Gandalf the Grey PF

[Bullseye]

Just make it and we will buy.

 

[bill59]

SS has alluded to this many times, and I believe some board members here have seen "in progress" photo's that the rest of us have not.

Sure wish those board members would post the pics here so all could enjoy them...it's good to share guys.

Bill

 

[bill59]

Just make it and we will buy.

But Sideshow's question would be: will enough of us buy it?

I know I would be up for it.


Bill

 

[xerxes]

Where they seem to have gone a bit squirrely was some of their decisions concerning the LSB and dio. lines, again not so much in the character selection dept., rather in execution. Though I guess by now even SS has figured out what we all knew from the start....namely that another Aragorn dio. was a really bad idea.

Agree... and all this does is just emphsise the poor management and lack of understanding of the property. 5 lines started for 3 fails says it all really

 

[woodsy]

Agree... and all this does is just emphsise the poor management and lack of understanding of the property. 5 lines started for 3 fails says it all really

What a co-incidence, that's the exact same failure to success ratio as the previous SSW licence. They too introduced 5 lines, and only two were standing by the time the dust settled....and all this with a booming economy and LOTR at the height of it's popularity....seems to me there's plenty of blame to go around where the LOTR franchise is concerned.

 

[woodsy]

Sure wish those board members would post the pics here so all could enjoy them...it's good to share guys.
Bill

I pretty sure anyone whose seen pic's has been sworn to secrecy...and I don't think anyone is going to violate that edict.....not if they ever want to see anything in advance from SS again.

 

[xerxes]

What a co-incidence, that's the exact same failure to success ratio as the previous SSW licence. They too introduced 5 lines, and only two were standing by the time the dust settled....and all this with a booming economy and LOTR at the height of it's popularity....seems to me there's plenty of blame to go around where the LOTR franchise is concerned.

Didn't know that... very interesting; I'd like to think a professional outfit like SS would learn from the past. Oh well can't win em' all

 

[woodsy]

Didn't know that... very interesting; I'd like to think a professional outfit like SS would learn from the past. Oh well can't win em' all

It is true...some companies don't learn from mistakes of others. And apparently others don't learn from their own mistakes. Mini shields/lapel pins, souvinir statues with the company name and mascot right on the statue [what's next snowglobes?], grossly overpriced FB statues they can't sell, and promises of crowns/tiaras and 6" statues that have never seen the light of day.......I suppose there's always rayguns.

 

[Bullseye]

But Sideshow's question would be: will enough of us buy it?

I know I would be up for it.


Bill

Gimli? Oh sure there should be at least 500 buyers of that character IMO.

 

[El Skutto]

Alas I feel the new maquette line is more likely to succeed than the PF line.

I have my doubts. How many times will LOTR fans be forced to buy new versions of the same 4 or so characters in the hopes that the less popular characters get made? After Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli get released, interest in the maquette line will dry up and Sideshow will most likely drop it in favour of more profitable licenses.

 

[Bullseye]

Well there is a track record for your assumption. Just lets hope they have gotten the message to finish the fellowship.

Was it not completed in the 12" line?

 

[woodsy]

I have my doubts. How many times will LOTR fans be forced to buy new versions of the same 4 or so characters in the hopes that the less popular characters get made? After Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli get released, interest in the maquette line will dry up and Sideshow will most likely drop it in favour of more profitable licenses.

I don't think so. Traditionally, it is the bad guy's that are more popular, not the good guys. Case in point....Aragorn. There weren't a whole lot of us looking forward to yet another version of Aragorn and if SS hadn't created such a masterpiece they would have been screwed. I think however, SS decided to get most of the fellowship members out of the way first because they recognize their failure to do so with their other lines. And I'm sure with that realization came the understanding if they didn't put this early emphasis on the fellowship, no one was going to get on board with this new line.

Arwen and Boromir are up next, and if SS nails the likenesses as well as they have so far [in the maquette line] they will do very well, as will every character they do where they nail the likeness. And let's not forget all the characters SSW mysteriously never got around to producing. You don't think there will be a huge amount of interest in a Faramir maquette?, an Eomer, Denethor [on his throne], MOSoS, etc....?

 

[Bullseye]

I don't think so. Traditionally, it is the bad guy's that are more popular, not the good guys. Case in point....Aragorn. There weren't a whole lot of us looking forward to yet another version of Aragorn and if SS hadn't hadn't created such a masterpiece they would have been screwed. I think however, SS decided to get most of the fellowship members out of the way first because they recognize their failure to do so with their other lines. And I'm sure with that realization came the understanding if they didn't put this early emphasis on the fellowship, no one was going to get on board with this new line.

Arwen and Boromir are up next, and if SS nails the likenesses as well as they have so far [in the maquette line] they will do very well, as will every character they do where they nail the likeness. And let's not forget all the characters SSW mysteriously never got around to producing. You don't think there will be a huge amount of interest in a Faramir maquette?, an Eomer, Denethor [on his throne], MOSoS, etc....?

Are you referring to the PF's? I'd be interested in Boromir.

 

[woodsy]

Are you referring to the PF's? I'd be interested in Boromir.

No, I was referring to El Skutto's comments concerning the maquette line. Personally, I think once SS gets these main characters out of the way, and starts introducing some of the missing characters and baddies, this line will do very well.

I have my doubts. How many times will LOTR fans be forced to buy new versions of the same 4 or so characters in the hopes that the less popular characters get made? After Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli get released, interest in the maquette line will dry up and Sideshow will most likely drop it in favour of more profitable licenses.

I think we'd all be interested in a Boromir and Gimli PF, and I'd be surprised if we don't see one of them sometime in 2011, if not the PF itself at least something in the form of a sneak peek, or prod. video indicating it is on the way.

 

[El Skutto]

I don't think so. Traditionally, it is the bad guy's that are more popular, not the good guys. Case in point....Aragorn. There weren't a whole lot of us looking forward to yet another version of Aragorn and if SS hadn't created such a masterpiece they would have been screwed. I think however, SS decided to get most of the fellowship members out of the way first because they recognize their failure to do so with their other lines. And I'm sure with that realization came the understanding if they didn't put this early emphasis on the fellowship, no one was going to get on board with this new line.

Arwen and Boromir are up next, and if SS nails the likenesses as well as they have so far [in the maquette line] they will do very well, as will every character they do where they nail the likeness. And let's not forget all the characters SSW mysteriously never got around to producing. You don't think there will be a huge amount of interest in a Faramir maquette?, an Eomer, Denethor [on his throne], MOSoS, etc....?

I respectfully disagree. Die-hard LOTR collectors only represent a small percentage of the people who buy these statues. I'd wager the majority of the regular editions get sold to comic shops and online distributors, where the bulk of the buyers are casual fans who probably don't even know (or care) about Sideshow.

Diehard LOTR fans will buy the bad guys, but not the casual fans. They want one or two iconic figures that represent the license, and that's it. And that's why every new series starts off with the same 4 or 5 guaranteed-to-sell characters, rather than starting off with, say, King Theoden.

In any case, we won't have long to wait to see which guess is correct.

 

[Seaward]

I think there is some element of both, in that the hardcore collectors are well-versed with Sideshow product, and the vast majority of the buying public aren't even aware of Sideshow, just a cool statue being sold at retail location X.

The diversity of characters for a license like this is a challenge though, as some people just buy heroes, some people just want female characters, some people just want monsters (I think a lot of people get LOTR baddies that have no interest in the rest of the line), and the completist/die-hard collectors too.

 

[furystorm]

...and the completist/die-hard collectors too.

Completist/die-hard here, if SS ever gets the maquette line up an running...

 

[tomandshell]

I decided to stick with collecting the heroes in the PF line, and lately that has been a very affordable decision.

 

[Indiana Fett]

I decided to stick with collecting the heroes in the PF line, and lately that has been a very affordable decision.

Hey, good choice...me too.

I still need Legolas though...and I'd be mighty tempted to get a baddie when they make Saruman.

 

[woodsy]

I respectfully disagree. Die-hard LOTR collectors only represent a small percentage of the people who buy these statues. I'd wager the majority of the regular editions get sold to comic shops and online distributors, where the bulk of the buyers are casual fans who probably don't even know (or care) about Sideshow.

OK.....if you know any of these casual fans who willingly slap down upwards of $250-$300 for a statue from a licence or company they don't generally care about, could you please point them in my direction?....and I'll start putting my Christmas wishlist together.

Diehard LOTR fans will buy the bad guys, but not the casual fans. They want one or two iconic figures that represent the license, and that's it. And that's why every new series starts off with the same 4 or 5 guaranteed-to-sell characters, rather than starting off with, say, King Theoden.

In any case, we won't have long to wait to see which guess is correct.

Unfortunately that does not line up with the numbers, either in terms of ES's or secondary market value. The two most popular PF's [in terms of both ES and secondary value] are Lurtz and the Berserker. Aragorn rounds out the top 3 in terms of ES, but like every other "good guy" PF is easily available at below retail value. I also do not think it a co-incidence that the LSB line was at it's absolute height of popularity, at the very beginning when instead of starting off with the same 4 or 5 characters they launched this line with the ML, CT, and Sauron, with the Balrog rounding out the top 5. I think we all know the failure of the LSB line had nothing to do with the bad guys. I think it also pretty self-explanatory as to which statues, by and large, are the most sought after/highly valued in the previous SSW line as well.....and if you a need hint :

Spoiler

It's not the good guys.

But you are right, we will see soon enough.....OK at the rate the maquette line is moving perhaps "soon" isn't the right word... but we can certainly revisit this conversation once SS starts cranking out the baddies.