Fender Bender wrote:If you have $500 to spend, are you gonna buy some awesome original mode 3rd party Masterpiece figures or some limited release repaints from the main retail lines?
I believe that this is an apples/oranges argument. The Club has never shown an inclination in the MP line of figures. The Club is working on filling gaps and providing those "far out" characters that may never see the light of day even in unofficial form.
Heck, that's a big reason I didn't even track Battletrap down from the box set, as that was the only figure that kind of interested me. For the price people were selling him for, I'd rather take my chances and wait for a 3rd party to do him right as an actual Duocon rather than a Springer repaint. For the same price, why not get the better, more accurate toy?
No argument here. It may take a couple years though. Some are patient, others are not.
Either way, I miss that Flywheels wasn't done too
...and that's where we are at with Fun Pub toys. They should be focusing on lowering prices and expanding lines with either repaints that actually homage repaints, or all new original characters.
Is that not what they're doing with TFSS and their GI Joe crossover figures? As for lowering prices... well unless they come forward with all their earning figures and sales projections, it's all guessing at the wind. I will say that their recent TFSS and Crossover figures cost roughly what I thought they would be and even exceeded expectations.
It may have worked in the collector market 8 years ago to release a figure that was missing a key element of the original (such as Dreadwind from BC07 not being able to combine with Darkwing, or Club Exclusive Astrotrain not being a triplechanger), but that doesn't fly today.
The Club today and the figure selection is also not what it was 8 years ago either. For the most part, they're hitting more nails on the head than misses these days. You may think Battletrap wasn't done right, but the final result was pretty good, and the double pretender was a pretty cool concept.
That's the big reason there are figures still left in the store. Not the late registration. Not the fandom's frustration with Fun Pub's mistakes. Not because the figures weren't marketed correctly to emphasize the Diaclone connection. Not because Botcon was in an old dilapidated hotel. It's simply because the dynamic of the market has changed and competition from 3rd Parties is making Fun Pub's business plan for the last 10 years obsolete and unable to compete.
Sorry, but I disagree. 3rd Parties and Fun Pub are different niches catering to the same group of fans and they can coexist peacefully. Would we have ever gotten a CarZap or a Nacelle from any 3rd Party? I highly doubt it. The Mayhem Attack Squad might have come at some point, but that's several years off. I've said it to Pete and Brian both at one Botcon or another that I love it when they tackle niche characters that will never be brought to light through the normal channels. It's what makes my collection 'fun' for lack of a better word.
I've been keeping track as a 'Classics' collector, and between Unofficial and Official channels, there's not a lot of holes left to fill in the 1984-85-Movie rosters anymore, assuming you've started at the beginning or have the resources top go back and grab whatever was missed. What's left? 86-and onward, which doesn't hold as widespread interest to even parts of the TF Collectors market. So what's left to do? Sure 3rd Parties could swoop in and make the most awesome figures of the Sparkabots ever, but they may not do well because collectors may not spend that much money on it. HOWEVER if The Club put out a three-set of repaints with a decent mini-comic, I'm betting there will be interest, because it's niche enough to be of interest to enough people that fall into The Club's demographic - those who like "niche" stuff.
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