Confirmed: Sideshow no Longer Holds the licence for 1:6 LOTR

[ProgMatinee]

It is sad that only three more figures were needed to complete the collection. Wonder why SS couldn't just make a limited number of these for those who would commit to buy? It seems to work here in the custom world.

Custom world doesn't pay the licensing fee.

 

[maskfreak]

Custom world doesn't pay the licensing fee.

I wonder how much SS pays for it?

 

[ProgMatinee]

Next time the statue license is up for renewal SSC should just ask for the 12" license to be thrown in free cuz probably no one else wants it.

 

[Anzik]

I think a number of things contributed to this. First they were more expensive to start, bad paint apps on a couple of the figures, and the slow pace at which they were released which probably had to do with how the talent was spread around on other projects.

 

[carbo-fation]

Has anyone tried contacting HT about the possibility of picking up the LOTR license?

 

[pixletwin]

Seems like I remember someone saying somewhere that HT wasn't interested because Lord of the Rings would not be a big seller in Asia.

 

[Reinhardt]

I wonder why these figures didn't sell that well... normally it is due to the quality not being up to par, or that the license is just old now... problem is, the license is not old because their statues still sell quite well, and the quality, apart from some of the head paints, were fantastic...

 

[pixletwin]

I think there are a number of reasons. But I think ultimately it comes down to the fact the most hard core LOTR collectors prefer the statues over the figures. Sad but true.

 

[ProgMatinee]

Maybe over saturation from SSC? Maybe a lot of statue collectors didn't feel like also buying 1/6th figures?

I personally think the speed of the releases played a big role. Not enough announcements and when they did have a figure in the queue it took too long to get it out.

 

[Reinhardt]

hardcore my butt! we are the hardcore collectors... the ones that are searching far and wide for items to make our own Gimli figure, taking us to the far reaches of middle earth.

 

[The Mike]

It was one of those things where SSC bit of more than they chew at the time. They've been pretty open and honest that the figures were more complex than original thought, the amount of R&D was longer than originally thought and just getting the product to production standards took a lot longer than they thought. This slowed the line to a snail's pace because so much more went into it than they originally thought. Other companies gave 1/6 LOTR figures but not to the standard that SSC was going for and its that standard that cause a lot of the "redos" before a figure came out. Its pretty obvious that they were expecting this line to run for the long term especially with choices like Faramir which were fan favorites but not first round choices in terms of character. The license got the best of them but they gave it a great shot and Gandalf and Frodo are two of my favorite figures, I wish we could have gotten a redo of Aragorn though...At least they went out on a high note with Gandalf the Grey and didn't just resort to putting out "Meeting Legolas" or "Mount Doom Frodo" variants to sap the last cent out of the license that they could.

 

[maskfreak]

Love the statues, but who can afford an entire line of PF?

 

[pixletwin]

Love the statues, but who can afford an entire line of PF?

I was actually referring to the 1:6 statues that Sideshow put out in conjunction with WETA way way back in the olden days.

 

[OSCORP]

Did they really not sell THAT well? I mean sure it took the hobbits a while to sell out (god knows why being how awesome they are) And GTG was up for second chance for a little bit only, and now gone. And the others all sold out fast enough. There's SW figs that are STILL on 2nd chance and a good amount of them as well. Something tells me they were selling, but that SS just didn't want to cough up for the R&D anymore maybe.(cause LOTR was more costly in that dept.)

 

[ProgMatinee]

Maybe SSC should have taken a few shortcuts.

Seriously, the release of a Ringwraith would have been a huge army building seller, and really aside from boots and gauntlets is not a toughone at all. They would have banked some big money on that.

A Mount Doom Sam, Frodo 2 pack would have been a nice gravy train for them too. I have no problems with a few milkers if it meant the line would go a little longer.

Orig Sam and Frodo didn't sell well because of price (partly due to the hobbit body, but also due to accessories and clothing). Mt doom versions could have been sold for less because of less accessories and clothing, and would have been encouraging to people who were dropping the line due to cost of the hobbits.

 

[maskfreak]

Did they really not sell THAT well? I mean sure it took the hobbits a while to sell out (god knows why being how awesome they are) And GTG was up for second chance for a little bit only, and now gone. And the others all sold out fast enough. There's SW figs that are STILL on 2nd chance and a good amount of them as well. Something tells me they were selling, but that SS just didn't want to cough up for the R&D anymore maybe.(cause LOTR was more costly in that dept.)

This is why we loved the SS figures in the first place. All of the quality and R & D they did. No one should fast food an action figure.

 

[DinoDB1975]

Did they really not sell THAT well? I mean sure it took the hobbits a while to sell out (god knows why being how awesome they are) And GTG was up for second chance for a little bit only, and now gone. And the others all sold out fast enough. There's SW figs that are STILL on 2nd chance and a good amount of them as well. Something tells me they were selling, but that SS just didn't want to cough up for the R&D anymore maybe.(cause LOTR was most costly in that dept)

I agree with your statement, and the Mike's statement. It's easy to put out multiple versions of Storm Troopers when the initial design has already been done. It's easy to put out a number of Jedi Knights when the light sabers, jedi tunics, and jedi robes have already been done. The LOTR figures were a cut above with their accessories and costuming. I purchased all the exclusive versions of the LOTR figures (with the exception of Frodo and Sam) when they were each released, but did not take them out of their packaging until last March when I saw how awesome Snake Eyes turned out. I was even more impressed by the LOTR figures, and have since ordered Frodo and Sam from the WB Store site. Glad I was able to pick them up, even if they weren't the exclusive versions, but for $35 and free shipping, it was a great deal. Seems a little ironic to me that week I decided to pick up the two figures I passed on, Sideshow announces they no longer have the 12" license for LOTR.

 

[OSCORP]

This is why we loved the SS figures in the first place. All of the quality and R & D they did. No one should fast food an action figure.

YUP.

I'm ordering another Frodo as we speak, don't care if the line is done. These were some of my favorite figs of 08'.

 

[pixletwin]

If the figures had sold like gang busters I seriously doubt all the R&D issues would have been The Issue if you know what I mean.

 

[The Mike]

No, if the figures flew off the shelves the R&D wouldn't have been an issue but it would have brought a price bump I'm sure. The LOTR figures were some of the most expensive 1:6 before even the Pro and you know that the R&D factored in there.