Interest thread:art of hot toys book project marvel

[Motuxmen]

Hello. I've thought about this for sometime and a few recent discusions have spurred me to see if there's actual interest. Becuase if the hardcore collectors here are not interested, hard to imagine anyone else being. So...

Would you be interested in a series of "art of" hot toys books? Marvel and Dc and alien ect. Or maybe one large book with everyrhing.

If so what would you like to see in it?

What photos or behind the scenes story's?

What articles or interviews?

Any other ideas?

Paperback (not cheap but like say a large auction catalog) or hardcover?

What price would you pay?

Also, I may if I go forward be looking for collection photos and possibly a photographer to do some work

 

[Johnny Utah]

I'd like to see them do a book not just limited to Marvel.

 

[toycrypt]

Yes.

 

[spindrift]

absolutely

 

[Brainiac]

Yes this sounds interesting. I guess I'd like to see one of these. Hardcover for me
Not sure what price I'd pay, I'd have to see it first

Nor sure about interviews and stuff but an artists/photographers section should be included that highlights some of the best collector photos

 

[Motuxmen]

Ok. So who's photos would you like? And if those people see this would you be interested in contributing?

 

[Y4NK33 PL4N3T]

Yes, have been saying this for a long time and every time I see the Sideshow catalog.

Would gladly pay for a premium hardcover Art of Hot Toys Marvel edition.

 

[Darklord Dave]

Definitely HOT TOYS should do this. I think it should cover the entire history back to when they did the first Terminator figures without an Arnie likeness. It should include everything, including behind the scenes shots. Official photos from the time of release and more artsy recent photos.

 

[Motuxmen]

Definitely HOT TOYS should do this. I think it should cover the entire history back to when they did the first Terminator figures without an Arnie likeness. It should include everything, including behind the scenes shots. Official photos from the time of release and more artsy recent photos.

Ok great. So in lue of them doing it, as they could have at any point, it will only happen if someone else does. So, this is why i am looking into doing one. I started this thread to find out if there would be interest in a third party book. I am not looking to make an unauthorized cheap junk book. But it's not cheap or free so before I start really putting money into it and putting in an official request to hot toys I was trying to gauge interest. In a book I did.

 

[Centrocal]

I imagine it would be a nightmare for HT to publish a book with all those licensed characters.

 

[Y4NK33 PL4N3T]

Ok great. So in lue of them doing it, as they could have at any point, it will only happen if someone else does. So, this is why i am looking into doing one. I started this thread to find out if there would be interest in a third party book. I am not looking to make an unauthorized cheap junk book. But it's not cheap or free so before I start really putting money into it and putting in an official request to hot toys I was trying to gauge interest. In a book I did.

Question: Since you plan on doing this 3rd party, are you privy to inside information or photographs of figure releases throughout all stages of development? A book like this would be pretty awesome if readers could get a look at early prototypes that were worked on whether they were used or scrapped in lieu of the official releases.

 

[Motuxmen]

That's something I will look into. I do have access to some of that material. But it's not something I could publish in a book without permission. Not that I would even if I didn't want to peeve off some friends. Just not a cool thing to do, I think.

It's something I think would add a lot to a book. And something I think I may be able to convince the company about. Their PR department would probably agree.

Those are things I will try to get permission to use. But that's up to hot toys. I'm sure we can come up with some type of deal. I don't care about making any money on this book. Just enough to cover costs would be fine. So I can use any profit potential as a negotiation chip. Offer a large portion of it to them in exchange for access. Or permission. I have a fair bit of access. It's being able to legally use the items. Lol

I've been going back and forth about doing the book or trying to reboot a mag like Toyfair. But I think doing a book is more what I want. If it where to do well I would not mind doing a series, say do one about hasbro and transformers. Then Star Wars. Then Lego. Then motuc. Whatever. I think a book with behind the scenes info, proto pics, factory pics, Hq pics, some from show set up and prep, and interviews. Plus a full visual list of every product. Including box art and ads and whatnot. This is what I would like. But I am unsure if the community at large would as well.

And even though I'm planning to do it third party I would still do it with hot toys permission. I'd make sure it's an authorized product.

 

[Motuxmen]

They can publish if it's work product. It's not as complicated as it would seem. They already have the approvals for marketing and whatnot in the license agreements to make the figures.

It's like toy fair or lees magazine.

 

[Y4NK33 PL4N3T]

Granted you get permission I think this is an easy sell. I'd wager that people who are dropping $200-$300 per figure would have a genuine interest of what goes on behind the scenes producing these products. If the TV show 'How it's made' is any indication this would do pretty well.

 

[EndoSickness]

Count me in if not to costy.
Sounds fun, project-wise especially.

 

[Motuxmen]

The standard art of books have an Msrp around 60 bucks.

But if this has a full visual of every figure it would be 7 times the size of the aou art of book. (Estimated obviously)

If I can do the work in house, at least some, and get a good publication deal if it's one large book I think best price would be around (at very very best) 100 dollars. Probably a fair bit more.

But there's also potential to break it down. Do one large all in book...and several smaller volume type ones. Like a marvel one, and a dc, ect. That way people have options. Not sure yet. I've submitted my request to hot toys corp office so I'll see what they say.

I don't imagine this would be a cheap book though. You figure they have nearly 500 figures so far, released. That's a lot of color pages.

 

[Michael Crawford]

You don't have to have their permission, nor the rights to the characters or the license holders permission. Mattel fought and lost that battle in court in the 80's over Barbie books. As long as this is a collector's guide, then it falls under the usual editorial use category. Of course, getting their buy in would provide you with more inside content, and provide for a better long term relationship...

 

[Motuxmen]

Yes I know as a third party I could make an unauthorized book. It's why I've used that terminology in every post. But, I find that to be a crappy way to do things. Plus I have zero interest in upsetting relationships I currently have. So as I said, I would only produce an authorized book.

 

[Y4NK33 PL4N3T]

Just thinking about an all in one, comprehensive book that includes every HT release up to this point is mind boggling. That's a huge undertaking, and I think if you opt to go that route you're going to regret it. Not only will that take forever and a day to compile for you personally, but I think if you try to cram all those releases into a single book that you're going to have to leave out a lot of interesting commentary, concept photography & other background information on individual releases that would make the book much more fun to read and that you'd be able to include if it were released in volumes [Marvel, DC, Disney, etc]. Just my 2c, I'd buy it either way haha.

 

[BagginsOfBagEnd]

Definitely HOT TOYS should do this. I think it should cover the entire history back to when they did the first Terminator figures without an Arnie likeness. It should include everything, including behind the scenes shots. Official photos from the time of release and more artsy recent photos.

Would love to see this happen - I love these kind of books