Why so limited on the Disney Hikari Line???

[lovetheangels]

It seems to me that the Hikari line up until the disney launch has been spotty at best. I have seen the same ones on the shelf at Hot Topics for months and months. Initially a few sold out preorders but when they come in stock there are usually more to sell even on the limited ones. Then they hit ebay and prices go down even more. There are tons of Groots, Skeletors, Batmans, My Little Pony, Ninja Turtles and such that are now cheaper than they originally sold at. Not a huge deal for funko because they sold to the retailers and made their money. I see on Gemini site for example there are a bunch of these on clearance in the 20 - 30 dollar range. A lot of these seem like they didn't really hit the target audience that well.

Now fast forward------They launch the disney line. All of the Mickey and Buzz so far have been flying off the shelves(well preorders they aren't ever going to hit a shelf). If you are trying to really grow the Hikari line why would you make your best line to date (disney) so limited that very few people can obtain them? Yes the die hard collector or flipper will search, kick, fight, and do whatever they need to to get their hands on them. Good for them. My thought is what about the person who just walks into a hot topic and sees that Mickey or Buzz on the shelf and would buy it? There is no chance of them doing that. Seems like thousands of potential customers lost and a line that kind of stays buried instead of growing it like the pop line. Maybe the thinking is Hikari isn't meant for everyone and we don't want it to be mainstream and to grow??? To me it just makes no sense to have a huge run of groots and turtles and to limit the disney line so much.

Sorry so long. Thoughts???

[TheJobaFett]

I think one of the biggest complaints about hikari (besides the price by folks who are used to $10 pops) is that the run sizes were too big. I have a feeling this 2nd (3rd?) wave of hikari are going to have low run numbers, have more 'exclusives' and possibly be a lot of applications we haven't seen before. I think Brian originally described the line as a high end, limited run brand and this latest run of Disney and even some of the recent SW ones fit that bill more than 4 1500 transformers hikari in a row

[Trixt]

I think you pretty much answered your own question. So far most Hikari are not moving very well and those are with huge properties such as marvel and Star Wars. While I do understand that Disney may be bigger I think the Hikari market is very limited so Funko is trying to find more of a sweet spot with the product.

[HobieWanKenobi]

I think one of the biggest complaints about hikari (besides the price by folks who are used to $10 pops) is that the run sizes were too big. I have a feeling this 2nd (3rd?) wave of hikari are going to have low run numbers, have more 'exclusives' and possibly be a lot of applications we haven't seen before. I think Brian originally described the line as a high end, limited run brand and this latest run of Disney and even some of the recent SW ones fit that bill more than 4 1500 transformers hikari in a row

Sounds about right. Probably harder to sell 1500 of one colorway vs 250 each of six colorways. And the additional cost of production is probably minor.

[NightmareMermaid]

I definitely agree with you Ken. I know that the line wasn't selling that well, particularly on the secondary market, but Disney is so popular that I was surprised when the LE numbers were so low. At the very least I thought the regular/standard releases would have higher numbers. The artists really did a great job designing Mickey and Buzz. As a result a number of people have started to collect Hikari. Hopefully they'll increase the numbers a little for future releases because I have a feeling as more people become aware of Disney Hikari the more people will want to collect it.

[lovetheangels]

Good points. To me it just seems like if you polled a random 1000 people and had a Mickey Mouse Hikari, a Wampa Hikari, and a Ninja Turtle Hikari, 999 of them would know what Mickey Mouse was. My guess would be less than 25% would know Wampa or Ninja Turtle. The Mickey Hikari would sell everywhere especially at the parks. Heck people pay 6 bucks for a soda and 4 bucks for a churro.

[Sarcasticguy]

I think one of the biggest complaints about hikari (besides the price by folks who are used to $10 pops) is that the run sizes were too big. I have a feeling this 2nd (3rd?) wave of hikari are going to have low run numbers, have more 'exclusives' and possibly be a lot of applications we haven't seen before. I think Brian originally described the line as a high end, limited run brand and this latest run of Disney and even some of the recent SW ones fit that bill more than 4 1500 transformers hikari in a row

If they keep the sculpt as a whole at around 1500/2000 and then make the colorway options within those numbers like they are doing with Mickey, then Hikari should see a large increase in sales, as each colorway will be more exclusive.

I for one look forward to them possibly expanding Hikari and really pushing some of their more popular licenses.

[rkwo]

Maybe it has something to do with retailers ordering less because they still have Hikari from the first couple of waves that don't move.

[FunkoNewb]

Price point seems to be coming down a bit, lots of Disney have been under 80 so far. Then the production amount is lower. Seems like you're getting a better bang for the buck

[Poncho Pete]

My thought is they are trying to redefine it as a collectible and then want to expand the LE numbers again from there. Build up the hard care fan base and realistically flippers too. Establish that hikari are stable items to buy and won't be worth half the price in a year and go from there. At $40-80 a piece, they won't generate a lot of impulse common passer by purchasing unless there is a buzz about them being the next big thing. I'm impressed with the LE restraint so far. I also think with their vinyl size, that most people will only buy 2 or 3 of a mold at the most if they can get a hold of them. So protecting these runs when in the end there could be 6-8000 mickeys around split into 15 colorways.

[Squird]

I think they're still fine-tuning the line. I like the 300-500 piece editions without the 'premium' up-charge (45.00 vs 75.00). I think early releases were just too much too soon, and were licenses that didn't have a broad appeal. Also, some of the scuplts (Transformers) flat out sucked.

I love Mickey, and Buzz looks great. I think the MLP look pretty good, too, and I hate them as a property. I hope all future releases look as good, stay low numbered, and hold to the lower price point.

Maybe they're supposed to be like chase pop and Dorbz... a nice way to goose collector interest.

[glowfunkofreak]

Step in the right direction - not as many "Premium" priced Hikari.

One step back - Lowering the edition sizes of the Hikari that would be most know to the general public, Disney.

Second step back - Quality control on the paint jobs. B/W Mickey seems to be a disaster.

Let's Hula !!

[CAHRULL]

I definitely think the price point & edition size reduction was a direct response to the fact that so many previous Hikari have languished on the shelves for ages. As someone who has been collecting them since the beginning of the line, it was definitely starting to eat away at me to see every single $80 toy I purchased available at ~$20-40 just a few months later, and it was actually making me draw back from collecting Hikari a bit as it didn't seem to make sense to pay MSRP. If they keep pre-selling out like these small edition Disney Hikari have been, I think it bodes well for the value of Hikari in general and for the longevity of the line.

[lexiyrock]

Well, look at the Mickey premium vintage distress messed up dirty dessert forgotten style paint that EE got as exclusive. It is still warming the shelf. If Funko for a second makes Hikari back to larger runs, it would be a huge mistake. This Mickey is only 500 units and it is sitting there. Now imagine this would have been a 1000 run... .
Funko should keep the Hikaris under 1,000 runs. This vintage style is premium and that might be the reason why it is sitting; the price. Yet I feel that Funko should release the "premium" 70 bucks and up on even smaller runs! For example a rotten look Buzz with a super premium paint app to make it look that way. Buyers already got 5 Buzz to choose from. This new one will be priced at 79... huge increase in price BUT only 100-150 are made.. I guarantee it will be sold out and believe it or not, flippers will buy most of them but at least it is a sale for Funko.

[eastWOLF]

I get the feeling Funko might be a bit worrisome after making 5000 Groots and those still sit on the shelves. However, Disney and the Disney bandwagon bring people in. Mickey would have sold out regardless if there were 500 or 5000 made. Disney is timeless and people love the mouse.