I wish I knew more about factory toy pricing, like, how much would it cost to upgrade that Robin Hood to NECA level. Functional joints, fully painted, able to hold its bow, etc. $1 per unit? $5 per unit? Hell, I would have probably gotten it for $60 if it was NECA level
Do you mean what would it cost consumers, or what would it cost Super7? Different answers. What it would cost consumers is whatever Super7 would decide to charge for making better toys. What would it cost Super7? Pennies per unit. Possibly a percentage of a penny per unit. Again, this is something I've banged on about but I think was often taken as me just criticizing Super7 without knowing anything: Super7 chooses to make figures the way they do out of greed, apathy, and laziness, NOT out of financial constraints.
That is simply a fact. But I would betray a lot of confidence if I cited any kind of numbers, and I don't have access to the actual documents to provide where it would ever be more than my word on it anyway. So can't/won't prove what I'm saying and everyone can just decide if they think Damien or Brian Flynn is a more credible source.
So I actually completely agree with this. The only Ultimates I buy are those that can fit with my sword and sorcery shelf -with my existing collection and I always thought the oexpansion into Disney and Simpsons and etc was risky.
Heck, even the Hasbro stuff... Transformers, G.I. Joe, Power Rangers didn't tempt me because there were better, cheaper options available.
Kind of swinging back around to the 'put me in charge of Super7' thing; Brian Flynn is just an idiot. Those were all GREAT license gets that he pissed away being a fucking moron that thinks anyone wants giant, expensive Simpsons toys. Look at what Jakks is doing right now. Their Simpsons lines are doing really well for them and they're quite basic and far more 'collect-them-all' scaled.
'Ultimates' is Flynn's answer to 'what do modern toy collectors want that I am willing to give them?' And when you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Disney, Simpsons, Transformers, Joe, Power Rangers - none of that should have tried to 'fit in' with Ultimates. And they didn't fit in anyway. It's not like you can put Ultimates Flint and Homer next to Lion-O and they look like they belong together. That was just pure stupidity from someone who did not allow his employees to tell him he had bad ideas.
There are still a lot of MOTUC fans out there willing to buy stuff that goes with what they already have. Super7 should absolutely be catering to those people - not least because they're clearly willing to overpay for that kind of a niche item. But you have to be smart with how you choose the licenses. Licenses that don't fit that aesthetic? Do something ELSE with them. How complicated is that?
