Big Chief Studios James Bond Series

[Morgenergy]

I was ready to hang up on my custom figure plans with the relevant announcements by BCS but with the hideously long waits (even for this pandemic lets be honest...) those have since resumed. If the figures I'm after end up released, then by all means I'll likely consider a purchase.

At the moment my interest in this line is negligible and it looks the same from BC's perspective too: very little Bond related content on their social media and even their stall at an MCM comic con in Birmingham a short while ago they lacked any noticeable Bond paraphernalia. Plenty of Only Fools & Horses tat, though.

 

[ChigsHakko]

I was ready to hang up on my custom figure plans with the relevant announcements by BCS but with the hideously long waits (even for this pandemic lets be honest...) those have since resumed. If the figures I'm after end up released, then by all means I'll likely consider a purchase.

At the moment my interest in this line is negligible and it looks the same from BC's perspective too: very little Bond related content on their social media and even their stall at an MCM comic con in Birmingham a short while ago they lacked any noticeable Bond paraphernalia. Plenty of Only Fools & Horses tat, though.

They have nothing to sell though, the Goldfinger releases are long sold out and I think Baron Samedi is all that’s left from LALD. Dr No won’t be released til next year. I fear the line is dead. The next 2 lines they had planned were licence to kill and OHMSS and what they really need is something like goldeneye or casino royale to reinvigorate the line. It’s a real shame. Having said that, I’m looking forward to my Dr No duo. It’s a shame Greggo doesn’t post anymore. I’d love a definitive answer on whether BCS see a future for the line.

 

[Wor-Gar]

The fact that Dalton is next and OHMSS after that means I'm out after Dr. No. At the current pace, Dalton/Lazenby would be 4-5 years out from delivery. That's 2027. No, I'm not kidding. Just look at the time clock on what we have -- 6 years and 6 figures. And only then, in 2027 would we be getting the tease for the next wave... which could also be something I don't care about.

No, the promise of many figures coming out fairly quickly just didn't happen -- pandemic, factory issues, loss of interest, a dwindling fan base; I'm sure all of those things contributed, because overall the figures have been pretty nice.

Personally, I think Live and Let Die was the wrong Moore movie to do.

The plan should have been a 3-figure set every year. Goldfinger is the obvious start, then it should have been The Spy Who Loved Me and then Craig's Casino Royale. After those three, I think you've locked in an interested audience. If it was Danjaq/EON saying no to that line-up plan, then I wouldn't have taken on the license. After those Big Three, you can then go Dr. No, Live and Let Die, Skyfall, OHMSS and Goldeneye.

 

[Morgenergy]

I feel they just don't have the interest in the line. They seem a bit out of touch about it to be honest - I mean why wouldn't you go for TSWLM? Moore in that fabulous midnight blue tux, or even the naval uniform with a Stirling SMG.. alongside Jaws. Iconic.

And don't get me started on the lack of a product to commemorate Craig's tenure. It's almost like they don't want peoples' money

 

[Wor-Gar]

Only they know their sales, but judging from their "lack of interest" as you put it, the Bond sales must be poor indeed. Seems to be more energy from BCS on Dr Who, Peaky Blinders and Laurel + Hardy. I can't imagine why.

Maybe now that Craig is done and EON may not have to honor their "no dolls" agreement, maybe they'll allow official Craig figures now. That would energize the line instantly I think.

BCS is UK-centric and Bond is still their #1 boxoffice hero.

 

[Johnny Utah]

That's what happens when the wrong company gets a prestigious license and pumps out inferior products.

Focusing more on Peaky Blinders and Doctor Who than on Bond?

They're in with Star Ace now.

 

[SwedishHeat]

It's pretty clear that the licensor (EON, or whoever) is holding up progress on the Bond figures. If BCS can continue to produce Dr Who or Peaky Blinders or whatever other license it is, clearly they have the ability to make things. They're not going to just choose not to make James Bond figures.

You can criticize BCS for product quality, or timeliness on delivery, but character selection or lack thereof, is not something they can control.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Well, we just don't know. If the Bond people told me that after Goldfinger I had to make 3x LALD figures, then Dr No, and then Dalton and OHMSS, I think I would rethink the idea of picking up the license. I suppose if the plan was to get all that out within the first 3-4 years that would be one thing... but certainly after covid and delays, you'd think a revisit on the releases would be in order. I do know that EON/Danjaq are very controlling and very slow to decide, so if they are dictating what figures go out in what order, then they definitely share the blame.

 

[Morgenergy]

I can't see many reasons - besides (IMO unlikely) interference from EON - that they'd be so un-inclined to put resources into such a rare and valuable line. It's a definitive way of showing off and making a name for yourself amongst the big leagues, making high end figures of the one and only 007.

I'm purely assuming things here, but could be it be a personal interest thing with the staff of BCS? It might just be that they're Dr. Who nerds (no offence, lads..) who find niche old TV shows more interesting than James Bond? The type who probably thought Lootcrate was brilliant. They seem to manufacture the same kind of stuff...

You can't help but wonder, what with the amount of niche choices they've made thus far.

 

[SwedishHeat]

I can't see many reasons - besides (IMO unlikely) interference from EON - that they'd be so un-inclined to put resources into such a rare and valuable line. It's a definitive way of showing off and making a name for yourself amongst the big leagues, making high end figures of the one and only 007.

It's really quite simple, they put a bunch of effort into making a Dalton prototype, or whatever, and they send it off to EON for approval, and BCS doesn't hear back for 6 months, and when they do, they're told, "We don't like the suit material, the hair isn't right, the eyes aren't the right shape" ... so then, that's 6 months of waiting for approval, and however long it took to put the prototype together, all that time was wasted.

My story that I'll tell whenever I can here, I was with a company that had a TV show license. We showed off a prototype at Toy Fair, everyone said it sucked, except that's what the licensor told us to make, they liked it, we showed them the feedback here that everyone hated it, so we did it our way. We sent the revised proto to them, and we didn't hear back for three years !!! Meanwhile, collectors here talked endless **** about our company, making fun of us for buying the license and not doing anything with it. When we finally heard back, after three years, which mind you, was because the actor involved was in a contract dispute, and was not approving our merchandise as leverage against the network, all we were told was that it looked 'creepy'. Mind you, I was the one emailing the network every few months, bugging them to see what was going on, and they would just say "Sorry, nothing new".

The vast majority of collectors here have absolutely zero idea about what kinds of hoops manufacturers have to jump through to get approval from licensors. Collectors assume that buying the license gives you carte blanche to do whatever you want, which is absolutely not the case.

 

[shells075]

It's really quite simple, they put a bunch of effort into making a Dalton prototype, or whatever, and they send it off to EON for approval, and BCS doesn't hear back for 6 months, and when they do, they're told, "We don't like the suit material, the hair isn't right, the eyes aren't the right shape" ... so then, that's 6 months of waiting for approval, and however long it took to put the prototype together, all that time was wasted.

My story that I'll tell whenever I can here, I was with a company that had a TV show license. We showed off a prototype at Toy Fair, everyone said it sucked, except that's what the licensor told us to make, they liked it, we showed them the feedback here that everyone hated it, so we did it our way. We sent the revised proto to them, and we didn't hear back for three years !!! Meanwhile, collectors here talked endless **** about our company, making fun of us for buying the license and not doing anything with it. When we finally heard back, after three years, which mind you, was because the actor involved was in a contract dispute, and was not approving our merchandise as leverage against the network, all we were told was that it looked 'creepy'. Mind you, I was the one emailing the network every few months, bugging them to see what was going on, and they would just say "Sorry, nothing new".

The vast majority of collectors here have absolutely zero idea about what kinds of hoops manufacturers have to jump through to get approval from licensors. Collectors assume that buying the license gives you carte blanche to do whatever you want, which is absolutely not the case.

Yep. I hade my suspicions that was the case to.

 

[Morgenergy]

It's really quite simple, they put a bunch of effort into making a Dalton prototype, or whatever, and they send it off to EON for approval, and BCS doesn't hear back for 6 months, and when they do, they're told, "We don't like the suit material, the hair isn't right, the eyes aren't the right shape" ... so then, that's 6 months of waiting for approval, and however long it took to put the prototype together, all that time was wasted.

My story that I'll tell whenever I can here, I was with a company that had a TV show license. We showed off a prototype at Toy Fair, everyone said it sucked, except that's what the licensor told us to make, they liked it, we showed them the feedback here that everyone hated it, so we did it our way. We sent the revised proto to them, and we didn't hear back for three years !!! Meanwhile, collectors here talked endless **** about our company, making fun of us for buying the license and not doing anything with it. When we finally heard back, after three years, which mind you, was because the actor involved was in a contract dispute, and was not approving our merchandise as leverage against the network, all we were told was that it looked 'creepy'. Mind you, I was the one emailing the network every few months, bugging them to see what was going on, and they would just say "Sorry, nothing new".

The vast majority of collectors here have absolutely zero idea about what kinds of hoops manufacturers have to jump through to get approval from licensors. Collectors assume that buying the license gives you carte blanche to do whatever you want, which is absolutely not the case.

Crikey, that's a story an' half. Reading all that puts me over on the ''EON are being weird'' side of the fence, then.

What a strange turn of events this line has turned out to be...

 

[SwedishHeat]

Crikey, that's a story an' half. Reading all that puts me over on the ''EON are being weird'' side of the fence, then.

What a strange turn of events this line has turned out to be...

Collectors tend to think buying a license is like buying an action figure. You own it, you can take it apart, you can do whatever you want with it. It's yours.

But it's not. It's more like buying a ticket to Disneyland. You still have to pay to travel there, that's an additional cost. Food, yup that's extra too. You're waiting in lines for half the day. Some of the rides you can't even ride, because they're closed.

 

[Wor-Gar]

It's really quite simple, they put a bunch of effort into making a Dalton prototype, or whatever, and they send it off to EON for approval, and BCS doesn't hear back for 6 months, and when they do, they're told, "We don't like the suit material, the hair isn't right, the eyes aren't the right shape" ... so then, that's 6 months of waiting for approval, and however long it took to put the prototype together, all that time was wasted.

My story that I'll tell whenever I can here, I was with a company that had a TV show license. We showed off a prototype at Toy Fair, everyone said it sucked, except that's what the licensor told us to make, they liked it, we showed them the feedback here that everyone hated it, so we did it our way. We sent the revised proto to them, and we didn't hear back for three years !!! Meanwhile, collectors here talked endless **** about our company, making fun of us for buying the license and not doing anything with it. When we finally heard back, after three years, which mind you, was because the actor involved was in a contract dispute, and was not approving our merchandise as leverage against the network, all we were told was that it looked 'creepy'. Mind you, I was the one emailing the network every few months, bugging them to see what was going on, and they would just say "Sorry, nothing new".

The vast majority of collectors here have absolutely zero idea about what kinds of hoops manufacturers have to jump through to get approval from licensors. Collectors assume that buying the license gives you carte blanche to do whatever you want, which is absolutely not the case.

That's a very interesting case study and a good education for us collectors.

I have my own past with Danjaq, so I can see them being slow on approvals. Three years is just a whole other story though, that's insane.

Putting a slow licensor together with a slow company is not ideal for anxious OCD collectors.

 

[The Green Goblin]

I'm guessing there is never gonna be a Craig version of Bond at this rate.

 

[Wor-Gar]

It's a good 4 years away at best assuming they announce he's next after Dr. No and then the Dalton films.

 

[Raymond F.]

Yeah... I'm happy with what we got. I assume that we will get Dr No this year. Anything after that is anyone's guess. I don't think this is all BC's fault much might have to do with the licensers... There's a lot of Craig stuff out there from the 15 years of the hobby developing into what it is. but not nearly enough of the classic stuff. Give me that . Dalton, Brosnan and Lazenby, Jaws... Q... the movie waves are just taking up too much time at this point, BC needs to skip it, just release heavy hitters and not bother with tertiary characters like Solitaire... I want to get the most we can out of this license.

 

[Wor-Gar]

I would be more than happy to see a modern representation of all the Bonds, much like Sideshow did many years ago in their Legacy collection.

I love Bonds world, so I would go pretty deep for myself, even into subpar henchmen.

I really wish they would give us some of the primary villains and henchmen before this is over but I just don't see that happening. The promise of that Red Grant render is unlikely. Blofeld, Largo, Jaws... all seem lost.

But I suppose it is hard as the Connery Bonds are fast receding into the ancient past, Moore too... I hate to admit it.

 

[melancholyecho]

Yeah... I'm happy with what we got. I assume that we will get Dr No this year. Anything after that is anyone's guess. I don't think this is all BC's fault much might have to do with the licensers... There's a lot of Craig stuff out there from the 15 years of the hobby developing into what it is. but not nearly enough of the classic stuff. Give me that . Dalton, Brosnan and Lazenby, Jaws... Q... the movie waves are just taking up too much time at this point, BC needs to skip it, just release heavy hitters and not bother with tertiary characters like Solitaire... I want to get the most we can out of this license.

I’m glad they didn’t skip Solitaire; it’s a great figure and a unique one we’ve never had before, like Baron Samedi. As much as I would like updated versions of the figures you’ve listed, they have been done by Sideshow before and they’ll do for now until we do get new incarnations of them.

 

[Raymond F.]

I’m glad they didn’t skip Solitaire; it’s a great figure and a unique one we’ve never had before, like Baron Samedi. As much as I would like updated versions of the figures you’ve listed, they have been done by Sideshow before and they’ll do for now until we do get new incarnations of them.

Yup don’t get me wrong as a Bond fan I love that those two were made. Baron especially.

Where it gets problematic for me is that they exist where more prominent characters don’t… and I think that the good intention of Big Chief needs a bit of a revamp. It seems like they sort of are doing that with DR. No but I think that had more to do with the fact they couldn’t figure out how to make Honey Rider without making a new body