I mean, Wizards of the Coast thought changing up D&D for 4th Edition would be a great idea, and make them MUCH money... it wasn't a great idea, on MANY various accounts on why they're failing miserably with 4E. And most of it was greed, in an economy who cannot willingly spend on expensive hardcovers (that, and irritatingly simple-to-the-point-of-chafing mechanics, unnecessary changes [did they HAVE to get rid of 4 out of the 9 alignments? Why?! What was the point?!], ridiculous changes, STUPID changes [demons are 'elementals'? REALLY?!], promises that were constantly broken [psionics made too late, Far Realm material done sparsely, and inconsistantly, adding in certain clases and playable races far later from the product debut, etc.], products that were disappointingly bare-bones... EVEN THE ADVENTURE PATHS [single-handedly ruined Dungeon and Dragon "Magazines", which Paizo Publishing did a fantastic job on before they were booted out], and, me being a graphic designer, rehashing old pics from previous books... because they probably wouldn't have to pay the artists!]. Tch, even those who LOVED it (well, most of them) have slowly grown tired of it lack of versatility. Long story short, 4E MAY be around, but Wizards lost a LOT of money, and annoyed a good deal of the D&D fanbase with their "necessary, money-making" changes!
Then... there's Loonatiks Unleashed *shudder*. It's a diagnosis of "New demographics, when nobody asked for any".
One of the only things that some people seem to like about 4th Edition, is that it makes being a DM a wee bit easier.
Though I agree, they didn't have to sacrifice flavor and individuality to make the numbers work. Granted, I do enjoy my hybrid tiefling swordmage/warlock... but if I had to play a class bare-bones, without multiclass or hybrid options in 4E..... I'd throw a hissy fit that would put a 2 year old to shame. Paragon paths are a joke, and seriously, most of them seem to have people die, or cease to exist. 'You've lived, you're badass... now be gone! No one will remember you or your exploits, you shall crumble to dust and be used to put out camp fires.'
To make things a bit better, our DM has been using older campaigns and plugging them into the new system (which... presents a lot of problems, as a lot of items can't be converted or even re-created in 4E, even worse with some of the monsters) so it will add something new, since most of our group hasn't played many of the older editions.
If DST can find a way to balance the old with the new, more power to em. Hopefully it's more an issue of pride, than greed.
Based on the various random friends I've had linking me to those proto pics over the last few months (none of them are BB collectors themselves but they know of my interest), it seems that new collectors might prefer them.
Example quotes from friends when I mentioned how they weren't being particularly well received here at LRG...
"Seriously? But these moulds are remarkable! I'd snap them up if I saw them in shops"
"That's more than a little idiotic, given that the odds of such an obscure property ever being revived were slim-to-none. They're honestly complaining about the lack of a forced Rock-Paper-Scissors gimmick? Wow."
"If each individual figure would have such a high level of quality and character, then I'd love to see the line make a comeback. Such effort should be rewarded."
Personally, I'd agree with such sentiment - you can really only successfully sell such retro style toys to the adult collector market. Much as I love them, oldschool Beasts probably wouldn't hold their own on the shelves of TRU these days.
The main reason why I have an issue with the Mini-Mates version, is simplicity.
For me, the figure is so simple it just looks odd. Something about it doesn't flow right, and I worry about how much variety they would be able to add between figures, and frankly... they just look bland (they certainly stand out, but I don't see the character that your friends see... or the quality) when put beside Gormiti, Ben 10, and Bakugan figures, and even those can be very hit or miss.
If I were looking at this item in the store, it would certainly catch my eye because of the name and the fact it's an anthropomorphic animal in armor. Outside of that? I'd be hard pressed to buy the figure.
If someone else bought it for me, I wouldn't toss it away or anything. But it would be a toy I'd always come back to, and probably never buy.
The older figures might be able to make it beside todays toy lines, if they were hard plastic and had a few details refined. Compared to the other lines at TRU, and some newer Hot Wheels additions, I don't see why the original figures couldn't be re-introduced with minimal changes. They are similar enough, but have enough differences that kids could get into (especially the 'animal' part of it. I can't think of a kid that wouldn't buy a set if it had an animal in it they loved or thought was cool looking).
Meh, I can see where the appeal for the Mini-Mates figures would be, but something is just missing. Unfortunately, it's that little something that is a big turn off for me. But it is a prototype, so here's hoping!
Edited by khaomera, 27 December 2011 - 11:14 PM.