Super7 in NY Times Article

Thanks Jonathan. Interesting article; it certainly has been a changing landscape for the last few years for toy makers and companies. And there is no doubt the pandemic bump has been even more critical in highlighting/strengthening these changing market trends, as people looked to online options for connecting as well as, let's face it, distraction (even if just through retail) from the effects. While I completely welcome and support these new funding models - and am especially pleased how they enable smaller manufacturers to be in the game and deliver typically amazing toys to fans, without risking it all - I do recognise this is very much an elite class of toy buying that [at least from my perspective] is not accessible to a large portion of the population. Most of us on this forum have the benefit of being adults, and with the ability, however we make it work, to spend a little frivolously on silly vinyl dollies. But even then there is a whole other level of disposable income, which I think has affected the sofubi market nearly as much as it has the 'Western toy' market, where some amazing toys come out, but they are at a level of elite buying which quite a few fans (and especially kids) will never see. And that's fine too, I think - though unfortunately it is not overtly stated, and in all likelihood intentionally so - there is no question these sort of releases are aimed squarely at a upper class/wealthy adult market, and hence are almost exclusively rooted in 'American'-centric nostalgia as well. I don't see any problem in calling a spade a spade, and also saluting the effort at the same time. Like art, you can appreciate beauty of something without having personal access to it. So what I am saying is, this is not directed criticism at the model or the companies pursuing it; economically it works and makes and ton of sense, and the fact that it results in really cool toys being realised in form is a huge win. We are fortunate to live in a world where these things exist. But at the same time I think there is a interesting conversation here around what toys mean in 2021, and how that shifting definition has resulted in a changing meaning for toy production. That is one aspect this NYT article doesn't really touch on, but maybe that is one for deeper academic papers and philosophers. Suffice it to say that along with these higher end toys shifting the way we view things, and therefore having a direct influence for what is available on toy shelves (sadly, where these even still exist), I sort of mourn the general loss of the accessible toys filling pegs for children which was the basis for so many of these up-scaled offerings. [And I fully admit that even that is coming from a position of nostalgia for what my own childhood wishes entailed, which might not be reflective of a child's view today.]

TL;DR - Cool write up, amazing toys. I wished I could have gotten in on some of these like that Snake Mountain or Haslab Jabba's Barge.