InspectorZartan

So obviously there are lots of challenges for small businesses to thrive in the marketplace and one of those challenges is if you are a small retail outfit you can’t compete with big box prices since big box stores with hundreds and thousands of location and/or extensive distribution (I.e. Amazon) can get large discounts from the toy manufacturers based on ordering volume. With only 2 locations TRU isn’t going to meet very many of those thresholds. With that in mind TRU would probably be better off skipping 2019 and coming back strong in 2020 with more locations out the gate.

Good luck everyone

Like everyone else has said having her gaze be in one extreme side direction seems like an odd choice. Is that based on a specific art representation? Out side of that looks like a great figure. Not something I’d be buying but definitely a nice looking item and with a pretty incredible face sculpt.

I’m excited that the line is coming back finally but the price point is concerning. I was anticipating the same MOTUC $35 price point which is frankly already a hard pill to swallow. Now it’s $45. And these are the prices for the rerelease figures where there is minimal new tooling/design/engineering/sculpting/etc. work required. If memory serves I think when S7 did the Ultimates for MOTU weren’t those $30 and then when the new figures with new tooling started they went up to $35 (someone correct me if I’m wrong). So now if that same math applies does that mean when they get to the new figures we’re looking at potentially a $50 + tax/shipping price point? As far as these Ultimates TCats go I already have the Mattel ones. They are still MIB on my shelf cause at the time I figured if the line was going to be only 7 figures I still wanted them but didn’t need to open them as a line that small often looks better in box on display (I had a second set of the SDCC 2 pack so I did open one of those). Had these S7 Ultimates/rereleases been cheaper I probably would have picked them up to be my loose set, but now I’m just waiting to see what figures get produced beyond what we’ve had so far and then if it does turn out to be a flushed out or robust line I’ll just go back and open up the Mattel figures. So in summary I’m excited for Thundercats happening, but not excited for the Ultimates just because with them being really expensive rereleases they end up being a pass. I will be excited about new/never released figures getting revealed once they get announced, but wary about the price point. Regardless when there are new character reveals I’ll probably end up getting them despite the price BUT if we’re looking at price points at $40+ then I’m guessing the line will be unfortunately limited cause that price would make it too difficult to sell some of the more obscure characters. That’s too bad cause it would have been great to have this be a larger line filled with not only the core but also the more obscure characters that help to flush out the universe (similar to MOTU Classics). But at these higher prices I think the core are really going to be the only characters possible.

I’m a big Muppet/Sesame Street fan and have a decent sized Muppet/Sesame Street collection. That said this is a bit of a head scratcher. It’s neat but essentially it’s just a large plush with I presume some type of internal frame/skeleton that allows it to maintain posses. No way that should cost $300 in my mind.

Interesting side note. In addition to his autograph sessions at the Image booth McFarlane also has autograph sessions scheduled for the DC Booth. This instantly struck me as odd but then made me stop and speculate that maybe those DC sessions might have had something to do with the new DC figure line getting revealed. Now that that doesn’t appear to be the case I’m back to wondering.

I’ll definitely be swinging by their Pop up shop that Friday and picking up all the figures. I’m not 100% certain about the 16” vinyl though so I’ll have to make that decision once I see the price and see it in person. Looking forward to seeing how they deck out the place this year.

Good luck everyone. I will be going to SDCC (I think this marks my 22nd or 23rd year going as either an attendee or as a Entertainment industry profession) but even as someone who goes every year it’s still necessary to check out the online coverage. There is so much going on at the Con that even being there there is so much that you miss and don’t learn about until later when you look online.

Has there been any word on rather they are doing a GG Premier Guild membership this year and rather or not members will be able to preorder that GG bust? Preordering was often easier than dealing with the line at the Con (plus I got 20 other booths to race to on Preview night). Also are all of these being sold at Diamond’s booth and not Gentle Giant’s cause Gentle Giant still has its regular booth on the map in the same place as usual.

Haven’t signed in to the portal yet and I’ve already got my Hasbro appointment lined up for Thursday morning so it’s not something I need to worry about anyway but Hasbro did already say the lines will be opened up to all attendees all day Saturday and Sunday (of course by then there’s usually a couple of items sold out for the show). As far as what happened end of day Thursday and Friday it really depends—some years they do and some they don’t. Also it’s worth noting it’s now HasbroPulse for the first time and not HasbroToyShop thus I’m not sure if it’s going to be the same event staff running the booth this time around as usual. (There’s always been turn over from year to year but some of the top people running the booth for the past 15 years have been some of the same faces—not sure if any of those people carried over to team Pulse or not but if not then we might be dealing with a completely unseasoned crew).

With NECA having retail outlets that will carry these versus Super7 that will most likely be online only and via an advance preorder with a short window NECA will most likely have the advantage. On the flip side, given the difficulty of finding things at retail versus simply being able to place a preorder and thus guaranteeing that you have a means to never miss a figure then that could get the attention to some of those fans frustrated that they never find these things at their local store. But then there is price—NECA at $25 per figure which is a price most already consider too high vs presumably $35-40 plus shipping at Super7. I think if it comes down to it NECA would win this if it were a competition. That said I think there could be room for both especially if Super7 is planning to do what I suspect they are planning to do which is base their line more on the inspiration of the vintage toy line.

Also another Hasbro SDCC Exclusive: Transformers Bot Bots Exclusive set. Reveal from Collider: http://collider.com/transformers-botbots-comic-con-exclusives/?utm_campaign=collidersocial&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitter

Hasbro revealed another Marvel Legends SDCC Exclusive coming to the convention: MCU Elders of the Universe 2-Pack with Collector and Grand Master

As far as this set goes, I’m definitely adding it to my “Maybe list” for purchases at the Con

Might be worth noting for anyone going to the convention that the Skybound booth is in a new location this year. Since WB and DC decided to combine their booths to make one mega booth DC is now back near the corner with WB and Skybound (as well as Image) are now using part of the space that had formerly been occupied by DC