InArt Thorin Oakenshield 1/6 Figure

[Giimli86]

The Hobbit films made some pretty big money in China, the 3rd one made $120million over there. They’re big fans over there. Pretty simple reasoning.

The Hobbit movies were pretty popular here in the Western World too because people loved LOTR so they went and and watched them (including me), but that doesnt neccerarily mean that they are willing to buy figures made out of them.

Its true for any franchise I guess but somehow they should be able to measure the interest before announcing a certain figure.
I checked earlier posts on FB and checked Weibo, Thorin was barely mentioned by anyone.

Lets hope that the demand and interest in China will compensate for the lesser interest here then.

I think most of us are simply worried that if Inart doesnt reach certain PO numbers they will either postpone LOTR figures for a long time or write it off as a loss and move totally away from it.

 

[Giimli86]

In original price range don't think ASMUS Thorin could be better. Gimli either tho there were "lively discussions" about Gimli's chain mail. For myself if I need "real" chain mail I'd tackle it, but someone did that for ASMUS Eowyn and it's work to do that to scale. 2-3mm rings. Thorin maybe could use mohair hair but at some point I want to learn that.

I'll buy Thorin for sure but I wouldn't be that fazed if InArt changed their lineup. Thing is tho - speculating - they need to develop hobbit bodies, dwarf bodies, multiple hands. How much are folks willing to pay for 4 hobbits if InArt needs to clear a profit?

I really love that Gimli but that chain mail is really bad, and the belt and the battle harness could be made out of leather, the belt buckle could be metal/brass, the shoulder plates could be brass as well and the gloves and bracers/vambrace could be made out of leather as well.

 

[The Entity]

At this point I'm interested to at least see the Thorin figure, before deciding whether or not to buy him. I'm certainly open to a figure. I love The Hobbit trilogy, even though it wasn't as good as LOTR. I think Martin Freeman was perfectly cast as Bilbo and if they'd make a figure of him it'd probably be a day one purchase.

 

[Life_m2000]

The real question is: how many folks really need Hobbits?

Oh I want hobbits. Best thing InArt could do is release them in 2 packs.

 

[Giimli86]

At this point I'm interested to at least see the Thorin figure, before deciding whether or not to buy him. I'm certainly open to a figure. I love The Hobbit trilogy, even though it wasn't as good as LOTR. I think Martin Freeman was perfectly cast as Bilbo and if they'd make a figure of him it'd probably be a day one purchase.

It depends on the person/personality I guess what we preorder,
I like a lot of figures/characters but I love a very selected few. Loving and Liking makes a huge difference to me when it comes to buying figures.

Thorin will turn out terrific no question in my mind but I have no love for how the character was aesthetically depicted, mostly the missing dwarf beard from a dwarf who is 195 years old during the events of the Hobbit was a big no-no for me.
And all the dwarves appearing in the Hobbit belong to Durin's folk who all should have had Longbeards.
I know the reasoning was most likely that no one would be able then to tell them apart.

"Au contraire" Dwalin (Although baldness wasnt something that happened to dwarves) or Dain Ironfoot looked like proper dwarves in the movies and those would be an instant PO in my case.

 

[Life_m2000]

I’m guessing that the choice of Thorin is down to the licensing. InArt have had the license for over a year and not shown anything from it, WB would be looking at that and think you’ll use the license or lose it. They wouldn’t want a company sitting on it and not using it.
Also it could be in the agreement that they release X amount of figures from the license over the duration of the contract.
So having had The Hobbit license for over a year InArt probably had to act on it.

 

[Giimli86]

I’m guessing that the choice of Thorin is down to the licensing. InArt have had the license for over a year and not shown anything from it, WB would be looking at that and think you’ll use the license or lose it. They wouldn’t want a company sitting on it and not using it.
Also it could be in the agreement that they release X amount of figures from the license over the duration of the contract.
So having had The Hobbit license for over a year InArt probably had to act on it.

Yeah it certainly plays a big role in it in my opinion as well.
Strange that they didnt mention they have the license at all until this reveal.
Or did they?

Although I dont really know how many characters they can make from the Hobbit which will be financially good for them.
They can make Bilbo/Radagast/1-2 dwarves/Tauriel/Bard, but which one will bring in the dough?
Maybe Azog/Bolg would be not a bad idea.

 

[Life_m2000]

Yeah it certainly plays a big role in it in my opinion as well.
Strange that they didnt mention they have the license at all until this reveal.
Or did they?

Although I dont really know how many characters they can make from the Hobbit which will be financially good for them.
They can make Bilbo/Radagast/1-2 dwarves/Tauriel/Bard, but which one will bring in the dough?
Maybe Azog/Bolg would be not a bad idea.

They mentioned they had the license a long time ago. I’d have to go looking to see when it was announced but it’s over a year.

I’m sure there’s several figures from the Hobbit that would sell well.

 

[Tolkien Nerd]

Yeah it certainly plays a big role in it in my opinion as well.
Strange that they didnt mention they have the license at all until this reveal.
Or did they?

Although I dont really know how many characters they can make from the Hobbit which will be financially good for them.
They can make Bilbo/Radagast/1-2 dwarves/Tauriel/Bard, but which one will bring in the dough?
Maybe Azog/Bolg would be not a bad idea.

Hands down if they make Thranduil in any guise, that would guarantee them hitting the mother lode.

 

[spaceghost2000]

The Hobbit movies were pretty popular here in the Western World too because people loved LOTR so they went and and watched them (including me), but that doesnt neccerarily mean that they are willing to buy figures made out of them.

Its true for any franchise I guess but somehow they should be able to measure the interest before announcing a certain figure.
I checked earlier posts on FB and checked Weibo, Thorin was barely mentioned by anyone.

Lets hope that the demand and interest in China will compensate for the lesser interest here then.

I think most of us are simply worried that if Inart doesnt reach certain PO numbers they will either postpone LOTR figures for a long time or write it off as a loss and move totally away from it.

The western market isn’t their focus though, their licenses don’t seem to let them sell direct to the US anyway (or they chose not to go for a global license intentionally). They’ll first and foremost make what they think will sell in China.

They also aren’t making these figures in huge quantities, certainly not hot toys numbers. A bit more than most 3rd party numbers.
They’ll price him (and any other figure) such that whether they get 500 orders or 5000 it’ll still be profitable for them.

 

[Giimli86]

The western market isn’t their focus though, their licenses don’t seem to let them sell direct to the US anyway (or they chose not to go for a global license intentionally). They’ll first and foremost make what they think will sell in China.

They also aren’t making these figures in huge quantities, certainly not hot toys numbers. A bit more than most 3rd party numbers.
They’ll price him (and any other figure) such that whether they get 500 orders or 5000 it’ll still be profitable for them.

As long as I can get the figures from them I want, I dont mind that I have to order from HK since I am in Europe, I just checked accidentally a European store today and they build in the final price all the EU Tax, so I would actually end up paying much more if I would order it from a european shop.
Even if the Authorities stop the package and dont accept the IOSS number from HK, I would still pay slightly less than what the EU shop is offering it for.
Aragorn was $480 from Kit, EU shop sells it for Eur 588+20 shipping.
If Kits shipment gets stopped at the border and they put VAT and duty on it, it would go up to $610 which is Eur 575, so I am still about Eur 30 better.

Of course they are not doing Hot toys numbers. But 5-10k is not a small amount either. I wonder though how many from the 10k Joker ended up in China and how many anywhere else.
John mentioned that they are trying to set up the US based distribution in those licenses where they can.
And they just added direct order to Australia and New Zealand to their official site.

 

[ObiGlennKenobi]

As long as I can get the figures from them I want, I dont mind that I have to order from HK since I am in Europe, I just checked accidentally a European store today and they build in the final price all the EU Tax, so I would actually end up paying much more if I would order it from a european shop.
Even if the Authorities stop the package and dont accept the IOSS number from HK, I would still pay slightly less than what the EU shop is offering it for.

Of course they are not doing Hot toys numbers. But 5-10k is not a small amount either. I wonder though how many from the 10k Joker ended up in China and how many anywhere else.
John mentioned that they are trying to set up the US based distribution in those licenses where they can.
And they just added direct order to Australia and New Zealand to their official site.

direct to Auz!!!
yesss

 

[Giimli86]

direct to Auz!!!
yesss

Collectors in Australia and New Zealand can now order direct. Pre-order on the official store now!
https://queenstudios.co/bvs-superman

 

[RandomHero]

The Hobbit films made some pretty big money in China, the 3rd one made $120million over there. They’re big fans over there. Pretty simple reasoning.

We live in a time where box office dollars does not equate to good product. There have been a lot of movies that made a lot of money that weren’t well received in recent years. Batman vs Superman immediately comes to mind.

 

[spaceghost2000]

Exa

We live in a time where box office dollars does not equate to good product. There have been a lot of movies that made a lot of money that weren’t well received in recent years. Batman vs Superman immediately comes to mind.

I agree, it baffles me when companies keep making Snyder verse merch. Yet people keep asking for it and buying it.

 

[AricJorn]

The only character from The Hobbit I would be interested in at all would be Bilbo. Unless there is a horde of Hobbit trilogy lovers out there (and if there are I've never met any of them) I've no idea why InArt would choose this path over completing the Fellowship.

 

[Sassafras]

I really love that Gimli but that chain mail is really bad, and the belt and the battle harness could be made out of leather, the belt buckle could be metal/brass, the shoulder plates could be brass as well and the gloves and bracers/vambrace could be made out of leather as well.

I loved him so much I own 2, just to have him .

I idly thought about future "maybe one day projects". Like replacing some of Gimli's harness with leather, or the belt, or whether sheet aluminum could be cut into Thorin's BOFA armor. Kudos to custom artists I just don't have the time with other stuff going on.

One thing I want to do is Thorin's cloak which only shows up briefly at Bag End and at Bree, but even that is picking out a thin wool fabric, pattern, and I haven't gotten a close look at the edging or the clasps which seem to be some kind of leather with iron clasps. And getting the color dye right.

So if InArt did that, for me I'd appreciate it.

Thorin will turn out terrific no question in my mind but I have no love for how the character was aesthetically depicted, mostly the missing dwarf beard from a dwarf who is 195 years old during the events of the Hobbit was a big no-no for me.
And all the dwarves appearing in the Hobbit belong to Durin's folk who all should have had Longbeards.
I know the reasoning was most likely that no one would be able then to tell them apart.

For me it was a brilliant move, since initially what crossed my mind was 13 long-bearded dwarves heading across the wild just wasn't gonna work visually. I remember my first shock over the warlike Theoden in the films, he didn't look at all like what I pictured him from the books. But - Bernard Hill. I've got problems with some of Peter Jackson's choices but think his casting and the aesthetics are impeccable.

 

[Sassafras]

The only character from The Hobbit I would be interested in at all would be Bilbo. Unless there is a horde of Hobbit trilogy lovers out there (and if there are I've never met any of them) I've no idea why InArt would choose this path over completing the Fellowship.

Well you haven't met me and I love the Hobbit movies.

We live in a time where box office dollars does not equate to good product. There have been a lot of movies that made a lot of money that weren’t well received in recent years. Batman vs Superman immediately comes to mind.

Articles point out tho that various films make more money as BRs or probably by streaming now. Waterworld comes to mind, so technically even "bomb" films can be a financial success. For me there are films like Solo, too, that deserve a lot better than they got IMO. It'd take a while to dig out Hobbit BR sales but AUJ was on the top at release (Blu-ray Sales, March 18-24: The Hobbit Journeys to the Top) in 2013.

I suspect InArt just seems to be targeting main characters, what the licensing situation is, what materials and reference materials they have on hand (with the Hobbit there's a fair amount of reference, I don't know if WETA put out books about the LOTR costumes. Although, it seems there was, at one time, a huge amount of LOTR material - image cards etc.)

E.g. Joker, Superman, Aragorn, etc. Plus they have ASMUS' version to bounce off. But InArt may change their mind anyway, so I'm not as excited yet. I thought they were going to do a Nazgul and Legolas.

I think most of us are simply worried that if Inart doesnt reach certain PO numbers they will either postpone LOTR figures for a long time or write it off as a loss and move totally away from it.

I'm confused about the market in general . There's a lot that seems to sit at Sideshow (and I've gotten some good deals, just got the IS arrow goblin statue at 40% off Daily Deal.) At the same time, there seems to be a market for expensive products like silicon busts. And nobody in the U.S. seems thrilled about the economy, and far as I can tell neither the UK or China is in a great place. So are companies really depending on POs to gauge the market? I know I've cut back with stacking POs.

 

[Venzhe]

How much are folks willing to pay for 4 hobbits if InArt needs to clear a profit?

Five minutes of googling lead me to the following numbers, so please don’t excoriate me if there are any better height experts here. Elijah Wood’s Frodo was estimated to have been portrayed at 4’1“. Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint were 4’10” in the first Potter film. How much do you think InArt cares about nine inches at 1/6 scale?

I think InArt has their “Hobbit bodies.” The thought that they need Thorin to spread out the cost of a dwarf body is the most logical conclusion made prior in this thread. But I am concerned, like many others here, that the lower PO orders will make them balk.

 

[Sassafras]

Five minutes of googling lead me to the following numbers, so please don’t excoriate me if there are any better height experts here. Elijah Wood’s Frodo was estimated to have been portrayed at 4’1“. Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint were 4’10” in the first Potter film. How much do you think InArt cares about nine inches at 1/6 scale?

I think InArt has their “Hobbit bodies.” The thought that they need Thorin to spread out the cost of a dwarf body is the most logical conclusion made prior in this thread. But I am concerned, like many others here, that the lower PO orders will make them balk.

Well, depending, I'll get two

And I'd hope any company doesn't depend on PO numbers. I'm already tired of WETA using that business model, and it's made it easier to not buy. People have a right to not be stuck with NRDs or not know what production looks like. It's just shifting more potential cost to the consumer vs. maintaining stock. Like I wasn't even gonna buy ASMUS' Elrond and in-hand pics had me ordering. Wasn't gonna buy Gimli #2 but he was so good I did. No POs for either, for me.

Either do, or do not. There is no try.