MAJORSTARS (New Line from MWFP/Major Bendies)

[darkprophet]

Jul 17, 2024 8:53:13 GMT -5 @Chair.Shot said:

Maximum Sweat would be funny - and I do agree that there is a history of positively discussing things shortly before a business announcement - but I think that would flop and be a jumping of the shark moment. BRGs and Bendies have a bigger universal appeal. Maximum Sweat always felt like a “yeah…that existed” or “I had a few and played with them when I was really young” kind of line. Can anyone recall there being very many collectors/completitionists for the original line? They also might be expensive to produce and might require bigger packaging which again, would add to the cost. For those reasons I don’t think it’ll be Maximum Sweat but would love to watch how it unfolds good or bad.

Yeah, not sure how much appeal or nostalgia that line would would really carry. I had a few back in the day, but never loved them even when new, and certainly not over time. It’s hard to imagine what it could be because they are also friends with other independent toy company owners and may not want to encroach on others’ “territory.”

[y2josh]

Jul 17, 2024 8:53:13 GMT -5 @Chair.Shot said:

Maximum Sweat would be funny - and I do agree that there is a history of positively discussing things shortly before a business announcement - but I think that would flop and be a jumping of the shark moment. BRGs and Bendies have a bigger universal appeal. Maximum Sweat always felt like a “yeah…that existed” or “I had a few and played with them when I was really young” kind of line. Can anyone recall there being very many collectors/completitionists for the original line? They also might be expensive to produce and might require bigger packaging which again, would add to the cost. For those reasons I don’t think it’ll be Maximum Sweat but would love to watch how it unfolds good or bad.

While I wholeheartedly agree with you...how many Bend 'Ems fans were there out there actually seeking that stuff out before the major pod dudes started talking about it and doing the history of video. Probably very few. These guys could sell their fanbase just about anything at this point and they have a guaranteed market.

[@Chair.Shot]

Jul 17, 2024 9:48:22 GMT -5 y2josh said:

Jul 17, 2024 8:53:13 GMT -5 @Chair.Shot said:

Maximum Sweat would be funny - and I do agree that there is a history of positively discussing things shortly before a business announcement - but I think that would flop and be a jumping of the shark moment. BRGs and Bendies have a bigger universal appeal. Maximum Sweat always felt like a “yeah…that existed” or “I had a few and played with them when I was really young” kind of line. Can anyone recall there being very many collectors/completitionists for the original line? They also might be expensive to produce and might require bigger packaging which again, would add to the cost. For those reasons I don’t think it’ll be Maximum Sweat but would love to watch how it unfolds good or bad.

While I wholeheartedly agree with you...how many Bend 'Ems fans were there out there actually seeking that stuff out before the major pod dudes started talking about it and doing the history of video. Probably very few. These guys could sell their fanbase just about anything at this point and they have a guaranteed market.

I knew this counterpoint would be coming lol. I think Bendems were in more of a sweet spot for collectors. The 90’s line was very affordable and fairly abundant. The character selection spanned two generations. They had 60+ individual releases, not to mention repaints, sub-lines, rings, boxed sets, etc. Maximum Sweat had what…15 individual figures and 8 or so repeats? They were also on store shelves for maybe 2 years tops? BendEms on the other hand spanned at least 6 years. Also a crucial point: BendEms filled the holes in the Hasbro collectors hearts as children until the Jakks BCA line was introduced. Maximum Sweat on the other hand was just another line from a company that was churning out more products than casual fans could keep track of.

I’m not saying there isn’t a market for them and they aren’t extremely good at selling things to their existing fanbase…but I don’t know if that audience alone would make these sustainable. You also risk hurting sales with your other lines as some fans won’t be able to support three lines. Not that they ask them to or pressure them to buy everything…but if you are collecting both Bendies and Big Rubber Guys, a third line might make you more selective. That’s a risk they run by adding any line, true, but Maximum Sweat feels like such a niche that it would present far more challenges than literally almost any other line.

I’m not against it if it is Maximum Sweat; I will enjoy seeing it play out either way. Not that I’m rooting for failure. I think it’s hard to disagree that they will admit to their failures and sometimes it provides for entertaining moments when they agree something wasn’t their best idea and laugh it off. Those are more endearing moments. But, despite what some might think, I like it when I am proved to be completely wrong. Those are major learning moments (no pun intended) that stick with you.

[darkprophet]

Jul 17, 2024 10:24:15 GMT -5 @Chair.Shot said:

Jul 17, 2024 9:48:22 GMT -5 y2josh said:

While I wholeheartedly agree with you...how many Bend 'Ems fans were there out there actually seeking that stuff out before the major pod dudes started talking about it and doing the history of video. Probably very few. These guys could sell their fanbase just about anything at this point and they have a guaranteed market.

I knew this counterpoint would be coming lol. I think Bendems were in more of a sweet spot for collectors. The 90’s line was very affordable and fairly abundant. The character selection spanned two generations. They had 60+ individual releases, not to mention repaints, sub-lines, rings, boxed sets, etc. Maximum Sweat had what…15 individual figures and 8 or so repeats? They were also on store shelves for maybe 2 years tops? BendEms on the other hand spanned at least 6 years. Also a crucial point: BendEms filled the holes in the Hasbro collectors hearts as children until the Jakks BCA line was introduced. Maximum Sweat on the other hand was just another line from a company that was churning out more products than casual fans could keep track of.

I’m not saying there isn’t a market for them and they aren’t extremely good at selling things to their existing fanbase…but I don’t know if that audience alone would make these sustainable. You also risk hurting sales with your other lines as some fans won’t be able to support three lines. Not that they ask them to or pressure them to buy everything…but if you are collecting both Bendies and Big Rubber Guys, a third line might make you more selective. That’s a risk they run by adding any line, true, but Maximum Sweat feels like such a niche that it would present far more challenges than literally almost any other line.

I’m not against it if it is Maximum Sweat; I will enjoy seeing it play out either way. Not that I’m rooting for failure. I think it’s hard to disagree that they will admit to their failures and sometimes it provides for entertaining moments when they agree something wasn’t their best idea and laugh it off. Those are more endearing moments. But, despite what some might think, I like it when I am proved to be completely wrong. Those are major learning moments (no pun intended) that stick with you.

I agree with everything you wrote. What stands out to me is the notion of spreading their audiences’ attention and wallets too thin. They have spoken about this recently, how shirts, foam fingers and other non-figures used to sell really well for them, but since introducing figures, these other items barely sell at all- with their fans opting to buy the figures instead. I wonder if their Bendies sales have dropped since introducing BRGs. Introducing now a third brand may dilute things even further, essentially competing with themselves for the same market-share instead of growing. I hope I’m wrong, just a thought/ concern.

[kojikanemoto]

How many different styles of wrestling figures do we need? It’s already oversaturated.

[@Chair.Shot]

Jul 17, 2024 12:00:14 GMT -5 kojikanemoto said:

How many different styles of wrestling figures do we need? It’s already oversaturated.

I started to ask the same question but then again you have to keep in mind not everyone collects everything. I only collect retros with the exception of Andre the Giant figures or a very select few 7” figures that have to fit the narrowest criteria. A lot of LJN collectors didn’t collect Hasbros and understandably so. Even as a kid, I had a hard time making the switch to BCA even though I grew to love them! For me it was much more about completely altering my style of play as well as not having a proper ring for them. In the beginning, the roster was super limited too (boy that didn’t last long!). Back to the original point…there is no One Size Fits All answer here. Hopefully we look back at the early pages of this thread and laugh about who was right and who was wrong and how good or bad things went.

Though I would hate to see anything hurt FC, I would be very interested in what they could do with BCA figures. That style makes far more sense to me than Maximum Sweat. An all new/unique style of figure may also be a possibility too which I honestly welcome at this point.

[kojikanemoto]

Jul 17, 2024 12:55:41 GMT -5 @Chair.Shot said:

Jul 17, 2024 12:00:14 GMT -5 kojikanemoto said:

How many different styles of wrestling figures do we need? It’s already oversaturated.

I started to ask the same question but then again you have to keep in mind not everyone collects everything. I only collect retros with the exception of Andre the Giant figures or a very select few 7” figures that have to fit the narrowest criteria. A lot of LJN collectors didn’t collect Hasbros and understandably so. Even as a kid, I had a hard time making the switch to BCA even though I grew to love them! For me it was much more about completely altering my style of play as well as not having a proper ring for them. In the beginning, the roster was super limited too (boy that didn’t last long!). Back to the original point…there is no One Size Fits All answer here. Hopefully we look back at the early pages of this thread and laugh about who was right and who was wrong and how good or bad things went.

Though I would hate to see anything hurt FC, I would be very interested in what they could do with BCA figures. That style makes far more sense to me than Maximum Sweat. An all new/unique style of figure may also be a possibility too which I honestly welcome at this point.

I agree, the FC Toys BCAs look great. I’ve been tempted to get a few several times but I’ve held back because I don’t really wanna go down the BCA road. I actually have a ton of them and have very fond memories of the time but Hasbros and Galoobs are what I want.

That said, remembering those times, I hated that the WWF, WCW and ECW figures weren’t very “compatible.” I have to imagine the profit margins on these things are fairly slim as it is, I’d hate to see stretch themselves too thin

[VintageFigs1]

Nobody is right

[darkprophet]

Jul 17, 2024 16:21:59 GMT -5 VintageFigs1 said:

Nobody is right

Intriguing. Definitely interested to see what it is. But even more interested to see the 2 Legends August BRG preorder reveals!

[cableV]

[mesteve]

Jul 16, 2024 15:25:27 GMT -5 @Chair.Shot said:

Jul 16, 2024 15:16:02 GMT -5 mesteve said:

Maybe the smaller articulated figures, similar to the Sheik, Hulk, JYD, Bundy prototypes that Matt acquired a while back? What are those, probably 4"?

While that may be tempting for them to continue with those plans for that scale from all those years ago, I would just throw out this thought, though it would probably be too late if they're already doing the 4 inch scale.

If any company is reading this, someone please replicate the 80s style GI Joe ARAH 3 3/4 inch figures as wrestlers, to include the same points of articulation, complete with rubber O ring and screw (just in case the O ring breaks). My preference is the same elbow and knee joint styles, with the single bend, not that newer style with the extra bend.

As much as I would love to see the GI Joe style figure, multiple companies have said that it might end up costing as much as an Ultimate due to the amount of pieces necessary/all the points of articulation. I have no way of knowing how well they would sell or what their price points would need to be to turn a big enough profit to justify it. Personally, I would find it hard to spend more than $30 per figure for something like that. If they were to have a lot of reusable parts, it might be even less desirable for collectors. But I’m not knowledgeable enough in that area to say what will or won’t work.

Didn't realize other companies have considered this and talked about it. I completely understand though. It has to work from a business perspective. I've considered doing customs at that scale, but I don't have the time anymore plus I'd have to put in a good amount of money just to get some good parts to use. GI Joes are so pricey these days.

[mesteve]

Jul 17, 2024 16:50:24 GMT -5 cableV said:

Now this would make sense to me, and seems that it would be right in their wheelhouse, rubber with no articulation. And that's not a knock at all.

[darkprophet]

Jul 17, 2024 17:04:04 GMT -5 mesteve said:

Jul 17, 2024 16:50:24 GMT -5 cableV said:

Now this would make sense to me, and seems that it would be right in their wheelhouse, rubber with no articulation. And that's not a knock at all.

I was literally about to post this same idea! This, or possibly stretch wrestlers.

[@Chair.Shot]

The little discussion about thumb wrestlers on this week’s episode had me wondering if thumb wrestlers would be the announcement but the disagreement about what type works best lead me to rule this out for the most part. Maybe it was an intentional swerve.

Mini figures like the Jakks minis could be fun. They could do sets of 3-4 every so often. Lots of theming possibilities. Could be fun for fans to get them autographed by each person in the set.

I guess all that’s left are Karate Fighters! lol

[d0thed3al]

I feel like I remember Matt saying they were gonna try Galoob style figures, but didn't think they'd sell.

It has to be something nostalgic enough that the MWFP guys and the fans would like.

Matt does have the blueprint for a Bendies ring and they've teased a BRG ring in their commercial?

A lot to think about.

[darkprophet]

Jul 17, 2024 19:20:48 GMT -5 d0thed3al said:

I feel like I remember Matt saying they were gonna try Galoob style figures, but didn't think they'd sell.

It has to be something nostalgic enough that the MWFP guys and the fans would like.

Matt does have the blueprint for a Bendies ring and they've teased a BRG ring in their commercial?

A lot to think about.

They’ve shot it down several times due to cost, but I’m really hoping they can do a BRG ring (at $100 or less) at some point.

[3poajamie]

With Kaniks history at Eaglemoss, I wonder if statues would be a possible option?

Kind of like Unmatched Fury

[misterfigi]

I was thinking thumb wrestlers too but nothing exciting about those to me. I would like to see a new M.U.S.C.L.E. men line at a reasonable price. Would be a lot easier to collect than Big Rubber Guys, space wise.

[@Chair.Shot]

Jul 18, 2024 1:19:18 GMT -5 3poajamie said:

With Kaniks history at Eaglemoss, I wonder if statues would be a possible option?

Kind of like Unmatched Fury

Would be neat if done as good/better than Jakks.

[kanik89]

Jul 18, 2024 1:19:18 GMT -5 3poajamie said:

With Kaniks history at Eaglemoss, I wonder if statues would be a possible option?

Kind of like Unmatched Fury

Leave the memories behind.