1/6 Scale REDMAN TOYS Collectible Figure Accessory Lethal Weapon A & B

[PopCultKid]

 

[Lejuan]

I can't stand this same ol' debate. ...

And oh yea, recasting IS stealing. Talks of laws and licence holders are paper thin hogwash BS excuses.

Yup

 

[greatlakes6]

I can't stand this same ol' debate. There's a clear divide in the mentality of the custom fans' and those who are more into the mass produced side of the hobby (and in some cases are anti-custom). It's something that will never be agreed upon so I stopped wasting my time posting whenever the subject came up, but this is different. Of all the recaster scum, none are as low as Redman. We've seen plenty of these clowns steal heads to sell on the cheap in droves but this "company" sets a record low by not only having an obsessive hard-on for Iminime, but by offering full sets and trying to copy Iminime's as closely as possible. Honestly, I'm surprised Dave even allows threads for these BS stolen releases.

After reading through this thread I'll just chime in as one of the several boardies here who have been in pretty close contact with Denny for several years, and one of the many who have been supporting Iminime from their start, to clear up a few misconceptions and assumptions.

Denny would NEVER get involved with or be behind an operation like what Redman is doing. He is way too proud of his his company and their work, and has way too much integrity to engage in shadiness of any sort.

Just because some customs are high priced, doesn't mean they're high profiting

Just because he kept it short and simple on FB doesn't mean that he's not mega f'n pissed or even more ridiculously that he's in cahoots. He more than likely didn't go on a tirade against Redman for the same reason he doesn't post much here anymore. He got sick of losing his cool and getting into keyboard wars.

And oh yea, recasting IS stealing. Talks of laws and licence holders are paper thin hogwash BS excuses.


I'll just drop the real deal here and wishfully say, in before the delete

Mikey, I completely agree with you. Getting to know Denny as well as I have over the past few years, he is definitely a man of honor. I hate to see his efforts to earnestly add to this community taken so lightly and with disdain by others.

 

[PopCultKid]

Agreed back brother . He's a genuine dude and has been nothing but stand up to all of us custom kids. Not only does he have great passion for what he does but he's trustworthy and super reliable as a businessman. There are several customizers out there that could benefit greatly by taking a page out of his book!

Damn shame to see this reoccurring Redman garbage

 

[superado]

And oh yea, recasting IS stealing. Talks of laws and licence holders are paper thin hogwash BS excuses.

Yup

“Paper-thin,” according to the US legal system?

In an Intellectual Property Blog, the question was asked: (Dear Rich: An Intellectual Property Blog: Can I Make "Night of the Living Dead" Action Figures?). The short answer: "Normally you would need two permissions to sell movie action figures: permission from the copyright owner of the movie; and permission from the actor (referred to as publicity rights)."

Therefore, wouldn’t creating figures based on movie properties without obtaining the two permissions above, also constitute stealing?

Judging by the posts on this thread (and others, like the Han Solo thread in the SW forum), it seems the issue a lot of people are sore about is that they shelled out a lot of money for the Iminime sets; would $1,500 be a fair estimate for the GBU trio? I wonder, (1) if the quality of the Redman sets vs. the Iminime sets based on how close the sculpts approximate each other are around 80% (a conservative figure), 90% or even upwards to 95% as some have estimated on this thread, and; (2) hypothetically, people can go back in time before making their purchases and were presented with the choice of buying the Iminime set for $1,500, or the Redman versions at $375 or even $400, which would they buy?

Just because some customs are high priced, doesn't mean they're high profiting

True, but how would you know otherwise unless you were directly involved in the business? I don’t really care. If they make big profits, goodness bless them! But I don’t think it’s a case in which they’re barely scraping breakeven or otherwise simple economics (like occupying their time to earn a living for their families) would have prevented them from going on with newer offerings.

C'mon guys, in the legal/ethical sense, no one in the producers' camp is an innocent victim here, except that everyone enjoyed the opportunity to earn a decent revenue from this market.

 

[PopCultKid]

YES. Paper thin BS excuse coming from entitled collectors who can't see anything past their own wants and budgets.

Another BS comment that we hear so often is the "you feel bad because you spent more and can now get it for less". Not one self respecting custom collector cares about that.

And that's all I'll say for tonight. Time to watch more Daredevil.

 

[superado]

YES. Paper thin BS excuse coming from entitled collectors who can't see anything past their own wants and budgets.

And that's all I'll say for tonight. Time to watch more Daredevil.

Can you see past your own bias? You're grasp of sense and reason speaks for itself.

 

[greatlakes6]

Mike, isn't it funny how some feel the need to tell us how we feel, as if they know our motivation. Sounds like a bunch of sour grapes, trying to justify why their Hydrox are the same as an Oreo.

 

[jstep13]

LOL @ PO'd Iminime buyers, you guys provide great comic relief. You can't steal something that was ALREADY STOLEN. This is like being pissed at the people who counterfeited counterfeit money but giving a free pass to the original counterfeiter

 

[superado]

Mike, isn't it funny how some feel the need to tell us how we feel, as if they know our motivation. Sounds like a bunch of sour grapes, trying to justify why their Hydrox are the same as an Oreo.

Sour grapes for not spending as much?

Oreo=$1,500
Hydrox=$375

"No thanks, ma'm, I'll take the Hydrox...I need to set a little aside for Junior's generic sports shoes!"

 

[superado]

That wouldn't really be any skin off my back because if I buy from e-tailers like Ekia, Timewalker, Monkey Depot, etc. once per year, that would be the extent of it. But I really don't hold it against them because they specialize in those kind of bootleg or second/third tier company releases (which I really don't collect). And like I said, this is an unprecedented type of counterfeit. This isn't the usual ****-bag like Kit Chen selling recasted heads on eBay. These are full figure counterfeit packages (which has never been done before) that I'm assuming come in some kind of box so they can be very easily marketed to those kind of e-tailers. If they aren't in tune with the custom world then they probably don't view Redman as being much different than the Craftones or Brothers Productions of the world. However, it's a different story if they are in tune; then they just don't give a crap like all too many others here

These retailers aren’t naïve. With the exception of the collectors who live and breathe everything and anything about the hobby (hint: look at their post count), there's no one else as qualified as some of these retailers who routinely attend trade shows in HK and Mainland China, and some who even are in contact with manufacturers. Cotswold, for example, would know what the Redman sets are all about, but like you said, to them and the rest this recasting debate, at least in the way Redman operates, is a non-issue.

On these unprecedented types of counterfeit sets, again I bring up, how can someone like Redman produce resculpts that are rotomolded in PVC with such consistent, crisp results in large numbers? Anyone who knows basic casting will tell you that any non-metal mold will degrade and put out progressively distorted moldings. My question to Iminime owners; are his sculpts rotomolded like Redman’s? If yes, the simplest conclusion is that they came from the same molds. Am I accusing Iminime of being in cohoots? Not necessarily. To give Iminime the benefit of the doubt, it’s possible that a subcontractor ran off a few additional runs from his molds without his knowledge. But if I were Iminime and intended to do a truly limited or small run of heads, I would have never let the molds leave my sight and would oversee the entire casting job in person; I would also collect any spoilage lest they fall into wrong hands.

Oh, and by the way, as I said earlier, if you are truly fired up against the stuff that Redman’s does, and…if you are a principled person, then don’t even make your once-a-year purchases (all you can afford I guess, lol, after buying your high-end customs) from Ekia, Timewalker and Monkey Depot, who all carry and support Redmans.

 

[greatlakes6]

Sour grapes for not spending as much?

Oreo=$1,500
Hydrox=$375

"No thanks, ma'm, I'll take the Hydrox...I need to set a little aside for Junior's generic sports shoes!"

This has nothing to do with money. It is about getting the best possible representation of a figure, for many of us. If you are satisfied with sub par quality, irregardless of the price, then good for you. I can't speak for others, but I rather have quality. I really couldn't care less what you prefer, it has no effect on me. I will continue to support the artists who provide quality, but will not support any re-casted products.

 

[Asta]

When I started this thread I hadn't considered they'd recast an Iminime sculpt because I didn't even know they'd done Lethal Weapon. I was curious to find a source sculpt and Iminime was my first search.

Redman are an odd sausage.

For the price I can accept Redman cutting corners (bodies all the same height; single-sided poncho; closing Blondie's holster).

But not Iminime. I think they used the same cheap bodies so their Blondie is far too short:

And iminime couldn't stump up for a Remington 1858 New Army for Angel Eyes, so gave him the Colt Navy they'd already made. I don't know where Redman got their Remington from, but at least they took the trouble to make sure they weren't just blindly copying everything.

Also, going by publicity photos, Iminime owners could have picked up Redman's spurs for better movie accuracy.

Iminime Blondie spurs:

Redman went closer to the real thing by using D-ring 'leather' straps as on these replica Blondie spurs.

 

[potato]

This has nothing to do with money. It is about getting the best possible representation of a figure, for many of us. If you are satisfied with sub par quality, irregardless of the price, then good for you. I can't speak for others, but I rather have quality. I really couldn't care less what you prefer, it has no effect on me. I will continue to support the artists who provide quality, but will not support any re-casted products.

you guys keep talking about Redman's subpar quality, but when i ask some side by side comparison, non produced.

you know if i were Iminime i would take a side by side comparison of Iminime vs Redman just to show the world you get what you paid for.

many companies facing bootlegs do this to show how superior their products are compared to bootlegs.

this also helps people looking for genuine Iminime products in the after market like ebay.

 

[jstep13]

When I started this thread I hadn't considered they'd recast an Iminime sculpt because I didn't even know they'd done Lethal Weapon. I was curious to find a source sculpt and Iminime was my first search.

Redman are an odd sausage.

For the price I can accept Redman cutting corners (bodies all the same height; single-sided poncho; closing Blondie's holster).

But not Iminime. I think they used the same cheap bodies so their Blondie is far too short:

]

haha your observations are pretty on par with how Clipperking felt about the Iminime trio. He pretty much trashed them. Such a shame for $1000+ cost...

 

[robbiethepainter]

I think people miss the point of this whole debate.
I'm guessing, the people that say Redman is justified using some one else's work for their own, are the same people that call other companies like HT, ThreeZero, Sideshow and others lazy because the end product doesn't live up to what they think it should. It's about appreciation of the artists that make all these things that we love. The thousands and thousands of hours they have dedicated to being the best they can be, even if its not good enough for everyone. Its about respecting them. Yes they get paid to make stuff. And yes you have the right to say it isn't good or good enough. But just because something isn't good enough for you, doesn't make them lazy or stupid or blind. Speaking on behalf of some of the custom collectors, we appreciate the artists work. When we buy a custom for $1000, we aren't buying a toy or dolly. We are saying to the sculptor, the tailor, the painter, the artist, that we see what you have done as important and thank them for their dedication to their craft. I'm pretty certain that the artists are not sitting at the bar every night getting drunk and hitting on girls. They are at home working on their craft like they have been doing for years before you ever saw the results. In short, its about respecting the artist and their commitment to their craft. That's all.
Just my opinion.

 

[Asta]

haha your observations are pretty on par with how Clipperking felt about the Iminime trio. He pretty much trashed them. Such a shame for $1000+ cost...

I remember watching that review before ordering the Redman trio.


Oh, and Donald Sutherland has something he wants to say...

 

[ishothimsixtimes]

Judging by the posts on this thread (and others, like the Han Solo thread in the SW forum), it seems the issue a lot of people are sore about is that they shelled out a lot of money for the Iminime sets.

Where has anyone who has posted (in this thread) in support of Iminime/custom artists in general groaned about the price they paid? The only people who ever seem 'sore' about the asking price for Iminime's stuff are those who don't buy them. Whenever this recasting issue raises it's head, the difference in cost is continually drummed home by one side only. Those who say 'you paid a stack, we paid the equivalent of....i don't know.... a ******* flapjack (for something that looks almost exactly the same, if you squint a bit). I'll now point that out, claim it as some sort of victory on my part and presume you must feel like a right *** in comparison'.

I certainly feel not a twinge of regret at coughing up full whack for the Iminime trio set, nor does the fact a cheaper rip-off reared it's head a couple of years later have me cursing about chucking coin away needlessly. Personally, I would always choose an original product crafted by talented artists over a blatant copy by a bunch of quick buck opportunists.

Price isn't a factor in my decision making. I recognise that isn't the case for everyone. They may not be able to afford the asking price, or they may simply deem it not to be worth the asking price. That's entirely understandable. What I don't understand though is the willingness/eagerness of some of these people to scream "you wasted your money, you wasted your money, you wasted your money" in a fellow collectors face, before giving it a bit of Beetlejuice wrist action just to wrap things up.

 

[ishothimsixtimes]

For the price I can accept Redman cutting corners......But not Iminime.

There's 'cutting corners' and then there's 'hitching a ride all the way there on someone else's back'.

Iminime: Hiring Trevor Grove and some of the the best 1/6 painters and tailors in the business to produce an original piece: cutting corners.

Redman: recasting and copying the work of another: cutting corners in a more 'understandable' way.