Thread 11533442

What happened to McFarlane Toys? They went from one of the best toy companies in the 90s with some of the best sculpting and paint apps in the entire industry, to the most low effort toys imaginable. They lock everything people actually want behind exclusives so most people can’t even get the best figures in the line. Now there’s the Elite line, charging $60+ dollars for the same tired articulation and sculpts but for video games. Will McFarlane Toys be able to survive once they lose the DC license and how much of all of this is to blame on Todd himself?

McFarlane is gay thus makes toys for gays.

>>11533447
He has a wife, so no

>>11533442 (OP)
Todd went bankrupt buying stupid shit and this is his way of not looking like a failure. He stopped being an artist when he bought his first signed baseball.

>>11533442 (OP)
Retarded scale and joints

Todd went from making this

>>11533454
To this…

>>11533448
Bro, shes a beard. A fag hag if you will.

>>11533454
These were basically articulated statues.

>>11533454
I think paint and sculpts like this just stopped being affordable to do at the prices he wants to charge
he wants to be at retail

>>11533495
The halo stuff was spectacular tho you never see anything this well painted for under $30 anymore

>>11533585
Holy shit, those are beautiful

>>11533586
I used to find these at Tuesday Mornings for like $9 a pop full range of motion too some of the best ankle pivot of it’s time they also had a universal peg system for storing the weapons on the hips or backs

>>11533585
Those figures suuucked. The Reach line was better but still crap in the end.

>>11533508
The sculpts have remained practically the same, but it depends on who's sculpting it.

Most of the difference between the old and new toys is just the amount of paint is given, that allows the detail to stand out.

Their Medieval Spawn is one of the best figures released in 10 years due to having a budget for paint again. I have Figmas, Figuarts, 4H, NECA, Joytoy, and various other high end fantasy figures that don't look half as good as this.

>>11533625
>Their Medieval Spawn is one of the best figures released in 10 years due to having a budget for paint again.
You retards got fleeced

>>11533457
To THIS

>>11533625
While his sculpt and paint are very much top tier, it still has the good ol' "McFarlane sucks at articulation" problem. Like, he's covered in articulation, but the way the joints work, he can't really be put in any cool poses. Not that he can actually stand once he's in said pose as his balance is just awful. Also the engineering on those pauldrons is just terrible, they flop about and don't really look good or articulate well when trying to pose him. Also, for the Kickstarter price, he really should've had a wired soft goods cape instead of the rubber chunk that flops on his back.

I don't regret getting him, as I do feel the value was there, just in his amount of accessories alone. But despite how very nice he actually looks, he's still a bog standard modern McFarlane figure, so all the problems he's known for still persist on this figure.

The saddest part is, I *do* actually like a lot of figures he puts out. But most of that is despite their problems and a very lingering ping of nostalgia as McFarlane's stuff was the first "collectors line" I really got into as a kid. I wish he focused more on original characters and concepts like he did in the 90s because it was those crazy, creepy, loaded with gear and personality figures that made the line so cool back in the 90s. With the current stuff, it just feels like it's lost that edge and became just another slave to pre-existing IPs.

>>11533866
The articulation is fine. It's better than practically every western (and many eastern) toyline and can do 95% of the same shit that better eastern toylines can do.
You can't do the subtleness you could do with a Revoltech or Sentinel figure, but that doesn't ruin a toy. Hence me still owning lines with worse articulation, like 1:18 toylines or Mythic Legion figures that are lacking in joints. And these toylines can pull off 80-90% of the same poses those better eastern toylines can do. It's practically a nonissue and people make mountains out of molehills over a small difference

And personally, i like rubber capes. I've been buying Mezco One:12 figures with their wired capes since their very first Batman figure, but i still prefer plastic capes because wired capes are very fiddly. You always have to adjust them to look right, making them less fun to play with.

>became just another slave to pre-existing IPs.
Welcome to the world controlled by Walmart. With no KB Toys and TRUs around, and Sam Goody and Suncoast Video to back them up, there's almost no physical stores that want to risk carrying merch of characters from a comic that sells 12k units.
And yes, i understand that a lot of the OG spawn toys never made an appearance in the comics, but they were still using the Spawn name to sell it.
Stores today only want to sell shit that came from movies everyone knows, that made hundreds of millions of dollars. They'll allow toys of the Reavers to be made, but only if the other figures in their wave starred in movies that were #1 for 3 weeks in a row in a 30 countries.

>>11533454
these are like 5 poa at best. some of it wouldn’t even be allowed here based on board rules.
>toys

>>11533442 (OP)
every American company is struggling anon, ever since Trump raised tariffs again.

They're going to float off their DC money until they find another big license to float them. They've done this before, they were on death's door in the 2000's until they got the Halo license, the TWD at the peak of that, thye had a rough patch until the fake Lego sets they did with Steven Universe, which sold so well they managed to get the money for the DC license.
The DC license has probably bought in more capital for McFarlane in 5 years than any other license, and they show in how they milked it.
And unlike how it's traditionally been handled by companies like Mattel and Hasbro, Mcfarlane gives no fucks about reusing bodies across licenses(Martian manhunter for the 70's Spawn), which means they can just reuse any bucks as they want for any other licenses. Theoretically they can just use the main bodies for other characters all they want.

>>11533959
>until they find another big license to float them
haven’t you heard of THE RIPPAVERSE?!

>>11533891
Does /toy/ not allow statues?

>>11533442 (OP)
>They lock everything people actually want behind exclusives so most people can’t even get the best figures in the line.
do you think they're the only company that does this? retailers, a company's actual customers, actively pay for this

>>11533887
>I've been buying Mezco One:12 figures with their wired capes since their very first Batman figure
didn't have a wired cape but the rest of your post is good

I have a soft spot for these still, as a kid walking into Toys R Us, Mcfarlane stuff always seemed like some crazy next level toy compared to the usual things I'd buy. Stuff like the Halo figures were just much cooler than anything I'd owned up to that point. The quality may not be the best anymore but I still kinda root for them to improve.

>>11533968
Honestly not a bad example of what I mean. They have a bunch of blank superhero bodies they can just plug new heads on for quick money. Rippaverse won't sell shit but it's a start

>>11533891
Rule 2 only applies to actual statues and Japanese figurines. If NECA Cult Classics and Toony Terrors are allowed, then these would be as well.

>>11533959
>They're going to float off their DC money until they find another big license to float them.
What else is there though? Everything seems taken already. His answer in the mean time is apparently to overcharge for EVERYTHING but all that does is piss off the consumers and make them turn away from McF even more.

Those premium line figures for $60 that come with the same amount of extras as the $25 ones? The Mortal Kombat figures that are all repaints of the same crappy bodies but in two packs for about $35 each figure? Still no pinless elbows and knees or face printing in 2025? They don't deserve to survive

>>11534050
I mean who fucking knows. Somehow Steven Universe bootleg lego bricks made them a chunk of money, enough to scoop up DC. And while prices are going up, pretty much all prices are inevitably going to go up from other companies, too.

>>11534060
It was Five Nights at Freddys that actually made them the most money they ever made up till that point.
Their Spawn, Halo, Walking Dead, and Movie Maniac lines were trash compared to how much money they made from FNAF and that's how they were able to afford Fortnite, Call of Duty, GAme of Thrones, and DC licenses afterward.
FNAF was a crazy profitable license for them for 4 or 5 years. Steven Universe bombed right out of the gate, so that shit was only around for like 5 months.

And McFarlane was never in financial trouble until around the time they licensed Halo, but that's due to lawsuits (Gaiman, hockey guy). You could argue that KB and Suncoast shutting down harmed McFarlane, but they dealt with that fine, by switching over to making kid toys (Halo, Prince of Persia, Rabbids, etc) instead of the statueshits they were previously making.

>>11533959
Not allowing mold reuse is actually a stipulation from the licensors and i've only heard about Star Wars not allowing it. We've seen Hasbro use molds and designs from their GI Joes with Marvel figures. We've also seen Mattel reuse molds from their He Man figures for DC figures too. Who knows what else gets reused that we don't notice.

How much does Todd shell out for sports licenses? If the costs for using the NFL license for video games are any indication, that alone must be exorbitant. And I’ve never gotten the impression they were big sellers, it seems like a niche of a niche.

How much does Todd shell out for sports licenses? If the costs for using the NFL license for video games are any indication, that alone must be exorbitant. And I’ve never gotten the impression his sports figures were big sellers, it seems like a niche of a niche.

>>11534188
>And I’ve never gotten the impression his sports figures were big sellers,
The sports merch world is insane. Guys who never bought a star wars or superhero figure in their life will buy these sports figures, and display them with jerseys, trading cards , etc. Sports taps into sooo many more guys than sci-fi and comics. They can sell the sports figs at card shops, where jerseys are sold, team stores, a lot of places. Its huge.

>>11533891
They were made for adult collectors who either leave shit in the package or display it on a shelf. Some of us don't give a shit about 20 POA, and don't expect our figures to come with extra heads and hands. That's why so many statues are sold every year, and are often sold as more of a premium format than action figures.

Personally I think McTodd is a legend. He transformed the industry with high-detailed toy sculpts sold at a decent price, and he was still trying to champion reasonable prices with the Super Powers line. You gotta respect him for trying to bring prices down against Hasbro and Mattel who think that everything's too cheap. I don't agree with him getting on board crowd-funded shit, though. I wish that trend would just fucking die already. All it does is alienate the vast majority of toy-buyers, and I hope the Chinese crowd give notice to it and use their special abilities to mass-produce cheaper-priced versions.

>>11534188
>>11534189
Todd's whole thing is looking into untapped markets. All those sports figures might not have any appeal to most toy fans, but he could sell them all in merch shops at stadiums or online fan stores for years.

>>11534372
They all look very similar, like the recievers are just repaints almost. Im not saying they are repaints but theres only so many poses a reciever can be in when making a play as far as a figure goes. And i doubt they are articulated. Plus hasbro shit out a starting line up reboot that was doa.
I think nfts are the real future

>>11534376
Almost none of that matters to the casual buyer who's going to put it on a mantle. And they sure as fuck aren't going to be buying NFTs for that purpose.
Hasbro's problem was that they looked like toys, and didn't bother marketing it to sports fans like Todd did. That audience doesn't want that articulation, or be reminded it's a toy. they want something to put next to a framed jersey.
You don't get it because you're thinking like a toy fan, not a sports fan.

>>11533585
"Spectacular" is a bit of a reach (no pun intended). The sculpts were decent and the paint was pretty alright but the articulation was an absolute dog's breakfast, they had some nasty QC issues (Halo 3 Spartan pelvises fell apart out the box), most couldn't hold their weapons properly and the scale fluctuated a lot.

>>11533494
still a wife with a beard

>>11533442 (OP)
His toys were never good. We'd only buy them because we don't have a choice for the characters he gives. And now we're stuck in an age where he finally articulates everything, but articulation and materials are still pretty mid quality. Also none of his toys scale with anything else.
>>11534258
ok apologist. All he provided was a dooming image for budding collectors who still loved toys that could actually pose even a little or still had gimmicks. Just because collecting toys far into adult age is socially unacceptable, it doesn't mean we have to buy boring things as a replacement

>>11534486
>His toys were never good.
Disagreed. There was a sweet spot before he started rejecting articulation where they were really nicer than most contemporary domestic toys.

>>11533442 (OP)
McFarlane was ahead of it time in the early 90s with super detailed figures. But they failed to keep up with the times with articualtion and building a "buck" for his figures. Especially for early DC stuff. Now he fails to hop on the pinless joints and face print tech even jazwares uses. He just can't compete. Also trying to price figures as premium without actually adding the primium accessories. $30 for the figure and two extra hands while NECA offers a shitload of stuff with their licenesed figures for a few bucks more.

>>11534486
Statues have always had appeal to collectors.
Even in Japan, where we think of the best quality articulated figures coming from, they make FAR more statues than articulated figures.
Even to this day, you can barely get a complete cast of an anime in articulated figure form, while all the girls will have multiple statues in different sizes and price points

>>11533999
ACTUALLY, it is wired, but it's externally wired.
I prefer that method, because it's less likely to break and makes the figure more playable because it's not always getting in the way.

>>11534258
Have you ever looked at figurines and statues before McFarlane appeared? Only the super expensive, polystone/ceramic statues were actually well detailed. Everything else was pretty shitty, especially model kits (which only looked good because of heavy custom work from great modelers).
McFarlane experimenting with high pressure injection molding and proving there was an untapped collector market made everyone change their shit fast. Budgets were increased and new companies appeared out of thin air.

>>11533442 (OP)
when companies are forced to change from serving customers to serving shareholders things go to shit.

>>11533992
technically only nip coomer statues are verboten.

Yesterday, Todd posted a video of himself inside a WalMart explaining how after 30 years in the boys action figure section that they are not being fully moved to the "entertainment" section and how EXCITING this news is, then proceeds to video himself showing people how to find the new section.

The amount of COPE was off the charts, and being removed completely from the toy aisle is a death sentence no company would want. Yes, he's been in that section for awhile, but he was also in toys.

>>11535365
kids don’t give a fuck about spawn or mortal kombat it was inevitable

>>11535365
Link to the video?

>>11535382
https://youtu.be/zb5h40lcpxY?si=92kMRFeE8BV0uLV8

>>11535185
McFarlane is a private company. He has no shareholders.

>>11534130
>Not allowing mold reuse is actually a stipulation from the licensors
Usually most licensors only prohibit identifying features of molds for specific characters from being re-used. Which makes sense. So no Wonder Woman head, Batman cowl, Green Lantern battery, belt buckles with character logos, etc. So most the blank bodies from the DC figures can probably be re-used like we see with that awful Rippaverse figure, but really, what IPs are there that can use them? Some super niche indie comic characters won't get them into retail and won't sell well.

They seem pretty fucked. All the main IPs have been gobbled up by other companies. Todd does have the Avatar movie stuff coming up, but that's a Disney IP so licensing must be pretty high, the line will probably only last at retail for 3-4months around the movie, and that requires a ton of new tooling that can never be re-used for anything else. Not a super profitable line like DC or anything else they had at retail.

>>11535365
>Retailers are not ordering much of my product anymore and what little they will still carry is being shoved into the back of the electronics sections by the toilets and this is such fantastic news!
Wow, Todd should be a politician with spin like that.

>>11535383
>mad hatter
I hate that guy with a passion, he’s insufferable.

>>11535399
Some confusion comes in that Mattel reps have said that they couldn't use even a generic ape body like Gorilla Grodd for other licenses because it was sculpted under the DC license.
It could just be that Mattel handles it differently as a bigger company, where as Mcfarlane takes the risk since it's unlikely to be an issue.

>>11535508
who? that's todd.

>>11535388
I know it's a private company and not publicly traded, but it is known that Stephan Tretrault is co-owner through private investment, and on this page they mention an "ownership group" so there does appear to be other private investors that he is beholden to. Technically investors instead of shareholders, but it's semantics really. There are people that have their money tied up in McFarlane that want to see a return on their investment, so their opinion is more important than what the customer wants.
https://mcfarlane.com/info/about-us/

>>11535365
funny thing is, Suncoast Video and Sam Goody, (music and movie stores) used to be the major supporters for McFarlane Toys back in the 90s and 00s. It's where i bought my Metal Gear Solid toys back in the day.

Weird how the more things change, the more they remain the same.

>>11535399
>All the main IPs have been gobbled up by other companies.
I don't really get this. There's a million other IPs out there and it's not like McFarlane is a public company, where numbers always have to go up or they sell themselves to their competitor because they made $2.5 billion in profits instead of $3.1 billion in profits like the year before.

There's only 4 or 5 ALWAYS GREEN IPs in the world, which means hundreds of other toy companies have always been chasing after the next popular product to sell. Fortnite, Glow Worms, Gundam, Halo, Call of Duty, How to Train your Dragons, Twilight, Harry Potter, Five Nights at Freddys, MASK, ... they're trends that come and go.
So every couple of years, the toy shelves look completely different, except for Marvel, DC, Star Wars, Transformers, and... ... but even shit like Star Wars is starting to disappear now.

I think you're looking at this purely as a zoomer or millenial perspective, because your world is changing and you don't like it. What's popular in the past will not always be popular in the future, and toy companies have always been searching for the next big thing. It's how companies like Hasbro and Mattel have survived for 80 years.

pic of formerly popular host, on formerly popular show, with formerly popular toy s.

>>11533959
This isn't the 00s and 10s. This is the 20s. Domestic toys can't survive at $30 a pop for this "quality." McFarlane Toys themselves released a Sub Zero figure with more accessories in 2019 for $20. This isn't scaling with inflation.

>>11535559
>Gundam,
>Harry Potter,
>they're trends that come and go
How out of touch are you for you to think that Harry Potter and Gundam are just trends? I'm not a Potter fan, but considering it still won't die even after the purple hairs tried to cancel Rowling for being a terf shows that short of the new show being a TLJ/Rings of Power level trashfire, it's here to stay. And even then, it will probably weather the storm.

>>11534494
This man remembers

>>11535640
I don't see Harry Potter in the toy shelves at Walmart or Target.
I don't see Gundam at Walmart or Target toy shelves either.

There's times their products appear, usually in the collector section in the back, but that's infrequent, bcause those products weren't popular and likely bombed.

And I've been talking about toys, not whether some book or anime is still popular. A their popularity is way less, since it can no longer sustain merch sales.
Take pic for instance. Remember when LotR was HUGE? Toys sold everywhere. Then the Hobbit toys sold alright....but then nothing for the sequel or the next sequel, despite being #1 movies in 800 countries for 8 weeks straight.

>>11535640
Harry Potter hasn't hade large figure toy lines in the toy aisles since what? 2001-3? That's not a big action figure/toy brand. They mainly sell dolls, role play stuff, and other gimmicky crap like Funkos. Acton figures are McFarlane's bread and butter so any IP they dive into needs to fit that bill.

>>11535559
>There's a million other IPs out there. I think you're looking at this purely as a zoomer or millenial perspective,
No, I'm looking at this from a realistic perspective. Retailers ONLY give lots of shelf space to brands that have some kind of current media tie in. Theatrical movie, tv show, video game, etc. The niche brands get shunned to the collector aisle. What IP do you think McFarlance could grab that will give them even a small portion of the main toy aisle space that they had with DC? We're talking McFarlane so it has to be one that focuses on figures, not shit like Glow Worms or Twilight.

Harry Potter figures have never sold well, Gundam is too niche and there's already others doing model kits/figures in stores, CoD they've tried (too generic military), Fortnite has been beaten to death by too many companies at this point (Jazwares tried to bring the 6" line back this year but we've heard no update on that so I guess retailers aren't interested), Halo has limped along at retail and Jazwares still holds that failing toy line's license I think. What else is there?

Jazwares thinks Stranger Things will be the next big thing which I think is stupid. The show is ending and an entire toy line of people in street clothes will not sell well. But we'll see. The ideal IP would be one like Five Nights. Very indie brand controlled by just one guy so licensing is probably dirt cheap, and there are popular movies so it will continue to have new fans and retail will stock it heavily around the movie releases.

>>11535683
>Retailers ONLY give lots of shelf space to brands that have some kind of current media tie in.
Yeah, and there's always new media being made. Shit like Five Nights at Freddys didn't exist until 2015 and McFarlane attaining the licensing rights to make legos made them more money than Spawn, Halo, Prince of Persia, or anything else until that point in time.

>We're talking McFarlane so it has to be one that focuses on figures,
I don't think you understand what McFarlane Toys is or their history. They make action figures, but they became renown for their statueshit in the 00s. Their biggest money maker until the DC license were lego blocks for Five Nights at Freddys. One of their biggest products for 2020 was a remote control pool toy.

McFarlane is a small company. They have dozens of employees, not hundreds like Jazwares or thousands like Hasbro. They don't need a big license to stay in business and make a profit. So they've been successful just selling statueshits to collectors for the majority of their life.
And since they didn't hire a bunch of new workers or make a new facility from all the huge influx of revenue due to the DC license, the loss of the DC license just means there's less revenue. There's no shock from this loss of income, because their bills are probably the same they were paying since 2018 (when they closed down one of their locations).
So McFarlane can do just fine just selling statueshits again for years and can just chance upon something that hits it big again, because taking a chance is what most toy companies do anyway.

>>11535683
>Harry Potter hasn't hade large figure toy lines in the toy aisles since what? 2001-3? That's not a big action figure/toy brand. They mainly sell dolls, role play stuff, and other gimmicky crap like Funkos.
I mean I'm talking about the actual IP being evergreen. That's what you said. Well, you said "ALWAYS GREEN IPs" because you struggle with using the correct English terms.
Are you going to ignore the fact that the Lego line is evergreen at this point because you think action figures are the only toys that matter, despite the fact that the Lego aisle dwarfs the action figure aisle these days? And you did say "every couple of years, the toy shelves look completely different, except for Marvel, DC, Star Wars, Transformers, and." Toy shelves. Not specifically action figures.
Never mind that half of the appeal of the franchise is the setting because the majority of the character designs are just a school uniform so action figures will never do it justice. Not that construction sets should be hand waved since McFarlane has dipped their toes into construction sets a few times.
I mean the Lego line has been going for 8 consecutive years without any movies or new books to support it. I don't think it's going away at this point.

>>11535665
>I don't see Harry Potter in the toy shelves at Walmart or Target
You aren't looking hard enough then.

>>11535683
'Arry Potta will be back in the toy aisles once the TV show comes out. Avert your eyes from the Hermione and Snape toys.

>>11535729
You're ignoring his point and that he's talking about ACTION FIGURES. Not books, bath towels, or cosplay accessories.

And I was the one that called it "always green" because at least i half remembered the term and understand what it means, unlike people who call it "main IPs." Congrats for you looking it up, because I'm just typing stream of conciousness and didn't bother to check if it was the fully correct.
And i half way agree with you, in that maybe McFarlane should try making LEGOS again, but that's not really what we've been talking about this thread. McFarlane could survive on that shit no problem because they just produce whatever looks cool, but most of us want to see action figures.
> And you did say "every couple of years, the toy shelves look completely different, except for Marvel, DC, Star Wars, Transformers, and." Toy shelves. Not specifically action figures.
Again, that's me, not him, and you're missing the entire point and context. Marvel, DC, Star Wars, and Transformers have dominated a specific aisle in toy store since milenials started noticing toys. From the 1990s til the late 2010s. I'm strictly talking about action figures.

>character designs are just a school uniform so action figures will never do it justice.
nonsense. School girls are super popular with adult collectors. Nevermind the Harry Potter action figures were popular... as long as they had a movie to support them and was quite sesonal too, so only a few months of big sales.

>>11535766
>And I was the one that called it "always green" because at least i half remembered the term and understand what it means, unlike people who call it "main IPs."
Lmao, it doesn't matter, it still makes you look like a retard who doesn't know proper English. It never fails to amuse me watching you butcher the English language. Such a "no nothing" amirite?

>>11535766
>Congrats for you looking it up, because I'm just typing stream of conciousness and didn't bother to check if it was the fully correct.
Lmao, I didn't even read this part before replying. Holy shit subby bubby. Calm down. It's embarrassing that you need an AI to understand when people talk to you.

>>11535665
>I don't see Harry Potter in the toy shelves at Walmart
Dude they even have robes and wands on top of all the doll shit they have

>>11533442 (OP)
So my two cents, when Mcfarlane was in his prime, he was making the staction figures with high quality paint and sculpts. What made them stand out from other figures was their affordability and their iconic, larger than life presence. As a young boy, I didn't give two shits that his figures barely moved, I loved that they were dynamic physical homages to their illustrated counter-parts. Nowhere else on the market could I find something as affordable and varied in creative design as what he was producing. I think after his talent dipped and formed Neca is a major contributor to his downfall. He just does not have the same talented people making sculpts for him anymore.

People were asking for years for him to make super articulated figures. So what we have now are these churned out, half-assed, half painted, reused assembly lined slop in order to appeal to modern collectors who feel they need all their collectibles to bend in funky ways (which, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's wrong to want that. I am an avid revoltech collector).

The problem with these new era articulated figures is there is absolutely nothing at all to differentiate them from the droves of other companies other than the 7" scale for everything. In order to keep them under a certain price point though, he has to slash quality everywhere, which is the opposite of what people who used to collect his golden era figures are used to (aside from cheap plastic, which was always a thing with Mcfarlane).

I think he should just go the route of Neca. Smaller releases with minimal articulation, but more accurate and detailed depictions of the subject matter he's making. I especially think if he made his Spawn figures like this, they would be absolute bangers because what he makes now is some homunculus of half-baked implementations. There is absolutely no reason anymore to kneel to brick and mortar retail stores and try to keep a certain quota in order from them to stock his shit.

>>11535801
Four horsemen are the reason his shit was ever good. It’s that simple.

>>11535805
I just think it's crazy to think that there hasn't been any new sculptors to come up in the pipeline after all that time with similar skill/potential. I guess maybe people prefer to stick with creating actual statues if they're going to create these types of collectibles.

>>11535813
The issue is they are confined to the cookie cutter articulation scheme. Take the page punchers black manta. That was designed with Todd’s articulation in mind and it is one of the best looking and moving figures in the line. Most figures are just freelance sculpts that get cut up for the cookie cutter scheme.

Mcfarlane really soured collecting as a whole for me.

>>11535766
>You're ignoring his point and that he's talking about ACTION FIGURES
>And I was the one that called it "always green"
I thought I was replying to you since I replied to your initial post claiming that Harry Potter and Gundam weren't evergreen IPs, and it wasn't until after I posted and saw you also replied to him that I noticed that your reply was the previous post. Doesn't change a thing in my post. Harry Potter is an evergreen IP at this point. Like I pointed out, you said "every couple of years, the toy shelves look completely different, except for Marvel, DC, Star Wars, Transformers, and..." Not specifically action figures. Toy shelves. Lego is on the toy shelves. It's not in homewares with the bath towels or the book section or any of your other strawman arguments.
>Congrats for you looking it up
Um... I don't need to look up the terms "evergreen" or "deciduous." I've never resorted to calling a pinetree "always green" and an apple tree "the ones where the green things fall off when it gets cold" because I'm a native English speaker.
>I'm strictly talking about action figures.
And yet you brought up the McFarlane construction sets in the post immediately before mine as an example that McFarlane doesn't need to stick to just action figures.
>School girls are super popular with adult collectors
Are we talking about adult toys only available at Japanese collectible stores with the Gundam models kits that apparently don't count which means that Gundam isn't an evergreen IP, or are we talking about Walmart?
And no, even during its peak, Harry Potter figures weren't really that popular. Hell, even during the release of the movies, the Lego line went on multiple hiatuses or years with barely any releases, with only one set for Order of the Phoenix and nothing for Half Blood Prince. The current run of sets has been 8 years straight despite Rowling being shunned and the series being boycotted by radfems and virtue signallers.

>>11535828
I made the other post mentioning Harry Potter and Gundam not being good examples of an IP McFarlane could grab. Again, Potter has NEVER been good at selling action figures.

You've still not answered or given any examples of all these alleged IPs that you think a viable ones that Todd could grab to make figures for. Yes, they make other products too (statues, building sets occasionally, some roleplay items), but the vast majority of their output is articulated figures.


>there's always new media being made. Shit like Five Nights at Freddys didn't exist until 2015
Is this your only rebuttal? Just wait and see if any other popular IPs that are good for making product pops up in the next few years? I genuinely can't think of any IPs that aren't already tied up at another company right now or that haven't been done to death already. Maybe Halo could go back to McF after Jazwares leaves it for good but those figures haven't been selling well for many years thanks to the failures of the recent games.

Jada is now a decent player in the action figure market for collectors and similar IP, so I feel like they have taken a lot of IP that other companies like NECA or McF would have gotten. Street Fighter, Megaman, Monsters, Scooby Doo, Invincible, Cyberpunk, etc.

>>11535838
>Potter has NEVER been good at selling action figures.
WRONG.

>>11535801
>People were asking for years for him to make super articulated figures.
>The problem with these new era articulated figures is there is absolutely nothing at all to differentiate them from the droves of other companies other than the 7" scale for everything
No way. Todd's problem was that the figures all just look like absolute shit. Horrible sculpts with odd proportions, wild lack of scale within the same line, articulation and joints not engineered well at all, still using outdated tech like elbows and knees with pins/painted faced instead of printing, etc

>>11535839
Potter fag alert. When was the last time HP had a toy line in the main aisle, not the collectors aisle, that was aimed at kids. 20 years ago? None of the Neca or McFarlane figures were aimed at kids, or had substantial articulation or were in the main aisles.

Todd fucked my ass in an eb games bathroom in 2008 and bought me a snow cone after. I’ve liked spawn ever since.

>>11535845
>When was the last time HP had a toy line in the main aisle, not the collectors aisle, that was aimed at kids
Right now.

>>11535845
You can get on the Walmart app right now and search Harry Potter by age range. Fuck you’re dumb dude.

>>11534411
You missed the part where they cost $9 now the only decent master chief is the triple digit 1000 toys offerings
& the QC was fine they held their guns fine and the articulation was better than the marvel legends coming out at the same time

>>11535828
>Lego is on the toy shelves.
So what? Again, his point is about action figures. And I specifically mentioned 4 different IPs that are famous for their action figures being evergreen.
You need to follow along.
>And yet you brought up the McFarlane construction sets in the post immediately before mine as an example that McFarlane doesn't need to stick to just action figures.
Yes, as an example that they don't need to make action figures based on evergreen properties to remain in business, hence half agreeing with you. BUT we still want to see action figures and like i said, they don't need some evergreen property to make those action figures. Stuff like Avatar, Call of Duty, Walking Dead, and others are proven to sell quite a bit until their popularity died down, and this is how toy companies in general make money.
Evergreen properties are rare and so are the corportations who can afford the license year after year.

>Are we talking about adult toys
Yes, because McFarlane Toys also makes collector toys for adults and there have been a few of collector companies who have made Harry Potter toys that sold well. pic related.
>even during its peak, Harry Potter figures weren't really that popular
Most movie shit doesn't last beyond the window of the movie's time in theaters, but the merch makes a ton of profits during that time. It's not long lasting, which is why I said it's not evergreen.

>I'm a native English speaker
So am i, but people forget words all the time. I used to be far more verbose and technical, but after decades of 4chan and not using my knowledge, it goes to waste. I still remember a lot of it though, even if its half assed, hence saying "always green" because that the literal meaning for the scientific name for evergreen plants. So i knew the meaning/definition, even if i didn't remember the specific word and just replaced the word with its closest term.

>>11535838
>Again, Potter has NEVER been good at selling action figures.
That's what I said. But action figures aren't the only thing that makes an IP evergreen. Some IPs are just not suited to action figures, especially in the modern age where companies shy away from playsets. That's why HP figures flopped but the Lego sets will probably outlast Skibidi Toilet or whatever flavor of the month crap is currently filling the shelves.
>You've still not answered or given any examples of all these alleged IPs that you think a viable ones that Todd could grab to make figures for.
I was never asked that question, but since you asked, I'm sure he can have the Marvel scraps once Hasbro decide to drop the license, just like how he got the DC license when Mattel decided to not pursue those diminishing returns. He's already making Marvel statues, so it's not a stretch.
>Is this your only rebuttal?
That's not even my post.
The way I see it, only focusing on IPs that no other company has their mitts on is shortsighted. Especially in the modern era where multiple companies are making TMNT, GI Joe and Transformers. Shit, maybe he can pick up where Super7 leave their lines once they die die to Lyin' Brian's complete ineptitude. Todd's already jumped on the Turtle train.

>>11535864
>And I specifically mentioned 4 different IPs that are famous for their action figures being evergreen.
My initial point was a rebuttal to the claim that Potter was just a trend, and that it is here to stay. Even if I think it's middling.
There is a difference between an evergreen IP and an IP with an evergreen action figure line, which has been the source of this confusion.
Still, you are the one that also pointed out that McFarlane are more than just an action figure company and can dip into construction sets like they did with FNAF, Steven Universe, TWD and GoT, so I stand by my points made about Potter Lego.

>>11535838
>You've still not answered or given any examples of all these alleged IPs
They're unknown, hence using FNAF as an example of some IP that just came out of nowehere ten years ago and McFarlane making money off of this random IP. Entire point is that every single year, some new thing comes along and gets popular. maybe even three new things!

>the vast majority of their output is articulated figures.
in 2025. In 2016? It was legos. In 2017? legos. In 2018? Oh, they started using that FNAF money to buy IPs and made shit from that, because a previously unknown property made money rain down.

>Just wait and see if any other popular IPs that are good for making product pops up in the next few years?
Again, this is literally how every company works. Fornite. Overwatch. Elden Ring. FNAF. Companies are just throwing any old shit on the wall to see what sticks and sometimes they luck out.

The fact you only want established shit is pure rot and is probably why things are going so badly now with movies. No one likes making anything new and only old shit is regurgitated, and people are tired of the same old slop. It's no wonder most new toys are based on video games, which actualy takes chances in developing new IPs.

>so I feel like they have taken a lot of IP
... most of that is shit other companies dropped and no one else bothered to pick up afterward because of disappointing sales (aside from SF, which is constantly being produced). Complete zoomer perspetive.

pic of McFarlane's invincible toys, which weren't popular because they were sold when it was only a comic book.

>>11535917
Doesn't matter what your point is, because you're responding to people talking about action figures. It doesn't matter if harry potter pottery is evergreen, because the action figures aren't and that's what was being specifically discussed.
McFarlane growing his company with legos was an addendum, to explain it doesn't need evergreen IP action figures at all times.

>>11535924
I mentioned that Harry Potter Lego was evergreen to point out that Harry Potter is more than just a trend. Even in your post talking about "toy shelves changing" didn't specify action figures. If you want to be specific, you need to convey that in your language.
You know, by saying "evergreen action figure line" instead of "evergreen IP" and "action figure aisle" instead of "toy shelves." Shit, there were two posts that specifically used the term "action figures" before the claim that Harry Potter was just a trend, and one of those was talking about Todd's shit getting moved out of the action figure aisle. The third post in this thread to specifically use the term "action figure" was his reply to me after I pointed out that Harry Potter was evergreen. You can't refer to "toy shelves" and then say "no not those toy shelves."

>>11535924
> because you're responding to people talking about action figures.
Thank you for having some sense here instead of just repeating "Harry Potter, Lego, FNAF, Evergreen" over and over and over. This entire discussion was about action figures and McFarlane's future. That one anon is just yapping to yap and not bringing much relevant stuff to the table.

>>11535934
>still talking after being told point blank what was meant from a sentence any high schooler could understand
ok retard.

>>11535954
there's only so many ways i could rephrase that shit......

Still, McFarlane can go years without making an action figures if they wanted. They won't, because they'd be leaving money on the table when there's tons of IPs out that that can make money.

> they'd be leaving money on the table when there's tons of IPs out that that can make money.
Sigh. Back to the same argument. What are these tons of IPs? Oh, ones that haven't been created yet. Got it!

>>11535958
> they'd be leaving money on the table when there's tons of IPs out that that can make money.
Sigh. Back to the same argument. What are these tons of IPs? Oh, ones that haven't been created yet. Got it!

>>11535801
>So my two cents, when Mcfarlane was in his prime, he was making the staction figures with high quality paint and sculpts. What made them stand out from other figures was their affordability and their iconic, larger than life presence. As a young boy, I didn't give two shits that his figures barely moved, I loved that they were dynamic physical homages to their illustrated counter-parts

Bro, McFarlane was still making well sculpted, highly detailed, highly articulated figures with lots of paint even back early on. They weren't the hyper-articulation we're used to today, but look at the first 10-15 or so waves of the original Spawn line. Look how detailed those figures were, and how much paint they had.

The bar for domestic figures at that time was probably things like Playmates' TMNT figures, and Kenner's stuff, especially like their mid-late 90's lines like Alien, Predator, and Terminator. McFarlane's stuff blew them out of the water. They had better detail, sculpt, paint, and probably twice as much articulation, and they were bigger, but cost about the same price. THAT was what catapulted McFarlane ahead of everyone else.

The staction figures didn't come until later, after he had already established his name in the figure field.

He is capable of making really good figures still, but just refuses to. His MK11 Spawn figure is like 10x better than any figure in his ACTUAL Spawn line that started a year or two later. Even the first two or three waves in that line were still pretty decent, but all his shit in the last 3-4 years look like shit. He is capable of so much more. He's just an eccentric weirdo who does whatever the fuck he wants because he has the money to and doesn't give a shit what anyone else says.

>>11534486
>Also none of his toys scale with anything else.
genuinely who the fuck cares. nothing is ever in scale with anything else from any company.

>>11534649
>ACTUALLY, it is wired, but it's externally wired
its an attachment for the stand. that doesn't make it a wired cape, retard. kys subby

>>11535365
> toys aimed at an older audience are moved away from toys aimed at actual children
> somehow, this is bad

>>11535637
>This isn't scaling with inflation.
you forgot that tariffs are a thing

>>11535981
>wires attach to cape
>i-i-it's not actually wired
I get that you post just to be a contrarian, but you don't to be retarded everytime

>>11535961
>Oh, ones that haven't been created yet. Got it!
yeah? I mean, what else are they going to license if all the evergreen licenses are taken and old licenses don't make them money?

Something new comes out every year and you're stupid to think nothing else will ever make money but outdated shit that everyone's made a toy out of already. This has been proven literally every year for over a century now.

Are you some kind of nostalgiafag who thinks only old shit makes money?

>>11535864
>So am i, but people forget words all the time. I used to be far more verbose and technical, but after decades of 4chan and not using my knowledge, it goes to waste.
Is this you finally admitting you're a NEET who sells shitty art commissions sometimes?

>I still remember a lot of it though, even if its half assed, hence saying "always green" because that the literal meaning for the scientific name for evergreen plants.
Such an interesting form of autism. It's like you've seen how normal people function and are trying (rather badly) to emulate it.

>So i knew the meaning/definition, even if i didn't remember the specific word and just replaced the word with its closest term.
And guess what, that makes you look like a fucking retard.

>>11535982
>durrrrrr BATMAN isn't for children!
Thanks for letting us know you're retarded
>somehow, this is bad
Yes, you mongoloid window licker. Any adult who knows the toy business knows there's far more foot traffic and sales by being in the toy aisles. We get it, you're retarded.

>>11536010
mine isn't on the stand. its not a wired cape. you're a fucking moron. might as well say every toy can fly because you can whoosh it around your room. kill yourself.

>>11536137
>17+

>>11536029
I like how you got proven wrong because you're a retard who can't read, so you're just trying to insult me by nitpicking at my vernacular.

Also, it's funny how you think that's how i make a living, especially when I've talked about how i haven't used my art supplies in decades.
That's fine with me, because you need to cope extremely hard, so you'll always try and guess the worst things.

>>11536210
>if i don't use the wires, it's no longer wired
YEP! And that's what makes that form of wired cape the best. It's optional.

>>11533454
That one in the bottom middle traumatised me as a kid when I saw it in a store on a trip with my family. Nowadays I'm desensitised to gore after years of being on the internet.

>>11534494
so you agree that they were never good because rejected articulation just to make great statues that werent fun to play with. ok
>>11535980
I do. And I agree that we should fuck scale, but I still don't like how all the DC's are taller than the Marvel's

>>11536634
I'm not even the guy you were arguing with. I just like picking on you because you're a know it all faggot that is insufferable. Learn2English you EAL tard.

>>11536641
oh, so you got proven wrong by me 5 years ago and are nitpicking at my vernacular because you hold insane grudges?

Extra funny.

>>11536662
Not my fault you come into these threads and act like a massive faggot. If you don't like it, feel free to leave. But I'm going to continue pointing out how you fuck up simple phrases a grade schooler would know while in the breath acting like a know it all cunt who's word shouldn't be disputed. When you say things like " it's a doggy dog world" or "no nothing" or "always green" it makes whatever point you're trying to make moot because it's coming from a retard who doesn't even know basic colloquialisms.

>>11535983
That is counted in inflation rates.

>>11535958
>still talking after being told point blank what was meant from a sentence any high schooler could understand
I'm sorry you don't understand the difference between an ALWAYS GREEN IP and an evergreen action figure line and think that the rest of us should lower ourselves to your retarded high schooler level English.

>>11535365
Fro Todd's perspective, it is indeed exciting. Because Mattel has the license for the kid's toy aisles. If Todd can get his sold in the entertainment/collector's section, an area Mattel has shown no interest in targeting, it gives a chance at maintaining the DC license in some degree.

>>11536744
Brah, you understood what i meant, hence understanding it as "evergreen." Stop being so mad you have to make shit up.

You're just trying superhard to twist what everyone else was talking about because you can't admit you didn't understand we were talking about actoin figures.

>>11536674
>third worlder still trying to lecture a native speaker because he got proven wrong 9 years ago
I bet you dont even own a dozen figures and they're all from the same brand.

>>11536777
>Fro Todd's perspective, it is indeed exciting.
Just because you have your nose buried in Todd's ass because you kiss it so hard doesn't mean you can make shit up and pretend to speak for him. You really need psychological help dude.

>>11533442 (OP)
Genuine question: why is everyone being overdramatic over this stuff? I bought some of his stuff, but lines coming and going isn't anything particularly new for the market, especially for Todd's company. So why have people made a personality out of shitposting about McFarlane Toys in particular? Genuinely made DC general threads unusable even when people were talking about different toys not made by McFarlane.

>>11536884
>I bet you dont even own a dozen figures and they're all from the same brand.
Keep telling yourself that if it helps you feel better. You've seethed at my Mezco collection before so you know I have toys, ones you even shill. Meanwhile I'll keep watching you spew bullshit you pull out of your ass while you simultaneously discrediting yourself by not knowing basic colloquialisms. Keep huffing your own farts, they're giving you brain damage.

>>11536895
Get over yourself. I don't even buy most of Todd's toys since I largely do imports. But I can see why finding a loophole to keep an extremely lucrative license would be good news for them.

>>11536920
Don't even't even pretend i seethed over your collection. If you're the guy with the Space Ghost figure, i said i was jealous. That's admiration, the opposite of seething.

If you're that other mezco guy, I wasn't even jealous, because i own more Mezco figures than you. You just talked shit about the toyline because you could no longer afford it and here you are, holding a grudge against me for 8 years strong because i mocked your poorfagness.

Didn't know you were a third worlder though, but i guess that's why you're a poorfag.

>>11536958
>But I can see why finding a loophole to keep an extremely lucrative license
HE DIDN'T KEEP THE FUCKING LICENSE YOU ABSOLUTE RETARD! TODD LOST IT. THERE IS NO GODDAMN "LOOPHOLE". You're a fucking idiot and this may well be the saddest COPE on this board all year. Idiot.

>>11536958
Do you actually think his shit getting dumped out of the toy aisle is some sort of magical loophole that will let him keep making DC figures?

>>11536991
Not him and i didn't watch the video, but I read that Mattel supposedly has the collector license. This had previously been seperate, which allowed DC Direct to make toys for the direct market (ala Marvel Select and Diamond Toys) when Mattel was producing toys for the kids toy aisle.

The collector market license still seems seperate today. This is why NECA, Kaiyodo, Bandai, Beast Kingdom, and other toy makers have been able to produce DC toys, despite McFarlane Toys continuing to keep DC Direct alive.

Since Mattel's license seems private, we won't know for sure what they have control of until 2026 and 2027.

>>11536965
Lmao, doesn't the fact that I could be one of a multitude of people you've argued with give you the hint that the common denominator of the problem is (You)? Nah, couldn't be. Everyone else is retarded, not you!

>>11537092
>if there's a bunch of ignorant retards who got super mad because they were proven wrong by you, that means you're the one that's wrong
... amazing logic.

One thing that I find weird is that the majority of you grudge holders are third worlder. Didn't even have to use this AI checker (i checked over a dozen posts just to test it out and everyone else but your posts got 0%) to see you don't understand English and need a translator, because you have some really foreigner ideas and vernacular.
Nevermind you guys are afraid of ever posting your collections, because you're too poor to afford toys, and your third world furniture, third world electronics/wiring, third world windows, and foreign text will show up in your photos.

Most shitposters on /toy/ are third worlders though.

pic is just one of the posts that got flagged for AI and i find it ironic you talk about "normal people" yet you get flagged for being artificial and fake.

>>11537700
>The guy who doesn't know the term evergreen needs an AI to tell him if a post is AI
Lol, lmao even. Checks out.

>>11537700
>accuses others of using AI while he uses AI
>accuses others of being ESLs while he struggles with the English language
Classic Subby.
>Most shitposters on /toy/ are third worlders though
Brave of you to finally admit it.

>>11535801
He's already doing that in some cases. See the Dark Ages Doom Slayer. But for its bad engineering and its ok paint and sculpt, $60 is still far too high and more than NECA charges. McFarlane Toys can't do it anymore.

>>11533585
they looked great but broke way too easily. i remember when i was a kid, my ODST dutch’s hand broke the day i got him. all because i was trying to switch his weapon. mcshitlane was always crap.

>>11537792
>accuses others of using AI while he uses AI
>accuses others of being ESLs while he struggles with the English language
Yep. The lack of self-awareness in subjectautismo is genuinely astounding. He's always been this way even when proven wrong plenty of times.

>>11537014
>Asspull after asspull of speculation while not knowing a single fact
Yep. Typical retard. Doesn't know the facts but just HAS to weigh in!

It's that time of the month...

>>11534494
This. Spawn Toys were the coolest toys in the aisle.

>>11533442 (OP)
McFarlane behaves like a woman. Good enough is never enough so he's always fucking around and finding out, but never badly enough that he goes completely out of business. It's depressing to watch.

>>11540277
What exactly do you mean by "good enough"? Because a lot of his toys seem to be made with the philosophy of "good enough" but usually even worse. Like "not absolutely terrible so ship it"

>>11533442 (OP)
Not really much of a fall, it just became a typical normal ol toy company now. MacFarlane is more of a modern day Kenner.

>>11533959
Whelp they just grabbed Poppy Playtime and Five Nights at Freddie's so expect more mascot horror in the near future

Is McFarlane ever going to use pinless joints? For a company that supposedly cares about the sculpting they sure love to show off ugly pins for the longest time. Even Mattel can do it for MOTU they couldn't muster up the tech with the DC money?

>>11540489
McFarlane's engineers are the cheapest money can buy and do not know how to do pinless. If a figure priced at $60 can't get you pinless from McFarlane, what do you think will?

>>11537700
Only browns care about ESL

>>11540496
They change the ankle joints to something they can't reuse across different molds as much as a sphere. Where they decide to spend extra cash is strange.

>>11540979
My guess is they were finding in a lot of cases, they had to use a lot of varied sized spheres to fit with the size of the character (I notice the sphere sizes varied quite a bit for some characters), so they still couldn't reuse the molds for those. And they found the average dumb domestic collector wasn't used to import style ball ankles and wrists and complained that it "looked weird" so they thought they could please those people for not much more.

But now that they are in financial freefall, they ended up going back to balls for the latest new molds like Cyborg Superman for example anyway.

What is he looking at?

>>11541379
the future, where zatanna costs $60 because parasites hijacked mcfarlane toys to shill an nft scam

>>11535825
How?

>>11536916
Because McFarlane is staying with 7 inch

>>11541379
The balls

>>11541557
I have convinced him to go to 6 inch

McFarlane Toys bring good memories because when they appeared like 30 years ago, it was the only brand with wide distribution which offers detailed figures at correct price.

But it was already more plastic statues than figures because of poor number and quality of joints.
Also paint was alaready tarnsihed and impresice.

Nowadays lots of brand, especially japanese ones, does way better but at higher price.

McF Toys are cheaper, but a bit too high for what they offer.

He really out there trying to charge $30 for this shit.

>>11546224
Why are they doing this? It makes no sense. How do they even still have the license?

>>11546818
>that mask just barely holding onto Reptile's face
Todd couldn't even afford decent glue?

>>11547351
Plot twist: that Reptile is Storm Collectibles', not McFarlane.

>>11547351
>>11547387
Toddykins has a lot of learning to do if he's gonna be taking any of my money

>>11546224
Chances the figures that ship out now don't have a wash?

You can’t even use the elite points LOL

>>11547351
Arent the masks removable? Thats kinda the ninjas whole gimmick, remove mask, use power, return mask to face. I think reptile just peels his whole face off right?

McFarlane Toys is releasing $50 5 poa figures. They must be having issues.

>>11546224
Did Todd Update the Fig-NO.
Has the ugly pin arms that look shit.
Standard McFarlane articulation he never updates and is still shit.
Head Sclupt ain't gonna be updated to look more accurate to the actor instead to have a outdated sculpt because why the hell not.

>>11533447
Funnily enough, McFarlane is the only one who made gooner toys in the West. Back in the day your options were either this, or imports of anime waifus and shit.

$60 armored figure smaller than a regular Batman figure.

Weird.

>>11548321
The paint on Doomguy actually looks alright. Shame the articulation still looks to be a complete dog's breakfast. Also it's competing with the Figma.
>tfw no good figure of 2016 Doomguy

>TRANSFORMERS 1:3RD SCALE HEAD – OPTIMUS PRIME

>Give me your face.

Todd's going weird with these unarticulated masks he's putting out. Is he gonna rebrand as a Spirit Halloween store?

>>11548300
lmao I have that one