I never thought we'd see hot toys re-release the 89 Batmobile, but they did, and i never thought they'd announce the Dark Knight Rises Bat Armory, having first shown it way back in 2012/2013, but they did, so there's still a chance we may see the 1/12 Batwing............Everyone, including Joost, knows it will never see the light of day…
Didn't Joost say he'll consider a Kickstarter for the 1/12 1989 Batmobile? It just needs publicity and probably the more pledges, a lower price can be attained. The question is, can Joost scale to the demand?
Take the recent DeLorean kickstarter campaign.
This fits those 1/10 scale NECA figures. Pricing for those figures are much cheaper than your regular 1/12 Mafex, SHF, figures. The DeLorean is at $399 regularly priced they had a few early bird specials with $299 as the lowest with an added bonus. I can't recall how shipping works with these campaigns. It ended with 2,856 backers but that's not representative of the total units to be produced because some opted for packages with 2 or 5 DeLoreans. They reached 3 times the goal amount in one day. It's possible. Joost can set a lower price than $500 but will need the right amount of backers.
But then he may be met with the dilemma of are all of these details able to be fully realized in 1/12 to justify the high price it would be. He’s talking about die cast, leather seats, silkscreened dashboard detailing, carpet floors, accurate pedals, et cetera.
I'm in on that. I'm slightly concerned about shipping - I've had to use a US forwarding address which I've never done before. Hope there's no problems. Won't find out till late next year if memory serves
Personally I'd understand if a 1/12 version didn't or couldn't have literally all the same features as the 1/6.
I certainly can’t speak for Joost, but he strikes me as the type of person that doesn’t compromise his efforts just to make a sale. I think he has way too much personal integrity for that along with a very high standard for quality.Accuracy is what will matter here. Majority of the collectors won't really give a damn about carpeting, leather seats, or what not on a smaller scale collectible. Most will be happy that their figures can fit inside with some diecast and working lights to go with it. Throw in that smoke effect as a cherry on top. If Joost wants to implement other features and 1/6 collectors become finicky about them, have them as stretch goals.
I certainly can’t speak for Joost, but he strikes me as the type of person that doesn’t compromise his efforts just to make a sale. I think he has way too much personal integrity for that along with a very high standard for quality.
I’d be very surprised if he ever put out a product that didn’t live up to his own convictions of what should be made.
I think this go round is as simple as either raising at least enough money to make the vehicle he envisions, or not. Kickstarter provides for that “black and white” clarity.
As far as shipping goes, it is never fixed priced. Typically, you get an estimate when the order is placed, based on the estimated dimensions and weight, but the actual shipping isn’t charged until it’s ready to ship.
I hope everyone that really wants his stuff in 1/12 can get their dream vehicles out of this.
I agree with what you’re saying about the 1/12 consumer and their wants, but I think I might need to clarify my point.Well... I can't fully agree on one aspect but that's besides the point.
Anyway, adding all those doesn't immediately speak high standard of quality. If those end up peeling off, then what's the point? I'm not saying that will happen but the point is, you can still offer a product of high standard without those extras on the get go through a Kickstarter type of sale. Didn't all those extras come in anyway because more people than expected preordered? In a sense, it's just similar to achieving a stretch goal in kickstarter.
Again accuracy and quality matters for both 1/6 and 1/12 crowd. I'd say that where 1/6 collectors chase after hyper realism to the minute detail, 1/12 collectors chase playability. They'll go for the points and range of articulation over that correct type of button/tie/etc. Gotta pivot to that 1/12 crowd, find what features will matter to them and offer that in whatever high standard Joost deems with feasibility in mind.
Apologies if I misunderstood.
This isn’t a case where jazzinc wants or needs to pivot to the 1/12 crowd. This is just a last opportunity for that crowd to prove they can support premium 1/12 vehicles by speaking with their wallets. It’s my belief that Joost will continue to make 1/12 vehicles only if that particular community can align with his vision of at least the minimum standards of what he is willing to produce. If the market supports it, he’ll make it. If not, then he won’t.
The expectation that jazzinc is going to produce a line of products more so designed with a focus on playability as a priority, or just “play down” to a particular consumer segment seems to fly in the face of their reputation. It also seems contrary to what Joost has conveyed as their direction (IMO).
In the immortal words of the late, great George Carlin, “you gotta pay to play”
I gather the mention of features peeling off
is a reference to a recent situation where three vehicles had some paint peeling issues. I believe Joost addressed that topic in his last livestream on onesixthmafia. IIRC, he replaced those vehicles and paid for shipping both ways. It doesn’t seem reasonable to conclude from that situation that these vehicles aren’t high quality or production quality isn’t up to snuff. I mean, three out of a few hundred, and they were addressed free if charge. That’s better service and quality than you get from Tesla.
Respectfully, I don’t think I can agree with that. They sold out of three different 1/6 versions of the BVS/Justice League batmobile, yet he still sits on unsold 1/12 inventory that was made available after the first version was sold out. It’s difficult to believe that’s because the movie wasn’t well liked or nobody in the 1/12 space knew about it. Or, as was additionally suggested, perhaps the 1/12 market did know about the product, but hated the movie (way more than the 1/6 crowd), so they didn’t want it.The problems with the 1/12 Justice mobile that I think worked against it was firstly it wasn't widely known. It was a 1/12 piece mostly advertised in the realm of 1/6 collectors. It's asking the 1/6 crowd to prove there's a market for Joost's 1/12 products. Even if knowledge of its existence somehow got in the field of view of actual 1/12 collectors, the movies weren't generally well liked. Also, this version of the Batmobile isn't as iconic.
Exactly!Again, you missed the point. My analogy of the 1/6 with hyper realism to 1/12 with playability is not "playing down to sacrifice their reputation." It's knowing that it's a different market. It's Jazzinc entering the 1/12 market. You're not gonna come into a cheeseburger crowd selling a steak. I said accuracy and quality matters to both. I never said dumb down the product. Joost already has qualities on the 1/6 1989 that I know will be highly liked by 1/12 collectors - flipflop paint, the proper proportions and accurate details, lights, diecast. What you want is for everything currently on the 1/6 to be there on the 1/12 which might not really matter to the 1/12 crowd (the less important stuff - carpet, leather finish, etc.) Also, some things might not be feasible on a smaller scale that works on 1/6. So instead of trying to translate everything on the 1/6 to the 1/12, offer something instead that speaks to the 1/12 crowd. Turn that high quality steak meat into a high quality cheeseburger.
Off the mark. I wasn't referring to that issue at all. My point was high quality doesn't necessarily mean adding all the bells and whistles to the 1/12 scale that the 1/6 has. Having fabric carpet or leather finish doesn't immediately speak high quality especially if those end up peeling. Again, I'm not saying that's what will happen. It's more of an analogy.
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