Diamond Select Toys is Shutting Down

PantherCult said:
So not to disagree with any of your broader points KD, but the truth is we don't know that the DST model itself was failing as much as DST being tied to Diamond's overall sinking ship sucked everything into its vortex.

I don't definitively know one way or the other... but some context clues have at least pointed to DST being at least marginally viable as a stand alone entity. But when Diamond finally imploded DST couldn't be easily spun off on its own because license rights wouldn't transfer... so it wouldn't be worthwhile to take over DST if you couldn't make Marvel Select or Lord of the Rings stuff. The most valuable thing DST had was licenses that were non transferable, leaving the company itself with little value.

Which again isn't to say that all of your criticisms and complaints about things were'nt totally valid. But I think even if you didn't have any of those complaints the situation itself would have sunk them regardless.
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I have no argument there.

I will say that, in my estimation, if DST was as successful as people wanted to believe they were, and were making good business decisions that were regularly keeping them in the black, there's LESS likelihood that it would be so easy to sink them, and more likelihood that there would have been a stronger push from higher ups to keep that arm of things operational somehow. Besides the obvious vulture capitalism, it's pretty rare for successful companies regularly turning a profit to just tank like this, even when a parent or sister company goes under.

But that's speculation.
 
Damien said:
For sure. My wife is STILL angry about Hammond and Baal. She sold her entire SG collection because of that.
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I did the same with BSG when they cancelled Roslin and Baltar.

NEVER FORGET.

Okay, not all - I kept Starbuck and Adama bc Starbuck is awesome and I was the first person on the internet to find Adama back in the day and I have a soft spot for that figure. Also, I always wanted to kitbash a better Starbuck using the Athena/Boomer two-pack and I finally did so I have those two figs leftover. Oh, and I kept the Dead Razor Six Minimate because it's hilarious. But all the rest - GONE!!
 
Alas, BBTS finally canceled my LOTR figures and Plo Koon gallery figure. Was really looking forward to ol' Plo.

Been debating offloading the LOTR figures. They're nice, of course, and at least they got all of the Fellowship out, so it's a decent enough little display, but was really hoping for at least the rest of the FOTR cast. Not sure if it's best to keep them, play catch-up with the Funko Pops I'm missing, or start keeping an eye on the Figuarts releases.
 
DST filed bankruptcy separately from Diamond Comic Distributors. DST's bankruptcy filing report notes their debt was higher than their assets. It's just check boxes in broad dollar values on the form. It was something like assets <$1 million, and debts $10-50 million. I don't remember the exact number categories, just that assets were a step or two below debt on the form.

I have the impression that DST wasn't very profitable, or was not at all profitable, on its own, and was being financially supported by Diamond Comics Distributors. When DCD could no longer provide that financial support, DST really started to have issues funding production. That's just my guess. I could be completely off the mark. I don't know how money was shared between the various companies under Diamond.
 
How does Hot Toys and sideshow factor into the Diamond collapse? Will they be affected because Hot Toys is technically a subsidiary of Sideshow so can they still send out goods to their retail partners?


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Stoopid_Sandwich said:
How does Hot Toys and sideshow factor into the Diamond collapse? Will they be affected because Hot Toys is technically a subsidiary of Sideshow so can they still send out goods to their retail partners?


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They are NOT a subsidiary of Sideshow. Hot Toys is a unique, independent company in Hong Kong, Sideshow is just a distribution partner. Sideshow is the official distributor for Hot Toys in the US, North and South America, Europe, Australia and some Asian countries.
 
SalemCrow said:
They are NOT a subsidiary of Sideshow. Hot Toys is a unique, independent company in Hong Kong, Sideshow is just a distribution partner. Sideshow is the official distributor for Hot Toys in the US, North and South America, Europe, Australia and some Asian countries.
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Ohh I thought they bought out the company in 2015 and that’s why they stopped making their own 1/6 scale premium figures


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Damien said:
When Zach would say asinine stupid motherfucking dickhead shit like...
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Hard to believe that insightful and constrictive criticism wasn't appreciated and taken to heart more by the DST folks... 😅

I have to think DST was profitable on its own for quite a while, but has faced the same headwinds in the last 5 years or so that has impacted all toy companies. If it was 2015 I am confident they would have been able to survive as a standalone entity, in 2025 maybe - but only if the entire enterprise wasn't saddled with debt and losing licenses.

I also think Minimates was their top product line. I think more than the Select lines, the Minimates line and brand could be sold off and reborn. Toys R Us was a big outlet for Minimates, as was Walgreens (both had Minimates exclusives) - I think TRU closing and Walgreeens reducing their push to have exclusive collector items probably hurt DST quite a bit.
 
Minimates might have been their most profitable product line, but had all but died out by the end. Wasn't it down to one or two releases in the last year?

In my collection I only have Jim Lee Rogue, all the Phoeni, Avengers ScarJo, Maria and Wanda and BSG Dead Six left.

This reminds me I still need to replace my White Phoenix - my vacuum shredded her to bits before I could turn it off.
 
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Bills all day said:
DST filed bankruptcy separately from Diamond Comic Distributors.

I have the impression that DST wasn't very profitable, or was not at all profitable, on its own, and was being financially supported by Diamond Comics Distributors. When DCD could no longer provide that financial support, DST really started to have issues funding production. That's just my guess. I could be completely off the mark. I don't know how money was shared between the various companies under Diamond.
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Given the lead time to produce a figure, I think toy company accounting has to deal with a very long time from starting to accrue expenses due to development/production to when they get paid for product by retail - it is possible that DCD had been supplementing development and production from their cash flow in the good years. But it is also possible that DCD, once they had cash flow problems, prioritized external expenses and kicked paying DST for what was sort of their own product down the road, creating debt/increasing account receivables on the DST side...
 
Schizm said:
Minimates might have been their most profitable product line, but had all but died out by the end. Wasn't it down to one or two releases in the last year?
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Probably? I sort of lost track of Minimates after TRU closed as I tended to buy them there in the heyday, but who knows how much of things winding down was the general state of DCD/DST not being able to pay for anything, including production.
 
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