Not knowing how much money it takes nowadays to produce metal helms compared to 6 years ago, I wonder why Weta perceives the economy to be so bad that they decided that it was simply not an option to bring the helm line again in original metal materials.
The furor for LOTR items may not be the same that it was years ago, but 500 helms sold like hot bread for them. My poll at the other forum so far indicates that 50% of collectors are willing to spend just a little more to get a helm made out of metal, but not more than $25 extra or $75 per metal helm. 25% of collectors are simply not willing to pay more for a metal helm having to settle for the new polyurethane material.
Wonder if the problem is that Weta can no longer trade with the same company that did metal helms replicas for them in the past, or if it is the economy within NZ what is not right? Or is there a new CEO at Weta? After all Sideshow/Weta were able to make nice profits with only a $30 price tag for metal helms just 6 years ago.
Honestly I could not resist paying up to $100 per helm if the material is metal again, and my fear is that no matter how good it may look from the distance, there is going to be large disappointment when collectors finally lift the new helm and compare it's quality with the old products mostly missing its metal weight.
