Where toy designers can "work" gathering material (at a bar!) with 100's of toy planes. An air base - with a secluded private beach! Instead of volleyball, its a new beach football / beach bar scene. Mattel sent Barbie designers to Paris for fashion. Its a tough job, yet they can positively do better "work" at sunny California beaches too!

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Word has it toy companies are pitchimg items (unseen at Toy Fair) as latter day seasonal exclusives for retail, online, etcetera. Hasbro didn't show G.I.Joe 3.75" figures at Toy Fair; yet its now showing up in Walmart's System. Bluray holiday gift sets are also being planned. Kenner sold cardboard "Early Bird" Star Wars gift certificates for the holidays 1977. In part because Mattel rejected producer George Lucas's idea for Star Wars 3.75 toys. Today we got producer Bruckheimer who pitched TOPGUN as "Star Wars within our skies." Hopefully Mattel does what Kenner did and have just 1 seasonal item for the 3.75 inch scale.

Wait.

I think I just realized another big chunk of why there's not much merch/toys for this, aside from the other reasons I've stated.

IIRC, Tom Cruise is extremely conservative with his likeness rights, rarely ever allowing action figures to be made of his characters, and thus, rarely are action figure lines made of the movies he's in.

I think some believe it's because the Church of Scientology has some weird restrictions about its members becoming action figures, but the one I've heard more (and more credibly) is that, due to bad experiences with the toys released for the original Mission Impossible movie, Tom Cruise has since been extremely apprehensive about toys being made of him/his characters, so the only official action figure bearing his likeness since then that I can think of is the Real Action Heroes Ethan Hunt from... M:I - Ghost Protocol, I believe.

Presumably, Mattel, like most other companies, didn't manage to convince him to give them the likeness rights, so no figure of his character, and without him, there's not much of a reason to do the other characters, so they just didn't bother making action figures at all.

Sure, that in and of itself doesn't explain the dearth of vehicle toys. But, I think it's because most toy lines these days are character-oriented rather than vehicle-oriented, and when vehicles are the focus of a line it's usually something small like Hot Wheels or Matchbox.

That could be at least partially solved if they had distinctive enough unique vehicles from the actual property, but since Top Gun mostly isn't about actual original designs for vehicles, just having licensed F-14s and whatnot wouldn't be a huge draw to kids unless they're Matchbox-sized.

Medicom definitely made a commendable effort in getting Cruise's likeness right.

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IjBUPJahQ..._ethanHunt.jpg

Mattel forgot, they have tech, to achieve the same. Mattel's 3D scanning is amazing as seen in their WWE toys. Perhaps a "helmeted" figure (for now) to pair with a 3.75 scale jet. Just in time for thee new springtime Bluray or new holiday theatrical debut.

Again, it's not so much about the tech available, and more that Tom Cruise just... doesn't really allow figures of his characters to be made. I'm betting he wouldn't have even let a helmeted version without his likeness be made. And with the main character completely off limits, there isn't much appeal for other characters, so Mattel just didn't even bother. And without characters kids might remotely be interested in to interact with them, kids wouldn't be particularly interested in just normal military vehicles larger than maybe 9" long.

Without his likeness he would have zero say. Unless he is directing, producing or writing the movie. The character belongs to the intellectual property holder not the actor.

Like with many of his movies in the past several years, Tom Cruise is a producer on the film. So, yeah. He has the say.

edit

Apparently there was some truth to 3.75" Top Gun toys...except they are being outsourced to Lanard Toys and not Mattel...

lanard means no goose and maverick figures.


so this is good news and bad news.

Looking at the jet offerings what's the good news?

cheap jets for my gi joes.

Surreal. As surreal as Hasbro hypothetically doing only tiny diecast cars for its huge global license in Star Wars. Then outsourced Lanard to make 3.75" figures and a Millunium Falcon or Jabba Barge just a few inches longer than 3.75" which doesn't match the likeness of either (figures + vehicles).

Darth Vader when the CHiPs were down.

Just like Mattel, it was Mego, who also rejected Lucas's idea on Star Wars 3.75" toys. When his film came out, Mego instead did these, CHiPs 3.75" toys. So they already do toys in a perfect 3.75" scale yet Mego passed on Star Wars 3.75" toys. Same way Mattel already does 3.75" toys for Jurassic World yet is passing on TOPGUN 3.75" toys.

https://image.invaluable.com/housePh...L156351861.jpg

Courtesy of Skidvoodoo Tee Shirts


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Rumor has it, 2 more movies, exist in a "scriptwriting reality." So if Mattel wants to do a figure - for next year's bluray - it can be reused for more sequels to come...

https://images2.static-bluray.com/mo...g?t=1576518916
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Ya lost the bet my friend! (Smart thing you didn't wager money.) A helmeted figure is being made by Lanard. Given its fine for Medicom to do a "commendable enough" likeness - it should be fine for Mattel - to make a more accurate Cruise action figure as well =

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_1rEk7ZM1C8

For over half-a-century, Mattel long desired a G.I. toyline, just like Hasbro. Tried to even buy Hasbro, as seen in this book by G. Wayne Miller. Decades hence - Mattel finally has something - equally nostalgic, strikingly similar, and in some ways; better. Bill Miekina says 3D scanning allows him to do a figure in just a year. Let's see if Mattel does a 3.75" figure (for next year's bluray) to hopefully create that epic toyline it long wanted; for past / future films to come...

Isn't Barbie doing Top Gun dolls?

There was something listed in the limited Barbie Signature Collection listed under #GHT64. Yet nothing shown at TF2020.

Its not the same vehicle, yet still inspired after the sequel's new, 5th gen jets.