New Universal Monsters in 2014 from Diamond Select

[aura of foreboding]

The Phantom proto was a beautiful thing.  I knew it could never look that good in person.  I hope he still has the vest and jacket, though.

[Mord]

 I agree with Anton, this should hopefully be the last of this line. I would also rather have them end it than keep cheaping them down. That also goes for the 7" line. Hopefully next year will only bring Son of Frank and Creature 7"ers and finish off the DST/Universal collaboration. It was nice while it lasted, but it's run it's course.

[Gillfan]

I have to say, I'm a bit surprised by the tone this discussion has taken. So often monster collectors on this board and others say that young people ARE interested in classic monster toys and they WILL buy them if given a chance.

But then, a company makes an item that is below collector standards but more than adequate for play and the call goes out to kill the line.

There are economic realities to every business. They are especially evident in toys.
I doubt if many of you guys played with Barbie dolls, but she used to come with a tiny pair of underwear and a bra. Now they are just molded in the plastic. It was too expensive for one of the world's largest toy companies to make to make a fabric set of underwear the size of a quarter.
There are many examples of cutbacks like this, and if it comes down to not including underwear, or removing a vest and chain from a costume, or not making the product at all...well I'd rather make the product.

Retailers won't hear of price increases. Try to go up even a nickle a unit and you won't get an order. Yes, this sucks, but it is reality.

So before you say "End the line!", ask yourself "Does it still have play value? If I were a kid would I want to lay with it? Even though it is not perfect, is it cool?" If the answer is yes, then don't call for its demise.

[aura of foreboding]

There are many examples of cutbacks like this, and if it comes down to not including underwear, or removing a vest and chain from a costume, or not making the product at all...well I'd rather make the product.

Retailers won't hear of price increases. Try to go up even a nickle a unit and you won't get an order. Yes, this sucks, but it is reality.

So before you say "End the line!", ask yourself "Does it still have play value? If I were a kid would I want to lay with it? Even though it is not perfect, is it cool?" If the answer is yes, then don't call for its demise.

So he doesn't have the vest?  Bummer.  I think he's still the best one in the line, however. 

[Anton Phibes]

I dont think a lot of kids are buying figures made to appeal to middle aged men. Men who grew up with Megos in the 70's. Maybe they are buying the DST plastic figures. But its doubtful little 8 year old Jimmy gives a crap about Mego-esque Mutants. Maybe some Borderlands figures by NECA are more their speed.

I can appreciate the whole "economic disaster" scenerio....but if the difference is going to be too drastic (Mutant suffers greatly from the prototype vs. the actual figure), then they won't sell to the adults they are targeting. It's a little different than Barbie's bras and drawers.


A for the whole "cut costs' thing----I am done with caring about that song and dance. Nothing personal directed at you, my monster brother. But all I hear these days is "cut wages, cut costs, cut labor,cut, cut, cut". All while those spouting the "cut costs" mantra live like kings. It's what cost me my job from early 2006-mid 2007. The heads of my company cried "poor" then recorded record profits. Meanwhiel friends I knew lost homes, marriages wrecked, etc. But I digress.

If its no longer profitable and cost effective to make figures, its better to just call it quits. Its preferable to offering product that continues to deteriorate in quality for the same asking price (or an inflated one). Hanging on the pegs at any local department store are 3 3/4 inch figures for $8.99. Figures that are of the same quality as Happy Meal toys given out for free 10 years ago.

We are going backwards in this country with regards to how much bang you get for your buck.

Recently Mattel cancelled their DC Universe Classics line and Ghostbusters Ecto-1. The reasoning was there just werent enough folks willing to "subscribe. IE to pre-order and pre-pay to make it "profitable enough". I dare say Ghost Busters and DC Superheroes are more popular than Universal Monsters. After all, the marketing of DC is all over God's creation. The Monsters get exposure at Halloween....and little is done with the property. This is a giant company. Much larger than DST or Emce.

A perfect example of what I am talking about is this: I bought the first wave of Mego Night of the Living Dead figures. i loved them. In the time that passed for them to release wave 2---the packaging and presentation fo the figures deteriorated. I skipped on Barbra and Karen. If there's ever a series 3....I will be shocked.  Sometimes little cuts can be made. But the cuts made between wave 1 and 2 on those was atrocious. That's what i am worried will happen to Universal Monsters if they keep "cutting costs". I would rather they quit than deteriorate. Just a personal opinion.

[Count_Zirock]

Anton, you nailed that perfectly!

Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 4

[Monsters For Sale]

...Recently Mattel cancelled their DC Universe Classics line and Ghostbusters Ecto-1. The reasoning was there just werent enough folks willing to "subscribe. IE to pre-order and pre-pay to make it "profitable enough"....
 

Damned hard to get subscribers when the prototypes' and final products' qualities are so far apart and "collections" are often discontinued before reaching completion.

I also get a little tired of the same molds being milked for Color Editions, Silver Screen Editions, Translucent Editions, Glow-In-the-Dark Editions, Bronze Editions, etc. - But that's a separate issue.

[Count_Zirock]

I also get a little tired of the same molds being milked for Color Editions, Silver Screen Editions, Translucent Editions, Glow-In-the-Dark Editions, Bronze Editions, etc. - But that's a separate issue.

But, one that's pretty common. As a former "Star Wars" action figure collector, Hasbro milked the same three Clone Trooper molds for over a decade, with ridiculous retailer & convention "exclusives" that were nothing more than new paint slapped on the same Clone Troopers, on a card that had a sticker on it (Target, Kmart, Toys R Us, SDCC, etc) that entitled the sellers to charge 3x the usual price! Eventually, I decided to stop collecting "exclusives," especially when I could, in all likelihood, customize the same figure using the regular versions and about $0.35's worth of paint.

Now, I don't mind the Silver Screen Editions, because, hey, that's how we saw them, in glorious B&W. I only own the Sideshow SSE 12" Dracula because it was a gift. If I had unlimited funds, I might have bought a few SSE figures to display next to their full-color counterparts, but I don't, so I didn't. I haven't bought any of the DST B&W sets, again, because I not only just can't afford it, but I've got very limited display space, too.

[Gillfan]

Anton- Your points are well thought out and eloquently stated, and I agree with the vast majority of them.

I also sympathize with anyone who lost employment. I was reading an article the other day that very few parents encourage their children to go into manufacturing as a career and I thought "Because we've seen everyone in manufacturing lose their jobs".

There are no simple solutions to the economic situation.

But with that said, I still think we should avoid proposing that the monster line be killed.
As crazy as this may sound, I think our "army" needs all the new recruits it can get.  Sure, some of us will have kids and draft them, but we need fresh blood too, and if a Phantom or Mutant on a toy store shelf helps bring a young person into the glorious world of classic monsters, it is all worth it.

[fmofmpls]

But with that said, I still think we should avoid proposing that the monster line be killed.
As crazy as this may sound, I think our "army" needs all the new recruits it can get.  Sure, some of us will have kids and draft them, but we need fresh blood too, and if a Phantom or Mutant on a toy store shelf helps bring a young person into the glorious world of classic monsters, it is all worth it.

I couldn't agree more. Let's not let our analytic idiosyncrasies over mass produced action figures kill a commercial retail market that is already pretty much nonexistent. Just the fact that these exist at all is nothing short of astonishing.   

[Anton Phibes]

Good points fellas. Look--I am by no means "calling' for the line to stop. I am just expressing my opinion that if the figures continue to deteriorate in quality---the lack of sales will kill it. Like I am pretty sure it did with Night of the living Dead. Time will tell on that one. I realy dont want to see the Universal Monsters suffer the same fate. They get pooped on enough as it is. I doubt DST/EMCE wants that either. Yet---back to NOTLD.

I have a friend in retail who has stated to me he wont be ordering anymore NOTLD waves.... because of the changes from wave 1 to wave 2. He actually had to go out and buy hanger tags and glue them to the back of those figures, and then "shake" each figure around inside their repective bubbles in an attempt to make them presentable for sale. He hated it and said "No more".That's a retailer's point of view.

I wont be throwing about petitions for follks to sign to get the line scrapped. I love the line--so far. I am on the fence about Mutant though.  Heck---I would love an EMCE Werewolf of London and Mad Ghoul. But not if they look bad. That's all.

As for the need for more new monster kids--I agree whole heartedly. As I have said many times past---if we don't reproduce, we go extinct.

But we are competing with all the other figures out there---figures with brand new franchises, brand new comics, brand new video games. New tends to keep the public's mind fresh on the subject matter.  Universal cannot even manage to get their monsters into an anthology style comic book or series of animated direct to dvd features--- and they are a movie studio for crying out loud. It's not looking that good. 

[King Kang Kong]

Phantom has his suit jacket, you can see it under his overcoat -- which is pretty much identical to the prototype overcoat, by the way. It's not a bathrobe. I'm not positive he has his vest, but I have not heard it was cut. I think it's just behind his coats. His tie is also askew, it will look more natural once he's out of his coffin.

As far as the Metaluna Mutant goes, I think people are seeing studio-requested changes and overall improvements and calling them cost-cutting. The wide-flared pants and sleeves with bright red cuffs and veins were swapped for a tapered leg and more form-fitting arm with more subtle veining, as it appears in the film. The belt is now the right color, as well. EMCE may have been going for a more toyetic, Mego-esque look, because they're awesome like that. I don't know if it was the product manager or the studio who asked EMCE to make it more movie-accurate, but I don't see anything here that was done for cost-cutting.

If you think the materials look cheaper, it may have simply been because the old material couldn't do what it needed to with the mandated changes, or the factory couldn't source enough of the prototype material to make the entire run. But again, I think it was what the material could do, not what it cost.

As much as I want it to go on forever, I don't know that we actually have any plans beyond this assortment, so some of you may get your wish. I don't think we started making Retro toys to make a ton of money – we made them because we're all old-school toy fans, and the EMCE guys are the best. I'm happy we got what we got, and can't wait to get the new guys.

[Mike Scott]

I'm happy we got what we got, and can't wait to get the new guys.

And I'm happy with the stuff I got and looking fearward to the new Creature! 

[robodog]

Kids may not know who the Universal Monsters are. They may not have ever seen any of the classic movies. But I find it hard to believe that any toy loving kid could look at a figure of the Wolf Man or The Creature and not want it. A lot of kids love monsters. They don't need to watch the movies to know that a hairy beast man or a scaly, scary sea monster is cool. If the toys were made more widely available I think they'd find an audience. Hell, trick them if you have to. Tell them the Creature is a Pokémon 

[Mike Scott]

Tell them the Creature is a Pokémon 

Blasphemer!!