1/6 Star wars 1/6 SDCC 2019 Speculation

[slikkerias]

Another weird warning sign was Sideshow's sudden crackdown on this site over custom projects. Dave had seemed to have a pretty close relationship or at least rapport with them, but it was clear it got bad enough for him to split with Sideshow after many years. Not sure if all this signals bigger troubles at the company than just the SW license.

As an American production company it must be a huge blow loosing the SW license. Wonder if it’s at all profitable in that business being paced outside of Asia where you have no direct control with the production line.

 

[Hoody999]

Another weird warning sign was Sideshow's sudden crackdown on this site over custom projects. Dave had seemed to have a pretty close relationship or at least rapport with them, but it was clear it got bad enough for him to split with Sideshow after many years. Not sure if all this signals bigger troubles at the company than just the SW license.

Perhaps when money/margins are tight or sales are down, pressure gets put on people within a company, they get angry/stressed and stuff like this happens ?

Was a bit of a knee jerk reaction imo.

 

[TaliBane]

This ^
SSC was producing figures with limited editions of 2000. That wasn’t to please collectors, it was because they didn’t sell more anyway. Many of the limited releases took a long time to sell out.
It’s not that SSC were too dumb to take the alien route, it’s because it just wasn’t cost effective. And the same is gonna be the case with HT I’m afraid. We might get a few narrow releases just to please the hardcore collectors, but that’s not where HT is gonna make their money.

What was cool is SSC always seemed to be as interested in the second and third tier characters as they were with key heroes/villains, even from the start. While HT has done a few surprises recently (power droids, Jawas were a good sign,) they seem more exclusively focused on heroes/villains and armored, with the occasional fun foray like K-2SO.

SSC seemed to make good enough money to have a Bib Fortuna edition size of well over 5000 - and while he was produced to go with the old Jabba, he's a somewhat niche second tier character. Even the Rebel Commandos were up around 5,000. Numbers definitely dropped in the years later to more like 2500, but between Gamorrean and Gartogg, Sideshow made something like 5-6000 Gamorreans.

But as production prices rose, maybe those types of choices became less sustainable, especialy in an increasingly crowded higher-end SW collectibles market. A lot changed from the heyday of 2007-2010 to today. Tons more choices, meanwhile China production costs went way up.

Perhaps when money/margins are tight or sales are down, pressure gets put on people within a company, they get angry/stressed and stuff like this happens ?

Was a bit of a knee jerk reaction imo.

Yeah, it showed anger that they were paying for the right to produce these characters and here were people producing them without paying. The simplest takeaway should have been obvious: produce better quality stuff than a customizer can produce, and hopefully with mass production, make it cheaper per figure. Sideshow was increasingly unable to do either.

3D design/print, plus quite a few professionals being involved with custom projects didn't help.

 

[Hoody999]

Yeah who knows how the relationship between SS and HT has developed (or deteriorated) over the years. At first glance you would assume SS would have the box seat to leverage HT location and resources to help with developing figures and niche background aliens. Perhaps they even did for the aliens SS did do ??

Perhaps as HT grew, SS became more and more the resource draining partner you don't want to have (other than for distribution) but not for development.

It's all speculation, but stuff like this happens as companies grow and the business environment changes.

It is really a shame though. As much as I criticise SS as much as the rest of us, they were perhaps the best bet for secondary SW aliens. That said, if the license is gone perhaps it means some other up and coming Chinese based company can take it and run with it ? Assuming SW becomes more attractive than it currently is.

If the Mandalorian and Cassian are hits and run into multiple seasons perhaps this could be great timing for a new licensee ??

 

[slikkerias]

Yeah who knows how the relationship between SS and HT has developed (or deteriorated) over the years. At first glance you would assume SS would have the box seat to leverage HT location and resources to help with developing figures and niche background aliens. Perhaps they even did for the aliens SS did do ??

Perhaps as HT grew, SS became more and more the resource draining partner you don't want to have (other than for distribution) but not for development.

It's all speculation, but stuff like this happens as companies grow and the business environment changes.

It is really a shame though. As much as I criticise SS as much as the rest of us, they were perhaps the best bet for secondary SW aliens. That said, if the license is gone perhaps it means some other up and coming Chinese based company can take it and run with it ? Assuming SW becomes more attractive than it currently is.

If the Mandalorian and Cassian are hits and run into multiple seasons perhaps this could be great timing for a new licensee ??

I heard that Disney had two SW licenses, one for America and one for Asia. So if that’s true I don’t think we’ll see any other company than HT produce SW sixth scale in the near future.
But if they’re alone, maybe Disney will demand that they produce less profitable figures as well to keep the core fans satisfied. It’s sort of been tradition for this franchise to go deep - ever since Kenner started the whole thing back in the day.

 

[Hoody999]

I heard that Disney had two SW licenses, one for America and one for Asia. So if that’s true I don’t think we’ll see any other company than HT produce SW sixth scale in the near future.
But if they’re alone, maybe Disney will demand that they produce less profitable figures as well to keep the core fans satisfied. It’s sort of been tradition for this franchise to go deep - ever since Kenner started the whole thing back in the day.

OK didn't know about 2 regional licences. Although I guess it makes some sense.

I'd heard somewhere that Disney doesn't have any input on what older franchise stuff companies make. They only have more input on new stuff which makes sense for marketing of their current film for example.

 

[slikkerias]

OK didn't know about 2 regional licences. Although I guess it makes some sense.

I'd heard somewhere that Disney doesn't have any input on what older franchise stuff companies make. They only have more input on new stuff which makes sense for marketing of their current film for example.

Yes, that does make sense... then I guess we are down to what Howard needs for his own collection [emoji6] ...though he can be happy with his protos.

 

[DarkChocobi]

I heard that Disney had two SW licenses, one for America and one for Asia. So if that’s true I don’t think we’ll see any other company than HT produce SW sixth scale in the near future.
But if they’re alone, maybe Disney will demand that they produce less profitable figures as well to keep the core fans satisfied. It’s sort of been tradition for this franchise to go deep - ever since Kenner started the whole thing back in the day.

I'm entirely obivious to dual 1/6 licenses thing. But when it comes to 1/4 SW statue, Lucasfilm has granted SW rights to - one, XM Studio which its license limited to sell only withthin SEA countries, and another one is SideShow to distribute in North America and Europe.

 

[zadek]

Regarding Star Wars merchandise, it’s entirely up to the licensee (Sideshow, Hot Toys, XM Studio, whatever) to determine where they want to sell their goods.

Pre-Disney, you would pay one license fee, which would allow you to market and distribute your product worldwide.

However, now, in Disney-owned Star Wars times, you have to apply and purchase a separate license for each part of the globe (N America, Asia, Middle East, Europe etc.)

As such, a lot of licensees only purchase distribution licences for America and maybe Europe. It’s just too much of a gamble otherwise.

 

[Hoody999]

Regarding Star Wars merchandise, it’s entirely up to the licensee (Sideshow, Hot Toys, XM Studio, whatever) to determine where they want to sell their goods.

Pre-Disney, you would pay one license fee, which would allow you to market and distribute your product worldwide.

However, now, in Disney-owned Star Wars times, you have to apply and purchase a separate license for each part of the globe (N America, Asia, Middle East, Europe etc.)

As such, a lot of licensees only purchase distribution licences for America and maybe Europe. It’s just too much of a gamble otherwise.

Thanks for the info and congrats on the first post......over 3 years later

 

[KingZacharyV]

Where did that December lapse date come from?

I'm always trying to trace these things back to a reliable source.

I head it from one of their affiliate statue guys. Then talked about it with finance’ who worked for SS at the time and she didn’t deny it.
Every Company handles their own IP differently and i think disneys stuff is based on a global market and isnt region based.
EDIT: It seems like it may be the opposite, which in that case would mean that Hot Toys went around SS and got the license. Which would make sense because Hot Toys will eventually have to create their own distribution if they want to stay competitive.


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[KingZacharyV]

In my opinion, in the end it always comes down to money.

We all know SS make the decision to earn money on their shipping. So whether it is simply greed, or that their profit margins are low on 1/6 figures it points to the fact that they just aren't cost effective enough. Perhaps they also can't afford to pay good painters for the head sculpts. Wages in China have also gone up over the last 5+ years. So you need to be on top of costs and have volume (ala Hot Toys and them sticking to the main characters generally) to get ahead in this game.

Disney no doubt takes their percentage with the SW license too of course.

So this would be my guess on the situation. Being in the US does not help them be able to keep on top of costs either.

This reads a bit like something in SS defence, but in the end some things may not be totally in their control. However business is business and if you can't make a profit then it's "close the doors".

With all that said, if I were SS I would still have tried the alien route though. Paint apps are also more forgiving on those as well.

They have a distribution agreement with Hot Toys that i have never seen in any industry.
I think this is what keeps them in business.
But like you said, no matter how much money you make, If you do stupid things with the money.. It will eventually lead to a certain fate.


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[Hoody999]

Well guys, if this is true and Howard truly does love Star Wars enough to have a huge Hasbro collection, he surely must also have a place in his heart for the Star Wars aliens......

however no doubt we'll see a 1/6 prototype made which ends up in his huge Hot Toys collection, and not into production for us.

Hot Toys you've made me into a cynic !

 

[TonTon]

Well guys, if this is true and Howard truly does love Star Wars enough to have a huge Hasbro collection, he surely must also have a place in his heart for the Star Wars aliens......

however no doubt we'll see a 1/6 prototype made which ends up in his huge Hot Toys collection, and not into production for us.

Hot Toys you've made me into a cynic !

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Wonder if they mean old 1/6 Hasbro or maybe even vintage 3 3/4 Kenner.

 

[KingZacharyV]

Hot toys also has the 1/10 scale soft goods licenses for star wars that they have been sitting on


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[KingZacharyV]

I can also confirm Howard is a fan of obnoxiously unnecessary Bling.


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[Wor-Gar]

Hot Toys went around SS and got the license. Which would make sense because Hot Toys will eventually have to create their own distribution if they want to stay competitive.

Good for them. That's what SS did to get started.

I guess we know how the story will end for Hot Toys one day in the future too. I wonder if it will be Asmus, ThreeZero or Blitzway... or one we don't know yet?

 

[heon123]

Makes me wonder what might cause HT downfall, if ever. Maybe their tendency to do idealised sculpts? Online streaming?!

 

[KingZacharyV]

Makes me wonder what might cause HT downfall, if ever. Maybe their tendency to do idealised sculpts? Online streaming?!

I don’t think Hot Toys will go anywhere but up. At worst, they might start becoming a little more mainstream.
It’s SSC that i’d watch out for, in terms of downfalls


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[matticus]

It seems like HT is doing well. Big events, huge Marvel standees and long lines for product pre-orders and releases. You think Howard is going to give you everything we want right away?