InArt: The Lord of the Rings - Frodo and Sam

[hoodonit00]

It would tell me that, overall, it is NOT selling so well.

Standard Aragorn still available at OSK

 

[HyperDrive]

I confirmed everything that was said in the thread before posting it here, I didn't just use Google Translator if that's what you're implying. I said people on here can use it to try and read the thread but obviously a lot of things will not be properly translated.

The OP was very clear about what he asked and the response he got. He asked if InArt would be making all 9 members of the Fellowship, InArt replied with "Only Sam and Frodo are currently planned, other characters are not being considered." The OP then went on to add that Gandalf the White could yet be made and that Sam and Frodo are set to release in 2026.

Based on this information, the OP and other collectors feel like InArt is no longer interested in completing the Fellowship, which resulted in a lot of negative replies and others explaining why this was most likely always going to happen. I simply took the information from the OP's post and other posts they made in the their thread and relayed them here.

Of course anything can change, and InArt could go back to the line one day to complete the Fellowship, but at the moment it seems like they won't be doing more Fellowship members any time soon.

Ahhhh, thank you for this clarification.

With that being said, I take it as INART merely saying they have no current concrete plans for other Fellowship characters and Frodo and Sam are the only ones RIGHT NOW that are in development.

 

[DioramaMaker]

That was not the plan. It is a sad sacrifice.

Right now, I thinking my "Three Hunters" are going to be InArt Gandalf, Aragorn and Frodo.

It is. It seems like a true nearsighted decision if this is accurate. If true, I imagine that they just don't see those last four selling well, especially when they're going to be at least 5 years out from the original fellowship member release. Without rereleases, they will have continually diminishing sales of each additional character. I imagine there are VERY few people who'd just buy those characters, Gimli notwithstanding.

I can see people just getting only one of any of the releases that they've offered so far, but as we go down the line that's going to decrease.

I stand by what I said very early on, the Hobbits should have been released like so:

Set A; Sam and Frodo 2 pack as we are getting
Set B: Hobbit 4 pack, which is the only way to get Merry and Pippin.

Just produce it all at once, get it done. The amount of people willing to buy Merry and Pippin just can't be close to those willing to get Sam and Frodo alone.

Lord I love Heath ledger joker but how many figures of him do we need? Sheesh.

Yes I don’t understand the need for so much the dark knight stuff. Joker figures are at an abundance and tdk batsuit is probably the worst batsuit in the trilogy. The need for a SUPER accurate tdk joker with real hair and or whatever has always been weird. We got so damn many since like 2008

I have two now, HT's Artesian and InArt's sculpted. That's one more than I ever planned to buy. At this point I'm just going to convert the InArt to a Jail cell version because of the arms and probably body swap since it's so scrawny. And honestly, I don't want to dedicate more than a detolf cube to those films. So whoever does a Ra's finally wins out. I get my villain per film, and one Batman.

But the insane dick measuring contest around the Dark Knight trilogy is so boggling to me. Of all the things, this is the property to do it? Is the license that popular in Asia? It is just such a drag. It'd drive me up the wall if I was primarily a DC collector.

Sam and Frodo won't go up for pre-order until probably early 2026, and won't ship for another year after that.

My guess is that they meant that no other figures are under development at this time, because this is a company that only ships roughly 5 figures a year.

Everyone is basing this on a google translation of what an attendee says InArt said. People need to be taking that with the appropriate grain of salt.

I'd like to stay hopeful and take this as a more reasonable perspective.

"Consideration" being a poor auto-translate of product development would be reasonable. But who's to say, as the kids would describe it, maybe it's just copium.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Standard Aragorn still available at OSK

They clearly made way too many Aragorns after we all went gaga for that proto sculpt.

Gandalf didn't have that problem. Neither will Legolas -- unless this bad news puts collectors off the InArt LOTR line all together, which is possible.

 

[Giimli86]

Maybe for him. Doesn't mean that it sells for everyone like that.

It's InArt's total numbers that matter.

That is true, most likely in China its a bit different, but those shops who sell to outside of China as well will look likely similar to Kits ratios.

They asked what people want. After Legoals, Gimli and Boromir were the top comments back in October 2023. I want both of those really bad.

Yet they showcased now a really good looking Thorin in Tokyo and at the same time they ditch the whole line is just interesting.

 

[DeboDillon]

Appreciate the work that went in place to find out what was going on at the Tokyo convention and then translating R_R_X, this comes at big disappointment I personally was hopeful for at least Gimli and then a Sauron/witch-king. Only time will tell but massive L for InArt if they go through with this

 

[HyperDrive]

LOTR fans that don’t care for Frodo and Sam don’t really make sense to me lol

 

[DioramaMaker]

They clearly made way too many Aragorns after we all went gaga for that proto sculpt.

Gandalf didn't have that problem. Neither will Legolas -- unless this bad news puts collectors off the InArt LOTR line all together, which is possible.

I'd say they also may have misstepped by making a sculpted version. They should have just stayed with rooted for line consistency.

I did my part and got both so.

 

[Wor-Gar]

LOTR fans that don’t care for Frodo and Sam don’t really make sense to me lol

Nah, it's like OT Star Wars fans that always preferred Han Solo to whiny Luke.

 

[HyperDrive]

Nah, it's like OT Star Wars fans that always preferred Han Solo to whiny Luke.

But Luke (hero’s journey) is the heart of the OT, just like Frodo and Sam (hero’s journey) are for LOTR.

I say that as someone who prefers Han to Luke.

 

[R_R_X]

Ahhhh, thank you for this clarification.

With that being said, I take it as INART merely saying they have no current concrete plans for other Fellowship characters and Frodo and Sam are the only ones RIGHT NOW that are in development.

Yeah, the OP feels strongly about LoTR and was very disappointed when InArt said they have no plans for other members of the Fellowship. Does that mean they'll never make them, or are they simply on the backburner for now? Only time will tell but speaking from experience, when people say these things it's never a good sign.

The harsh truth is, the 1/6 market is strongly dominated by super heroes, especially in China. InArt has licensor fees to pay on top of their production costs, their office space, their workers, etc. If what I heard about them and the reason why MorFig exists in the first place is true, they are likely assessing what will make them the most profit at this moment, and it is not Gimli or Pippin.

 

[DioramaMaker]

LOTR fans that don’t care for Frodo and Sam don’t really make sense to me lol

I think a lot of people grew up with the LOTR filma, and when you're younger Legolas, Aragorn, and so on are FAR more interesting and flashy. They're cool.

With age and experience you realize the gravity of Frodo and Sam's story, and the importance of platonic, unwavering friendship and love in life. It makes sense why they're the core of the narrative finally.

But a lot of people don't make that transition or see the story that deeply. They just think "shield skateboard cool" and that's where it stops.

 

[Tigerisapud419]

Well who knows, Asmus is returning to the LOTR line so they may pick up the slack where Inart does not. Although, we can all sense and agree they probably won’t even scratch the surface to what Inart would be capable of achieving

 

[DioramaMaker]

If Asmus is to step in, they need to shameless copy InArt and ensure compatibility. Don't be a hero, don't try to make people rebuy the fellowship from you, just fill in the gaps people will be hunting for. They can't do another round of poorly scaled, bobblehead Hobbits and put out a Boromir with whatever headsculpt they had attempted again.

 

[Tigerisapud419]

If Asmus is to step in, they need to shameless copy InArt and ensure compatibility. Don't be a hero, don't try to make people rebuy the fellowship from you, just fill in the gaps people will be hunting for. They can't do another round of poorly scaled, bobblehead Hobbits and put out a Boromir with whatever headsculpt they had attempted again.

This!!!

 

[lordnastrond]

It would be devastating if true, but I'm gonna reserve my judgement until I hear something a bit more concrete or until all noise about this line dries up.
It seems such an odd and arbitrary stopping point, why do 5 out of 9 members of the Fellowship + the Nazgul + a character from the Hobbit movies?

My only thinking is a lot less people bought Legolas?
I know I haven't currently ordered him, despite being sorely tempted, as I felt the piece doesn't justify its incredibly high price - maybe more people skipped this then this forum would suggest?
This news/rumor certainly makes me even less inclined to pick up Legolas, Aragorn + Gandalf + Frodo [and Sam] pretty much are the protagonists of the series and would represent the trilogy, and the Nazgul are a good representation of the forces of evil.

But its is so so disappointing if this is the end - so many incredible characters being missed out on.

Well who knows, Asmus is returning to the LOTR line so they may pick up the slack where Inart does not. Although, we can all sense and agree they probably won’t even scratch the surface to what Inart would be capable of achieving

If Asmus is to step in, they need to shameless copy InArt and ensure compatibility. Don't be a hero, don't try to make people rebuy the fellowship from you, just fill in the gaps people will be hunting for. They can't do another round of poorly scaled, bobblehead Hobbits and put out a Boromir with whatever headsculpt they had attempted again.

Yeah, Asmus would need to just ape Inart and its style and deliberately fill in the lines gaps.
Quality would have to be at the highest Asmus have ever delivered, but it would be a guaranteed market.

 

[HyperDrive]

People didn’t show up for Legolas, so blame the people. And yes, blame INART (and OSK) for upping the price. And also blame INART for taking so long to put Legolas up for PO.

 

[Wor-Gar]

I doubt Asmus can just suddenly deliver InArt quality.

If it was that easy, more companies would be doing it.

Asmus' attempt at high-end (Crown) didn't go so well by comparison.

Personally, I'd like to see more Orks and things from Asmus. Oh, and Wormtongue... characters no one will be doing.

Remember, JND is still plotting their LOTR, right?

 

[lordnastrond]

I doubt Asmus can just suddenly deliver InArt quality.

If it was that easy, more companies would be doing it.

Asmus' attempt at high-end (Crown) didn't go so well by comparison.

And that is the sad truth of it.

 

[DioramaMaker]

I doubt Asmus can just suddenly deliver InArt quality.

If it was that easy, more companies would be doing it.

Asmus' attempt at high-end (Crown) didn't go so well by comparison.

Personally, I'd like to see more Orks and things from Asmus. Oh, and Wormtongue... characters no one will be doing.

Remember, JND is still plotting their LOTR, right?

No, they probably can't. And I don't think anyone is pretending they will. But get them up to a B+/A-. Make the scales right. The Hobbits are small, they have some leniency in likeness as the scale goes down. Gimli is more hair than face...really Boromir is the only one they'd have to really double down on.