Super7/Funko Action Figures ReAction/Svg Wrld/Ultimates

No, it's not a stretch at all really. Hasbro could have very easily pulled the plug on the six inch line for any number of reasons. For instance, they could have claimed that the cost was unjustifiable in the wake of cutting back on paint apps and articulation.

But the main point was that we're talking about main characters. In all three sets, we did get a majority of the main characters...but not all because sales weren't there. I'd wager that we'd have gotten a second series for at least Buffy and Firefly if the sales had been there instead of people waiting and watching.

That's what great about debating, isn't it?  I personally think you're completely wrong as well.  

I can and do blame the consumer wholeheartedly for the lines going belly up.  It's all a part of this insane OCD to not want to commit to something new and then when it fails, people want to bitch and moan about it.  I see it all the time.  

Hell, let's look at the flip side while we're at it.  When a line ends, people want to sell all the figures they've collected?  Why?  I say go for it and sell them if you don't LIKE them anymore, or if you lack the room, or need the money...but you're going to sell them off just because they're not making any new figures?  Wh...wh...what?  Why did you spend the time and money collecting them in the first place?

(Specifically, I'm thinking back to DCUC when I mention this.  I stopped collecting them when they switched over to online only sales, but I'm very proud of and happy with the collection of figures I amassed.  I couldn't imagine selling them off because they're not making any new figures anymore.)

Anyway, like I said before...we did get the crew of the Serenity.  We technically got the MAIN characters.  Who was left?  River, Simon, Book, and Inara...who would have made a very good second series.  Funko stated from pretty much the beginning that sales equals more figures.  It happened with Alien, Star Trek, the Horror figures, Nightmare Before Christmas, etc. and it would have happened with these sets as well.  There's no reason to believe they were lying about that.  Come on Shoeless Joe, if we buy them, they will make them!  But the wait and see approach guaranteed no second series for any of the properties.

Let's look at the Goonies now.  We'll go to IMDB like you said:

Mikey
Brand
Chunk
Mouth
Andy
Stef
Data
Sloth
Jake
Francis
Mama Fratelli

We got five of them (the bolded ones obviously)...and 3 of the ones we got were in the top billed 5.  

As for Buffy.  We got the main character, her sidekick, two super popular vampire love interests, an interesting looking villain, and well...Oz.  *Shrug*  I was never an Oz fan, but then again, I don't like Angel either.  They're not going to make 10 or 20 figures all in one shot.  They went with what they thought would sell and I'd bet good money that series two would have probably been Giles, Faith, Xander, Cordelia, and The Master.  I'm sure they thought Buffy would probably be a property they could get at least two, if not three or four sets out of with the amount of characters the show had.

The simple fact is, you have to leave something back for the second series...ESPECIALLY when you're talking about properties like Firefly, Buffy, and Goonies who have a lot of great characters.  A one and done set works when you're looking at something like Boondock Saints or X-Files.  Sure, there are great supporting characters...but you only NEED to make the MacManus brothers and Mulder and Scully.

Hell, I give Funko a ton of credit for going so deep on a movie like Pulp Fiction.  We really only had to have Jules and Vincent...but we got damn near everyone.

The bottom line is that Funko is primarily a vinyl toy company that branched into action figures.  There has been a lot of trial and error to be sure.  That being said, if you don't understand why they wouldn't want to take the risk of making 9 Firefly figures, 11 Goonies figures, and however many "main" Buffy characters all at once...then I don't know what to tell you.  You could say that you'd do it if you ran a toy company, and maybe you would...but if you outright pandered and took far out chances like that...you'd wind up like Palisades.

We're never going to convince each other, but thanks for the opportunity to debate the point.

Not to get deeper into our never ending debate on this but I still want to make it a point that I did buy the figures from the sets that I wanted. I didn't however buy the complete sets. Which was my point. So for instance, with Firefly ReAction I bought Mal and Jayne with hat. With Goonies I bought Chunk and Sloth. Had I known that we were getting second waves of both, meaning complete casts, I would have bought every single figure to have the complete set, not just the characters who were my favorite. So I do want to be clear that Funko not putting out a second set didn't prevent me from buying what I wanted, but rather prevented me from buying everything they were putting out as a collection.

In terms of likeness rights, I have no idea and we'd have to ask Reis if that was an issue. I tend to lean more towards Funko broke up the lineups into two waves expecting or thinking that they would definitely put out a wave 2 for both sets and then didn't get the reaction, hehe, they were expecting from the first wave. I know he mentioned trying to get Twin Peaks and going through David Lynch, so I have to think that the character likenesses from a film or show are bought as a package deal unless an actor owns the rights, so like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I have no idea though, just a guess. Like I would think Funko had to go to Joss to get approval on Firefly/Buffy and then however his merch deal with the actors works carried over to Funko. Seems like it was totally different with Back to the Future. I thought Reis said each contract was different and that in some cases actors had approval over that stuff and in other situations it was just a royalty situation through the studio or creator or whatever.

Regardless, pretty sure he flat out said Buffy didn't sell well enough to warrant a second wave anyway. I do have to wonder about ordering and product runs with them. Seems to me that other companies are able to be more sustainable with smaller quantities. I'm wondering if maybe those Barnes and Noble orders hurt them more than they helped. My comic book shop way over ordered them too though. They'll all probably be worth 5 times what they are now a few years from now and then they will be in demand. Usually how that kind of thing works.

Is there any word on the Reacton A-Team figures ?

I wonder if they'll add knee and/or elbow joints on figures. I was a big fan of the Indiana Jones Kenner figures and then the Lone Ranger figures by Gabriel, both of which used the knee joint. That would probably be my preference if any changes were made. I think he said they had the molds from the original Dark Crystal line anyway but good to know those would stay the course anyway. I don't have an issue with the style. I get wanting to jazz them up though if they are going to be doing more modern stuff like Flash and Arrow. I like having Mal Reynolds match Snake Plissken though, both of which fit perfectly right next to my Bespin Han Solo. I'd hate to see a huge change if it meant stuff wouldn't really go together in that fashion.

All this debating is why I can't fully commit to the Funko toy line. With Fallout Legacy figures releasing in November, I will have no choice to support them. The ReAction figures do not excite me, even at the price point. I've been tempted to add The Karate Kid to my collection of figures, but I cannot bring myself to do it.

Funko has a partnership with Super 7 like they do with Vinyl Sugar and Mindstyle.

I haven't bought any ReAction figures yet, but I definitely found the first set I'm buying!