Are most 12 inch SS Lines Dead?

[Customikey]

I don't feel badly about the hiatus of the Universal, Bond, etc, lines. We've gotten many, MANY superb figures out of these lines. The most desirable figures have (in my opinion) been made. All good things must end, and most of these lines have climaxed already, with the release of their most notable characters having already occured. Anything that happens beyond that is gravy.

I remember when we were all (myself included) going nuts for the Live By The Sword line. Remember that little gem that gave us two, count em, TWO figures total. Meanwhile we were daydreaiming about getting Julius Caesar or Joan of Arc. I seriously doubt we will ever see that line pop up again, but we got two awesome figures out of it!

I suppose I'm saying that it's fun to think of what could have been made, and sometimes even enjoyable to lament what should have been made, but don't forget what greatness has already been made.

 

[tomandshell]

It almost sounds like you're saying that they won't eventually make a Roman gladiator or Japanese samurai warrior in the Live by the Sword line.

Please don't say that.

 

[Customikey]

Apologies for the reality check, but....

They won't eventually make a Roman gladiator or Japanese samurai warrior in the Live by the Sword line.


I'm sorry.

So.....

What's the next SW announcement?

 

[kain4521]

I would take a Cash 12 inch line with no complaints. Btw what the heck is that avatar mikey.

 

[The Josh]

I would guess that the big licenses are expensive for Sideshow to maintain. If they are going to make those licenses proifitable, they need to keep a lot of pieces in production to keep the profits rolling in and have some money in the bank when it comes time to pay Lucasfilm their big fat licensing fees and give George his royalty check. If they fall behind on the big name licenses and run the risk of losing them, it would be a giant leap backwards financially. So I think they still care about the old lines, but there are some practical business concerns that are driving the product choices right now. They have grown in many different ways and are now at the top of the industry, and they need to make certain choices in order to stay there. If they could sell 2,000 Buffy or Bond figures in thirty minutes you can bet we'd see more of them. It goes without saying that if you are running a successful business, you are going to focus your energies where the money is. That doesn't mean that they have forgotten their roots. I think that quite of the few dormant lines may still see new pieces before all is said and done--just not at the rate of the Star Wars line.

Yup, SW, LOTR, and Marvel sell very well and SS is gonna put more behind them because they are a business. That's not to say they are ignroing the other lines but they will come out once in a while since most of those have probably reached their peak and are on the way down.

 

[tomandshell]

Apologies for the reality check, but....

They won't eventually make a Roman gladiator or Japanese samurai warrior in the Live by the Sword line.


I'm sorry.

My dreams have been crushed!!

 

[minivader]

personally, I think sideshow is getting lazy with their 1/6 products. Sure, they have been producing huge amount of 1/6 products year after year. (sw, LOTR, bond, buffy, platoon, monsters, etc.) but come on, besides the new HS and new outfits, they are still using the same body they did with the first 1/6 figure they made. And when was that? 7, 8 years ago now? So essentially we are not getting anything new, just the same formula sideshow used from the beginning while the rest of the industry has move on creating better products they made years ago.

Look at HT, BBI and medicom. Their first products are decent but nothing that surpass sideshow. In fact, at the time, sideshow kicked ass with their awesome HS and unique licenses. But as years go by, other company improve their products while sideshow just stick with their same old method.

Looking at the progress of other companies really make me wish that sideshow can show same kind of ambition and dedication to their products. I wouldn't mind getting a new jason or bond from sideshow if they made dramatical improvments. And I think they can do it, too.

Sadly, I dont see any signs of sideshow ever doing that. I thought sw would be a turning point for them, but oh well, I suppose sideshow doesn't really need to change their formula as long as their products sell well.

 

[The Josh]

Sadly, I dont see any signs of sideshow ever doing that. I thought sw would be a turning point for them, but oh well, I suppose sideshow doesn't really need to change their formula as long as their products sell well.

Ever heard of it ain't broke don't fix it?

 

[minivader]

yes, I have heard of it, but why stop at that? why not move forward and be the industry leader? If toybiz didn't improve each wave of marvel legends, I dont think they would be consider as the leader in 6" action figures.

 

[JGouse0498]

Ever heard of it ain't broke don't fix it?

But the outdated articulation and iffy production paint applications are broken in both my opinion and the opinions of a substantial amount of fellow collectors on these message boards.

The sculpts are still top-notch, so no need to fix them. The tailoring IMO doesn't need much improvement...just a few case-by-case items. So again, nothing much to fix there.

But the bodies and paint apps do need to be fixed.

 

[The Josh]

I think substantial might be an exaggeration. The articulation could be tweaked some I guess but overall I have no issues getting the poses I want. The paint apps are pretty good really. Sure, they have a few misses but I don't think it's bad by anymeans.

 

[minivader]

I think substantial might be an exaggeration. The articulation could be tweaked some I guess but overall I have no issues getting the poses I want. The paint apps are pretty good really. Sure, they have a few misses but I don't think it's bad by anymeans.

articulation is not a problem, its the look of the figure, monkey arms luke for example.

 

[King Darkness]

personally, I think sideshow is getting lazy with their 1/6 products. Sure, they have been producing huge amount of 1/6 products year after year. (sw, LOTR, bond, buffy, platoon, monsters, etc.) but come on, besides the new HS and new outfits, they are still using the same body they did with the first 1/6 figure they made. And when was that? 7, 8 years ago now? So essentially we are not getting anything new, just the same formula sideshow used from the beginning while the rest of the industry has move on creating better products they made years ago.

Look at HT, BBI and medicom. Their first products are decent but nothing that surpass sideshow. In fact, at the time, sideshow kicked ass with their awesome HS and unique licenses. But as years go by, other company improve their products while sideshow just stick with their same old method.

Looking at the progress of other companies really make me wish that sideshow can show same kind of ambition and dedication to their products. I wouldn't mind getting a new jason or bond from sideshow if they made dramatical improvments. And I think they can do it, too.

Sadly, I dont see any signs of sideshow ever doing that. I thought sw would be a turning point for them, but oh well, I suppose sideshow doesn't really need to change their formula as long as their products sell well.

I agree to a point. Companies like Hot Toys are pumping out AMAZING stuff right now. The Marines, Alien, Predator, Ed-209, Robocop and so on. And every one of those lines is totally separate from the other. They don't borrow the Pred body for Robo and they don't borrow the Alien body for ED-209. They are doing amazing things with the 1:6 scale.

Granted Sideshow has the BEST sculpts in the 1:6 market,IHMO, but they do have a certain lack of "moving forward".

I would love to see new body designs, and full on sculpted molds for 1:6 figures, such as HT did with Robo.

I love Sideshow, I always will, but I would like to see them do something out of the normal Art body with different sculpt and costume.

Right now HT is pushing every known boundary in the 1:6 scale market, I wish I could say the same for SS.

 

[JGouse0498]

I think substantial might be an exaggeration. The articulation could be tweaked some I guess but overall I have no issues getting the poses I want. The paint apps are pretty good really. Sure, they have a few misses but I don't think it's bad by anymeans.

I was referring to the number of collectors who have raised issues with the figures, not the things wrong with them. It certainly does seem like more than just a few naysayers have had problems with Sideshow's SW line. Just look at some of the gripes (including some famous Chicken Little fiascos that actually panned out)...

1) Luke's monkey-arms

2) Anakin's lips

3) Anakin's falling arm syndrome

4) Boots that are so stiff that ankle articulation is compromised (i.e. - unable to stand flatly on both feet in extreme poses)

5) Han's ill-fitting jacket

6) Bobble-head proportions (Luke, Cordelia, etc.)

7) Inability to achieve certain natural poses such as the "cell phone to ear" pose, which is funny due to figures being released with cell phones as accessories.

Clearly there are some figure-specific examples there, but there are also elements that span across the spectrum. I'm sure there are members who can point out other deficiencies (sp?), but this list is just a cross-section off the top of my head.

Aside from creating an entirely updated series of body types, I'm not suggesting huge overhauls. The paint application issue can be resolved with tighter quality control and better communication between Sideshow and the factory.

 

[Vader AL]

with the price increase i would like to see the quality of the human paint aps be improved. though i am happy with all the ones i have, to feel justification for paying a higher price i would like to see it.

 

[minivader]

I agree to a point. Companies like Hot Toys are pumping out AMAZING stuff right now. The Marines, Alien, Predator, Ed-209, Robocop and so on. And every one of those lines is totally separate from the other. They don't borrow the Pred body for Robo and they don't borrow the Alien body for ED-209. They are doing amazing things with the 1:6 scale.

Granted Sideshow has the BEST sculpts in the 1:6 market,IHMO, but they do have a certain lack of "moving forward".

I would love to see new body designs, and full on sculpted molds for 1:6 figures, such as HT did with Robo.

I love Sideshow, I always will, but I would like to see them do something out of the normal Art body with different sculpt and costume.

Right now HT is pushing every known boundary in the 1:6 scale market, I wish I could say the same for SS.

yeah, imagine if sideshow can push the envolope to the ninth degree. which I am surprised they haven't. since they have developed the PF and legendary scale bust, etc. Kinda really makes me wonder what is prohibiting them to do so? budget? short sightedness, or the if its not broken, dont fix it mentallity?

 

[The Josh]

I was referring to the number of collectors who have raised issues with the figures, not the things wrong with them. It certainly does seem like more than just a few naysayers have had problems with Sideshow's SW line. Just look at some of the gripes (including some famous Chicken Little fiascos that actually panned out)...

Well, there are people who have problems with everything. Issues here and there are gonna come up plain and simple. The SW line has it's own ups and down. It's not a perfect line and has things that need to be tweaked.

1) Luke's monkey-arms

SS has fixed this on the Maul figure. So I don't expect this on anymore figures.

2) Anakin's lips

Yup, this was a error for sure. Shouldn't have happened but errors do happen. Mass produced items will have these blips come up.

3) Anakin's falling arm syndrome

I read as many that had tight arm as I did falling off. Mine was on the tight arm side. An issue also that SS seems to have corrected over the last few figures.

4) Boots that are so stiff that ankle articulation is compromised (i.e. - unable to stand flatly on both feet in extreme poses)

Well, these boots don't lend to ankle movment much. Same with the LOTR figures IMO. Unless they go to jointed boots I don't know how you can fix this.

5) Han's ill-fitting jacket

Yeah, this was another error. One that even I noted after getting mine. I think SS will correct this on later figures.

6) Bobble-head proportions (Luke, Cordelia, etc.)

Cordelia for sure but Luke's looks fine to me. This an area where I know SS has had some problems. They do need to make sure they don't allow this to happen.

7) Inability to achieve certain natural poses such as the "cell phone to ear" pose, which is funny due to figures being released with cell phones as accessories.

Yeah, they should be able to do this. They need to tweak things a bit.

When I said if it ain't broke don't fix it dealt more with staying with how they run things and the quality of items. Not that everything is perfect from them because that's not the case. SS can tweak some things and they know that which is why they always are striving to be better.

 

[The Josh]

Kinda really makes me wonder what is prohibiting them to do so? budget? short sightedness, or the if its not broken, dont fix it mentallity?

The question is for the cost that would be put on SS for them to do some of these "exciting" things with the bodies would everyone be willing to pay $100+ (just tossing a price out) for the 12" figures? I'm all for tweaking the bodies but I don't want them to jump in price that level. It's hard to collect now basically and I'm cutting back a lot as all of you are. The higher these go in proce the harder it will be to collect them.

 

[minivader]

When I said if it ain't broke don't fix it dealt more with staying with how they run things and the quality of items. Not that everything is perfect from them because that's not the case. SS can tweak some things and they know that which is why they always are striving to be better.

well, eventually there is only so many things you tweak until you run out of options.

I am not saying sideshow makes crap, in fact, I think they did extremly well with their products. I just dont want to see them lagging behind the rest of the industry till eventually people only buy their 1/6 products for the HS. which it seem to be happening a lot in the recent years.

 

[King Darkness]

Well, there are people who have problems with everything. Issues here and there are gonna come up plain and simple. The SW line has it's own ups and down. It's not a perfect line and has things that need to be tweaked.



SS has fixed this on the Maul figure. So I don't expect this on anymore figures.



Yup, this was a error for sure. Shouldn't have happened but errors do happen. Mass produced items will have these blips come up.



I read as many that had tight arm as I did falling off. Mine was on the tight arm side. An issue also that SS seems to have corrected over the last few figures.



Well, these boots don't lend to ankle movment much. Same with the LOTR figures IMO. Unless they go to jointed boots I don't know how you can fix this.



Yeah, this was another error. One that even I noted after getting mine. I think SS will correct this on later figures.



Cordelia for sure but Luke's looks fine to me. This an area where I know SS has had some problems. They do need to make sure they don't allow this to happen.



Yeah, they should be able to do this. They need to tweak things a bit.

When I said if it ain't broke don't fix it dealt more with staying with how they run things and the quality of items. Not that everything is perfect from them because that's not the case. SS can tweak some things and they know that which is why they always are striving to be better.

Josh you must teach me your secrets of endless post quoting