Godzilla 2014 toys and collectibles.

[GFAN198423]

I still think they missed out last year. They went a little overboard with the Godzilla 2014 merch, much of which, honestly, wasn't too great. I really wish they did something with the classics line.

I feel like the "Strike" figures were a bad choice, they just looked silly and their gimmicks weren't that interesting, I saw those hang on shelves a lot. Atomic Roar looked better and had size going for it, unfortunately I think the cost is what kept it on shelves longer than most. The BC vinyl seemed to do very well, but it seems like many folks, including myself, feel it the better vinyl than the Japanese version and jumped on it, but I feel like that was a fluke. The Pack of Destruction figures were ok but I feel like they seem cheesy compared to a lot of toys today and in most stores I saw, you got the whole city set or not at all, I only saw the single figure packs in Target once and not many of them, and for kids, the city set is pretty pricey for parents to want to spend the money on.

[Chris55]

I realize things change, sometimes beyond their control, but there's only so long you can keep saying "something's coming, something's coming" before it starts to sound like, maybe, perhaps, it was BS the whole time. Even if it wasn't, you can't blame me for thinking that when they've done nothing to show or even suggest otherwise.

Nah, not how I operate.

These lines are planned out a year + in advance. So, 2013 saw KC correct? He was planned in I think late 2011. TK joined up with BC in Feb 2013. The designs etc for G14 started in about March or so if I remember correctly. They started making the G14 figures in Summer 2013. Those hit in March of 2014. The 6 inch G14 was released in the fall along with the reissue of KG 01 and that was planned way before release too.

So, with them actually wanting to take the time to come up with the fan poll to help choose the next 12 inch figure, work with TK on promoting it, going through every vote one by one and tallying them, and getting the data to put to the R&D department etc. Now, while this particular project has been delayed to make room for the Godzilla 2016 figures, it's still on it's way.

Now, if the interviews, the poll, the G14 figure line midnight reveal, the figures being given to TK 3 months before release for review and explanations aren't enough for you, how would you, Mr. X, like for them to show you that they're listening to you/the fans?

[GFAN198423]

Wow, BC was working on 2014 figures almost a year before release, does that mean they're already getting a look at what Godzilla 2016 is going to look like, or will they have less time or be pushed out later, since Toho may not have the design final so soon but Legendary's Godzilla was close to final even at the time of the 2012 concept trailer.

[bczilla91]

All I am going to add to this is I don't care what fans on the internet say. Godzilla toys DO sell well. At least better than what some fans say. They may not be as big as other toy lines but when there is a new Godzilla movie and there are new toys that sh*t will sell like hotcakes. I saw it first hand last year. Also have you seen all the Star Wars and Marvel and Transformers crap that clog the shelves too and collect dust? For crying out loud there is still a sh*t ton of Amazing Spider-Man 2 figures at my Walmart that I guarantee are not going anywhere any time soon.

This whole "nobody likes this franchise" "Godzilla toys/movies do poorly" mentality really needs to stop. If any of that was remotely true this franchise would have died off in '98

[M.o.g.u.e.r.a14]

Wait, WHAT?! They're planning GODZILLA 2016 TOYS?! YES!

*Reads Chris55's post

*Looks at Mr. X

Damn son, you got:

[Mr. X]

Nah, not how I operate.

These lines are planned out a year + in advance. So, 2013 saw KC correct? He was planned in I think late 2011. TK joined up with BC in Feb 2013. The designs etc for G14 started in about March or so if I remember correctly. They started making the G14 figures in Summer 2013. Those hit in March of 2014. The 6 inch G14 was released in the fall along with the reissue of KG 01 and that was planned way before release too.

I'm well aware. Even if I had thought - and again, I didn't - that they would immediately get to work on new figures in early 2013 after they heard our initial feedback - and I can't stress enough that I didn't - I know it would take easily a year to see them on the shelves. I know these things take time - sometimes a long time. You don't need to explain that much to me.

Now, if the interviews, the poll, the G14 figure line midnight reveal, the figures being given to TK 3 months before release for review and explanations aren't enough for you, how would you, Mr. X, like for them to show you that they're listening to you/the fans?

Lol, I like how you make this personal. "If you were in control, how you handle it?"

And I do want to drop this, but I will say this much - the interviews and the polls, while informative, didn't mean much concerning the future. We got a small look at what happens behind the scenes, and I can appreciate that and I liked them. Yeah, they were answering our questions and in that sense listening to us, but we still didn't get anything to suggest they were taking our opinions into account for future releases.
Even if it was something small, like "one of the characters that many of you have mentioned is currently being considered by our team". That's all. Also, nothing concerning the G'14 figures has anything to do with them listening to the fans. Back in February 2013, nobody here knew squat about G'14, and no one was really asking for stuff with him. Even when we did learn more, no one was asking for those gimmick figures, and that's not like a "oh nobody wanted these so they shouldn't have made them" - no, I'm just saying that these particular figures don't prove that they listened to us from the start.

And I know I shouldn't answer this, but I will anyways. If I, *adjusts tie*, Mr. X, was in charge of Bandai Creation... I would be more in-touch with the fanbase, be honest with them and let them know when plans change. Look at NECA. Yeah, I know - they're a much smaller company, they're... very, very different from Bandai, but I still think this is valid. NECA is absolutely fantastic when it comes to being in touch with the consumers, and honest.

They've explained that their Planet of the Apes line isn't doing as well as they hoped, and that they desperately want to continue, but they honestly don't know what's going to happen. They made it a point that the most recent prototypes they've revealed are simply "potential" releases, and that they might not see release, and that, even if the fans were there for support of its continuation, it might not make any sort of a difference. I like seeing that honesty. And I'd like for BC to do something like that. Explain where the line's at. IIRC, they were honest with the Tokyo Vinyls not doing well - if the main line is simply not doing as well as they hoped, they could tell us that, too. Whatever's causing hiccups in their plans and delays - they can tell us this.


TL;DR - All I want is for them to keep us in the loop better. Let us know earlier when plans change, and if there are any plans for anything new at all. We were all looking to the Toy Fair earlier this year for new figures, and besides some G'14 stuff, didn't get anything. Would've been nice to know ahead of time that they weren't even close to being able to reveal a new figure, and that one may or may not have even gotten past the conception stage at that time. That's all. Like I said earlier, even if its something like "we have plans to do a character many of you have been asking for"... that would've been satisfactory.


Lastly, I'd like to say, in case there is any confusion, that I'm not faulting you or blaming you for any of this, Chris. I greatly appreciate what you've done for the kaiju community, and I hope you don't just write me off as some blind and ignorant "hater". I've said how I don't know the process in detail. You can't blame the consumer for not knowing everything that's going on behind the scenes. All I, the customer, know is that we've been told since the beginning of 2013 that they wanted to know what we wanted - and being the year before Godzilla's 60th anniversary, the year before the first new film in a decade, and an American film at that... many of us thought this meant they had big plans for 2014 (beyond just the 2014 film)... and here we are, two years later, with nothing but an estimated release date for one figure, three and a half years after this little campaign began. I'm sure they intended on releasing stuff. But surely you can understand all the waiting with absolutely nothing to show for it beyond "something's coming eventually" can be... annoying.

I apologize if I've upset anyone or anything like that. I don't want to be a burden. I've said my piece, so I'll duck out and drop it if no one wants to continue. I know I don't want to drag this out further.

[Chris55]

Lol, I like how you make this personal. "If you were in control, how you handle it?"



And I know I shouldn't answer this, but I will anyways. If I, *adjusts tie*, Mr. X, was in charge of Bandai Creation...

Of course I was making it personal. I was addressing you directly. Although, I'd ask that of anyone reading this thread. How would you all like Bandai to show that they're listening to you? I wasn't asking what you would do if you were in charge.

I must admit, it was a surreal situation to be in their offices with all these figures laid out in front of me and having R&D and marketing people saying "what do fans want?". I wanted every Godzilla fan in the world in the room with me to answer that question and I took an hour talking to them. To the point where a few of them were checking their watches and wondering when I would stop talking

Comparing them to NECA isn't really accurate as they are two totally different companies. Bandai Creations has a large Japanese staff here in America and a staff in the main office in Japan. NECA is based out of New Jersey and their relationship with Toho is pretty new. Both companies do things differently. To be honest, Bandai Creations never really did any interviews until we did them on TK. I too would like to see them answer questions on Twitter etc. But it is what it is. Just because you haven't seen the results of fan feedback yet doesn't mean that it's not going into effect in the future.

By the way, for those of you asking about the Q&A, I was asked to pare down the questions to the most important 5-10. 60+ questions was WAAAY too much for them. I'm going through the questions this weekend and will resend them on Monday.

[UltramanGoji]

How would you all like Bandai to show that they're listening to you?

For one thing, I'd like to see some more advertising. One of the reason I think this line doesn't sell as good as it should is because of a lack of presence.

Looking at Bandai's website now, there is a photo of Godzilla 2014 on the webpage, but it doesn't link to anything about the toyline. With help from the fans, I think Bandai can put something together, like what they have for Big Hero 6.

This one is highly unlikely, but maybe Bandai can make appearances at G-FEST or something to help promote the line, either by showcasing new products or with simple Behind-The-Scenes looks about the process of making these figures. Seeing as G-FEST is a fan-run event, this, again, seems extremely unlikely.

[Mr. X]

Of course I was making it personal. I was addressing you directly. Although, I'd ask that of anyone reading this thread. How would you all like Bandai to show that they're listening to you? I wasn't asking what you would do if you were in charge.

That's on me, I took it in a more condescending/sarcastic way. Like, "if you think you're so smart, how would you handle it?"

My apologies.

I too would like to see them answer questions on Twitter etc. But it is what it is. Just because you haven't seen the results of fan feedback yet doesn't mean that it's not going into effect in the future.

Fair enough.

As long as you can at least kind of understand where I'm coming from, that I'm not just "h8tin'", we're good here. I'd rather not drag this out any longer.

[M.o.g.u.e.r.a14]

How would you all like Bandai to show that they're listening to you?

For one thing, I'd like to see some more advertising. One of the reason I think this line doesn't sell as good as it should is because of a lack of presence.

Looking at Bandai's website now, there is a photo of Godzilla 2014 on the webpage, but it doesn't link to anything about the toyline. With help from the fans, I think Bandai can put something together, like what they have for Big Hero 6.

This one is highly unlikely, but maybe Bandai can make appearances at G-FEST or something to help promote the line, either by showcasing new products or with simple Behind-The-Scenes looks about the process of making these figures. Seeing as G-FEST is a fan-run event, this, again, seems extremely unlikely.

One word:
C O M M E R C I A L S

[UltramanGoji]

One word:
C O M M E R C I A L S

You can't make commercials on vinyl figures. They don't do anything. There's no action to show. It's not like Transformers where you can show the toy transforming back and forth and fighting other toys.

Plus, it's not in the budget most likely.

[M.o.g.u.e.r.a14]

One word:
C O M M E R C I A L S

You can't make commercials on vinyl figures. They don't do anything. There's no action to show. It's not like Transformers where you can show the toy transforming back and forth and fighting other toys.

Plus, it's not in the budget most likely.

I guess you're right.

[Creature22]

One word:
C O M M E R C I A L S

You can't make commercials on vinyl figures. They don't do anything. There's no action to show. It's not like Transformers where you can show the toy transforming back and forth and fighting other toys.

Plus, it's not in the budget most likely.

Didn't seem to stop these guys:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UnjdvD6Zro


Bandai probably could do commercials if they wanted, but it would have been smart for the 2014 movie because the gimmicks and play sets and whatnot. For vinyl figures, yeah, there's not much to really "show off."

[Mr. X]

Didn't seem to stop these guys:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UnjdvD6Zro


Bandai probably could do commercials if they wanted, but it would have been smart for the 2014 movie because the gimmicks and play sets and whatnot. For vinyl figures, yeah, there's not much to really "show off."

This is true, I can see the gimmick figures being in commercials.

But, as UltramanGoji said, the likeliest reason is that they simply weren't in the budget. I think they might've said that at some point, too, unless I'm confusing them with someone else.

[M.o.g.u.e.r.a14]

Didn't seem to stop these guys:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UnjdvD6Zro


Bandai probably could do commercials if they wanted, but it would have been smart for the 2014 movie because the gimmicks and play sets and whatnot. For vinyl figures, yeah, there's not much to really "show off."

This is true, I can see the gimmick figures being in commercials.

But, as UltramanGoji said, the likeliest reason is that they simply weren't in the budget. I think they might've said that at some point, too, unless I'm confusing them with someone else.

Ya because they're lazy.

[UltramanGoji]

Ya because they're lazy.

Or that they don't have the budget for it.

Seriously, do you even read what you're replying to?

[Mechagigan]

Bandai probably could do commercials if they wanted, but it would have been smart for the 2014 movie because the gimmicks and play sets and whatnot. For vinyl figures, yeah, there's not much to really "show off."

While that is true, Bandai Japan managed to do exactly that with their Godzilla Island line using it's same-name TV show.

Given, that was an entire show, but the point is it isn't impossible to market basic vinyl figures to kids.

[MM The Destroyer]

Bandai probably could do commercials if they wanted, but it would have been smart for the 2014 movie because the gimmicks and play sets and whatnot. For vinyl figures, yeah, there's not much to really "show off."

While that is true, Bandai Japan managed to do exactly that with their Godzilla Island line using it's same-name TV show.

Given, that was an entire show, but the point is it isn't impossible to market basic vinyl figures to kids.

That was also Japan. And in the 1990's.

[Mechagigan]

That was also Japan. And in the 1990's.

Not a bad point .

[DoubleDam21]

So I heard that there is "concept art" for a 6" Godzilla Pop Vinyl. I will be very interesting if it is made how it will look and if it will be G14 or another version.