Gandalf the Grey PF

[bill59]

Yeah, if we don't support the line...it will die.

Sideshow won't make them, is we don't buy them.


Bill

 

[woodsy]

Yeah, if we don't support the line...it will die.

Sideshow won't make them, is we don't buy them.

Bill

Very true Bill

Having both the excl. and reg. editions on order for both maquettes I think I am doing more than my fair share to keep this line alive, but if SS doesn't get off their butts and start promoting this line properly it is destined to fail. It is not enough for collectors to support this line, SS has to do their share as well. I fired off these questions/comments to SS a few hours ago, both via "Ask Sideshow" and to their CS dept., because let's face it, my questions will never be addressed through SS's Q&A segment:

"Question:
Could you please explain something for me Sideshow. You've axed 3 LOTR lines in the past 2 years....correct? You then launch a brand new maquette line in June 2010 with the Aragorn as Strider pre-order. And you follow that up with the Gandalf the Grey pre-order 3 weeks later.

Since then....nothing! No new pre-orders, and not a single piece of news/information pertaining to this new line in over 5 months. Do you really think this marketing strategy is going to generate interest amongst LOTR collectors? Do you think this approach [of completely ignoring LOTR collectors] is going to restore confidence amongst those of us who no longer believe Sideshow is commited to the LOTR licence? How can you, in good conscience, possibly tell us how "cherished" the LOTR licence is, while at the same time providing us with next to nothing in terms of new pre-orders or news/information related to the LOTR licence?
The sad reality is there many LOTR collectors who have refused to get involved in the new maquette line because they do not believe it will be "expansive", they do not believe Sideshow will see this project through to it's completion. And not only is Sideshow doing NOTHING to eleviate that skeptisism, you are actually cementing that belief amongst LOTR collectors with your actions over the past 5 months."

 

[bill59]

Hi woodsy! I think you have said what many LOTR collectors are thinking. There are two sides to this story however. There is our side which you have put forward very well. But there is also SS side. They run a business and if a line they produce doesn't sell well enough, you can understand why they may not be too interested in producing too many too quickly. They are not doing themselves or the line any favors however, by not promoting it and leaving us too much in the dark. I'm worried much the same as most, if not all the rest of the members here. That the Maquette line will not have the legs to produce an expansive range of characters, not to mention the full Fellowship. There is a little bit of a catch 22 situation here I think. They won't produce a line if it doesn't sell well and we won't buy unless we feel the line will last and provide us with a worthy collection. If SS could only convince us, not only by word, but also by deed, that they will produce a comprehensive range in this line. I think it could help sales considerably.

Bill

 

[CelticWarrior]

hope you guys all post more pics... i can never get enough to hold me over till i get mine~!

 

[fronkenstein]

Hard to believe the exclusive version of this great statue is still in stock.

 

[Bullseye]

The Ringwraith on Steed is going to be EPIC. Hopefully released next year and will be one of three pieces I limit myself to next year.

 

[El Skutto]

The Ringwraith on Steed is going to be EPIC. Hopefully released next year and will be one of three pieces I limit myself to next year.

I have yet to see any kind of official confirmation that the RWOS will be made in PF scale. The horse alone would be the size of a small dog, so I hate to think of the shipping cost for those of us not in the US.

 

[Bullseye]

I'm not looking forward to the price let alone shipping costs.

 

[The Mike]

I don't think a Ringwrath on a steed would be any different really than the Speeder Bike PF. Essentially the horse would be mostly polystone, the Ringwrath would probably be made more like the Boba Fett PF so it wouldn't weigh too much on the horse and I could even see them using the Palpatine type of frame so its semi posable. Its definitely doable but the pricetag will easily be mirroring the Speeder Bike PF itself.

 

[woodsy]

Hi woodsy! I think you have said what many LOTR collectors are thinking. There are two sides to this story however. There is our side which you have put forward very well. But there is also SS side. They run a business and if a line they produce doesn't sell well enough, you can understand why they may not be too interested in producing too many too quickly. They are not doing themselves or the line any favors however, by not promoting it and leaving us too much in the dark. I'm worried much the same as most, if not all the rest of the members here. That the Maquette line will not have the legs to produce an expansive range of characters, not to mention the full Fellowship. There is a little bit of a catch 22 situation here I think. They won't produce a line if it doesn't sell well and we won't buy unless we feel the line will last and provide us with a worthy collection. If SS could only convince us, not only by word, but also by deed, that they will produce a comprehensive range in this line. I think it could help sales considerably.
Bill

Well said Bill, and you are right. The "catch 22" analogy is perfect and one which I've used before. But what I can't figure out is how not a single person working at SS has seemingly clued into the fact that many LOTR collectors have become leery of any new lines. We've simply been stung too many times before with a whooping 60% casualty rate at the moment. I can't think of a single current SS licence that has faced the axe as much as we have, and it seems to me that is the biggest reason why many have refused to jump on board this new line.

Now SS is no different than any other company in that they have to be aware of what their customers want and they have to deliver. Where the LOTR licence is concerned, they seem oblivious to this at times. They were certainly oblivious of this with many of the decisions they made concerning the LSB and dio. lines, and they seemingly have not yet figured out that we require more in the way of assurances from them concerning new lines than collectors of other licences, because we have been "kicked in the nuts" a few times too many.

I understand SS is a business, and I don't think anyone would expect them to produce products they can't sell. So if indeed, they have decided to slow down a bit with this line, then fine. But what would it hurt them to throw us the occasional bone? I think that providing more info in the way of occasional sneak peeks, prod. videos, etc....[on upcoming future projects] would go a long way toward keeping fresh/generating interest, and/or putting at ease the concerns of collectors who don't believe SS is in this for the long haul....now if only SS could figure that out.

I have yet to see any kind of official confirmation that the RWOS will be made in PF scale. The horse alone would be the size of a small dog, so I hate to think of the shipping cost for those of us not in the US.

SS has alluded to this many times, and I believe some board members here have seen "in progress" photo's that the rest of us have not.

 

[xerxes]

"Question:
Could you please explain something for me Sideshow. You've axed 3 LOTR lines in the past 2 years....correct? You then launch a brand new maquette line in June 2010 with the Aragorn as Strider pre-order. And you follow that up with the Gandalf the Grey pre-order 3 weeks later.

You don't need SS to answer that, we all know their management of this license has been very poor; for all the reasons yourself and others have previsouly stated.

I'd love to know who the 'green light guy(s)' is on this license... lots of very strange decisions been and being made.

 

[woodsy]

You don't need SS to answer that, we all know their management of this license has been very poor; for all the reasons yourself and others have previsouly stated.

I'd love to know who the 'green light guy(s)' is on this license... lots of very strange decisions been and being made.

I think it's Tom Gilliland, but I'm not 100% sure. In fairness to SS, I think there have been a few problems with the PF line [execution-wise, not character-wise] but other than that it has been fantastic, as has what we've seen so far in the maquette line. I also think SS's appoach to the maquette line has been exemplary so far esp. in their willingness to show these characters in a different light by altering the costuming where possible and/or focusing on a different aspect of the characters personality.

Where they seem to have gone a bit squirrely was some of their decisions concerning the LSB and dio. lines, again not so much in the character selection dept., rather in execution. Though I guess by now even SS has figured out what we all knew from the start....namely that another Aragorn dio. was a really bad idea.

I guess SS can take solice in the fact they are not alone where "making strange decisions" and the LOTR licence are concerned. If someone can explain to me how it is that SSW produced over 40 1/6 scale statues and not a single Gollum/Smeagol, Faramir, Eomer, Denethor, or Fellowship Pippin....I'd love to hear it.

 

[Bullseye]

People have been crying out for a completed fellowship. Alas I feel the new maquette line is more likely to succeed than the PF line. Which is a great pity as the PF really has been outstanding (apart from a couple).

 

[woodsy]

People have been crying out for a completed fellowship. Alas I feel the new maquette line is more likely to succeed than the PF line. Which is a great pity as the PF really has been outstanding (apart from a couple).

If the poll numbers in the Finish the Fellowship in PF poll are any indication, there are very few people truly interested in having SS produce the remaining Hobbits in PF.

 

[Seaward]

Woodsy,

Those numbers are a little bit of a bummer, but any time we express our interest to Sideshow on matters like this, we are rebuffed and told we are a small percentage of the collecting community. I hope that our small percentage is a representative sample of a much larger whole....but I have been way too optimistic about things like this too!

 

[Bullseye]

If the poll numbers in the Finish the Fellowship in PF poll are any indication, there are very few people truly interested in having SS produce the remaining Hobbits in PF.

I really think this would de dependent on the price point. There is no way a hobbit should cost the same as a regular figure. If they were $200-$225 I think people would be tempted. At $299 not so much.

 

[woodsy]

Woodsy,

Those numbers are a little bit of a bummer, but any time we express our interest to Sideshow on matters like this, we are rebuffed and told we are a small percentage of the collecting community. I hope that our small percentage is a representative sample of a much larger whole....but I have been way too optimistic about things like this too!

You're right, we are only a small part of the overall collecting community and hopefully SS takes that into acct. I hope SS also take into acct. the inherent flaw in the poll, that being the participation of board members who don't even collect LOTR in the first place. I just find it very hard to believe that true LOTR fans would refuse to even consider purchasing PF's of the remaining Hobbits, if they are well done...and we certainly know SS has a wealth of sculptors who could do justice to these characters.

This is also an issue I have brought up with SS every time they have posted a LOTR poll on their website. Several times I have put forth the suggestion that SS add a "favorite licence" column/box to every SS acct. holder's information page and that when it comes to SS's polls, only those who have a licence marked as their particular favorite, can participate in polls related to that licence. I can't think of a better of preventing every yahoo and his brother from influencing the product decisions of a licence they don't even collect.

 

[woodsy]

I really think this would de dependent on the price point. There is no way a hobbit should cost the same as a regular figure. If they were $200-$225 I think people would be tempted. At $299 not so much.

True enough, but that is something you can say about every SS collectible. Here's the thing, nowhere in that poll was anything mentioned in regard to pricing, and I don't think anyone familiar with the LOTR PF line expects PF's of Merry, Pippin, and Sam to be priced anywhere near that of Boromir and Gimli....particularly Gimli, who I think we will be fortunate to see priced at $350.

 

[Seaward]

I would be okay with a higher price point if the smaller characters came with more of a base, like the upcoming Gollum. Merry would be great with part of the Buckleberry Ferry (light up post), Sam would be a seller on his own I feel, but I know a lot of people would love to see Bill the Pony come with Sam again, and Pippin could come with the well in Balin's Tomb... although I would love to see Merry and Pippin combined on a partial bust of Treebeard. My imagination tends to run wild with this stuff though!

Boromir could be reasonable around the $300.00 mark that is the current going rate for more ornate figures, but Gimli could stretch it. I guess I wonder how much of his chain mail would just be sculpted, with fabric tucked into the polystone, similar to some of the Marvel characters (like the spandex on Spidey).

 

[woodsy]

I would be okay with a higher price point if the smaller characters came with more of a base, like the upcoming Gollum. Merry would be great with part of the Buckleberry Ferry (light up post), Sam would be a seller on his own I feel, but I know a lot of people would love to see Bill the Pony come with Sam again, and Pippin could come with the well in Balin's Tomb... although I would love to see Merry and Pippin combined on a partial bust of Treebeard. My imagination tends to run wild with this stuff though!

I actually forwarded this product suggestion about a year and a half ago [during SDCC 09] after seeing the Yoda vs Clone Trooper PF. They thanked me for my suggestion....and I think the results speak for themselves.

Boromir could be reasonable around the $300.00 mark that is the current going rate for more ornate figures, but Gimli could stretch it. I guess I wonder how much of his chain mail would just be sculpted, with fabric tucked into the polystone, similar to some of the Marvel characters (like the spandex on Spidey).

Here is SS's Q&A response concerning the possibility of a Gimli :

"Gimli is sort of a mascot for the potential of the [maquette] line, as the complexity of the character & costume design poses significant challenges in other formats [12" and PF]"

I believe that's SS speak for "yeah, we can make it....but it's gonna cost you!"