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They did actually come out with the 1/4 scale War Machine Mark II. Pretty solid piece.
Play Imaginative - RIP in peace?
- Thread starter Plastic Bateman
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Ipodimusprime
Freaked Out
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I saw that at the airport in Hong Kong as I was due to fly back to the UK last summer - pricey but looked very impressive. I thought that they were only ever really aiming for the Far Eastern market anyway which I thought a bit limited in thinking - why exclude a huge community of collectors in the West? Shame as their prototypes looked good and competition would be good to keep Hot Toys on their toes.
The PI 1/6 Midas was also available in Europe, but mainly via ebay.. Tbh, if PI had managed to get a 1/6 or 1/4 Mk42 released through an organised distribution channel, without undue delays, I would have been tempted.. but the repeated delays, while they kept announcing yet more prototypes, just made me nervous.
Resident Eric
Super Freak
are they even making mickey mouse figures anymore 
Their 1/4 mk 42 with Pepper Potts headsculpt was kind of nice though.
Their 1/4 mk 42 with Pepper Potts headsculpt was kind of nice though.
bunnyfreakz
Super Freak
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Solid piece indeed but overpriced. Its cost $600 meanwhile HT mark 43 1/4 is $500, HT offers more and cheaper.
And when Hot Toys is the cheaper one....well....
Tbh, the additional Potts HS would have almost certainly persuaded me to buy PI's 1/4 Mk42, even at $600.. very disappointed HT have not done an 'accessory pack' Potts HS, for their 1/6 Mk42.
Interestingly, that would actually have saved me over $100.. because if I had bought a PI 1/4 Mk42, I would not have bought the HT 1/6 Mk42 and pre-ordered the HT 1/4 Mk43.
HT 1:4 is $544+shipping, but it does offer more. If HT does a diecast 1:4 Iron Man it will exceed PI's retail asking price I'd imagine.
bunnyfreakz
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To be honest dieast is feature people care less. Its offer nothing in appearance or articulation but more shipping cost and more expensive pricetag. After mark 42 and IP, people prefer back to plastic. Well off course HT is aware enough to not put diecast for 1/4 or price will skyrocketed
Hmmmm.. I think HT were smart to offer a diecast range that effectively ate PI's breakfast, but used a much smaller percentage of diecast components.. enough to use the tag of 'diecast' for marketing and also give HT's figures the necessary diecast 'heft'..but keeping the costs as low as possible.. and HT are still producing diecast figures: Iron Whiplash and the Mk III, with every indication from Howard Chan that there will continue to be diecast releases.
Imho, it's impossible to say whether HT's sudden interest in diecast was originally a deliberate spoiler, in the face of PI's prototype announcements.. but HT certainly seem happy with the medium, now they have produced a number of figures allowing them to judge market demand on genuine sales figures, rather than just preorders.
Indeed, HT appear more committed to diecast now, than when they announced WM2 and Iron Patriot.. which in many respects was two figures from one set of molds, and therefore the safest bet for testing the market.
Imho, it's impossible to say whether HT's sudden interest in diecast was originally a deliberate spoiler, in the face of PI's prototype announcements.. but HT certainly seem happy with the medium, now they have produced a number of figures allowing them to judge market demand on genuine sales figures, rather than just preorders.
Indeed, HT appear more committed to diecast now, than when they announced WM2 and Iron Patriot.. which in many respects was two figures from one set of molds, and therefore the safest bet for testing the market.
HeubertMichael
Super Freak
I'm as interested as some of you guys, to know what really happened. While the products they released had a lot to improve on and were on the pricey side, there could be something else. Could it be possible that they spent a lot on the development/protos of some 1/6 and 1/4 figures to follow their Mark 7 and War Machine 2.0, only to have them scrapped in the end? I can't remember where I read it but there was this short-lived gossip/rumor saying that Howard felt bad that Marvel handed the rights for 1/6 IM figures, and that he asked for it to be HT's exclusively. Maybe same thing with the 1/4 license.
Agreed, I strongly suspect a significant element of PI's 'delays' may have been caused by a (behind the scenes) contractual small print battle, over license rights.. which Howard won.
It seems unlikely HT's diecast figure announcements alone, would have been sufficient to scupper PI's release schedule.. but add a mix of contractual disputes and QC issues with PI's original releases.. combined with over-ambitious marketing, spreading potential pre-orders from Collectors too thin, over too many (expensive) figures.. now that could sink the ship.
It seems unlikely HT's diecast figure announcements alone, would have been sufficient to scupper PI's release schedule.. but add a mix of contractual disputes and QC issues with PI's original releases.. combined with over-ambitious marketing, spreading potential pre-orders from Collectors too thin, over too many (expensive) figures.. now that could sink the ship.
HeubertMichael
Super Freak
If those rumors were true, I feel sorry for PI. I admire them for having the guts to compete on the same scale as HT on a license that made HT really huge. I'd say King Arts made the smarter choice of doing 1/9 scale, but I wonder -- maybe they learned from PI's experience?
Yup, it's interesting that many other figure manufacturers have gone for producing figures at a variety of scales, that HT do not appear to be as interested in.. or like Kotobukiya, with 1/6 kits where you have to assemble a few parts, so they are not going head to head with HT.. I suspect HT have not been overly impressed with the sales stats of their Power Pose figures, which must have been a relief for Kotobukiya.
That said, it could also be down to HT's lawyers having done a sterling job on the contracts.. leaving competitors with very little 'wiggle' room, Enterbay spring to mind, as well as PI.
We can agree to disagree here. As someone who spends a majority of time in marvel IM-related threads I can assure you that an enormous amount of collectors have posted that they want diecast Iron Man figures a bajillion times over, and people have passed on IM3 releases like Heartbreaker & Starboost b/c they weren;t diecast. The IM diecast figures have offered advancements and improvements in articulation over their plastic counterparts btw, so it isn't just heft that the collector is getting. For example, the diecast IM figures can be posed doing the classic ground pound/punch whereas the plastic ones cannot unless you take a leg off and prop it under the belly lol.
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