Re: Molecule8 (New company)
Lennon looks absolutely amazing. From this photo and the description this sounds like a very high end figure, thus the term "museum quality". I don't think $299 is absurd considering it comes with 2 head sculpts, although they should include a guitar. If the production piece turns out like this I'll definitely pick it up. The concern is the company has no track record and there are still question marks as to its reputation. We know they've used one of the very best sculptors in the industry and they clearly hired a top talent for the paint master. If they've hired someone like Yunsil or Iris for the tailoring then the suit will also be great. And all the details look spot on. However there can be a long road from prototype to production. Producing a good 1/6 figure requires a solid workflow pipeline. This could be a case of a company spending $5K+ on a kick ass prototype and and delivering a figure that looks nothing like it. They are also developing their own body, but hopefully that's being done with someone like Phicen.
That said, this could be an interesting market niche if Molecule can actually deliver. Sure the $299 price point puts them above Hot Toys as well as small companies like Star Ace, but it's cheaper than customs, which can easily go $500-$1,000+.
The high end talent and vendor resources are certainly out there to produce museum quality figures--sculptors, tailors, and manufacturing facilities--if someone is willing to pay top dollar and also do the QC. If Molecule been able to put together a vendor pipeline that enables them to sell licensed figures for $299-$399+ I think they could certainly carve out a market among the high end figure collectors. For example I bought the Asmus Gandalf which ran about $200. It's okay but not great. If Molecule can produce a Gandalf with the same quality as the Lennon prototype, I'd gladly pay $100 or even $200 more. One of the reasons I haven't preordered Asmus's Legolas yet, although I will, is because I'll basically be adding another character to the line as opposed to adding a 1/6 figure that blows me away. So given the choice between a $200 Asmus and a $300 museum quality Molecule, I'd absolutely spend the extra $100.
In addition to Lord of the Rings, I'd also be interested in Big Trouble in Little China, the Hobbit, Harry Potter, Willy Wonka and Ghostbusters (although they will be hard pressed to outdo the Blitzways). I'm not sure if they are planning to limit the runs to 500 numbered pieces, but that would make them more collectible and potentially valuable. 500 pieces @300/per is $150K gross, but then you have to back out all various licensing, vendor, manufacturing, packaging and shipping costs, so who knows what profit margin they're working with. Maybe the 500 represents the LE run, and they do a step down "B" run with one head sculpt, fewer accessories, no number or CoA and maybe a lower price point. That would still be acceptable to me if I bought the LE figure and it would help protect them from knockoffs.
I'd like to have a little more reassurance about the company, but I may risk the $300 on Lennon and see what happens. Hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised and blown away.
