Well, if anyone is interested in Demon Bats but not Scarecrow, PM me...I really want the crow but no interest in Bats this time around. We could split the bagillion $ lol.
Hot Toys- Batman Begins:Batman Demon & Scarecrow spec and pics
- Thread starter wookster
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These look really cool...I'm actually surprised with how awesome demon bats looks. I'm gonna get both of them for sure somehow. are these pictures from the holiday thing or has that not happened yet?
Russell1982
Super Freak
Interesting to see the extra hand with the pointing finger. Nice touch from the end of the movie.
zickjosiahs
Freaked Out
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Def want to. But then again its the price that is factor. $320 cut off? Ok u got to start saving man.. haha. That light cycle is pretty expensive!
haytil
Super Freak
AWESOME!!!
love how it's the foam insert like the DX packaging!
Looks like it has the magnetic locking mechanism for the front flap, like the DX, as well.
You do realize that the page length is user-dependent and not necessarily the same for everyone, don't you?
haytil
Super Freak
I think you're misinterpreting what I'm saying.
The fact is that these characters are ours (by which I mean American culture and, to a substantial extent, generally Western culture). They are the creation and products of our culture, our economies, and our artists. They not only owe their existence, but their nature as flourishing and thriving creations, to these factors.
Western artists and writers created Batman. Western companies took the risks in funding his creations. Western film studios and directors spent their time, money, and energy on making quality Batman movies. Western customers spent their money on books and movies and merchandise, to ensure his continued success and existence.
Now that doesn't mean that we can't or shouldn't share - in fact, I would encourage it.
But it's a two-way street. And HT should recognize and acknowledge the fact that they are borrowing our creations and using them as fundamental building blocks upon which to create their art and their financial success.
HT owes a lot to the West. In general we are a substantial part of their customer base and their financial success.
And more specifically, any of their success that derives from the creation and sale of characters like Batman (or any other Western creations) would simply not have been possible were it not for the investment of energy and money that Western society had initially (and continues to) put into these characters and stories.
It's a simple fact that if we had not created Batman and made him popular, Hot Toys would not have made the money that they did by selling a Batman action figure.
They could've made an entirely original creation, a new character or hero. And they might've had enough financial success to profit and stay in business that way. But I suspect they made a lot more money by licensing Western characters and movies.
Now consider why they're doing these "exclusive" figures. Ostensibly, it's a "Thank You" to the fans in their home bases. They are expressing gratitude and recognizing the importance of their neighbors and those who live in the place they call home. But what about:
A) The customers who DON'T live in HK or Japan, but who nevertheless had a significant impact on their bottom line?
and
B) The place that characters like "Batman" and "Scarecrow" call home, culturally? What about the debt they owe to us for loaning them our characters, so that they can further their artistic and financial success?
I think that explains why exclusives to thank Asian customers are not only a bad idea (with rude and thankless implications to the rest of us), but why the use of Bat-Demon and Scarecrow to do so adds further insult-to-injury (hence my comment about them being "our" characters).
I'm not saying that anything Batman-related or Western-originating should always be made available to Western customers. But in this specific case, Hot Toys already has significant business in the West and it wouldn't be a problem for them to make these things available to us, as they have in the past. And the idea of celebrating their 10th anniversary by "thanking" their Asian customers is sort of tacitly ignoring the equal and multiple debts they owe to the West.
tcollector
Super Freak
Read somewhere that these are limited to 4000 units. Do you think SideShow will get some to sell like the Predator Guardian figure?
aussieinnyc
Super Freak
I totally agree with you that the special thanking of only a select group of their customers is out of order - said it in my post and I'm sorry if that wasn't clear. I disagree with your position that the characters belong to one particular culture and they are only to be lent out on certain conditions. It - to my eye - suggests a US-centric viewpoint of the world that has been detrimental to world's view of America and her people.
eighthsamurai
Super Freak
and HT paid for the license. they didn't get it for free. i don't like it as much as anyone else that these are so limited, but saying they "owe" westerners because they're "our" products... i disagree. HT paid for the license. they can do what they want it. no company "owes" us anything.
i'm afraid cultural globalisation means this isn't true at all anymore. you can't divide the world by who owns characters - maybe back in the 1960s. not anymore. if you've been to asia, you'd see that batman is as part of the culture as it is here, and has been for a long time. japanese companies have been making batman product for decades. i don't want to sound combative at all, but i just don't share your sense of entitlement based on which country you're from.
haytil
Super Freak
It's not clear if there will be 2000 or 4000 units. The number listed was 2000, but the Hot Toys rep mentioned 4000 for a "world-wide" release. I don't think it was clear if he was talking about 4000 Bat-Demon/Scarecrow units, 4000 other figures, or just using 4000 as a hypothetical number to discuss the relative size of releases, in general.
eighthsamurai
Super Freak
it's 4000 worldwide for the set. 2000 for the tokyo exhibition, and 2000 for the toy hunter's store in HK.
FLOSI
Nerf Herder
Damn, that box is cool... Any word on price or distributor yet?
haytil
Super Freak
A) What about someone like "Hello Kitty?" Would you not consider that to be a specifically Japanese (and more broadly, Asian) character?
B) I don't think there have to be any "pre-conditions" to lending characters, but I think it's disrespectful for someone (like HT) not to follow certain etiquettes, and so I don't think it's wrong to call them out for that disrespect.
I don't limit my opinion to American characters - I think what I said is equally true the other way around. It's not a "US-centric" viewpoint, it's a viewpoint that gives every character a home, which may or may not be the US. And in this case, I would consider Batman to be an American character, just as I would consider Hello Kitty to be a Japanese character.
GrayWolf87
Super Freak
That is some nice looking packaging!
all I care is that us US fan's are able to get a hold of a set . I guess in a few days we shall find out.
aussieinnyc
Super Freak
Actually, no. I would associate that character with Japan, but I wouldn't say Japan as a culture "owns" it. If it seems like I am playing with semantics I'm sorry, and it's a distinction I have in my mind that might not be clear to you, but is Hello Kitty Japanese? Yes. Does she belong to Japan? No. Just like Batman is American but does not belong to America. Mary Poppins is English, but her creator was Australian. I don't think of her as Australian because she was spawned here, or that Australia owns her any more than England where she was set, or America who popularised her for the screen.
I don't want to derail this thread further (nice attempts with commenting on the packaging to try and get things back on track guys! haha) and honestly I can't refute non-specific references to "certain etiquettes" because I feel that the etiquette required exists only in your viewpoint, not as generally accepted ways of behaving. I think eigthsamurai is right on the money talking about global commercialisation. If the product was a 1/6 figure of Uncle Sam, well I might be inclined to agree with you, but on a global property like Batman, it's cultural imperialism to claim a "birth right" to the character (which, taken to the extreme, is what you appear to be suggesting.)
One last thought, though, and again it might look like I'm playing with words, but your phrase "gives every character a home" implies that the character owns the place where they are, and I wouldn't disagree there - Batman, or even better, Superman, owns the hell out of being an American. But that's not the same as Americans own Batman.
Haytl, I agree with ur point. Western culture has shaped Batman as a great character and without it Batman won't be as famous as today. And it's also a fact that it will be beneficial for HT to pay license fee to create Batman figure compared to not paying any fee by creating any other figure or maybe by paying Japanese action heroes.
Don't get me wrong. I am not with anyone sides. I ain't caucasian either. So ethnicity aside, this guy has good point.
HT did pay for license but still the image of batman is created by West. So it's partially western company's fault for not asking HT to distribute this US or any other part of the world.
After all, we collectors meant to share hobby and form good community worldwide not just trying to be more exclusive to any other country.
Just imagine SS create exclusive Masked Rider figure only to US and not available to the rest of the world. I bet Masked Rider freaks in Japan will be upset.
Apart from that, the box is so appealing. I always want to get Batman more than Scarecrow
Will be so unfair if we can't get it here in USA. Get to contact some Japanese friends lol.
The English wish they could claim ____ Van Dyke
aussieinnyc
Super Freak
The English wish they could claim ____ Van Dyke
Not going through the censors. Let's see if the Family Guy censor-friendly version - _____ Von Lesbian - will pass (I was sure I'd heard that joke before Family Guy somewhere? Anyone know where it originated? PM me if you do).
EDIT: No, apparently it won't.
(And apart from Bert being played by him using what is generally accepted to be one of the world's worst attempts at a Cockney accent, what's the English got to do with ownership of Mary Poppins?)
What's love got to do with it?
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