Poor 12" Aragorn....not so popular....

[Vonhahn]

So after spending a crazy day with the 12" Han Solo, I shopped around and found out that 12" regular Aragorn is still for sale! And the limited edition I remember took almost all day for him to sell out. At 1250 for the exclusive version, the Star Wars kit fisto took like 30 min to sell out, but Aragorn at 1750 all day? I know there are not as many LOTR fans as Star Wars (I happen to be both) but I am just getting an oogie feeling, NO FACTS OR INFO MIND YOU, but just a feeling that the LOTR line isn't going to last nearly as long as the Star Wars line and I wonder if we will be lucky to just get the fellowship.....

 

[The Josh]

So after spending a crazy day with the 12" Han Solo, I shopped around and found out that 12" regular Aragorn is still for sale! And the limited edition I remember took almost all day for him to sell out. At 1250 for the exclusive version, the Star Wars kit fisto took like 30 min to sell out, but Aragorn at 1750 all day? I know there are not as many LOTR fans as Star Wars (I happen to be both) but I am just getting an oogie feeling, NO FACTS OR INFO MIND YOU, but just a feeling that the LOTR line isn't going to last nearly as long as the Star Wars line and I wonder if we will be lucky to just get the fellowship.....

The line will be fine and many figures will come out but not as many as SW as SS has already said that.

 

[Deadly Dagger]

...star wars fans are nuts man...nuts

 

[Customikey]

I think it's funny that we are worrying about a line, not because there seems to be a general lack of interest, but because it's not selling out fast enough. But it IS selling out!! I'd say that's a pretty good sign!

 

[Batty]

I have the regular edition ordered and I'm on the wait list for the exclusive. I'm sure a line's survival doesn't depend on how fast it sells. If they weren't moving at all would be a problem.

 

[gtb]

So after spending a crazy day with the 12" Han Solo, I shopped around and found out that 12" regular Aragorn is still for sale! And the limited edition I remember took almost all day for him to sell out. At 1250 for the exclusive version, the Star Wars kit fisto took like 30 min to sell out, but Aragorn at 1750 all day? I know there are not as many LOTR fans as Star Wars (I happen to be both) but I am just getting an oogie feeling, NO FACTS OR INFO MIND YOU, but just a feeling that the LOTR line isn't going to last nearly as long as the Star Wars line and I wonder if we will be lucky to just get the fellowship.....

Sometimes it is not about being FANS... but many collectors are actually investors, so like stocks, there are bound to be some items which they wish to speculate in than the others.

 

[NASEDO]

I have no interest in the 12 inch LOTR line. Its been done maybe not as good but I'm sick of seeing the same thing over & over. For me its just too much, 1/6, 12 inch, and PF of the same figures.

What SS should of done was a series of LOTR "VS" dioramas. That would be great since it hasn't been done.

 

[leebgb]

What SS should of done was a series of LOTR "VS" dioramas. That would be great since it hasn't been done.

Now that would have been f****** cool!!!!!!!! Especially with environmental bases.

1. Lurtz vs. Boromir Lurtz with drawn bow & arrow in front of a wounded Boromir

2. Sam & Frodo vs. Smeagol from the beginning of TTT

3. Gandalf vs. Saruman in Orthanc

4. Aragorn with torch vs. Ringwraith from Weathertop

etc.

 

[SolidLiquidFox]

I'll say this about the LOTR 12" line: It's a lot more feasible to get the entire Fellowship from this plus a few other key figures than it is from the PF 1/4 line. Expect a reduction on the edition size for the LOTR 12".

Also, it's unfair to compare 12" LOTR to 12" SW in terms of sales. It's actually ridiculous when you see the kind of fans that SW has. For the most part, they are already conditioned to collecting figures, dolls, ships, statues and all kinds of merchandising. LOTR fans are more into props and the Weta pieces they have invested on for all these years.

LOTR fever is not what it used to be but it doesn't mean the line will flop. 12" is money in the bank for SS almost regardless of the line.

 

[The Josh]

LOTR fever is not what it used to be but it doesn't mean the line will flop. 12" is money in the bank for SS almost regardless of the line.

I don't think the Fever has died down as much as a lot of folks that where in it for the ride or speculation have gone awa leaving those of us if we can afford them try to get them. Not to mention as you said SW fans and LOTR fans are very different as a whole.

 

[FrankenFan]

I think there's a division between 1:6 collectors who are LotR fans, and LotR fans who are WETA collectors.

The majority of the WETA collectors want fully sculpted statues, and they regard the 12" and PF figures as dolls. They simply want to unbox and display the works of "art" created by the artisans at WETA.

The majority of the 1:6 collectors don't want statues, they want articulated dolls that they can pose and kitbash. They want to interact with their toys and they want their toys to interact with their other toys.

I know that's a broad generalization, and there are many people who fall somewhere in between those two categories (like me), but it's basically the doll people v. the statue people.

 

[thamesvalidude]

I agree totally FF. I have statues and dolls posed together.

Now make that banner come true!!!!!

 

[CAhobbit]

I don't see where people are coming from when they compare the SW 12-inch and LOTR 12-inch lines. This whole idea that the LOTR 12-inch line is going to crash and burn because the regular figure hasn't sold out yet just makes me chuckle a little bit. SW and LOTR are very different (as many have said). SW fans have been on the merchandising train for years and years and LOTR collecting (such as it is) is really a more recent occurance. I believe SW will always have the bigger base of collectors but I wouldn't count out the profitiablity of LOTR merchandise (especially this new 12-inch line from SS).

And why is no one make a hub bub about the new Angel 12-inch? That one only has an exclusive of 500 and as of late last night PST the exclusive was still avaliable. Guess that means that line is going to crash and burn as well.

 

[Darklord Dave]

SSC does well with Buffy where some figures have the regular run at the same edition size as an exclusive in the SW line. So the fact that Aragorn took an entire day to sell 1750 figures isn't some sign of the LotR line failing. It may never be as successful as SW, but SW has had 30 years to build up a following and I do agree with the above posts that there are different types of collectors that are fans of the 2 different properties.

 

[Seretur]

I can't believe noone here has yet challenged Vonhahn's claim that it took almost a day for the Aragorn Exclusive to sell out. It's been less than a month since it happened, right?

And he sold out in four or five hours. Not a whole day.

His regular edition is still TBD, so Sideshow is biding its time. Nothing to do with the respective popularity of the lines, at all... Although, yes, the SW fans are more rabid, but then they had thirty years to develop their craving.

 

[chamildav]

What Frankenfan said makes sense to me. I've always thought of SW fans as toy collectors anyway. I think that's a new concept for LotR fans. It just makes sense to me that SW would be the hottest license ever for 1/6th figures or any other collectible toy line. It just really can't be compared to anything else.

Anyway, Aragorn is a great looking figure and might change some minds about "doll" collecting. I think selling out a 1/6th figure edition of 1750 pieces in less than a day is far from a failure, so maybe it already has.
Can't wait to get mine and I'm not as big a fan of the films as some although I think they are wonderfully crafted epics. It's just a really excellent figure. Whats not to be excited about?

 

[Poggle the Greater]

...star wars fans are nuts man...nuts

That we are...


Although I got into SS collecting for SW, I personally think the Aragorn blows away all of the SW 12"

I probably won't buy every one of them as I will the SW line but I will certainly buy all of the characters I really like if SS makes them all with artistry of that Aragorn.

 

[Vonhahn]

I think the success and longivity of a line is by it's demand and the dollars it generates for the development company. I am just saying that there dosen't seem to be as much demand. Is that at leaset a fair statement? If that then is true...if there is not as much demand....will there be as much supply? I certainly agree that the line will continue for some time, but I haven't seen anything in the above posts to convince me that the LORT line will come "long in the tooth" much quicker then the Star Wars line and it just makes me a little sad.

 

[GhostofMacbeth]

I am trying to figure out how long the wait list is. I am on it for the exclusive and I am debating ordering the normal one just in case I miss on the exclusive. I forgot how quick these things can sell out but I really want the cloak. Does anyone know of a way to see how long the wait list is? I know I did it sometime on Saturday the day after it was released. Morning I think.

 

[Darklord Dave]

Hello and welcome GoMB!

In the past if the waitlist for the exclusive gets too long they will sometimes email those on the list and tell them they should probably order the regular. But at the rate these sell out that may not be an option.

You can always cancel an order easily too, so keep that in mind.