Buffy and Angel 12" lines on hold

[Slayerverse98]

I think we should all try emailing them and letting them know how we feel and hopefully they'll pick up the lines again soon

 

[olvidadero]

Months of optimism thrown in the garbage can. I thought we'd get at least a Wesley figure and a PF Angel. Well, now I can focus my collecting on the DST line and other movie lines I collect. Maybe I will get the PF Lord Darkness..... Ok, I'm trying to look at the bright side, but in fact, I am sorely devastated

 

[Seaward]

I think that they very cleverly stated that the core characters from Buffy have been covered, so they don't see much life left in that line. They could certainly still get a few more figures out the door, but sales of the Buffy line haven't been what they once were. I am sad that we won't see Fred, Anya, Illyria, Gunn, Wesley, and Doyle in the immediate future, and I would have loved to get a Judge, but I won't mourn the passing of this line until Sideshow removes them from the webpage and says that they have lost the rights. Maybe Season 8 in the comics will drum up interest enough to start a Buffy revival.

 

[sueworld]

I can't help but find it weird that their idea of the 'core characters' being covered in Angel are Lorne, but no Wes or Gun or Fred. I mean are really thinking that Lorne was more of an important character to the show, then any of those others?

Or is that they couldn't be bothered to try and capture an accurate human likeness again, and that Lorne looking as he does, is easier to do.....

 

[Anzik]

I guess the days when they were happy when a figure sold 500 units are long gone.

Kind of like saying thank you to all the little people who got us here, now get out.

 

[Slayerverse98]

The core characters in Angel are deffinately NOT covered. Wesley and Fred are core characters to season 3 and season 5's plots

 

[ProgMatinee]

This is kinda a lesson as to why its a good thing that the SW line didn't start out with all the main characters up front.

I do feel bad for you Buffy fans....maybe they can move onto Firefly and keep the Whedonites happy?

 

[Josette]

This is kinda a lesson as to why its a good thing that the SW line didn't start out with all the main characters up front.

I do feel bad for you Buffy fans....maybe they can move onto Firefly and keep the Whedonites happy?

How? We just recently got Giles, and the main Angel characters won't be made. Tara, Dawn and Anya are also missing and they were all major characters. Buffy didn't start with all of the main characters. They had a lot of rehashes and one shot characters instead.

I strongly, strongly doubt SSC will ever do a Firefly line. If the Buffy line isn't profitable for them any longer, then I cannot see how Firefly would be. It doesn't have the large following that Buffy had, due to so little episodes. And the movie did poorly in theaters. A few years ago I could've easily seen SSC producing Firefly figures....but definitely not now.

 

[BillyBudd]

Sideshow didn't say anything about the Angel cast. Read again...

...we do feel satisfied that all of the core characters (at least from the original Buffy cast) have been represented...

That's fairly accurate.



Also, Sideshow didn't say anything about the PF line.

 

[Josette]

Still....with the Angel line still on hold along with the Buffy one, I wouldn't expect to see any of the show's main characters anytime soon.

Buffy's main characters have been represented for me. I'm personally satisfied with my Buffy collection as it is; once I get Giles I'll have no problem with that being it. But I'm sure those who enjoyed seasons 4-7 would have a different opinion on the lack of Tara, Dawn and Anya.

 

[sueworld]

Well Spike is the only PF figure I've ordered, and he really stretched my bank balance to breaking point, so I really couldn't see myself buying many others after him due to the expense.

I would have loved the 12 " range to have kept going, because at least your 'average' collector has a fighting chance of collecting them without veering into bankruptcy .

 

[ProgMatinee]

How? We just recently got Giles, and the main Angel characters won't be made. Tara, Dawn and Anya are also missing and they were all major characters. Buffy didn't start with all of the main characters. They had a lot of rehashes and one shot characters instead.

I strongly, strongly doubt SSC will ever do a Firefly line. If the Buffy line isn't profitable for them any longer, then I cannot see how Firefly would be. It doesn't have the large following that Buffy had, due to so little episodes. And the movie did poorly in theaters. A few years ago I could've easily seen SSC producing Firefly figures....but definitely not now.

The thing about the Buffy line is that to get any new customers interested in the line, they would have to release Buffy and Willow and Oz and Spike all over again. Would you want more versions of each of those?

With the Firefly line they would be starting from scratch and wouldn't be alienating collectors over "not another Captain" figure.

My point wasn't so much that the Buffy line was started with all main characters, the point is that the core characters have all received at least 2 versions already.

Once the core characters are exhausted, there is not much incentive to keep producing lower selling figures.

I know there are some hard core collectors out there willing to buy the side characters, but the casual collector wants main characters.

The strategy for LOTR and SW needs to continue to be a mix of core characters and side characters so that 5-6 years from now there are still core characters to release.

 

[BillyBudd]

I just asked Sideshow whether the PF line will also be placed on hold after the alternate Buffy and Spike figures are released. Hopefully Sideshow will answer my question.

 

[thamesvalidude]

It does say specifically "Buffy" figures so I suppose we could keep a little optimism for a Wesley or a fred. However, I for one will not be holding my breath. I get the feeling Sideshow is moving onwards and upwards and we're being dumped at the bus stop. Oh well!

 

[MiskatonicNick]

Oh well, screwed over by *another* 12" figure line before a favourite core character is reached - no surprise there then.

I still reckon if SSC had given us more of the Scoobies at the start than monsters of the week or 15 seconds of screentime variants the line might have had more legs... but SSC themselves back then reckoned they had everything worked out fine for the line's longevity* Sometimes fans just can't be arsed to wait around for 5 or 6 years just to collect their main cast.

And the disaster trio of fugly Willow, fuglier PG Buffy and Vampire Spike (aka milk-the-punters-for-more-cash-than-include-alternate-heads Spike) didn't help matters much.

Nick

*gotta admit to being slightly concerned by what the future might hold for SSC's 1/6th SW and, especially, LOTR lines.

 

[MiskatonicNick]

It does say specifically "Buffy" figures so I suppose we could keep a little optimism for a Wesley or a fred. However, I for one will not be holding my breath.

Very wise... I think you'd be turning a very deep shade of purple (then green... then kinda sickly pale...) before Wesley or Fred are sighted.

I get the feeling Sideshow is moving onwards and upwards and we're being dumped at the bus stop. Oh well!

I've gotta say that, in the 1/6th world, I get the feeling that SSC while indeed moving onwards are more kinda going sideways. I struggle to see any real upwards movement in quality (not necessarily talking bodies but just basic clothing & accessories) since their 12" Universal Monsters... especially compared to some of the other players in the 1/6th arena.

Nick
Bitter? Moi?

 

[Ironman1188]

Buffy/Angel is the line I'm most interested in from SSC, but we have to face facts - they just aren't selling. I think we need a campaign for an Illyria PF - I think that's something that they could get behind!

Yeah, a gargantuan figure that doesn't fit in with the rest of my collection and costs what FIVE 1:6 figures would is just what I would want to complete the Buffy/Angel series of offerings.
But, Dave is right that these lines aren't selling. Well, they're not selling as well as $tar War$ anyway, but not much does.
Sideshow, as good as they had been to collectors, seems out of touch with what a "core" character is. They didn't think the Medeival Kurgan or Ramirez was core enough to Highlander to be made. I don't want to hear about "likeness", they made Brent for the POTA line because they felt he was vital to the overall stories and his likeness was "lacking" to say the least. So what, Ramirez and MK weren't vital to the story of Highlander? And, speaking of POTA, there are a plethora of "key/core" characters ignored in that line.
They made all the centarl Buffy characters? Cordy was a very central Buffy character, but didn't get made until the Angel line. Several more "key/core" characters were added that we've yet to even acknowledge. Hell, how long did we have to wait foir Giles? You can't get too much more central than him. As for Angel, if you want "central" characters, anything Cordelia did would never have happened without Doyle.

 

[TheObsoleteMan]

Well, this certainly comes as a huuuuge shock to me.

I knew if we didn't see anything new at Toyfair that both lines were dead and buried.

 

[Anzik]

How many people passed on Cordy because she was on a short body and had the lazy eye?
How many people stopped buying because they saw SSC giving up on the line?

I hate to say it but SSC is turning to the darkside. They are milking SW already with rehashes, jacking prices and dropping anything that doesn't fly off on PPO day.
Whats that saying about the eggs in one basket?

 

[El Roranous]

Is anyone else getting F'n tired of stupid Star Wars!?!? It isn't only the Buffy lines that are suffering, it's all lines except for Star Wars and they buy everything as long as it's got the logo on the box.

Now they are making the Premium Format Boba Fett out of plastic and most don't seem to care because hey, it's BOBA FETT!