...move over @brianflynn there's a new CEO in town! https://super7.com/blogs/news/super7-appoints-maigread-eichten-as-new-chief-executive-officer yeah, but for real, good for super7. even if they've slowed their sofubi releases in the past few years... they still are doing cool shit (even if it's not in my wheelhouse) like the MOTU giant snake mountain, tons of reaction figures, optimus prime, ren and stimpy, and so on and on.
Cool news for Super7, and congratulations to Ms. Eichten. S7 has certainly become a heavy beast of a brand unto itself, and I am sure this will only bring good things. Going 'mainstream'/mass resale should bring a lot of new investments to further dive into the new iteration and focus of the company, as it diversifies. It might not all be for me or everyone, as Charlie said, but every last bit of it has been earned with the incredible effort Brian and team have put in all these many years. So thumbs up for that, and best wishes in this next chapter.
As PepsiCo Sales and Marketing Executive, she certainly knows her way around plastic! https://www.usatoday.com/story/mone...ons-behind-the-most-ocean-pollution/39552009/
As someone who loves Super7, I'm really happy for Brian and the crew who have worked so hard to build the company into what it is, happy for how successful they've been with their licensed lines, and excited to see what the future holds for them with their new CEO, but I worry that with popularity of their licensed lines they'll lose what made me fall in love with them; their passion for making (for lack of a better term) indie toys. Hoping they stay true!
@Roger Everything made overseas can be made over here. It will take lots of money and smart people to spearhead this effort and it can not obviously be for toys alone. I don't blame China. I blame companies like Hasbro for having decades of products made there by choice, to have a bigger profit. At least MEGO is already going with factories in Mexico. It can be done. It must be done.
I think you're naive to think that action figures and vinyl toys could be made in the US again. Even if you did get around the environmental protection laws, the accommodations you'd need to make for those plus the cost of labor would end up with a retail price of three to four times what they are now. The market would never bear prices like that. It's a nice dream but will remain just that, a dream.
The products that the guys from Bog Squad, Sucklord and many others make indicate otherwise and are better quality often times than retail products, so no I don't think it's naive at all, but I am not trying to argue with you Roger. 3D printing is also openly available and has advanced quite a bit. Maskfest just had a huge show of nearly all DIY artists that made better quality merch than the Chinese crap that will be hitting retail soon. Smaller scale same market. As for vinyl, I know two guys in Florida did successfully pull test shots. Shame that the guy with the money backed out. Often the case
You are comparing homemade resin toys with injection molded mass produced figures. Not the same thing at all. 3D printing is not the same as making things in a factory either. Its ideal for prototyping but that's really it. I'd like to see if any of these US-based vinyl producers are OSHA compliant.