More Bust-Ups Please!

[RooJay]

I'm really lovign Gentle Giant's line of Star Wars Bust-Ups. I haven't had this much fun collecting a line in a long while (the only thing that would make it more fun would be if more people were collecting them making trading much easier and more viable). The quality and design of the figures is top notch and the price is pretty good to boot (for some reason it seems easier to justify 5 bucks for half a Star Wars character than it is to justify 7 bucks for the whole thing ). I'm also glad to hear that Gentle Giant will be doing a line os Simpson's Bust-Ups as well this year. While hearing that McFarlane has picked up the license for Simpsons figures has left me feeling incredibly underwhelmed, hearing about Simpsons Bust-Ups has got me really excited. I can't wait to add them to my collection!
This gets me to thinking, however, about how cool it would be to see GG branch out with this idea to other licenses as well! I think the Bust-Ups concept leaves itself well wuited to a huge range of licensing possibilites! For instance, I would definitely love to see Bust-Ups of the following licenses:

Futurama - Since we're already getting the Simpsons, why not also do that show's cooler, funnier, more imaginative cousin? I'm betting with no new episodes in production the license is probably cheaper. Plus, GG should already have a relationship with the show's producers and there's a built in fanbase!

Sky Captain - merchandise of any type fopr this movie would be cool in my book! It seems like this property would be perfect for Bust-Ups!

DC Comics - anyone around here who's been paying attention knows I'm one of the world's biggest DC fans, and what better license for the Bust-Ups treatment than comics' most iconic characters and longest running universe? I would not turn down Marvel Bust-Ups either. I'd also love to see DC animated lines such as:

Justice League Unlimited, and...

Teen Titans

Lord of the Rings - C'mon! Who wouldn't be into these? Bust-Ups seem to have a certain air of class about them - they'd be a perfect format for a license that has a reputation of both theatrical and literary class! Plus, I seem to remember the line of toy machine (Gashapon, as the Japanese have dubbed them) LOTR busts were pretty popular.

Braveheart - Again with the class, and lots of collecting potential here.

Gladiator - Another Oscar winner ripe for plastic treatment.

Reservoir Dogs -

The Fifth Element - ...those designs are screaming for some decent plastic representation...

The Rocketeer - I defy anyone to explain to me how a Rocketeer Bust-Up wouldn't be cool. I'd settle for the movie or comic version.

The Incredibles - Hell, why not a straight out Pixar line of Bust-Ups covering all of their movies? Other than the fact that Disney'd probably never let 'em do it, I mean. I'd be all over them.

Pirates of the Carribean -

The Matrix Trilogy - GG has already done a line of cold cast Matrix busts; smaller scale and cheaper price = more characters, a larger collection, and much greater accessability.

Universal Monsters - There's always a market for these guys!

Star Trek - I bet they'd sell tons of 'em.

I'd even go so far as to think that Bust-Ups would sell big right in theater lobbies. It's common practice in japan, and quite successful as well, to sell film merchandise for brand new movies right in the theater lobby as the show lets out. Bust-Ups would be a perfect way to kick this trend off in the U.S. which I think would work quite successfully! Bust-Ups are small so they would take up little counter space (they could even be merchandised along side the candy), are inexpensive so they'd make for excellent impulse items well within the budget of the general public, and would make for an excellent way to drum up interest in certain films, I think. Who's with me on this? Anyone have any other ideas?

[Rocketboy]

The Bust Ups are really cool, but I hate the fact it can be pretty tough to see what one you're getting. Sometimes, you can't tell, especially with Series 2, with 3 or 4 black figures. The only discernable one is the Stormtrooper. I'm not paying for Vader only to get Maul, Dooku, or the Emperor.

While some would be really cool, I don't really think there is a market for some of these
Futurama - since it was cancelled a few years ago, and the figuress didn't go over well, I doubt it could happen.
Sky Captain - Awesome movie, but the poor box office was probably the kiss of death to the merchandising.
The Matrix Trilogy - The stuff they have now is rotting on the shelves
Braveheart, Gladiator, The Fifth Element, & The Rocketeer - while they do have a lot of fans, I can't see people buying the merchandise, unless they were done in a small production run or in a line similar to Movie Maniacs.

I do like the idea of selling them in theaters though...if they were reasonably priced ($5-6).

[RooJay]

The Bust Ups are really cool, but I hate the fact it can be pretty tough to see what one you're getting. Sometimes, you can't tell, especially with Series 2, with 3 or 4 black figures. The only discernable one is the Stormtrooper. I'm not paying for Vader only to get Maul, Dooku, or the Emperor.

While some would be really cool, I don't really think there is a market for some of these
Futurama - since it was cancelled a few years ago, and the figuress didn't go over well, I doubt it could happen.
Sky Captain - Awesome movie, but the poor box office was probably the kiss of death to the merchandising.
The Matrix Trilogy - The stuff they have now is rotting on the shelves
Braveheart, Gladiator, The Fifth Element, & The Rocketeer - while they do have a lot of fans, I can't see people buying the merchandise, unless they were done in a small production run or in a line similar to Movie Maniacs.

I do like the idea of selling them in theaters though...if they were reasonably priced ($5-6).

First of all, it sounds to me as though there is a misconception here that these are toys, and will appeal only to those of us who are into 'toys'. While I can understand how that perception could have come about (these things have a natural appeal to action figure collectors) I really can't believe that anyone is buying Bust-Ups as toys. These are collectible micro-busts that I will argue have a potential for much broader appeal. I tend to think of them as highly affordable statuary - albeit small and palstic, and I can easily see Bust-Ups for a very wide and diverse range of properties becoming quite popular with people who wouldn't normally consider buying 'action figures'. I can easily see these taking root in office cubicles, desks, atop work computers and filing cabinets across the country. There is already a huge market for items of this nature - there are plenty of catalog companies whose success is founded such items.
As far as your assessment of my choices goes:

Futurama has consistently been a ratings success for Cartoon Network (even to the point of frequently surpassing Family Guy's ratings) in spite of it's late night timeslot and the fact that the last new episode two years ago. In fact, Matt Groening himself has stated that the only reason the show hasn't made a return to television ala Family Guy's triumphant resurrection in spite of it's similar success in DVD is mainly due to the expensive nature of the show's production; it's cancellation was due much more to Fox's lack of support for the show that led to it's constant preempting and schedulin shuffle than any other factor. It seemed to me that MAC's Fututrama figures did okay for such a small line, and remember these figures came out during the period when Fox was constantly screwing around with it's scheduling leading to a pitifully low profile in first run. Also, MAC Futurama figures seem to be selling at pretty decent secondary market prices on Ebay at the moment. Plus, I bet there's enough of an association with the Simpsons (which GG is already doing) to draw in those collectors as well. Trust me, there is plenty market for these.

I could also argue that lack of merchandising was the kiss of death for Sky Captain's box office. This was a great movie, with great potential and I firmly believe that it failed to garner interest due to it's near complete lack of promotion. The studio totally dropped the ball on this one by not bothering at all to try and give the film public profile. I'm betting this movie becomes somewhat of a cult classic on DVD similar to Army of Darkness, and there has been plenty of merchandise for that film. Trust me, there is a market. Besides, "limited edition" would plenty suffice here, I think.

While the Matrix figures - which everbody generally felt hardly met up to expectations - didn't seem to sell in the massive numbers McFarlane expected (such a dynamic property should have spawned much more...exciting action figures), but I'm betting they sold in decent numbers. The mini-busts, however, seemed to sell pretty briskly at 40-45 bucks a pop. I'd expect the same kind of results with Bust-Ups only better since Bust-Ups are much more affordably priced and take up far less display space.

I bet if you make a check of all the various figure wish lists in these forums alone, you would see that films like Braveheart, Gladiator, The Fifth Element and The Rocketeer typically rank pretty highg on a lot of lists. I can see plenty enough people buying the merchandise, and a small production run would be all that is needed for any of the properties I've listed. I also think they'd have a better chance of general sell-through to a much broader audience as Bust-Ups rather than as Movie Maniacs styled figures.

I do like the idea of selling them in theaters though...if they were reasonably priced ($5-6).

Just so happens that is exactly the price for Bust-Ups!

Here are some more suggestions for possible licenses:

-Army of Darkness
-the Aliens saga
-the Predator saga
-Batman Begins
-Stargate
-the View Askewniverse
-Riddick
-Monty Python and the Holy Grail
-The Dark Crystal, The Muppets, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and Labyrinth
-Ghostbusters
-the X-Men, Spider-Man, Blade, Fantastic Four and other Marvel movies
-the upcoming Charlie and the Chocolate factory and even the classic Willy Wonka
-Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, and The Corpse Bride
-The Princess Bride
-Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction
-Ren and Stimpy
-the Terminator Trilogy

I could even see Bust-Ups making for a successful educational line for sale in stores specializing in such things with lines featuring U.S, Presidents and famous historical figures (surely they would find a good home in classrooms across the country), and how about figures of famous pop-culture figures like Elvis and The Beatles among other musical legends.

[Rocketboy]

I also think they'd have a better chance of general sell-through to a much broader audience as Bust-Ups rather than as Movie Maniacs styled figures.

I didn't mean they'd be good as a Movie Maniacs figure line. What I meant was a wave of Bust Ups like MM - various movie characters all in one wave.

Just so happens that is exactly the price for Bust-Ups!

Exactly my point. Know movie theaters, they would end up charging at least $10 a pop.

[RooJay]

I didn't mean they'd be good as a Movie Maniacs figure line. What I meant was a wave of Bust Ups like MM - various movie characters all in one wave.

Hey, now that's a good idea too!

[Jayspawn]

I hate to say it, but I think the Bust-Ups kinda stink. Basically because they are just 'half an action figure." They are about the same scale as a Hasbro action figure -which I can cut in half and basically have a Bust-Up. The detail is not that good either. I think Gentle Giant made a huge mistake picking up The Simpsons license -because Playmates and otrhers STILL have their Simpsons merchandise warming the pegs now -on clearence no less! Although they are cool, nobody wants to buy Simpsons stuff anymore. I like the fact that you have to spend a minute assembling the Bust-Up and I think they're charming trinkets. But thats all.

[RooJay]

Okay so the two of you are out...

Who's with me on this? Anyone have any other ideas?

[RooJay]

Looks like my wish has moved a step closer to coming true. From the sounds of this item it seems very similar to Bust-Ups except without being part of a larger line:

http://www.action-figure.com/modules...rder=0&thold=0