So...why did Master Replicas REALLY go under?

Funky

Funky

Master Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
I know ALL about Jim Latta and the whole Icons debacle.

But I don't think I ever heard how MR finally folded. Here's what I think I know when things started going down.
Steve went on a public tirade calling names, swearing and just all around acting like a child when a bunch of people started bagging on his Y-wing (either design or paint job). It got back to the top of MR and he was fired.
Next thing I remember they are not putting out any new products.
Next thing I remember they are under new management and are now selling toy cars (WTH?).
Next they closed for good.

Please feel free to correct, add or inform if you have any information as to what really happened.
 
Tommy Vargas said:
Generally, you have it right. There's quite a bit more to the story, but that's an accurate summary. As one of two people who personally packed up and shut the doors at the Walnut Creek executive center we were located in, I'd be happy to answer any questions or dive into details. It's been long enough.
Click to expand...
Please do; it would remove some of the static noises coming from "I-was-there-sources" once and for all.(y)
 
Tommy did reach out to me privately as he doesn't feel comfortable spilling the dirty laundry for all to see.
However, I will say that the truth as to MR's ultimate downfall is not nearly as interesting as I originally thought it to be.
Not a whole lot of drama. Just mismanagement and run by people that didn't know what they were doing. That's MY take.
 
That's basically what I understand from another inside source. Plus some fudging on the edition sizes that might have explained the frequent "We just found these in the warehouse" listings for sold out LEs.

That's my favorite juicy tidbit, especially now that there are some newer fans who seem to feel like MR was the gold standard. Far From it. I had plenty of issues with the quality from MR on pieces I bought.
 
My memory may be a little hazy, but I think part of the reason was Hasbro *really* wanting to take over the FX Saber category, along with Lucasfilm increasing the license fee...? Others may remember more clearly.
 
I do not know anything about what went on behind the scenes but I never had a problem with the quality of things I got from them and the thing I appreciated the most was that you did not pay a cent until it was ready to ship.
 
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I Love Master Replicas. I was a little disappointed with the Fat Bottom TOS Communicator, but it was still the best available at the time. Everything else was great, I got the TOS Communicator, Tricorder, Phaser, Assault Phaser, Kilingon Disruptor, Han Solo DL-44, Lukes DL-44, Obiwan's Hilt, the TOS Studio Scale Enterprise. Plus some of the force effects sabers and scaled replicas. Everything has held its value, everything still works, and I sold a few of the starwars pieces at way more than I paid for them.
 
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Funky said:
Tommy did reach out to me privately as he doesn't feel comfortable spilling the dirty laundry for all to see.
However, I will say that the truth as to MR's ultimate downfall is not nearly as interesting as I originally thought it to be.
Not a whole lot of drama. Just mismanagement and run by people that didn't know what they were doing. That's MY take.
Click to expand...
Believe it or not, a lot of companies go under due to the same (or similar) circumstances. Business is a hard thing, and it only gets harder as time goes on, and there's a lot to know and do if the company is to stay afloat. Even when doing things right you can get capsized; mismanagement and inexperience makes it much worse.

In the end though: people are human and we all mess up. Hopefully, Tommy and the others can pick up the pieces in their lives and move on.
 
Good question... I really liked Master Replicas stuff, it was a real attempt at producing high quality replicas for reasonable prices, minor quality issues aside.

I do recall something about how EXPENSIVE the Star Wars license was to maintain annually, and that the initial tooling for a replica runs was very expensive to fund up front. Near the end, I think the profit margins were very thin, so they decided to fold and move on. That was the gist I got.
 
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I've still got a fair percentage of my MR Star Wars collectibles. Some of them were easy to let go, and the ones I kept were mainly OT items. I think i only kept one item per PT film. The easiest thing to jettison were those Clonetrooper helmets. All the different versions of those editions must add up to over 10000.

Nothing lasts forever
 
I still have all of my MR props, though I don't own that many -- a handful of lightsabers, the weathered thermal detonator, the MIB2 neuralyzer, and the First Contact Phaser. My one MR regret is not buying the FC/DS9 Mark IX tricorder when I had the chance -- they show up occasionally on the secondary market (usually the EFX/Rodd.com versions, the latter of which has a defect that tends to cause the door LEDs to fail), but the prices are so insane I can't justify it.
 
Apollo said:
I still have my Trek TOS Landing Party Set, as well as my MIB Nuralizer and ALL The Muppetts they put out, which no one has mentioned
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The MR Muppets were amazing! I still have all three and I'm sad that they didn't make more, although my wallet isn't. Fozzie was prototyped. I can't imagine what that would have run.
 
I also have loads of MR stuff, landing party set, TNG phaser, Klingon disruptor, Aliens' Motion Tracker, lightsabers, Vader helmet, Pirates' Chest, flintlock, compass etc. etc and mostly I was and still am very happy with them. They have started up again in another guise but using the same logo etc in the UK (maybe US?) but all orders seem to be going through a UK company called Heath Trading, selling left over Eaglemoss stock but sadly the old bad practices of taking orders and failing to ship them are already creeping in and they are starting to get slated in the UK review site Trustpilot. Masterreplicas is rated "Poor" with 2.5 / 5 on Trustpilot It seems the saga continues??
 

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