[Yojoe1138]

[QUOTE=Sender;807812]i have to admit i was pleasantly surprised and happy to see what Mattel did with the 3.75 inch Jurassic Park, World, and Legends line.

If they make a 3.75 inch Top Gun line, i would be on board. i collected figures, vehicles, and dinos. i'd happily collect some figures and vehicles for this line as well (trying really hard not to picture a pretty cool air-carrier or flight deck playset ).

This is exciting news. With Mattel getting the Top Gun License it is highly likely that any line they make will need to be 3 and 3/4 in order to accommodate vehicles with figures-can't have a toy line about a movie about aircraft without the aircraft-one would hope.
If Mattel gives the line to David Vonner to play with and allows him the freedom and access to do what he does best, I can see some great products coming from the line. Vonner did some amazing things with the Jurassic World/Park line (a good mix of movie characters and variety of dinos; accurate sculpts; good articulation on figures and dinos; legacy line of characters from classic movies; variety of dinosaurs; vehicles; large scale dinos; SDCC Exclusive figure). If given the Top Gun line and allowed the freedom, I can see him really creating some excellent products. Wouldn't it be a big insult to Hasbro and their GIJOE line to have a Mattel produced 2 seater F-14 Tomcat with removable/Ejection seats or Parachutes, when the best Hasbro was able to do with their GIJOE line was to make a one seat Skystriker for the 30th anniversary? In addition, how terrible for Hasbro would it be for Mattel to beat them to the punch of creating an AirCraft Carrier playset before they could create a GIJOE USS FLAGG from their Haslab fan funding? I know that is thinking big, but if Mattel allowed Vonner to create this, it wouldn't be that far off from their Castle Greyscale fan funded project which one could argue was the model for the Haslab Jabba Sailbarge toy, so I don't see why not. Even the thought of Mattel doing this, could spark the fire in Hasbro to attempt to rush a USS FLAGG crowd funded project just to avoid losing the potential consumer dollars. The figures, if handled as the Jurassic Park line, would be great to have not only new film figures, but also the production of classic characters would be great for not only the line, but for customs as well (Ethan Hunt....Mission Impossible). The articulation from the Jurassic Park line is decent and it would allow figures to sit in the vehicles, but I would love to see added articulation to the torso; wrist; and ankles, as well as a less wonkier hip joint for the legs.
It is so odd to see Hasbro decidedly walk away from the 3 and ¾ scale with their Marvel and Star Wars (as well as the dying of the GIJOE line –which is so odd when one thinks about how long that line ran in that scale), in order to push the 6 inch lines of Marvel and Star Wars. But what I find interesting about this all, is that when Hasbro creates all of the desired characters from those lines in the 6 inch scale, where do they go from there? This is why we have seen so many film based lines with the Marvel Legends, because it affords them new characters or versions of characters to create and sell. What happens though when they create a line which does not resonate well with the fans or if the movie flops (I know, this is the MCU and they could literally have success filming a tree for 2 hours and slapping the MCU label on it)? It is not unheard of though, as a few years back the GIJOE line took a huge hit when Hasbro had product ready for the Retaliation line which sat on shelves without a film to promote it, as the film required major reshoots and was delayed-it could happen to Marvel as well. Also, as the Legends line continues to pump out lines of characters, they will eventually run out of characters to make and will have to remake character or give them alternative costumes. Eventually they will run out of fans who are willing to rebuy the same characters over and over again. And while this is happening with Hasbro, Mattel is sneaking in the 1/18th scale game with their movie licensed lines with legacy potential. So long as Mattel gives Vonner the keys to the castle with the development of these lines, I can only see great things coming for the fans along with great recognition, awards and profit for Mattel. Vonner and team have earned this trust from Mattel with their Indominous Rex winning the 2019 Toy of the Year at Toy Fair this past year as well as the buzz which has been received from the Brachiosaurus toy (this thing looks huge), not to mention the 2019 SDCC John Hammond Exclusive figure (a very Vonner thing to do). Hopefully, Hasbro sees what their competitor is up to and reinvigorates their 3 and 3/4 lines to at least compete with them.