Asmus Toys: Gandalf the White

[Asmus]

Thank to all of you being supportive.

I think there are many aspects to look at the issue. SS is shifting away on 1:6, as they have had a huge success in status,
which has a way higher profit margin, also, they have done a wonderful job to expend such market, normally with their PF, it will hit around 3000 pc,
it is 3 times to our "good" sale for 1/6, and each PF sold about 2 times the price.

Like Bucky Underbelly mentioned right, I would believe it is hard for Sideshow to go back to 1:6 LOTR with the company size they are managing today.

 

[Asmus]

Back to our Gandalf.

In our game plan. we are still working on "improving" at this stage of figure production. Like Wor-Ger said, Hot Toys is no doubt the 10/10 1:6 figures brand now. They are the best in everything regarding 1:6 figures.

To me (also behave of Asmus, because we talked about it all the time), to get even on their standard, will be our ultimate goal. It will require so much more experience, resource and skills to get there. And we are just not there yet.

We did Morgul-Lord, Gothmog and Guritz to begin with because we wanted to work on less important characters, as a "practice", to learn about making figure in the proper way. I hope what I said does not put the buyers of these figures in a wrong angle, we did our best to make them with what we know at the time of making, there are just things we picked up to improve along the way, and quickly apply them on the next figure.

Gandalf's end product is a huge step to us, the paint jobs and body was vastly improved according to the feedback. Especially the paint job, was done in the "1/6" way (factory said 40 steps solely on the head)

And now we are more confident to take on the challenge of human characters !!

And the good news is, we have also nailed the extend deal for LOTR, and the Hobbits. So as far as I konw, if Sideshow and Weta not doing 1:6 action figure, then Asmus should be the only one to do it now.

 

[Asmus]

So hopefully, in Arargorn, we can see another big leap forward, to get at least 8 or 9 /10.

And may be by the time we are done with LOTR, we can present some solid 10/10 figures of LOTR and Hobbits.

 

[hoodonit00]

So hopefully, in Arargorn, we can see another big leap forward, to get at least 8 or 9 /10.

And may be by the time we are done with LOTR, we can present some solid 10/10 figures of LOTR and Hobbits.

Thanks for all the info. Since you teased a pic of Aragorn from the side can we expects some more pics soon? I for the most part love what you have released so far. If I could complain about anything it would be the bodies. 2 of the 3 I have the arms are so loose they can't even hold their arms up. Hope this is addressed with Gandalf.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Gandalf's end product is a huge step to us...

I agree and I think it shows. It's vastly improved when compared to Asmus' earlier human work like "Night at the Museum" or the Jim Carrey figures.

And the good news is, we have also nailed the extend deal for LOTR, and the Hobbits.

That's very good news!!! Congratulations!

 

[Wor-Gar]

So hopefully, in Arargorn, we can see another big leap forward, to get at least 8 or 9 /10.

And may be by the time we are done with LOTR, we can present some solid 10/10 figures of LOTR and Hobbits.

I fully expect you will get there with these kinds of improvements.

 

[kl241]

What about ACI? They aren't making 1:6 LOTR?

 

[superdoug]

Gandalf looks to be a solid 7-8 on the current perfection scale (HT generally being best). Whereas I would put the old Sideshow figures (in general) at about a 5-6 now (those scores reflect the excellent outfits over the sculpt). For comparison, DiD and Toybiz hit 2-3 in general.

I agree with you on Gandalf (probably an 8 to 8+ range for me), Sideshow I don't think can go above 5 because of the horrid paint. Back when they were released they would have ranked higher but expectations were lower overall. Now for DiD and ToyBiz you totally lost me. Maybe one or two of the figures crept to the 2-3 range but most hovered around 0.

 

[Asmus]

What about ACI? They aren't making 1:6 LOTR?

Long story short,
They were licensed for Ringwraith and Aragorn only.

 

[Asmus]

I agree with you on Gandalf (probably an 8 to 8+ range for me), Sideshow I don't think can go above 5 because of the horrid paint. Back when they were released they would have ranked higher but expectations were lower overall. Now for DiD and ToyBiz you totally lost me. Maybe one or two of the figures crept to the 2-3 range but most hovered around 0.

I would give Toybiz for 2,
For "selections"

They had almost everyone ! And that gave me a good old memory, searching for them in different shops.

 

[jra81984]

Well the thing I appreciate about all this with Asmus is that our input is taken into consideration. This is not something that can occur with a company such as Hot Toys. I for one appreciate being along for this journey, and I thoroughly enjoy buying your product. I look forward to more to come!

I also pumped for the Mr. ? figure due out, which is a non LOTR figure from them!

 

[superdoug]

And the good news is, we have also nailed the extend deal for LOTR, and the Hobbits.

Fantastic news! I hope this line runs for a long time and is successful for Asmus. I really appreciate them taking the risk and I hope it pays off.

So hopefully, in Arargorn, we can see another big leap forward, to get at least 8 or 9 /10.

And may be by the time we are done with LOTR, we can present some solid 10/10 figures of LOTR and Hobbits.

I hope so too! So far I am all in on this. From the pictures it sure looks like Gandalf is another step in the right direction. Hopefully in time you will get to re-visiting all of the figures that Sideshow made too. I have a feeling that Sideshow Legolas will look out of place next to Asmus Gandalf, Aragorn and (someday) Gimli.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Now for DiD and ToyBiz you totally lost me. Maybe one or two of the figures crept to the 2-3 range but most hovered around 0.

I would give Toybiz for 2,
For "selections"

Yeah, that was my thinking, depends on what figure you are considering. ToyBiz did a pretty good Ringwraith... not that its hard. Some of their outfit parts are decent, like Bilbo and Arwen and others. I said outfit parts. For bashes. Like, I'm planning an Arwen bash and I think the Arwen purple outfit is pretty good, just the weird body and tiny, tiny head killed the overall doll. DiD and ToyBiz made good Gimli parts for a bashable Gimli for us that went that way in the early days.

I think I save the "1" for something like Barbie Arwen and Ken Aragorn.

 

[Sankari]

I for one, am eager to continue supporting a company that is willing to take on fan/customer feedback, and to release figures we have not seen yet.
I loved the "evil side" (Mogul Lord, orcs, Nazgul + Steed). I hope they keep on for long enough to release a killer Sauron.
Given the level of detail on Mogul lord ( clothes + accessories + armor) , I guess they're the right company for a fully armored 1/6 Sauron
I enjoyed Gandalf, I think I was on the fence for a while because of the lack of updates, but now that he is out, I think he turned out much better than I expected.

 

[superdoug]

I would give Toybiz for 2,
For "selections"

They had almost everyone ! And that gave me a good old memory, searching for them in different shops.

True their 12" line did have a good amount of characters.

Now if you are talking about their 6" line then I would have to change my ranking big time. That line was about as deep as a non-Star Wars line can be. I still have an entire set of them. I remember hunting them down at lunchtime and after school would get out and even ordering cases of them. Lord of the Rings brought me into the collection hobby and Sideshow brought me into the 1/6 scale with their Lord of the Rings line.

 

[kylemm]

I for one, am eager to continue supporting a company that is willing to take on fan/customer feedback, and to release figures we have not seen yet.
I loved the "evil side" (Mogul Lord, orcs, Nazgul + Steed). I hope they keep on for long enough to release a killer Sauron.
Given the level of detail on Mogul lord ( clothes + accessories + armor) , I guess they're the right company for a fully armored 1/6 Sauron
I enjoyed Gandalf, I think I was on the fence for a while because of the lack of updates, but now that he is out, I think he turned out much better than I expected.

I keep bumping this subject. Haha

Asmus could definitely pull it off. I love to collect the iconic villains, and he is in the top list. In my opinion anyways. Sauron with a black rider and the morgue lord on either side sounds like a fantastic display.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Perhaps the Build-an-Orc option could be used to Build-a-SAURON.

Of course, I'm quite sure Sauron would be a runaway sales monster all on its own.

 

[Sankari]

Perhaps the Build-an-Orc option could be used to Build-a-SAURON.

Of course, I'm quite sure Sauron would be a runaway sales monster all on its own.

That would force most of us to get characters that we don't want. Its counterproductive.
Sauron himself would be a an instant success.

I see a lot of people ordering the Nazgul , and a lot of people after the Witch King...

 

[kl241]

Last thing this line needs are a bunch of Orc Clones.

 

[SirGor]

GO ASMUS!