Over the years, toy fans have seen numerous toys and toy lines that have started off as fantastic ideas. They have also seen just as many lines that fail due to being too poorly executed once released. So what were some of our members choices? Read on below…
Specter
“INDIANA JONES!
Designs & character availability killed the line that could have been huge.
Indy’s weird leg pose, to many old Indys, no perfect young one(horse came closest) Skull’s figures kept us from getting figures from the better movies, to many versions of Indy at once.“
Dys
“Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors. The vehicle toys weren’t that bad for the time, problem is they didn’t really put any effort into tying in with the supporting fiction, the human figures were generic space heroes rather than the characters from the show and the Monster Minds were nothing but vaguely faecal looking green lumps.“
TxBart
“Kenner’s Vortech line would be a good example. AN attempt to take what was great about M.A.S.K. and change up the story to suit a new generation. Except, In My opinion, they didn’t understand what WAS great about M.A.S.K.. The Vortech vehicles were generic and unrecognizable as real world vehicles in disguise mode (which could be cool if they are of awesome design), Stupid & contrived looking in alternate mode. The transformations were lame and in some cases made no sense such as this example http://www.albertpenello.com/mask/vortech/road.jpg. The figures were a step forward from M.A.S.K. in attempt at detail but then a step backward in overall asthetic, They had strange proportions and were not absolutely inter-changeable between vehicles. But what really kills this line is the dumbed down action features. M.A.S.K. did such a great job of incorporating the firing projectiles into the designs, where Vortech (& most every other toy out there) action features seemed like an after thought.“
Snowflakian
“Kamen Rider Motion Revive Series – Epic Idea, hindered by nothing in line, only in the fact it ended before they made Decade, or the rest of the blade or faiz riders, let alone kuuga and agito or ryuki. It also would have been nice to have other toku heroes, like Kikaider, Hakaider, the White Armored guy in my sig, among many others bandai has the rights to like garo. So the other drawback here is lack of diversity outside of just monster hunter, xenosaga, and Kamen rider. Epic line that fails only in the fact they haven’t made that many, and can’t seem to do females right.“
Shin Densetsu
“Playmates Star Trek and Terminator(2009)-I bring both of these lines up because A/they aren’t selling, B/both are disappointing, and C/they are made from the same company and based on recent summer flicks. Playmates had very popular Star Trek figures back in the 90’s and it is clear that the movie line can’t reclaim the glory of those days. The Terminator line lead collectors to believe that we could have Terminators in the venerable 3-3/4″ scale, unfortunately what we got were vehicles that were far too small, and figures that were simply not up to par. The simplified sculpts, lack of more articulation, even with figures in bigger scales, lead collectors to conclude that Playmates is still stuck in the past, and I have to agree. These figures might have been great 10 years ago, but now? No.“
There were even more great responses in the thread itself. I highly suggest checking it out, as our members really brought some great points last week. This week’s discussion will be up soon. So check back later.
CompaniesBandai