Gandalf 12" up for order!

[galactiboy]

Still no word tonight...

 

[Darklord Dave]

Lower than a 1,000 would be awesome. But what makes you think it will be so low?

Lower than 1000 wouldn't really be good for the line though. Gandalf took far more time and money to develop than GenObi. If not enough people are interested in Gandalf then it doesn't bode well for the line.

 

[Vader AL]

yeah i agree it won't be good for this line if such an iconic figure in the line didn't do well. i hope that's not the case though. i'm glad they did him though and that I will own him but if he doesn't do well will we see Orcs, etc.? I sure hope so.

 

[IrishJedi]

Gandalf took far more time and money to develop than GenObi.

I don't believe that for a second.

 

[superdoug]

Its just this year at Toyfair Indy and Obi had stole the show. I love Gandalf and he is my personal favorite of the three but he just can't be selling to well.Obi sold out in several minutes and Indy sold out in about a day while Gandalf is still avaliable. I think the exclsuive is the best of the three also but he just seems a bit under appreciated.

yeah i have a feeling if it wasn't for the other two he'd have sold out a long time ago but it's $300 if you get all three and I can see a lot of people putting him behind Indy and Star Wars fans putting him behind Obi.

 

[Protozaius]

I don't believe that for a second.

You doubt the Darklord???

 

[Darklord Dave]

I don't believe that for a second.

...okay.

Just think about it -they were bound to do a portrait for AotC Obi. They were already developing the clone armor. So one day someone's larking about and puts the EpII Obi head on the clone prototype - throws on a piece of brown cloth - voila - General Obi-wan Kenobi of the Clone Wars.

Whereas on Gandalf they actually researched the pattern on his culottes. Everything is unique and had to be created from scratch, they had to figure out how the beard would hang over the body, etc.

 

[pixletwin]

...okay.

Just think about it -they were bound to do a portrait for AotC Obi. They were already developing the clone armor. So one day someone's larking about and puts the EpII Obi head on the clone prototype - throws on a piece of brown cloth - voila - General Obi-wan Kenobi of the Clone Wars.

Whereas on Gandalf they actually researched the pattern on his culottes. Everything is unique and had to be created from scratch, they had to figure out how the beard would hang over the body, etc.

Good point Dave. In that light, I find the price hike on Gandy a bit more palatable.

 

[The Ringer]

...okay.

Just think about it -they were bound to do a portrait for AotC Obi. They were already developing the clone armor. So one day someone's larking about and puts the EpII Obi head on the clone prototype - throws on a piece of brown cloth - voila - General Obi-wan Kenobi of the Clone Wars.

Whereas on Gandalf they actually researched the pattern on his culottes. Everything is unique and had to be created from scratch, they had to figure out how the beard would hang over the body, etc.

Well put Dave, it sounds logical.

 

[icruise]

...okay.

Just think about it -they were bound to do a portrait for AotC Obi. They were already developing the clone armor. So one day someone's larking about and puts the EpII Obi head on the clone prototype - throws on a piece of brown cloth - voila - General Obi-wan Kenobi of the Clone Wars.

Whereas on Gandalf they actually researched the pattern on his culottes. Everything is unique and had to be created from scratch, they had to figure out how the beard would hang over the body, etc.

Forget about the Obi-wan and Gandalf comparison for a minute (and I maintain that you can't really compare the two because as you say they were developing the armor anyway, so you can't separate out the costs just for Obi-wan). I still haven't heard one argument that explains Gandalf's price increase relative to every other figure in the LOTR line. Are you maintaining that they didn't have to do research about the outfits and so forth for the other figures in the line? What makes Gandalf cost $25 more than every other human figure using the Buck body in the line? Increased costs for overseas manufacturing or petroleum do not equal a 38% price increase, or we'd be seeing that throughout the entire industry.

 

[Darklord Dave]

Forget about the Obi-wan and Gandalf comparison for a minute (and I maintain that you can't really compare the two because as you say they were developing the armor anyway, so you can't separate out the costs just for Obi-wan). I still haven't heard one argument that explains Gandalf's price increase relative to every other figure in the LOTR line. Are you maintaining that they didn't have to do research about the outfits and so forth for the other figures in the line? What makes Gandalf cost $25 more than every other human figure using the Buck body in the line? Increased costs for overseas manufacturing or petroleum do not equal a 38% price increase, or we'd be seeing that throughout the entire industry.

As have been pointed out - it's a combination of things including the price of oil and China as a developing country (among other things). And we HAVE seen increases throughout the industry.

It could be they held the prices down on the LotR figures before but realized they couldn't do that any more - that's why the 27% increase for this one figure. ($65 to $90 = 27%)

 

[icruise]

It could be they held the prices down on the LotR figures before but realized they couldn't do that any more - that's why the 27% increase for this one figure. ($65 to $90 = 27%)

I believe it's 38%. If it were a 50% increase, that would be an increase of $32.50 for a total of $97.50, correct?

If it were a 27% increase, the price would be $82.55, unless I'm totally misunderstanding how to figure this stuff out.

 

[Killbeggar]

I got it. I'm kind of bummed at the price tag. But I got it for one reason:

It's Gandalf!

That's all I needed to hear.

 

[RoboDad]

I believe it's 38%. If it were a 50% increase, that would be an increase of $32.50 for a total of $97.50, correct?

If it were a 27% increase, the price would be $82.55, unless I'm totally misunderstanding how to figure this stuff out.

You are correct. Calculating a percentage of increase is done based on the starting price, not the ending price. The $25 difference does calculate out to be 27% of the new price of $90, but that is irrelevant to how much of an increase over the old price it is.

 

[Darklord Dave]

Whatever the price increase %, my theory that they held back increasing the price and then had to level it up, still stands.

 

[The Josh]

Whatever the price increase %, my theory that they held back increasing the price and then had to level it up, still stands.

That's food for thought anyways. I mean have the perviously released items been sold under what they should have been? So now we're paying the price on GTG?

 

[RoboDad]

Whatever the price increase %, my theory that they held back increasing the price and then had to level it up, still stands.

It is an interesting theory, but whatever the theory, reason, or motivation is behind the price increase, the fact remains that the exclusive 12" figure for Gandalf, perhaps the single most iconic character in the entire LOTR saga, has not yet sold out at Sideshow. And, while there are likely a number of factors at work in causing that to be the case, it must be clear at this point that the price is one of the more significant factors.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Price, and the fact that this line is so slow it's hard to keep a momentum. New things are announced all the time, and people's money tends to go with the newest thing. I think a lot of people also believe that we may never see anything beyond the Fellowship, when and if they even finish that. So no Orcs or Nazgul or anyone to 'fight' on the shelf may also keep people from wanting to create an LOTR display. That, and of course price.

I'm still hanging in there. I hope this line goes the distance.

 

[Mesa]

Do you think there's any chance that this will mean a much lower ES than planned? If so, that's at least a little comfort for those who jumped on board. Or will the ES stay the same regardless and the fiugre just get stagnant on the shelf waiting to sell out?

 

[Wor-Gar]

Do you think there's any chance that this will mean a much lower ES than planned? If so, that's at least a little comfort for those who jumped on board. Or will the ES stay the same regardless and the fiugre just get stagnant on the shelf waiting to sell out?

I have no idea about ES. I'm sure someone here has tracked what each figure's ES was and how it's gone lower with each announcement.

Eventually though, the number they need to sell to break even versus the number that actually do sell will meet and it will no longer make financial sense to continue the line. Unless they up prices to compensate.

I expected Gandalf to fair better. I expect Gimli to be popular. I don't expect Merry and Pippin to fair very well.

Nazguls, Orcs or a Saruman could really help energize this line though. I'm sure they realize that.