How do you keep the faith?

[dekadentdave]

You have to remember that $tar War$ sells and that Sideshow is trying very hard to differentiate itself from Hasbro by offering some secondary characters that have never been made in 1:6 before. We certainly would not have seen characters like Bubo or Salacious Crumb had it not been for the awesome debut of Jabba which opened the possibilities to making those kinds of secondary characters to complete the scene. The Endor stooges, while controversial, did sell out and proves that army building is indeed popular with collectors even with generic characters.

 

[EVILFACE]

Soooooo why don't you make a poll in the general are of "Best Figure of 2006" and have it where multiple choices can be made.

I buy what I like from whatever company makes them.

But I also think some people just don't grasp how to run a companyl. You won't stay around making **** that doesn't sell.

 

[Anton Phibes]

Indeed.
Star Wars is the cash cow and ours the one led to the slaughter.
That being said, I still refuse to believe that Salacious Crumb, Endor rebels or Bobu as secondary characters [or less] can get made and would outsell the likes of Maleva, Ygor, or the Ape-O-Nauts. And it seems rather early in such a vast universe as that of Star Wars to have even gotten to such characters.

I have come to the conclusion that George Lucas could wipe his butt and blow his nose on an old Marvel Star Wars comic and it would still sell better than Maleva.

Don't get me wrong. I am a serious whore for Universal Monsters. I could definitely go for a Maleva. There are just many, many more Star Wars whores out there who will gleefully remove any body part asked for if it involves getting a limited edition Ewok #424 stand in extra figure.

Endor Rebel Larry, Curly and Moe will definitely outsell my precious monsters. Or your precious Apes. Because George Lucas has spoken it. So let it be written. So let it be done.

 

[Darklord Dave]

I'm a 1/6 fan from way back - if it weren't for 1/6th then this board wouldn't exist. However, SSC as a company is moving in a different direction. Crawford's Best of 2006 reader's poll brought that home to me in a big way. SSC, MR, GG are all in a different category.

If it weren't for SW, I doubt SSC would even be in the 1/6th business at all.

 

[dekadentdave]

SS has been making 1:6 figures from its inception. It took many years to build themselves up to buy small film and TV licenses to prove they had what it takes to compete in the market in order to lobby for the BIG licences like Star Wars and LOTR. They are a burgeoning company and have been branching out into prop replicas and statues to their incredible creative repertoire. However, if Sideshow is going to shift their primary focus to statues then I think they are heading in the wrong direction. We already have companies like Gentle Giant for that market and Master Replicas for film props. Sideshow should focus on being known as THE 1:6 collectibles manufacturer. They certainly have the potential to be but first they need to develop a new Buck body with better articulation and better factory paints to compete with the Asian 1:6 market (I'm sure the Medikids will love to latch onto that). If they want to change to becoming a static-but-impressive-looking statue company then I'll have to stick to collecting high-end 1:6 figure imports from Asian manufacturers like Hot Toys which is rapidly overtaking my Sideshow collection.

 

[Ironman1188]

I'm a 1/6 fan from way back - if it weren't for 1/6th then this board wouldn't exist. However, SSC as a company is moving in a different direction. Crawford's Best of 2006 reader's poll brought that home to me in a big way. SSC, MR, GG are all in a different category.

If it weren't for SW, I doubt SSC would even be in the 1/6th business at all.

If it weren't for SW, I doubt SSC would even be in the 1/6th business at all.

Alas, the Darklord has spoken words that may never have been truer. And if SSC is leaving 1:6 [except $W], how many 1:6 customers will they be tossing aside?

 

[Josette]

With 1/6th being my primary area of collecting, I would definitely end up tossed aside. I was ready to possibly purchase some PFs -if they got a license that I wanted - but I couldn't have afforded a room full of them like I can with 1/6th figures. Now I definitely can't.

That's why I wish more companies would do 1/6th. Because SSC doesn't look like they're going to satisfy 1/6th collectors anymore.

 

[EVILFACE]

Well I'd SS does give up the ghost, at least we have HOT TOYS.

 

[Minimodel]

I d have no problem with it at all Evilface.I hope they give the Bond licence to Hot Toys who know what collectors want.That way we ll get Bond with the Rocket belt,a 1/6 DB5 and other goodies.Sideshow just bore me now.

 

[lcummins]

SS has been making 1:6 figures from its inception...

Incorrect! Sideshow was "officially" formed in 1995; it wasn't until 2001, six years later, that they released their first 12" figure.

...It took many years to build themselves up to buy small film and TV licenses to prove they had what it takes to compete in the market in order to lobby for the BIG licences like Star Wars and LOTR. They are a burgeoning company and have been branching out into prop replicas and statues to their incredible creative repertoire. However, if Sideshow is going to shift their primary focus to statues then I think they are heading in the wrong direction...

I wouldn't say many. Again, they formed in 1995 and by 2000/2001 they already were producing high-end collectibles and had the LOTR license. Sideshow has actually produced some high-end products from their very earliest years. The Berni Wrightson's Frankenstein Bronze bust was released in 1996! That is a pretty high-end collectible! As for the wrong direction...

...It took three years for Sideshow Productions to become Sideshow Toy and three years for Sideshow Toy to become Sideshow Collectibles, the company reinventing itself as it updated its vision... But the vision at Sideshow was for the company to also be creatively collaborative, aligning itself with talented artists all over the world. No relationship better exemplified this vision than the partnership forged with Weta Workshop of New Zealand and the subsequent “The Lord of the Rings” products that have come from it. That collaborative vision would broaden to include Sideshow product development in association with Stan Winston Studios, the special effects company Spectral Motion, Morpheus Gallery, the leading representative of art of the surreal, and IDW Publishers...

...Sideshow should focus on being known as THE 1:6 collectibles manufacturer. They certainly have the potential to be but first they need to develop a new Buck body with better articulation and better factory paints to compete with the Asian 1:6 market (I'm sure the Medikids will love to latch onto that). If they want to change to becoming a static-but-impressive-looking statue company then I'll have to stick to collecting high-end 1:6 figure imports from Asian manufacturers like Hot Toys which is rapidly overtaking my Sideshow collection.

I don't think Sideshow has or will abandon the 1:6 market. We seem to be in a new resurgence of the 1:6 market with incredible offerings from not only Sideshow, Hot Toys and Medicom, but a few smaller companies as well. As stated earlier, a company has to produce product that will sell to keep them in business; if that means some of our favorite lines gently fade away, there will be others to take their place. A line cannot continue for ever, and no company in their right mind would promise to produce every character that fans wanted just to make sure the line was "complete".

 

[NASEDO]

What I don't like about the "new" Sideshow, is everything is LOTR, Marvel and SW. Their sucking the lines dry.

We had LOTR 1/6 poly
now LOTR PF
LOTR 12 inch
and now more LOTR coming

Same with Star Wars, And The 10 Spidey staues, plus the new Spiderman 3.

Go and get Pirates, Potter something "FRESH". W.O.W will be a bust.

We have a new license....Spidey 3, big deal, to me its Marvel.

I understand some people collect different formats, but I think SS is hurting its self. I recently got rid of all my 12 inch LOTR and Star Wars figures, I'll most likely drop the LOTR PF line for the 'new' LOTR stuff. Star Wars PF is a great line but the idea of 2 Lukes so fast is a bummer. But the line is a must. The repeat characters is what killed the BUFFy line.

I would like to see a new X-files figure. Skinner and Kryceck are still get big bucks on ebay. It would just be nice to see something fresh. I'm sure the Toy Fare will be all about LOTR and SW, and now SS is doing a show just for SW, funny.

 

[abstractharmony]

A line cannot continue for ever, and no company in their right mind would promise to produce every character that fans wanted just to make sure the line was "complete".

No but current licences have MAJOR figures missing :-

Bond - Daniel Craig

Buffy - Anya, Tara, Dawn & Riley (Joyce?)

Angel - Wesley, Gunn & Fred

X-Files - Lone Gunmen, Reyes

New Line - Jason 5, Jason 8, Uberjason

POTA - Lots of MAIN characters missing

and really Medieval Kurgan SHOULD have been made before Duncan


That's without what we as fans would like to see in the lines.

I'm pretty sure that we'll get the Lone Gunmen eventually, I'm pretty sure that the Buffyverse will continue and that we'll get a Jason at Toyfair.

 

[Josette]

I don't expect to see anymore X-Files figures at all. POTA and Highlander seem done, too.

I do think a few more Buffy/Angel figures are in the cards, but probably not many more.

And I'd expect to see a Craig Bond unless the likeness issue prevents it - I hope not, as I desperately want one.

 

[Mr. Twos]

I'm a 1/6 fan from way back - if it weren't for 1/6th then this board wouldn't exist. However, SSC as a company is moving in a different direction. Crawford's Best of 2006 reader's poll brought that home to me in a big way. SSC, MR, GG are all in a different category.

If it weren't for SW, I doubt SSC would even be in the 1/6th business at all.

The only thing I buy from Sideshow is 1/6 scale figures. If they stop making 1/6 scale than I am done with Sideshow. That doesn't mean I don't love Sideshow. It simply means they will not offer anything that meets my needs as a collector. I've tried to get into other things like statues but it never takes. I need articulation to be satisfied.

 

[drbrad1975]

My faith has been tested to say the least. I love Star Wars but I have diversified my interests in other licenses. Highlander is DOA. You can pretty much say the same for Apes. I personally loved that line and have almost every figure. X-Files is pretty much done. Terminator, while there are MANY possibilities to expand this line has limped its way to final production after a year from pre-order date. All I am getting from Sideshow is Star Wars.

That's not to say I am not totally starved for 1:6 figures. So far Hot Toys has really come through for me with the HIGHEST quality 1:6 figures around... Aliens, Predators, Rocky, Rambo, and Robocop. Right now my faith resides with Hot Toys. Sideshow is now merely secondary to them. Looks like the competition has taken the lead.

DD, I have to say that I agree with you 100%. Hot Toys has just amazed me this year with their offerings. I initially didn't want the Aliens line but I keep looking them up on eBay....my mind is definitely changing... The Hot Toys Rambo and Rocky are two of the best figure I have gotten in the past two months. Their product actually looks better than the protos everytime. Something I wish SS would learn.

Cheers,

brad

 

[Bardoon]

Well..Sideshow is making the big bucks because of Star Wars and can take on bigger and more expensive licenses that can insure success.

I don't think they will completely abandon their retro licenses but like its been mentioned, their main focus is on Star Wars and Marvel (with LotR a close third). Anything else is low priority though I wouldn't doubt that they do have ideas in mind and might even have something on the table.

In the future I see that they'll probably be abandoning some more of their old licenses like they did Highlander. Perhaps some like Buffy and X-Files will be next.

 

[dekadentdave]

Bardoon, I like your avatar man!

 

[Bardoon]

Some like it Hot Hot HOT! :chew

 

[EVILFACE]

The only thing I buy from Sideshow is 1/6 scale figures. If they stop making 1/6 scale than I am done with Sideshow. That doesn't mean I don't love Sideshow. It simply means they will not offer anything that meets my needs as a collector. I've tried to get into other things like statues but it never takes. I need articulation to be satisfied.

That's me to a T as well. I don't care for statues, busts, bobbleheads, prints or prop replicas.

 

[gdb]

Alas, the Darklord has spoken words that may never have been truer. And if SSC is leaving 1:6 [except $W], how many 1:6 customers will they be tossing aside?

So long as they import Hot Toys and Medicom, I'll be a customer. Well, if you consider paying the lowest price on the web for a piece that all SSC did was distribute as being a customer.