Diamond Select Monster Figures Questions

[Wizard_Of_Ed]

Hi,

I have a few questions about the Diamond Select Universal Monsters action figure line that I hope someone here may be able to answer.

1.) How long do they have the license for? Will this run for 5 years like the Sideshow action figure line of a similar scale?

2.) Why doesn't Dracula look like Bela Lugosi? I remember Sideshow had to negotiate to get his likeness and that's why he came along later on but the toys that Jakks Pacific claimed to use his likeness so what happened? Why didn't Diamond Select wait to iron this out before doing Dracula?

3.) I saw the photos from series 4 and am excited to finally get a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde figure in this scale but what film is this likeness from? He doesn't look like the silent Barrymoore one or the Paramount one. Is this the one from the Abbott & Costello film?

4.) Why is this line retreading so many of the very same Monsters that Sideshow did in this scale in nearly the same wave breakdowns? Will we get to see Monsters never produced in figure form before? I'd like to see Dr. Petorious from Bride of Frankenstein and Renfield from Dracula. When there are over 60 Universal Monsters films I just wondered why we always get the same characters. The larger scale Sideshow line had much more variety. A great what if figure that would be cool is if they did a female Creature based off from the head that exists for the film that was never made. It's on the DVD set for the Creature From The Black Lagoon films. Since we never got the film it would be fun to get the figure if they run out of Monsters.

5.) Can King Kong be included in this line since Universal owns the character? I know he was in the model kit lines of the past along with Dr. Jekyll and that's why I wondered. I think McFarlane did one a few years ago (I forget who made him) I have him in with my Sideshow figures but I'd like an official one in the new line.

6.) Will they open this series up to non Universal films like Sideshow did. In the larger line Sideshow did a Vincent Price figure from The Raven and they did a London After Midnight figure. I don't think that was a universal film either. I'd love to at least see a London After Midnight. I have dream characters from other films but they're not Universal so I know they're out. I'd like to see the daughter from Mark of the Vampire. (I think that was the other Legosi one. I mix the titles up) She looks like a better vampire female than any of the Universal incarnations.

7.) Why does this line only come out in the fall when people buy Monster stuff year round? I'd think that you could get at least 2 waves out a year. Other toy lines have traditionally got out 3-6. Diamond would certainly get more bang for their buck and we'd get even more monsters to enjoy. Because this line only adds new material once a year I wouldn't like to see retreads of the various actors as the characters such as the Glen Strange Frankenstein take up the coveted spots. If this line were more traditional than annual I'd love to see them.

8.) Does anyone think they'll pick up the license for The Addams Family to do a series of figures of those characters? They've already given us The Munsters in this scale after all! Thwen we can all do every fan boy's dream and finally have both families meet!

9.) Wouldn't it be cool to see an Abbott & Costello 2 pack?

Thank you very much!

[King Kang Kong]

1. Pretty sure it's only four years, but we'll see how the next two years go. We have a good relationship with Universal.

2. I believe it was a cost issue, where we failed to come to terms with the Lugosi estate. I don't think it looked promising for the future, either, which is why we made the call to go ahead without likeness, because we didn't want to hold off on doing him for too long. Not ideal, but I think the sculptor did a great job on the head sculpts.

3. It's from Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll, yeah.

4. We have to offer the characters the average Toys R Us shopper will recognize; I can't remember who Sideshow started off with, but not all of their figures flew off the pegs. And 12-inch figure pricing is completely different from 7-inch, due to the manufacturing processes involved. There's a lot less tooling, and you can do much smaller runs.

5. I believe King Kong is an option, but we don't have any plans for him at this point.

6. The series is "Universal Monsters," so any other movies would be a different line of figures. Munsters is a different line, Mad Monster Party...

7. Fall is when we see the best sales on this kind of item, and it gives stores a year to make room for the next wave, rather than keeping it in the back until the old stuff is gone.

8. It's something we've looked into, but we'll probably let Munsters run its course before we introduce a competing line.

9. They're actually not licensing A&C right now. We asked!

[Count_Zirock]

9. They're actually not licensing A&C right now. We asked!

What the --! That's insane. I wonder if it's a thing with Uni and the estates, like with Lugosi?

[aura of foreboding]

9. They're actually not licensing A&C right now. We asked!

And now we know... the rest of the story.    

[Wizard_Of_Ed]

Oh, wow. I never knew someone from the figure line would respond! It reminds me of the old days of the Muppets line at Palisades Toys...

I don't have the Dracula figure yet (ordering him this week) but I think he's a great looking figure. People are just upset he's not Lugosi is all but if you can't do him you can't do him.

I was referring to the 6-8" Sideshow line of figures, not the 12" though. They did 15 of them and other than Mr. Hyde so far all we've seen are the same selections. The first 2 waves of Sideshow included Frankenstein, the Mummy, and the Wolfman., the Creature, and the Bride (I forget who they used for the 6th slot. They saved Dracula for the end because of the Lugosi estate.)

Would you ever consider a line of any other classic film Monsters as a follow up to Universal when it runs its course?

Is there any way you could get 2 waves in between July and October? Or are you experimenting with that on the B&W box sets and the Eddie & Marilyn set?

Are you planning to expand upon Mad Monster Party each year too if it sells well? If this license sells well would you ever go to the other R/B holiday films left undone. I know you did that great Peter Cottontail line that bombed due to audience unawareness but there's a lot of Christmas specials they did that are more widely known that have never been attempted. The ideal way to do it is like the Universal Monsters line. WB owns a bunch of them and see if they'd allow them to be mixed into one line. I get so tired of seeing the re-releases of Rudolph figures that other company does. There's a lot more out there besides Rudolph and the franchise line up in a collector geared line such as you do might be the way to go?

I hope you'll follow the Munsters with the Addams Family once that line is over. It's great to mix and match the characters up. That only adds to the coolness factor.

Is it true you might do a figure of Spot or a build a Spot Under The Stairs pack in? That would be kind of neat.

That's a shame about Abbott & Costello. For those who have followed up on reason, there were dolls of the pair done in the late 90's. They should see if Universal or the estate was behind those.

Will you only do monsters from the 30's-50-s or are other franchises Universal owns allowed to be part of the line up?

I think you're doing a great job. I haven't been this excited about a figure line in years. I hope you can keep it going for quite some time. Cheers!

[Count_Zirock]

Sideshow's 8" line also did Henry Hull as "The Werewolf of London," Chaney Sr as Quasimodo in "Hunchback," Chaney Sr as The Red Death in "Phantom," and Karloff as The Monster in "Son of Frankenstein." So, it was more than just the "main monsters."

[Wizard_Of_Ed]

I considered all of those main monsters though. The most obscure up there is Werewolf of London. The rest are all biggies. If Diamond Select goes that far I'd like to see some others no one has done yet too.

[King Kang Kong]

I was referring to the 6-8" Sideshow line of figures, not the 12" though. They did 15 of them and other than Mr. Hyde so far all we've seen are the same selections. The first 2 waves of Sideshow included Frankenstein, the Mummy, and the Wolfman., the Creature, and the Bride (I forget who they used for the 6th slot. They saved Dracula for the end because of the Lugosi estate.)

Sorry, you said "larger scale," and threw out some names that made me think of their more prolific 12-inch line. Their 8-inch line didn't go much deeper than what we're doing, but that's because we're trying to reach the same casual Monster fans at Toys "R" Us. You guys are the the tip of the iceberg we have to sell to, and towards the bottom they don't know who Dr. Praetorious is. Too many obscure figures hanging around on the pegs, and the line fails before we get to the big guys, and then everybody says "Where's the Mummy?" I think Jekyll and Hyde will be a real coup for us -- and for you -- next year.

Would you ever consider a line of any other classic film Monsters as a follow up to Universal when it runs its course?

We always consider everything, but nothing has the depth and recognizability of Universal. Hammer, for instance, has a much smaller US fan base. But we've talked about where we want to go after Universal, yes. If you have a suggestion, Ask DST: http://www.artasylum.com/question

Is there any way you could get 2 waves in between July and October? Or are you experimenting with that on the B&W box sets and the Eddie & Marilyn set?

If Toys R Us doesn't want two, then we probably won't do it. That said, I don't think either of those will be at TRU, but we wanted to complete the family.

Are you planning to expand upon Mad Monster Party each year too if it sells well? If this license sells well would you ever go to the other R/B holiday films left undone. I know you did that great Peter Cottontail line that bombed due to audience unawareness but there's a lot of Christmas specials they did that are more widely known that have never been attempted. The ideal way to do it is like the Universal Monsters line. WB owns a bunch of them and see if they'd allow them to be mixed into one line. I get so tired of seeing the re-releases of Rudolph figures that other company does. There's a lot more out there besides Rudolph and the franchise line up in a collector geared line such as you do might be the way to go?

Yes, we plan to make more Mad Monster Party figures every year as long as the first assortment does well for us. I think a lot of the Christmas Rankin Bass stuff has been well-covered, but I'd like to see that one they did with the leprechauns.

I hope you'll follow the Munsters with the Addams Family once that line is over. It's great to mix and match the characters up. That only adds to the coolness factor.

It would definitely be cool to have them in the same scale! Ask DST: http://www.artasylum.com/question

Is it true you might do a figure of Spot or a build a Spot Under The Stairs pack in? That would be kind of neat.

Yes, the staircase with Spot is the build-a-set in Series 2, which unfortunately has been moved to 2013.

Will you only do monsters from the 30's-50-s or are other franchises Universal owns allowed to be part of the line up?

I don't think we were looking beyond that classic era, but if you have suggestions for films from other eras, Ask DST: http://www.artasylum.com/question

I think you're doing a great job. I haven't been this excited about a figure line in years. I hope you can keep it going for quite some time. Cheers!

Glad to hear it! Check out the Minimates, too, they're tiny, but there are a lot more characters, and they're amazingly detailed. Can't wait to see what you guys think of the banks.

[Wizard_Of_Ed]

I'm sorry for the confusion. I wasn't aware I'd said larger scale.

In my experience here the Ebay scalpers snatch all this stuff up at TRU and dump it on Ebay so that's why I have looked at this as more of a collector line than a general public one. I wouldn't think Petorious would be THAT obscure because he's a Mad Scientist character so even if there are casual buyers they'd find interest in him.

Yes, I'm thrilled to get Jekyll and Hyde (I hope I'm able to find the TRU versions...) I hoped there wee other Monsters you could work into the line. If you did Glenn Strange as Frankenstein couldn't you just change the head on Karloff? If it was that simple why wasn't it done?

Check out the thread I started about WB Monster toys. WB owns enough properties with notable Monsters that you could easily get 3 years out of it. I'll be sure to suggest it at the link you sent but I wanted to mention it here for you. And a vehicle of the George Pal Time Machine would be fantastic too. I'd love to have that with my Back to the Future time machine display.

Why aren't you in another store like Target too? Maybe you could have a Target Wave and a TRU wave each year?

Oh, no, the Christmas Rankin/Bass stuff actually hasn't been well covered. R/B made almost 20 specials and all that have ever been merchandised are Rudolph, Frosty's Winter Wonderland, Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, and a Drummer Boy PVC set. That's it. The classic Frosty characters have never been done yet and there were 2 Rudolph sequels that have never been done. There's a lot of fairly well know R/B specials that have never been touched. One of the most beloved characters they ever did is Nestor the long eared Donkey. If WB would allow a company to do a line combining all the characters under one banner like Universal does with the Monsters it would be a great way to see this done. The company that makes the Rudolph figures is only interested in cutting corners and hasn't done anything new in years. They wont even look into the original Frosty because the sequel line didn't sell as strong as Rudolph but it's not the sequel that has aired every year on network TV since 1969. People know those character just as well as the Rudolph ones. They don't know the Frosty sequel characters as well. Even so, the sequel Frosty has sold well enough that they made figures of those characters for 5 years and are doing a snowglobe of him this year. It's a great untapped property. But that way you could do the Leprechauns or the evil wizard from Christmas in July or the Rudolph New Years characters, etc. I can suggest it at your link too if you think it's worth mentioning. I'm sure these characters are more known than Mad Monster Party because they have aired on Cable TV for almost 30 years alone. MMP has not. So if MMP is a success for you this could be as well.

Does the Munsters' Spot come with the racing Munsters variants?

I'm not really a fan of the Mini-Mates only because they remind me of the lego men I had as a kid. I'm more into the replica figures.

[Wizard_Of_Ed]

I forgot about the Palisades Toys YeaR Without a Santa Claus line by Neca so make that 5 lines.

[King Kang Kong]

In my experience here the Ebay scalpers snatch all this stuff up at TRU and dump it on Ebay so that's why I have looked at this as more of a collector line than a general public one. I wouldn't think Petorious would be THAT obscure because he's a Mad Scientist character so even if there are casual buyers they'd find interest in him.

We make thousands of figures for TRU, and only a fraction of those end up on eBay. The rest are bought by monster fans. There are lots of fans of Frankenstein's monster, but there are far fewer fans of Dr. Praetorious.

Yes, I'm thrilled to get Jekyll and Hyde (I hope I'm able to find the TRU versions...) I hoped there wee other Monsters you could work into the line. If you did Glenn Strange as Frankenstein couldn't you just change the head on Karloff? If it was that simple why wasn't it done?

It's not that simple. I assume the costume is slightly different, and I'm not positive his likeness is included in the license. Lots of factors. And I believe Jekyll is the TRU version (with Quasi and Mole Man), and Hyde is the specialty version (with Quasi on the Gargoyle).

Why aren't you in another store like Target too? Maybe you could have a Target Wave and a TRU wave each year?

Target is not interested in the line. We talk to them every year, and see what they would be interested in carrying, but this is not one of them. Luckily, Toys "R" Us orders more knowing they are the only major chain that carries them.

Oh, no, the Christmas Rankin/Bass stuff actually hasn't been well covered. R/B made almost 20 specials and all that have ever been merchandised are Rudolph, Frosty's Winter Wonderland, Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, and a Drummer Boy PVC set. That's it. The classic Frosty characters have never been done yet and there were 2 Rudolph sequels that have never been done. There's a lot of fairly well know R/B specials that have never been touched. One of the most beloved characters they ever did is Nestor the long eared Donkey.

I will not comment on the relative popularity of Nestor the Long-Eared Donkey. Maybe DSTChuck will.

Does the Munsters' Spot come with the racing Munsters variants?

That is the plan.

I'm not really a fan of the Mini-Mates only because they remind me of the lego men I had as a kid. I'm more into the replica figures.

They're a little bigger, more poseable and more detailed than Lego people -- more like Kubricks than anything -- but that's the first time I've heard someone say they didn't like a toy from their childhood!

[Wizard_Of_Ed]

It's not that I don't like toys from my childhood....I just collect A LOT Of toys so I have to be selective on what I get into. I would have bought up action figures of Back To The Future in a heartbeat! The Mini Mates are a meh...to me. I'm sure they're well made but the fomat doesn't do anything for me. It's too generic to my taste.

Who is DTS Chuck? Is that who I sent the suggestions to at the link? I suggested the Christmas figures and will do the rest in a bit.

When Frankenstein has been covered in figure form so much before does he really sell better than a new character would? I go to a lot of Toy Showsand Comic Cons and I see Wave 1 crop up all the time. The point is they get bought but it's unknown if they are bought because of the character selection or because of the line name. I guess this line wont go beyond the 5 years if Petorious is too obscure. You'll run out of Monsters.

Why was the Bride used as the TRU only figure? She's as well known as the others. Ditto on the Wolfman. I'd think the Mutant is the lesser known of this year's offering. How do you determine which ones get the deluxe treament?

[King Kang Kong]

Who is DTS Chuck? Is that who I sent the suggestions to at the link? I suggested the Christmas figures and will do the rest in a bit.

He's the director of DST, and he answers all the Ask DST questions on our blog. His opinions matter much more than mine do.

When Frankenstein has been covered in figure form so much before does he really sell better than a new character would?

A character most people don't recognize? Yes. Most people are not completists, and just buy the characters they like.

Why was the Bride used as the TRU only figure? She's as well known as the others. Ditto on the Wolfman. I'd think the Mutant is the lesser known of this year's offering. How do you determine which ones get the deluxe treament?

It's largely a format issue, and not necessarily a popularity issue. We look at which figures in the line will work best in the two different formats -- which have the best possibilities for deluxe bases, which suggest the best variant sculpts or paint schemes, etc. So while we could have done Wolfman and Bride and Invisible Man as deluxe figures, they didn't scream out to be made into deluxe figures as loudly as Frank, Mummy, Drac and Creature. Plus, we want the Toys "R" Us exclusives to sell well, so want them to be well-known characters. Toys "R" Us sells a lot more figures than specialty does, so it's not like we're making them in significantly smaller quantities than the others.

For instance, the Metaluna Mutant is probably the least well-known Monster in Series 3, but the Interocitor is a great deluxe base. And when we weren't sure if we could get  Lon Chaney's likeness rights for the Deluxe figure, we briefly considered doing two Invisible Men, and one (masked) Phantom.

[Wizard_Of_Ed]

Is there a way you could ever do a 2 pack so a Petorious could be included with a Frankenstein Monster or a Glenn Strange Frankenstein Monster (A character you deem popular enough to round out the set)? Or even rerelease the Bride in a different color scheme? A lot of people here talk about Bela the Gypsy from the Wolfman and Renfield and the Daughter of Dracula. Perhaps such a pairing could make a sub series possible? Would you ever put a character like that in the final wave when future releases wont matter as much? (I wish there was a way to test the popularity of Petorious. He wouldn't even fly as a Mad Doctor slot?) What about the Female Creature From The Black Lagoon from the unproduced sequel? If she's covered under the license would she have enough of a coolness factor to be worth doing even though the film was never made?

Do you think you'll revist any of the Monsters already done such as an Ardeath Bay Mummy or a Creature Walks Creature From The Black Lagoon? Neither of them have been made in this scale either and since they're title characters are they well-known enough to fill out the slots?

In your opinion why are the Toys R Us ones harder to find than the speciality stores when you make less of the latter? When they do appear the sellers list them so high no one ever bids. It must be because it says TRU on it that they think they can get more even though they get no takers.

Perhaps someone would know the answer to this too. Were the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holme films Universals? It would be nice to see a Holmes and Watson as a companion piece to the Monsters line since no one has ever made a Holmes figure of Rathbone and most classic Monster fans enjoy Holmes too.

[1/6thtoyz]

Is there a way you could ever do a 2 pack so a Petorious could be included with a Frankenstein Monster or a Glenn Strange Frankenstein Monster (A character you deem popular enough to round out the set)? Or even rerelease the Bride in a different color scheme? A lot of people here talk about Bela the Gypsy from the Wolfman and Renfield and the Daughter of Dracula. Perhaps such a pairing could make a sub series possible? Would you ever put a character like that in the final wave when future releases wont matter as much? (I wish there was a way to test the popularity of Petorious. He wouldn't even fly as a Mad Doctor slot?) What about the Female Creature From The Black Lagoon from the unproduced sequel? If she's covered under the license would she have enough of a coolness factor to be worth doing even though the film was never made?

Do you think you'll revist any of the Monsters already done such as an Ardeath Bay Mummy or a Creature Walks Creature From The Black Lagoon? Neither of them have been made in this scale either and since they're title characters are they well-known enough to fill out the slots?

In your opinion why are the Toys R Us ones harder to find than the speciality stores when you make less of the latter? When they do appear the sellers list them so high no one ever bids. It must be because it says TRU on it that they think they can get more even though they get no takers.

Perhaps someone would know the answer to this too. Were the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holme films Universals? It would be nice to see a Holmes and Watson as a companion piece to the Monsters line since no one has ever made a Holmes figure of Rathbone and most classic Monster fans enjoy Holmes too.

1.  I agree I would love to see two packs_ Ygor/son of frankenstein - Ardeth Bay/Mummy and etc.

2. Also a laboratory or additional pieces w/figures to build your own laboratory/diorama

3.I would love to see Friday the 13th-Halloween-Texas chainsaw-Nightmare on Elm st