Why do Hot Toys have so many ____ty licenses?

[EVILFACE]

Licenses for some older films are hard to get.

Then you have Enterbay with no great licenses.

And then you have Triad who rips off characters and doesn't poney up licensing fees.

 

[Darklord Dave]

Where is the evidence for this? I'd like to hear it/read it.

I think the truth is that they dropped the ball by taking too long in releases, and didn't strike fast enough while the iron was hot and the hype was high. It's all about the fad. What's hot now won't be hot later. I see evidence of that on the boards all the time.

That's one thing I don't miss - being out of the collecting game for the time being - the frustration over the lack of line completion, or even just getting a decent selection of characters. It was getting old.

I can't say - but it's not pure speculation. There is plenty of evidence that Watchmen has no impact or popularity in Asia, either as a comic or a film.

 

[Boba Ben]

they should get the WWF license and make the Ultimate Warrior as a figure. just him and no one else.

Craw, what about Macho Man Randy Savage? He's my wrasslin' hero.

 

[LordAzrael]

One thing you need to keep in mind is that there is a lot of lag time between development and release - meaning that licences and figures are selected way in advance of knowing how successful the movie would be.

Maybe 12 months before it was released the Spirit looked like a great choice - I mean Frank Miller - what could go wrong ?

Same thing with Watchmen - before the movie it was hype hype hype and you'd think the line could run deep - after it came out it never really achieved mainstream appeal. SS was probably chosen as it required the least R&D to do. The Comedian was probably started at much the same time but due to the additonal work was the second declared figure. By the time the Comedian came out it was clear the movie hadn't done as well as anticipated and the line ceased.

Terminator Salvation at least achieved pretty good worldwide notice, it did substantially better outside the US than it did domestically.

 

[EVILFACE]

I can't say - but it's not pure speculation. There is plenty of evidence that Watchmen has no impact or popularity in Asia, either as a comic or a film.

While I enjoyed the movie, I would have to say Watchmen was a failure all around. Movie and merchandise.

 

[Lee in MI]

I actually like the diversity of HT's licenses.

I find myself asking why SSC's 1/6th library of licenses seems so sparse lately

 

[ProgMatinee]

You don't think if HT was doing SW, (the $ cow) they'd be pumping out Figs left and right like DK and IM but 5x more?


(Since they've stated it's one line they'd love to do)
I don't think they're that dumb.

Its a double edged sword. HT makes really expensive items, so fans want key characters because of that, so HT jumps from license to license after 3 or 4 fgures.

The licenses they've sustained beyond that is simply rehashing the top 1 or 2 characters from the film. Joker over and over for example. Their IM line started out that way but is looking much better in that regard, I must say.

So anyway, would HT make a deep SW line? Well, would people pay $130 for minor characters like Lando, Imperial Officers or a Greedo?

 

[LordAzrael]

And then you have Triad who rips off characters and doesn't poney up licensing fees.

May have been the case long ago but not now. They have a number of officially licenced lines now (Dexter, House MD, Dark Horse, Tekken, Lone Wolf & Cub, Samurai Champloo etc).

If you going to bag Triad for that then you have to put Hot Toys in the same boat. I have their unlicenced Neo from The Matrix to prove it.

 

[Something Sexy]

they should get the WWF license and make the Ultimate Warrior as a figure. just him and no one else.

It is spreading like the plague.

 

[TheObsoleteMan]

I actually like the diversity of HT's licenses.

I find myself asking why SSC's 1/6th library of licenses seems so sparse lately

If it ain't GI Joe or Star Wars, I don't think we'll see any more 1/6 from Sideshow. They seem more than happy to leave that to HT while they stick with their bread and butter statues.

 

[Josette]

Watchmen was never going to have mainstream appeal - I knew that before the movie was even released. For an R rated, twisted Superhero film, it did good. They shouldn't have expected Dark Knight popularity out of it - that was never going to happen. Now, if they'd changed it and made the whole movie about Rorschach, that may have been a different story.

On the topic of HT's crappy licenses - those can sometimes be subjective. Personally, their licenses have no appeal for me. Same thing with Sideshow's licenses.

It's been really easy for me to get out of the hobby.

 

[ProgMatinee]

I think SSC realizes in their business model that unlike HT they do not succeed on short term licenses.

SW and GI Joe can last 10 more years if they want it to.

I guess they even thought Indy wasn't worth it to them long term anymore and just decided to cut it off sooner than later.

 

[D. Martin]

they should get the WWF license and make the Ultimate Warrior as a figure. just him and no one else.

What the heck is he doing in your avatar? I'm disturbed that I can't see his hands while he's making that face.

 

[D. Martin]

I guess they even thought Indy wasn't worth it to them long term anymore and just decided to cut it off sooner than later.

Historically, Indiana Jones has never been a success on the toy shelves.

 

[karamazov80]

I think Darklord is right in that the newer, sometimes crappier movies get more attention because the studios want to publicize them, so the licenses are cheaper/easier to obtain. So, there are relatively low costs involved, and potentially high rewards because they choose those available licenses that they think will be attractive to geek audiences while they are in the public consciousness.

As for their older licenses, same thing. Some are probably more expensive (Predator/T2/Aliens), but they can guarantee people will buy enough to make it worth their while. Others are probably cheap, but have a potential audience large enough to make it worth their while to pursue (Mars Attacks comes to mind).

Long and short of it--they pick licenses and characters that they think will bring them profits--factor in cost of license, likeness rights, development costs, demand, etc. Some of those might "suck" to many of us, many won't.

As for wrestlers, we need Macho Man, Bret Hart, and Ric Flair before anyone else.

 

[Boba Ben]

What the heck is he doing in your avatar? I'm disturbed that I can't see his hands while he's making that face.

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[Darklord Dave]

I think Darklord is right in that the newer, sometimes crappier movies get more attention because the studios want to publicize them, so the licenses are cheaper/easier to obtain. So, there are relatively low costs involved, and potentially high rewards because they choose those available licenses that they think will be attractive to geek audiences while they are in the public consciousness.

As for their older licenses, same thing. Some are probably more expensive (Predator/T2/Aliens), but they can guarantee people will buy enough to make it worth their while. Others are probably cheap, but have a potential audience large enough to make it worth their while to pursue (Mars Attacks comes to mind).

Long and short of it--they pick licenses and characters that they think will bring them profits--factor in cost of license, likeness rights, development costs, demand, etc. Some of those might "suck" to many of us, many won't.

As for wrestlers, we need Macho Man, Bret Hart, and Ric Flair before anyone else.

Also there is the passion they might have for a property. As was in the recent Q&A, SSC doesn't have a Dr. Who cheerleader on staff - so they aren't likely to go after that property. Howard probably really likes Planet of the Apes and Mars Attacks - otherwise neither license really makes much sense from a strictly money perspective.

 

[Lee in MI]

If it ain't GI Joe or Star Wars, I don't think we'll see any more 1/6 from Sideshow. They seem more than happy to leave that to HT while they stick with their bread and butter statues.

Funny, I asked if they were moving toward only doing statues for their other properties not pertaining to SW, GIJ or Indiana Jones...they never answered it

 

[thenammagazine]

Funny, I asked if they were moving toward only doing statues for their other properties not pertaining to SW, GIJ or Indiana Jones...they never answered it

They don't need to. Just look at the history of all their "on hold" or cancelled 1:6 lines for your answer.

 

[rabid_wolf]

they should get the WWF license and make the Ultimate Warrior as a figure. just him and no one else.

They need to do the hitman and the anvil as well