Questions for Asmus

[Sixth Scale Man]

As soon as Asmus said they got hacked,I deleted and blocked that account.
Strange days indeed.

Most peculiar, mama.....

 

[Bornz0r]

"As you know, our old Instagram account was hacked, even though we have been offered to buy it back, but Asmus Collectibles has decided NOT to compromise to this criminal activity. To lose the link to the fans is a price that is painfully paid, but Asmus stands tall to do the right thing.

We apologize to all the inconvenient to our beloved friends. We miss you, and WE ARE BACK!!

Grand Opening for our new Instagram account! We have prepared a “Throwback Asmus” all week long, hope you enjoy the wonderful posts at our new Asmus Collectible Instagram page.

https://www.instagram.com/asmuscollectibles/"

 

[pixletwin]

Most peculiar, mama.....

I understand that reference. lol

 

[pixletwin]

As soon as Asmus said they got hacked,I deleted and blocked that account.
Strange days indeed.

I just did the same thing.

 

[RandomHero]

Is @Asmus even still working on LOTR at this point? It seems like everything they show these days is from some kind of anime line or something...I'm not familiar with whatever the cartoony stuff is.

We know they were working on Crown Thranduil and we saw the Haldir prototype. Are those still even happening? Have they gone back to the drawing board to redesign some things to up their quality to not lose customers to InArt? Have they given up all together? It doesn't look like they even log into their account here anymore.

It's really a shame we know nothing these days.

 

[Sixth Scale Man]

Very quiet indeed. I hope they post something soon. It would be nice to know what they’re working on.

 

[hoodonit00]

The only thing they’ve admitted to lately was Thranduil. Somebody asked in the thread with the new female warrior if they were still doing LOTR. Asmus confirmed Thranduil but that was it.

I’ve defended them till I’m blue in the face but they did a lot of this to themselves. The sculpt on their second Aragorn was horrible. I would not even have an order with In Art if Asmus would have given us sculpts that looked more like Aragorn. GTW was wonderful as we all Know. In a way though all it did was show that they can sculpt if they want to. They phoned it in on Boromir. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were done with LOTR. I wouldn’t be counting on Haldir. They’ve already said they think it wouldn’t be that big of a seller.

 

[Sixth Scale Man]

…..time for Mars Toys to step in?

 

[FlyAndFight]

Shame that they haven't (or won't) tackle a 1/6 scaled Lurtz. Uruks and more Orcs/Goblins would have been most welcomed.

 

[Raiders March]

The only thing they’ve admitted to lately was Thranduil. Somebody asked in the thread with the new female warrior if they were still doing LOTR. Asmus confirmed Thranduil but that was it.

I’ve defended them till I’m blue in the face but they did a lot of this to themselves. The sculpt on their second Aragorn was horrible. I would not even have an order with In Art if Asmus would have given us sculpts that looked more like Aragorn. GTW was wonderful as we all Know. In a way though all it did was show that they can sculpt if they want to. They phoned it in on Boromir. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were done with LOTR. I wouldn’t be counting on Haldir. They’ve already said they think it wouldn’t be that big of a seller.

Sad for Random Hero, that’s a kick in the guts if it’s going in that direction

 

[hoodonit00]

Sad for Random Hero, that’s a kick in the guts if it’s going in that direction

I have no way of knowing if anything I posted is true. Just speculation. I do know Asmus did post that they didn’t think Haldir would be a big seller.

 

[RandomHero]

Sad for Random Hero, that’s a kick in the guts if it’s going in that direction

Don't be, I'm sure FlyAndFight will come kick me in the balls when it happens and I'll be in too much pain to think about it.

 

[RandomHero]

I have no way of knowing if anything I posted is true. Just speculation. I do know Asmus did post that they didn’t think Haldir would be a big seller.

Well yeah, after Boromir I'm struggling to believe anything they make will be a big seller. They need to stop cutting corners and having QC issues. I thought Gandalf the White and Bilbo were a turning point for the company and all I can hope is that they've paused to re-evaluate their strategies because they're starting to fall other companies with the quality that's coming out now.

 

[DioramaMaker]

I wonder if Asmus just is at the point they're going to cut their losses with the license.

I can't imagine that the overlap between LOTR x 1/6 audiences is that big. And now that small slice is being eaten into by InArt. The die-hard fans in Asia tend to go all out, so it'd make sense they're going to jump on the InArt stuff, so that eats into their cut even further. Otherwise Asmus runs were like what, ~1k units globally? That's not a lot. Sorry, but outside your main cast I just don't see Thranduril or Lurtz doing those numbers.

Obviously InArt isn't going to do anything but A tier characters, but there's an argument to be made that most of the audience will be satisfied with less figures of outstanding quality as opposed to a complete collection of okay quality.

If they were wise, they'd take the path I once proposed for Sideshow could have with Star Wars. Fill out the background at affordable prices with Orcs, Troops, and more. Asmus is good at those. Pick things that have a lot of reuse, do low runs, and just go off preorder numbers plus some. 500 Lurtz figures. Reuse tooling for Uruks. There's probably 4 or 5 moria goblins they could do. Gondorian soldiers. Easterlings.

If you can't compete with them, work with them. Sideshow had a chance to do this and let it go.

 

[FlyAndFight]

Don't be, I'm sure FlyAndFight will come kick me in the balls when it happens and I'll be in too much pain to think about it.

 

[ObiGlennKenobi]

Asmus confirmed to me on Insta that Thranduil is next.

 

[RandomHero]

Asmus confirmed to me on Insta that Thranduil is next.

Hasn't Thranduil been next since the end of last year though?

 

[Nagoya]

/rant

As far as LotR goes, Asmus honestly has nothing to offer anymore. They’ve “succeeded” at making the rounds of all the relevant characters already (thank god they didn’t break the streak with that lame Haldir bloke ) and each new figure they’ve reissue has its own glaring new problems, save for maybe GtW.

They have continually shot themselves in the foot from a consumer’s standpoint; doubling down on horrid preview : preorder windows and then offering zero means of recourse/upgrade opportunities for those who missed out on the initial releases (new rooted GtW/Boromir headsculpts, sculpted GtG hat, etc.). It just shows that they’re buckling down on already shoddy practises. IMO, they have shown no intent (rather, an intentional disregard) for catering not just to their diehard fans seeking peak quality and improvements, but also to any casual collectors who just want a nice looking figure.

DioramaMaker basically summarised it best:

there's an argument to be made that most of the audience will be satisfied with less figures of outstanding quality as opposed to a complete collection of okay quality.

Completely agree, and since Asmus’s wider variety of characters is actually the exception to the norm in this hobby, it just does that much more damage to them when they’ve considerably failed on their last few years of releases to provide an outstanding figure of the main cast (again, save for maybe the new GtW and possibly their Gimli). Asmus’s single strength may be their comparable affordability versus HT and IA, but at this point I honestly believe that third party offerings at half the price could make a mockery of everything Asmus makes.

If they were wise, they'd take the path I once proposed for Sideshow could have with Star Wars. Fill out the background at affordable prices with Orcs, Troops, and more. Asmus is good at those.

Sadly this forum doesn’t support large enough font sizes to accurately visualise just how enormous that “If” really is. This company has turned downright miserable and should save what little face they have left by perhaps committing themselves more to their products from their smaller licenses.

 

[batsheva]

/rant

As far as LotR goes, Asmus honestly has nothing to offer anymore. They’ve “succeeded” at making the rounds of all the relevant characters already (thank god they didn’t break the streak with that lame Haldir bloke ) and each new figure they’ve reissue has its own glaring new problems, save for maybe GtW.

They have continually shot themselves in the foot from a consumer’s standpoint; doubling down on horrid preview : preorder windows and then offering zero means of recourse/upgrade opportunities for those who missed out on the initial releases (new rooted GtW/Boromir headsculpts, sculpted GtG hat, etc.). It just shows that they’re buckling down on already shoddy practises. IMO, they have shown no intent (rather, an intentional disregard) for catering not just to their diehard fans seeking peak quality and improvements, but also to any casual collectors who just want a nice looking figure.

DioramaMaker basically summarised it best:

Completely agree, and since Asmus’s wider variety of characters is actually the exception to the norm in this hobby, it just does that much more damage to them when they’ve considerably failed on their last few years of releases to provide an outstanding figure of the main cast (again, save for maybe the new GtW and possibly their Gimli). Asmus’s single strength may be their comparable affordability versus HT and IA, but at this point I honestly believe that third party offerings at half the price could make a mockery of everything Asmus makes.

Sadly this forum doesn’t support large enough font sizes to accurately visualise just how enormous that “If” really is. This company has turned downright miserable and should save what little face they have left by perhaps committing themselves more to their products from their smaller licenses.

Very good post.
Especially on the shoddy practices, and cutting corners.

Now with InArt on board, I hope there will be a solid 3rd party company (like Mars Toys) that will make the characters outside the main casts.. We need Uruk-Hai, goblins, orcs!!

The latest release (non LOTR) from asmus, if that is the actual product, assuming no QC issues, looks pretty solid though.

 

[Sixth Scale Man]

Some very interesting points being shared here. I guess we will never know the true machinations behind the scenes but I’m kinda sad they have dropped off in recent times. Their inconsistencies make it hard to fully get behind them, but when they do release a great figure like GTW it gets my hopes up that they have turned a corner.
Cant do much but sit and wait things out I suppose. Here’s hoping they get to a Saruman soonish (if at all).