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Why no playsets ?


robb

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I was walking down the Barbie alse when I thought that there is no reason for them not to make playsets for the marvel world. They make a bunch of different playsets for Barbie which is much bigger and houses and vehicles that are not an outrageous price. So why can't we get Reed or Hank's lab set, or Baxter building, Daily Bugle, punisher van, Dr. Dooms throne room, or just plain buildings to make a neighborhood with. I know that girls may want these things more than boys, and it could cost a little more than what some would pay but give those who want them the option to purchase them. Even if it is through a website. What are your thoughts on this ? Would enough of us buy them to justify it? All i am saying to Hasbro is try it. It would be better than the mego wannabes.

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That is a very good question.

 

One of the first things that comes to mind about the difference between girl and boy playsets is that the manufacturer's over the years since GI JOE playsets have been jam packing boy's playsets with stupid action features, shooting missiles, ooze traps, dungeon traps, spring catapults, net droppers, projectiles galore, etc... --Maybe that drives up cost a lot more on boy's playsets?

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The surprising answer: they don't sell with boys toys--especially action figures.

 

It seems the perception is that girls toys call for accessories, like extra dresses and playsets, but boys toys don't need the added items to be playworthy.

Since girls are more likely to play "house" with their Barbie dolls, the accessories have a place in the play pattern.

 

With action figures, the word is that consumers don't like having to by a figure, and then accessories to "complete" the figure. There's a dichotomy in those perceptions, but retailers have communicated that for years.

 

Big playsets ( referring from now on about just boys toys) do not sell because of the price point, except around X-mas time. Any other time of the year they lanquish on the shelves. That creates a problem for the retailers because the "footprint"--the size of the box--takes up space that other goods could have. Accordingly retailers don't like playsets for that reason as well, as they cannot have large items peg-warm like smaller items, and so they order less of the bigger stuff.

 

GIJOE has been a interesting benchmark to watch on this: originally, the brand had a lot of large playsets and vehicles for the line, and they sold well-----back in the 1980's.

The attempts to rekindle those kinds of sets in the past 10 years have met with repeated failures.

They just do not sell, except on discount........and if its selling at a discount, that means they've taken a loss on it anyway and are just clearing out the goods.

Some recent items have even DEBUTED on discount, so little was the faith in the product.

 

Like GIJOE, Marvel characters tend to have a niche audience--except for Spiderman. So characters like the X-men and such might have some advantages, other characters don't, unless there is some kind of movie tie-in.

We'll never see an Avenger's Quinjet scaled for Marvel Legends sized figures--unless its a one-man thing, re-purposed from another toy-line.

Most of the things mentioned above just don't have the spectacular "cool" factor that;s needed to grab a consumer.

We'd like it because we are a captive audience, but then we make up a small portion of the consumer base.

 

Seriously, I think the best option is to make the sets yourself. Iit can help you accquire new skills that can be used over and over again in other kinds of projects, and bring a new, stronger sense of satisfaction about the hobby.

Plus it beats waiting for stuff that might not come out the way you'd like it to be, or will probably never come out at all.

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It could also have a lot to do with the way girls and boys play with their toys. Girls tend to be really organized and play with their dolls inside. Most boys tend to leave things laying around and play with them outside where they might get lost or loose peices.

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I would love to be able to build my own sets but the problem is that I do not have a decent selection of hobby places to get the things needed to build it with. The only problem about ordering online is you really do not know if it is what you want or will work with the figures(size).If they could give us blue prints on how to build them and also a supplier of the products needed that could help. But alas as was said I can't build an x-jet or quin jet. I not suggesting to put something big on the shelf to begin with but start with smaller sets that can be linked together to make a bigger one. Such as several pieces to build a danger room, or training room for avengers, or lab and rooms from baxter building. I know that this will never happen but if others on the boards can come up with some these ideas and pass on to others can be helpful. I know Waiting is a perfect example on his site he show how he built his mansion but for those of us without the shops to get the materials it is hard to do it.

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I would suspect we would be more likely to see pack-ins much like a BAF to build a play set type area than an actual large separately sold piece. There is a chance of a Quinjet or some such with an Avengers (that won't hit theaters for another 3-5 years) movie since we have seen a Blackbird and a Fantasticar. Unfortunately, it seems most movie exclusive lines get thrown in the dry and shrunk.

 

But, to be perfectly honest unless the play sets were very accurate in both size and detail most people would be completely upset. I know as far as the GI Joe and Star Wars lines go I love the small vehicles (the ones hitting the $20 price point), but even those tend to take up a fair amount of space. Accurate vehicles and play sets for 6"+ characters would be cumbersome in trying to find space. We got the Spider-Man alley set quite a few years ago and it was neat, but small.

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Back in my Star Wars collecting days, I used to love love LOVE niubniubsuniverse.com He builds AWESOME Star Wars 3-3/4" scale (or near enough) Dioramas and shows very detailed how-to's AND provides printable photoshop decals so that you can make them just like he did. Also, when ToyBiz' Lord of the Rings were out there were a bunch of CRAZY fans who made some awesome Dioramas, you can see a bunch at thegd.com Now, maybe Dioramas are different than Playsets? But, it would be great to get either for our little Marvel guys!

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This would be very cool with some slight re-painting. It is even in the right scale!

 

 

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?p...rentPage=search

 

My daughter actually has that dollhouse and I have thought that very same thing. The diorama is fine with me but we need abreak down if possible to build it exact.That is the only reason I think 5 inch figures could work, the smaller they are the more vehicles and things they can be made to go with it. Case in point the new shs spider man playset .

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uh its hasbro and they basically said no to playsets as they did not sell or were very slow sellers in gijoe & star wars lines.

 

anyway, a playset for legends would have to be huge which they have zero interest in making.

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They are doing a Spider-Man 3 playset this summer. Sounds cool but, I doubt it will be big enough. It's supposed to be the final battle scene construction site with a crane that extends 3 feet. I guess it will come with 3 figures as well. Hmmm, dunno..have to see it in person.

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I had a lot of fun playsets as a kid for my GI Joe and MOTU figs. My brother had Castle Greyskull, and I had the bad guy equivalent, whatever that was called. It had a crazy voice changer microphone that added a wicked reverb to your voice.

 

I'm pretty sure that 10 year old boys have not changed a great deal since the 80s, but it's clear that the retail world has.

 

There are a few solutions to the dilemma. Customizing is a great way to go. There are always challenges. Some have no access to a hobby store, and lots have no spare time. But the way I see it, you have the entire rest of your life to complete these projects. Focus on making small amounts of progress with regularity, and you'll be pleased with how it goes. The great thing about this approach is that your collection becomes totally unique.

 

But it would be nice if we could buy a cool playset once in a while. I think about a million people have asked for the playset version of a BAF (a BAD? or a BAP?). Why not a danger-room that consists of 8 different bases that fit together? Seems do-able to me.

 

Or how about items that are made in somewhat smaller numbers, but are sold on the Hasbro site? We know Hasbro isn't too shy about selling directly to their customers, so why not have Internet exclusive items, expecially if these are items the major retailers have refused?

 

Shawn

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Back in my Star Wars collecting days, I used to love love LOVE niubniubsuniverse.com He builds AWESOME Star Wars 3-3/4" scale (or near enough) Dioramas and shows very detailed how-to's AND provides printable photoshop decals so that you can make them just like he did. Also, when ToyBiz' Lord of the Rings were out there were a bunch of CRAZY fans who made some awesome Dioramas, you can see a bunch at thegd.com Now, maybe Dioramas are different than Playsets? But, it would be great to get either for our little Marvel guys!

 

Cool link man! Thanks! This will be one of my summer projects!

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Heres some playsets that should be in scale with ML.

 

 

Buffy Library playset. Ive seen lots of people use this set to display their X-men or Avengers. Works with DC Direct too.

 

 

I just ordered these two sets because they were so cheap. According to the description they shoud be ML scale.

Real Heroes Space Shuttle I wish I would have gotten that Astronaut Ben Grimm/Thing movie figure afterall.

 

Muppets Spaceship Swinetrek Playset. If I cant display some ML figures with this, Im hoping I can get a hold of those Star Wars muppet figures coming out later.

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I wish playsets would make some sort of comeback with figures though, especially the movie figures. I would've loved a final battle playset from spiderman 3 that was in scale with the 5 inchers or even the newer 6 inchers that are being talked about. Where I would put it I have no clue, but it would be something cool to see. I remember when I was little and everything had playsets like TMNT, Batman, Power Rangers....and everything was cool looking

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yeah pr rocked! i still have em all on display lol. anyways there is a final battle spiderman 3 playset. but damn megablocks made it. i mean just release the playset. not the figures, more money for them anyways lol but ive learned that its not gonna happen. i just bought a CAT playset with crane so im good. still need a builidng for the venom fight tho :(

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The thing about playsets is that with a bit of practise, some model-making skills and some basic materials, you can make all kinds of things.

What'll you'll be doing are really just dioramas, and they don't need to be bullet proof.

You can make stuff out of wood, but card-stock, cardboard, sheet styrene and foamcore board works just as well. You can use any or all of those kinds of things.

Items like big dairy crates and plastic tubes can be worked into rooms or whole buildings.

building stuff into bookselves is a brilliant way of using a pre-existing structure and some simple decos.

 

 

One thing I like to see is a lot of different surface contours and textures. Wall panels, bulkhead lines and frames, or wainscotting ( sp?) and corwn moldings--depending on what kind of room you are doing.

This summer I plan on starting some simple projects, beginning with a Dangeroom set.

I want to do two versions; a "quiet" room with just the walls and a entrance door, and later a second "active" room with the overlooking control room and a bunch of test traps and such.

I really want to have some open inserted panels and such in the walls and floors, and all kinds of visual depth and detail.

I'm going to use foamcore as my base, and add foamcore panels, card and plastic details and printed out markings and such.

Foamcore is cheap and.........apparently easy to work with, so I'm going to give it a go.

If it works, I've got some more ambitious ideas in mind.

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