[iminime] (The Cowboy), The Bounty Hunter & The Bandit

[PopCultKid]

Well, there’s a new thief on the block

Come on guys, of course Q has a helping hand/hands on this board . God damn shame

I think the best way to combat recasters is to do what you guys are suggesting. But when it's a really rare, exclusive sculpt then that doesn't really seem like an option for these guys. I wouldn't expect to see Rainman pumping out more Plainview DX sculpts if that one got recast, for example.

That's it in a nutshell. Rainman re-releases the regular sculpts but never the DX's. That's the right way to respect the original edition size. I guess re-releasing is a way to combat recasters but as you said if it's a case where the original artists didn't plan to continue offering a particular sculpt anyway, then is it really money lost when a re-caster does? (of course not advocating the recast scummers; just saying).

Generally speaking I thing re-releasing things like full sets or doing versions that other artists have already done really takes the "collectability" out of "collectibles". The sculpt situation as RM handles it (periodically) is something that I feel works though.

 

[Jimmy C]

Guys the original sculpt no longer exists. It was modified to create the regular hatted sculpt. There is no mold to make the casts and Denny would never sell a deformed recast

Which means the recaster is the only option left.

Iminime only made/sold 36. When you check the completed ebay listings 26 recasted pieces have been sold at $ 100 a shot.

To be honest I'm surprised it took so long for them to show

 

[Wake]

Those recasts look terrible

 

[turbo.VS.ozone]

Guys the original sculpt no longer exists. It was modified to create the regular hatted sculpt. There is no mold to make the casts and Denny would never sell a deformed recast

Are we forgetting the 3 original casts that were "gifted"? It's all to late to change things anyways, but overall a total disaster begining with the whole "manufactured" hype of a 36 DX set.

 

[Jimmy C]

...Generally speaking I thing re-releasing things like full sets or doing versions that other artists have already done really takes the "collectability" out of "collectibles". The sculpt situation as RM handles it (periodically) is something that I feel works though.

But realize as recasts they are not "collectibles" They are toys or products or stand-ins. They can't take the place of the original work of art. e.g. A Cotswold Elite Brigade figure does not diminish the collectibility of a 1964 Hasbro trademarked GI Joe, nor does a Timeless Colection repro.

btw IMHO I think that drilling and painting one of those Trevor Grove unpainted gift sculpts is destroying a TRUE collectible

Those recasts look terrible

To me, and I've noticed a couple of other posts--- The pics on Ebay look really good and quite tempting. You can see "Q" is not reusing someone elses pics (he's got that red curtain there).--- Of course we do not see the back of the head.

As to the idea that molds break down and degenerate.
What if Denny used one mold to make 36 heads ? Is head # 36 as good as head # 1 ?
What if "Q" took one first generation head (lets say # 5) and made 4 separate molds with that head and cast 25 heads with each mold ?

 

[PopCultKid]

btw IMHO I think that drilling and painting one of those Trevor Grove unpainted gift sculpts is destroying a TRUE collectible

Did that happen? If they did I guess it's theirs to do as they please and a better alternitive than buying a recast.

To me, and I've noticed a couple of other posts--- The pics on Ebay look really good and quite tempting. You can see "Q" is not reusing someone elses pics (he's got that red curtain there).--- Of course we do not see the back of the head.

As to the idea that molds break down and degenerate.
What if Denny used one mold to make 36 heads ? Is head # 36 as good as head # 1 ?
What if "Q" took one first generation head (lets say # 5) and made 4 separate molds with that head and cast 25 heads with each mold ?

IDK what the lifespan of a mold is but #36 will be as good as #1 if the mold is good for say 50 casts. The point being whatever the magic number is, the casts from the worn out mold aren't as clean as the early ones so you're supposed to stop using the mold once it stops producing consistent casts

 

[Jimmy C]

Did that happen? If they did I guess it's theirs to do as they please and a better alternitive than buying a recast.

I know someone had it under consideration. And there were pics of a professionally painted sculpt in another thread. I presumed, possibly incorrectly that it was one of the 3 unpainted sculpts.

Of course the sculpt was "theirs to do as they please" My opinion is not in a legal sense, but an artistic or investment sense.

Picture two people walking into "Antique Road show" 100 years from now.

One guy has an unpainted, undrilled sculpt with Trevors personal signature on the bottom.
The "Roadshow' expert explains that there were only 3 in existence and a personal gift from this aclaimed 1/6 artist

The expert then looks at the second painted sculpt and says. "Well we know that this was painted by a secondary market artist not the original manufacturer (Iminime). Judging from the drilled hole, we are not sure if its one of the 3 rare "gifted" sculpts or a "Q" recast.

My suggestion to the owner, if he was really desparate for the hatless sculpt for another version of Blondie, might be to make a single recast for himself (if that's possible and have that painted). Preserve the undrilled prototype.

Would someone color in DaVinci's MichealAngelo's prototype sketches

 

[PopCultKid]

I get what you mean but there are two sides to the coin. If the sculpt was drilled and painted it was an effort to not recast, even for a one off for their own collection. And the particular paint that ended up on the sculpt will make that piece equally, if not more valuable/sort after than an unpainted one with Trev's sig

 

[Jimmy C]

If this was done once that leaves only two prototype Grove specials left vs. 36 Iminime DX exclusives and 26 (presumably to be painted) recasts.

 

[PopCultKid]

There is one more thing to consider with these recasts..... the top respectable guys like Nathan, Josh and the rest of the best of the forum’s painters won't touch one of these. So sure people can get their hands on a cast but what will the end result look like? Whatever it is it's not likely going to devalue Iminime's original paint or Nathan's paint on that one sculpt. In fact those sculpts would have to hide in people's collection. Any that surfaced without the commonly known paint jobs would be spotted right away as a recast. It could only be resold to someone else who supports or doesn't mind recasting

 

[turbo.VS.ozone]

It's very telling that the Patrick Bateman laughing sculpt, which was and still is very sought after, has not showed up as recasted by someone like Q but then this Blondie figure hatless sculpt does. I go down that list of customers that bought the Bateman DX and say to myself....hmmm who's missing because those that did buy it haven't seemed to be helping out a recaster with a popular/limited sculpt.

 

[PopCultKid]

There's a solid method that will boil it down to a few d-bags. That's a good point that the Batman DX sculpt didn't leak. Hmmmmm

 

[RavenEye]

Hey I heard there was a prize if you bought a recast and sent to denny or trevor. That true?

 

[denny kim]

The recasted one looks ok(still see little deformation but can't be sure how much from unpainted and with distorted photos) sometimes with unpainted, once it's painted, the deformation would appear clearly.

seriously, the Q is hurting people and me.

 

[transhi100]

That's is a very good idea Turbo. It would start to narrow it down at the very least.

 

[Bullet]

It's very telling that the Patrick Bateman laughing sculpt, which was and still is very sought after, has not showed up as recasted by someone like Q but then this Blondie figure hatless sculpt does. I go down that list of customers that bought the Bateman DX and say to myself....hmmm who's missing because those that did buy it haven't seemed to be helping out a recaster with a popular/limited sculpt.

The problem with that theory is how many of those Bateman DX sets have been sold on the secondary market? How many of them where sold by retailers to start with. I got my DX set from OSB not direct from Iminime. The point is that particular figure (and most Iminime figs now) are accessible via methods other than Iminime direct so it make's it even more difficult to pin point anything .

We all know there is at least one person on this board right now supplying Q likely more than one tbh. He's the source you want to stop Q we need to find out who is supplying him the only problem with that is there is literally no evidence. There is a little bit of circumstantial evidence that more than a few are aware of that implements one or two people in particular but nothing more than that. We can't do anything without rock solid evidence and at the moment there just isn't any, with any luck said individual/s will slip up. In fact if you ask me they already have the Big Trouble in Little China sculpt is enough evidence for me only 5 or 6 people in the world had that sculpt before Q got his grubby mits on it FFS! You take that very very small list and cross reference it against other sculpts Q has (including the DX Blondie sculpt) and you've got a very very small pool......

 

[karamazov80]

The conclusion apparently reached was that the person supplying the Burton sculpt was an industry painter. So, I doubt it's the same person, though some have had their DX heads repainted. And of course, that adds one more layer of muddiness to all of these issues. You've got a list originally sold to, you've got folks who got unpainted samples, you've got some that were sold to an intermediary retailer(s?), you've got some that were sold on the secondary market, and you've got some that were in the hands of painters after being purchased. Lots of opportunity there for a shady person to misbehave.

 

[mishu2nite]

Why anyone would want to paint over a DX is beyond me. The paint is perfect.

 

[Jimmy C]

The conclusion apparently reached was that the person supplying the Burton sculpt was an industry painter. So, I doubt it's the same person, though some have had their DX heads repainted. And of course, that adds one more layer of muddiness to all of these issues. You've got a list originally sold to, you've got folks who got unpainted samples, you've got some that were sold to an intermediary retailer(s?), you've got some that were sold on the secondary market, and you've got some that were in the hands of painters after being purchased. Lots of opportunity there for a shady person to misbehave.

Have you included non-English speaking customers who DO NOT frequent this English language forum ?

 

[Jimmy C]

There is one more thing to consider with these recasts..... the top respectable guys like Nathan, Josh and the rest of the best of the forum’s painters won't touch one of these. So sure people can get their hands on a cast but what will the end result look like?

I know the guys you mention are premium painters who frequent this board and most of us know and are aware of. But you guys keep bringing them up as if they are the only painters in the world. I guarantee that any static model shop you walk into can recommend or supply a dozen or so competant painters more than willing to earn a few extra bucks and are completely oblivious to what SSF or 1:6 scale multi-media articulated figures are. Same for any decent art school or High School art teacher, let alone any other forums with a less intimate knowledge of the subject
Do you know any /all of the artists listed here ? https://theclubhouse1.net/museum/painters.htm

Whatever it is it's not likely going to devalue Iminime's original paint or Nathan's paint on that one sculpt.

Agree with you there. The third party paint on a recasted sculpt should not devalue the original and will not effect any opinion of the repainted gift.

In fact those sculpts would have to hide in people's collection. Any that surfaced without the commonly known paint jobs would be spotted right away as a recast. It could only be resold to someone else who supports or doesn't mind recasting

Again you are presuming that everyone posts pics of their collection here. There are 36 DX sets. I don't remember how many regular sets. and now 26 recasts. How many people have posted pics ? Seven or eight ? Non collector friends will see Clint as MWNN on your shelf and remark: "How COOL" none the wiser as to where it came from or how it got painted

It's very telling that the Patrick Bateman laughing sculpt, which was and still is very sought after, has not showed up as recasted by someone like Q but then this Blondie figure hatless sculpt does. I go down that list of customers that bought the Bateman DX and say to myself....hmmm who's missing because those that did buy it haven't seemed to be helping out a recaster with a popular/limited sculpt.

I don't think you can compare these characters. Personally I don't even know who Patrick Bateman is. Neither as a custom figure by Iminime or a character from a movie(?). EVERYONE knows who Clint Eastwood is. This was a remarkable sculpt and to some degree generic enough to be used as the Bounty Hunter with a STEVO hat or Hang Em High, High Plains Drifter, Josie Wales, Rowdy, Harry or Kelly or the guy in "Paint Your Wagon"

There's a solid method that will boil it down to a few d-bags. That's a good point that the Batman DX sculpt didn't leak. Hmmmmm

Maybe "Q" did'nt see this a money maker worthy of the investment he'd put into it. You say popular and rare. how many folks are after one ? Less than a dozen ?