1/6 Scale REDMAN TOYS Collectible Figure Accessory Lethal Weapon A & B

[potato]

anyone claims Redman looks totally inferior to Iminine/Rainman care to put out a fair & square side by side comparison? Both Sculpt & Outifts.

 

[Cap'n Cook]

anyone claims Redman looks totally inferior to Iminine/Rainman care to put out a fair & square side by side comparison? Both Sculpt & Outifts.

It's a recast. Of course the details won't be as sharp.

 

[potato]

It's a recast. Of course the details won't be as sharp.

do you have any pics? we want to know how bad so we will give up the idea of supporting them.

 

[Snake Plissken]

Lotta lawyers in here. Eh, I might buy the B version.

 

[yruh8n]

It's a recast. Of course the details won't be as sharp.

While I agree with most of what you are saying this is a total misconception. If the recaster uses quality materials to mold and cast there is no reason why the recast wont look exactly like the casting they pull the mold from. Recast are generally considered inferior quality wise because most recasters do their dirty deeds on the cheap. They often use cheap silicone rubber and polyester casting resin (which shrinks much more than urethane resin). They also don't invest in proper equitment like vacuum chambers and pressure pots. It is puzzling that Redman used that sculpt as there are better Riggs portraits out there they could have used. I have heard some rumors that Redman is actually Iminime, or Iminime is working with them. They hit the big spenders up for the premium and then catch the lower end of the market with these mass produced knock offs. Who knows. I in no way support recasting of any kind, but I would be tempted to buy those clothing sets if they came without the head. While some may see copying the patterns and techniques to reproduce the clothing as a form of recasting, there is too much work involved in the actual production of the item to totally dismiss it.

 

[potato]

While I agree with most of what you are saying this is a total misconception. If the recaster uses quality materials to mold and cast there is no reason why the recast wont look exactly like the casting they pull the mold from. Recast are generally considered inferior quality wise because most recasters do their dirty deeds on the cheap. They often use cheap silicone rubber and polyester casting resin (which shrinks much more than urethane resin). They also don't invest in proper equitment like vacuum chambers and pressure pots. It is puzzling that Redman used that sculpt as there are better Riggs portraits out there they could have used. I have heard some rumors that Redman is actually Iminime, or Iminime is working with them. They hit the big spenders up for the premium and then catch the lower end of the market with these mass produced knock offs. Who knows. I in no way support recasting of any kind, but I would be tempted to buy those clothing sets if they came without the head. While some may see copying the patterns and techniques to reproduce the clothing as a form of recasting, there is too much work involved in the actual production of the item to totally dismiss it.

we can start talking about AAA Grade LVs & Pradas...

 

[Ebeneezer Jones]

I have heard some rumors that Redman is actually Iminime, or Iminime is working with them. They hit the big spenders up for the premium and then catch the lower end of the market with these mass produced knock offs.

I've heard rumors that the moon is made of cheese......................... but it turns out that is total BS too.

 

[yruh8n]

I've heard rumors that the moon is made of cheese......................... but it turns out that is total BS too.

Not saying it's the Gospel but I have seen it mentioned several times on different pages by different people. It's odd that Redman only seems to be targeting Iminime figures. You would think Rainman's figures would have more appeal for copying as the initial price and after market is much higher on his figures. Maybe Redman is too cheap to invest in Rainman's figures to reverse R and D. Makes you wonder who is supplying the figures to Redman.

 

[superado]

While I agree with most of what you are saying this is a total misconception. If the recaster uses quality materials to mold and cast there is no reason why the recast wont look exactly like the casting they pull the mold from. Recast are generally considered inferior quality wise because most recasters do their dirty deeds on the cheap. They often use cheap silicone rubber and polyester casting resin (which shrinks much more than urethane resin). They also don't invest in proper equitment like vacuum chambers and pressure pots. It is puzzling that Redman used that sculpt as there are better Riggs portraits out there they could have used. I have heard some rumors that Redman is actually Iminime, or Iminime is working with them. They hit the big spenders up for the premium and then catch the lower end of the market with these mass produced knock offs. Who knows. I in no way support recasting of any kind, but I would be tempted to buy those clothing sets if they came without the head. While some may see copying the patterns and techniques to reproduce the clothing as a form of recasting, there is too much work involved in the actual production of the item to totally dismiss it.

Thank you for your post. I think it's an interesting issue and would like to add my own .02 to that.

It seems like there's a range in quality out there in terms of recasters of their own work and of others. It seems that one of the more common castings is resin like Lonnie's of Heroes Heads and of course, the nefarious recasters. I've also purchased through the years resin and plaster versions of Steve McQueen's likeness and they have the inherent imperfections of being cast in over-used silicone molds. Then there are PVC heads that are sold loose and are either "basic," hollow and in need of mounting while some are factory mounted on neck joints and professionally painted and finished, apparently in assembly line fashion. Casting in PVC or a similar material, BTW, is much more involved than casting solid heads in silicone, because there's the matter of heating the raw material into a pourable state and the use of a multi-direction rotating slush mold (why they come out hollow) is difficult at best to do in a garage for a short run, but a larger run would require heavy-duty equipment in a factory setting.

I think there's also a micro manufacturers' network in China in which players deal with one another quite freely. Case in point is how one can purchase loose multiples of a certain accessory like sunglasses, pouches, etc. that were from limited run sets (making it a low likelihood they were parted out from those sets) and yet other pieces from said limited sets are generally unavailable. Then, from my own experience in licensed diecast dioramas (James Bond Car Collection, Batman, etc.), loose specimens were easily and cheaply available from China from multiple sellers.

I have the Redman Toys "Cowboy G" and it came with an unmounted sculpt (I had to glue-gun the head onto the neck post), that was nonetheless PVC and looks painted/finished via assembly line and I can't discern any imperfection like bubbles or some kind of distortion. I don't think you can cast a hollow PVC head in silicone molds and therefore it's likely, in the least a non-rigid rubber mold was used, or more likely, a metal mold and the process of machining such a mold based on a ripped-off, original casting there would be discernable imperfections. Another case in point are the Dam Toys Gangster Kingdom heads and hands available online; the sculpt are factory mounted on a neck joint and airbrush painted/finished as if they were done on an assembly line. The most damning evidence are the loose hands that were sold with the sculpt (one of them giving the finger), that were PVC or whatever vinyl-like material, which are so crisply molded that it's unlikely they were recasted (and the effort would have been too involved for the payoff). Therefore, it cannot be ignored that there's a high likelihood that the head and hands were from the same manufacturing run and of course, no manufacturer would want to waste any surplus pieces made.

While I don't have an Iminime Eastwood sculpt/figure, based on images online it seems the biggest difference is the paint app. All of this makes me conclude that there must have been some sort of business arrangement between Redman and Iminime, or otherwise we would've seen viral posts of bloody murder coming from Iminime's camp. I think I asked either on the Freaks board or OSW about this and someone did say that they read a disparaging comment from the Iminime camp about this, but if that is so, I'm surprised it is not more widespread. Question for those who own an Iminime head; are they solid or hollow? If they're hollow, it's also possible that extra runs were made on the heads, whether or not they were authorized, because I think it's likely they were made from the same molds.

 

[Asta]

do you have any pics? we want to know how bad so we will give up the idea of supporting them.

(Angel Eyes on standard Coo with long ankle pegs not attached to boots; Blondie on tall Coo; Tuco on Redman's body).

And with their Josey Wales:

 

[Cap'n Cook]

That settles the paint argument then.

 

[superado]

Judging from the close-up on Eastwood, the difference in paint-app seems just a bit marginally better vs. the Redman version, but in the long-shot, they look practically identical; the slight difference could also be the lighting because you can see the nice facial wrinkle detail in the Iminime sculpt. This makes me really wonder if there's truly a collaboration in place.

 

[ishothimsixtimes]

It's odd that Redman only seems to be targeting Iminime figures. You would think Rainman's figures would have more appeal for copying as the initial price and after market is much higher on his figures. Maybe Redman is too cheap to invest in Rainman's figures to reverse R and D.

They've certainly been making their way through Iminime's back catalogue at pace, but I don't know if they're confining their 'reproductions' to that one particular company. Haven't they recast Rainman's Gang Boy (Alex from A Clockwork Orange)? I also heard they were doing a Doc Holliday but haven't seen any pictures to know whether they ripped off the Rainman sculpt.

 

[Asta]

Judging from the close-up on Eastwood, the difference in paint-app seems marginally better vs. the Redman version, but in the long-shot, they look practically identical; the slight difference could also be the lighting because you can see the nice facial wrinkle detail in the Iminime sculpt. This makes me really wonder if there's truly a collaboration in place.

They're all photos of the Redman figures. Angel Eyes and Tuco were taken with camera flash; Blondie was taken without flash.

 

[superado]

They've certainly been making their way through Iminime's back catalogue at pace, but I don't know if they're confining their 'reproductions' to that one particular company. Haven't they recast Rainman's Gang Boy (Alex from A Clockwork Orange)? I also heard they were doing a Doc Holliday but haven't seen any pictures to know whether they ripped off the Rainman sculpt.

With 3 new versions of the Clockwork Alex figure, I'm a bit confused too about the sources of the respective versions.

 

[ishothimsixtimes]

All of this makes me conclude that there must have been some sort of business arrangement between Redman and Iminime, or otherwise we would've seen viral posts of bloody murder coming from Iminime's camp. I think I asked either on the Freaks board or OSW about this and someone did say that they read a disparaging comment from the Iminime camp about this, but if that is so, I'm surprised it is not more widespread.

When the pictures of the redman The Good, The Bad & The Ugly figures first appeared, DK (or Iminime/Masterworks/Cult King) posted a couple of comments on Redmans facebook page straight out asking why he was recasting his figures. The comments were ignored and deleted pretty sharpish. DK then expressed on here how sorry he was to see blatant knock off's of the originals being released.

Not seen anything since then.

 

[superado]

They're all photos of the Redman figures. Angel Eyes and Tuco were taken with camera flash; Blondie was taken without flash.

Lol! How did you pose the poncho without the shiny lining showing? I'm almost resigned to getting a new poncho with the design on both sides.

 

[Asta]

Lol! How did you pose the poncho without the shiny lining showing? I'm almost resigned to getting a new poncho with the design on both sides.

Fold it so that the outer layer is showing, then push it up over his shoulder.

Redman made some improvements over Iminime's inaccuracies, but the poncho was a let down.

 

[yruh8n]

I have heard of a lot of shading things that go on over there with some factories. It's possible that someone at whatever factory is casting Iminime's heads produces more castings than Iminime order and passes the extras out the backdoor to a third party or Redman. The fact that they are producing figures under at least 3 different names lends a bit of credibility to the idea that Redman might be yet another alias. I have heard that some of these bootleg figures are actually added to legitiment runs of other figures, and that is another reason they can charge less. Another company actuallly (unknowingly) pays for the production.

 

[Ebeneezer Jones]

I have heard of a lot of shading things that go on over there with some factories. It's possible that someone at whatever factory is casting Iminime's heads produces more castings than Iminime order and passes the extras out the backdoor to a third party or Redman. The fact that they are producing figures under at least 3 different names lends a bit of credibility to the idea that Redman might be yet another alias. I have heard that some of these bootleg figures are actually added to legitiment runs of other figures, and that is another reason they can charge less. Another company actuallly (unknowingly) pays for the production.

You talk some right 5h1te.

How the hell would anyone get hold of Iminime's sculpts. They cast themselves in small numbers.

Instead of talking like a five year old trying your hardest to sell everyone on the idea that iminime are shady, why don't you point us all to these rumors origins............................ Your an idiot.

There just your stupid ideas, and your hiding behind......................... "I heard............................"

What's your IQ.................... -10.