1. With releases of the Electronic Talking Clone Trooper and Boba Fett helmets in the past, do you think we'll ever see an actual Stormtrooper helmet done this way? The original trilogy troopers are just so much better then the clones. Also, how well did these helmets sell when they first came out?
--Jeff

Short answer: I would be t against it.

This format - the talking mask - does well, but the full-head helmet (which is what I'm guessing you're getting at) is sort of out of vogue. The buzz is that this is for safety reasons, and I assume it's also a cost/benefit thing given half the plastic means half the materials cost and I'm sure kids - the target audience - doesn't even realize they're being short-changed until after they open it. That, and they may not care - it's a mask, what they see looks good, and that's that.

In the 1990s, Hasbro not making something was a good thing - the longer they waited, the better the product would likely be. A 1995 Luke Skywalker was OK - but the 1997 retool was better. This continued for years, until about 2010 where some of the items started having lesser quality with half-masks kicking up around 2011 - and as of 2013, we saw the overall product quality on numerous Hasbro kid-driven brands decrease with higher prices, lower articulation, and deco... the deco is about on par.

Generally speaking helmets do well - Darth Vader has been a steady seller since 2004, but the full-head format was dropped for the half-helmet mask, save for an occasional exclusive run. We're a couple of years away from a full-head mask, and Hasbro's competitors rarely put out full-head hero masks (or villain masks, as the case may be.)

 

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2. After recently locating a toy manufacturer with reasonable prices, I'm considering a "Kickstarter" program for my own line of action figures called [buzz marketing redacted - ed]. I want to make action figures that you might think already could exist, should exist, but don't. Like two twin sisters with tall black beehive hairdos... Or a space rabbit with orange fur and a purple outfit (instead of the obvious colors)... or some other space soldiers that sort of have a "Concept Feel" if you know what I mean. I'm looking to make the figures that they won't, but with different names, color schemes, and just off of center enough to make it not quite right. Could I get away with it? Would you "kickstart" a psuedo-Jaxxon? or psuedo-Tonnikas? Would I have a herd of lawyers chasing me across the countryside? Is it worth the gamble? Would someone be willing to purchase a SW knock-off just to have something to fill that void?
--J.M.

For starters: I am not a lawyer.

"Plays-with" toys are part of a proud tradition - Major Matt Mason from Mattel was joined by Colorforms' The Outer Space Men. G.I. Joe met up with The Corps, a line that still enjoys widespread success. There were many transforming robot toys in the 1980s and today, there aren't as many. GoBots hit stores in 1983, nearly a year earlier. It seems to me that as long as you don't trip over a trademark, and I am not a lawyer, it seems you can probably make whatever the Hell you want. There were a few 3 3/4-inch action figure lines that just happened to be a similar form to Star Wars and Remco's whole deal was making figures that felt like other toys - Masters of the Universe comes to mind. There's absolutely nothing stopping you from making an original creation inspired by the product format. But the characters? That's where it gets tricky. The question of IP theft is a big and unresolved one, but we frequently see toys paying tribute to other toys, and let's face it - animation would be nothing without copying.

There's nothing preventing you from making toy lazer-swords. Lightsabers, perhaps - but I can name a bunch of toys with colored energy melee weapons, swords and otherwise. (See: Gundam, Transformers.)

Believe it or not, a green space rabbit action figure in a red uniform already exists thanks to the toy line of Bucky O'Hare, created by the great Larry Hama. A character appearing in a comic book 34 years ago doesn't mean you can't make something similar - if you want to make a green fur rabbit biped in a jumpsuit of some sort. There are already a couple of slightly different official interpretations of the Jaxxon costume, and if you made something that looked like an old (or current) Star Wars figure but were sure to not use the name of the character or the franchise you were - ahem - appropriating? I'd bet money that you would probably get away with it. Marvel and DC have a few characters which are pretty similar, too, and toys do exist of many of them. "Gene the Lucky Space Bunny" as a 3 3/4-inch action figure? I don't see an obvious problem here.

Similarly, it's possible you could do something like that with the Tonnika sisters, especially if you were clever about it. For example, if you employed something like Xevoz/Socket Poppers/Glyos where you could swap limbs, you could probably make the figures, get them made, and let the end user swap parts to make the "correct" figure. For example. There's no trademark on beehive hairdos. There's no law against making someone in a tight suit. The question is how close can you get to something in a movie before the lawyers call - iGear and their ilk prove that it is indeed possible to get very close if you don't step on trademarks like the Transformers name, the name Optimus Prime, or the Autobrand symbol. It has been done. It keeps being done.

Again, this is very important - I am not a lawyer - but there are lots of toys that are close to rip-offs of other designs. Look at the Outer Space Men - many of them are strikingly similar to b-movie creatures seen in various B-movies and are immortalized in the pages of Famous Monsters of Filmland. I can't guarantee you won't have a herd of lawyers on you, but I'd say it's unlikely that the three things you mention would probably warrant the attention of anyone but hardcore fans. This is largely uncharted territory as Star Wars figures go. There is no law against making red trucks that turn into red robots. Reprolabels.com does use a few of those trademarks, but nobody has shut them down after years of service - and offering Autobot and Decepticon stickers is a service that Hasbro could charge a company good money to do.

After watching toy parodies (see: Garbage Pail Kids), "plays with" toys (army men, Outer Space Men vs. Major Matt Mason, Mega Bloks vs. LEGO), and the "third-party" toys that are very similar to (but are not) licensed toys, I can absolutely tell you I'm a lot more confused than I was originally. Well, that's not entirely true - really at this point I believe that you can get away with a lot more than the big toy companies want you to think. Is anybody really getting shut down? It's like broken street dates - I've yet to see evidence of anyone not getting product because someone sold a figure early. I have no evidence to believe that this sort of thinking isn't some sort of a bogeyman - fans want to believe they'll get sued, so they don't make anything.

It's like the Vader Funeral Pyre a few years ago - it's a bunch of sticks and flames. What's stopping people from doing it? Nothing. There's no legal reason you can't manufacture one, just don't infringe on certain protected terms like "Endor" or "Darth Vader." If you wanted to make a 3 3/4-inch scale Yeti cave that just happened to be sized to fit a Wampa, guess what? There's nothing stopping you. You can do that. A white plastic cave toy requires no license from anyone. A tree village requires no license. Some concepts are broad enough that it doesn't matter if Hasbro could make a licensed Star Wars toy of it, Kevin Smith made a movie called "Tusk" and I didn't hear anyone crying foul that Hasbro, Kenner, or Lucasfilm already had the monopoly on walrus men all tied up.

You're probably going to be able to get away with some designs. It's unlikely Disney will care, and we've seen that Hasbro has no problem with people doing figures that mimic their G.I. Joe modern-style figures' builds on Kickstarter. If I were in your position, I'd do it - and probably take a cue from Kenner's 1979 Cantina aliens. Those things were a little off, but were close. I assume that if you told someone that those were Chinese bootlegs, they'd believe you. Disney/Lucas has no ownership on green space rabbit aliens or women in spandex, so just be super-duper-careful not to use any of their trademarks or copyrighted material and I bet you can make these without much of a problem. Just packaged fake Jaxxon with a Tonnika head and a fake Tonnika with a Jaxxon head, so the consumer can swap it, and you're probably on easy street. (Again - not a lawyer. And the head swap thing is probably unnecessary.)

3. When will Hasbro wise up and listen to fans? Black Series [6-inch action figures have] been out well over a year, and I've yet to see a Boba Fett on the pegs. What I do see is an endless array of Greedo, Han, and Slave Leia gathering dust. And most stores won't order or bring out new merch until these are sold. Fett is one of the most popular Star Wars figures in each line, so why doesn't Hasbro make his case pack ratio higher? The "modern" line is nearly 20 years old, and Fett always seems to be the one that's least-packed.
--Chris

Short answer: there's a balance that's hard to get right.

Bad case ratios (in the sense of not correctly guessing the market) have been an issue in every action figure line since assortments were created - unless you intentionally short the market of all product, there's always going to be a slightly less popular Ninja Turtle or Cobra guy or Decepticon that just doesn't do what Hasbro expected it to do. The Boba/Leia Slave/Han/Greedo wave was made in pretty big numbers, or so it seems, so while they correctly anticipated the market's need for "lots of Boba Fett" the other three figures back up quickly and prevent restocking of any subsequent wave. Every Greedo you see is a Boba Fett you missed - and since Boba Fett got carried forward in another case, there are actually more Boba Fetts out there than Greedos. He's just more popular, and that's life in a collector line that isn't quite as well distributed as it maybe should be.

Hasbro didn't necessarily "screw up." If you've ever had the chance to see casepacks being discussed and argued over, there are a ton of variables at stake and the worry of a figure's popularity running dry is very real. Hasbro doesn't know the upper limit of popularity on 6-inch yet because they haven't maxxed out Boba Fett or Darth Vader. There is likely worry of "We sold X of wave 1, so nobody in wave 2 or 5 should do more than [percent here] of that." If you've sold 60,000 Batman action figures, you won't sell 61,000 Robins or 70,000 Batmobiles. Most action figure lines with a strong adult audience bleed customers as time goes on, but 6-inch Star Wars came out at a low point and probably has more room to grow - so as a big company where you shift around people for reasons which we on the outside do not understand, why stick your neck out? Hasbro is probably hurting this line by playing it safe and not doing a wave with just 2 Vaders, Boba, and a Stormtrooper.

We've seen Hasbro bring back old figures in new boxes (Episode III Obi-Wan Kenobi returns in wave 6) so it's likely Hasbro will bring back Boba Fett and other popular characters as time goes on. I would assume we have seen the last of classic Han Solo, Slave Leia, and Greedo (save for product still in the pipeline or various warehouses) but we've been surprised before. I see Boba Fett every week or two - not often, but I can find him. He was in two waves and is popular - by going back to the well too much, you can risk a flop or a dud. What I would hope Hasbro does is give the Return of the Jedi deco a spin, because it'll help get Boba out for people that just want any Boba Fett while those who missed him can wait for the price to drop or another reissues down the road. Thankfully Hasbro seems to be a little more forward-thinking about The Black Series so far, and their willingness to rerun figures is important for all of us. But as Hasbro will likely never offer solid-packed cases of figures to big box stores - that is, 4 of a single character - what you're seeing here is a symptom of the industry that will never end. It's in Hasbro's best interest to have buzz and heat, even if it isn't in ours.

 

FIN

I've been struggling to write, rewrite, and re-rewrite this part of the column this week, mostly because it's hard to find a balance for my point. Here's the really short version: Marvel Studios has announced so many movies, there are as many coming as there are already made. And the level of excitement is irritating. It's not so much that people are happy or fans. It has nothing to do with real nerdery or fake nerdery. I'd say it's probably like suddenly finding a massive influx of enthusiasm toward something that people are left wondering "So if you've been into this for years, where the hell were you ten years ago?" It's like seeing a bunch of old ladies at a Guitar Wolf show. It's like finding tweens are the buying Captain Beefheart vinyl reissues. It's bizarre. (But ultimately welcome - our hobbies exist because of a critical mass of supporters. Kids or newbies, your money is always welcome to keep the line going.)

But let's talk about new toys instead. New toys are here! I saw this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Michelangelo 48-Inch Action Figure at Walmart over the weekend for 70 bones. 70! This is why we can't have nice things, people. Kid support means everything - the U.S.S. Flagg, Fortress Maximus, and jumbo Mikey here don't exist at the pleasure of collectors. They exist because many tens of thousands of parents will buy it for their kid for Christmas.

This is the kind of thing I've been talking up for years - I wrote about "My Size Boba Fett" back in the 1990s as a possible male alternative to My Size Barbie, and the 31-inch figures have been around in one form or another since the early 2000s - but are only in the last two years really becoming a genuine staple of toy stores.

To make a better comparison, Star Wars. If you want a life-size Kenner Boba Fett, it's a couple of thousand dollars. Could it be made more cheaply? Absolutely it could - but it's being made as a collectible, by a company that caters to adults and most certainly not children. The same company makes 12-inch upsized action figures - same deal there. They're "collectibles," not "toys." Diamond Select Toys is making Marvel Megos for about $70-$90 - same deal there. They're aiming for a smaller collector market.

Meanwhile, Funko is cranking out $10 Pop! vinyl figures and ReAction figures for a mass market, and seems to be doing quite well. The vast majority of what Jakks Pacific has done for the last few years has been kid-driven and they're doing some pretty fascinating things - I expect more in the near future. They really have thrown down the gauntlet for generation-defining action toys, even a Life-Size Nintendo Super Mario Bros. Mario Kart Deluxe Ride-On Toy. This is real next-level stuff! Mattel has given us a few really really big Monster High playsets, but it's the same deal - the reason these exist is that so many little girls are buying in to this line that they can support absurdly wonderful and large toys. Star Wars is struggling to get a meager dozen new 3 3/4-inch figures on a shelf this year, while Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles basic figures are going in all sorts of interesting places by - with very few exceptions - completely ignoring the demands of boys outside the target demographic of ages 4-11. LEGO is also doing fine, and finds most of their success with the young audiences.

And I just got the first Rebels figures in the mail over the weekend - we'll look at them in Figure of the Day this week - but it's almost a whimper compared to previous Star Wars launches. Nearly every major new movie or TV show came with toys - and the toys launched early, with modest (if not massive) fanfare. This time, they just sort of oozed out, and nearly 1/3 of the way through the first season I haven't seen or heard a single report of them showing up in any US big box toy store. This is why focusing on kids is important for any toy line to be successful - adults keep making kids. They can't help it. And they spend a lot of money. A collector can quit collecting without even realizing it, but most kids will demand toys for quite some time - they're responsible for us having something to collect, because most of us started off as child fans before becoming collectors or adult toy enthusiasts.

So when you see the 31-inch X-wings, the 48-inch Turtles, and similarly massive toys just remember - they're not here for you, and if they succeed (and even if they don't) they're going to help guarantee there will be a next generation of toy fans. Some kid is going to be angry he didn't get Jumbo Mikey for Christmas, and it's going to eat away at him until he's an adult - and he'll be back, paying a huge premium for one in his office a couple of years after he gets his first job after college. This isn't just a toy, it's probably going to be a cultural moment for this generation of boys. Did you get one? Did you want one? It's just like the Flagg or those other big toys - and the best thing is, it existing proves that action toys still have a future in this increasingly digitally-favored gift space.

--Adam Pawlus

Got questions? Email me with Q&A in the subject line now! I'll answer your questions as soon as time (or facts) permit.

 

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