Hot Toys is a boring Company

[choombaz]

Hot Toys are every adjective in the dictionary except boring.

 

[Asta]

Lim toys also releases one figure every three years ..

Less is more.

 

[Asta]

Being "bored" is a subjective feeling.

Objectively there must be a lot of people who aren't bored by Hot Toys, or else Hot Toys is being very charitable towards a small number of customers, or Howard is just getting some money back on the production cost of building his personal collection.

I find myself bored by most Marvel movies now, and a lot of DC ones too. So that's a big chunk of Hot Toys product that doesn't interest me. Star Wars media has been a series of glorified adverts for merchandise since the 1980s, which can be said of Marvel and DC too.

It comes down to the question whether you find yourself invested in the media enough that you just have to have a collection from it.

There as a time when I was buying almost anything just because it looked good regardless of being interested in the source. After a while I realised that without the emotional attachment they were meaningless, if good looking, objects.

Too much Star Wars media is wearing me down, and I'm now more choosy. I can still buy into The Mandalorian, Rogue One and Solo - things that connect to the OT or the early expanded universe - but the attachment I feel is waning with regards to TBOBF and OWK. I keep telling myself that going forward I'll be more selective, but there's always going to be something that 'looks too good not to buy'.

Over the last year I rediscovered my interest in historical figures. Unlike the next comic book or Star Wars film or series, their uniforms are locked into history. They aren't going to change because a license holder decides they can sell another wave of product if they change the costume a bit. It's the finite versus the infinite.

That's what's attractive about trying to limit yourself to the 'classics'. Figures from older films, characters from their early appearances. Which is also why some may feel that Hot Toys is a "boring company", because they're focussed on more recent interpretations rather than catering to what appears to be becoming the more niche market for the classics.

 

[Dave_W]

HT sticks to whatever the latest movie or streaming show on D+ is. They're really predictable in that way. Gone are the days of old franchises and cult classics. When they do try to branch out and get creative, we get plastic see-through Iron Man or Venomised whatever.

 

[Asta]

HT sticks to whatever the latest movie or streaming show on D+ is. They're really predictable in that way. Gone are the days of old franchises and cult classics. When they do try to branch out and get creative, we get plastic see-through Iron Man or Venomised whatever.

When they started out as one of those "filthy bootleggers", as the original proprietor of this forum would've described them, Howard was probably more passionate about the subjects he chose to produce.

Now, with the power that the mighty license holders hold over both Hot Toys and their customers, the company has inevitably become part of the massive corporate machine, and lost the freedom of individual expression. Or they're expressing their freedom within the strict limits of the licenses, as with those Venomised interpretations.

This is where today's bootleggers come in. Operating in the shadows without the constraints or pressure of license holders, they're free to pursue the things that inspire them. Since they're inspired they can also go the extra mile. Yes, that can mean they produce product very slowly. Some things can be worth waiting for, presuming you live long enough to receive them.

 

[shells075]

I would not describe HT as boring, maybe Conservative in their figure choices, they usually make things that they think will sell well, like any company would, I would like them to throw a few curve balls in from time to time, like release some figs that no one thought HT would ever release.

 

[Mike86]

I mean you can’t fault them for producing what’s popular and sells. People don’t seem to understand that.

Now do I agree that there are more interesting releases from other companies? Of course.

 

[Cocoboloboy]

I

I would not describe HT as boring, maybe Conservative in their figure choices, they usually make things that they think will sell well, like any company would, I would like them to throw a few curve balls in from time to time, like release some figs that no one thought HT would ever release.

I think Doc and Marty from BTTF3 are a good example of a curveball. I didn‘t think those would ever get made.
Winnie the Pooh and Piglet are another couple out of left field. Buzz Lightyear. Newt Scamander. John Wick. Johnny Silverhand.
They are few and far between but HT does make non DC/SW/Marvel figures from time to time.

 

[chrisstbh]

HT sticks to whatever the latest movie or streaming show on D+ is. They're really predictable in that way. Gone are the days of old franchises and cult classics. When they do try to branch out and get creative, we get plastic see-through Iron Man or Venomised whatever.

Predictable until they put out a Wolverine from an 8 year old movie and a Morbius figure

 

[Dave_W]

Predictably occasionally hap hazard.

 

[xipotec]

The problem is that we all expect HT to cater to us personally. For every one of us that rolls our eyes at the latest Iron Man repaint theres 1000 others putting their preorders in.

HT are in too deep with the Star Wars and Superhero licenses now to back down or slow down. There’s too much content for those properties and they struggle to keep up with those as it is.

HT still make plenty of figures that get me excited.

Cater?

Its more like they cater to the Trooper Iron Man OCD buyers and nothing else….

Oh an the Marvel guys buying 6 Thor figures…

Thats catering. And I would wager, they could make alot more money if they did another Alien Dog, or maybe another horror figure.

 

[chrisstbh]

Cater?

Its more like they cater to the Trooper Iron Man OCD buyers and nothing else….

Oh an the Marvel guys buying 6 Thor figures…

Thats catering. And I would wager, they could make alot more money if they did another Alien Dog, or maybe another horror figure.

But why would they? When they can just make another Marvel or Star Wars figure that will sell significantly more units than any classic 80's figure.

 

[Mike86]

The problem is that we all expect HT to cater to us personally. For every one of us that rolls our eyes at the latest Iron Man repaint theres 1000 others putting their preorders in.

HT are in too deep with the Star Wars and Superhero licenses now to back down or slow down. There’s too much content for those properties and they struggle to keep up with those as it is.

HT still make plenty of figures that get me excited.

Exactly. I mean from SDCC a lot of the more interesting things were from other companies (The Fonz, Nosferatu, Star Trek, etc.), but realistically all those are going to sell in smaller quantities compared with Marvel, Star Wars, DC, etc.

It’s business and they have to make moves that we don’t always agree with or understand but from their end it’s an overall better move for their continued success. I love when they branch out (the various Marty and Doc Brown figures coming for instance) but I understand why those aren’t what they push the most.

 

[shells075]

I


I think Doc and Marty from BTTF3 are a good example of a curveball. I didn‘t think those would ever get made.
Winnie the Pooh and Piglet are another couple out of left field. Buzz Lightyear. Newt Scamander. John Wick. Johnny Silverhand.
They are few and far between but HT does make non DC/SW/Marvel figures from time to time.

Yeah, when I think about it HT do make some random things from time to time. Maybe it was just on the back of SDCC where we saw mostly HT's staple of SW / Marvel figs on display, oh we got 89' Bats display to, which was nice. I hope we see some more variety at NYCC. A bit disappointed not to see at least HT's part I Doc (with new sculpt ) & Part II DeLorean at SD.

 

[choombaz]

The word I think is most appropriate is frustrating. Capable of genius but too often don’t follow through on promise and practice.

 

[xipotec]

Predictable until they put out a Wolverine from an 8 year old movie and a Morbius figure

But why would they? When they can just make another Marvel or Star Wars figure that will sell significantly more units than any classic 80's figure.

We do not know the numbers. But I doubt they are gonna sell many more Spidermen, or Thors or Caps….most folks do not collect the same characters over and over…

So its self limiting. My guess is they signed a contract to produce X amount of Characters per license per year….so its no skin off their back to produce the same characters over and over….they got paid already….and lets be real, thier costa for mass producing these figure is probably very small….

I am sure they are being paid to produce these figures now, not paying for the license…which is why we see the same thing over and over….

With older licenses, I am sure they still have to pay upfront.

 

[Mike86]

I mean look at the Facebook groups. There are a lot of Marvel centric collections. Also look at the forum. The Marvel subforum probably moves the most with the Star Wars one a close second.

 

[EndoSickness]

100% with you. HT got NOTHING on SDCC for me, which is said, because I was in deep for a while and a few of my favorite pieces are from them, but the only do DC, SW and Marvel now.

Pro: lot more money for different stuff, including real life, which is overly expensive now. Let's be fair.

Contra: franchises STILL will never be finished and people that were super high and happy, talking older franchises like T1, T2, Robocop, Aliens what else they have teased or partially released will never get finished. Instead there'll probably be 3.0s, which is sad and I look to 3P too.

 

[MachoGeek80]

Another agree here. They suck. Everything interesting is coming from third-party companies. Dinsey killed Star Wars and Marvell for me.

 

[Asta]

For me much of the fun in collecting 1/6 is not knowing what's around the corner from whatever company.

I generally don't have a desperate need for something to be made, so I don't get angry, like some do, when things don't materialise as expected/desired.

It's more of a case of, "Okay, 1/6 producers, what are you going to tempt me with today?" Occasionally the completely unexpected gets teased, and I can't wait for one of my favourite drug suppliers (usually Kit) to put it up for pre-order so I can add it to the list of things I'm waiting for.

There's a minor caveat because there are things I wish will be made. However, I'm not desperate for them, but I know it'll be a good day if they do go up pre-order.