How Novi Stars could sell better

[SALTY5621]

 don't get me wrong i love these little interstellar gals but they are suffering in the sales department. In my mind, the main reasons are:

• The marketing. If you look at Novi Stars' marketing it seems to consist of a catchy music video with horrid live action and the vlogs on youtube seem to reinforce stereotypes from 90's girl toys. If you look at Monster High or even the queen of girly Barbie herself, its obvious that these stereotypes no longer really exist. Also they never showed commercials here so i don't think they advertised them well.
• The lack of unique dolls and clothing sets. On the shelves at my local target its mainly the Cyclops doll surrounded by a bunch of orbit beaches. I know this might not be the case in America since you guys have a larger range but its a bit of a turnoff for parents and myself to see so many of the same doll on the shelf.
• The mobility. This isn't really a problem for me but i know a lot of kids that hate this a lot. Even just adding elbow and knee joints would help.
• The price. I know the prices have dropped in America but every doll is $25 here. And the orbit beaches which are supposed to be cheaper are actually a little more expensive.

I love these dolls and would love to see the newer ones released here but the future of the brand seems short and i doubt they will make it another year or 2. There is a small fanbase for these dolls but its simply too small. Share your thoughts on how you could improve the Novi Stars selling

[Blitzn]

May need a revamping all around.
-The articulation is a big thing, also they fall apart too easily. Can't wait to see these popping up in the second hand market all armless.
-The clothes are a unique size (not interchangeable with most other dolls), and after a parent buy one novi that just gets quickly ignored they aren't going to buy more novi.
-They may need to be a little more cute and a little less alien in the face design, to better appeal to the masses.
-The price does seem high for what you get (not much in the way of clothes or accessories), but even at clearance these were lingering on the shelves.
-Pain in the neck to remove from their packaging. Stands don't work well.

I think they are more about a single gimmick than being a doll doll. Even the MH with gimmicks (ghouls alive) didn't seem to be an especially better seller from what I can tell. I think Novi missed fitting into the right niche.

[Hervoyel]

Are they selling poorly?    They seem to be everywhere, so I hadn't realized!

I haven't bought any myself (they're not quite my style), but I seem to see people looking at them when I walk through the toy section of shops that carry them.  Huh.

[sparkykandy]

To me, Novi Stars two main problems are the lack of articulation and the high price point.  While I don't mind the lack of articulation myself, due to the fact that I just use mine as display dolls, it appears to be the number one complaint that I see. 

After that, I see quite a few complaints about price, probably because of the lack of articulation.

[brightberry]

It might also be because they look strange.  Their faces grew on me and I love those eyes, but most people only go into the toy isle once in awhile.  They probably needed a lot more exposure than they got.

[Wardah]

I too think it was mostly the price since once the stores put them on clearance they flew off the shelves. I think part of the reason they were so expensive was their needlessly complicated boxes. The Novi boxes were mostly plastic with an unnecessary plastic handle/accessory, while the MH boxes are mostly cardboard with just a plastic window to see the doll.

[SALTY5621]

Hmm... I dunno. My little cousins all loved the faces on mine so i don't really see that being an issue. And the newer dolls really don't fall apart as easily (it was actually a bit of a struggle for me, an 18 year old male, to remove the arms and head). And yeah the gimmicks do hinder the doll a bit. They should stick to gimmicks like Ari's and Mae's that don't affect any other part of the doll. Maybe even ditching the gimmicks all together.

hmm... I never thought about the packaging before. Now that you mention it the box is overly complicated and very bulky for such small dolls.

[Blitzn]

Well we each got our own opinions then, dont we (and hey you asked for them). The arms are all falling off mine. I like the inset eyes, but the face took some getting used to for me.

[lovehaze]

Articulation is definitely their main weakness...they don't even have basic articulation!  What other dolls have immovable legs other than happy meal toys....which really are figures more than dolls.  That was my main pet peeve with this line, since it totally wasn't necessary to do so.  They could have easily worked articulation into the liquid designs.

Poor quality was the other one.  Things shouldn't be popping out all of the time like these ones do.  I seriously never appreciated how well made (more like "acceptably made") other dolls were until I got this line  .

And those stands.....they couldn't even perform their sole function!  What's the point of having a stand if it's not going to hold the doll in place?

The fashions too...though cute, they were all miserably cheap quality.  For the most part, dollar store quality, especially for the first release.  The hair too, nylon and pretty cheap. 

Other than that, I love everything about them!  Their faces are so sweet, and their designs and gimmicks are so fun, colourful, and interesting.  It's really too bad that they decided to phone it in and cut corners at every opportunity (light up backpack instead of a light up body?  Stretchy arms that don't move and barely stretch?  Not impressed).  They must have rushed them to production, since it seems like they didn't do any user testing...how else could you explain all of these common, terribly annoying problems??

Even though the other releases were slightly better, they were already tainted by the problems of the first release.  There was no reason not to expect the rest to have all of the same problems.

I definitely agree that the price was way too high considering the quality.  But I did buy all of mine for super cheap, and I was still annoyed by the problems, so I guess it's not a huge factor for someone like me .

[SALTY5621]

Well we each got our own opinions then, dont we (and hey you asked for them). The arms are all falling off mine. I like the inset eyes, but the face took some getting used to for me.

didnt mean to insult you or anything. geez. sorry if i rubbed you the wrong way

[Wardah]

Well we each got our own opinions then, dont we (and hey you asked for them). The arms are all falling off mine. I like the inset eyes, but the face took some getting used to for me.

didnt mean to insult you or anything. geez. sorry if i rubbed you the wrong way

Arms popping out was a common problem with just the first wave dolls.

I think they would have done better if they were priced cheaper and packaged differently. I think if the box was smaller and simpler it would have worked better. Also that there was no real value consistency within lines. The scented ones were the same price as the electronic ones! Instead of making a whole set based on one gimmick, each of the same priced basics had different ones. There could have been a whole set of liquid filled ones, a whole set of light up ones, a whole set of scented ones, etc all at different prices depending on how simple or fancy the set was. The only thing we got that was remotely close was the Orbit Beach set with their simple outfits and basic (yet poseable) bodies and no gimmicks.

[faeriesblood]

I remember when monster high first came out... Unfortunately, conventional parents aren't interested in anything that so much as hints at being unusual or creepy. It's hard to get them to buy things for their children that aren't of the "normal" barbie-style type doll. I think lack of stock contributes to how exposed people are to them and how much time they've had to adjust to the idea of them.  I think there's still a good number of people who don't know of their existence. At least in my area. I can only hope their popularity will increase, so that they will come out with more different dolls, because I think they're pretty rad