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10-20-2009, 07:30 AM | #1 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Nov 2008
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Originally posted by Joe Moore @ Toyark.com under Toyark Spotlight.
Quote:
Over the years, many toy lines have featured impressively large play sets. He-Man had Castle Eternia, Castle Greyskull and Snake Mountain; Transformers had Fortress Maximus; Thundercats had the Cat's Lair; and G.I. Joe had too many to go into. Recently, toys have really cut down on the amount of large play sets that they offer. Is it possible for modern toy lines to bring these back, or are kids no longer interested in the big sets?
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10-20-2009, 07:58 AM | #2 |
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I don't think the big playsells will sell like the ones of yesterday. Kids want video games now.
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10-20-2009, 08:31 AM | #3 |
Cobra Soldier
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Pensacola, FL
Posts: 78
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It's not that kids don't want them, it's that parents don't want to pay for them. I remember a day 20-some years ago going into a Zayre's store and seeing 4 USS Flagg's on clearance for $100. Sure I asked my dad for it, but he said no way of course. $100 was a big pile of money back then (not that it isn't now).
Think of the big Millenium Falcon. That was an awesome-looking toy, but at $150 it was too steep. When they got clearanced to $65, they sold like crazy. Same for the Narnia castle -- $70 was too high, but I caught it on deep clearance at Toys R Us. My kids used to have the Rescue Heroes Mountain Command Center. Lights, sounds, action features. . .cool. Kids loved it. It was just too big for our little house. But then there's the Pit. I haven't even given it a second look since I saw that part of the $100 (or now $130 if you shop at Walmart) price tag is cardboard accessories. Not worth it. In short, sure they'd sell, just not profitably for the manufacturer. |
10-20-2009, 08:43 AM | #4 |
Iron Grenadier
Join Date: Mar 2009
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i think it depends how cool it is, and price. if the playset makes it on to a holiday hot list it would increase popularity. my problem with the pit is all that dead space
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10-20-2009, 08:44 AM | #5 |
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All I can say is that I'd still buy them. One thing I'm noticing about our generation is that we're real sticks in the mud as far as parenting goes. Our generation has killed Halloween and retired giant playsets. I'm not really talking about Tankers with kids, because their children probably feel like they're growing up in a toy store, but your average 25-30 something parent is really starting to piss me off.
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10-20-2009, 08:51 AM | #6 |
Crimson Nerd
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Location: Virginia
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It's not really "our generation's" parenting that killed large playsets. Large playsets had already pretty much gone the way of the dodo by the mid-90's or so (not-so-ironically about the same time that the ARAH line petered out). There were a few halfhearted attempts at revival (2002 MotU Castle Grayskull, for example), and a couple exclusives, but by and large the "big playset" craze had already wound down before most of us were old enough to be parents, or at least old enough to have kids that'd be at "action figure age."
Put it this way: "Our generation" not buying playsets is probably more of a self-fulfilling prophecy simply because there aren't many playsets out there to buy. Much less at the level of quality and play value that used to exist in the giant 80's toys. (And the high costs of the stuff that does come out doesn't help...I think people do still remember when you could get a 7 1/2 foot long Aircraft Carrier for $150 bucks. The stuff out today just doesn't compare). Pretty dead-on about Halloween, though. Seems like kids barely go trick-or-treating at all these days. Not that the "block party" or "indoor trick or treating" at the mall or whatever seems to be in fashion now is such a bad thing, but overall it's more due to parents being utterly paranoid about their kids getting abducted than a desire to be a "stick in the mud." Halloween is still big business though. |
10-20-2009, 08:55 AM | #7 |
Cobra Viper
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Wichita
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I think they could sell playsets, but $100 for one is too steep. Hasbro should be shooting for the $40-50 pricepoint for playsets half the size of the PIT.
Even better might be the idea of several $25 playsets that can connect to form a "base" that can be of a scale of your choosing...maybe a command center, a hangar/garage, a training room and a gunnery station that have universal connectors, allowing you to configure the "base" however you see fit. Each set would come with a troop-builder-type figure. You could also do exclusive giftsets of all four and kick in an exclusive figure on top. As collectors, I'm sure most of us would go ga-ga over any of the older basesets retooled to accompany the 25th Ann.-style figures. I know that the moment I see the RoC Cobra Outposts, I'll probably buy three and set them up in an Enclave (Fallout 3) inspired intersection checkpoint. |
10-20-2009, 08:57 AM | #8 |
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Quote:
It's not really "our generation's" parenting that killed large playsets. Large playsets had already pretty much gone the way of the dodo by the mid-90's or so. Ther ewere a few halfhearted attempts at revival (2002 MotU Castle Grayskull, for example), and a couple exclusives, but by and large the "big playset" craze had already wound down before most of us were old enough to be parents, or at least old enough to have kids that'd be at "action figure age."
Put it this way: "Our generation" not buying playsets is probably more of a self-fulfilling prophecy simply because there aren't many playsets out there to buy. Much less at the level of quality and play value that used to exist in the giant 80's toys. Pretty dead-on about Halloween, though. Seems like kids barely go trick-or-treating at all these days. Not that the "block party" or "indoor trick or treating" at the mall or whatever seems to be in fashion now is such a bad thing, but overall it's more due to parents being utterly paranoid about their kids getting abducted than a desire to be a "stick in the mud." Halloween is still big business though. P.S. I asked one of the managers at Home Depot the other day why they skipped Halloween for the most part and jumped right to Christmas. He told me the company view is that there is no money in Halloween. So unless you're the spirit store, it appears to be a popular business tactic to get the jump on Christmas. Last edited by Headman; 10-20-2009 at 09:01 AM.. |
10-20-2009, 09:00 AM | #9 |
Cobra Viper
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Wichita
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Halloween ain't dead here. Lots of kids still run around in costume, asking for candy. It might be a regional/cultural thing, though.
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10-20-2009, 09:03 AM | #10 |
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I think it is partly cultural. A lot of the people living in the DC metro area are semi-new to this country and are probably a tad confused by Halloween. And then there's the crime, which probably doesn't help.
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