The Playset Thread

[Dave]

I think there are two things we're talking about:
1 - a kid oriented environment/playset
2 - collector oriented environment/display

I get it that maybe #1 doesn't have a huge market, but I'm surprised Hasbro/Disney hasn't sub-licensed the collector oriented environment/display, maybe even as a shared exclusive for EE or someplace.

I know there have been a few marginal attempts at this over the years, but as I recall the price points were crazy high (someone refresh my memory on the company and price point - I think they were $100+ and not modular - sort of like nice reproductions of some of the classic mail away displays).

I find it hard to believe that someone couldn't engineer and produce a semi-generic Death Star / Star Destroyer / Blockade Runner / Starkiller Base hallway environments at a reasonable price.  I know some 3D printer garage shop guys have done hallway environments, but this needs to be an injection molded higher run product that gets distributed through a professional company.  I know I would likely buy a handful of these to act as stands and display environments.  How many of us have bought hundreds of Hasbro and non-Hasbro stands to display our figures???

Back in the day Kenner got halfway there with their mail away Arena Display.  Something like this concept with some vertical supports that could allow you to stack them and build environments couldn't be that hard to pull off.



I'm sure some kids would buy them too, especially if you were clever about how accessories and other items could plug in to the environment.  You could make them a mail away and online shared exclusive.  And they could be refreshed with new accessories or inserts with each new movie.  For example, it looks like a chunk of Rogue One is taking place inside of Star Destroyers and the Death Star. 

This seems like a no-brainer.

Where is EE when you need them?  I'm guessing Hasbro just won't let anyone do this.

[Scockery]

Some of those backgrounds never made sense. Look how close Yoda's picture is to the figures on display. He's huge. Who is standing on an  asteroid in space watching the Falcon being pursued?

[Muftak]

I know there have been a few marginal attempts at this over the years, but as I recall the price points were crazy high (someone refresh my memory on the company and price point - I think they were $100+ and not modular - sort of like nice reproductions of some of the classic mail away displays).

There were Action Figure Display Dioramas made by a company called Pride displays back in 2006...



They were officially licensed and sold for $60. They made 3000 in their initial run and couldn't sell through.

They didn't market them well IMHO. Clearly these were designed to hold the two waves of vintage ANH figures, but they didn't want to spell that out and alienate modern figure collectors. People poo-pooed them (myself included at the time) as too retro and too pricey for being "just a stand."

The company went out of business before they could release designs intended for ESB and ROTJ vintage lines...



...as well as planning to finally throw modern collectors a genuine bone with a ROTS themed display...



Definitely not playsets. Nor marketed as such.

Definitely a failure, business-wise. And the last thing tried in the Star Wars realm that was a display or a playset.

[McMetal]

My local comic shop has one of those for sale and while I always found it curious, I never considered buying one because it seemed like a cheap knockoff, not a proper Hasbro release. I would for sure be interested in some official play sets though.

[Scockery]

What were those grey action figure displays that were stackable and space themed. IIRC, they had swappable foot pegs. Can't remember the name of them.

[Muftak]

What were those grey action figure displays that were stackable and space themed. IIRC, they had swappable foot pegs. Can't remember the name of them.

Those were the Ultarama...



I had some of those back in 2000! They weren't expensive, but  they were extremely generic. Still, I was glad to have something figure-specific in the days before I was brave enough to build my own...

[JediJman]

I own the Tatooine Pride Display.  It's definitely not what I would call a "Cheap knock off".  The plastic is high quality and equal if not superior to the vintage playset materials.  The stand and background are really high quality too.  I never heard about these when they came out, but bought one a few years back off Craigslist along with some vintage figures.  Its a really nice piece and I absolutely would have bought others if they were ever produced.  I'd agree that the failure was probably more marketing driven than any issues with the product itself.

I also bought up several of the Ulteramma stands and still have a handful of them.  They were a great design with swappable footpegs for new or vintage characters. You can put a cool background on it to enhance the scene.  I actually printed my own backgrounds and connected them into a circle vs. a half circle.  Then I put it on a lazy susan that allowed me to rotate it 360 degrees like a retail display.   Of course, I tried stacking it too high and it was a bit wobbly, and it felt like it took up a lot of space for the number of figures I could get on there (think round pizzas vs. square).  Cool concept though and it has a nice Death Star feel to it with the gray plating.

That said, these are really more of a "stand" than a "playset" in my opinion.  I'm looking for something more similar to what Dave suggested.  Stackable, connecting hallways, maybe with some cool blast doors or windows or trap doors.  You could make something smaller like this in the $20ish price range, or maybe a larger set that the smaller hallways can connect to.  The added ability to customize and make it your own would likely appeal to collectors and kids alike.

[Scockery]

Those were the Ultarama...

I had some of those back in 2000! They weren't expensive, but  they were extremely generic. Still, I was glad to have something figure-specific in the days before I was brave enough to build my own...

Thanks. I knew it was something-rama...  Kept thinking Build-A-Rama, but that's a site for military model dio stuff.

[Nicklab]

I know there have been a few marginal attempts at this over the years, but as I recall the price points were crazy high (someone refresh my memory on the company and price point - I think they were $100+ and not modular - sort of like nice reproductions of some of the classic mail away displays).

There were Action Figure Display Dioramas made by a company called Pride displays back in 2006...



They were officially licensed and sold for $60. They made 3000 in their initial run and couldn't sell through.

They didn't market them well IMHO. Clearly these were designed to hold the two waves of vintage ANH figures, but they didn't want to spell that out and alienate modern figure collectors. People poo-pooed them (myself included at the time) as too retro and too pricey for being "just a stand."

The company went out of business before they could release designs intended for ESB and ROTJ vintage lines...



...as well as planning to finally throw modern collectors a genuine bone with a ROTS themed display...



Definitely not playsets. Nor marketed as such.

Definitely a failure, business-wise. And the last thing tried in the Star Wars realm that was a display or a playset.

I really, REALLY wanted that ROTS set.  It would have made for a fantastic Palpatine's office diorama.  But I take it the only one that got released was the Tatooine set.

[JediJman]

I really, REALLY wanted that ROTS set.  It would have made for a fantastic Palpatine's office diorama.  But I take it the only one that got released was the Tatooine set.

Yeah - I love that Jabba's palace set too with a spot for Carbo Han on the wall.  Unfortunately all they ever produced was the first Tatooine one.

[CHEWIE]

I wanted the ROTS set as well for a Palpatine throne room.  Years ago, I even contacted whatever company in the UK that was distributing it - they had a preorder for it for a long time before finally taking it off their website.  I thought the ROTS and Jabba sets looked the coolest.  This was a nice concept, but I didn't like the first set because it was too vintage-esque for me.

Like I said in my earlier post in this thread, I've given up on Hasbro on this front in any capacity whatsoever.  I hope somehow Disney farms out something to a company that could figure it out someday, but I see this whole concept as a missed opportunity and "what could have been" - and expect it to always be that way now.  The only way it will ever really succeed is if someone puts the resources in to do it right rather than the handful of half-ass attempts Hasbro has grudgingly done in the past.

Anyone buy any of the McFarlane Walking Dead lego-esque sets that actually look realistic?  I've bought a few.  Would think that would be an awesome concept for 3.75" scale stuff.  Also the Galactic Merchants stuff is fun.  But they couldn't keep up with the demand/etc. 

I've been buying cool stuff from HoleinthegroundPro for a while now.  It requires some painting on your own skills, but it's fantastic stuff.

Next set from them I plan on picking up is this:



http://www.holeinthegroundpro.com/dioramas.html

[CHEWIE]

Regarding Twelfth Parsec, I'm not privy to whatever was being discussed, so if anyone cares to PM me, I'd be interested as I used to promote their work.  I also own several of their items (pretty nice quality, but I still do not prefer 3D printing quality to old school processes... at least not based on the products I've purchased).

[evenflow]

That Jabba set is awesome. I don't remember that one.

[Nicklab]

What were those grey action figure displays that were stackable and space themed. IIRC, they had swappable foot pegs. Can't remember the name of them.

Those were the Ultarama...



I had some of those back in 2000! They weren't expensive, but  they were extremely generic. Still, I was glad to have something figure-specific in the days before I was brave enough to build my own...

I've got several Ultaramas.  And they were pretty good for what they were at the time.  They're definitely pretty durable.

[CHEWIE]

Speaking of Playskool, anyone else noticed that Hasbro is now experimenting with playsets in that line, but not the 3.75" line?