Where did 2003/2004 release go wrong?

[Rainbow Brite UK]

In 1996 Rainbow Brite was redesigned, and re-released. The abomination made many fans angry and the over all design was rejected by fans. This was “not” Rainbow Brite.

In 2003/2004 fans of Rainbow Brite were thrilled to see the beloved figure released, and repackaged for a 20th anniversary celebration. Hot-topic was making lots of money on the colourful style and embrace of such retro items marketed to teens.
ToyPlay took this opportunity to release Rainbow Brite just as she was released in 1984. They released the SAME dolls, in the SAME order as they did 20 years before! They even released a colour castle, new books and other items to kids.

However, despite the movie release to DVD, the 1 episode released with the 18in dolls, they failed.

Why was it? It's what "Fans" said they wanted. A re-release of the SAME toys in the same fashion and design we grew up with? But it failed. What are your thoughts to why?

Tell us what you think. (Select all that apply and explain why)

[Rainbowbrite84]

They didn't promote the products enough. All of us original fans were pretty much the only ones buying the new products. These little girls just coming up, didn't have the slightest clue who Rainbow Brite was. They didn't have any cartoon to really get them involved with Rainbow Brite. I doubt it if they had re-released the original cartoon it would have done well. I don't see the girls of today jumping on board to it. If they had launched a new cartoon that was somewhat kept to the original series, I honestly think it would have worked. A little something for the new generation, and something for us originals. But thats were they completely failed. The marketing was done very, very poorly. The release could have been successful like Care Bears, My Little Pony, and Strawberry Shortcake. Its really unfortunate that it wasn't. Hopefully this time around Rainbow Brite comes out strong.

[*C9*]

Exactly what 84 has said. It was their very poor poor marketing. Even if they decided to re-animate it, it may have been more popular. But because they released the toys without anything else it didn't work. You need to build a franchise first. You sell the toy based on specific aspects. If they we unique toys they may have sold, but they were simply based on an old oncept no special features. Back in the day it could sell but not really now. You only release a toy if it is based from a work which is where merchandise comes into play.

[Dialga-Brite]

I think it's because there weren't enough characters. No new Moonglo & Tickled Pink, no skydancer, no stormy. That's why I'm excited to see that this time around they're paying attention to Moonglo and Tickled Pink - and I hope they doo Stormy, too.

[BabyDoll]

Great discussion topic!

The 2003 RBB line failed for several reasons, some covered in the poll above, and in my opinion, even some that aren't mentioned.

The toy company was small, and therefore could not leverage a lot of retail space for RBB. If you recall going into a Target or Wal-Mart in 2003, RBB was relegated to a corner of the 'girls non-Barbie' aisle, barely enough shelf space for one row of each of her toys. She never got the endcap treatment (being put on the ends of the shelving units so that people passing by the toy section could see them readily).

The price points were average, but not fantastic for what you got. The 'skeleton' the dolls had was awkward and didn't really assist in any poseability of the plushes. The smaller fashion doll-like dolls were odd and didn't really fit the Rainbow Brite design with their gangly arms and weird faces.

The biggest mistake in my opinion was the severely limited selection of characters made available. Rainbow, Canary, Patty and Red may be the most popular characters, but making THREE variations of each of these dolls (across multiple sizes) was, frankly, boring! For a doll who emphasises color over all else, there was sure a lot of yellow, red and green and no purple, blue, orange or indigo! BORING! Even the sprites were only available in those four colors!

I'm speaking in general from the perspective of a parent buying for their child - the actual intended audience of the Rainbow Brite dolls. As collectors, of course, we have different sensibilities and interests, but we have to remember at all times that RBB's primary audience is intended to be younger girls.

[*C9*]

Wow if I ever needed someone for merchandising I would go to you!

[Tilas]

Toss up between not enough advertising, and poor quality. The "action figures" I just didn't like, they didn't seem like a lot of thought was put into them. The whole toy run was quickly done, like they tried to just throw them out there, without much thought into the concept.

[Major Ursa]

To give Toy-Play some credit, they did make Patty O' Green more accurate to the illistrated character with the poka-dots panties, green band-aids, and patches on her boots.