You are correct that you don't know the ins and outs of toy making and manufacturing and licensing. The reason why you're mad at Super7 is they're always pretty visible revealing the things publicly that other companies don't. Jada Toys can sell those figures for cheap because despite being good for the price, they are smaller, not as well made, not as high quality, and possibly pay people lower wages. You should look into who owns Jada Toys to get a better idea. Seeing the behind the scenes of toy making from a certain company, fans should be GRATEFUL for anything they own. Making a thing is miserable behind the scenes.
No offense but that sounds like a load of horse-shit since the Jada figures are very well made and very good quality. And Jada is just one example. And no, I won't be grateful for having to pay for something I don't think is worth it.
You completely misunderstood me. I meant be grateful for any art, movie, toy, whatever that you own and love. I think people lack perspective and empathy here. I have the Jada Street Fighter toys and they're alright IMO but solid figures for the price point and IP for folks who don't wanna spend the money on the more premium figures like Storm Collectibles. I understand you're frustrated but it's not something you can control. I don't typically engage with more negative content like this and focus on more positive things BUT i do enjoy all your reviews and your tag-teams with GDL and you're one of the folks I "study" so I can start my own lil reviews channel now that I'm back into collecting. I'm even in the background of one of your DCON videos lol.
More well made? What figures are you buying? Super 7's articulation is trash, their paint work is trash, loose legs, cheap plastic. I can go on. Tygra ? Explain that to me. Snarf for $55 dollars is a joke. Super 7 deserves what is happening to them.
@@madhatterreviews6705 The QC on Super7 has been awful and across a ton of their lines....faces without paint, missing pieces, and these new pre-orders look like they are cutting way back on the accessories as well. They basically crowd fund each line, they take forever, and it is a coin flip if the figure is going to look like the render. These licenses would be way better off in Jada's hands, or someone who could just produce more consistently.
@@SuperMarioBrosIII i’ve seen it a lot over the past 12-ish months and it’s rather baffling to think how something so simple can be buggered up for so long by a lot of people. What’s next? Full stops before the final word in a sentence or swapping numbers around so instead of typing: “My son just turned 21” it becomes “My son just turned 12”! 😂😂😂😂
Not surprised that the Simpson line got axed. How do you not start the line with the family first? What a dumb move putting out alternative versions first.
There is no hate here. This is hard love. None of us want Super7 to fail. We just want them to rethink their plan and listen to their customers in a way that we all win.
What’s their average production run? Per figure? Is that known ? It really boils down to that. My guess would be that they make more money on their soft goods (shirts, clothing ect) over their toy lines but that they love to make toys so they continue but at a higher cost. The market has changed since the early and mid 2000’s
Really? Hard love? Cause I see this excuse a lot when people are so abrasively harsh to something or someone and use excessive wording and language and silence anyone who either disagrees with their behaviour or flawed arguments. Oh because it’s about us being passionate and not because we are sociopathic narcissistic dicks.
No sht. I didn't get the second releases. All the way wanted to. But I really want snarf but I am not, absolutely not paying fifty five dollars for snarf.
Yeah no way I was all in at $55. I got lion o and panthero from the team. Cheetarah I didn't like at all so I wasn't spending $55 for the sake of having her and tigra was Inaccurate. I do like the invisible one though. I got both mum ras and slithe which I'm happy with but that's it. I do want snarf but not for $55. Young lion o I definitely want
Yeah I'm pretty sure Disney told S7 to make their figures more affordable and S7 took the "high-end clothing" route and said they would rather burn product rather then devalue their brand. Fifty Five dollar Snarf is just the tip of the iceberg.
There's a saying I heard in an entrepreneur's meeting once. It went: "If you sell to the Rich, you will eat with the Masses. But, if you sell to the Masses, then you'll eat with the Rich." and it means if you sell affordable items you'll reach a larger audience and do better business. Super7 apparently doesn't want to make money long term I guess?
@@indarkestknight1 I wish I could remember the video info, but many years ago a guy that worked in the toy industry went on a rant about how loathed Brian Flynn is. I started to realize even the Chinese manufacturers have beef with them, thus the extreme delays and shitty QC...and I'm sure they charge Flynn a "premium" to produce any of their shit...just to spite the mini-sized douche.
That’s not how Disney works. They will subdivide their licenses based on target market and price point. The higher end adult collectible is a different license than retail kids toy action figs license.
Did you see the sdcc interview where the owner whined nonstop about having to make chrome silverhawks? My man, you own a toy company for collector products, producing the new tooling and decos that meets customer desires is literally your job. I've been on the fence about some of the Super 7 Godzilla stuff but the company really turns me off.
"Hi, I'm Brian Flynn and I just spent 10 minutes going on and on about how you MUST have your main characters in Wave 1. Nobody buys the unique characters, so you MUST always have main characters. Now, let me tell you how I also never released a normal Simpson's family character. Enjoy your mess of a collection!"
Super7 could have just knocked out the Simpsons family and pets in the first wave. Or, first 2 waves like Homer, Marge w/ Maggie, 1 main supporting character, and 1 "special" character. Then, a Lisa and Bart wave. After that, they could have broken it up with main, secondary, and obscure characters.
Great points. I think one reason that the Simpsons' line failed was they hadn't done any of the family members in their classic looks. It was a very poor choice of character selections especially when the line was just starting up again.
This needed to be said, a Neca 2-pack costing the same as one Super 7 figure is ridiculous. I was turned off early on when that glossy cheap April O’Neil came out for $55. I only buy their best work, Cats Lair that Slash/ Scratch wave etc. I’m waiting for Snarf to drop to $19 bucks this Christmas like the others did on BBTS. Even that figure doesn’t look so great but I need him.
Why do you think Snarf doesn't look that great? Just to clarify, I _loathe_ Brian Flynn, and buy their ThunderCats 'cause it's the only option we got. But I can't of anything wrong with Snarf...other than some sloppy paint in the eyes area.
If they want to succeed they have to stop making all the random characters and variants and give customers the ones they want to complete the collection. They can lower the price by making packaging simpler and not include all the useless hands and accessories that end up in a bag. They've always tried to milk a license by holding back on major characters and now you can see the results.
I think you make really valid points here Mad Hatter. I think when Jada Toys can make Street Fighter 2 figs for £25/$25 and third party companies are giving us amazing figures for around $75, coupled with Super 7 figs going on sale for like $20, there needs to be a change - we need confidence in a license that Super 7 picks up - that we can at least get core characters in that line
It's like ever since Super7 got the MotU license and continued the Classics scale as "Ultimates", they have to keep the same price model with it. Even the Four Horsemen make slimmed down figures with less bells and whistles for people on a budget, why can't Super7 give us a $30 dollar or $35 dollar option? Like how much do these cost to make exactly? The Worst are their own in-house Intellectual Property so if licensing makes The Simpsons, Disney, etc. Ultimates $55- then shouldn't their own IPs be less expensive? Even Hasbro gives you more for your money on their Classifieds G.I. Joe figures, and those are half the price.
I feel there is an arrogance with some toy manufacturers where they feel collectors will by something simply because of the brand. And if the figures don’t sell well they see it as a failure of the brand instead of their failure to make a figure that most fans want.
I agree with you 💯 on their high prices and quality... I mean WHY why is Snarf/Snarfer and kid Lion-O the same price as a regular sized figure while bigger figures like Mumm-Ra are priced higher??
Fuck yeah! Funko left us high and dry with never giving us a single Gummi Bear figure. I loved that line, and they were easily available at $10 (or less) a piece.
I absolutely agree. I've bought so much of their stuff, even the ridiculously expensive glowing tmnt figures, but I've started waiting for reduced prices. It's sad when you see their figures marked down to $30 or $40 and you think 'Wow, what a deal!', but then you remember that that's what other companies are already charging and less.
For me, it's not the price. I get that a lot of Ultimates use new tooling and a decent amount of paint and aren't at retail, so I gotta pay a premium, and honestly, I tend to feel I get my money's worth when compared to most Hasbro products, specifically licensed product, at the same pricepoint. As for the Disney line, I'm pretty sure, judging again from Hasbro, that Disney aren't the easiest to deal with, and I can only imagine that being even worse when it comes to their actual in-house characters. The Simpsons failing though, that one I do feel is solidly S7's fault. Their road map for the line wasn't gonna click with the casual Simpsons fan because they weren't doing the classic looks fast enough and doing too many of the alt versions and deeper cuts. Not one member of the family in their classic look through 3 waves is ridiculously too long.
Hey, when you mentioned hasbro products at the same price point, I'm wondering which figures you're talking about? I mean I know MSRP on hasbro stuff is inching towards being standard NECA cost, but maybe you're thinking about deluxe figures. Yeah, and I guess those are no longer $35/40, 'cause not that long ago that's what I paid for them. And absolutely, I can't _remotely_ see disney being chill to work with. And if their issue was on why the regular family hasn't been made, well they were coming...but just too late obviously.
Yeah, the deluxe releases, specifically from Marvel Legends. They are generally still about 10-15 cheaper, but you can see the price difference in the paint, sculpt, and accessories. The 2-packs usually hit that S7 price point, and even with 2 figures, I'd argue that S7 figures still give me less buyer's remorse. I'm not gonna say it's 100%. I mean, Snarf does exist, and that's a hard $55 pill to swallow, but in general.
@@wolfthewikkid5383 Yeah. With Snarf, I'm definitely biased. I've been wishing for a proper Snarf since Mattel made their seven figures. I was so close to getting that Joe Armaro custom one, but it was way more expensive than $55, plus very limited articulation and made of resin, which concerned me. So I know I'm an exception to the norm with gladly paying that inflated price, plus have a second one on pre-order from Amazon. I'm just a big fan of them, Orko, and Slimer. Not so much who they are as characters, but from an artistic standpoint I really love their unique (to the world they're inhabiting) designs. But yeah, if Mumm-Ra is $75, figures like Snarf or WilyKit should be $35. Flynn has proven to be a major contradictory hypocrite so many times.
@@Christo-pv7ebright , instead I’ll just buy numerous waves of $55 figures, hoping one day my support will get me the characters that the show is named aster 🙄. I’m not saying they need B to do it in 1 wave. I think Mattel did the turtles of grayskull waves pretty well. The Super7 Simpsons waves 1-3 have…. ZERO CORE CHARACTERS in their classic looks. It’s ridiculous
@@Christo-pv7eb also you couldn’t be more wrong on the “then you’ll be done” , I won’t even start a line until I know they are doing the main cast . I am near complete on MOTU origins and neca movie turtles, but I didn’t start buying until I at least knew they were going to make the full cast widely considered to be core.
@@AlphamagnusCreations Cool so you start on wave 25 after you know all your characters will be in it. 🤣 I think they could’ve thrown a figure in each wave of the main cast. I also think the promos on most are way better than the actual figures. Like Andre the giant, looks great in promo pics but sucks in real life and Mattel ultimate edition did way better.
I think price is the big gate that keeps people out initially. $55 is a lot for someone to take a chance on a figure. Look at what $25 will get you with a GI Joe classified figure. Look at what Neca can do for $35 with Dungeons and Dragons and Gargoyles (another disney property). I think $50 is the threshold where collectors are going to have a higher standard for what is and isnt acceptable. And you're spot on about wanting to know where a line is going.
Great video. I totally agree with everything you said here. It's nice to see I am not alone in my Super7 frustrations. I want them to succeed too. I love their TMNT line, but Im with you. Why so expensive? Maybe cut packaging more? I hate elaborate packaging because I dont have the room to store figures and their packages. I am an action figure collector, not a box collector. So the boxes get recycled and I know my money paid for that package. The more elaborate the package, the more gets tossed out with it.
I started to suspect they were having cash flow problems when they started adding an additional pack of heads with wave preorders only on their site. That’s bc you have to pay up front rather than just preorder on places like BBTS and pay when the items actually come in…2 years from when you preordered 😆
I can’t help but feel that it’s a sort of toy (alleged) Ponzi scheme. The preorders of a new line pay for the production of another hence the time lag from announcement to release. It’s just feels like a very insecure model of operation.
Does anyone know how much figures of similar quality are in Japan or Taiwan? Are they trying to match that? The Ultimates I’ve picked up have felt truly premium, I personally love the packaging and extras. Granted, I got them during the recent sale because I couldn’t afford them otherwise 🤷♂️ But was planning to buy Scarlett and Doc and Baroness full price
Brian Flynn ALWAYS does softball interviews because he is well aware of why we are not buying his figures and he just doesn't give a 💩. Just like u I want some of his toys but not at 3x of what they are worth.
I remember hearing the original justification for their higher prices on, say, their continued MOTU classics line, was that they were produced in limited numbers from a small company. I understood that. Super7 is in retail now, they have A-list toy licenses now (He-Man was not A-list in the toy industry when they brought it in, it wasn't in retail like it is now), and they're being made in higher quanitiy... and they're MORE expensive? Naaah, callin BS on that. They're not worth it. I own 2 Ultimates and I got them both for 20 a pop, I'd say they're $30-35 figures TOPS, and that's only if they load them out with tons of accessories. You hit the nail on the head.
Man, that Jada Street Fighter line certainly rocked the boat this year....and quite rightly so! I have the Ryu and it is amazing. And the packaging was awesome
Yo js remembered to ask Mad Hatter, what film school did u go to and would u recommend it? Bc Im deciding to go to film school and I wanna know abt some good ones. Ive only got 2 in mind 😭
That Figura Obscura Headless Horseman is in my BBTS cart. I want to pull the trigger, but at $140 Im going to need to be drunk-buying on a Saturday night.
@@TheBigBigSean that's an awesome figure! I dove right in. I read the book every year and visit the real Sleepy Hollow in NY with my family every fall.
Preach on Hatter. I have felt this way for along time, and have vented about it myself. It started when I bought the Ultimates Ren and Stimpy, it felt like cheap plastic, the faces plates on Stimpy would not sit inside the body right, and had ungodly awful mold lines, and they had the audacity to rerelease them years later and not do any tweaks or improvements. The Turtles all had terrible loose hip joints, and felt cheap. I always felt they charged a premium price, for subpar plastic, poor QC and fancy packaging. I don't want to sound like a pure hater, because I still think they have great people that work behind the scenes in creative and tooling, and still bought the Ultimates Notorious BIG and will probably do the same thing if they ever release DMX, because I don't know if it is different teams working on these, but they are actually pretty good, still overpriced but no one else is doing them in figure scale.
I'm just a casual observer, but I was shocked they made Robot Itchy and Scratchy figures. Anyone care to list some characters they never got around to making?
That was the decision that turned me on to their strange business choices, two side characters taking up slots in the first wave and not even classic Itchy and Scratchy but as robots?? It’s just baffling to me how misguided they are
It's sad to me that they are struggling because I absolutely love the ThunderCats and SilverHawks lines. I also truly want them to succeed and don't want this company to go under. It's not a good sign to see them losing licenses like Disney and Simpsons and the massive clearance sale they had right before the holidays. I do think they stretched themselves too thin making sooo many Ultimates lines at once and Quality took a hit (***cough***G.I.Joe wave 2). I'd much rather see them concentrate on making a few lines really well. My latest Wave of ThunderCats turned out super!! (Willa, Ratar-O, Mongor, and Snarf) all turned out excellent. If they can stick to that level every time, I will pay $55.00 of my hard earned money. However, I agree with many that small characters like Snarfer should be sold for less as the price change only seems to work the other way where larger figures cost more, but smaller figures don't cost less.
Totally with , as soon as I saw the D&D leaks my eyes rolled , no point in going in from the start cos they’re not gonna get to complete the set , the line will die before they do. And yes wake up S7 , $55 is too much , I paid that for Pinocchio and it’s a tiny fragile figure with some accessories! 🙌🏻
Plastic shouldn’t be this expensive. Super7 lost their minds. Every company that’s pricing people out, will lose big this year. I’ve already jumped out on a lot of figures in 2023. Saving money, zero anxiety. Jada for the win with their affordable prices. Mega Man figures are sick!! I’m all in and the price is fantastic. 🍻
I'd _looove_ to buy some Jada figures, but I've literally never seen one, not even a Universal Monster. So I would love to get some Street Fighter and Mega Man figures for retail cost (no extra shipping charge), but they just don't sell them here in the Southeast where I'm at. I know Jun has talked about the distribution issues, so I'm hoping by the time those lines are 60 figures deep, I'll start to see some from wave 15.
They definitely need someone else choosing their character lineups. I get the desire to do obscure deep cuts but you do that sporadically and after you’ve gotten people invested in the line. Not right off the bat and just about every figure in that wave.
Exactly! It was the same issue (but more extreme) with their Simpsons line. Fatter Homer in a moo moo put in the first 16 figures...really??? You're two Homer's deep, and neither is a standard one. Instead of Quick Pick and Snarfer, a Tuska Warrior (or their General) and Safari Joe should've been included. Supposedly, according to Flynn, wave 11 is supposed to be better...so why the fuck isn't that one wave 10?!? You don't intentionally put out a bad wave before a good one. At least with wave 11, we're getting Berbil Bill. Super basic limited ass articulation, coming with two tool accessories and a few extra pairs of hands - $55. 'Cause it's not like you need additional heads for Ro-Bears.
You're spot on. Too much at $55+tax in most cases + shipping. Too much. $40 would be high but somewhat reasonable. Make the figures smaller if they have to. Also, I like the sculpts but they always have shiny paint apps. Not quite trash. But at that price foe what you're getting, my brain instantly goes to trash.
I agree with you, Super 7`s prices are astronomical. That`s why I scaling back my excitement for there G.I Joe O-rings. I`m sure theirs gonna be some price gouging
Hatter, super 7 HQ, store, and Brian Flynn’s office is in the most expensive part of San Francisco. That’s why the brand is so expensive. He needs to pay for that nice location and office. They can fail if that’s what’s important for him, a nice location.
I was also perplexed by the D&D reveal, and just as mad about Disney pulling their licenses from Super7. Yeah the scale was all FUBAR, but I was considering getting Homer and Marge to replace my old Playmates ones with, and I was always curious about what new Disney characters would be announced. All dust in the wind now. All I really care about from Super7 now is ThunderCats, and even there I'll be waiting for deals on smaller characters like Snarf and Wilykit. It's not necessarily a bad thing to march to the beat of your own drum, but as you said, with Super7 you just had no idea WHERE they're marching.
Everything you said is exactly what needs to be said. Anyone making excuses for the pricing and rollout strategy is missing the point. High prices and inconsistent waves lineups/character selection are deal breakers REGARDLESS of the reasons. No one has time to stop and understand the underlying how’s and why’s of it all. Is it too much? Fuck it. Move on. Are they doing weird character selections on lines that will get canceled before the core characters are made? Fuck it. Move on. It’s not OUR responsibility to educate ourselves or care about WHY these companies can’t deliver. That’s literally THEIR job.
The Simpsons suffered from character choice. If I can't put a Marge, Homer, Bart, Lisa, & Maggie set together -- in their normal well-known outfit within 2-3 waves I can't invest in it. Spacing the 5 of them out in 4 waves with one B-lister, 1 super-obscure deep dive, and one repaint-ish character would've been fine -- but I needed to know those first 4 waves were going to deliver the core characters. I won't even get into the QC concerns people have had & experienced. That's secondary to the character choice and the lack being able to put together a solid Simpsons display.
Fell off Super 7 a long time ago due to quality, execution, lead times, and asking price. And then I proceeded to fall off of Mezco and Loose Collector for the same after being an ardent fan. This week I received my Frazetta Girls Fire and Ice Darkwolf action figure. This thing went up in July, projected for Christmas, and shipped Christmas week. Multiple faces, hands, accessories, sturdy, quality materials, thought out articulation and engineering. But what blows me away is it went up in July, was available all through fall, and went out the door at Christmas. As others have said, companies like Super 7 act like they're the only boutique experience in town and toys are hard, but then contenders like Jada and Frazetta Girls come out swinging It also doesn't do Super 7 any favors to hold these propaganda pressers while Veebs gargles Brian's marbles and sets up the tee ball for him time and again.
I doubt it is any one issue, but I do wonder if what licences are held by S7 has anything to do with Hasbro v Mattel. A lot of the lines S7 are currently doing (G.I. Joe, Transformers, Power Rangers, Dungeons & Dragons) are also done (or owned) by Hasbro. While it seems that Disney are starting to work more and more with Mattel (with the obvious exceptions of legacy contracts on Star Wars and Marvel), in 22 they signed a new deal for Mattel to handle the Disney Princess & Disney Frozen Franchises, on top of pre existing deals around Pixar properties like Toy Story & Cars.
If i don't make mistake, the new series have no longer the brown mailer box, but the price stays the same. Also i only wish this figures cost only that much here, in Europe they go for 85-100€ (about 93-109 USD). Mumm-Ra is 120-130€ (about 131-142 USD).😢
As someone else pointed out, Hatter🎩why is Ratar-O From Thundercats Ultimates feel so light compared to Slithe whom feels very heavy? So they must have used a much cheaper plastic for Ratar-O and he's still $55 dollars? Super 7 you've got some Splannin' to do!?🤔🤨😠🤬
It feels like some of their other lines may wrap up too. Overall, toy business seems down. Plus Super7 has made some people angry. In addition, they've released or are scheduled to release most of the main characters in a lot of lines - Thundercats, TMNT, Silverhawks, etc. After you get past the main characters it's a smaller and smaller pool of customers, especially at the price point. I think Simpsons/Disney is a wider audience that won't be interested at $20+. Anyway, if things are wrapping up I am hoping they will get to finish the remaining Lunataks before they finish Thundercats. Even with the flaws, I have to admit that I have enjoyed collecting the Super7 Thundercats.
i'm torn since on one hand i'm a guy who loves the most random assortment of characters so i really appreciate Super 7's willingness to go deep into the roster for their selection, on the other i barely buy anything from them because they're so expensive and there is always the risk of the line dying.
Plus Hatter🎩 if you notice wave 10 of Thundercats Ultimates it says the figures no longer come with slip cases? So no shipper boxes and no slip cover cases. And yet the figures are still $55 dollars and Mumm-Ra Dream Master is a whopping $75 dollars which is actually 15 dollars more than his original incarnation which was $60 dollars! His cartoon LJN style version also from super7 which came with less accessories also cost $75 dollars! They didn't even include Ma-mutt. A translucent Ma-mutt with Dream Master Mumm-ra would have been a nice touch. 🤔🤑💰💵
I agree with so much of this. At one point I was getting full waves of many of their Ultimates lines, but when the price went up and when it became clear that they just weren't reliable with regard to the look of human figures I really scaled back. And those Simpson figures. The needed to scale back size and accessories to sell those at cheaper price point like $40, they would have been their cash cow.
Love the rants because I'm usually 100% in agreement with you. I still can't believe they charge 55 for there figures, I was hoping for some simpsons tree house of horror figures but I'm kinda glad they failed with that line cause I would've went broke with those prices 😄
Super 7 is delusional. They think they are making high end art. Toy collectors want affordable figures we can mess with and enjoy. Not stress over because of price and quality.
I knew the Simpsons would die… the QC was awful, my itchy and scratchy figures need to be propped up to stand! 55 bucks and they won’t stand up! they should have not started with such deep cuts on character selection. It’s been 20 years since we’ve had a great Simpsons line… I’m still convinced it could be done!
Watching this knowing that Brian dude got moved gives the “rant” a whole new meaning. Yes licenses are expensive (but they got so many) but the pricing model is “one fits all” by the looks of it. I’d reduce the number of licenses, focus on a core set, maximise production on those which should help improve price and quality.
Super 7 needs to do some research on what the consumers want. Whether it be price point a certain scale etc. Take that data and find a middle ground. I have some of the Thundercats figures luckily for me I haven’t had any qc issues but I haven’t bought any more figures either because I don’t want to spend 55 bucks and cross my fingers that the quality will be good I know sooner or later I’m gonna get a bad figure. They reel us in with the license’s they have then let us down with the bs.
Well, if it’s $55 then their wholesale cost would be 27.50. It’s not costing that to make though. Still, what’s their run size versus injection molding method? And where are these being made (also which manufacturing plant are they using). The other huge item here is what their licensing fee costs. When I worked in the toy industry (still have many friends in and around it) these were always huge issues. I have a few friends with a company in Japan and years ago I would give them insights into possible US licenses that would be worth it for them to invest in (marvel ect weee really high priced at that time). If I had to guess though, the difference between these and Neca would be distribution and numbers sold. I don’t follow S7 much though I dig them as a company and their local to me (Bay Area native) I would go to their shop back when it was in haight/ashury, but I’d assume that they use a closed in distribution model? Direct ordering and exclusive’s? If so then they may be doing less numbers than say, Neca who sells and distributes to large retailers as well as Diamond or other means. Lower numbers = higher prices. Also, (and again I don’t follow S7 so please let me know if I’m wrong here) do they do variants? Like, when they do a Pinocchio figure is there 3 to 5 variants? If not, then the price will be higher. Tooling costs are the highest figure (past licensing) and multiple individual designs can drive up costs. The typical way to lower the cost is either huge runs (thing early GI Joe or SW Mack in the 80’s) or you do color variations, 1 figure but four color ways. You’ve now sold the equivalent of a larger run. As for quality and articulation, articulation costs money depending on design and execution. Quality of paint, plastic, and joints, really comes down to your manufacturer. One of my friends designed an amazing 1/6 figure about 14 years ago and he was telling me how the design called for an almost porcelain style finish on the final product. Their manufacturing plant had issues in the early prototype stages for paint apps. So he had to go to a local supply center in Japan and get the proper paints and brushes and flew to the plant and then set up a program to train them how to do the application and oversaw it until they had the process down. There’s a lot of stories like that in the industry. But I’m getting off topic. That’s a wild price point for sure. $55 is crazy depending on the size. These look to be somewhere close to 1:12 or similar? I haven’t followed toys that much in ages (better for my pocketbook) but $55 for a Neca type toy is pricey. Now, $55 for a better quality and smaller produced toy line is totally acceptable. We were paying $125 to $225 for 1/6 scale 14 years ago and $45 for proper 1:12 scale back then (the 1:12 scale was far better than anything produced even still today). So really it’s more of a choice as to what you’re buying and its quality / who produces it. Also it’s collectibility.
A few years ago Brian did an interview and he compares his pricing to what he thinks it should be. He takes the price of an action figure from the 80's and says $20 for a reaction figure and $55 for ultimates figure and this should be what everyone charges for that same kind of toy, this is based on the dollar value priceing in the 80's. I believe in his mind his ultimates are in his reality a twenty-ish dollar figure based on the currency exchange value.
Yep, I remember that interview. So for a 3 3/4" figure (on the high-end) in the '80s would $2.99.....so with inflation, a ReAction figure would cost $8.53 now, not 20 fuckin' dollars! And a 5-7" figure would cost (with inflation) a bit under $20 now.
McFarlane just released pre-orders for some pretty crummy looking DC figures (wally west, specter, old superman, and psycho pirate) they are store exclusive - 2 have cloth capes... okay ... but they don't have it pay stores as they own the line -- they are $40. For regular action figures. I'm done when they hit that price. $30 is too much. But $40 is shitty. Plus its like $7 shipping! And yet the Specter sold out in a day. I hate it.
I have there thundercats line and they look awesome but there's just something not quite right with the figures, don't know what it is but I'm like MEH but there the only company doing thundercats so we're stuck with them.
@hey_keith Give Super 7 and Lying🦁Bryan Flynn 3 more years their Ultimates will get to the $105 per figure soon! Look how much they are charging for Translucent Dream Master Mumm-Ra and he doesn't even come with Ma-mutt? Mon*Star Armed Red Figure was $84 dollars!💵💰🤑💸
Everyone: “No matter what you cannot polish a turd.” Super7: “Pre order the ability to hold my beer for $55.00…. Okay now that you’ve paid the money upfront, you will receive my beer to hold in about 3-4 years…..”
First off, I love S7. With a few exceptions, I adore the TMNT ultimates and the MMPR ultimates. However, they tend to start a lot of lines that they don’t finish, and one of the biggest issues I have with starting a new line (like The Simpsons for example) is that they do all of these quirky characters before they assemble the main cast. A lot of collectors say that they need to do that to keep people’s interest, but what it does is essentially carry a very real risk that if the line ends (like Simpsons) that you are stuck with an incomplete main group of characters. They have got to change this model or people are going to continue to be gun shy about starting any new lines, especially at the $55 price point.
Hey brother, I completely feel your frustration as a fellow collector, when who happens to be over a year out of a full-time job right now, and still trying to not miss out on key pieces of his collection. Brian Flynn has been pretty transparent on the foo and other places about the prices of his toys. he said that it's been a long time coming for Hasbro and Matel to catch up and they have been slowly but surely. Today we saw McFarlane pull some crazy stuff with $40 DC Multiverse figures exclusive to his website. I'll try to keep it short. I'm no expert myself, but I am a former comic book publisher who has been trying for years to get to licensed or made based on my books. In short, back in 2021 figure mold was $20-$30,000, the next year after the pandemic it was 40 to 60 then 60 to 80 then $100,000 for one figure mold you can find that number a lot of places. You'll never be told is the minimum order numbers. Historically has bro and Mattel probably produce 30 to 40,000 units of pieces and then sell them to big box store like target and Walmart. Of course other smaller places like BTS and Amazon and local comic book shops add to those numbers but when you're selling only to those outlets, the numbers are extremely smaller. That's why someone like Jada can put out toys based on a popular video game and sell them in a big box store for a low price that is almost necessary and demanded of those stores. So odds are, as Toy Shiz posted today, the in Todd McFarlane's case the DC Multiverse was supposed to be sold to a big box store and then not picked up so he had to eat those figures. If I had to guess and I have no information I would imagine that his sales are 10,000 units or less. Just based on the shrinkage of less and less kids buying toys and only adult collectors buying them as well as the average consumer buying for kids thinking that they still play with them, so Bryan has been telling us for years that the other companies would be catching up to his price point. If I had to guess super seven is making 8000 units or less which is ridiculous and it's harder to get factories to commit to such low numbers and they definitely won't give you bulk rates. Compound onto that the fact that he's trying to sell obscure 40-year-old properties that he has to license and you get back to the $55 and higher price points. When Hasbro, a toy company itself, is licensing, G.I., Joe, transformers, dungeons, and dragons, and power ranges to other toy companies. After they themselves couldn't sell through at retail you have to really wonder about the overall industry as a whole. So as a fan, I'm not happy to pay $55 perfect to put together any team of heroes, especially if the number of accessories continues to dwindle, and you still might encounter real world things like QC issues and cost-cutting measures that lead to less paint hits. The more that people keep waiting for deals that show up at Ross and Ollies. The lesson less companies are going to produce things that they know will only end up at clearance and won't sell through at retail so it's a lose lose situation again. Brian predicted this years ago and wasn't sure how long the industry could sustain so at least he's been pretty transparent compared to the other Fortune 500 companies.
Finally. I’m so fkn glad that a RUclipsr is finally going where everyone else is so candy. Thank you madd hatter for telling it like it is. 55 dollars for a 2 inch figure, I.e Pinocchio. Super 7 has QC issues that are way worse than what Hasbro and other big companies offer. Simpsons failed because the first offering had Moo Moo Homer, and I get it they wanted a figure that most toy collectors could relate to, but that’s not how you start a line. Anyways great video
I feel that some company's are just pricing themselves out. Mostly just for more money not the license or anything else and people are sick of paying it so they wait because we all know they will go on sale at some store or and online one. So Jada-toys has the right idea get back to old prices where people don't care about spending $20. People need money for other things and don't feel comfortable spending $50 and up on a luxury item especially when you know its going to drop in price if you just wait .love the rant. great video keep up the great work.
You answered your own question. It's time for an audit. I don't know where you live but rent in SF and SD for storefronts is absolute insanity. I don't blame Brian for sticking to San Francisco, it's a wonderful place to live in the right places. The Super7 guys are great people, who have love and administration for the toys and licenses we enjoy. I also don't think you are wrong when you speak on quality, they are similar to NECA. I hoping for the best with super7 as someone that's also spent thousands on their products. Let's just hope they can get some control on the business partners marking the product down to nothing, making the people who paid full price look like fools. There's a lot going on, and they need a sherif to reign it in.
$55 seems like a steal compared to those Matt Cardona / Brian Myers figures that are $75 a pop! And finally went into production after being announced almost 2 years ago. Wrestling fans will buy anything I guess.
Super7 just seems to run the company like it's a fun hobby. The Simpsons character choices were just random. I get peppering the Simpsons themselves throughout the first few waves, but Super7 didn't even do *that* and were giving us alternate versions of them. It's just like how they handled Transformers, where they were giving us characters like Bludgeon and Tarn and not Bumblebee or Soundwave. Like... why? It just feels like it's different for different's sake. Combine that with their high price, poor articulation, poor paint and frequent delays and you get a line that I don't think anybody was super excited for. Super7 need to get their act together.
I'll believe it when I see it, but apparently all of the Simpsons Ultimates that went up for pre-order are still coming out. We only have wave 1 in-hand. 3 more waves are on the way and the line is already officially dead! These things got pushed back so many times, that had to kill any momentum they were trying to build. We'll see if the announced stuff still comes out but to me, that seems like a long shot.
You are correct that you don't know the ins and outs of toy making and manufacturing and licensing. The reason why you're mad at Super7 is they're always pretty visible revealing the things publicly that other companies don't. Jada Toys can sell those figures for cheap because despite being good for the price, they are smaller, not as well made, not as high quality, and possibly pay people lower wages. You should look into who owns Jada Toys to get a better idea. Seeing the behind the scenes of toy making from a certain company, fans should be GRATEFUL for anything they own. Making a thing is miserable behind the scenes.
No offense but that sounds like a load of horse-shit since the Jada figures are very well made and very good quality. And Jada is just one example. And no, I won't be grateful for having to pay for something I don't think is worth it.
You completely misunderstood me. I meant be grateful for any art, movie, toy, whatever that you own and love. I think people lack perspective and empathy here.
I have the Jada Street Fighter toys and they're alright IMO but solid figures for the price point and IP for folks who don't wanna spend the money on the more premium figures like Storm Collectibles.
I understand you're frustrated but it's not something you can control. I don't typically engage with more negative content like this and focus on more positive things BUT i do enjoy all your reviews and your tag-teams with GDL and you're one of the folks I "study" so I can start my own lil reviews channel now that I'm back into collecting. I'm even in the background of one of your DCON videos lol.
@@madhatterreviews6705Agreed with Hatter here.
More well made? What figures are you buying? Super 7's articulation is trash, their paint work is trash, loose legs, cheap plastic. I can go on. Tygra ? Explain that to me. Snarf for $55 dollars is a joke. Super 7 deserves what is happening to them.
@@madhatterreviews6705 The QC on Super7 has been awful and across a ton of their lines....faces without paint, missing pieces, and these new pre-orders look like they are cutting way back on the accessories as well. They basically crowd fund each line, they take forever, and it is a coin flip if the figure is going to look like the render. These licenses would be way better off in Jada's hands, or someone who could just produce more consistently.
That 55$ price is killing them, and the crazy waves of figures
LoL Snarf for 55. Nuckn futs.
@@KootenaiKing Snarfer as well! And Young Lion-O LOL!🤔🙄🤨💰
Just curious!…what’s with the $ sign after the number and not before?
I’ve seen it a lot lately.
@@ThePlasticUnderworld1313 Not sure? I usually put it before not after?!🤨🤔🙄🙋💲
@@SuperMarioBrosIII i’ve seen it a lot over the past 12-ish months and it’s rather baffling to think how something so simple can be buggered up for so long by a lot of people.
What’s next? Full stops before the final word in a sentence or swapping numbers around so instead of typing: “My son just turned 21” it becomes “My son just turned 12”! 😂😂😂😂
Not surprised that the Simpson line got axed. How do you not start the line with the family first? What a dumb move putting out alternative versions first.
Their waves are bizarre.
Even the Reactions, too, 3 waves that don't mesh with each other.
They wanted to play the game and it didn’t work out for them.
Cause all they care about making is variants.
Super7 is delusional if they don’t understand that. Go core or go poor. They killed this line.
There is no hate here. This is hard love. None of us want Super7 to fail. We just want them to rethink their plan and listen to their customers in a way that we all win.
Well said!
What’s their average production run? Per figure? Is that known ? It really boils down to that. My guess would be that they make more money on their soft goods (shirts, clothing ect) over their toy lines but that they love to make toys so they continue but at a higher cost.
The market has changed since the early and mid 2000’s
Really? Hard love? Cause I see this excuse a lot when people are so abrasively harsh to something or someone and use excessive wording and language and silence anyone who either disagrees with their behaviour or flawed arguments. Oh because it’s about us being passionate and not because we are sociopathic narcissistic dicks.
I totally agree with you. That’s why I stopped buying the ThunderCats because it got ridiculous. $55 for that young Lion-O or that snarf is insane.
No sht. I didn't get the second releases. All the way wanted to. But I really want snarf but I am not, absolutely not paying fifty five dollars for snarf.
Yeah no way I was all in at $55. I got lion o and panthero from the team. Cheetarah I didn't like at all so I wasn't spending $55 for the sake of having her and tigra was Inaccurate. I do like the invisible one though. I got both mum ras and slithe which I'm happy with but that's it. I do want snarf but not for $55. Young lion o I definitely want
Discounted $25 TMNTs and $50 Godzilla Ultimates was the only sweetspot for me with Super7
Yeah I'm pretty sure Disney told S7 to make their figures more affordable and S7 took the "high-end clothing" route and said they would rather burn product rather then devalue their brand. Fifty Five dollar Snarf is just the tip of the iceberg.
There's a saying I heard in an entrepreneur's meeting once. It went: "If you sell to the Rich, you will eat with the Masses. But, if you sell to the Masses, then you'll eat with the Rich." and it means if you sell affordable items you'll reach a larger audience and do better business. Super7 apparently doesn't want to make money long term I guess?
@@TheBoglin Very nice. Flynn seems to not have a degree in business.
@@indarkestknight1
I wish I could remember the video info, but many years ago a guy that worked in the toy industry went on a rant about how loathed Brian Flynn is. I started to realize even the Chinese manufacturers have beef with them, thus the extreme delays and shitty QC...and I'm sure they charge Flynn a "premium" to produce any of their shit...just to spite the mini-sized douche.
That’s not how Disney works. They will subdivide their licenses based on target market and price point. The higher end adult collectible is a different license than retail kids toy action figs license.
@@andrewtaylor940 What category does 7 inch action figures fall in? These aren't exactly those crystal figurines Disney has.
Did you see the sdcc interview where the owner whined nonstop about having to make chrome silverhawks? My man, you own a toy company for collector products, producing the new tooling and decos that meets customer desires is literally your job.
I've been on the fence about some of the Super 7 Godzilla stuff but the company really turns me off.
To be fair, silverhawks is a license that about ten people want lol. Waste of buying a license
Especially since the Godzilla figures are the same size as the Dragonzord and $30 more expensive.
"Hi, I'm Brian Flynn and I just spent 10 minutes going on and on about how you MUST have your main characters in Wave 1. Nobody buys the unique characters, so you MUST always have main characters. Now, let me tell you how I also never released a normal Simpson's family character. Enjoy your mess of a collection!"
Yeah, what he said in that interview about thundercats is totally contrary to what they did for the Simpson line 😂
@NostalgiaUnboxed Don't you mean Brian Lyning🦁Flynn Johnny? LOL!🤔🤨😬🙆
It’s too late for them at this point. The time to turn the company around was last year. They probably have 6 months till they go under.
Super7 could have just knocked out the Simpsons family and pets in the first wave. Or, first 2 waves like Homer, Marge w/ Maggie, 1 main supporting character, and 1 "special" character. Then, a Lisa and Bart wave. After that, they could have broken it up with main, secondary, and obscure characters.
I totally agree. The prices are insane for some of these and totally unreasonable for the size and what they come with
Great points. I think one reason that the Simpsons' line failed was they hadn't done any of the family members in their classic looks. It was a very poor choice of character selections especially when the line was just starting up again.
This Mad Hatter Rantviews was chef’s kiss. Also, congrats on getting a Jada Ken
The pure, unadulterated, raw, uncut, hardcore, no lube, truth!!! One of the main reasons i love this channel! Get 'em Hatter!
"Lube truth"... lol
No Vaseline ;)
This needed to be said, a Neca 2-pack costing the same as one Super 7 figure is ridiculous. I was turned off early on when that glossy cheap April O’Neil came out for $55. I only buy their best work, Cats Lair that Slash/ Scratch wave etc.
I’m waiting for Snarf to drop to $19 bucks this Christmas like the others did on BBTS. Even that figure doesn’t look so great but I need him.
Why do you think Snarf doesn't look that great?
Just to clarify, I _loathe_ Brian Flynn, and buy their ThunderCats 'cause it's the only option we got. But I can't of anything wrong with Snarf...other than some sloppy paint in the eyes area.
@@Chalor. Right that was my issue, sloppy paint for a premium figure at $55. Super 7 has problems when it comes to faces, especially humanoid faces.
If they want to succeed they have to stop making all the random characters and variants and give customers the ones they want to complete the collection. They can lower the price by making packaging simpler and not include all the useless hands and accessories that end up in a bag. They've always tried to milk a license by holding back on major characters and now you can see the results.
They're killing the Simpsons line and they didn't even make a regular Homer? Jeez.
I think you make really valid points here Mad Hatter. I think when Jada Toys can make Street Fighter 2 figs for £25/$25 and third party companies are giving us amazing figures for around $75, coupled with Super 7 figs going on sale for like $20, there needs to be a change - we need confidence in a license that Super 7 picks up - that we can at least get core characters in that line
It's like ever since Super7 got the MotU license and continued the Classics scale as "Ultimates", they have to keep the same price model with it. Even the Four Horsemen make slimmed down figures with less bells and whistles for people on a budget, why can't Super7 give us a $30 dollar or $35 dollar option?
Like how much do these cost to make exactly? The Worst are their own in-house Intellectual Property so if licensing makes The Simpsons, Disney, etc. Ultimates $55- then shouldn't their own IPs be less expensive?
Even Hasbro gives you more for your money on their Classifieds G.I. Joe figures, and those are half the price.
I feel there is an arrogance with some toy manufacturers where they feel collectors will by something simply because of the brand. And if the figures don’t sell well they see it as a failure of the brand instead of their failure to make a figure that most fans want.
I agree with you 💯 on their high prices and quality... I mean WHY why is Snarf/Snarfer and kid Lion-O the same price as a regular sized figure while bigger figures like Mumm-Ra are priced higher??
So let me get this straight.... I bought these waves of simpsons and I cant even complete the main Simpsons family? wtf?
If Super 7 had done a “Disney Afternoon” line, I’m pretty sure they’d have sold better than a Fantasia wave.
I got that Funko Scrooge figure that came out a few years ago for like $15. It's not a POP, it's fully articulated.
Fuck yeah! Funko left us high and dry with never giving us a single Gummi Bear figure. I loved that line, and they were easily available at $10 (or less) a piece.
I absolutely agree. I've bought so much of their stuff, even the ridiculously expensive glowing tmnt figures, but I've started waiting for reduced prices. It's sad when you see their figures marked down to $30 or $40 and you think 'Wow, what a deal!', but then you remember that that's what other companies are already charging and less.
I kinda wannna pick up their Godzilla minus one figure, but the sh fig arts is gonna be out sooner so I haven’t yet
Let them Know how you Really FeeL
For me, it's not the price. I get that a lot of Ultimates use new tooling and a decent amount of paint and aren't at retail, so I gotta pay a premium, and honestly, I tend to feel I get my money's worth when compared to most Hasbro products, specifically licensed product, at the same pricepoint.
As for the Disney line, I'm pretty sure, judging again from Hasbro, that Disney aren't the easiest to deal with, and I can only imagine that being even worse when it comes to their actual in-house characters. The Simpsons failing though, that one I do feel is solidly S7's fault. Their road map for the line wasn't gonna click with the casual Simpsons fan because they weren't doing the classic looks fast enough and doing too many of the alt versions and deeper cuts. Not one member of the family in their classic look through 3 waves is ridiculously too long.
Hey, when you mentioned hasbro products at the same price point, I'm wondering which figures you're talking about? I mean I know MSRP on hasbro stuff is inching towards being standard NECA cost, but maybe you're thinking about deluxe figures. Yeah, and I guess those are no longer $35/40, 'cause not that long ago that's what I paid for them.
And absolutely, I can't _remotely_ see disney being chill to work with. And if their issue was on why the regular family hasn't been made, well they were coming...but just too late obviously.
Yeah, the deluxe releases, specifically from Marvel Legends. They are generally still about 10-15 cheaper, but you can see the price difference in the paint, sculpt, and accessories. The 2-packs usually hit that S7 price point, and even with 2 figures, I'd argue that S7 figures still give me less buyer's remorse. I'm not gonna say it's 100%. I mean, Snarf does exist, and that's a hard $55 pill to swallow, but in general.
@@wolfthewikkid5383
Yeah. With Snarf, I'm definitely biased. I've been wishing for a proper Snarf since Mattel made their seven figures. I was so close to getting that Joe Armaro custom one, but it was way more expensive than $55, plus very limited articulation and made of resin, which concerned me. So I know I'm an exception to the norm with gladly paying that inflated price, plus have a second one on pre-order from Amazon. I'm just a big fan of them, Orko, and Slimer. Not so much who they are as characters, but from an artistic standpoint I really love their unique (to the world they're inhabiting) designs. But yeah, if Mumm-Ra is $75, figures like Snarf or WilyKit should be $35. Flynn has proven to be a major contradictory hypocrite so many times.
The bad cog in Super7's machine is greed.
If they would have dropped the main simpsons cast (Bart, Lisa, Homer, maggie and Marge) I would have bought the entire wave.
And then you’d be done. That’s why they didn’t do it all at once. It’s business.
At least one core family member per wave like they did with the TMNT line
@@Christo-pv7ebright , instead I’ll just buy numerous waves of $55 figures, hoping one day my support will get me the characters that the show is named aster 🙄. I’m not saying they need B to do it in 1 wave. I think Mattel did the turtles of grayskull waves pretty well. The Super7 Simpsons waves 1-3 have…. ZERO CORE CHARACTERS in their classic looks. It’s ridiculous
@@Christo-pv7eb also you couldn’t be more wrong on the “then you’ll be done” , I won’t even start a line until I know they are doing the main cast . I am near complete on MOTU origins and neca movie turtles, but I didn’t start buying until I at least knew they were going to make the full cast widely considered to be core.
@@AlphamagnusCreations Cool so you start on wave 25 after you know all your characters will be in it. 🤣
I think they could’ve thrown a figure in each wave of the main cast.
I also think the promos on most are way better than the actual figures. Like Andre the giant, looks great in promo pics but sucks in real life and Mattel ultimate edition did way better.
Dude!!! 😂Thanks for saying everything wrong with Super 7 ! They should learn a frickin lesson from Neca
I think price is the big gate that keeps people out initially. $55 is a lot for someone to take a chance on a figure. Look at what $25 will get you with a GI Joe classified figure. Look at what Neca can do for $35 with Dungeons and Dragons and Gargoyles (another disney property).
I think $50 is the threshold where collectors are going to have a higher standard for what is and isnt acceptable. And you're spot on about wanting to know where a line is going.
Great video. I totally agree with everything you said here. It's nice to see I am not alone in my Super7 frustrations. I want them to succeed too. I love their TMNT line, but Im with you. Why so expensive? Maybe cut packaging more? I hate elaborate packaging because I dont have the room to store figures and their packages. I am an action figure collector, not a box collector. So the boxes get recycled and I know my money paid for that package. The more elaborate the package, the more gets tossed out with it.
You could probably save $8 dollars just trimming back the item to basic packaging
I would love to save 8 dollars per figure across each wave. I would also feel less guilty about tossing out the package 😁@@SecretOfMonkeyIsland784
Soo should I get my S7 Samurai Leo, Surfer Mikey, Space Raph and Undercover Raph right now?
I started to suspect they were having cash flow problems when they started adding an additional pack of heads with wave preorders only on their site. That’s bc you have to pay up front rather than just preorder on places like BBTS and pay when the items actually come in…2 years from when you preordered 😆
I can’t help but feel that it’s a sort of toy (alleged) Ponzi scheme. The preorders of a new line pay for the production of another hence the time lag from announcement to release. It’s just feels like a very insecure model of operation.
Does anyone know how much figures of similar quality are in Japan or Taiwan? Are they trying to match that? The Ultimates I’ve picked up have felt truly premium, I personally love the packaging and extras. Granted, I got them during the recent sale because I couldn’t afford them otherwise 🤷♂️ But was planning to buy Scarlett and Doc and Baroness full price
I found you with your best of vids and I’m so happy I did lol.
For me it’s the QC issues. Like you can’t charge 55 and have the issues they have with QC
Brian Flynn ALWAYS does softball interviews because he is well aware of why we are not buying his figures and he just doesn't give a 💩. Just like u I want some of his toys but not at 3x of what they are worth.
Thats their biggest issue. The value for price isnt there. Good products but overpriced.
And he's always snarky and surly in them.
@@indarkestknight1
Yes! It's like no one points out their shitty ass arrogant and ignorant attitude.
I remember hearing the original justification for their higher prices on, say, their continued MOTU classics line, was that they were produced in limited numbers from a small company. I understood that.
Super7 is in retail now, they have A-list toy licenses now (He-Man was not A-list in the toy industry when they brought it in, it wasn't in retail like it is now), and they're being made in higher quanitiy... and they're MORE expensive? Naaah, callin BS on that. They're not worth it. I own 2 Ultimates and I got them both for 20 a pop, I'd say they're $30-35 figures TOPS, and that's only if they load them out with tons of accessories. You hit the nail on the head.
Man, that Jada Street Fighter line certainly rocked the boat this year....and quite rightly so! I have the Ryu and it is amazing. And the packaging was awesome
That’s a lot of questions.
Yo js remembered to ask Mad Hatter, what film school did u go to and would u recommend it? Bc Im deciding to go to film school and I wanna know abt some good ones. Ive only got 2 in mind 😭
That stinks, I was really hoping for a Disney Headless Horseman and Ichabod.
That Figura Obscura Headless Horseman is in my BBTS cart. I want to pull the trigger, but at $140 Im going to need to be drunk-buying on a Saturday night.
@@TheBigBigSean that's an awesome figure! I dove right in. I read the book every year and visit the real Sleepy Hollow in NY with my family every fall.
@@TheBigBigSean Get it! It's awesome in person! I'll send you a case of beer to help lol
Hatter has top tier rants. I love it.
Preach on Hatter. I have felt this way for along time, and have vented about it myself. It started when I bought the Ultimates Ren and Stimpy, it felt like cheap plastic, the faces plates on Stimpy would not sit inside the body right, and had ungodly awful mold lines, and they had the audacity to rerelease them years later and not do any tweaks or improvements. The Turtles all had terrible loose hip joints, and felt cheap. I always felt they charged a premium price, for subpar plastic, poor QC and fancy packaging. I don't want to sound like a pure hater, because I still think they have great people that work behind the scenes in creative and tooling, and still bought the Ultimates Notorious BIG and will probably do the same thing if they ever release DMX, because I don't know if it is different teams working on these, but they are actually pretty good, still overpriced but no one else is doing them in figure scale.
You’re absolutely on point Hatter… Thank you for everything you said
I'm just a casual observer, but I was shocked they made Robot Itchy and Scratchy figures. Anyone care to list some characters they never got around to making?
You mean Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, or Maggie?
That is a pretty embarrassing list for a Simpsons line to miss.
That was the decision that turned me on to their strange business choices, two side characters taking up slots in the first wave and not even classic Itchy and Scratchy but as robots?? It’s just baffling to me how misguided they are
Preach my guy. Thank you for being our voice.
It's sad to me that they are struggling because I absolutely love the ThunderCats and SilverHawks lines. I also truly want them to succeed and don't want this company to go under. It's not a good sign to see them losing licenses like Disney and Simpsons and the massive clearance sale they had right before the holidays. I do think they stretched themselves too thin making sooo many Ultimates lines at once and Quality took a hit (***cough***G.I.Joe wave 2). I'd much rather see them concentrate on making a few lines really well. My latest Wave of ThunderCats turned out super!! (Willa, Ratar-O, Mongor, and Snarf) all turned out excellent. If they can stick to that level every time, I will pay $55.00 of my hard earned money. However, I agree with many that small characters like Snarfer should be sold for less as the price change only seems to work the other way where larger figures cost more, but smaller figures don't cost less.
Totally with , as soon as I saw the D&D leaks my eyes rolled , no point in going in from the start cos they’re not gonna get to complete the set , the line will die before they do. And yes wake up S7 , $55 is too much , I paid that for Pinocchio and it’s a tiny fragile figure with some accessories! 🙌🏻
Noooo not the Simpsons 😢
We should have gotten the plain ones first
Someone's just cost himself a lucrative Brian Flyn interview 😂
Plastic shouldn’t be this expensive. Super7 lost their minds. Every company that’s pricing people out, will lose big this year. I’ve already jumped out on a lot of figures in 2023. Saving money, zero anxiety. Jada for the win with their affordable prices. Mega Man figures are sick!! I’m all in and the price is fantastic. 🍻
I'd _looove_ to buy some Jada figures, but I've literally never seen one, not even a Universal Monster. So I would love to get some Street Fighter and Mega Man figures for retail cost (no extra shipping charge), but they just don't sell them here in the Southeast where I'm at. I know Jun has talked about the distribution issues, so I'm hoping by the time those lines are 60 figures deep, I'll start to see some from wave 15.
They definitely need someone else choosing their character lineups. I get the desire to do obscure deep cuts but you do that sporadically and after you’ve gotten people invested in the line. Not right off the bat and just about every figure in that wave.
Exactly! It was the same issue (but more extreme) with their Simpsons line. Fatter Homer in a moo moo put in the first 16 figures...really??? You're two Homer's deep, and neither is a standard one.
Instead of Quick Pick and Snarfer, a Tuska Warrior (or their General) and Safari Joe should've been included. Supposedly, according to Flynn, wave 11 is supposed to be better...so why the fuck isn't that one wave 10?!? You don't intentionally put out a bad wave before a good one. At least with wave 11, we're getting Berbil Bill. Super basic limited ass articulation, coming with two tool accessories and a few extra pairs of hands - $55. 'Cause it's not like you need additional heads for Ro-Bears.
You're spot on. Too much at $55+tax in most cases + shipping. Too much. $40 would be high but somewhat reasonable. Make the figures smaller if they have to. Also, I like the sculpts but they always have shiny paint apps. Not quite trash. But at that price foe what you're getting, my brain instantly goes to trash.
Aw man I loved their Simpsons line their figures look amazing
Same. :(
Neca makes quality figures great paint apps a ton of accessories and priced at $35 doesn’t make sense that others can’t compete with that
I agree with you, Super 7`s prices are astronomical. That`s why I scaling back my excitement for there G.I Joe O-rings. I`m sure theirs gonna be some price gouging
@the80sguy80 they’re supposed to be $21 apiece
Hatter, super 7 HQ, store, and Brian Flynn’s office is in the most expensive part of San Francisco. That’s why the brand is so expensive. He needs to pay for that nice location and office. They can fail if that’s what’s important for him, a nice location.
We need a Mad Hatter Brian Flynn interview! I would pay 55 dollars to watch that 😂
I'd pay $75 Dream Master Mumm-Ra pricing for that!
I was also perplexed by the D&D reveal, and just as mad about Disney pulling their licenses from Super7. Yeah the scale was all FUBAR, but I was considering getting Homer and Marge to replace my old Playmates ones with, and I was always curious about what new Disney characters would be announced. All dust in the wind now. All I really care about from Super7 now is ThunderCats, and even there I'll be waiting for deals on smaller characters like Snarf and Wilykit.
It's not necessarily a bad thing to march to the beat of your own drum, but as you said, with Super7 you just had no idea WHERE they're marching.
Everything you said is exactly what needs to be said. Anyone making excuses for the pricing and rollout strategy is missing the point. High prices and inconsistent waves lineups/character selection are deal breakers REGARDLESS of the reasons. No one has time to stop and understand the underlying how’s and why’s of it all. Is it too much? Fuck it. Move on. Are they doing weird character selections on lines that will get canceled before the core characters are made? Fuck it. Move on. It’s not OUR responsibility to educate ourselves or care about WHY these companies can’t deliver. That’s literally THEIR job.
May we get a update on that Ramen TMNT Diorama. Many thanks!
The Simpsons suffered from character choice. If I can't put a Marge, Homer, Bart, Lisa, & Maggie set together -- in their normal well-known outfit within 2-3 waves I can't invest in it. Spacing the 5 of them out in 4 waves with one B-lister, 1 super-obscure deep dive, and one repaint-ish character would've been fine -- but I needed to know those first 4 waves were going to deliver the core characters. I won't even get into the QC concerns people have had & experienced. That's secondary to the character choice and the lack being able to put together a solid Simpsons display.
Fell off Super 7 a long time ago due to quality, execution, lead times, and asking price. And then I proceeded to fall off of Mezco and Loose Collector for the same after being an ardent fan.
This week I received my Frazetta Girls Fire and Ice Darkwolf action figure. This thing went up in July, projected for Christmas, and shipped Christmas week. Multiple faces, hands, accessories, sturdy, quality materials, thought out articulation and engineering.
But what blows me away is it went up in July, was available all through fall, and went out the door at Christmas.
As others have said, companies like Super 7 act like they're the only boutique experience in town and toys are hard, but then contenders like Jada and Frazetta Girls come out swinging
It also doesn't do Super 7 any favors to hold these propaganda pressers while Veebs gargles Brian's marbles and sets up the tee ball for him time and again.
I doubt it is any one issue, but I do wonder if what licences are held by S7 has anything to do with Hasbro v Mattel. A lot of the lines S7 are currently doing (G.I. Joe, Transformers, Power Rangers, Dungeons & Dragons) are also done (or owned) by Hasbro. While it seems that Disney are starting to work more and more with Mattel (with the obvious exceptions of legacy contracts on Star Wars and Marvel), in 22 they signed a new deal for Mattel to handle the Disney Princess & Disney Frozen Franchises, on top of pre existing deals around Pixar properties like Toy Story & Cars.
If i don't make mistake, the new series have no longer the brown mailer box, but the price stays the same. Also i only wish this figures cost only that much here, in Europe they go for 85-100€ (about 93-109 USD). Mumm-Ra is 120-130€ (about 131-142 USD).😢
Can I have a link to the video please?
Yeah, they take the shipper box away and some slip covers but still charge the same??
As someone else pointed out, Hatter🎩why is Ratar-O From Thundercats Ultimates feel so light compared to Slithe whom feels very heavy? So they must have used a much cheaper plastic for Ratar-O and he's still $55 dollars? Super 7 you've got some Splannin' to do!?🤔🤨😠🤬
It feels like some of their other lines may wrap up too. Overall, toy business seems down. Plus Super7 has made some people angry. In addition, they've released or are scheduled to release most of the main characters in a lot of lines - Thundercats, TMNT, Silverhawks, etc. After you get past the main characters it's a smaller and smaller pool of customers, especially at the price point.
I think Simpsons/Disney is a wider audience that won't be interested at $20+.
Anyway, if things are wrapping up I am hoping they will get to finish the remaining Lunataks before they finish Thundercats. Even with the flaws, I have to admit that I have enjoyed collecting the Super7 Thundercats.
i'm torn since on one hand i'm a guy who loves the most random assortment of characters so i really appreciate Super 7's willingness to go deep into the roster for their selection, on the other i barely buy anything from them because they're so expensive and there is always the risk of the line dying.
Plus Hatter🎩 if you notice wave 10 of Thundercats Ultimates it says the figures no longer come with slip cases? So no shipper boxes and no slip cover cases. And yet the figures are still $55 dollars and Mumm-Ra Dream Master is a whopping $75 dollars which is actually 15 dollars more than his original incarnation which was $60 dollars! His cartoon LJN style version also from super7 which came with less accessories also cost $75 dollars! They didn't even include Ma-mutt. A translucent Ma-mutt with Dream Master Mumm-ra would have been a nice touch. 🤔🤑💰💵
I agree with so much of this. At one point I was getting full waves of many of their Ultimates lines, but when the price went up and when it became clear that they just weren't reliable with regard to the look of human figures I really scaled back. And those Simpson figures. The needed to scale back size and accessories to sell those at cheaper price point like $40, they would have been their cash cow.
Love the rants because I'm usually 100% in agreement with you. I still can't believe they charge 55 for there figures, I was hoping for some simpsons tree house of horror figures but I'm kinda glad they failed with that line cause I would've went broke with those prices 😄
Super 7 is delusional. They think they are making high end art. Toy collectors want affordable figures we can mess with and enjoy. Not stress over because of price and quality.
"I'd buy that for a dollar!" 😂🤣
75$ here in Canada. Nope
I knew the Simpsons would die… the QC was awful, my itchy and scratchy figures need to be propped up to stand! 55 bucks and they won’t stand up! they should have not started with such deep cuts on character selection. It’s been 20 years since we’ve had a great Simpsons line… I’m still convinced it could be done!
My Ultimates Animaniacs Brain figure is the same. Too big of a head for those weak @$$ joints.
Dang really? I was eyeing the robo Itchy and Scrathy ones. :(
@@nashvillainzthey look good… but the joints are horrible!
Watching this knowing that Brian dude got moved gives the “rant” a whole new meaning. Yes licenses are expensive (but they got so many) but the pricing model is “one fits all” by the looks of it. I’d reduce the number of licenses, focus on a core set, maximise production on those which should help improve price and quality.
Super 7 needs to do some research on what the consumers want. Whether it be price point a certain scale etc. Take that data and find a middle ground. I have some of the Thundercats figures luckily for me I haven’t had any qc issues but I haven’t bought any more figures either because I don’t want to spend 55 bucks and cross my fingers that the quality will be good I know sooner or later I’m gonna get a bad figure. They reel us in with the license’s they have then let us down with the bs.
Well, if it’s $55 then their wholesale cost would be 27.50.
It’s not costing that to make though. Still, what’s their run size versus injection molding method? And where are these being made (also which manufacturing plant are they using). The other huge item here is what their licensing fee costs.
When I worked in the toy industry (still have many friends in and around it) these were always huge issues.
I have a few friends with a company in Japan and years ago I would give them insights into possible US licenses that would be worth it for them to invest in (marvel ect weee really high priced at that time).
If I had to guess though, the difference between these and Neca would be distribution and numbers sold.
I don’t follow S7 much though I dig them as a company and their local to me (Bay Area native) I would go to their shop back when it was in haight/ashury, but I’d assume that they use a closed in distribution model? Direct ordering and exclusive’s?
If so then they may be doing less numbers than say, Neca who sells and distributes to large retailers as well as Diamond or other means. Lower numbers = higher prices.
Also, (and again I don’t follow S7 so please let me know if I’m wrong here) do they do variants?
Like, when they do a Pinocchio figure is there 3 to 5 variants? If not, then the price will be higher. Tooling costs are the highest figure (past licensing) and multiple individual designs can drive up costs. The typical way to lower the cost is either huge runs (thing early GI Joe or SW Mack in the 80’s) or you do color variations, 1 figure but four color ways. You’ve now sold the equivalent of a larger run.
As for quality and articulation, articulation costs money depending on design and execution. Quality of paint, plastic, and joints, really comes down to your manufacturer.
One of my friends designed an amazing 1/6 figure about 14 years ago and he was telling me how the design called for an almost porcelain style finish on the final product. Their manufacturing plant had issues in the early prototype stages for paint apps. So he had to go to a local supply center in Japan and get the proper paints and brushes and flew to the plant and then set up a program to train them how to do the application and oversaw it until they had the process down.
There’s a lot of stories like that in the industry. But I’m getting off topic.
That’s a wild price point for sure. $55 is crazy depending on the size. These look to be somewhere close to 1:12 or similar? I haven’t followed toys that much in ages (better for my pocketbook) but $55 for a Neca type toy is pricey. Now, $55 for a better quality and smaller produced toy line is totally acceptable.
We were paying $125 to $225 for 1/6 scale 14 years ago and $45 for proper 1:12 scale back then (the 1:12 scale was far better than anything produced even still today).
So really it’s more of a choice as to what you’re buying and its quality / who produces it. Also it’s collectibility.
A few years ago Brian did an interview and he compares his pricing to what he thinks it should be. He takes the price of an action figure from the 80's and says $20 for a reaction figure and $55 for ultimates figure and this should be what everyone charges for that same kind of toy, this is based on the dollar value priceing in the 80's. I believe in his mind his ultimates are in his reality a twenty-ish dollar figure based on the currency exchange value.
Yep, I remember that interview. So for a 3 3/4" figure (on the high-end) in the '80s would $2.99.....so with inflation, a ReAction figure would cost $8.53 now, not 20 fuckin' dollars!
And a 5-7" figure would cost (with inflation) a bit under $20 now.
McFarlane just released pre-orders for some pretty crummy looking DC figures (wally west, specter, old superman, and psycho pirate) they are store exclusive - 2 have cloth capes... okay ... but they don't have it pay stores as they own the line -- they are $40. For regular action figures. I'm done when they hit that price. $30 is too much. But $40 is shitty. Plus its like $7 shipping! And yet the Specter sold out in a day. I hate it.
I went all in on boss fights studios bucky o'hare line an that's done
Oh yeah I got burned on that one too. Some genius decided that Fifi was a great idea for the last figure.
I have there thundercats line and they look awesome but there's just something not quite right with the figures, don't know what it is but I'm like MEH but there the only company doing thundercats so we're stuck with them.
😒It hurts my head and my wallet!🙄
$55 is the magic number because this creates the illusion they're doing us a favor by not charging us $100 a figure. Lol!
@hey_keith Give Super 7 and Lying🦁Bryan Flynn 3 more years their Ultimates will get to the $105 per figure soon! Look how much they are charging for Translucent Dream Master Mumm-Ra and he doesn't even come with Ma-mutt? Mon*Star Armed Red Figure was $84 dollars!💵💰🤑💸
Everyone: “No matter what you cannot polish a turd.”
Super7: “Pre order the ability to hold my beer for $55.00…. Okay now that you’ve paid the money upfront, you will receive my beer to hold in about 3-4 years…..”
First off, I love S7. With a few exceptions, I adore the TMNT ultimates and the MMPR ultimates. However, they tend to start a lot of lines that they don’t finish, and one of the biggest issues I have with starting a new line (like The Simpsons for example) is that they do all of these quirky characters before they assemble the main cast. A lot of collectors say that they need to do that to keep people’s interest, but what it does is essentially carry a very real risk that if the line ends (like Simpsons) that you are stuck with an incomplete main group of characters. They have got to change this model or people are going to continue to be gun shy about starting any new lines, especially at the $55 price point.
That new Godzilla Minus One is incredible but why is it $85? If it was gigantic I would get it. I think it’s only 14” Tall
Hey brother, I completely feel your frustration as a fellow collector, when who happens to be over a year out of a full-time job right now, and still trying to not miss out on key pieces of his collection. Brian Flynn has been pretty transparent on the foo and other places about the prices of his toys. he said that it's been a long time coming for Hasbro and Matel to catch up and they have been slowly but surely. Today we saw McFarlane pull some crazy stuff with $40 DC Multiverse figures exclusive to his website. I'll try to keep it short. I'm no expert myself, but I am a former comic book publisher who has been trying for years to get to licensed or made based on my books. In short, back in 2021 figure mold was $20-$30,000, the next year after the pandemic it was 40 to 60 then 60 to 80 then $100,000 for one figure mold you can find that number a lot of places. You'll never be told is the minimum order numbers. Historically has bro and Mattel probably produce 30 to 40,000 units of pieces and then sell them to big box store like target and Walmart. Of course other smaller places like BTS and Amazon and local comic book shops add to those numbers but when you're selling only to those outlets, the numbers are extremely smaller. That's why someone like Jada can put out toys based on a popular video game and sell them in a big box store for a low price that is almost necessary and demanded of those stores.
So odds are, as Toy Shiz posted today, the in Todd McFarlane's case the DC Multiverse was supposed to be sold to a big box store and then not picked up so he had to eat those figures. If I had to guess and I have no information I would imagine that his sales are 10,000 units or less. Just based on the shrinkage of less and less kids buying toys and only adult collectors buying them as well as the average consumer buying for kids thinking that they still play with them, so Bryan has been telling us for years that the other companies would be catching up to his price point. If I had to guess super seven is making 8000 units or less which is ridiculous and it's harder to get factories to commit to such low numbers and they definitely won't give you bulk rates. Compound onto that the fact that he's trying to sell obscure 40-year-old properties that he has to license and you get back to the $55 and higher price points. When Hasbro, a toy company itself, is licensing, G.I., Joe, transformers, dungeons, and dragons, and power ranges to other toy companies. After they themselves couldn't sell through at retail you have to really wonder about the overall industry as a whole. So as a fan, I'm not happy to pay $55 perfect to put together any team of heroes, especially if the number of accessories continues to dwindle, and you still might encounter real world things like QC issues and cost-cutting measures that lead to less paint hits. The more that people keep waiting for deals that show up at Ross and Ollies. The lesson less companies are going to produce things that they know will only end up at clearance and won't sell through at retail so it's a lose lose situation again. Brian predicted this years ago and wasn't sure how long the industry could sustain so at least he's been pretty transparent compared to the other Fortune 500 companies.
Finally. I’m so fkn glad that a RUclipsr is finally going where everyone else is so candy. Thank you madd hatter for telling it like it is. 55 dollars for a 2 inch figure, I.e Pinocchio. Super 7 has QC issues that are way worse than what Hasbro and other big companies offer. Simpsons failed because the first offering had Moo Moo Homer, and I get it they wanted a figure that most toy collectors could relate to, but that’s not how you start a line. Anyways great video
Didn't Brian say Disney is the one that wasn't in agreement with the products or something like that?
I feel that some company's are just pricing themselves out. Mostly just for more money not the license or anything else and people are sick of paying it so they wait because we all know they will go on sale at some store or and online one. So Jada-toys has the right idea get back to old prices where people don't care about spending $20. People need money for other things and don't feel comfortable spending $50 and up on a luxury item especially when you know its going to drop in price if you just wait .love the rant. great video keep up the great work.
You answered your own question.
It's time for an audit. I don't know where you live but rent in SF and SD for storefronts is absolute insanity. I don't blame Brian for sticking to San Francisco, it's a wonderful place to live in the right places. The Super7 guys are great people, who have love and administration for the toys and licenses we enjoy. I also don't think you are wrong when you speak on quality, they are similar to NECA. I hoping for the best with super7 as someone that's also spent thousands on their products. Let's just hope they can get some control on the business partners marking the product down to nothing, making the people who paid full price look like fools. There's a lot going on, and they need a sherif to reign it in.
$55 seems like a steal compared to those Matt Cardona / Brian Myers figures that are $75 a pop! And finally went into production after being announced almost 2 years ago. Wrestling fans will buy anything I guess.
Super7 just seems to run the company like it's a fun hobby. The Simpsons character choices were just random. I get peppering the Simpsons themselves throughout the first few waves, but Super7 didn't even do *that* and were giving us alternate versions of them. It's just like how they handled Transformers, where they were giving us characters like Bludgeon and Tarn and not Bumblebee or Soundwave. Like... why? It just feels like it's different for different's sake. Combine that with their high price, poor articulation, poor paint and frequent delays and you get a line that I don't think anybody was super excited for. Super7 need to get their act together.
I completely stopped buying Super7 figures once they screwed up the TMNT line with rat king and the 589 repaints
I really wanted to get a super 7 but just too expensive for what it was
I'll believe it when I see it, but apparently all of the Simpsons Ultimates that went up for pre-order are still coming out. We only have wave 1 in-hand. 3 more waves are on the way and the line is already officially dead! These things got pushed back so many times, that had to kill any momentum they were trying to build. We'll see if the announced stuff still comes out but to me, that seems like a long shot.