To be fair to HT these would never have come out anywhere near the prices we are seeing. These are bootlegs. Good ones at times, but still bootlegs.
It does make you wonder, however. How much is licensing? How much is sculpting? How much is manufacturing? How much is mark-up? I know it's not as clear cut as that, or maybe it is? I don't know.
I get it, we all want to get paid.
How much would these have been if Mars had to pay for the licensing?
Back in the day when this forum sponsored Sideshow, any thread that featured third party figures such as these would get scrubbed and deleted because Hot Toys and Sideshow would complain.
Off the top of my head, Present Toys Lucius Fox, Ace Toyz Keaton Bruce Wayne and a slew of others all had discussions that would be taken off the boards since they interfered with Hot Toys/Sideshow’s licensing interests.
I’m just saying, they have got to be FUMING. One of the reasons I didn’t preorder Mr. J and Mr. W at first was because I thought for sure Mars was going to get shut down for what they were doing. Once these shipped and people got them in hand though, there was no turning back. I just think it’s hilarious how Hot Toys has/had the licensing for these characters for over a decade and chose not to do them.
They had a Romero prototype,
Never saw the light of day,
They said they were making Mob Joker and Jack Napier since they bragged about being the only ones to be granted Nicholson’s likeness rights,
And the only variation they did was the Mime.
Batman Returns, Howard promised in an QnA that DeVito Penguin and Returns Catwoman were ready to drop, and . . . nothing ever happened.
Just makes me curious what they think about a third party coming in and stealing their press. More people are talking about Mars Toys and InArt than Hot Toys Han Solo.
