I was pretty sick the first week of January, and thus completely missed the fact that Topless Robot had posted one of my lists. Check it out.
Eight Toylines That Died Too Soon
Short version: Palisades, we hardly knew ye.
I was pretty sick the first week of January, and thus completely missed the fact that Topless Robot had posted one of my lists. Check it out.
Eight Toylines That Died Too Soon
Short version: Palisades, we hardly knew ye.
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Valo487
Why did NECA’s TMNT line end? They always seemed to sell well.
Poe Ghostal
I don't think an official reason has ever been stated, but the gossip was that the terms of the deal with Playmates to make the figures prevented NECA from selling them in Toys R Us, which NECA really wanted to do. If we buy into that, there are a few possibilities:
* NECA kept trying to wrangle a TRU deal and it took so long they lost the license;
* NECA realized the line was too expensive to produce without TRU on board;
* NECA got mad about the Playmates thing and decided to cancel the line out of pique;
* Playmates managed to shut NECA's figures down entirely somehow.
On the other hand, it's possible the 2009 buyout of the TMNT franchise by Nickelodeon cost them the license.
The really annoying thing is that NECA's TMNT line would have come out during this current hiatus between the most recent cartoon and the new Nickelodeon cartoon that comes out in March. Playmates hasn't been producing any Turtles toys during this hiatus, so NECA's figures wouldn't have been competing with Playmates's (who abandoned their own plans for super-articulated Mirage-based toys anyway).
Newton Gimmick
It should also be noted, that NECA for whatever the reason, didn't communicate good with Mirage and fed them the same lines that we heard. Originally they told Mirage that the line was one of their best selling ever, then the next thing they heard, the figures were on hiatus.
I don't think NECA has ever actually even said if they have lost the license. Though, one would imagine that with the sale to Nick and such, it's unlikely they have it anymore.
Mecha-Shiva
Kinda cheesed Playmates werent able to re release the superstar turtle figures.
Jack Static
Was a great article when i read it… A few weeks ago… Still, was a great read
ferris
What annoyed me about NECA wasn't that they let the TMNT line die, but that when they decided to test the waters for series 2 with a con exclusive, they chose to produce April instead of that amazing Shredder.
Along with Sesame St, I was really looking forward to that Gobo Fraggle/Doozer in the Muppet line.
MegaGearMax
I think that the Foot Ninja would have saved the line, instead of the Shredder. Plenty of fans would have army built the hell out of those figures and brought multiples, rather than buying one Shredder. While Shredder is the one character you really need, the Foot Ninja would have been more than enough to spike sales.
The_Fun_has_been_Doubled
I have to agree… Foot Ninja I would've bought a LOT of them… That would have helped the line…
Bigbot
My life feels incomplete without those series 2 figures (sad, I know). I would have army built the hell out of the foot soldiers, and obviously bought at least four of the foot elites.
MegaGearMax
I know the feeling. I get that every time I look up on my shelf and see the TMNT up there. NECA's TMNT line would have been IT for TMNT lines, IMO. I think if NECA had finished their TMNT line, I wouldn't ever collect TMNT again. I wish they would have released Wave 2, and then made a final swan song wave with Splinter and Casey. BAM! They are finished.
Damien
Great article.
Did anyone ever notice that Mattel, in rapid succession, managed to botch TWO toylines called 'Avatar?'
Dead Man Walking
Great call on Carnage Dinosaurs. I had completely forgotten about that line but I wanted it badly back in the day. Of course, you know I would have put the 200X figures or stactions on the list. There are still so many great designs surfacing of what the 4H would have done with the line (e.g. Dragstor, Spikor), and of course the Faker and Kobra Khan stactions that got canceled.