Matt. All credit to you for coming into the lion's den and answering questions. We appreciate it.
I would just like to understand why Sideshow are doing "your interpretation" of these classic, iconic characters instead of basing them on existing material. You did your interpretation with G.I. Joe, now DC and soon with Marvel. I know i speak for a lot of collectors when i say as lifelong fans of these characters, we don't want the Sideshow designers interpretation of that character, we want that character as he was taken from the page of comicbook and made into a sixth scale figure. Same as you do with Star Wars for example.
Take the upcoming Wolverine for example. I just can't understand why you changed the design? Why not be more faithful to the source material? Why not base them from definitive versions of these characters. For Batman that might be Neal Adams. For Spidey it might be McFarlane. For the X-Men it might be Jim Lee. I wanted this
but we'll be getting this
okay - fair question and let me try my best to answer -
Star Wars are representative of a film, where the characters are replicated from specific scenes or iconic looks. Our goal with that is our best attempt to replicate the film. We did do a line of Star Wars Mythos statues which were our spin on classic characters but not is sixth scale.
For Marvel and DC - there are so many artists that have handled and contributed to the looks and stories of these characters - it can be tricky defining which artist version appeals to the most people. if we choose one loo over the other, than we are ultimately going to upset someone who may prefer another version. I have been in a lot of meetings where different versions of the same character are pulled up for reference and inspiration when coming up with our designs. While I may be more of a fan of the character designs from the 80's, another person on the team may prefer more of the current incarnations so in our meeting, we spend alot of time trying to assemble designs that incorporate favorite elements from many artists versions.
Its always risky going this route. I think you can go back a few pages in this very thread and see the risks we take going this route. For Marvel - the line is just getting started and the development takes so long and costs so much that it is also just as big of a gamble if we pick a specific version and it does not resonate with enough people to in the end, to justify that decision. For this line just getting started - having our own version, allows us to contribute to the Marvel universe with our own design. Some may like, but like any other figure, some won't. Any route you go carries a risk but I would rather fall on my own sword than someone else's.
Personally, and this is just my honest opinion - the first three Marvel character, to me, seem like the stay pretty true, in general to the characters we have selected. They are not specific representations of any specific artist, but I think they stay pretty close.
Maybe once we are able to finally get Wolverine, Deadpool, Lantern and others into people hands, if the people like the figures and we think it's a good business decision maybe we would do a specific artist version. I have found after 6+ years at Sideshow that almost anything can be possible so I wouldn't rule it out. We just have to wait and see how things pan out.
I hope somewhere in that you can maybe see where the intent comes form, even if you aren't feeling the end design.
