Hot Toys 1/6 Icon-M series, Leslie Cheung collectible

[ShadowX81]

But that is still resources they could have put into releasing an Elias, or Clu, or Roschach. Resources that they could have dedicated to pushing forward with some licenses that have been in limbo like BTTF or First Class.

Why is it that the only time Hot Toys is willing to take a gamble on a niche licence, it is for Asian markets? Everything over here is the same old Iron Man, Batman, Predator, ect. Where are our niche figures?

 

[Centurion]

Yeah, but this is Leslie Cheung yo!!

 

[karamazov80]

But that is still resources they could have put into releasing an Elias, or Clu, or Roschach. Resources that they could have dedicated to pushing forward with some licenses that have been in limbo like BTTF or First Class.

Could have, but wouldn't have. There is no real scenario I see where HT doesn't drag its feet with lesser sellers or revisit older, "neglected" licenses. If they didn't do this figure, they would have probably just used that energy to develop another Iron Man.

 

[SideshoMel]

And don't forget this guy,

Yeah I remember THAT GUY!!!

 

[karamazov80]

LOL. Yeah, those Predators go for sub-retail now. He initially made some serious scratch from them, though.

 

[ShadowX81]

Could have, but wouldn't have. There is no real scenario I see where HT doesn't drag its feet with lesser sellers or revisit older, "neglected" licenses. If they didn't do this figure, they would have probably just used that energy to develop another Iron Man.

But that is kind of my point. Why are they willing to take a risk on those potentially lesser selling figures (such as this) over there, but not here?

 

[karamazov80]

They've got a business model, and seem to know what they are doing. Maybe the U.S. base doesn't need to be periodically appeased with a culturally specific character while it helps the Asian base maintain some brand loyalty. Maybe it was a simple cost/benefit situation, where the license was cheap, production was simple, and benefits were high (most licenses the U.S. base are interested likely aren't as cheap, or as simple as guy in tux). Maybe it is a pet license that Howard always wanted to do. Maybe his wife is a huge fan of the guy. Who knows?

 

[ZaCHw117]

Oh man. I don't think that post was supposed to be funny, but I loled.

This post made me lol.

 

[DiFabio]

I got over that Rorschach crap, it's history, but that was dumb how he wasn't the first one out the door. They could have struck while the iron was hot, but nahh, put out Silk Spectre. Still can't believe how he didn't debut first (or at all for that matter). He was easily the most popular and memorable, but then to not even make it pass prototype stage. Weird. The line might have had some serious momentum if they went with him first, then Comedian, Nite Owl so on and so on.


Then Elias. Man, I'm glad I didn't jump into Platoon and get Chris Taylor and Barnes. They're really nice, but sort of pointless without the trio.

 

[vareika]

But that is still resources they could have put into releasing an Elias, or Clu, or Roschach. Resources that they could have dedicated to pushing forward with some licenses that have been in limbo like BTTF or First Class.

Why is it that the only time Hot Toys is willing to take a gamble on a niche licence, it is for Asian markets? Everything over here is the same old Iron Man, Batman, Predator, ect. Where are our niche figures?

Yes fair enough, but those resources that could have gone to Rorschach were put into Tron Sam / Light Cycle, and the same resources that could have been put into Clu was put into Sucker Punch Baby Doll, and the resources that could have been put into Rocket or whatever was put into Avengers, and so forth. Somehow, this isn't deemed as wasting resources, so why is it suddenly a bad use of resources now?

The point I was making is even if we want to use this analogy, this Leslie figure probably is way on the bottom in the list of "resources wasted". Then again, personally, I don't see any of this as wasted resources, its a simple fact that they as a company wanted to pursue certain liscenses, make certain figures of those liscenses, and maybe dedicated a few folks to this one-time Leslie figure...

So once again, I ask, how is this Leslie figure to be blamed for the lack of Rorschach, when those resources probably went to the two existing Tron figures or other supposedly "worthy" liscenses.

 

[vareika]

Could have, but wouldn't have. There is no real scenario I see where HT doesn't drag its feet with lesser sellers or revisit older, "neglected" licenses. If they didn't do this figure, they would have probably just used that energy to develop another Iron Man.

Word.

Leslie figure =/= reason why some previous lines were abandoned. HT "moved on", so we should to.

 

[Valfar]

I'm pretty happy i did pick up Chris Taylor and Barnes, especially Barnes, both were reasonably priced and come with a good amount of accessories, the Barnes headsculpt is one of HT's best.

Not having Elias kinda sucks but, we got the two main characters of the movie and they didn't cost too much and are a great value so, i am satisfied.

I'm glad no more Watchmen figures were made, especially after seeing Comedian melt away and SPII is a pretty ugly figure compared to the female figures Hot Toys are producing now and well, every comic shop i walk into has a boat load of Watchmen merchandise on clearance..bit of a flop if you ask me.

 

[Uncanny Web-Slinger]

Why is it that the only time Hot Toys is willing to take a gamble on a niche licence, it is for Asian markets?

Very valid question.

But that is kind of my point. Why are they willing to take a risk on those potentially lesser selling figures (such as this) over there, but not here?

Another valid question

 

[DiFabio]

If Hot Toys are marketed and geared to Asian collectors first, specifically in China, and internationally last, how come the typography and graphics are so English centric? Why are things like, the instructions in the user guide English first and Chinese last?

 

[Enthus]

If Hot Toys are marketed and geared to Asian collectors first, specifically in China, and internationally last, how come the typography and graphics are so English centric? Why are things like, the instructions in the user guide English first and Chinese last?

I'm no expert, but I'd assume it is because not every Asian country speaks Chinese. I'd imagine that Korean, Japanese, etc. collectors would appreciate that they can at least read the English instructions. It's never a bad thing to have the most widely spoken language in the world as an option.

 

[Mogli]

Hot Toys doesn't take chances in the US, and only does so in Asian markets?

Sweeney Todd didn't sell that well, from what I've seen and heard (didn't someone on these boards say Hot Toys was disappointed with it's sales?), any more "niche" than a Depp/Burton collaboration, and the sales would completely tank. It's not a mystery why the US doesn't get more obscure figures, even the Reeves Superman is still around. On the contrary, Babydoll seems to have sold well, but look at Amber. Looking at those, I would say HT is taking a chance in the US for every figure not based on an insanely popular franchise. I was surprised they even considered the new GI Joe was worth pursuing. Even buying the license to something like Prometheus is a huge gamble.

This figure is relatively limited, likely has been in production a long time (waiting for an anniversary to release it), and is not being marketed directly to the US. And I doubt it'll be a bomb in the target market. So I don't see how this figure equates to "taking a chance" on an obscure figure in the US that would result in poor sales, as they've done several times before.

I'm sure to some people in Asia, the US is getting all the "niche" figures, such as Sucker Punch, Tron, Watchmen, and many other franchises which weren't exactly Avengers level blockbusters, and have no special appeal to Asians. It seems obvious, IMO, that HT determines what would sell in the US first, and usually considers other markets as secondary. They didn't even make a Jackie Chan figure yet, who is definitely more popular in Asia than the US, just like Bruce Lee.

What's wrong with Asians making a figure of someone who was and still is considered a legend to many Asians, so much so that his popularity overshadows his death? By my example above, they have done it several times with the US, even if they didn't finish the lines, and how many times have they done it for the Asian markets? Goemon, City Hunter, 20th Century Boys, and now this. So that's 7 figures total, for a company founded by Asians (no I'm not counting lines so limited most people didn't know they even made them). And they didn't even make any Gundam figures yet.

We wouldn't be complaining over a new John Wayne or even another Bruce Lee. That's not arguing this guy is at their levels, but to many Asians he is a hero, and there are a lot of Asians in the world. Just by the sheer numbers of fans alone, and not by their ethnicity, this figure makes perfect sense.

And for the record, yes, I personally would prefer a John Wayne figure over this.

 

[DiFabio]

I'm no expert, but I'd assume it is because not every Asian country speaks Chinese. I'd imagine that Korean, Japanese, etc. collectors would appreciate that they can at least read the English instructions. It's never a bad thing to have the most widely spoken language in the world as an option.

Could be, could be.


But that's catering to a customer base OUTSIDE of China, and going by some of these posts in here, Hot Toys doesn't care about those. They're a small fraction.

 

[Lejuan]

The Chinese market is expanding as the Chinese middle class expands. I'm guessing HT simply want to make sure that they have some market diversity in their product lines. Why not bring out a guy in a suit towards that end? It's not as though this figure involved a heap of R&D, and it would've been cheap as chips to churn out.

 

[COSMOSTARX]

Asian markets China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, and probably S.Korea too. There's a lot of collectors from those parts of the country that are probably willing to dent their wallets for this figure.

 

[vareika]

If Hot Toys are marketed and geared to Asian collectors first, specifically in China, and internationally last, how come the typography and graphics are so English centric? Why are things like, the instructions in the user guide English first and Chinese last?

I think everyone by age 18 in HK is semi fluent in English. Many asian countries teach english as a second language as part of the their regular curriculum. For a place like HK, due to prior influence, english is even more common.

I'm no expert, but I'd assume it is because not every Asian country speaks Chinese. I'd imagine that Korean, Japanese, etc. collectors would appreciate that they can at least read the English instructions. It's never a bad thing to have the most widely spoken language in the world as an option.

Makes sense.

Asian markets China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, and probably S.Korea too. There's a lot of collectors from those parts of the country that are probably willing to dent their wallets for this figure.

Probably mainly Taiwan and Hong Kong, abd maybe China.