What should a playset be?

I believe it should be the centerpiece of a set or collection. There has been a lot of talk about what should be done for the various lines by Mattel based on DC Comics. I feel it should be the Watchtower. Many people have said the Batcave. The 2 problems with this are that it has been done, and done, and done, and that 90% of the Justice League members will never set foot in, or even see, the Batcave. All of them will be in the Watchtower. Whats more, if Mattel does not want to do a lot of detail, it could be done as an empty display case/stand for the figures. Say for example you were doing a playset/display for Flash Gordon, it would be Ming's Palace. It is the one place where everybody would logically appear together.

CCC.

i need to find a good display/diorama/playset for my 6" ghostbusters, any good ideas?

The Kenner Firehouse is great. It is a little small for the Mattel figures, but from the outside it looks great. I just got one for about $45 shipped a couple months ago. It is a bit dirty and it's missing the logo sign from the front, but it shouldn't be hard to clean up and find a replacement for the sign (that seems to be the most often missing part when I've been looking). There was one on eBay a while back that someone had repainted the outside of it and made it look very realistic (though for a 'toon toy it's already pretty darn good). Here's a link to a pic of the re-paint...

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_30vnu72GLcs/S ... CF7496.jpg

The guy had a whole gallery of shots of it, but all I could find was a link to that one photo...

That question right there... That's what seperates what toy companies do for kids from what collectors are really looking for. For kids it has to be fun otherwise it's just a "dollhouse", for us we want a display piece and very, very few playsets do both successfully... I think the most consistant line for playsets has to be the 3 3/4" Joes, they're packed with play features and they look good just sitting there... The next runner up would have to be the Big Massive Falcon for Star Wars, there are some nit-picky things that could be better for both groups, but still and amazing toy and diorama piece. The new AT-AT looks like it might be the same way. After that I'd put the Playmates Star Trek: TNG Bridge for the same reasons. After that would have to be either version of Castle Grayskull, either version of Zizzle's Black Pearl and, maybe, one or two of the TMNT playsets. Haven't seen the Narnia castle in person, but the photos look great, not sure how good of a "toy" it is, though. The Kenner Wayne Manor isn't bad, nor is the Hall of Justice carry case but after that I can't think of many that do both well. Palasades made some incredible set pieces for their Muppets line, but I'm not sure how much "play" a kid would have gotten out of them. After that, I can't think of any playset that even comes close to being a really good display, either for the reasons you cite, Lord Mudd, of not everyone "being there" or because they just look crappy. I mean, I got hours upon hours of use out of my old Kenner Death Star and Mego Batcave but neither looks good as a backdrop to the figures.

I disagree on the ST bridge. I have it and am trying to get rid of it. The engineering piece too. They are still sitting in a garage sale down the street. I would have done the Holodeck. Has all of the criteria for both play and display. In fact I tried to suggest it but Playmates would never talk to me (see my Star Trek thread for details). Oh what ye olde collectors missed out on with that one!

CCC.

I do like the new movie Star Trek bridge, but hate that we will never be able to finish it. What I want to do is make a copy of the mat on poster board, at a copy shop, and cut that to creade the 3D structure of the bridge as it is in the movie, then fix the set pieces to that. Also, you can finish the front half. You need an extra Kirk, Pike, and Scotty for the console pieces and chairs.

I saw the last 3 small figures at Walmart today for $1.13. The bridge and Transporter playsets are well stocked at $10 at Big Lots, and the figures are on clearance everywhere, so this one is not hard to get.

Personally I think Playmates should offer a pack of missing bridge pieces to collectors on their website.

CCC.

Check my At Big Lots thread in What Didja Find.

CCC.

i still have mine from when i was a kid, its in the garage. i believe i saw that one you posted, didnt he also put LED lights in it too? i got a buddy who custom painted some neca turtles for me. maybe ill see if he interested in taking on the fire house

Sometimes a playset can be as simple as a photo panel backdrop. This shot was composited by someone in a Trek yahoogroup from the episode Man Trap. I printed it on card stock and pasted it to a piece of cardboard for durability.


CCC.

There is a company that dose just that. I think they are about 24 bucks or so. I do miss the old days of at least 3 cool playsets color change paint and Smelling figures

For $24 it better be more than a single panel and sealed in plasstic or vinyl. I just surf the net looking for good wallpaper shots. It doesn't cost me that much.

CCC.

I found this custom Batcave on Google.



CCC.

Yep. That is Iron Cows. He and Casimir have similar setups. That's a Repainted Toy Biz Batcave.

They sent me a set of the Card and Penny back in the day. Looks great in my display!

Found this bookcase, cleaned it up, adjusted it's size, and created the top and side panels for it. Nice way to spend the morning.


CCC.

I'm a fan of the Ultarama. I was going to put them together to make something circular to remind me of the terrordrome with the firebat in the middle and some of the little star trek consoles around the edges for computers. Now I'm sort of thinking about stacking all of my levels up to make a watch tower for my JLU figs.

I also got a Megaman Dr Wily playset for like $5 from KB back in the day that I was going to use for something. I haven't decided yet but at that price I couldn't pass it up.