InArt: The Lord of the Rings - Gandalf 1:6

[Gipetto0812]

I don’t think they have anything to worry about with Asmus’ “upgraded” version .

maybe, maybe not. Asmus making the same figures is still competition regardless. They have been catering to a certain pricepoint that InArt simply can't compete with which prices some ppl out of the InArt figures, therefore Asmus's offerings are good enough for them. Not to mention, there are ppl who have said that if they had known about he upgraded Asmus head they wouldn't of bought the InArt. Sure, many of us here are willingly buying the InArt at the $500+, but we definitely don't make up the majority of collectors.

 

[Nagoya]

I think Asmus mentioned a few weeks ago that their LotR license was being slowed down, or at least WB hasn’t been as communicative with them. I hope it doesn’t mean InArt will be the sole holder for the 1/6 scene, but it will be interesting to see just how much space the market will continue to have for LotR figs

 

[choombaz]

How could you PASS on this??

Chefs kiss to whoever does Inart’s videos. More and more I’m likening HT to McDonalds and Inart to a fancy restaurant lol.

 

[Kalkylen]

I find it interesting that a few days (maybe a week?) after Asmus releases their upgraded GtG head, InArt release a production video of their Gandalf. We constantly talk about HT chasing/competing with InArt, but haven't stopped to think about InArt wanting to compete with the only other 1/6 LOTR manufacturer to keep the spotlight on themselves rather than Asmus' new and shiny Gandalf upgrade.


The base itself doesn't need to be a giant magnet though. It just needs to be a magnetized material so that magnets can attract and attached to it. For example most refrigerators aren't giant magnets but you can usually place a magnet on the face of the refrigerator doors. There could be/could've been a magnetized plate cut to size inside the base which would allow for us to place the figures anywhere on the base but still have the magnets work to keep the feet planted. Would've been even easier for Joker since he has a flat round base. I haven't been able to find any consumer magnetized plates to do this with Joker, but I'm sure a company would have no issue sourcing it.


AND....


I guess it doesn't seem to bother anyone else that InArt seem to have STILL not made the sleeves longer for the thumbhole based on the pic below that shows his hands pretty well on each one of these figures (specifically center left where he's grasping that creature). Was this another thing they felt unnecessary like the floral print at the bottom of his pants?

Yeah it'll be annoying if there is no thumbhole on the sleeve as he wears the shirt like that a lot.

Also, the beard...still seems too short and bushy instead of straight and long. Will have to get the girlfriends straighteners on that!

Boots look odd too...they are supposed to be tan suede rather than shiny leather.

 

[FlyAndFight]

InArt's Gandalf head sculpt looks fantastic but he looks like he's spent some time looking into Mt. Doom's lava flow. Kinda reddish complexion.

 

[batsheva]

..there are ppl who have said that if they had known about he upgraded Asmus head they wouldn't of bought the InArt...

I think this will change when we all get to see the side by side comparison of both figures in hand..

 

[Gipetto0812]

I think this will change when we all get to see the side by side comparison of both figures in hand..

could be. But, one has to remember that everyone has a different threshold for what they consider "good enough" and what's in their price range. There are some who never even bought the crown Gandalf, but want the new Asmus head for the original1.0 GtG figure. The original Asmus GtG was ~$200 + the $120 for the upgrade head and you're $320 in for an Asmus version vs the $500+ InArt. For some, that price difference alone is enough to be content with the Asmus. Maybe not as justifiable if you had the Crown version, though you'd still come out a little less than the InArt depending on where and when you purchased.

 

[noheddardstark]

InArt's Gandalf head sculpt looks fantastic but he looks like he's spent some time looking into Mt. Doom's lava flow. Kinda reddish complexion.

I think he looks like he's been enjoying a little too much pipe weed. Those eyes are RED.

 

[Mike86]

Any possibility of more coming available @Kit Chen?

 

[Chopper Face]

Yeah it'll be annoying if there is no thumbhole on the sleeve as he wears the shirt like that a lot.

Also, the beard...still seems too short and bushy instead of straight and long. Will have to get the girlfriends straighteners on that!

Boots look odd too...they are supposed to be tan suede rather than shiny leather.

Interesting how Asmus made their GTW’s boots in beigey-grey suede when they should be leather and IA have done GTG’s boot in leather when they should be suede.
Perhaps a swaparoo and repaint is in order…

 

[batsheva]

could be. But have to remember but everyone has a different threshold for what they consider "good enough" and what's in their price range. There are some who never even bought the crown Gandalf, but want the new Asmus head for the original1.0 GtG figure. The original Asmus GtG was ~$200 + the $120 for the upgrade head and you're $320 in for an Asmus version vs the $500+ InArt. For some, that price difference alone is enough to be content with the Asmus. Maybe not as justifiable if you had the Crown version, though you'd still come out a little less than the InArt depends on where and when you purchased.

I was specifically talking about people who "have said that if they had known about he upgraded Asmus head they wouldn't of bought the InArt...", meaning, they already bought InArt Gandalf.
I think when the figure's released, and they see the in hand comparison photos, they will not regret the purchase.
Or, if they regret it and want to downgrade, they can just sell the InArt Gandalf for profit and purchase the asmus one.
I think it's a win win.

 

[Gipetto0812]

I was specifically talking about people who "have said that if they had known about he upgraded Asmus head they wouldn't of bought the InArt...", meaning, they already bought InArt Gandalf.
I think when the figure's released, and they see the in hand comparison photos, they will not regret the purchase.
Or, if they regret it and want to downgrade, they can just sell the InArt Gandalf for profit and purchase the asmus one.
I think it's a win win.

Gotcha. thanks for clarifying

However, I still believe that for some, if they're holding both in hand, they may feel like the InArt isn't that much of an upgrade. They might not consider it a downgrade, as you say, to have the Asmus with new headsculpt over the InArt. Some folks still don't like moveable eyes and consider that to be a downgrade with static, painted eyes as superior. All in the eyes of the beholder as it were. But, yes, I agree, they'll more than likely be able to sell the InArt for at least cost, if not profit.

 

[batsheva]

Gotcha. thanks for clarifying

However, I still believe that for some, if they're holding both in hand, they may feel like the InArt isn't that much of an upgrade. They might not consider it a downgrade, as you say, to have the Asmus with new headsculpt over the InArt. Some folks still don't like moveable eyes and consider that to be a downgrade with static, painted eyes as superior. All in the eyes of the beholder as it were. But, yes, I agree, they'll more than likely be able to sell the InArt for at least cost, if not profit.

You're welcome!

I don't think people who dislike moveable eyes will preorder InArt Gandalf at the first place. As for the rest, the skintone, sculpted and painted old hands, staff with pipe hole, and many other accessories, is definitely a huge upgrade from the asmus one as we all can see. But yeah, we can only speculate till we have the figure in hand.
Yep, unlike the other Gandalf, this inArt Gandalf will not be hard to sell.

 

[Nagoya]

I feel like there have been enough people for both products who say they don’t quite see Ian McKellen in either sculpt. Will be interesting how personal taste comes into play if anyone with both legitimately doesn’t think either are as accurate as they should be

 

[BrooklynWolf X]

I see Ian in both this and Asmus’ GTW…albeit the latter is a bit more of a caricature IMO. Strangely enough, GTW’s portrait being repurposed as GTG looks…off. I don’t know how to describe it…but it works better as GTW.

I’ve said this before, but crown series GTG had a bit of a caricature to it as well.

 

[Hologram AI]

I'm just not a fan of the GTW sculpt being reused for GTG on Asmus. His expression is too fierce and the hair is still too white + neat. It's a good sculpt but not one I would spend $120 on and be happy calling it a day. Great option to those who are happy enough with it to just plop it on their GTG figure.

Gives me the vibe of seeing GTW cosplay as GTG if that makes sense. Bit too mismatched.

 

[Gipetto0812]

I'm just not a fan of the GTW sculpt being reused for GTG on Asmus. His expression is too fierce and the hair is still too white + neat. It's a good sculpt but not one I would spend $120 on and be happy calling it a day. Great option to those who are happy enough with it to just plop it on their GTG figure.

To be fair about the hair color, based on the few current in hand assessments, the production hair is more in line with the color that came with the Crown figure and not as white as that photo suggests. I have no skin in the game as I'm not getting one, so I have no reason to defend it. Just trying to be balanced about it.

The irony about some now saying that the GtW sculpted shouldn't of been used for GtG is that that's exactly what ppl wanted/cried for when the GtW sculpt was revealed/released can't win for losing.

InArt final product does appear to be better as whole from what we can see and the most important piece being the head seems to have come out great. But, as myself and others have pointed out, while overall it's a stellar figure, there are smaller details that InArt still neglected that Asmus got right on both releases yet no one here seems to care about it here Everyone's still in a trance from the latest video with their rose colored glasses on. I'm going to become the Nick of the Gandalf thread

 

[Hologram AI]

To be fair about the hair color, based on the few current in hand assessments, the production hair is more in line with the color that came with the Crown figure and not as white as that photo suggests. I have no skin in the game as I'm not getting one, so I have no reason to defend it. Just trying to be balanced about it.

The irony about some now saying that the GtW sculpted shouldn't of been used for GtG is that that's exactly what ppl wanted/cried for when the GtW sculpt was revealed/released can't win for losing.

InArt final product does appear to be better as whole from what we can see and the most important piece being the head seems to have come out great. But, as myself and others have pointed out, while overall it's a stellar figure, there are smaller details that InArt still neglected that Asmus got right on both releases yet no one here seems to care about it here Everyone's still in a trance from the latest video with their rose colored glasses on. I'm going to become the Nick of the Gandalf thread

I see the issues but thankfully they're not anything big that I care enough about, besides the sleeves being a dumb thing to miss. There's also the fact that it's too late to do anything about unfornately. Both are also things that I didn't see anyone bring up to them enough on their social media. Only saw it really mentioned here otherwise even I wouldn't have noticed. Although I think there was something about the floral print but I don't remember them making an official post about it. Memory is vague on that.

If the sleeves bother me that much I'm just gonna look into transferring over the one from Crown GTG since that figure is collecting dust in my closet somewhere. I don't think I'll even bother doing that though. Will see once it releases.

 

[Gipetto0812]

I guess what I find most interesting is that if this was HT or Asmus, they'd be getting flack out the wazoo for missing those things. But, as mentioned in one of the TDK Joker threads, since it's InArt, they get a pass. Not trying to be argumentative or anything like that. Like I said, I just find how ppl treat InArt differently than they do any other companies and are willing to give them more passes than anyone else very, very interesting.

For InArt, it seems more of an "I don't really care about those things" kind of response more and more than you'd see in a HT thread of the same character. Maybe it's the wow factor of the headsculpts that make everything else ok with most ppl? That's what it's looking like to me at least. Like Aragorn for instance-even in his inaccurate state, looked like the most realistic 1/6 scale figure that pretty much everyone (including myself) was ok with all those inaccuracies b/c of how good it looked overall. Which takes me back to my point in one of those TDK Joker threads that most ppl have a certain threshold of what they consider good enough for their shelves and don't care about the little details. My argument to that is always, if you've gone this far to take it to this level like InArt has done, why skimp out on these finer details? Take it all the way. I don't like the idea of having to upgrade parts later. Of course I don't have to, no one is forcing me to, but I'll definitely want to as my OCD won't let me just pretend it's ok for a character I care about like many of the LOTR characters

 

[Hologram AI]

I guess what I find most interesting is that if this was HT or Asmus, they'd be getting flack out the wazoo for missing those things. But, as mentioned in one of the TDK Joker threads, since it's InArt, they get a pass. Not trying to be argumentative or anything like that. Like I said, I just find how ppl treat InArt differently than they do any other companies and are willing to give them more passes than anyone else very, very interesting.

For InArt, it seems more of an "I don't really care about those things" kind of response more and more than you'd see in a HT thread of the same character. Maybe it's the wow factor of the headsculpts that make everything else ok with most ppl? That's what it's looking like to me at least. Like Aragorn for instance-even in his inaccurate state, looked like the most realistic 1/6 scale figure that pretty much everyone (including myself) was ok with all those inaccuracies b/c of how good it looked overall. Which takes me back to my point in one of those TDK Joker threads that most ppl have a certain threshold of what they consider good enough for their shelves and don't care about the little details. My argument to that is always, if you've gone this far to take it to this level like InArt has done, why skimp out on these finer details? Take it all the way. I don't like the idea of having to upgrade parts later. Of course I don't have to, no one is forcing me to, but I'll definitely want to as my OCD won't let me just pretend it's ok for a character I care about like many of the LOTR characters

It's a threshold thing for me more than anything and doesn't really fall on it being Hot Toys or INART. Although I guess the headsculpt being a step up above everything else does play a part to it.

Take the NWH Amazing Spider-Man figure for example. A figure that's been upgraded and yet they STILL manage to get the entire suit wrong + a terrible looking sculpt. It's hard to not see the entire figures fault at that point. It becomes a figure that's viewed as a:

"Well...we're not getting another Garfield figure. Might as well get this one I guess.."

Instead of a figure that's viewed as:

"Wow that's an amazing Garfield sculpt + they got the red shine right but they missed a detail on his webbing that I can live with."

The reason it might appear to be a Hot Toys vs INART thing is because INART has been a step above, for the most part, in the sculpt department above all else, which is arguably the most important part. Doesn't excuse any of the errors but I think the overall figure being better proportioned, tailored and sculpted plays a part into it.