Is Sideshow gearing itself AWAY from 1/6 Figures?

[galactiboy]

For headsculpt and tayloring Maul is a great figure but is not even in the same league as Hot Toys. The marines have complex armor and design that $ideshow has yet to attempt to touch and it's no contest next to a Predator or Endo. Hands down, Hot Toys prevails.

I'll agree with you about the Endo, Preds and other figures that cost over twice as much.

However, I have both the Hicks and Ripley figure and I would say Maul is easily (out of the box) better than Ripley and about even with Hicks. But of course he was $20 cheaper than either one... so whaddyagonnado?!?

And in terms of some big leaps the headsculpts; Kit Fisto and Bib Fortuna are insane.

 

[BadMoon]

Man I must say I wish I had that Hicks. I want that thing badly and they are sold out.

 

[creecher]

Sigh... I was thinking about pulling out a bunch of crap and taking pictures for comparison to back up my assertion that Sideshow is not at the same quality level as some of the other manufacturers, which I believe is a fact, not just my opinion, but then this whole discussion reminded me of a sig line I saw somewhere: "Arguing on the internet is like competing in the special olympics. Even if you win, you're still retarded." So, I'm done.

Are you trying to tell us you are retarded? Hmmm, anyways I could post pics of Hot Toys sculpts that could only be saved by someone as talented as The Figuremaster. The question remains, "Is Sideshow gearing itself away from 1/6 figures?" I don't think you have given us your opinion on that as yet, and as you are 'done', it doesn't look like we'll get it.

People harp on about quality but it's not all about quality, and when it comes to quality for price, Sideshow wins. If it's quality alone, Enterbay wins. I'm getting that de ja vu feeling.

Looks like it is always going to end up in an argy bargy affair when it comes to people coming onto a Sideshow freaks site spouting the virtues of other companies. What does anyone expect? What is expected? All I ever read about Sideshows failures is Willow, Faith and Brent. Three out of how many? I guess my post is baiting many readers, cool.

Maybe this threads question should have been accompanied by a poll. It looks like the popular opinion is that Sideshow are, indeed, gearing itself away from 1/6th. Okay, next question. Why do you think Sideshow is gearing away from 1/6th figures. As I posted before, I think it is to concentrate on the Star Wars line, in order to recoupe enough money to pay for the license. I hope so, so that after that, they can breathe easier, and go back to giving us something else in 1/6.

 

[dekadentdave]

Monsters are easily the best sculpts $ideshow has ever done but their human likenesses are deficient in most cases i.e. Han, Luke, et al.

The Aliens likenesses were off because of licensing issues. Sure, out of the box they are off but they are sold as "Action Figure Model Kits" meaning assembly and painting required. The Predators and The Endo however are marvels of engineering and design that $ideshow either CAN'T or WON'T attempt to do. They only offer figures that can be simply dressed on an unproportionate Buck with an interchangeable headsculpt. They have yet to do a non-standard Buck figure like Droids,Stormtroopers, Clones, Fett's or Vader. I will gladly pay 4 times more for a quality Hot Toys figure over a mediocre $ideshow figure anyday. If $ideshow were to compete on the same level of craftmanship and design as Hot Toys I would GLADLY pay them more per figure. I believe you get what you pay for and when I splurge on Hot Toys I get my money's worth but when I buy an economic $ideshow it is usually disappointing in some way or another with regards to sculpt, paint, clothing and/or accessories. Each figure I get from them has a "Needs Improvement" checked in some category or other but Hot Toys leaves me picking my jaw off the floor with a big "Outstanding" checked off in every category.

 

[LOTRFan]

To answer the initial question I sincerely hope so, and I don't say that to barb or provoke the 1/6 collectors - but SS is really taking hold of the polystone market. They are competing with industry giants such as Bowen in the Marvel license and Gentle Giant for Star Wars; and I VASTLY prefer anything Sideshow has done to the best of the other manufacturers. There really isn't much of a comparison as far as I am concerned, I have yet to be impressed by any statue that Gentle Giant has done, and never was at all interested in much of Bowen's products. I would love to see Sideshow do even more of the PF, and 1:1 scale busts; add to that a line of budding prop replicas and dioramas and I think SS's future looks mighty bright - no one even comes close. So I would like to see Sideshow start/continue to veer itself away from the 1/6 scale, that way we might see even more PFs being churned out. In fact, it might be those pesky action figures that are keeping us from getting more LOTR PFs!

As for what I do know of 1:6 figures (which admittedly isn't much), from the appearances of things Hot Toys and Medicom have definately upped the ante in terms of costuming, accessories and detail. I have owned a few figures from each manufacturer, and while Medicom and Hot Toys carry a much bigger MSRP, it does seem warrented in some cases. Sideshow's strength in this scale is the sculpts, they really do excel in that category; but beyond that they are only equal with or below the others.

 

[Darklord Dave]

It's funny when people who never cut SSC any slack at all start making excuses for other 1/6 companies.

 

[The Josh]

As I said earlier I don't think they are but I sure don't hope they are. They can do both formats and be successful at both. I know Matt didn't mean anything mean by it but man I would never wish that on another collector. 1:6th may not be everyones cup of tea but I would hate to see something someone liked just dropped. Just as I would hate to see them just drop the PF or 1:1 lines.

 

[dekadentdave]

Why should $ideshow compete in a market already saturated by companies like Gentle Giant that specialize in sculpts and dios? They are reticent to compete with Hot Toys or Medi in the 1:6 market. Either way they have competition that has raised the bar for them and it is time they upped the ante as well. I don't collect statues but I would love to see a polystone of the Alien Space Jockey that would be 1:6 scale. It would be huge and expensive but impressive to say the least. Why don't they do stuff like that? 1:9 scale dios do not impress nor interest me because it is a smaller scale.

 

[LOTRFan]

As I said earlier I don't think they are but I sure don't hope they are. They can do both formats and be successful at both. I know Matt didn't mean anything mean by it but man I would never wish that on another collector. 1:6th may not be everyones cup of tea but I would hate to see something someone liked just dropped. Just as I would hate to see them just drop the PF or 1:1 lines.

But a company can only do so much, and maintain the consistent quality that we expect and satisfy demand in a reasonable amount of time (re: LOTR PF line). I don't want to see Sideshow spread so thin that they release only incomplete lines in each format. I do get the impression that something will need to give, and that may come sooner as opposed to later.

 

[LOTRFan]

Why should $ideshow compete in a market already saturated by companies like Gentle Giant that specialize in sculpts and dios?

Honestly because they do it so much better, and any business with a good sense of things will play to it's strengths. Which is undoubtedly why SS has begun importing the Asian 1/6 figures in the first place.

 

[dekadentdave]

It already has. They eighty-sixed all lines except for LOTR and $tar War$.

 

[King Darkness]

UGH!!!

I hate threads like this. Good discussion turns to pure **** pretty fast!




And yes, arguing with Josh is pointless

 

[TheObsoleteMan]

Why should $ideshow compete in a market already saturated by companies like Gentle Giant that specialize in sculpts and dios?

Because that market is booming and Sideshow's product is amongst the best.

1/6 is a niche market, and it's getting smaller. Look at how few companies there are now making product. Why throw money into a market that's shrinking?

 

[dekadentdave]

Like I said, I would never buy a statue or a bust. I haven't the room for them and they are expensive and dull. If that's what $ideshow wants to specialize in then PLEASE sell off the $tar War$ and LOTR licenses to companies like Hot Toys that can really do something incredible with them instead of wasting our time with offerings like the Lumberjack Pack and waiting for the paint to dry on LOTR.

 

[galactiboy]

Yeah, these threads really go become pointless pretty quickly. Everyones got an opinion and surprise, it ain't the same

Luckily I'm pleased with both companies offerings so I'm not losing any sleep over it. But I would like Sideshow to give us some more variety out of their other potential lines. And if it doesn't happen than oh well, there are enough things between them, Hot Toys, Medicom and probably Takara to keep me broke for years and years to come

 

[galactiboy]

Like I said, I would never buy a statue or a bust. I haven't the room for them and they are expensive and dull. If that's what $ideshow wants to specialize in then PLEASE sell off the $tar War$ and LOTR licenses to companies like Hot Toys that can really do something incredible with them instead of wasting our time with offerings like the Lumberjack Pack and waiting for the paint to dry on LOTR.

Must resist, beating dead horse... must resist...

 

[The Josh]

But a company can only do so much, and maintain the consistent quality that we expect and satisfy demand in a reasonable amount of time (re: LOTR PF line). I don't want to see Sideshow spread so thin that they release only incomplete lines in each format. I do get the impression that something will need to give, and that may come sooner as opposed to later.

Right each company can only do so much. I think right now SS is doing just fine where they're at. I wish LOTR would pick up but I'll lay my bet down as I said on R&D on those lines. I haven't seen a drop in quality yet and if they do then we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Something needs to give but I don't think the 1:6th scale is what needs to go. Just as I don't think the PF and 1:1 needs to go.

And yes, arguing with Josh is pointless

Kind of like the constant bantering for a Kurgan figure or being a Kurganite.

 

[dekadentdave]

If only one of those companies would come in and take all the neglected licenses away from $ideshow and start offering new product then the 1:6 market would be a happy place again.

 

[TheObsoleteMan]

If only one of those companies would come in and take tall he neglected licenses away from $ideshow and start offering new product then the 1:6 market would be a happy place again.

Ah, but you assume they would want to make them. It's not like other companies were beating down the doors to make Highlander, POTA, Universal Monsters and Buffy 1/6 product. Love Sideshow or hate 'em, at least they did cater to a market that was being ignored. Could some of those lines have been handled better? Probably, but it was better than them not being handled at all.

 

[Viking28]

We all knew awhile back that the 1/6 lines were going more the way of the buffalo than anything. The last 1/6 was the tiger stripe Wayne wasn't it? Besides LOTR and SW.

Why should $ideshow compete in a market already saturated by companies like Gentle Giant that specialize in sculpts and dios?

Why should the compete in this market? They are the leaders in those markets!
Every bowennoser hates to admit it, but Sideshow's Marvel stuff is crushing the compition. They really pushed the bar high in what could be achieved and the detail the pieces have!