Spinmaster Shapes Collection PlayStation Figures

[Niko (protozoalord)]

The few fans of Sony that I do know only heard about the line existing once or twice, and instead bought nendoroids and funko pops. And it comes as no surprise, Spinmaster's line was practically announced via an Aliexpress listing, was only shown off at an investor-focused event, and had maybe a handful of social media posts at best advertising something with no shelf presence. If you want to be mass market, more people need to be reminded that these products exist than just the most dedicated toy enthusiasts. And of course, have them actually available.

Compare this to Jada, another newcomer to action figures who announced their Capcom lines at SDCC, and were subsequently rolled out to Capcom events, toy/hobby shows both here and overseas, investor events, interviews, and more. Both before and after the actual release of any figures. It's night and day between the two companies.

I just can't see any retail toyline existing without the respective general fanbases having it advertised and pushed to them alongside collectors, especially with a property with less immediate overlap with hardcore collectors. Most people I know (primarily people between 20-35) collect basically anything and everything of their favorite characters and media. As far as action figures in particular go, I'd consider them pretty casual, but I think getting those types people to know about your product is incredibly important to its success.

And again, I also can only really see the main characters of Sony's current biggest games selling well at this format. If you told me they're trying to sell action figures of Deacon St. John and Erend, I'd just laugh. And while their older properties would be more interesting to me and a decent amount of other people, there's no way they'd sell any better than those guys.

 

[altcunningham]

Played Days Gone at 60fps on PS5 Plus and it turned out to be one of the better open world games I've enjoyed.

Justice for Deacon. Once it got going it had a cool vibe and loop. Stupid cliffhanger.

But yeah, good points.

 

[Damien]

And then you consider how something like Funko pops probably just obliterated novelty and standards. How many people just want to drop $12 on Funko "Kratos" and call it done?

Oh ABSOLUTELY.

Say what you want about Funko Pops- they deserve a lot of the criticism- but if there's one thing they've taught us, it's that folks do have love and nostalgia for some of these older properties, and are willing to pick up even a one-off collectible here and there if they're priced well and- perhaps most importantly- they're put in a place where most folks can find them.

I've spoken to POP collectors - including my wife (she has maybe a dozen at any given time). I get the impression (or have been told directly) that part of the appeal is specifically that they are not action figures. They are 'low effort' collectibles. You buy it. You open it if you want to (they come in a perfectly square window box, so you don't even feel like you have to open them, after all). And if you open it, you slap it on the shelf. Or you slap the box on the shelf. Either way, it requires basically no effort to have and display it.

You literally cannot do that with 99% of action figures. They're complicated. They come with stuff. They have all these extra fiddley parts to deal with. They come out of the package unable to stand, so you've gotta mess with them and AT MINIMUM, get the legs posed to stand on the shelf - but they'll probably look fucking stupid if you stop there, so you gotta make a bunch of minor adjustments to make them look natural JUST to have a collectible on your bookshelf that doesn't look stupid. And then it falls down because you did it wrong. Or someone bumped it. Or the weather changed.
Action figures are mechanically difficult - particularly for people that otherwise don't collect action figures. POP figures, as much as I hate them with a vitriol I cannot explain in words, bypass all of these issues by being tiny little statues that you can plunk down at your work desk and never really think about ever again.

I'd argue there's probably more overlap than we'd think with gamers and buying figures. Gamers tend to be more loyal to a property than a brand, if that makes sense- a Halo lover will buy all/most things Halo, a God of War lover will buy all/most things God of War, etc. I have a few friends who would consider themselves gamers over anything else, while being more passive collectors. Some even continue to buy physical media, making semi-regular stops into GameStop. If they see a collectible that catches their eye, they'll probably buy it, but they don't actively seek them out.

Nah. The overlap is that action figure collectors collect action figures and may also be gamers. It's not that there isn't overlap. It's that there is no conversion rate worth talking about. Creating a cool action figure of a popular video game character has never been proven to turn a gamer into an action figure collector. That's the crux of the argument.

Ultimately, someone that doesn't like or care about action figures isn't going to buy an action figure just because they like the character you made. That's why my mother, a huge Ozzy fan, does not own any Ozzy Osbourne action figures, of which there are quite a few. She knows about them. She doesn't care. Because she doesn't collect action figures. She's also a huge Bruins fan, so I once bought her a McFarlane Bobby Orr. It's STILL - 15 years later - the only Bruins figure she owns, despite there being plenty more.

I just can't see any retail toyline existing without the respective general fanbases having it advertised and pushed to them alongside collectors, especially with a property with less immediate overlap with hardcore collectors.

The issue is who you advertise to and where. In the year of our dear and fluffy lord 2025, I don't know of many people (not enough to move any needles) that actively collect action figures that aren't plugged into what's going on in the world of action figures on some level. We can talk about someone like Jada going to SDCC, but the reality is that action figure collectors that pay attention to action figure news are 99% of the audience for SDCC action figure reveals.
To my earlier example; if someone set up a booth directly beside Jada's Street Fighter display showing off the new Street Fighter-branded exclusive Adidas sneakers.. I would not give a fuck. I might SEE it, but it doesn't even fully process in my brain because I do not give a single fuck about sneakers. That's how most people look at action figures, despite how passionate some of us may be about them. You could spend more money advertising a toy than you'll ever make selling it and still come away with nothing, depending on where and how you are spending that advertising money.

 

[joshsquash729]

I've spoken to POP collectors - including my wife (she has maybe a dozen at any given time). I get the impression (or have been told directly) that part of the appeal is specifically that they are not action figures. They are 'low effort' collectibles. You buy it. You open it if you want to (they come in a perfectly square window box, so you don't even feel like you have to open them, after all). And if you open it, you slap it on the shelf. Or you slap the box on the shelf. Either way, it requires basically no effort to have and display it.

You literally cannot do that with 99% of action figures. They're complicated. They come with stuff. They have all these extra fiddley parts to deal with. They come out of the package unable to stand, so you've gotta mess with them and AT MINIMUM, get the legs posed to stand on the shelf - but they'll probably look fucking stupid if you stop there, so you gotta make a bunch of minor adjustments to make them look natural JUST to have a collectible on your bookshelf that doesn't look stupid. And then it falls down because you did it wrong. Or someone bumped it. Or the weather changed.
Action figures are mechanically difficult - particularly for people that otherwise don't collect action figures. POP figures, as much as I hate them with a vitriol I cannot explain in words, bypass all of these issues by being tiny little statues that you can plunk down at your work desk and never really think about ever again.

Just to be facetious and play Devil's Advocate, there are a fair amount of Pops that are every bit as difficult to keep standing as figures. Credit where credit's due, the body sculpts are getting better/more intricate and many are pre-posed, so you at least get some characterization versus those early Pops that all shared the same neutral body. But I've mostly moved away from Pops, unless it's something really special that doesn't have any other collectible rep. As for figures, many folks, casual and hardcore collectors, do take an action figure out of a box and just slap it on a shelf, or do the bare minimum posing (I say that as someone who was a vanilla poser for an embarrassingly long time). I wouldn't say figures are thaaaat much more work; it really just depends on what type of person you are- if you like creating scenes for your display, or just displaying them, not to mention if the figure even can do certain things. Generally, though, if you know what you want to do ahead of time, it can be a very quick, easy process. But I know what you mean, and it's not wrong.

I do feel like, for whatever reason, video game collectibles just fall into that weird category and stores never really know how to treat them or where to put them. At least as far as Target is concerned, apart from the more kid-focused lines like Nintendo, Bendy, etc., they never get put in the toy aisle proper. But oftentimes, at least around here, they don't get put in the more "adult", collector-focused area with NECA and the like either. They're usually on an endcap or on a tiny, tiny little display by the video games (which in and of itself is a tinier and tiner area). I don't know who to blame, really- the stores, the company making the figures, sales reps, etc., but I am curious what would happen if they were just easier to find.

 

[Damien]

Just to be facetious and play Devil's Advocate, there are a fair amount of Pops that are every bit as difficult to keep standing as figures.

Oh, you are definitely not wrong. But actually to that point; those seem to be the most frustrating ones for POP collectors and those are definitely the ones my wife either screamed about having to glue to bases, or just got rid of. So... further evidence that 'ease of display' is definitely a factor that matters to POP people.

As for figures, many folks, casual and hardcore collectors, do take an action figure out of a box and just slap it on a shelf, or do the bare minimum posing (I say that as someone who was a vanilla poser for an embarrassingly long time). I wouldn't say figures are thaaaat much more work; it really just depends on what type of person you are- if you like creating scenes for your display, or just displaying them, not to mention if the figure even can do certain things. Generally, though, if you know what you want to do ahead of time, it can be a very quick, easy process. But I know what you mean, and it's not wrong.

Yeah. I mean, you're an action figure guy. So to YOU it's not that complicated, for sure. And even you know that sometimes just making a figure stand up straight is a hassle, and it's definitely not ever like that straight out of the box. There's always fiddling to do. And some people just don't have any interest in that. Which I do get. My wife loves toys and does not really like action figures if she has to touch them. She'll look at -mine-. But she really doesn't want any of her own because she hates dealing with them.

I do feel like, for whatever reason, video game collectibles just fall into that weird category and stores never really know how to treat them or where to put them.

This is definitely true. Canadian Walmarts (at least here) actually have like a 4' section now that's just all the video game stuff. So they've sort've figured it out, at least.