MEDICOM 12" VADER EP IV EXTENDER MOD

[captain sack]

. Marmit Vader did not make it to the shelves tho. My guess is, it was way to expensive to make and i guess they made a feasible study and found that the manufacturing cost and liscensing fees was too much Marmit could handle. I;m guessing the MArmit Vader, if ever to be released at the time in 2002, would probably cost $250 due to the sheer size of the beauty. I guess theat's the reason why Marmit stopped making the SW figures, they were too expensive and at the time, there wasnt enough buyers(esp most of the buyers are from US and it's an imported item)

i don't buy this theory. marmit vader wouldn't be any more complicated that a marmit fett. all vader really is is a bodysuit, sholderpads, helmet and cape. nothing spectacular. the stormtrooper is much more complicated. i think the rumor that marmit lost their rights to make star wars "model kits" is more realistic than a $250 vader.

 

[Scarlet]

Lost their rights?
If you are profitable enough, and the cost of manufacturing the figures are low enough and the liscencing fees are reasonable enough, why would you lose your rights to make and distribute these figures?

You cant just say Lucas woke up one day and say, you dont get to sell these figures and that's final. The point is $$$$ walks and if you are profitable enough, you can pay the Royalties to acquire and hold on to the liscence.

It's not just about the figure being anymore complicated than Fett, it's about building a new 13" body just for one Character. And if you ask Hurricane, he'll probaly say that Vader is more complex to make than a Fett(I know cos I make customs of Fetts myself). A Huge Cape,a pleather suit, a more complex Helmetare factors and add to the Royalty paid out for a VADER character(HE IS STAR WARS) the overall cost to produce this figure is way too much to be sold to the scarce buyers at the time.

How many heard of Marmit 8 years ago? A japanese company selling highend 12" figures. I mean Medicom have been selling 12" Starwars figures since late 2004 and up till now people are still skeptical of the price and quality even with their aggressive marketing and the convenience of the internet for exposure.

The $250 price is just a figure I plucked out of the air but it's meant to say that the price they have to put out there to the consumers is too much for a profitable and worthwhile return. Again, how many people could/would buy a $100 retail Fett 7 years ago. Even now people will still hesitate in spending that much on a Star Wars Model Kit.

You have to think of the situation back then 7-8 years ago where Marmit is a relatively small Japanese company selling specialised 12" expensive figures and cater specifically to the Japanese and regional community,e-commerce was not as powerful as it is today and the main bulk of potential buyers(US) are on the other side of the world. All these factors went againts Marmit and these are the "Cost" factors that made them lose their Star Wars liscence.

Marmit "lost" their liscence because they were not PROFITABLE enough selling these figures. Because the cost to manufacture these figures and the liscensing fees were too high also, there werent enough customers to buy these figures.
It's not that Marmit didnt make Vader, it is that before they mass produced Vader, they considered all these factors and decided that they cant afford to release a Vader when there werent even enough consumers to buy their current Fetts, Stormies,At-At Drivers.

They didnt lose their liscence but more that they chose not to extend it.

 

[pjam]

Hey Scarlet,
Really looking forward to your tutorial when you get a chance bro. My Vader won't be here for a couple days so whenever it's cool for you is cool with me!

 

[IrishJedi]

PJAM, is the T-800 figure in your signature yours? If so, where did you get the additional accessories??

Edit: Nevermind. Found the info in the appropriate thread.

Good stuff!

 

[Scarlet]

Hey Scarlet,
Really looking forward to your tutorial when you get a chance bro. My Vader won't be here for a couple days so whenever it's cool for you is cool with me!

Sure PJAM. Been busy. I'll help you out within a day or so.

 

[IrishJedi]

I made an interesting discovery 2 days ago in regards to customizing the Medi RAH body for height when I took apart the lower leg portions of my ROTJ Vader.

It may not work, however, so I won't bother to share here. But if it does, you guys will be the first to see/hear.

 

[bcm77]

Here's a pic of my ROTJ Vader's current height in comparison with Luke. I just took the extenders from Luke and added them to Vader,

I'll probably add one more set to Vader when I can get hold of another RAH body or failing that I'll make some myself.

 

[captain sack]

Lost their rights? If you are profitable enough, and the cost of manufacturing the figures are low enough and the liscencing fees are reasonable enough, why would you lose your rights to make and distribute these figures?

i don't think their deal was with lucasfilm, but with hasbro. they even used hasbro packaging logos. i can't confirm this 100%, but i'm fairly certain that marmit was making their figures with permission from hasbro, kinda like sideshow is currently making their 12 inch line with permission from hasbro.

marmit stopped making their 12 inch figure kits around the time the episode 2 merchandise was about to go on sale. the speculation at the time is that hasbro pulled the rights from marmit as they thought they could do just as well.(see their jango fett "kit")(LOL) or it's possible the marmit deal was for a certain number of years, and hasbro choose not to renew it.

bottom line is that the marmit vader was not that complicated. it was the episode 4 version, so a 1 piece helmet would keep costs down. sure new molds would have to be made, but it really wouldn't involve any more plastic that a boba fett figure. a modified body(leg externders) would be needed, but not a completely new body would be necessary. sure the figure may have cost $150, but i think if marmit would of been allowed to make him, they would have. i think it had to do more with hasbro than the cost to make him.

 

[pjam]

Sure PJAM. Been busy. I'll help you out within a day or so.

Thanks Scarlet, he actually came in today and will happily wait!

 

[Mookeylama]

I still miss my little guy.

aw. he misses u too! thanks again Pix. he's in a good home!

 

[Scarlet]

i don't think their deal was with lucasfilm, but with hasbro. they even used hasbro packaging logos. i can't confirm this 100%, but i'm fairly certain that marmit was making their figures with permission from hasbro, kinda like sideshow is currently making their 12 inch line with permission from hasbro.
.

I guess we would have to agree to disagree. I've always believe that if you earn enough profit from your sales, you can afford to pay the Royalties to hold on to the liscence. I dont believe that Marmit was in competition with Hasbro as both have different business strategy and model. Marmit was the $100 higherend figures while Hasbro was the mass produced $20 "toy". And add to the fact that Marmit is a relatively small company in Japan and distributing a limited number for "kits" specifically for Japan, I dont believe hasbro(a dinosaur) would be afraid of the "competition".

I checked my Marmit box and i didnt find a Hasbro logo or anything . The Vader head logo might just be a "standardized" thing from Lucasfilm. I believe Tomy had the rights to distribute Starwars in Japan as there was the TOMY trademark on the Marmit and Medicom boxes.

End of the day, I believe that Marmit chose not to extend their liscence because their current Marmits ware not profitable enough because they cost too much to make and it reflected with the high price(for the time).
A Vader would be around $150-$170 ,I believe at for the time, it's a heck of a lot of money(I would buy it nonetheless as I'm from the asian region)
Their Vader proto was unbelievable and I'm more than Happy to fork out $250 now for it.

Again mate, I say we would have to agree to disagree but you make a very good argument. :chew

 

[Scarlet]

Ok PJAm, I'll try to make a step by step tutorial even though it's pretty straight forward.

1.Take off Vaders Boots

2. Vaders boots are made of 2 parts, the shoes and the shin armour. Diassemble the feet and original Vader extenders. You'll get what you see above.
One pair of Feet, 15mm extenders and 5mm extenders.

Follow the link below on how to make your own extenders.

https://com5.runboard.com/bmedicom.f6.t11626|offset=10

You basically can cut pieces into your own preffered lengths but I always have them cut into the basic 5mm and 12mm. For this case, I made a 13mm custom extenders for Vader.

Here's a pic of original Medicom 12mm extenders with my 13mm custom extenders.

Put the custom extenders on the peg of the Medi feet as you see above.

Then reassemble the feet like above. Put the 5mm extenders over the 15mm extenders
PLS NOTE THAT I SWAPPED THE BLACK 5mm EXTENDER WITH A NEUTRAL COLOUR FOR CLEARER VIEWEING.

Put the shoes and shin armour back on.

Viola Done!

My Vader now currently measure at 324mm. (25mm=1inch)
Therefore my Vader now stands at 12.96 inches.

Hope that's clear enough for you PJAM.
Cheers

 

[pjam]

Thanks so much Scarlet. Yours rocks bro!

And it looks so easy...

25mm = 1 inch, it looks like you simply added custom 13mm extenders or roughly a half inch to get him to 12.96 inches?

 

[Scarlet]

yup, you are right.

Good luck on your custom extenders.
And it's great that you've bought ROTJ Vader, I suspect after the Medi Fett is released, many will hunt for Vader and Stormies to built the Surrendering of Carbonite Han Scene.

 

[pjam]

yup, you are right.

Good luck on your custom extenders.
And it's great that you've bought ROTJ Vader, I suspect after the Medi Fett is released, many will hunt for Vader and Stormies to built the Surrendering of Carbonite Han Scene.

I just cut the extenders, will show pics soon. I got mine for the SSC Jedi Luke, that final scene "will be complete" once the Emperor is announced (this year I'm sure, I hope). Of course the MediFett will never be beat when it comes to detail and poseability IMO.

 

[Ven]

I just cut the extenders, will show pics soon. I got mine for the SSC Jedi Luke, that final scene "will be complete" once the Emperor is announced (this year I'm sure, I hope). Of course the MediFett will never be beat when it comes to detail and poseability IMO.

if you want, you can add some more height in stuffing the bottom sole.. it won't make his leg look longer, as it pushes the leg up, not extending it. ala HOT TOYS SUPERMAN RETURNS FIGURE

or as you know it, the les walker's heel lift trick.

 

[pjam]

DEDICATED TO SCARLET...

The tape measure end was taped flush to his heel and pulled taught as you can see, he is now just under 13 Inches Tall! The boot shields look a bit off in the pic but have been adjusted. I stood him up and he looks great!Thanks again Scarlet and yes Snake, I know about the heel lift as I did it with my HT Supes so that is always another option -- point is you can now get your Medicom Vader to a height of 13 Inches. Sweet! Thanks all.

 

[Scarlet]

Cheers PJAM.
It does look weird when he's lying down like that but stood upright, he looks good.

 

[figuremaster_les]

This is a neat thread.
I don't have that Vader, but these images, and how you guys did this, is cool!
Leg extension 101, eh, Pjam?

Thanks for the how-to Scarlet.

Too neat!

 

[Smudger9]

yup, you are right.

Good luck on your custom extenders.
And it's great that you've bought ROTJ Vader, I suspect after the Medi Fett is released, many will hunt for Vader and Stormies to built the Surrendering of Carbonite Han Scene.

I'm sure you are right. I for one just ordered a ROTJ Vader and 2 stormies. Just over $400 shipped to the UK so not too bad. Cant wait for them to get here.... unfortunately it will make the wait for Boba even more unbearable. I'm also considering getting Yoda VCD.... no sure about that one though.