Mattel Proton Pack - speculation

[tripoli]

Matty has already said on their site they intend to stay strong with the GB line through 2012. GB fans on the site frankly are a bunch of whiners. There is quite a bit of negativity but once the collectors there get a great product, they then go to whine what they think they won't get next or that they are not getting enough items. They also assume quite a bit and then run on those false assumptions all the time. I don't know why, but the GB group on Matty creates quite the drama continually while getting treated to some of the best Ghostbusters product items ever produced. Matty is not great with communication but they don't deserve the amount of complaints they receive on that board.

If you want an idea of how well the GB line is doing and how popular it is, then look at the secondary prices on eBay right now. Matty will have no problem continuing to sell this line.

 

[benhs1898]

I agree with Tripoli. Everything about Matty canceling GB all together is conjecture. That place is bad news. If I remember correctly reading the forum rules, it basically says if someone is being a jerk, too bad.

The club ecto subscription failure is not a part of their plan, it is that no one wants to pay extra to buy things in this economic climate.

Even if the pack didn't include the frame, that is a cheap purchase and an easy fix.

 

[Onkelpsycho]

Hm, yeah, Im not one of the "can't get enough" guys. I like Matty release plans. I think 4 or 5 figures a year is enough. I just think, they won't do a favour to the fans releasing 2 12" packs in a month, especially for international customers.

And of course, I would like if they stop the line, before it's getting boring.

Think about. They have made a great PKE and ghost trap, the 12" figures were cool, so the 6", but we have 5 characters, a few ghosts and a lot of alternative versions.

And the the point. With Dana, Vigo and the Rookie we're getting 3 new characters, but the GB line isn't very innovative, and thats why I think better stop, concentrate on other, better things and don't lead the line into something, what makes customers think, that Matty only want to make some quick bucks without put any work into their products...

A Proton pack would be nice, but if it's getting not SA enough, then let it go or do something whats in a possible range, like Ectogoggles or a Gigameter or anything, I think every other prop from GB is easier...

 

[benhs1898]

I still think people are only asserting that the pack could not be accurate enough. That doesn't make it true.

I take the trap as proof that they can shut down the nay-sayers who said that it wouldn't be accurate at all or have any functionality. Look at it. It's pretty darn good in terms of accuracy and it has functionality up the wazoo!

You'll see, in less that one year all of the nay-sayers will have to eat their words and ante up for this thing!

 

[Sundowner]

And that's why I left GB fans. Mattel isnt dumb they know folks are handing over double and triple the selling prices of they're other props.

 

[Onkelpsycho]

The nitpickers still thinking, the trap is not acurate enough... :lol

I think theres a good comparison to Star Wars.

Ok, we have some pretty nice props (Helmets, Lightsabres, etc.). Take it as a contrast to the trap. And then Rubies releases a Darth Vader costume and a stormtrooper armour (contrast to the proton pack).

Some guys say: Eh, thats a pretty nice costume replica, especially for the price. Other people say: A pretty good start, but I have to change something here and there...
And other people say: Forget it. That doesn't look like Vader.

I think its the same with the GBs. Some people would be proud of a matty pack, because thats a real (almost) proton pack. Some people say: Yes, nice pack, but lets add something here and there to make it more accurate. And we have the people, who won't buy this pack, and build the packs by hand as always, because something is wrong or not SA or whatever...

I dont know what will happen, but personally I would like to have a 98% pack, what cost me about $600, than a 94% pack, what comes from matty for $300.

And thats only one reason. Of course another is, that there is no fun to build pack...

 

[Prologic9]

Matty is all about releasing affordable toys and collectibles. That's what their business is based on. Could they produce a Pack for $500-600? I think they absolutely could.

What I don't believe is that they would ever release anything at a $600 price point. That's why they won't do a pack.

 

[thegreatgalling]

I think it comes down to feasibility. I'm pretty sure Mattel is well aware of the sizable market interested in GB items. If they CAN do it, there is no reason they wouldn't.

A plastic formed pack that is mostly one piece, with a plastic alice frame, but electronics sounds within reason to me after seeing the trap.

I also disagree Mattel wouldn't venture to sell a $500 item. I think for this one, they know that if you build it, they will come. If they can keep their own costs down, there is no doubt this would be a lightening fast sell out. I would have never pegged them for selling prop replicas period, and yet they started down that path.

Part of me thinks, however, that a Geiger Meter or Goggles would be the logical next step.

 

[GeneralFROSTY]

In the end, what Mattel is producing are TOYS.
They inflate the price because they know only adult collectors are buying them.
The "Definitive Edition" Buzz Lightyear from Thinkway is just as if not MORE complicated a product than the ghost trap and it retails for $60.
The PKE and Trap are not more spectacular in quality than Buzz or any other number of electronic toys on the market right now.
If Mattel were to mass-produce their replicas the price would be cheaper I think, but they are certainly taking advantage of the fact that adult collectors are buying them.

 

[tripoli]

I don't think Matty inflates the prices too much. Remember, Disney/Thinkway sells a HUGE volume of Buzz Lightyears. Matty is producing a limited number with a high R&D and licensing cost which does not give them that much leeway for profit given their prices. The more volume, the more economy of scale in production that makes such much cheaper to produce with Disney.

Matty COULD sell more and try to market them in further mass production scale production, but it sounds like they feel the market may not be there and its considered a risky venture for them. They look at a more conservative business model in making their prop lines, something I and many others wish they would expand out a bit more with more confidence.

 

[exoray]

Matty is producing a limited number with a high R&D and licensing cost which does not give them that much leeway for profit given their prices.

Matty is owned by Mattel, the largest toy manufacturer in the world, they have full time R&D staff on the payroll as well as having the entire manufacturing and production work flow lined up and secured in exclusive factories... They are not a small scale operation that has to sub out or contract out the majority of the work and manufacturing, quite the opposite...

They might not sell huge volumes of the Matty line but the massive overhead for a small volume run is not felt nearly as much for them as it is for smaller companies... For them it's as easy as sending off a new 12" doll design to be run on the existing Barbie manufacturing lines (no different then a new 'Ken' doll design), the molding machines, raw materials, experienced staff, painters, box manufactures blah, blah, blah is already in place and working for them, just a minor change up at the factory and they are off and running...

 

[GeneralFROSTY]

I don't think Matty inflates the prices too much. Remember, Disney/Thinkway sells a HUGE volume of Buzz Lightyears. Matty is producing a limited number with a high R&D and licensing cost which does not give them that much leeway for profit given their prices. The more volume, the more economy of scale in production that makes such much cheaper to produce with Disney.

Matty COULD sell more and try to market them in further mass production scale production, but it sounds like they feel the market may not be there and its considered a risky venture for them. They look at a more conservative business model in making their prop lines, something I and many others wish they would expand out a bit more with more confidence.

True, and I really feel people who hare against the Mattel line should consider the fact that they are really trying hard to appeal to our community and have given us two GREAT "toys" that we would have LOVED to have had when we were growing up - but even better, we have them now!

 

[Davlin]

If they do a Proton Pack for a decent price, with the same quality as the Trap, I'll be very happy to come back here and post a picture of myself kneeled down with a huge " sorry " sign in my hands.

But I stand to what I said, I don't picture them with multi hundred bucks prices and I still think that the Googles or Gigameter are next.

 

[benhs1898]

I think research would probably show that goggles and the gigameter are not that popular. Again, goggles may also fall under costume items; so goggles may infringe on Rubies license. They are completely out of the question.

Matty is producing definite market hits with "staple" props. The things EVERYONE would want and know about.

 

[Rusty85]

I hope to god these make one of these, I think they did great things with the Trap and Pke.

 

[GeneralFROSTY]

It's an accepted conclusion that for Mattel to have the license to do Ghostbusters props, it would be important to produce a pack replica. It is THE prop of the Ghostbusters movies.

 

[JoeLuna33]

If they do a Proton Pack for a decent price, with the same quality as the Trap, I'll be very happy to come back here and post a picture of myself kneeled down with a huge " sorry " sign in my hands.

But I stand to what I said, I don't picture them with multi hundred bucks prices and I still think that the Googles or Gigameter are next.

^^^Agree totally with the first half^^^

The gigameter was so little used that unless you are a hardcore GB fan, you may not even know what it is, kind of like the KUD meter. As for the goggles. They would sell tons of them if they can get passed the fact that the US military owns the rights to the frames. They a milspec part and to recreate them you would need to get permission from the military. It can be done and IMO it should be done.

 

[Onkelpsycho]

Yes, but its one of the holy grail props, a very famous prop, and a prop where you can make hundrets of mistakes...

Thats like Sideshow produces after the golden idol and the kali chalice not the holy grail (what would be logical), but a grail diary...

I really dont know... :confused

Of course I try to see things with the eyes of a "do-it-myself" guy, a shell, and some parts are in my garage, ready to make a pack from it... Now I buy lots of stuff for hundret of dollars, build it, glue it, paint it, put light and sound in it...

I get a strange feeling, knowing theres something comin' out (possibly), ready to bust, without all the work... I think if we can buy a whole pack, the "magic" is gone... I can't tell anyone, when he asks me where I got the pack: "build it".

Its not like the trap, put it on the belt and play a little bit with it... The pack is a main part of the whole GB costume...

I dont know... Something's bothering me with the idea of a pack by Matty...

Know what I mean? Its not the fact, that Matty could do something wrong, or make it just 95% acurate or 90% or whatever. And its not that, that it could look like cheap plastic or wrong details... It's just something what says: Maybe its better without a licensed proton pack replica by matty...

 

[benhs1898]

Speak for yourself! Make one if you can, that's great! For more casual fans who don't feel like delving into the research, a Matty pack will do.

 

[Rusty85]

The cost of building your own accurate pack is also very high, or at least it has been for me. That's been enough of an obstacle that I haven't even started work on the gun, lights, or sound. It is fun, don't get me wrong, but the idea of having something functional for a cheap price compared to authentic replicas costing an arm and a leg is very appealing.