Indy 12'' line on ''pause.'' OR The Future of the Sideshow 12" INDY Line

[faststreetsofhongkong]

Re: Indy 12'' line on ''pause.''

Agreed. This doesn't seem right. They should just be straight with us. "Sounds like" most of the line did not sell as well as expected. I know I am about to say what everyone says: "Perhaps better choices would have helped." Mola Ram and Marion are no brainers, and would have sold extremely well in the right number limited edition, like Mola Ram 1000 units, Marion 500 units.

I hope that they read these boards. We might customize some of figures, but we appreciate this line. To have the Trevor sculpts of Harrison, these are the finest ever. I for one will keep my core Sideshow Indy items for Life. How many figures can you really say that about? Anyway, "Raiders" is one of the best films ever made, hope that they take a leap of faith and proceed forward where the demand is ..

 

[DinoLast]

Re: Indy 12'' line on ''pause.''

I think Henry Snr and KOTCS Indy will be good sellers so that might give us a lifeline.
At the end of the day Sideshow should have played it safe and given us all the Indy's first. Henry and Mola Ram would sell well on there own too, but Secondary Characters should have come out with Indy EX's, like Sallah as a twin pack with Map Room Indy or Marion with Adventure Indy. Forget Polystone environments they're waste of space and they have played their part in the line being on shaky ground.

 

[thenammagazine]

Re: Indy 12'' line on ''pause.''

This is definitely a big tease. I guess we will see how KOTCS Indy sells and that might tell us more. Or they are just lying through their teeth, keeping our hopes up a little longer until after KOTCS Indy comes out then BAM...dead.

LOTR flashbacks. Basically said the same thing after releasing Gandalf. It's an insulting ploy to liquidate what's rotting on the website now and I reallly doubt anything "currently being developed" will make it past design into prototype stage. The clue is the blaming of KOTCS for the waning of Indy's popularity. Fact is, Sideshow failed to release products when the movie came out, let alone the DVD release, releasing them much later. The movie hype was looooooooong over by the time we finally got our Adventure Gear Indy, so that comment is completely irrelevant to the waning in "Indy interest." It's more to do with the poor choices and QC failures of what they've produced... but as usual, they'd rather put the blame on collectors, who just aren't purchasing the sub-par products, than on themselves.

 

[Mad Old Lu]

Re: Indy 12'' line on ''pause.''

All I can say is I did all I could to support the line by buying all the figures. But I realize that Indy is simply not in the same league as SW as far as saleability, so I'm happy we got anything beyond Indy at all.

I'm very happy with the figures we DID get. They all look fantastic together on my shelf. The only real criticism I ever had was the price, especially German Indy with a lack of accessories and Toht Ex because of the hefty price of the Ark (that didn't have a proper finish). But now that they're paid for, those quibbles are long forgotten and I can simply enjoy the figures.

 

[thenammagazine]

Re: Indy 12'' line on ''pause.''

All I can say is I did all I could to support the line by buying all the figures. But I realize that Indy is simply not in the same league as SW as far as saleability, so I'm happy we got anything beyond Indy at all.

I'm very happy with the figures we DID get. They all look fantastic together on my shelf. The only real criticism I ever had was the price, especially German Indy with a lack of accessories and Toht Ex because of the hefty price of the Ark (that didn't have a proper finish). But now that they're paid for, those quibbles are long forgotten and I can simply enjoy the figures.

I was there for almost every release as well. I passed on Toht's Ex because the Ark couldn't match the visual appeal of Hasbro's (which is important for a product that you're basically just going to "look" at) and of course, German Indy because of the ridiculous price tag and all the issues the figure has but did purchase a 2nd Adventure Gear Indy to do a TLC version, so that evens out my not purchasing German Indy which shouldn't matter considering he's still sold out on their website.

But I completely understand those individuals who didn't purchase anything or quit the line. Every single release before Henry has been riddled with one QC problem or another. It's like they baited fans of the license to scoff the releases.

 

[Deckard]

Re: Indy 12'' line on ''pause.''

Hasblo Part 2 : The Add venture Continues.

We get it SS. The line died, its all our faults, were just not good at being fanboys. Sorry we ????ed your Indy line up Sideshow.

 

[choopie]

Re: Indy 12'' line on ''pause.''

I purchased only the regular versions of the characters, except for Henry Sr. But even so, I supported the 1:6 line, flaws or not.

Doesn't sound like to me that Sideshow has any Indy characters in development in 1:6 at this point. Aside from Mola Ram and ToD Indy, Marion and Sallah were the next most logical choices.

I'm also beginning to question how far Sideshow plans to go with their dio line. All of our grand ideas of what would look great in dio form is just a pipe dream, I'm afraid, and at $300 a pop not sure how many I'd buy anyways.

I don't anticipate learning about any new Indy product until Toy Fair.

 

[superdoug]

Re: Indy 12'' line on ''pause.''

Well I seem to remember them mentioning another KOTCS figure on the horizion and I thought Club Obi Indy was in some form of development. Maybe one or both of those had already reached the point of "might as well finish it and see if we can get back most of the development costs." If that's the case then there is a slight chance that IF they not only break even but make money on them they'd look at doing another figure.

 

[choopie]

Re: Indy 12'' line on ''pause.''

Well I seem to remember them mentioning another KOTCS figure on the horizion and I thought Club Obi Indy was in some form of development. Maybe one or both of those had already reached the point of "might as well finish it and see if we can get back most of the development costs." If that's the case then there is a slight chance that IF they not only break even but make money on them they'd look at doing another figure.

I thought that IrishJedi had said at some point that the Club Obi-Wan figure was scrapped, and if they are indeed working on another KOTCS character, that's a definite pass for me. The only KOTCS figure I'm interested in is Indy. I realize I'm not helping the situation any by making that decision, but I want to see characters from the older films not from Crystal Skull.

 

[thenammagazine]

Re: Indy 12'' line on ''pause.''

I still think the better business plan would've been to release figures from each film in turn. The expenses not recouped by releasing smaller editions (ala German Indy) of Sallah and Marion, assuming they didn't sell out, could easily have been recouped by a TOD Indy and Mola. With most of us switching bodies on Indy anyway, the concept of doing so for a TOD version would've already been placed, so I don't think that would've been much of an issue. Not saying some people wouldn't b**ch about it, just saying it wouldn't have come as a surprise.


I also think that if Hasbro had followed that same premise (releasing chronologically), I think their Indy line would've garnered more success than it did.

 

[IrishJedi]

Re: Indy 12'' line on ''pause.''

LOTR flashbacks. Basically said the same thing after releasing Gandalf. It's an insulting ploy to liquidate what's rotting on the website now and I reallly doubt anything "currently being developed" will make it past design into prototype stage. The clue is the blaming of KOTCS for the waning of Indy's popularity. Fact is, Sideshow failed to release products when the movie came out, let alone the DVD release, releasing them much later. The movie hype was looooooooong over by the time we finally got our Adventure Gear Indy, so that comment is completely irrelevant to the waning in "Indy interest." It's more to do with the poor choices and QC failures of what they've produced... but as usual, they'd rather put the blame on collectors, who just aren't purchasing the sub-par products, than on themselves.

 

[SwedishHeat]

Re: Indy 12'' line on ''pause.''

So the fate of the Indy line rests on KOTCS Indy, great

Sorry but I'm not purchasing KOTCS Indy. It's just not a figure I'm interested in. I would've probably purchased Marion, Sallah or Mola Ram perhaps the Grail Knight.

This is lame.

 

[DinoLast]

Re: Indy 12'' line on ''pause.''

So the fate of the Indy line rests on KOTCS Indy, great

Sorry but I'm not purchasing KOTCS Indy. It's just not a figure I'm interested in. I would've probably purchased Marion, Sallah or Mola Ram perhaps the Grail Knight.

This is lame.

He sold out pretty quick on Sideshow's site.
You might not be a fan, but there are loads of us that are.
Mystery of the blues was not that great an episode, but I would still get a bearded Indy if they made one because, well it's Indy.

 

[MarfMaster]

Re: Indy 12'' line on ''pause.''

I would still get a bearded Indy if they made one because, well it's Indy.

Not trying to incite anything here, but this is exactly the kind of attitude that allows Lucas to crap into a film canister, call it Indiana Jones and make hundreds of million dollars doing it. I hold anything Indiana Jones to the high standards that made me fall in love with the originals.

 

[DinoLast]

Re: Indy 12'' line on ''pause.''

AVP stuff sells really well. And those movies sucked big time. I can't see why a figure of Indiana Jones in his 60's is not collectible just because some (NOT ME) hated the movie.

 

[ProgMatinee]

Re: Indy 12'' line on ''pause.''

This line failed for the same reason LOTR failed. Its not the fan's fault. SSC simply took way too long to make figures. It was a year I think between the announement of the license and when they finally gave us Indy. Then another long wait for Belloq. Then another long wait for Toht. They should have had 2 or 3 figures ready to go before KOTCS even released if they wanted to capitalize on the hype. Why in the world SSC thinks they should only work on 1 figure at a time for upstart lines (like they did with Aragorn) is frustrating.

New lines should have 2 or 3 figures ready to go ASAP so momentum is built.

 

[thenammagazine]

Re: Indy 12'' line on ''pause.''

This line failed for the same reason LOTR failed. Its not the fan's fault. SSC simply took way too long to make figures. It was a year I think between the announement of the license and when they finally gave us Indy. Then another long wait for Belloq. Then another long wait for Toht. They should have had 2 or 3 figures ready to go before KOTCS even released if they wanted to capitalize on the hype. Why in the world SSC thinks they should only work on 1 figure at a time for upstart lines (like they did with Aragorn) is frustrating.

New lines should have 2 or 3 figures ready to go ASAP so momentum is built.

Not really. The only serious gap in announcements was between Toht and German Indy and Trevor popped in among the bleak mood to let us know that there was another figure coming. The main problem was with their character choices and QC issues which plagued every single release (save Henry).

 

[IrishJedi]

Re: Indy 12'' line on ''pause.''

But they did take WAY too long to get that first figure out the door.

Also note the lack of 1:1 bust that was explicitly promised when the entire license was announced.

They blew it.

 

[Mad Old Lu]

Re: Indy 12'' line on ''pause.''

This line failed for the same reason LOTR failed. Its not the fan's fault. SSC simply took way too long to make figures. It was a year I think between the announement of the license and when they finally gave us Indy. Then another long wait for Belloq. Then another long wait for Toht. They should have had 2 or 3 figures ready to go before KOTCS even released if they wanted to capitalize on the hype. Why in the world SSC thinks they should only work on 1 figure at a time for upstart lines (like they did with Aragorn) is frustrating.

New lines should have 2 or 3 figures ready to go ASAP so momentum is built.

Bringing out the figures quickly would have capitalized on the hype of the movie to lure in the casual fans. The real problem is that there simply aren't enough Indy fans out there to sustain the 1/6 line. If there were, then there would be plenty of people out there to buy the figures even if many felt there were QC issues or that there were poor character choices. Striking while the iron was hot would have brought in the numbers to compensate for those who are more critical and passed.

Even on this board us Indy fans don't fully agree with one another as to who the next Indy figure should have been. We're all just coming to this from different perspectives and differing opinions, so I can see how difficult it was for Sideshow to come up with a winning strategy for the line.

...aside from just making perfect faultless figures, of course.

Ultimately it's a combination of poor timing and flawed figures with hefty price tags. So when we finally DID get a figure after months of waiting, many were less than impressed which caused a wave of disappointment to run through the line. With that much waiting in anticipation and build-up, they really needed to hit every one of the figures out of the park.

 

[SwedishHeat]

Re: Indy 12'' line on ''pause.''

He sold out pretty quick on Sideshow's site.
You might not be a fan, but there are loads of us that are.
Mystery of the blues was not that great an episode, but I would still get a bearded Indy if they made one because, well it's Indy.

Everything sells out pretty quick on Sideshow's site. There were only 600, and 1250 for the regular edition size. What matters is how many are left in Sideshow's warehouse after processing notices go out. I certainly hope there are 1,850 people who buy KOTCS Indy. That doesn't sound like a lot, so I do hope they sell them all, so we can move on to other characters that are not Indy.

The Indiana Jones line has 6 figures, 3 of which are Indiana Jones. The Buffy line had 34* figures, 4 of which were Buffy. We need diversity in this line. I truly believe the line will be more successful if they stop making Indiana Jones figures. No TOD Indy, no TLC Indy, it's a guy in a fedora and leather jacket, we already have one of those (for the record, I feel the same way about Darth Vader, all I need is a removable helmet version, I don't care about shoulder pads and all that other garbage). There may be loads of people who will buy any and all Indys, but loads isn't enough to keep the line going. Not many other people are going to purchase a ROTLA Indy with a tie for $89.99. Sideshow is not that focused on the details, remember Belloq?? His outfit doesn't match up with any outfit he wore in the movie, his hat is wrong, his tie is wrong, his hair is wrong.

They won't change the stormflaps on Indy's jacket, or the buttons on his shirt. Realistically, he should be wearing the same stuff in all three movies right?? Does Indiana Jones have a closet full of slightly different leather jackets?? I figure it's his lucky jacket, he wears the same thing on all of his adventures. They'll change that stuff on a PF because the profits are much better but on a smaller scale figure, it's just not worth it.

To be honest, I don't think anything can save Indy at this point. We'd have to go back in time. Maybe if ROTLA Indy came out during the run-up to KOTCS' theatrical release, or maybe if the Pro body didn't come out so floppy. Maybe if Toht was the second release. Maybe an edition size of 1000 Mola Rams is enough to meet Sideshow's internal standards, who knows?? I just think it sucks that Sideshow's miscalculations means we don't get the figures we want. Right now, Sideshow's saying "Right now, it's up to the fans to buy the figures and support the line" but that's not right, it's up to Sideshow to put out quality figures deserving of the price they charge, and I don't feel they've done that.

For once, take a loss on the product, they're a privately owned company, they don't have stockholders to report to. After Highlander, Buffy, and LOTR, for once I think they owe it to their fans and customers to give us what we want. Take a loss on Indiana Jones, you'll make up for it in the repaints of The Dead, Marvel Statues, Faux-Bronze dioramas, SSE Monsters, what you'll lose in profits, you'll make up for in goodwill.