So why not 12" figures?

With DC Direct marketing these in at least a small way as collectors type figures why not a quality line of 1/6th from Marvel partnered with SSC?
I realise Toy Biz has produced some figures in the last couple of years with film tie-ins for mass market. But I'd like to see a high quality collectors line done right. SSC could make that a reality. Aside from needing to do a new body sculpt I'd say they could get this up and running as quickly as they have the Star Wars line. And with thier gaining the Star Wars license I'd say SSC should have earned the street cred to do any product line. If Medicom can sell 1000 pieces of Wolverine or Spiderman for the Japanese/Asian market, don't you think SSC could sell two or three times (or more) as many high quality figures at a price point roughly half that of the Medicom figures for the world market? I do. I would buy EVERY figure offered, regardless of how popular or obscure the character and my guess is that there are a lot of other fanboys who feel the same way. 12" is absolutely the way to go for Marvel and I hope they can work something out with SSC for a license.

I think you hit it when you said Toybiz, they have the 12 inch figure license at the moment, but I am sure anything is possible noting the Hasbro/SS partnership. The Spiderman Medicom made is very nice....but me, I love d'em statues...

I think they'd need to be able to sell more than just 2-3000 for it to make sense for them. Probably closer to 7-10000, especially if they'd need to make a more muscular body.

But I don't think the body difference is really that needed for most Marvel characters. Sure Thor or Cap would need to be bigger, but not Spidey or Iron man or many others.

Any excuse for a different and improved superhero 1/6 basic body is good enough for me.
It's possible, but I think between the lack luster sales of 1/6, the cheap rotocast 1/6 figures from Toybiz, the slightly more expensive and decent 1/6 figures from Toybiz, and the expensive high quality figures from Medicom, there isn't any room for Sideshow.

DC is right on with there body style, but there line seems to be hit and miss, and like most of there series its end with no obvious reason...

I like that DC's SuperHero body is muscular enough for a comics hero. ToyBiz was lacking in that deprtment. I think Sideshow could do very well in the 1:6 superhero market, but would need to offer a better body than that we have gotten in the past. And its not like that body couldn't be used in other lines as well. HellBoy could be vastly improved with arms that are appropriately sized. Muscular arms, with a little "hair" attached, would work well for POTA's Julius [hint, hint]. And think how good a Sideshow Captain America would look done up by a company that can pay attention to the finer details.

Toybiz's Marvel Legends are flying off the shelves....and let's be perfectly honest,the bulk of these figures look ****ty (like naked mego's with a bad paint wash) I can only imagine that affordable quality 12'' figures of Marvel characters would demolish all records for 12'' figures.

I like the sculpting on the DC 13" figures, it's just that they are 13" tall.
The upper bicep swivel joints and wrist joints could be greatly improved and the calves could be less defined. So in my opinion, we have yet to see a prefect 1/6 scale superhero body.

Well, I think they would need to do a new body as I mentioned in the initial post. The proportions of the standard SSC male figures aren't very heroic. But I think producing this item when you consider it would be for a line of products, not simply one or two figures would make this economically feasible. And if they were able to use this more muscular figure for other products like Hellboy it would be an added bonus for the fans and SSC.

It's possible Dave is right about the need to produce in what for 1/6th these days is big numbers, 7,000 to 10,000 pieces. He's spent a lot more time with SSC folks than I have and understands there thinking on this. But I'm not really certain that you'd have to produce this large a number to be profitable. I'm reasonably certain you wouldn't. The price point will establish profitability along with the sales quantity. This is a balanced eqaution with any item you sell.
These figures for the most part require very limited accessories, mostly fabric clothing items. Things like gloved hands and boots that may involve greater expense in creating are items that can be used on several different figures generally. There is no appreciable cost advantage to making ten thousand leotards or capes or belts as apposed to three thousand. Sadly these are labor intensive items that do not get much lower in cost once you've gone beyond a certain production point.

And I believe these figures would justify a somewhat higher MSRP than a line like PotA or Bond. And I also believe they would sell in the US at least in greater quantity than those other lines have. As an example, I think you could produce numbers of a figure like Captain America that would make Hasbro and Mattel and other mass market toy producers envious. Look at the desire for this figure on 1/6th WWII and general military boards.
Likely the same is true for many of the popular figures in the MU with comics fans. Iron Man, Thor, Wolverine, most anyone who's ever been an Avenger and had there own book. And I believe even comparatively obscure characters would sell in that two to three thousand range based on action figure collectors buying habits and fanboy completists. Sales would not be a problem if the proper product is delivered.

I can't help but feel this is an entirely viable line to persue excepting one obstacle that was previously mentioned. Toy Biz. Largely providers of crap (although I do like the Marvel Legends) with delusions of grandeur. There 1/6th has been mostly mass market junk and you'd have to be able to convince Mr. Arid and the boys that a quality product marketed to comic and other adult collectors was a worthwhile proposition. I hope someone try's to sell him on this.

The seeming success of the Medicom figures would imply that there is a market for high-quality 12" figures. But Toybiz doesn't have that mentality - who knows how many of the Marvel Studios figures get made, but it's probably significantly more than 10,000.

But it seems that Toybiz has allowed every monkey and their brother to make statues, so I can't see why they can't cut off a piece of the 12 inch license for SSC.

"But it seems that Toybiz has allowed every monkey and thier brother to make statues..."
Yeah, It's hard for me to figure also, Dave. It seems like the quality goes from really excellent like the SSC stuff and Bowen designs to pretty frikkin' awful, too. And the price seems to have nothing at all to do with the quality of the sculpting or even the production pieces. Weird.
I just wish they would bust off a piece of the 1/6th license for a high end comic line from SSC or another competent partner. It wouldn't affect Toy Biz's crap movie tie in stuff for Wallmart etc. at all.

I would be very tempted, ahh hell I would buy 12" Marvels if Sideshow made them.. Sideshow marvel would result in me venturing into the world of doll collecting...

13' figs

I like the sculpting on the DC 13" figures, it's just that they are 13" tall.

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For Superman 13" works great for me as it works out to 6'5" in 1/6th scale.

Unfortunately for the DC line, the body they're using is ONLY appropriate for Superman and maybe a Bisley Batman. Green Lantern looks way too buff using it, although it's better for him than Batman Begins. I'll buy all the DC figs, but Lantern and especially Flash will really look out of place.

Darklord Dave said:

Unfortunately for the DC line, the body they're using is ONLY appropriate for Superman and maybe a Bisley Batman. Green Lantern looks way too buff using it, although it's better for him than Batman Begins. I'll buy all the DC figs, but Lantern and especially Flash will really look out of place.

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I agree Dave. I saw GL at WWC and although the figure looked great overall the body is just way too muscular for Hal. Captain Marvel or Lobo would be OK with the muscular body but I can't think of anybody else.

Your points are well thought out and communicated Chamildav. These would be figures we haven't seen the likes of since Captain Action. Just to repeat Bodie's point, these are what got me into doll collecting. Captain Action costumes are still excellent by todays standards. 12inch figures in tights rock. Actors need a particular body, or makeup, to get away with the differences the screen can make to the final impression. So I think a line of superheroes, by Sideshow, would solve the dwindling 1/6 scale figure market and inject new interest in their other figures and products.

I think Star Wars will be a good and bad experience for Sideshow. They really hit the ceiling with that licence. Maybe they are using Hasbro warehouses for storage. That may be one of the perks of partnership. Sideshow appear to be having problems with their storage, just like we do. Too much, too many, but you can't stop. This is where Sideshow need to be wary to strike that moving balance, of being able to sell off a product quicker, and what to do with the product remaining on the shelves. The popularity of superheroes will be a statistical and logistics nightmare. Just thinking about it makes me feel sorry for some of the things I post. So I'm not going to think about it.

About the bodies. If they could somehow create different body parts that could be swapped over easily, that would lend itself to future developments. Then an assortment of body styles could be assembled to meet the requirements of the figure. Some of that exists now, but, to me, the current system doesn't seem flexible or responsive enough yet. It's alot of trouble to go to at this point in time, if 1/6 collecting is indeed diminishing, while the amount of new competition is swelling.

If it comes down to legalities, why can't they split the 1/6 licence category in two, and have one for ToyBiz, 1/6th Toys, and one for Sideshow, 1/6th collectibles. Something like this would expand Sideshows operations, but how to sustain that expansion, and how to achieve reduction. Whoa mamma. So Sideshow, please find a way.

Yeah, I like the DC Direct body sculpt, but it is too tall for all but the "Big Guy" heroes like Superman or Capt. Marvel.
I think I am going to try to use the DML "athlete" body to makeover GL. It's slimmer that the DCD and shorter, but still appropriate for your standard Superguy physique. I'm going to have to put a little alteration work into that costume though which is a pain for the sewing impaired like myself.
The DCD body would work great for Cap though and I think it would actually be a little too slim and short for Thor if you need perfect consistancy and conitinuity precise figures.
But I'd think you could create a figure like the types used by SSC or Dragon that can interchange parts to alter height, at least. Do different abdomins and chest pieces as well as thighs and biceps and you should be able to change the height and physique with a fairly limited number of parts design and engineering.
I have no idea whether anything like this can happen in the current marketplace. But I'd hope that SSC and Marvel are in it for the long haul and would consider trying to expand the market in 1/6th as opposed to merely try to exploit a piece of a contracting pie. That's how you get and stay on top.

I see the point of "Sideshow can't do that because [insert company] has that license. And everytime I see that I can't help but think about the 2 Van Helsing figures I have. One made by Sideshow and one not. Now, yes, one is clearly the better of the two, but there were TWO companies making them. If one is sold as an action figure and the other as a collectible, why can't the same be done with virtually any other license.
I'm not sure how I feel about the 13" figure from DCD. I understand Supes was 6'5" [depending on where you read the stats] but, for some reason 13" figures stand out among the 1:6 collection. Look at it like this; if all the superheroes stand a head taller than the regular folks, all any of the comic villains would have had to do was just attack the tall guys when in their alter ego. As for GL, I like it. I know its a bit more muscular than Hal should be, but if it looks too muscled when I get it, I may try an old InToyz sniper.
The 1:6 market has long needed a variety of body styles. IIRC, Sideshow had mentioned at one point that they were going to do taller, shorter, fatter, thinner, muscled, ....etc figures. A body with more muscle tone would not need to be for just one license. Nor would any of these other type bodies I mentioned. They would have multi use potential throughout Sideshow's 1:6 library. A thinner body for Nightcrawler, well muscled for Captain America. And in different body tones as well. The BBi G3/3.5 is one of my favorite bash bodies, but they slacked off, IMHO, and delivered no AA version. I don't know about you, but I have a few AA guys that would look much better on a G3 type. Blade? Tyr? Even Ice Cube would look better. And then there's the "generic" heads too.
Personally, I would love to see Sideshow capitalize on the Marvel license AND sell nude versions of the new [hint hint] superhero bodies.
A muscular AA body, with simulated hair on the arms and a sleeveless POTA gorilla tunic....JULIUS!!! Of course that would need another sculpt, but you get the idea. SB's [Superhero Bodies] would benefit every license that Sideshow has the rights to.

I personally would love to see SS do Marvel figures. I do like the Medicom figures but Medicom is too expensive for me. I do have other interests!!! You can wipe your entire budget just buying Medicom and not end up with a whole lot. I have no problem spending 40 to 50 dollars for a well made figure but 180 to 200 is too much. Although, i will most likely get the Batman Begins figure. The most I have ever paid for a 12" figure was pre-ordering my Toys McCoy Indian Jones for $225. That's the only figure that I have ever seen that I felt was worth that kinda of cash.

Brad

body size

Look at it like this; if all the superheroes stand a head taller than the regular folks, all any of the comic villains would have had to do was just attack the tall guys when in their alter ego.

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Then villains will be so busy attacking millions of people worldwide that are 6'5" and over that they won't have time to plan world domination!!!!