Re: Official Hot Toys Rambo Line Thread
True but theres a reason why. Rambo 1 was great, had a great storyline, a great character and acting was believable by the main characters. It was based on a novel and it had a heart and soul but rambo 2 and 3 are a case of the hollywood machine taking over and just turning the franchise into a shoot em up, kill as many people as you can bean counter action movie. The only rambo film worth making a character in 1/6th scale is first blood and although hot toys already made a figure of it it would be nice to see a remake made using todays standards of figure making.
First Blood having more to the story and being less of an action flick than Rambo 2 and 3 does not make it more marketable for collectibles, if anything, it's Rambo 2 and 3 that will. Die hards like myself will take Rambo from any film, but when you're trying to sell to more average collectors, which have to make up a percentage of sales in order to meet necessary sales numbers, then you have to have wow factors to give the piece appeal. Rambo 2 and 3 can be represented with more interesting weapons and accessories making them more appealing than First Blood. Rambo 4 is the ultimate as it mixes the action of 2 and 3 with story like First Blood, but Sly was in his 60s and not many want a collectible of older Sly.
Rambo 4 still hasn't been made, and I'm hoping even 3rd party manufacturers will take a crack at it.
I'm honestly surprised that HCG took a shot on so many Rambo 4 pieces, it seems like general consensus is 60 year old Rambo isn't very marketable. Hot Toys did Barney Ross I feel because of him wearing tactical gear and such add more selling power to the figure, where Rambo is just basically a t-shirt and pants with a knife.
Rambo just isn't a guaranteed seller plain and simple. He caters to the bottom of the consumer collectible chain. Sure hardcore Rambo/Sly fans will buy figures and statues from the films, but that's about it. Casual collectors probably don't care and never will. Right now everyone wants more Iron Man and Star Wars dolls.
Sadly, you hit the nail on the head. As much as Stallone's characters like Rocky and Rambo are loved by many, the nature of the characters just doesn't give them much selling power. Hell, even Arnold doesn't carry much selling power outside of Sci Fi, he just had more success there with Terminator and Predator, even Conan is a bit more fantasy that Sci Fi, but still. NECA only took a shot on Commando because they could recycle a lot from their Dutch figures and other military figures.
Your right buddy and well said. Enterbay nailed it with the 1/4 Rambo, but we still need an updated 1/6 version. I'm hoping the lady that did the BW 1/4 Rocky 2 hs does one in 1/6 and something eventually comes out. Fingers crossed that Balboa makes a comeback too.
As good as the Rambo 3 from Enterbay came out, it sold poorly, it was available at retail for a long time compared to most Enterbay figures and I believe was even sold at discount in places. Quality is not enough to carry sales for Rocky and Rambo unfortunately. I think Blitzway lucked out with the quality of the piece and the fact that it was a rare piece in how it depicted Rocky, they took a shot on showing him not as a boxer, very unique in Rocky collectibles, and many have a soft spot for the film and real life relationship between Sly and Butkus.
Yeah she did an incredible job with 1/4 Rocky. I'd love to see her make a Rambo or Rocky from 3 or 4, I really don't care what scale at this point.
Agreed, would love to see that same talent applied to a Rocky piece depicting him in boxing gear or any sort of Rambo. Enterbay seems to have abandoned anything that isn't NBA at this point so I've given up on anything else ever from them.
1/6 Rocky is something I need in the collection bad. I have Rambo covered with the EB 1/4 & HT 1/6 M65, but I really need Balboa. Too bad that Rocky 3 1/4 EB didn't happen
I was all saved up and ready for that thing and it quietly went away.........
Like I said earlier, Rambo didn't do so well and I think that scared them off from touching Rocky, almost like, well if Sly loaded with guns can't sell, how well will Sly with boxing gloves do.
I actually liked the Hot Toys Rocky 4 a lot, it pales by today's standards but it had a good likeness and the body was more Sly than HT's Rambo body.
