S.H. Figuarts General

[BurningRage]

I’m hoping Shredder still gets made.

 

[silverpikachu]

I’m hoping Shredder still gets made.

I highly doubt it. It’s been what 2? 3 years since they shown the prototype?

 

[Angelo2113]

Ben Kenobi, Samurai Deadpool, Ken, Sakura, Ninja Batman, and Ninja Joker have all gone up for pre-order.

I’m hoping Shredder still gets made.

Sadly, I think the line is dead at this point.

 

[BurningRage]

Ordered Ben,Ken and Sakura.

 

[Thainitty]

Ordered Ben,Ken and Sakura.

Same and the batman ninja figures

 

[Sevreed]

Has anyone ever used Loopaza for ordering? They are based in Hong Kong.

 

[nick_clark]

I highly doubt it. It’s been what 2? 3 years since they shown the prototype?

1 year and half sadly yes, that line is dead, I would have loved April, Splinter and Casey to complete the gang

 

[crisis]

I loved the TMNT cartoon when i was a kid but honestly i would’ve preferred if they based the SHF’s on the 1990 movie instead. I know they put a poll & the cartoon versions won... but look where we’re at now. Maybe the movie versions would’ve been the better call

 

[Bardoon]

I think Figuarts went a bad route making the cartoon Turtles. Both Playmates and NECA have made their own updated renditions of the Turtles that were much cheaper. Figuarts might have been better off doing the 2000 Cartoon Turtles, the 90’s movie versions, or their own styles... though Figuarts Turtles looked great.

They jumped on the Turtles revival when the ship had already sailed. Once again a testament to their poor understanding of the marketplace outside of Japan and the few brands they’re quite successful at...which are mostly Japanese in origin.

 

[Angelo2113]

I think Figuarts went a bad route making the cartoon Turtles. Both Playmates and NECA have made their own updated renditions of the Turtles that were much cheaper. Figuarts might have been better off doing the 2000 Cartoon Turtles, the 90’s movie versions, or their own styles... though Figuarts Turtles looked great.

They jumped on the Turtles revival when the ship had already sailed. Once again a testament to their poor understanding of the marketplace outside of Japan and the few brands they’re quite successful at...which are mostly Japanese in origin.

Sadly, this statement holds a lot of weight. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, WWE, Suicide Squad, (arguably) Marvel Cinematic Universe/Hall of Armor Iron Men, and other lines weren't very well thought out in regards to the target market. Potentially more in the future as well.

 

[silverpikachu]

Sadly, this statement holds a lot of weight. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, WWE, Suicide Squad, (arguably) Marvel Cinematic Universe/Hall of Armor Iron Men, and other lines weren't very well thought out in regards to the target market. Potentially more in the future as well.

This is so true. What also hurt all these other series were the pricing! To me I was ok with the TMNT ranging $60 because those were my TMNT growing up but coming from others who grew up with 2000+ or other fav TMNT, $60 is to much.

Suicide Squad also flop because who wants to pay $50+ on Will Smith? Lol Margot Robbie was an exemption but would had killed the ballpark if they added more accessories or removable jacket

WWE = Mattel does a better job + 3/4 pricing

The MCU, tamashii hurt themselves when they made black widow, Hawkeye, and black panther exclusives. It felt like they cheated us by not giving us the full team (Junk designs too) Heck I was like wtf towards star lord and dr strange when both were a “exclusive” for $90+ and ended up on Barnes and Nobles clearance self for half the price and some even allow members to use the 20% promos lol

 

[Bardoon]

This is so true. What also hurt all these other series were the pricing! To me I was ok with the TMNT ranging $60 because those were my TMNT growing up but coming from others who grew up with 2000+ or other fav TMNT, $60 is to much.

Suicide Squad also flop because who wants to pay $50+ on Will Smith? Lol Margot Robbie was an exemption but would had killed the ballpark if they added more accessories or removable jacket

WWE = Mattel does a better job + 3/4 pricing

The MCU, tamashii hurt themselves when they made black widow, Hawkeye, and black panther exclusives. It felt like they cheated us by not giving us the full team (Junk designs too) Heck I was like wtf towards star lord and dr strange when both were a “exclusive” for $90+ and ended up on Barnes and Nobles clearance self for half the price and some even allow members to use the 20% promos lol

In defense of Tamashii, they are very restricted when it comes to Marvel 6-inch figures because of Hasbro’s “master” Marvel license within the US. They can’t sell their Marvel figures for under $70-75. So they pair with the Option Acts which jack the prices up already on otherwise $50-70 figures. Mezco has similar issues.

Marvel and DC seem to be the only foreign licenses they’ve had success with...but even the sub-lines within them, like Civil War and Suicide Squad, they still manage to make some bad decisions. I think in the case of Hawkeye and Widow, Tamashii was relying on the “overall” outlook of the characters in popularity, which weren’t as popular as the Big 3 and Hulk, who from all accounts, all sold fairly well. Black Panther should’ve been a regular release, he was well-received in the movie and had his own movie coming out. Tamashii probably could’ve leveraged that to make more sales...instead I think they overestimated the popularity of Ant-man, who didn’t sell so well as a regular release.

Seems like they’re slowing down a bit too...as the upcoming JL Superman and Flash are Web Exclusives in Japan. It’ll be interesting to see what they do for Infinity War.

 

[earthdog]

Anyone know if they have plans for more musical artists?

 

[Angelo2113]

I was alright with the $60 pricing for TMNT because I do think the die cast legs come in very handy when posing them. I can see to the casual TMNT fan, it is too much. They really should've given Shredder the opportunity to sell and help the TMNT sales as well but it's understandable.

For WWE, I really think if Tamashii started off with A.J. Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Finn Balor, and even Asuka, they would've had far better success with the line both in the Western and domestic/Japan market. There's not many Mattel counterparts, 2 of them are current/former WWE/Universal Champions, and the other 2 are now Royal Rumble winners going on to Wrestlemania. All 4 of them are very popular with the older demographic of the WWE Universe as well which is who should be Tamashii's target market.

The problem, back then, with MCU Figuarts was that they weren't meant to be sold to the Western market. So the decisions into making which ever character a Web Exclusive was mostly due to the feeling that they weren't going to sell well in the domestic market. Masked heroes is very popular among the Japanese culture so that probably explains why Ant-Man was a Regular Release.

Tamashii failed the Civil War line by not filling out the teams more. It would have taken more time but I think they would've been better options than Doctor Strange, 2nd Homecoming Spider-Man, Thor, and Hulk. I'm honestly not sure how well the last 2 will sell but we'll see.

It was better that Black Panther wasn't a Regular Release because that gave Tamashii the opportunity to revisit his design in his own movie. I wasn't very impressed with the Civil War Black Panther that they designed though. The claws are almost nonexistent and I don't believe the mask is accurate.

Expect the more well known characters for Infinity War.

Tamashii seems to be finishing out Justice League for DC and then continuing The Dark Knight. Mafex is expanding that line quite a bit with their releases so it may be awhile before Tamashii gets to them since I don't believe they want to step on Mafex's toes.

 

[BurningRage]

For high price point figures of WWE you gotta go with classic wrestlers. Even PCS who got the license for statues now have a poll on FB and people want the legends. I’m a huge wrestling fan but I wouldn’t pay figuarts prices for A.J. Styles, Nakumara and Balor. They should make Razor, Savage, Sting, Warrior, Hart and Michaels.

 

[Bardoon]

Good point about the masked characters Angelo, I forgot about all the Kamen Rider love in Japan.

I do agree that Tamashii tried their best with the WWE figures and the line-up they had (except for Kane). But maybe you got a good point Burning. They should’ve done Ultimate Warrior, Hogan and some the 80’s guys. Who knows now.

 

[Angelo2113]

WWE Legends could only go so far in the Western Market since most of the younger generations aren't too familiar with them along with Mattel having already developed many products of them. I'm not necessarily sure how popular the Legends are in Japan but I would argue that newer generation wrestlers have more world wide recognition and a potential larger market.

Also taking into consideration the difference between statues and action figures. WWE Legends fit well within the statue category because they were "bigger than life" characters and had iconic poses. You have Hogan tearing off his shirt, Ultimate Warrior raising both of his arms, Macho Man spinning, Bret Hart in his jacket and shades, and Michaels in his bicep pose. The newer generation of WWE Superstars would fit more with action figures since they're more skilled based than any previous generation of wrestlers.

I'm not sure if Tamashii Nations was allowed to develop Hulk Hogan since he's not employed by WWE. I don't believe WWE wants to profit off of Hulk Hogan at the moment. I'm still not sure how Storm Collectibles was able to develop Hollywood Hulk Hogan though.

 

[Bardoon]

Hogan owns the rights to his own character(s). Hence why he's able to use variations of it and his classic Red & Yellow color scheme in both WWE and WCW (and TNA while that lasted). His "Hulk Hogan" character was created pre-WWE so it's not a McMahon-creation (who eventually started licensing and claiming ownership on the WWF/E characters). Chris Jericho has a similar deal in which he "owns" his character...or at least, his own "ring name" (Jericho). A lot of wrestlers are doing this nowadays...like AJ Styles, Sting, Samoa Joe, etc.

This is why Cody Rhodes is now just known as "Cody". WWE technically owns his ring surname "Rhodes"...so he can't use it (he hilariously comments on this on the "Being the Elite" YouTube show...which I recommend you wrestling fans watch!). In some cases in the past, Vince has "given" wrestlers the rights to their ring-names (possibly also because he couldn't 'own' them a while back)..usually as a "thanks" for their years of service.

WWE has jumped on trademarking some of the phrases/nicknames...like "Y2J" and probably "The Beast" from Lesnar.

 

[crisis]

I always thought the WWE blackballed Hulk Hogan because of his racial slurs.. despite this being aired way before that



I guess that was ok tho since he was "in character"

 

[crisis]

I also hope they make an SHF Menat, for... obvious reasons