent sales for almost any ST figure, especially since most of the core characters have been produced over and over again. As much as I would love to see ST recover and be successful, it's hard to fathom given the current toy environment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Paco Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 I would think that if DST were to make Anniversary Box Sets that had lots of extra parts to make different characters that would help sales of that line to those of us that are into the collecting of Star Trek Minimates. I would buy as many sets as I could to make the whole range of available characters from the parts included. For example: A Next Generation set could have Worf, Data, Troi and Yar, with parts to make LaForge, Barclay, Dr. Crusher, and Lefler. Could even have a second set to make aliens: Senator Vreenak, Chancellor Gowron, a TNG Ferengi, and Ambassodor Sarek, then could have parts to make Commander Tomalak, General Martok, Bartender Quark, Ambassodor Soval. Would even be beneficial more to for a DS9/Voyager Crew box set: Kira, O'Brien, Jadzia Dax, Odo. Then extra parts to make Dr. Bashir, Vedek Winn, Ezri Dax, Changling or such. They could even have parts to make Voyager crew since uniforms were similar enough at points in the two series. Paris, Tuvok The Doctor, Neelix. Could almost have Neelix and Quark use the same base body parts but change the heads and hands. Paris could be parts from a DS9 Worf from when he first moved over to the station. Tuvok could be sharing parts to make O'Brien or Kim. Kira and Kes could almost use the same base body parts. I just wish I had the resources to purchase all of them at once but would need to be spread out over time for me to get the finances to do this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onyx_6 Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 5 hours ago, Captain Paco said: I would think that if DST were to make Anniversary Box Sets that had lots of extra parts to make different characters that would help sales of that line to those of us that are into the collecting of Star Trek Minimates. I would buy as many sets as I could to make the whole range of available characters from the parts included. For example: A Next Generation set could have Worf, Data, Troi and Yar, with parts to make LaForge, Barclay, Dr. Crusher, and Lefler. Could even have a second set to make aliens: Senator Vreenak, Chancellor Gowron, a TNG Ferengi, and Ambassodor Sarek, then could have parts to make Commander Tomalak, General Martok, Bartender Quark, Ambassodor Soval. Would even be beneficial more to for a DS9/Voyager Crew box set: Kira, O'Brien, Jadzia Dax, Odo. Then extra parts to make Dr. Bashir, Vedek Winn, Ezri Dax, Changling or such. They could even have parts to make Voyager crew since uniforms were similar enough at points in the two series. Paris, Tuvok The Doctor, Neelix. Could almost have Neelix and Quark use the same base body parts but change the heads and hands. Paris could be parts from a DS9 Worf from when he first moved over to the station. Tuvok could be sharing parts to make O'Brien or Kim. Kira and Kes could almost use the same base body parts. I just wish I had the resources to purchase all of them at once but would need to be spread out over time for me to get the finances to do this. As great as those sets are, there is no way they would not include Picard. Or the other Captains they have already done. Sadly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterPL Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 Picard can be a BAF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stack32 Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 At this point I have doubts about whether extra heads would be enough to get sales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterPL Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 Who doesn't love extra head? Picard and the other captains are among those who have SO many variants that it'd be easy to offer a new Minimate without treading over existing designs... just like DST does with Wolverine and Spider-Man and iron Man, et al. There are ways to do this successfully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Paco Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 Tapestry Picard in the old uniform and then Tapestry II Picard in the blue science uniform could be in a set for the TNG series. Also Picard as Galen or as a Romulan to give us a Romulan base for an extra Romulan head and hair. It could work but the key is to figure out the parts that could make the most to reuse the key base parts in the set. Could even reuse the body from Unification Spock to make a Klingon Torres from Voyager or a Romulan from TNG. Could even get Picard as Robin Hood and then have Worf as Will Scarlet with extra parts to make him in his Operations Uniform from the regular run of the series. Then we would have a Klingon finally with ridges. We could then get Klingon Warrior Worf and then an extra head to make Gowron or Martok. Not sure about Sisko, unless you make Klingon Sisko then the extra parts for a regular Klingon. For Janeway, you could have her as she was in Macroism and the the parts to make another character. For Archer, you could make him in his Mirror Uniform and then have the parts to make another mirror universe crew member. But the focus needs to be on the Non-captain characters and the extra parts to make more of the crews with the fewest sets overall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterPL Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 Anything that encourages multiple purchases should be a winner for collectors and retailers alike. DST would be wise to study the Star Trek episode of The Toys That Made Us for some success stories and cautionary tales from other Trek toy licensees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttheadsmate Posted August 29, 2018 Share Posted August 29, 2018 I genuinely give you ST fans a smile & a thumbs-up for your enthusiasm & die-hard approach .....well done I am not trying to be obtuse but I can't get away from the feeling that we'll never ever get away from the fact that the 'Kirk' Minimates were in fact the basis for nigh on ALL the 'ordinary' human crew-members.....we had 12 of him (them) & nigh on all of them had the statutory black plants/boots/torso & TBQH apart from the odd smirk or scowl the same damn 'face' . So DST provided us with the bodies & left it to us to change the heads to give us crew-members.....it's happened before & I know people explored this avenue. The opportunity to produce some alien figures has been there every time we get a ST re-launch & never really gets going.......compare that to the Mass Effect line where it could be argued that maybe 50% were aliens/not actually human. You gotta ask why ? I want you guys to get what you are wishing for but like many things in the future of Minimates things are going to have to change . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterPL Posted August 29, 2018 Share Posted August 29, 2018 Trekkies are a notoriously optimistic bunch. ? We're also the original nitpickers, so while Kirk might have been the basis for plenty of other QC'd crew members, the rank stripes on his sleeves precluded the purists among us from using those arms on anyone but captains. (One of the reasons Scotty is so rare is because he became the basis for numerous "red shirts" from TOS.) The badges vary by department, too. That's the nice thing about the costumes from TNG; the badges are the same and the rank pips are on the collars and aren't visible on the Minimates. Picard's red captain's uniform could just as easily be Riker's red commander's uniform or Geordi's 1st season red lieutenant uniform. As has been mentioned before, it's essentially Marvel Series 60 in concept. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Paco Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 Okay so here is a status of what Star Trek minimates we have (and I am not counting any 3 inch mates). Kirk in essence there are 8 different Kirk minimates. There are two versions of Mirror Kirk and two versions of Tribbles Kirk and then technically three versions of the basic Captain Kirk. You have Captain Kirk (x3), Battle-damage Captain Kirk, Dress Uniform Kirk, Gladiator Kirk, Mirror Kirk (x2), Trouble with Tribbles Kirk (x2), Admiral Kirk and Field Jacket Admiral Kirk. We four Sisko minimates: Commander Sisko, Captain Sisko (VGR style uniform), Captain Sisko (First Contact style uniform) and then Vest Sisko. We have three Picard minimates: Captian Picard (TNG Uniform), Captain Picard (First Contact uniform) and Captain's Jacket Picard. We only have one version of Janeway and one version of Archer. Spock has move versions than Picard at seven. We have Spock, The Cage Spock, Dress Uniform Spock, Mirror Spock, Spock's Brain Spock, Unification Spock and Elf Spock. Doctor McCoy has three versions as well: Dr. McCoy, Sick Bay Dr. McCoy and Dress Uniform Dr. McCoy. As well as three versions of Sulu: Lt. Sulu, Mirror Sulu and Fencing Sulu. We even have 3 versions of Scotty: TOS Scotty, Movie Dress Uniform Scotty and Movie Duty Uniform Scotty. We even have three versions of Khan: Space Seed Khan in red, Space Seed Khan in gold jacket, and Wrathful Khan. We have two versions of Uhura: Lt Uhura and Mirror Uhura. We even got two versions of Dukat. We only have one Chekov, Chapel, Rand, Mirror Marlena Monroe, Seven of Nine, Hugh, Borg Queen, Dolim, TOS Kor, Decker, Ilia, Borg Drone, Vina, Gorn, Jem'Hadar Soldier, Pike (x2 as there are two version of really the same character in the same uniform). So it is only fair that Picard and the Crew of Enterprise-D get there spots in the world of Minimates. If they do Box Sets of say 4 figures with lots of parts they could make almost all the normal characters in two sets. If they do it like the BAF waves, they could still include extra parts to make multiple characters but have the BAF be a specific that you would not necessarily want an army of. So I would think a BAF wave for Star Trek TNG could be as follows. Set One: Deanna Troi and Commander Riker: with parts to make Dr. Crusher and Q. Set Two: Worf in his gold uniform and Gowron: with parts to make LaForge. Set Three: Data and Guinan with parts to make Barclay. Set Four: Tasha Yar and O'Brien: with parts to make Yesterday's Enterprise Yar and DS9 O'Brien. The BAF could be a Picard from Tapestry or Picard as Galen or Picard as Dixon Hill or Commander Shelby or Ro Laren. I just think this would work and be successful for all involved. Could do Aliens this way as well. A BAF wave for aliens could work if you did properly. Set One: Romulan Picard and Romulan Troi: with extra parts to make Commander Sela. Set Two: TOS Romulan Male and TOS Koloth: with extra parts to make TNG Romulan Male and TOS Kang. Set Three: Cardassian Kira and Quark with parts to make regular Kira and TNG Ferengi. Set Four: Enterprise Andorian and Vedek Winn: with extra parts to make Vedek Bareil and TOS Andorian. Then the BAF could be General Martok or Kahless. Just would like to get more Star Trek parts for the series that are not just for TOS. There is more to Star Trek than Kirk and Spock and the Original Series. All the series need their time as minimates and I am running out of parts to continue customizing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thereasonsy Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 On 8/28/2018 at 1:06 AM, Captain Paco said: I would think that if DST were to make Anniversary Box Sets that had lots of extra parts to make different characters that would help sales of that line to those of us that are into the collecting of Star Trek Minimates. I would buy as many sets as I could to make the whole range of available characters from the parts included. For example: A Next Generation set could have Worf, Data, Troi and Yar, with parts to make LaForge, Barclay, Dr. Crusher, and Lefler. Could even have a second set to make aliens: Senator Vreenak, Chancellor Gowron, a TNG Ferengi, and Ambassodor Sarek, then could have parts to make Commander Tomalak, General Martok, Bartender Quark, Ambassodor Soval. Would even be beneficial more to for a DS9/Voyager Crew box set: Kira, O'Brien, Jadzia Dax, Odo. Then extra parts to make Dr. Bashir, Vedek Winn, Ezri Dax, Changling or such. They could even have parts to make Voyager crew since uniforms were similar enough at points in the two series. Paris, Tuvok The Doctor, Neelix. Could almost have Neelix and Quark use the same base body parts but change the heads and hands. Paris could be parts from a DS9 Worf from when he first moved over to the station. Tuvok could be sharing parts to make O'Brien or Kim. Kira and Kes could almost use the same base body parts. I just wish I had the resources to purchase all of them at once but would need to be spread out over time for me to get the finances to do this. I have been thinking about this a lot today. I’m not a Classic Trek person as I didn’t jump in until TNG and then I watched through DS9/Voyager but dropped off. I have always wanted mates of “my Trek” and have only ever bought mates of the Original Trek because I needed parts for something. With Discovery on and allegedly doing well it would be great to see this mix and match set come to life for TNG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterPL Posted January 8, 2019 Share Posted January 8, 2019 DST snatched up the movie rights just in time. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thereasonsy Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 21 hours ago, MisterPL said: DST snatched up the movie rights just in time. ? Well, this is upsetting. Am I the only person though that doesn’t have an attachment to OG trek? I love TNG but for some reason they don’t seem to get as much love as the OG franchise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterPL Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 TNG certainly deserves more love. The 24th century era produced far more material, from TNG through VOY, than TOS ever did. It didn't perform as well in theaters (no pent-up demand for that cast like there was for the original crew after ten years away) but it gave us three TV series, hundreds of episodes, and the biggest toy line the franchise has ever seen. In other news, they've announced yet another animated series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trekker 42 Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 I started with TNG and I love it but my heart will always be with TOS. While Picard is easily the best Captain to ever command the starship Enterprise, I just like the rest of the cast of TOS better. Spock, McCoy, and Scotty honestly have more personality than the entire rest of TNG (Worf and maybe Data excluded) combined. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterPL Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 Which is why I was looking forward to a Tarantino Trek film focusing on a trio of crew members on a road shuttle trip. Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, and Simon Pegg would be terrific. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trekker 42 Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 The Tarantino one may still be happening, whatever the hell that is. It’s the fourth Pine Quinto Urban Pegg movie that’s been killed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thereasonsy Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 Well, maybe the Picard series will finally get me some TNG minimates. https://www.cbr.com/picards-life-radically-altered-new-star-trek-series/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterPL Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 While I have no idea how toyetic that new Picard series might be, I'm all in favor of anything that brings in new fans, steers them toward TNG reruns, and get them hooked on Trek-flavored plastic crack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stack32 Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 Kurtzman oversees all Trek on CBS All Access? That explains a lot and leaves me with little hope for the franchise. I'm sure the adventures of Picard the diplomat will just be screaming for toys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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