LOTR Legolas Maquette?

[woodsy]

SS, this Q and A appeared on Aug 2nd in your 'Ask Sideshow' segment :

"Monday, August 2nd, 2010

Q. With two LOTR maquette home runs already in the works, should we expect to hear an announcement for #3 soon?

A. Indeed, #3 is coming shortly after Comic-Con. And he’s DREAMY

Never mind the fact we haven't had a new pre-order [Gandalf] in almost five month's now. And never mind the fact this is the only shred of information LOTR collectors have received concerning the new maquette line over that same period of time.....

Could you please direct me to the dictionary you referred to when you used the term "shortly" to describe the Legolas pre-order time frame....
or we're you referring to SDCC 2011 when you made that statement?

 

[Vince]

Indeed very little news regarding LOTR from Sideshow ...

I asked some questions to them but they never get answered in the 'Ask Sideshow' section ...

 

[Vince]

@woodsy => we do had the Gollum PF Pre-order (not maquette I know)

 

[Seaward]

I guess since the Q&A function does appear to be no longer part of Sideshow's vaunted customer service, it would be great to hear how long "soon" is defined by Sideshow. Shipping "soon" is 30 days, typically...

 

[Dusty]

I can't answer for the production department, but I can say that typically terms of 'time' are very open to interpretation. Perhaps when they said "shortly" they meant a few months, as they are typically planning 3-5 YEARS in advance, so anything planned within one year is "shortly" to them? And sometimes, even when things are planned for "shortly" to perhaps mean only a couple months, things can get stalled if something happens with the licensor, etc. No matter what - it's coming, we promise

 

[Dusty]

I guess since the Q&A function does appear to be no longer part of Sideshow's vaunted customer service, it would be great to hear how long "soon" is defined by Sideshow. Shipping "soon" is 30 days, typically...

"Ask Sideshow" is still active... it's a permanent feature on the new homepage in fact. New questions are typically answered in "bunches" as time allows. They are currently backlogged, as only a couple people have the time (or knowledge) to answer these questions, so we take whatever time they can give us. Once again, please let me stress that "Ask Sideshow" is in no way, shape, or form meant to be a way to get quick answers - it's a way to ask questions about the artistic process. If you need an answer immediately for any reason, or if you have a complaint about something that you think could be beneficial for future releases, please submit it to our Customer Service department for better response time.

 

[Seaward]

Dusty,

As always, you step in front of the firing line, and thanks for answering our questions. I guess the backlog is more noticeable to us on the boards, as we spend a big chunk of time talking up Sideshow products. It was somewhat surprising to see the Ask Sideshow move from a somewhat regular feature that would appear in the newsletter, to just being a round of questions answered at the tentpole events.

I think that folks were expecting Legolas sooner rather than later though, as one of the Q&A's or a chat (I forget which one) stated that the next LOTR maquette would pre-order shortly after Comic-Con. There were also answers around the time of the debut of the maquette line that suggested that we would likely see pre-orders quarterly (approximately) so that has been a concern for people on the boards!

Have a great weekend!

 

[Dusty]

Totally understand - I'm excited too!

As far as I can find out, Legolas should debut in January or so, with more info on the future of the statues to be answered soon. Have no fear, their future is secure - it's just that the best intentions (releases once per quarter, etc) can sometimes be waylaid by various factors

 

[The Josh]

Awesome new Dusty! One per quarter is a great set up. Especially if you collect other lines like many of us do.

 

[furystorm]

So funny that I was just considering opening a thread about this as well. I wasn't intending mine to be so snarky, but I do feel much of the same sentiment as woodsy. Along with The Josh, I too feel like one per quarter would be a great setup, but could definitely live with three to five per year. I was beginning to get worried, because currently I have had a need to reduce greatly my collection habit. I had put my focus on this new line, and it becomes easy to worry a bit when so many other lines, especially in LOTR, have gone by the wayside.

January! I was hoping for earlier, but it is what it is. I was delusionally seeing Legolas in the B&W teaser, when I know that is Electra's booty in there. Then of course, I was hoping SS was just throwing us the usual curveball because most of us can agree what four items are shown in that shadow image. I thought, oh, these must be derivative of what we will actually be getting.

January! Damn!

On a side note, thank you Dusty. I hope you are compensated properly for all that you do for the freak community. It's nice to have a target month finally, even though in Sideshow speak, January could mean February or March! Oh, there I go being snarky...

Thanks for the update.

 

[woodsy]

Indeed very little news regarding LOTR from Sideshow ...
I asked some questions to them but they never get answered in the 'Ask Sideshow' section ...

That is a huge part of the frustration. Outside the July 5th GTG maquette pre-order we have heard absolutely nothing from SS regarding the new line, other than the "Legolas is coming shortly after Comic con" line on Aug 2nd. No sneak peeks, no production videos, and as has already been mentioned, virtually nothing LOTR-related in SS's Q and A's in months.

I think the other part of the frustration lies with the fact the quality of this new line has been exceptional so far and naturally, as a result people want to see more. Seriously, is there a single SS licence out there that has produced PF's and statues of the consistantly excellent quality that the LOTR licence has enjoyed in recent years? If there is, I can't think of it. The Berserker, Legolas, GTG, and Gollum PF's are all outstanding, as are the Aragorn, GTG, and soon to be released Legolas maquettes.

@woodsy => we do had the Gollum PF Pre-order (not maquette I know)

I know....I ordered two

So funny that I was just considering opening a thread about this as well. I wasn't intending mine to be so snarky, but I do feel much of the same sentiment as woodsy. Along with The Josh, I too feel like one per quarter would be a great setup, but could definitely live with three to five per year. I was beginning to get worried, because currently I have had a need to reduce greatly my collection habit. I had put my focus on this new line, and it becomes easy to worry a bit when so many other lines, especially in LOTR, have gone by the wayside.

Mine was snarky?....OK maybe just a touch

Your concerns are legit, though I do not believe they apply to this new line. Unfortunately, unless your favourite licences are Marvel or Star Wars these days there are simply no guarantees that any new line will survive beyond a handful of new pre-orders.....and we all know how susceptible LOTR is to getting the axe from SS ie LSB's, dio's and 12" figures

Its a real "catch 22" situation we now find ourselves in. Sideshow starts a new line, and if sales lag....they pull the plug on it. Collectors, knowing that SS are rarely committed to licences outside of Marvel and Star Wars may want to jump right in and start collecting, but are fearful of starting yet another line that will never even remotely come close to completion...so they hold off awhile until they see some kind of long-term commitment from SS. Which doesn't happen because SS, thinking collectors aren't interested in the new line, pull the plug....and the cycle continues.

 

[woodsy]

Totally understand - I'm excited too!

As far as I can find out, Legolas should debut in January or so, with more info on the future of the statues to be answered soon. Have no fear, their future is secure - it's just that the best intentions (releases once per quarter, etc) can sometimes be waylaid by various factors

Dusty, I too am grateful you've "stepped up to the plate" and provided us with some tangible information concerning the LOTR maquette line. It is however, also a sad reminder of how inept SS has been in regard to communication where LOTR products are concerned. I just cannot come up with a single justification as to why this is the only solid piece of news we have received concerning this new line in exactly 4 month's.

And while a 6 month hiatus between the GTG and Legolas pre-orders is bad enough, this lack of communication has only amplified our frustrations. I'm not sure what kind of marketing strategy SS has decided to employ concerning this line, but what started off pretty decently has steadily deteriorated with the early momentum and excitement generated now long gone. Even with such a long wait between pre-orders I think SS could have avoided some of these issues had they provided us with some hope over the past 4 month's in the form of production video's, sneak peeks, etc......and in that regard SS has utterly failed.

Now I'm fully aware that Marvel and SW are at the head of the class where SSC are concerned, and while it's bad enough watching those licences enjoy a steady flow of pre-orders year in and year out [while LOTR collectors have had to settle on a grand total of 4 in 2010], the constant bombardment their collectors receive in the form of updates via prod. video's, sneak peeks, Ask SS, etc....only stands to remind us of how much we've fallen [as a licence] in the eyes of SS. I'm sorry, but if I hear another SS representative tell me again how "cherished" the LOTR licence is, I think I'm going to throw up. I for one don't want to hear more nice sounding words from SS, at the end of the days those words are meaningless. What I'd like to see are less words, and more action.

 

[furystorm]

Snarky? Yes! But I love it.

 

[woodsy]

Snarky? Yes! But I love it.

We'll, how about one more for the road then?


Could my timing have been any better?......I go off in regard to the differences in how SS treats their Marvel and SW licences/collectors vs LOTR and what does SS do....they announce a 2nd SW pre-order in 3 weeks. And what do we get...... information that the "coming shortly after Comic Con" Legolas maquette pre-order we've been anxiously awaiting for 4 month's will be another two....and the only reason we found that out is because a SS rep intervened on our behalf.

I might have been a bit harsh concerning my "cherished" remark, but if indeed SS cherishes the LOTR licence as much as they claim to, may I suggest they perhaps spend a little less time cherishing the licence and a little more time cherishing the LOTR collectors who buy their products....just sayin'

Awesome new Dusty! One per quarter is a great set up. Especially if you collect other lines like many of us do.

Personally, I'd like to see them coming a little faster than that, and I was actually expecting to come at a faster rate based on SS's own words.......though I now realize what SS says, and what actually happens aren't necessarily the same thing.

Ask Sideshow : Monday, July 5th, 2010
Q. Thank you for the fantastic Lord of the Rings lines that you are producing. I was really thrilled when you posted that there is going to be a 1/6 scale statue line…what I would like to know is; how will they be released? Will it be like the Dioramas…1 or 2 every now and then, or will you release some maquettes all at once?

A. They’ll definitely be spaced out, starting with Aragorn and Gandalf. We’re likely to follow with a new announcement every other month or so.