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Thanks. Is that the Neca doll?
Thought not.No...
Thought not.
Sorry for the confusion. Said I was waiting for Neca production pictures and though Burtial was responding to me.
The wait continues...
Neca doll delayed til spring
Hello, first time posting here, I'll give a background hidden in spoiler box which you're welcome to skip for my question if you want.
---My first Chucky dolls were the 1/2 scale stuffed body with vinyl head/hands unscarred Chucky and Tiffany made by Sideshow. I pre-ordered the Sideshow 1:1 Seed replica for ?350 and still love it to this day. I always wanted a 1:1 Good Guy, I missed out on the Dream Rush and the Medicom and never fancied their ebay prices. When Trick Or Treat Studios announced they were doing a 1:1 Good Guy I was both excited and hesitant. Excited because I would finally be able to get one, but hesitant because, well...
I was aware of TOTS knock-off quality, the Gizmo they are so proud of honestly looks significantly worse than the counterfeit Gizmo I bought on a Spanish market for pennies in the 1990s (these days I'm quite happy with my Medicom Rambo Gizmo). I always wanted a reputable company like Sideshow to do a 1:1 Good Guy, but I hoped this would be the product TOTS would step up their game and raise to the levels of quality of their competitors.
Then came the lies. First the promise of a 1:1 doll in the box, then in a curveball it went to Kickstarter and the box was a stretch goal for backers only, then it changed to a stretch goal for everyone and they would abuse anyone who questioned what was going on with their ever changing story. The lies went on, you know all this. Of course, then the box itself was a scam and they sold the real box separately. I've had my own negative experiences with TOTS 'Customer Service' along this painful journey, but the way they treat people on Social Media is disgusting.
It's the doll itself which was the biggest downer. The doll with that unacceptable foam body. TOTS clearly only care about the money and not about making a quality product they can be proud of. I made the mistake of posing him, I lifted his arm (rip), I sat him down (rip rip). Even if he's kept static in unripped form, that foam will disintegrate over the years, it is a perishable material. The doll was not built to last a lifetime. I've heard many people defend TOTS saying that this doll is 'great for the price'. But I'm sorry, it's not. Disregarding the extra ?200 of postage and Import Duty I had to pay, the base doll was around ?500. ?500 is not 'great for the price' when it will rot and disintegrate over the years, when for ?350 Sideshow could produce a replica Seed doll of significantly higher quality that will last forever. I would much rather have a solid body with less articulation that will last forever than a foam body that will perish. The foam limits the skeleton's movement anyway, so it is utterly baffling that TOTS didn't go for a stuffed body that would also last forever and allow much more freedom of movement. It's almost like they want the doll to disintegrate so we all run out and buy a replacement from them... They could have at least sealed the foam in a body suit to try and hold form when it flakes, but no they didn't even bother with that. It makes me sad every time I look at the little Good Guy knowing his life with me is limited as over the years his body will disintegrate. It makes me so sad that I've ordered a much better Swirl World Studios custom that will truly last a lifetime like my Sideshow Seed doll. I am going to keep my TOTS doll on display back in his NOT-1:1 box. The amount of effort and care Sideshow put into a doll that is double the quality at a significantly lower (original retail, not ebay) price really shows that the TOTS Good Guy is not a fair price.
Controversial opinion coming - ever since Seed came out at the cinema I've preferred the Seed Tiffany design to the Bride design. But I've ordered the Neca Tiffany, I just can't give TOTS that amount of money for that perishable foam body. I would love a Glen to complete the family, but again he is foam. I didn't have the money when The Scary Closet were selling their first generation Annabelle dolls and I made the mistake of pre-ordering (with non-refundable deposit) the TOTS Annabelle from Mad About Horror before I realised they went for the foam body with her as well. Annabelle is a porcelain doll, I mistakenly thought that they would use a solid body for a porcelain doll, how wrong I was, they scammed me again. At least I had the sense to order through Mad About Horror so they can have the misery of dealing with TOTS so I don't have to.
Sorry for the long rant, I just needed to vent. I had my issues with Garrett Zima before his TOTS involvement, add that with my own experiences with TOTS alongside everything I have seen of the way TOTS/Chris Zephro treat their customers on public social media, it seems like Zephro and Zima really are a perfect pair of Not-Good Guys. I made my mistake with the Good Guy and Annabelle (and she isn't even out yet), I'm done with TOTS now. I do hope Zephro and Zima reflect on the past year and learn some humility, but I doubt it.
Anyway, my question is about licensing. I mistakenly believed that the complexity of licences allowed for different products to go to multiple companies (such as one company making t-shirts, other drinking cups etc), one company may be able to make mass market 1:1 scale dolls, but I thought only one company would be allowed to make high end 1:1 replicas. For that reason I thought TOTS had a lockdown on the Universal (all sequels) licence for 1:1 high end replica dolls, so I was surprised when Neca announced their Bride pair which directly competes with the TOTS Seed dolls, both are the same Universal sequels licence right? Does anyone with a bit more knowledge understand how this works that two competing companies can simultaneously both produce 1:1 replica dolls?
My Conspiracy Theory is that Universal are aware of how badly TOTS have treated their customers, and as damage control offered a specific Bride licence to a more reputable company. My other Conspiracy Theory is that Don Mancini has been photographed with and promoted the Neca dolls. I'm not aware of him ever posing with or promoting the TOTS dolls, or even mentioning them for that matter.
Not that I'm saying Don Mancini's TOTS silence is because of disapproval, it's purely a theoretical suggestion based on his Neca engagement. But if I were a creator I would be deeply saddened by the way TOTS had treated my creation. If I was a licensor, I would never let my licence go to such a cowboy company that would bring disrepute to my brand. It is shocking how many top brand licensing TOTS get. It definitely seems like they are trying to corner the market by being the only company offering 1:1 products from a variety of franchises that many are desperate for, and with the lack of competition they can make a nice profit on a knock-off product. No wonder Zephro got so upset by some good healthy competition from Neca putting out what is likely to be a much higher quality product for less price.
EDIT - For some reason the UK Pound currency symbol comes out as "?", sorry I don't know why, but that's the currency I tried to type.
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