davidd wrote:Stryker2011 wrote:... but I can’t help but feel the TOS is getting the short end of the stick.
Much as it pains me to suggest this, I think the original Star Trek has "aged out" of the pop-culture consciousness. It's been fifty-two years since the original series went off the air. Yes, it's been running in syndicated reruns ever since, but how many years has it been now since kids would race home from school to watch shows on after-school TV like I did? It's been a decade or more since streaming, DVDs, and video games took over from watching TV; more like twenty or thirty years, if you factor in video games. I think you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone under the age of 50 (I'm being generous; I believe the real number would be closer to 60) who names TOS as their favorite Star Trek franchise or who can name even the three main characters. In fact, it would not surprise me if most people under the age of mid-40s have never even seen an original series episode.
Even the Next Gen fans are getting older, but they're probably still at the tail end of their collecting years, and at the peak of their earnings years. I won't hold my breath when it comes to too many more Next Gen figs, though. Picard has had the most staying power of all those characters, even meriting a spin-off series a few years back. Which other Next Gen character would you release if it were your company? Not which one do you like or would you like to see, but which one do you think would sell enough to be worthwhile? How much of a market is out there for Dr. Crusher, or Guinan, or Wesley?
Very interesting thoughts, Davidd. I agree that TOS is not really having a great resonance with younger audiences anymore despite frequent reruns. That said, the long lifetime of TOS in comparison to other scifi series is still remarkable. So, one cannot really complain that much about it. Generally, I feel that the scifi/space opera genre is not doing too well at the moment. The new Star Trek series (Discovery/Picard/Lower Decks) seem to damage the franchise more than to rejuvenate it. I think the lifetime of these new series in pop-culture consciousness will likely not exceed a few years -- and that is damn good, as they completely dropped the typical pondering about ethical dilemmas in favor of popular morality and fashionable ideology (sorry to fans, just my opinion).
Despite being a huge fan of TOS, Next Generation and Voyager, I have not bought any 1:6 figures and likely won't go for any in the future. I really cannot tell why Star Trek merchandise has little appeal to me...
Sorry, Galaxy Quest humor.