Asmus Toys: Gandalf the White

[superdoug]

Yes,
I don't see any reason to keep it a secret.

WK = 2000
Gothmog = 900
Gandalf = 1000

And we do not make re-run for any of our products,
it is one of our principle.

Knowing that makes me wish I had the funds to get a second of each just in case something happens to my first one. I did that with the Sideshow figures and I had vowed to never do that again but with runs that low the temptation is back.

 

[Invictus Sol]

I've had the same urge to get doubles of certain prized figures, but I've resisted it as just being too OCD/paranoid. Really one could end-up w/2 sets of everything and when you think about it, the chances of anything "happening to the first one" are slim indeed. That said, these runs are a lot smaller than I would've expected, given the property.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Shows you the reality of the 1/6 figure market. I truly believe we all think there are more people in this hobby then there truly are.

And I wonder if Asmus had to cut back its edition sizes by 50% based on Witch-King sales?


Basd on the above, I preordered Gandalf. Thanks for the push, Asmus. Either Gothmod is way over-produced, or Gandalf the White is gonna be very hard to find one day.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Shows you the reality of the 1/6 figure market. I truly believe we all think there are more people in this hobby then there truly are.

And I wonder if Asmus had to cut back its edition sizes by 50% based on Witch-King sales?


Based on the above, I preordered Gandalf. Thanks for the push, Asmus. Either Gothmog is way over-produced, or Gandalf the White is gonna be very hard to find one day.

 

[Lejuan]

ACI put out 1500 of their Roman General and it just about PO sold out. The number of people clamouring for it pushed the after market to double its MSRP almost straight away. That was a grail character though, I think 1000 Gandalf the Whites sounds about right in the short term - long term I think this'll be a rare find with an asking price to match.

 

[SurlyJ]

Sounds about right. 900 gothmogs will take a while to sell. We do tend to think there is a huge market for high end collectibles. While it is a solid industry, it is very much niche. And that's the really popular ones. Obscure characters like gothmog are niche of niche. Gandalf the white isn't obscure, but he is far removed from screen time in a movie theater.

 

[Rydeck]

Those numbers are interesting. I'm sure that I'm biased because I'm a big 1/6 scale collector, but I still find it amazing that so few people would be interested in these figures. LOTR is a big enough pop culture thing that I could see LOTR-related merchandise crossing over into more mainstream territory. Granted, the original LOTR trilogy is over a decade old now, but The Hobbit films are keeping the LOTR universe in the public's consciousness.

I'll admit that there are a number of people I know like my sister-in-law and a few of my coworkers who are creeped out by dolls and/or the uncanny valley effect, so I guess it's not that unusual.

 

[Asmus]

Have to say Hobbit didn't bring the kind market impact LOTR brought to us back in the days,
I would say Marvel is the main reason that the current generation are not into it.

 

[SurlyJ]

Have to say Hobbit didn't bring the kind market impact LOTR brought to us back in the days,
I would say Marvel is the main reason that the current generation are not into it.

I certainly believe that. Also, Peter Jackson is taking much more liberties with the Hobbit than he did with LOTR. LOTR was in itself, an epic. Hobbit was a children's fun romp, which Jackson is turning into an epic. Yes, he is still drawing from source material, but he is trying to turn something that isn't LOTR isn't LOTR adjacent, when really, LOTR and the Hobbit, in theme and tone, don't have much to do with each other. Add in that everyone is obsessed with Iron Man and the Avengers these days, and I can totally see people enjoying the Hobbit, but not flocking to it commercially like they did LOTR.

 

[Asmus]

I certainly believe that. Also, Peter Jackson is taking much more liberties with the Hobbit than he did with LOTR. LOTR was in itself, an epic. Hobbit was a children's fun romp, which Jackson is turning into an epic. Yes, he is still drawing from source material, but he is trying to turn something that isn't LOTR isn't LOTR adjacent, when really, LOTR and the Hobbit, in theme and tone, don't have much to do with each other. Add in that everyone is obsessed with Iron Man and the Avengers these days, and I can totally see people enjoying the Hobbit, but not flocking to it commercially like they did LOTR.

I remember back in the days, I was in college. LOTR was everywhere!

Statue, diorama, hasbro figures in all sorts of size, 1:1 props...etc.

It was the main trend. Much like Ironman now.

 

[Rydeck]

Yes, he is still drawing from source material, but he is trying to turn something that isn't LOTR isn't LOTR adjacent, when really, LOTR and the Hobbit, in theme and tone, don't have much to do with each other. Add in that everyone is obsessed with Iron Man and the Avengers these days, and I can totally see people enjoying the Hobbit, but not flocking to it commercially like they did LOTR.

I remember reading somewhere that Tolkien intended to rewrite The Hobbit to be more like LOTR, so the fact that Peter Jackson is changing things up (or making things up) to create prequels to LOTR from The Hobbit and other Tolkien material is not completely off-base... except that we're only getting a trilogy because the movie studio pushed for it.

The response to The Hobbit films does seem rather muted. I recall LOTR being labeled as the Star Wars for a new generation, but that doesn't really seem to be the case. Like you said, Marvel's movies and comic book movies in general are all the rage these days and there will be new Star Wars movies coming soon, all of which will likely keep LOTR as the niche interest it always has been.

 

[SurlyJ]

I remember back in the days, I was in college. LOTR was everywhere!

Statue, diorama, hasbro figures in all sorts of size, 1:1 props...etc.

It was the main trend. Much like Ironman now.

Well everyone was so impressed that the movies got made at all and were done so well! But people are fickle and I feel like outside of real Tolkein book fans, they look at the Hobbit and yawn "been there seen that."

Why they didn't have that reaction to Iron Man 3 is a mystery.

 

[SurlyJ]

I remember reading somewhere that Tolkien intended to rewrite The Hobbit to be more like LOTR, so the fact that Peter Jackson is changing things up (or making things up) to create prequels to LOTR from The Hobbit and other Tolkien material is not completely off-base... except that we're only getting a trilogy because the movie studio pushed for it.

The response to The Hobbit films does seem rather muted. I recall LOTR being labeled as the Star Wars for a new generation, but that doesn't really seem to be the case. Like you said, Marvel's movies and comic book movies in general are all the rage these days and there will be new Star Wars movies coming soon, all of which will likely keep LOTR as the niche interest it always has been.

Really? Wouldn't surprise me. But still, there is a big difference between making a movie based off a work of literature and making a movie based off an intention about a book of literature.

I just think the Hobbit would have been more successful overall if Jackson had taken a different approach with it and stuck to the more storybook nature of the Hobbit. It is, afterall, a children's book, written for Tolkien's son. It's a fantasy romp that simultaneously sets the stage for the darker, more serious and much more complex and dense LOTR epic. The Hobbit, by the very nature of it's story, is not an epic, but a fantastical tale. I still have really enjoyed the Hobbit movies, and Desolation of Smaug was awesome and I love it, and am looking forward to the Battle of the Five Armies or whatever they are calling it, but as a big Tolkein fan and a big Jackson fan, there are several things in the movies, while done with good intentions, serve for me to diminish Tolkien's work instead of uphold it. Tolkien is a better story writer than Jackson, so some things changed just for the sake of making a more epic movie are bothersome. Other changes are great though, like all the stuff in Dol Goldur. It was always intriguing to read about what Gandalf was doing in the appendices and the Silmarillion, and I love how Jackson worked that stuff in.

I wonder if Jackson will stick with Middle Eartha and attempt to do another Tolkien story. My pipe dream is a movie about Beren and Luthien.

Anyway, I'm rambling, and I'll stop

 

[jra81984]

I think the Hobbit movies are not delivering the same punch that LOTR did is because the story in general is not that epic. I think Peter Jackson is doing a decent job, but the story elements are just not strong enough... especially to warrant 3 movies.

I won't rant too much about the overuse of CG in the Hobbit Films, but man that doesn't help the series for me. Those orc makeups / costumes were what made them so menacing in the original movies, and now they are just CG and lacklustre.

 

[Darklord Dave]

I think it's more that people got saturated with Middle Earth with LotR. For 50 years people had wanted decent merchandise based on their beloved stories. Then they got them in great droves with LotR. That's why we aren't seeing as much merchandising with Hobbit. Also Weta is much more controlling of licensing than previously.

 

[Lejuan]

I agree with jra - The Hobbit simply doesn't warrant 3 movies. It comes across as almost Lucas-esque in its hubris. And the story treatment... Jackson was cut a lot of slack on various narrative elements owing to the massive undertaking of simply getting the three books onto screen. But The Hobbit? It's an afternoon read. I've only seen the first movie so far, but WTF with Radagast (for example)? Did he need to be there at all? Only if you're making a 3-movie epic instead of a tightly scripted 2.5 hours.

I loved LOTR. The Hobbit... it might pick up in parts 2 and 3, but the first movie I found incredibly underwhelming. Still, Middle Earth deserves better 1/6 treatment than it has had to date. No 1/6 Gollum, far out. I hope ACI and Asmus enjoy good success with the license.

 

[SurlyJ]

I will say I found Desolation to be a much better film than Unexpected Journey.

 

[DEADDACK_33]

I'm probably the only one, but I've really enjoyed both Hobbit movies so far. I thought they were good and ensured I had the day off from work to pick up DOS on DVD on April 8th.

 

[rhboyd]

Yup... I'm with you. I love the new films! Any time spent in middle earth is great! I love the different tone of the films... the importing of other works to unify the vision... the idea of Smaug being a potential threat once the Dark emerges again... all so good!! So happy I pre-ordered GtW when he was first announced!! really anxious for the Strider ranger...

 

[Sankari]

Any new pictures ? they posted that they had changed the face etc.