'Thundercats Roar'. At the time of this entry we're left wondering if the internet backlash made this series quietly disappear, as it was originally slated for a 2019 release and we're now halfway through September with no news of an actual release date and it's still listed as 2019 on all noted sites such as Wikipedia and IMDb. Which is a shame, I was really looking forward to it and it getting Thundercats back into the mainstream.
It makes me sad to think that people are insanely so short-sighted not to see how this fun & funny new show would generate not only its own new fans, but get the original (and stellar reboot) some new love and attention.
- But I guess the Netflix She-Ra was a flop and cancelled after one season.
- Teen Titans Go! (which some of you probably never heard of cause it also was pulled after just one episode) wasn’t able to find its audience and would have never gotten a new comic readers into the shops.
- The Netflix Voltron series also a horrible failure and didn't get us a set of new Voltron fans for life. It would have been cool if the series did well enough to eventually get us newly-tooled versions of the original Voltron lions at mass market while the new series toys were also on shelves.
- The success of the Nick TMNT helped keep the fire of the Turtles going which got us tons of non-Nick TMNT figures and merchandise, but the poorly received ‘Rise of the TMNT’ cartoon caused an immediate, almost military-style, shutdown of all fun Ninja Turtle items not related to that show. I would have loved to get that NECA Slash figure but that’s not going to happen now because they just haaaaad to make Raph the leader in Rise.
All sarcasm aside, it’s quite selfish for people to think that a new, different version of something somehow would negate anything that came before it, change what already exists, and wouldn’t proliferate the brand at question.
Having people in the shop on a daily basis say things to their kids like “these are the Transformers / Trolls / Strawberry Shortcake / Ninja Turtles / Power Rangers I had when I was little” shows me not only the magical moment that is parents relating to their kids about a brand (HOW COOL IS THAT?!) but that the kids know what the brand is BECAUSE of all of those variations that have kept those brands alive and in the limelight.
And then there's G.I. Joe. While several attempts to bring it back into the collectors market and get new blood invested in the brand have been made; the major motion pictures, the Renegades cartoon series, Resolute animated feature, Sigma 6 cartoon series, and the two CGI animated features 'Spy Troops' & 'Valor vs Venom', it ultimately ends up getting scrapped, iteration after iteration leaving fans and those just starting to get into G.I. Joe without anything new to consume. While this has more to do with Hasbro's inability to put faith into the brand (and internal power struggles and politics within the company - but that's none of my business and you didn't hear it from this blog), it still shows that not having a brand on the shelf does little to help keep the collectors market strong because of the lack of new fans. Since the last G.I. Joe movie we've seen the toys disappear from retail shelves, only to be replaced by generic military toys at Target and Walmart (so there's definitely a market for them), the G.I. Joe Collectors Club has shuttered its doors and we no longer have an annual official G.I. Joe convention.
I know, I got pretty sidetracked there, but Thundercats fans need to heed my warning; No mass market representation of your favorite brand is a bad thing.
And sure, the Thundercats Classics have returned thanks to the determination and persistence of the fine folks at Super7, but I have to wonder if these will also fall victim as so many other Thundercats toy lines have before them and end before we're able to get even the core team and villains.
To illustrate my point and give weight to the notion that that may happen, here's a few examples of how/when Thundercats fans have been burned by trying to start collecting a new series.
I'm sure there's more than what I could think of here, but this should illustrate my point that I'm a bit cautious of getting my hopes up when it comes to completing a Thundercats toy line.
This seems pretty simple to me and I can't understand why people can't see this; If you provide something that skews to a younger audience, it's going to help the brand financially. The products made for a younger audience are going to be bought by parents for their kids as well as by collectors willing to support the brand. Not just by those crazy completist, bless their souls. And guess what? When companies see that a brand is making money for another company - they tend to be more willing to produce items themselves for that brand in hopes of getting some of that money. In no way, shape, or form would 'Thundercats Roar' been bad for the brand. It's existence would have only brought new fans to the brand, fans that could ultimately end up going back and finding all the old toys, comics, cartoons and collectibles, thus bringing that new blood into the brand's collectors market that we all can't seem to figure out how to do.
But luckily a bunch of angry fanboys took care of that...
“What do you mean you're bored, young daughter? Come, look upon this horrible trailer. For it was I and my brave companions that vanquished it from the land with our mighty keyboards as you can see here on in the comments section.
Always read the comments, daughter. For it is there... that battles are won.
Wait, you LIKED that? Honey no. I did you a favor.”
It makes me sad to think that people are insanely so short-sighted not to see how this fun & funny new show would generate not only its own new fans, but get the original (and stellar reboot) some new love and attention.
- But I guess the Netflix She-Ra was a flop and cancelled after one season.
- Teen Titans Go! (which some of you probably never heard of cause it also was pulled after just one episode) wasn’t able to find its audience and would have never gotten a new comic readers into the shops.
- The Netflix Voltron series also a horrible failure and didn't get us a set of new Voltron fans for life. It would have been cool if the series did well enough to eventually get us newly-tooled versions of the original Voltron lions at mass market while the new series toys were also on shelves.
- The success of the Nick TMNT helped keep the fire of the Turtles going which got us tons of non-Nick TMNT figures and merchandise, but the poorly received ‘Rise of the TMNT’ cartoon caused an immediate, almost military-style, shutdown of all fun Ninja Turtle items not related to that show. I would have loved to get that NECA Slash figure but that’s not going to happen now because they just haaaaad to make Raph the leader in Rise.
All sarcasm aside, it’s quite selfish for people to think that a new, different version of something somehow would negate anything that came before it, change what already exists, and wouldn’t proliferate the brand at question.
Having people in the shop on a daily basis say things to their kids like “these are the Transformers / Trolls / Strawberry Shortcake / Ninja Turtles / Power Rangers I had when I was little” shows me not only the magical moment that is parents relating to their kids about a brand (HOW COOL IS THAT?!) but that the kids know what the brand is BECAUSE of all of those variations that have kept those brands alive and in the limelight.
And then there's G.I. Joe. While several attempts to bring it back into the collectors market and get new blood invested in the brand have been made; the major motion pictures, the Renegades cartoon series, Resolute animated feature, Sigma 6 cartoon series, and the two CGI animated features 'Spy Troops' & 'Valor vs Venom', it ultimately ends up getting scrapped, iteration after iteration leaving fans and those just starting to get into G.I. Joe without anything new to consume. While this has more to do with Hasbro's inability to put faith into the brand (and internal power struggles and politics within the company - but that's none of my business and you didn't hear it from this blog), it still shows that not having a brand on the shelf does little to help keep the collectors market strong because of the lack of new fans. Since the last G.I. Joe movie we've seen the toys disappear from retail shelves, only to be replaced by generic military toys at Target and Walmart (so there's definitely a market for them), the G.I. Joe Collectors Club has shuttered its doors and we no longer have an annual official G.I. Joe convention.
I know, I got pretty sidetracked there, but Thundercats fans need to heed my warning; No mass market representation of your favorite brand is a bad thing.
And sure, the Thundercats Classics have returned thanks to the determination and persistence of the fine folks at Super7, but I have to wonder if these will also fall victim as so many other Thundercats toy lines have before them and end before we're able to get even the core team and villains.
To illustrate my point and give weight to the notion that that may happen, here's a few examples of how/when Thundercats fans have been burned by trying to start collecting a new series.
- Funko's Savage World line - not only did it come out the gate with horrible QC issues, but it was cancelled after the first wave, and then... it came back for a second wave! But then cancelled again.
- Sticking with Funko, the Pops! only got out five figures and stopped there. Lion-O, Cheetara, Snarf, Panthro, and Mumm-Ra.
- Comics? I mean, yeah the series that started back in the early 2000s stuck around for a minute but stopped after a few miniseries.
- MiniMates - actually did five sets, but the last set is so hard to find that it tends to go for around $125 online. So while collecting these may have been a good idea in the beginning, eventually a lot of people missed out on completing their sets if they're not able to shell out of that last hard-to-find set.
- Thundercats Classics - it's getting listed here because we suffered through this being cancelled already. Only seven figures were released before the line was initially scrapped. It's hard not to be cautious with the line as it starts up again.
- Mezco's giant Mega-Scale figures which almost completed the core team but failed to release the Thunderkittens and gave us Mumm-Ra as the only villain.
- The reboot - the show was amazing, both well-written and beautiful, bringing the Thundercats back to the mainstream. It ended before it should have and with it, Bandai's toy line which was on shelves at every major toy retailer throughout the country.
- Speaking of Bandai - they also tried an 8" 'Classics' line when they had the license and it too came to a screeching halt after only releasing three figures based off of the original cartoon and I believe two or three based on the rebooted cartoon.
- The original toy line - Just because casual fans will remember the cartoon and accompanying toy line with fond memories doesn't mean it ended before it's time. There were toys that were planned but scrapped when the line ended and we never got toys of tons of great characters that appeared frequently on the show such as Mandora, Captain Bragg & Crowman, Snowmeow, and the entirety of The Lunataks.
I'm sure there's more than what I could think of here, but this should illustrate my point that I'm a bit cautious of getting my hopes up when it comes to completing a Thundercats toy line.
This seems pretty simple to me and I can't understand why people can't see this; If you provide something that skews to a younger audience, it's going to help the brand financially. The products made for a younger audience are going to be bought by parents for their kids as well as by collectors willing to support the brand. Not just by those crazy completist, bless their souls. And guess what? When companies see that a brand is making money for another company - they tend to be more willing to produce items themselves for that brand in hopes of getting some of that money. In no way, shape, or form would 'Thundercats Roar' been bad for the brand. It's existence would have only brought new fans to the brand, fans that could ultimately end up going back and finding all the old toys, comics, cartoons and collectibles, thus bringing that new blood into the brand's collectors market that we all can't seem to figure out how to do.
But luckily a bunch of angry fanboys took care of that...
“What do you mean you're bored, young daughter? Come, look upon this horrible trailer. For it was I and my brave companions that vanquished it from the land with our mighty keyboards as you can see here on in the comments section.
Always read the comments, daughter. For it is there... that battles are won.
Wait, you LIKED that? Honey no. I did you a favor.”
RSS Feed