MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000
RETURNS WITH FIRST-EVER
CONSUMER PRODUCTS PROGRAMSTRATEGIC LICENSING PARTNERS ANNOUNCED
AS THE SHOW HEADS TO NETFLIXLos Angeles, CA – February 16, 2017 – The popular entertainment brand and cult-hit comedy series MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 (MST3K) has announced its first consumer products program, which is gearing up for release as the new season heads to Netflix for its much anticipated premiere.
“MST3K is enjoying a new iteration on Netflix for both new audiences and longtime fans alike,” says MST3K creator Joel Hodgson. “We’re really looking forward to partnering with creative companies who are fans of the show and can capture the zeitgeist of the series with new products and ideas.”
Bob Emmer, COO of Shout Factory, adds, ”We’re eagerly pursuing licensing opportunities across all categories, with the goal of delivering fun and innovative merchandise that’s true to the show MSTies know and love.”
The licensing program is helmed by Elie Dekel, of Dekel Brands. Strategic partners for licensing and merchandising on board thus far include:
· Dark Horse (serialized comics, graphic novels, coffee-table book and gift items)
· FUNKO (vinyl figures, and FUNKO-POP figures)
· Changes (t-shirts, tops, sweatshirts)
· Insight Editions (Ultimate Episode Guide, trivia books, journals)
· Great Eastern (buttons, patches, stickers, pins, gifts and novelties)
· Just Funky (gifts, beverage/barware, key chains, auto accessories, table-top gifts)
· Zen Monkey Studios (t-shirts, sweatshirts)Products will be rolling out spring of 2017 throughout the 4th quarter, with new products and licensees to be announced over the course of the year. MST3K and its licensees will be working with specialty retailers to deliver the new merchandise to retailers and ecommerce stores.
Beloved by a legion of fans worldwide and ranked by top media culture critics as one of the best cult television shows of all time, MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 will highlight brand extension opportunities across all licensing categories, including apparel, digital gaming, publishing, toys, home goods and accessories.
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Licensing Partners AnnouncedSome news from the business side…
57 Replies to “Licensing Partners Announced”Commenting at Satellite News
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I love how some of the folks on this thread are all “don’t want merchandise to cheapen the product!” Those are usually the same folks who hate the idea that MST3K actually is getting known by the masses — it’s that kind of elitist crap that sickens me. I say the more the merrier, I want the whole WORLD to jump on board, with either the classic or the new stuff (and, yes, damnit, I want my Funko MST3K figures, despite never even liking that style).
It’s fun to be the only people who have heard of something special — you belong to a very exclusive club and you get a secret handshake and pass along references to your friends that no one else understands. This is GREAT when you are eight years old. When you’re an adult you want to share the best stuff with everyone, including strangers, because it’s the right thing to do for them and for the stuff you are sharing. Nothing cheap about it — if you don’t want the mech, keep your wallet in your pocket.
I’d like to hear more about this. Is there a profit-sharing arrangement between Shout and the old writers and cast? I know Rifftrax shares the profits with all the principals, but I hadn’t heard anything about any top-level agreements to that effect. I’d be happy to hear it if such a deal were now in place.
Been waiting for a MST3K comic book since seeing that ad in the old Previews Catalog , where they were riffing on 60’s/70’s era Golden Key Comic titles.
Now there’s an idea for a future Saturday Topic.
Dark Horse Comic Titles that would make good fodder for the Mst3k Comic book if they went the route of the riffing DH titles.
Using my Old Man voice –
Back in my day all we needed was a t-shirt, a bumper sticker, and the Satellite News on paper in the mail box. These kids today with their holographic comic books and their solar powered Cambot drones. Cheese and Crackers!
They are focusing on merchandise for a new series that hasn’t been released yet. The reboot is the impetus for this merch push. Per Joel: “MST3K is enjoying a new iteration on Netflix for both new audiences and longtime fans alike,” says MST3K creator Joel Hodgson. “We’re really looking forward to partnering with creative companies who are fans of the show and can capture the zeitgeist of the series with new products and ideas.” That’s great, fine, and wonderful. The show hasn’t had a new episode since 1999. Why not definitely make sure that all your ducks are in a row and at least see what your audience numbers are while the season progresses before pushing the merchandising. Oh, I’m sure THEY all think it is funny and great, but what will the fanbase think? Will this catch on with 2017 audiences? Will this lead to a season 12? Or 13? Will it all blow up and thanks for the shining nostalgia moment?
But again, I never said people can’t spend where they want to spend their money. The dollar amounts I’ve spent on Rhino VHS tapes and DVDs, Shout Factory DVDs, Rifftrax DVDs and downloads, Film Crew DVDs, Cinematic Titanic DVDs and live shows, books, posters, CDs, bumper stickers, unMSTed versions of the movies, lobby cards, original film posters, and autographs of the stars of the riffed movies has been my guilty fanboy pleasure since I first saw the show back in 1990.
I suppose I just don’t like the “assured nature of being certain that the MST fan dollars will be there and look at these keychains we’ve got, oh boy”-type of vibe with this. People already gave tens of hundreds of thousands of dollars for this show to come back. I just want the show to be well written and well executed and instead of even the slightest taste of what we’re getting for our dollar, we’re getting a list of other things to buy in the meantime.
Again, some might think that is “elitist”, but I just want the show to live up to the standards it set for itself. At the very least, I don’t want it to be embarrassing. That might sound negative, but again we haven’t seen a frame of footage yet. And again, buy what you want, spend your dollar where you want to.
And “A Christmas Story” was aired to death, but I never would watch it during those marathons. But I saw that every single damn store on Earth had some merch related to it during the holidays and that’s what killed it for me personally.
Best of luck to them, but I have to wonder how much merch they really think they can move. I don’t know what the sales figures are on Shout Factory’s DVD boxsets, but their recent limited (bonus disc) DVD sets seem to take months to sell out at just 1,000 or 1,500 copies. But maybe there will be a whole new fanbase to eat this stuff up, who knows? I would just hope that Trace, Frank, etc. get a decent cut of sales of items that feature their likenesses at the very least.
The merchandise hasn’t been released yet either.
Why not wait until after the initial hype for a series dies down before making tie-in products available for people to purchase? Gee, let me think about that one.