Should Hot Toys be making figures without the actor likeness rights?

[Cocoboloboy]

ok, how about $41?

actually, i don't care how much work goes into the figure. at all. i just want it to look good on my shelf.
scratch that-- i want it to look damn near perfect on my shelf. and i'll pay through the nose for it if needed.

i see my $$ as a vote. and for the best Edward figure so far, McFarlane gets my vote.
Hot Toys and their costume work can go to hell if they think i'd pay them for an inaccurate figure.

Don't hold back. Tell us how you really feel.

 

[King Darkness]

Don't hold back. Tell us how you really feel.

I love when someone comes off as personally offended by the actions of a toy company.

 

[Wanderer]

ok, how about $41?

actually, i don't care how much work goes into the figure. at all. i just want it to look good on my shelf.
scratch that-- i want it to look damn near perfect on my shelf. and i'll pay through the nose for it if needed.

i see my $$ as a vote. and for the best Edward figure so far, McFarlane gets my vote.
Hot Toys and their costume work can go to hell if they think i'd pay them for an inaccurate figure.

Dear oh dear...think you need to take a step back and chillax there man Seriously if you're THAT upset about this subject then maybe you should consider another hobby
I think that the Kane situation was laughable and a big black mark against HT's record. If we get sculpts like that again, i think they shouldn't release the figure PERIOD. However if we get sculpts that are slightly off (and for legal purposes) then that brown matter is unavoidable and understandable.

 

[The Monster]

Hot Toys, I want a Hot Toys 1:6 Scale Figure of Vincent Price as The Inventor! PLEASE!

 

[Cocoboloboy]

I love when someone comes off as personally offended by the actions of a toy company.

And just how do you know Hot Toys didn't email him a bunch of yo momma jokes recently? Hmmmm?

 

[Captain Britain]

ok, how about $41?

actually, i don't care how much work goes into the figure. at all. i just want it to look good on my shelf.
scratch that-- i want it to look damn near perfect on my shelf. and i'll pay through the nose for it if needed.

i see my $$ as a vote. and for the best Edward figure so far, McFarlane gets my vote.
Hot Toys and their costume work can go to hell if they think i'd pay them for an inaccurate figure.

Dear oh dear...think you need to take a step back and chillax there man Seriously if you're THAT upset about this subject then maybe you should consider another hobby
I think that the Kane situation was laughable and a big black mark against HT's record. If we get sculpts like that again, i think they shouldn't release the figure PERIOD. However if we get sculpts that are slightly off (and for legal purposes) then that poopy poop is unavoidable and understandable.

 

[prefused]

I love when someone comes off as personally offended by the actions of a toy company.

if you can show everybody where i said i was "offended" by anything, i'll promise not to call you out on that.

all i said was i won't buy their figure.
________
YZF-R1

 

[Cocoboloboy]

I agree with you that it's a good idea to be relaxed about collecting...or at least to try and be! (yeah right!)

But when you talk about sculpts being slightly off for legal purposes being understandable, I can't really agree. 'Slightly off' to me isn't something that should be encouraged, just tolerated on rare occasions.

I'm feeling more and more like we should be giving HT a light rap on the knuckles for going down this route. It would be real easy for them to just start doing it all the time to save money, and in the long term that would make me less interested in Hot Toys.

Good point CB but from a business stand point I'm sure HT knows that they'd be shooting themselves in the foot if they chose to do that to save themselves some money.

Besides, they've shown themselves to be nothing but improving over the years. It wouldn't make sense based on their track record for them to willingly choose not to get a sculpt right unless it was beyond their control. To me it's a case of doing the best they can to please the customer within the limitations.

 

[Wanderer]

You guys are right of course. I would add though, that we're not forced to buy a company's crap. If we're not being heard by them and they continue to peddle out sub par sculpts then DONT BUY!...Its hard but right

My money is hard earned (I'm a pimp) I'm at a stage where i wont spend unless the piece fits in my collection and is true to the spirit of the source material. For me Edward is that piece. Kane wasnt

 

[creecher]

I think you all suck. Especially you King, with your "don't like it don't buy it' duh attitude. You know that's one of my pet peeves. https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43320 You said that on purpose didn't you. Bast

I remember well the days when if Sideshow stuffed up on a sculpt there was hell to pay. I also think you all are a bunch of lolly boys for licking on Hot Toys stick. Ed isn't some 'Oh my god' phenomenon. Medicom did it and cheaper. Do I hear 'Oh the sculpt is off, but I can see Depp in there'. Listening. 'sniff' Nope, can't hear a thing. And we are still waiting on a scissorhands likeness. Look at de hands, de hands. Well McFarlane did it for $40, with battery operated arm and moving blades.

Don't know why your coming down on prefused either. This is a discussion forum. It's called coming from a different point of view, hopefully but I doubt it, to come to a better understanding.

Now back to gherkin in a circlin.

 

[a-dev]

I think every Aliens figure was off. Ripley changed dramatically in paint from proto. Hudson, Vasquez, Apone look nothing like the actors. Hicks is there somewhat and Drake came with a mustache and sideburns

So did they give Edward Scissorhands a moustache? That great 'disguise' Hot toys are so fond of. Only joking, I'll go look in the thread. I just wish they wouldn't keep giving people facial hair when they aren't allowed use an actors real likeness. There are other ways to make it not look like the actor.

 

[Kuzeh]

It depends om the character I guess...
On the Marines, we got those awesome custom sculpts for hicks and Apone
but it's somewhat dissapointing, but still, you can work around it.
With Edward S. there's now way around it, it looks terrible IMO,
maybe a Jack Sparrow head can be customized...

 

[Peteskywalker]

What I don't get is HT had the Depp likeness rights for Pirates, they now have the Edward Scissorhands film rights.....soooooo??? :shrugs

Can someone explain what happened with Edward?

i read about this is the HT Drake Forum, Basicly back in the old days when a actor plays a character the company did not get the rights to the actors likeness now days they get it. This is why its always the older figures that have likeness issues
So i think its not that hot toys are cheaping out it costs them more to get it.

Tbh any figure that hot toys puts out is 100 times better than most of the crap that medicom puts out, two words OLD SNAKE.

 

[aussieinnyc]

I think the short answer is no. I can understand all the economic reasons behind not doing it (essentially paying twice - once for the character license, and then again for the actor likeness) but if a character is iconic enough to warrant being represented in 1/6 form then a major part of it is the actor who played him/her, and I would want to see it as close to perfect as possible. With that said, for characters that are more costume or creature-oriented, I think I would be more likely to tolerate an off-likeness, especially if the rest of the figure was very accurate, and that there wasn't a foreseeable chance of seeing an accurate head sculpt in the future.

 

[EVILFACE]

Depends on the figure, but close enough is all I need.

 

[EVILFACE]

If you are so upset by it then dont buy the figure. Seems a simple choice.

Pretty much true wtih any piece.

I'd take a figure with a kick ass well done outfit and accessories with a soft likeness over no figure any day.

 

[King Darkness]

I'd take a figure with a kick ass well done outfit and accessories with a soft likeness over no figure any day.

 

[creecher]

I think Hot Toys is a great company for pushing the boundaries of the 1/6th scale figure. They have a great base body. When they get a sculpt right it's phenomenal. Their quality control over mass produced paint apps is unrivaled. They do great outfits for their figures. It looks like they actively seek to outperform their last issued figure, and they aren't afraid to attempt items others baulk at.

Even so we shouldn't settle for mediocre when we know they can do better, and it shouldn't be us that shouldn't settle for it. It should be Hot Toys. To shine they really shouldn't be doing recognised pop culture figures they have no license for. Many times, it seems they take on a project before acquiring all the necessary rights. I find it strange that they choose to get these rights as an afterthought. It's like they do things on the run. I think they are good enough, and deserve more respect for their achievements, from these licensor's. Lucky it's not me running the company or I'd stipulate that any contract be nullified if there wasn't full co-operation from the studio, in supplying reference material, and the likeness rights from the applicable actor in advance. Their reputation should be enough for licensor's to accept a few of these small conditions.

It doesn't matter if you buy them or not. They always sell out, and most times, in advance of their release date. So what would it take for Hot Toys to take another step up the ladder and punch out consistently great figures? None. They are pretty much doing it now, but what would it take for them to release consistently better figures? Just a bit more effort in securing rights before securing contracts. The end result will stand them in a much better light, and reward them many times over. It's definitely an area they need to improve upon. Oh, and they need to get rid of the twisty ties. How hard is it to have that stopped?

 

[King Darkness]

Shut your stinky hole Creech!

How do you know they are "settling"? If a likeness is simply unattainable, why not do the best they can for fans who would accept the closest possible rather than nothing at all?

Quit your damn b^tching you old fart!

 

[EVILFACE]

Even so we shouldn't settle for mediocre when we know they can do better, and it shouldn't be us that shouldn't settle for it.

So what was Hot Toys supposed to do when John Hurt said no to his Kane likeness?

Cancel the figure?

Sideshows Bespin Luke doesn't look a thing like Mark Hamill, yet they have the actors likeness rights. But the figure is still in my collection and one of my favorite of the SW line.