NECA & Sideshow get Pacific Rim

January 4, 2013 | Poe

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(Thanks to TNI for the heads-up.)

I don’t think I’ve been as excited for a movie since The Dark Knight as I am for Pacific Rim. One of my favorite directors doing a movie about giant monsters fighting giant robots? I’ll admit that I worry a bit about this film suffering from audience fatigue with movies involving aliens and robots (Transformers, Battleship, Battle: Los Angeles, Avengers, etc.). But I’m hoping director Guillermo Del Toro’s reputation will allow critics and moviegoers to judge it on its merits rather than dismissing it as a dumb blockbuster. And…I hope it’s good.

Anyway, GDT himself posted a note on his website about the film’s merchandising:

NECA is doing toys and a ton of apparel / accessories. SIDESHOW is doing a couple of diorama statues and there are two downloadable games in progress. This plus the comics and book novelization and a few etc

Very good for an unbranded, non-sequel original property!!

I knew about NECA, because their name popped up on a licensing expo list (which I kept quiet about in consideration for NECA, who seemed to really want to spring this at or around Toy Fair). I have no idea what NECA’s toy plans are, but I’m willing to bet we’ll see 7″ figures of the main characters and perhaps the robots and monsters, as well as much larger toys of the robots and monsters.

I’m excited to see what NECA offers, but I also continue to hope Bandai gets the license for S.H.MonsterArts as well. Speaking of, how crazy is Japan going to go for this movie?

And speaking of giant robots…

Odds ‘n Ends > Rising action figure prices, articulation debates, Hoverboard disappointment, Pacific Rim

December 13, 2012 | Poe

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LOT of ground to cover today folks, so let’s get right to it.

–ODD–

Phil Reed of Battlegrip recently posted “Five Reasons Why Action Figures Cost More Today.” Phil knows what he’s talking about and you should check out the whole thing, which focuses largely on economic factors such as rising labor and materials costs. But one thing that interested me was the first comment on the post, which mentioned the declining birthrate in Western countries. That reminded me of this post by Richard Gottlieb that I read recently, “U.S. Birthrate Plummets; Look for Fewer Children in Four Years.” Richard begins the article with, “If there was ever a case to be made for marketing toys to adult end users…” Hasbro has clearly embraced this idea, but if I had to guess I’m willing to bet there’s still a struggle going on at Mattel between the generations over how to approach the collectors’ market. (more…)