No New Sideshow INDY at Toy Fair Apparently

[SwedishHeat]

It's almost impossible to believe the Indiana Jones line would die after 3 figures.

Keep in mind that Sideshow has limited their Toy Fair presence for the last year or two. Toy Fair is basically a place for dealers to show their upcoming product to buyers, aka. TRU, Target, Wal-Mart. Sideshow isn't selling to them, so all they'd do at Toy Fair is build hype. Of course, it still doesn't bode well, that they haven't announced anything new, or are announcing that they will announce something new soon.

 

[cerealkeller]

I just hope they don't let Belloq sort of kill the line. It seems to me SS kills their lines, not lack of fan interest. Look at LOTR, Farimir had horrible paint apps, Frodo and Sam were overpriced and no villains killed that line. Fan interest was their and would have purchased figures if the quality and character selection was there. SS sees slow sales and cancellations and calls it quits. Now we have Belloq. I would have loved a great 1/6 Belloq in my collection, but they pick his most boring outfit, the head IMO looks very little like the actor and now in hand pics of him it looks like the clothes don't fit right and went cheap with items like the tie. Unfortunately, they'll look at all the cancellations of Belloq and say "Gee, people just don't like Indiana Jones because it certainly isn't our quality". Maybe before killing a line they should look into quality control with their paint and character selection.

 

[wofford29]

The only other figures I would want are a Brody or Sr.

 

[Wor-Gar]

It's almost impossible to believe the Indiana Jones line would die after 3 figures.

Terminator 2 had only three figures before it died.

 

[pixletwin]

There are some lines that are destined for only 2 or 3 figures. I don't think its because Sideshow loses hope in a line (exception: LOTR. I think they meant to delve deep in but where surprised at lack of collector interest)... I think there are somne licenses were Sideshow knows from "go" that the possibilies are shallower than say Star Wars.

Indy has always been one of those where I could see maybe 3 or 4 figures at most before the line lost steam. Shaun of the Dead was also one... Resevoir Dogs.... Thats why so many of us were surprised when an Indy section was made. It just doesn't have the stay power ($$$$$-wise) that something like Marvel or Star Wars has.

 

[mfisher]

I could see at least 4 more figures that would have some strong collectible power.. that would be Mola Ram, Marion, Henry Sr, and Sallah... those are just the staple characters that tend to show up on most collectors wish lists... I'd love love LOVE to see even more than that done... especially a Marcus, Shorty, Mac or Ox... but I just am not buying that the line is "dead"... not yet...

 

[thenammagazine]

There are some lines that are destined for only 2 or 3 figures. I don't think its because Sideshow loses hope in a line (exception: LOTR. I think they meant to delve deep in but where surprised at lack of collector interest)... I think there are somne licenses were Sideshow knows from "go" that the possibilies are shallower than say Star Wars.

Indy has always been one of those where I could see maybe 3 or 4 figures at most before the line lost steam. Shaun of the Dead was also one... Resevoir Dogs.... Thats why so many of us were surprised when an Indy section was made. It just doesn't have the stay power ($$$$$-wise) that something like Marvel or Star Wars has.

I disagree. Look how much, despite how bad it sucked, KOTCS made in the box office. Sure it wasn't TDK, but $300+ million is nothing to scoff at. If handled right, this line has a considerable amount of financial staying power. But the key thing is, "if handled right." Personally, I would've spaced them out a bit more and offered the Idol environment and Ark as single releases (ala Star Wars) and not figure exclusives.

 

[pixletwin]

Just because a movie does well at the box office doesn't mean it resonate the same way in the collectors market as Star Wars clearly does.

 

[ProgMatinee]

Fan desire for a Marion or a Mola Ram seems just adequate to me, if SSC doesn't see it, I don't know what to say.

Its there.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Just because a movie does well at the box office doesn't mean it resonate the same way ....

That's very true and all too often forgotten. There are plenty of duds that made a ton of money at the boxoffice. Superman Returns. The anticipation gets people in, even if it sucks. Matrix sequels. T3. Even Batman + Robin made a ton of money.

And there are a lot of 'classic' films that didn't make as much at the boxoffice as you'd think given their longevity. Die Hard for example. Predator also (with only 59M).

 

[choopie]

There are some lines that are destined for only 2 or 3 figures. I don't think its because Sideshow loses hope in a line (exception: LOTR. I think they meant to delve deep in but where surprised at lack of collector interest)... I think there are somne licenses were Sideshow knows from "go" that the possibilies are shallower than say Star Wars.

Indy has always been one of those where I could see maybe 3 or 4 figures at most before the line lost steam. Shaun of the Dead was also one... Resevoir Dogs.... Thats why so many of us were surprised when an Indy section was made. It just doesn't have the stay power ($$$$$-wise) that something like Marvel or Star Wars has.

This may be true for those licenses supported by only one movie: Shaun of the Dead and Reservoir Dogs fitting into that category. But being Sideshow obtained the license to make collectibles from all four Indy films, there should be plenty of characters to make in any format that could sustain the license for a long while. I think the problem is this: companies going overboard on marketing with no solid production output to sustain long-term interest. The production of high-end collectibles is just too slow to keep up with hype, and when the hype dies the products go with it despite all the promises made when the license was announced.

 

[Sir Tristram]

What about the busts? I thought they were going to have 1:1 scale busts....or at least one bust of Indy!

 

[ProgMatinee]

I think maybe SSC gets scared off a line because of the relative short life span instead of just thinking about one character at a time.

Yeah, maybe SSC couldn't product a Gimli, Hobbits, Elrond, etc without losing money, but do they think they a Ringwraith or Saruman would lose money too?

Would Mola Ram lose money? Would Marion lose money? Would a Short Round lose money? None of those figures are exactly ultra complex yet they'd sell a decent amount.

 

[TheObsoleteMan]

Maybe retailers just don't want more Indy product. That seems the most plausible explanation for why all of the companies that were flooding the market suddenly stopped. If that's the case, there's precious little Sideshow can do about it.

 

[ProgMatinee]

True, unless SSC pulls an SW and starts offering figures exclusively from their site only. Would a Marion not sell 1000 pieces?

 

[Darth Waller]

They could go the Matty Collector MOTU Classics route and just sell an exclusive version directly to their customers.

 

[choopie]

Sideshow isn't a company that has to rely on retailers to sell their products. They can sell everything directly through their site and still be successful. In the end it comes down to profits. They simply aren't going to put the R&D into a product that isn't going to give them good returns.

 

[The Mike]

If that's the case, there's precious little Sideshow can do about it.

That's not true. If they limit the ES to a really low amount like 500 total including Exclusive it'll create buzz, a demand, even retailers will stock them because they can raise the pricepoints and make a profit. If Sideshow wants to create interest in any line they can but simply cutting supply. The thing is that its not the most collector friendly option so they don't do it that often, in fact they mainly go the other way and increase supply so more people can get their hands on it but it bites them in the end.

 

[Pitfall Harry]

Has anyone just flat out asked SS directly what's going on with the Indy line? Are there going to be anymore figures after Toht?

Instead of jumping to conculsions and thinking the worst......Just ask them!

 

[ProgMatinee]

Has anyone just flat out asked SS directly what's going on with the Indy line? Are there going to be anymore figures after Toht?

Instead of jumping to conculsions and thinking the worst......Just ask them!

SSC is awesome, but even they don't typically answer those questions.