This might have been delayed due to that plane crash, I’d give them time. Plus, they would’ve said if they were cancelling. With time being put into it and demand still being high, there’s no reason why they’d just quit.
Anyways, we’ve had our speculations about Wave 3, but I think there’s really no way they can go wrong. There’s the obvious choices (Mrs. Potato Head, Zurg, etc…), but even if they throw a curveball and make a minor character… that would still be awesome.
I don’t think it is completely unreasonable to see wave 3 by the holidays. Remember Chunk, Twitch, and Sparks? No one knew those were coming out until right before they started showing up.
If they make Zurg I will rush to get it. An in scale ion blaster firing, speaking, purple evil emperor with zurg-vision is a toy story collectors dream (well mine anyway).
They aren’t part of the TSC. TSC are widespread toys that form the ‘main’ line of toys for the movies - so they appeared in the retailers catalogue before they were released. I’ve seen the early 2011 retailers catalogue, and there were no TSC toys in it. So we won’t be getting wave 3 before mid-2011.
Also keep in mind that the orginal TSC wave was released around the time the original movies were re-released in 3D, and during the hype for TS3. A third wave wouldn’t have a movie to be released alongside, so it might be a lot less profitable to release such expensive toys without a movie providing a ‘free advertisement’.
I have no idea what this retailer’s catalog that you’re talking about is, but I’d be willing to bet that just because something isn’t in it doesn’t mean it isn’t coming, product lineups change frequently in the toy industry. Things like that happen all the time, maybe they didn’t have the promotional images or info to the publishers before it came out, or Thinkway could be playing coy about the whole thing and they already know who’s in the wave and it’s started production, but for whatever reason they’re keeping it under wraps to have a big rush when they release the new info. Companies do that all the time to promote their stagnant products, they’ll release something brand new, and it will tend to suggestively sell the other products in the line and even ones that aren’t, because it brings people to their section of the aisle in the stores.
My thought is, the reason this is taking so long, is because when it comes to a company like Hasbro, whose main lines are the small 3 3/4" figures, they know that they have a wide-enough fan base that they can take some risks with who they decide to make, and if it doesn’t take, they cut back on a certain section and promote more popular ones more. This also allows them to plan far into the future, because they know this demand will still be there years from now, so they can count on it for future product sales. With Thinkway, they’ve got a small window of opportunity before the interest dies out, and they only release about 5 or 6 toys per wave, and 2 or 3 waves per year, as opposed to Hasbro’s 7 or 8 per wave, and 10 to 12 waves a year, per line. Therefore, they have to think a lot more about who they should make, and who they should just consider good enough to be left alone, because we all know that even though we’d like to see this line continue, more likely than not, Wave 3 will be the end. With this in mind, they probably are thinking that they have to get this right, for Pixar’s, their own, and our sake, because if they don’t people are going to hold it against the company for the near future. Just my two cents on that, but seriously guys, I don’t think we should be so pessimistic about this, if Thinkway says it’s coming, then it’s more than likely coming, they wouldn’t waste time planning something that they won’t be doing.
You have to ask just how much profit is there to be made from a third wave? The re -release of the original films were to spark interest in the new film and get those who missed them first time around up to speed. For Thinkway to pull in the non collector they would have to coincide with the release of ts3 on blu ray. Stores are starting to lower their stock and pushing bargain prices just to shift tsc figures. How much are Thinkway willing to gamble that the interest will be there after the furore of the film has died? Collectors will eat them up for sure. Your average joe more than likely wont. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to see Zurg and stinky pete released. I’m just not sure that the market will be there anymore.
That’s true. Besides, most people only care about the main characters.
i think stinky pete would have some markiting proublems becouse i dont think some random guy with a kid would go into a store and by a fat old man doll that says my biskits are burning 
That’s a good point. And, not to mention, kids may not know who the Prospector is.
It’s kinda like in the movies, where the Prospector was a poor seller. Still, fans and collectors would jump at never-before-released toys like that. I mean, Zurg provides and enemy for Buzz, and Stinky Pete completes the Roundup Gang.
Theres the Toy Story short thats going to be infront of Cars 2- maybe that will keep the hype built up
The TS3 blu ray comes out in November, I would think would be something they could promote with it. That combined with the holiday season should be the last decent marketing window. I know the Zurg and prospector characters are barely in TS3 if at all, but its still the third in a trilogy in which they had a big role.
The retailers catalogue is basically there so that toy companies can say ‘Here’s what we’re bringing out, what do you want us to send you to sell?’. So, if you don’t have these toys in the catalogue, no toy retailers are able to say that they want to order a load, you follow?
Think of it from a business standpoint. They’re going to want to let retailers know what they’re bringing out, ESPECIALLY considering they aren’t being released alongside a big movie. Leaving it late or as a ‘surprise’ would make no sense. It might’ve been okay before the movie came out, because it has that support, but not now.
Again, from a business standpoint, once you’ve got Buzz, Woody and Jessie out there, every other character is a big risk.
lolno. For a start, if they were thinking that they were under pressure to ‘get it right’, it’d be too big a risk for the company to take, and they wouldn’t bother. And they try to do stuff well to make a profit, not so that nobody ‘holds it against them’ or whatever. They’re a company, they want to make money. And if they were releasing a third wave anytime soon, they’d already be talking about it/advertising it/whatever to maximise profits.
Ermm…yes, they would. They’d plan it, and perhaps find a flaw, or realise that the market has changed and they won’t gain a decent enough profit to make it worthwhile. Just because it’s planned doesn’t mean it’s definitely happening.
i think there’s wave 3… coz on lee unkrich’s formspring:
What do you think of the toy story collection toys? And will there ever be a Trixie, Prospector,Zurg of these toys?
They’re awesome! We’d been wanting to do a line of toys like that for years. I’m hoping we’ll see more.
Hey guys, what stands have you been using for your Woody? All the ones at JoAnne Fabrics didn’t fit. Can you give me a store, price, and name?
So you think that because Lee hopes there will be more, there will be?
If that were true, then we would not have a toy story collection at all. Pixar and thinkway is not the same as Pixar and Mattel. The relationship is one that is geared towards the integrity of the characters. The TSC is probably not all that profitable, but you can always make up for that with the lesser cheaper toys which will appeal to the masses. I believe that there will be a wave 3 and that it will surprise everyone. under the simple reasoning that there was a secound wave and that there are still popular characters that have not been released. (Slink, Hamm, Mrs. P, Zurg and Prospector)
Dumb toys are released all the time and if the price is correct unsuspecting people will buy them. The toy story cast is marketable in its totallity. there is not a single character from the third film that could not be sold under the “right conditions”. just because TRU decides not to carry cetain figures does not mean that another store can or will not. Look at the disney store which is a collectors heaven. you can till this day find any TSC character at just about all times. it will not always be this way and you do pay a premium and shipping cost, but the point is that they are there, ALL that have been released. The disney store is a perfect example of niche marketing. The TSC is not for everyone, instead it is for those who have genuine interset in the series that is unwavering and in some cases unaffected by cost.
A toy company doesn’t deal with characterisation or character integrity at all - it deals with making toys that will sell. A third wave would not sell as well as the previous ones have done, because there’s no big movie release alongside it, and parents aren’t going to want to spend £40 on a Prospector or Hamm, for example. They might have done if they’d been brought out with TS3, but they weren’t. So now it’s too late - Thinkway have the three main characters out, and a few more as well - a third wave isn’t likely. And since it’s not in the retailers catalogue for early 2011, it’s made even less likely.
Popular to Pixar fans, not that popular to the thousands of kids who are the target audience for these toys. If they have Woody and Buzz, they’re happy. I doubt many are begging for a Mrs. Potatohead, and those that are will be of such a small number that a substantial profit won’t be made on releasing her. Prospector and Zurg are characters from a movie that is now 11 years old, which the kids of today aren’t going to be familiar with on a big enough scale for a substantial profit.
You want to try telling that to my kids, they want everything!!!
I’ve just bought RC for christmas and he is from a movie that is now 15 years old and I know my kids will go nuts. And yes, my daughter has asked for a Mrs Potato Head!
I think you underestimate the power of these films to live on. I would say that the Toy Story characters are amongst the most beloved of all time. They could continue to sell steadily for many, many years no doubt. In the same way Star Wars continues to sell.
Trust me, EVERY kid in my 6 year old daughter’s class knows who Prospector and Zurg are.