G.I. Kre-O, Kre-O, MegaBloks CoD and LEGO discussions

[nacho]

Had a Dr appointment, so I hit four WM's this morning on my way back to work. The first two had MOTU 5-packs and Windraiders but no heroes. Stores 2 & 3 had remnants of heroes w4, just Assassin's Creed and God of War that nobody wants, just to tease me that the good ones were long gone.

BUT, the fourth store had 2x Evil-Lyn and 4x Man-at-Arms. They all belong to me now, muwuhahahahahaha!

And FYI KT, the 5-pack version of Teela has a vastly improved face. I saw probably two dozen teelas in the wild, and maybe three of them weren't completely jacked-up, with weird crooked eyes and such. The 5-pack version looks like a beauty queen by comparison. I picked one up today just b/c of her, and I have three singles. So you're better off paying whatever for the good one in a pack.

 

[K-Tiger]

Yeah, I'll probably end up grabbing it.

 

[nacho]

Hit one more WM today on my lunch hour, and found two more MAA as well as three Terminators on clearance for $1 (he's worth that much for the vest).

But most importantly, I found the Nazi troop packs for the first time. Bought both of them they had.

 

[nacho]

K-Tiger , I just found a single-pack Teela in the wild on clearance for a buck. It's yours if you want it. The face isn't as good as the 5-pack, but it's above average for the single-pack.

 

[Dropshipbob]

What are your impressions of the Nazi figures?

I STILL haven't seen any of the newest wave. I only have two WM's within a decent distance, and I don't really feel like checking the other as it's stock is often worse than the other. Not that I'm really jonesing to buy any of them....although if I were to see a T800 Endoskeleton in the wild, I might be tempted.

 

[nacho]

I haven't opened them, but they look like pretty standard faire CoD figures. I like the helmets quite a bit, and the little mortar accessory is cool. Nothing earth shattering, but since it's really the first villain pack ever, it's certainly worth picking up. And if you're into WWII and need some OpFor, it's a no-brainer.

 

[pcsguy88]

I found Evil Lyn and Man at Arms today. I was tempted to buy the beautiful looking 5pk, but have forced myself to stop buying crap just to have it, especially when they’d be duplicates.

 

[nacho]

If Teela were't 1000% better, I'd have skipped it too.

 

[K-Tiger]

K-Tiger , I just found a single-pack Teela in the wild on clearance for a buck. It's yours if you want it. The face isn't as good as the 5-pack, but it's above average for the single-pack.

I appreciate it, but I'm going to get the 5 pack, despite my grousing.

Check out wave 5:

 

[nacho]

Yeah, the MOTU guys are obvious pickups, and I suspect Mulder will be popular to many groups just b/c of the suit and all the possibilities that go with it.

Turtles and aliens are hard passes.

 

[K-Tiger]

I'm guessing these are gonna be non-licensed figures, like the pro builder Vikings and space-stuff.

 

[nacho]

Agreed. They'd better have some codes or bumps or other identifiers, as I'm not standing in the toy isle fondling bags to find random figures.

 

[K-Tiger]

I believe Mega utilized codes in the Halo and TMNT series. I long ago surrendered to the shame of bag-feeling, though.

 

[Dropshipbob]

WTH, another alien creature repaint? NO. THANK. YOU. And why is it blue? Are they ripping off NECA and their homages to the old Kenner line?

 

[K-Tiger]

It could be a homage to the KB exclusive warrior alien from '96 (like NECA's), or it could a homage to the blue prototype plastic of the old days.

 

[nacho]

Apparently MB CoD is now getting KO'd... poorly I might add. But the possibility of parts in new colors in intriguing.

https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-call-military-duty.html?initiative_id=SB_20190210064621&site=glo&g=y&SearchText=call+military+duty&CatId=26&isrefine=y

 

[pcsguy88]

 

[nacho]

Saw that earlier this afternoon. Comes with red Beast Man, 'stash-less Duncan, Green Goddess AND the Sorceress (plus two more unannounced figures). That's some continuity jumbling for sure. I'm more of a GG comic guy than a Sorceress filmation guy, but that's just me. I'll have to stage some kind of Crisis-style crossover where they battle for supremacy, while the loser has to marry Mer-Man.

 

[K-Tiger]

Hmm, cool news for those that want it. Only thing I'm gonna miss is that Green Goddess.

 

[Dropshipbob]

All this stuff for He-Man....I just don't get it. I hope they do something similar for the other licenses they've made figures for...although they already did for Terminator, Star Trek and TMNT. Crap, I don't know that the sets they did for those properties did very well, I might never see an ALIENS APC or LV426 Colony playset after all.

 

[nacho]

While I appreciate/respect your enthusiasm for the property, I don't know many people all that passionate about wanting a full line of Aliens stuff. TMNT, MOTU, and Trek were all kid/family properties that most kids were exposed to back in the day, and in the case of TMNT and MOTU, have had healthy toy lines on and off since the 80's. MOTU has had a wildly popular direct-to-consumer line for over a decade now.

By contrast, Aliens was a rated-R horror/sci-fi film that never had much presence in the toy isle. I never saw the film until I was grown. I think the alien figure itself is pretty iconic, but I couldn't name another character from the films, especially one deserving a figure or set. But I'm not a superfan, clearly.

Not trying to bust your bubble, as you're obviously passionate about the franchise, but I'm just not sure there is enough demand. Terminator & Trek had a new films to go along with their Mega lines, and those sets went to clearance very quickly. Without support from TRU for large and more "fringe" sets, I just don't see it. Hell, WM won't even carry Halo and CoD anymore except the single figs. We're several years removed from Mega's height as a brand. I'm very anxious to see what Toy Fair brings us this year.

The past 18 months have been some of the most tumultuous the toy industry has seen in a very long time. Joe's gone, TF's are hollow cheap crap, DC figs are terrible and moving to a company that knows nothing about making action figures, MOTUC has gone Full-Toon (ugh), and Mega is struggling to find an audience and outlet combination that's profitable. Even Lego isn't the juggernaut it was in years past, and Star Wars toy sales are flagging.

Come to think of it, I can't name a non-import toy franchise that's particularly healthy and thriving aside from maybe Marvel Legends. The 80's were the first golden age of toys, and I suspect we're winding up the second. The last 10-15 years have been a glorious time to be a collector, but aside from a thriving third-party TF scene, there's not much out there to be excited about. I hope Toy Fair changes my mind.

[/rant]

 

[K-Tiger]

I think LEGO's problem is that they are waaay over-reliant on licensed themes. Aside from seeing how McF is gonna fuck up DC and Harry Potter figures, I think the only company I care about at TF is NECA. I was way more excited to see what was revealed at WonFes Winter. Boutique 1:18 should be pretty great this year, too.

 

[nacho]

Lego sets are just getting more and more repetitive, licensed or otherwise. How many Ninjago dragons can they pump out in every color of the rainbow? Every line has the same helicopter, but the police one is blue, while the arctic one is orange. Yippie! I miss the Agents line, as my son was too young for it when they were at their peak, but those always looked more interesting than "Firetruck".

I don't buy legos for myself, but my son loves them them more than air. I prefer to get him the larger sets that are more unique and interesting, and that usually requires a purchase of Lepin from china. We got the KO Ewok village, Death Star, Star Destroyer, the Ninjago city sets, a bunch of Cityview buildings, etc that I would never pony up $300-500 each for at the lego store. Plus, china has a lot of new and interesting sets from other brands, new buildings, some military vehicles, and stuff that Lego won't touch.

I'm sure the rise of that stuff doesn't help Lego, but I wasn't going to buy the bigger ones from them either way. I guess it keeps me from buying more of their smaller sets, but I find their pricing to be generally outrageous. Mega makes more interesting stuff, priced well below Lego on a per-piece basis. I think Lego had a de-facto monopoly for a while and it gave them enough space to paint themselves into a corner brand-wise. The license properties aren't generating the buzz they once did, and they've gone a bit stagnant on the creative side.

 

[pcsguy88]

Transformers is the only big box store brand to have reversed course and actually start selling quality crap that people are buying. Unfortunately with that move to much less hollow figures with good articulation and numerous paint apps the prices have shot up and sizes have shrunk. A leader class these days are the old voyager size and now cost $50. So far response has been solid and my local stores are burning thru cases weekly, so we'll see if the formula continues to work. I mean we all said we'd pay more for Hasbro toys like Joe and TF if they would up the quality, so I see these Siege and Studio Series lines as a test of that theory.

 

[Dropshipbob]

Nacho, you have good and valid points. Part of me is happy MOTU is getting so much attention, it gives me hope I might see something more for my favorite property. It doesn't help that, like you said, most of the movie related lines went to clearance pretty fast.

 

[pcsguy88]

I really should have waited for my Enterprise, but I got a pat on the back amazon gift card bonus at work for the exact price right when it released. I only had to pay taxes. Seeing it at 66% off on any given day still stings.

 

[pcsguy88]

Oh man, didn’t see this coming. Guess I have to get a Greyskull as a display base. 35” wingspan!

https://toywiz.com/game-of-thrones-mega-construx-black-series-daenerys-drogon-set/?fbclid=IwAR2haQ3jM-5SGAVFmx_3dQSRynge0G09OQGEddO6QYxzUVgymJ6H8mL8V-U

 

[nacho]

It's cool, but not something I need in my life. I still haven't watched a single episode yet -- the wife has seen all but the final season. She calls it "Boobs & Dragons". I'm sure I'll get around to it eventually.

I care not for the dragon, but I'd really like the figure. I wonder if GoT will get any character releases in the single-pack "heroes" line...

 

[ThunderDan19]

... "Boobs & Dragons".[BGCOLOR=transparent]..[/BGCOLOR]

[BGCOLOR=transparent][/BGCOLOR]

Certainly explains the popularity. I watched an episode or two when at a hotel with HBO. I don’t recall seeing either in those particular ones.

 

[pcsguy88]

Sheesh. Castle Greyskull is already sold out on Amazon for 1-3 months. So much for getting a price drop anytime soon.

 

[nacho]

I'm still waiting on my PO from BBTS. I couldn't ignore their cheaper price and lack of tax. Saves me about $34 total on the set compared to WM or Amazon. Still, the wait gives me time to work on my Battlecat and Panthor customs. It's be nice to have them done when the castle arrives.

 

[Dropshipbob]

I just saw over on another forum that Megabloks has an Aliens character pack listed on their site (but no details/pictures) along with an ALIENS logo on their list of properties. Could it be that what I was hoping for is happening?

I will not be satisfied if it is simply an army builder containing 4 or 5 xenomorphs and two/three Marines that all look the same.

 

[K-Tiger]

I would bet on that being the case, though you really don't have to deal with likeness rights at that scale.

 

[nacho]

Mega's MOTU stuff has proven that properties that have no current cartoon, movies, or game tie-ins can still sell well. So anything is possible.

I'm curious if we'll get another round of Terminator sets. The last ones sold pretty poorly, but there is a new movie on the horizon... I'm not a big terminator fan, but the sets had a lot of useful parts to build other stuff. I bought many on clearance.

 

[Dropshipbob]

I never did see that last round of single figures that had the endoskeleton.

 

[pcsguy88]

Tedious build for sure even with the new numbered bags. Just so many small pieces. I’m half way thru the inner parts boxes and 2/5ths thru the castle sections after 5-6hrs of building yesterday and this morning.

 

[nacho]

Nice. Mine should arrive monday. Gamestop has a 25% off collectables promo going on right now (through today), got Greyskull in the door for $205. Couldn't pass that up, so I cancelled at BBTS.

I might get the boy to build it for me. While he cares nothing about MOTU, he loves legos and built the death star in about 10 days all by himself. I might be able to talk him into it.

 

[pcsguy88]

That’s a helluva price. I wanted it for the 4 day holiday and so paid the full Monty plus tax to get it from Amazon. I’m sure you’ll hear me bitching in November when it drops to $99 just like my $250 Enterprise.

I have to say it is worth it though. The designers really out did themselves.

 

[nacho]

Yeah, it's tough with these big sets. If you wait, especailly with TRU gone, they get scarce in a hurry and then you miss out, or you pay third party markup. If you bite the bullet right away and pay retail, they sell for half price six months later. I would have swallowed hard and paid full rate on this one, but I was trying to save a few bucks b/c BBTS had it $10 cheaper with no tax. I'm glad they're slow to get their stock, as I ended up saving more from gamestop.

The good news is that I'll definitely buy a second (or third) if they discount it heavily. There are too many other additions that could be made to the castle with several thousand more bricks of that color.

I bought the hovercraft cheap, the technodrome cheap, the train heist, space rover, and viking ship... all cheap. I bought a second harrier for $25. I can't get enough of discounted MC sets. Even halo stuff that I have little interest in, if it's a big set for cheap, I'll buy it for parts.

 

[pcsguy88]

Just the fact you could make a true 4 sided castle with an additional $100 set down the road makes it worth it.

I got the from 3 sections completed before bed time.