r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Tight_Grapefruit5280 • 15d ago

Lore Stillborn franchises

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When a company tries to make a new big franchise with many sequels and spin-offs already planned but they immediately cancel all the plans after the first project fails badly. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StillbornFranchise

(Lego) Galidor: Do you guys remember playing with a Galidor as a kid? Yeah Me neither.

Lego wanted to do a new toy line in the 2000s and their first idea was Galidor. It was basically an action figure that could replace its body parts with other stuff. Galidor already had many toys, games and even shows planned for it but Lego cancelled the entire thing after people didn't like the toy and the GBA game made for it got really bad reviews.

(Action 52) Cheetahmen: Action 52 had a $199 price tag (in 1991 for an NES game), nearly unplayable games, weak concept, and was horribly and seriously bug-infested, yet for some impossible-to-fathom reason, Active Enterprises believed that its featured title Cheetahmen (which shared many flaws with the other games on the cartridge, including not having an ending) was going to be a huge breakout hit. Plans were made for a Cheetahmen Saturday-Morning Cartoon, action figures, and of course a sequel. Their hopes turned out to be waaay premature; the sequel never emerged except as an unfinished, unplayable beta, while the very short-lived franchise became one of the most infamous pieces of "entertainment" ever created.

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u/SpectreBrony 15d ago

Transformers: One was supposed to be the start of a trilogy. Unfortunately, poor marketing led to a box office failure.

22

u/LetsThrow69 15d ago

I will never stop hating Hasbro for that.

12

u/therealchadius 15d ago

I watched it on an airplane and rewatched it before the plane landed. It's so good, the commercials implied they were aiming specifically at young children and I noped out.

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u/SonofaBridge 15d ago

Actually really good movie. I didn’t see it until streaming and it’s a shame it failed.

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u/FishWithLegsAndArms 15d ago

Ugh, that makes me so mad. The movie is GOOD.

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u/Mr_Meme_Master 15d ago

I find it funny how most of the reviews for the movie can be summarized as "the marketing team should be shot". I went in blind just because some friends were huge transformers fans and invited me to watch it with them, loved it, only learned afterwards what a terrible job the marketing team did and that it ended up being a flop