[iminime] Sculpt wishlist

[axecutioner18]

That being the case, I would think they want to produce characters that are recognizable and have a large sized fan base who are willing to put $300.

Fixed :lecture

 

[Joned]

This was the second part of my reply and more "blue sky" thinking.

I said it would be great *IF* they could get SW, ST and LotR. Which wouldn't happen anyway without a proper (and expensive) license. And SS is not HT or EB. Sideshow's crappy human sculpts are what has kept me out of the LotR and SW lines for the most part (I bought a few and subsequently sold them after seeing how horrible they were). Sideshow is doing a nice job on the Aliens, Droids and Armored characters, but the humans were terrible. Yes, HT has Luke coming and a few more announced but we've seen how slowly that's been going. Iminime's sculpts look much nicer than SS's and they are hungrier than Hot Toys, so it would be great to have a producer on it that could deliver a high quality line of humans. Regarding Nanjin's Star Trek, I have those and they are fantastic. But you're talking about a small custom operation as opposed to a mid-size company who might be able to have a real go at the property. Iminime is at that middle tier between the big guns like HT and EB and the limited edition artists like Rainman and Serang. HT and EB have a bunch of licenses but are constantly retreading and/or overlapping on the same characters--Batman, Terminator, Bruce Lee, Iron Man, Rambo, rinse, repeat. It would be nice to have Iminime and a few other hungry, mid-sized companies in that niche of high quality $250-$350 figs of fan favorite characters.
I'm guessing here, but let's say on average HT and EB probably sell 500-1000 units per character release (Batman and Iron Man are likely at the higher end which is why you see so many versions). Rainman and Serang's runs are 10-20. So I'd figure Iminime and other mid-sizers would be looking for characters where they can do runs of maybe 50-100. That being the case, I would think they want to produce characters that are recognizable and have a decent sized fan base.

Goodpost and amen to that:

 

[Ironman1188]

This was the second part of my reply and more "blue sky" thinking.

I said it would be great *IF* they could get SW, ST and LotR. Which wouldn't happen anyway without a proper (and expensive) license. And SS is not HT or EB. Sideshow's crappy human sculpts are what has kept me out of the LotR and SW lines for the most part (I bought a few and subsequently sold them after seeing how horrible they were). Sideshow is doing a nice job on the Aliens, Droids and Armored characters, but the humans were terrible. Yes, HT has Luke coming and a few more announced but we've seen how slowly that's been going. Iminime's sculpts look much nicer than SS's and they are hungrier than Hot Toys, so it would be great to have a producer on it that could deliver a high quality line of humans. Regarding Nanjin's Star Trek, I have those and they are fantastic. But you're talking about a small custom operation as opposed to a mid-size company who might be able to have a real go at the property. Iminime is at that middle tier between the big guns like HT and EB and the limited edition artists like Rainman and Serang. HT and EB have a bunch of licenses but are constantly retreading and/or overlapping on the same characters--Batman, Terminator, Bruce Lee, Iron Man, Rambo, rinse, repeat. It would be nice to have Iminime and a few other hungry, mid-sized companies in that niche of high quality $250-$350 figs of fan favorite characters.
I'm guessing here, but let's say on average HT and EB probably sell 500-1000 units per character release (Batman and Iron Man are likely at the higher end which is why you see so many versions). Rainman and Serang's runs are 10-20. So I'd figure Iminime and other mid-sizers would be looking for characters where they can do runs of maybe 50-100. That being the case, I would think they want to produce characters that are recognizable and have a decent sized fan base.

I'll give you that Sideshow's human sculpts are lacking.
However, I have yet to see any hungry or mid-size companies meet nanjin's degree of quality. I don't know of any, and please if they do let me know, other "small custom operation" that have vinyl, pre-painted heads. Accessories that work like the phaser magnets do on the Star Trek trio, the attention to that detail, like leather boots and the medical gear.
I will agree with the fact that recognizeable characters are important, but that doesn't mean we should see the big companies, the in between companies AND the little guy all making the same characters over and over again.

 

[nexus]

Again, I have the Nanjin Star Trek Kirk, Spock and Bones and they are fantastic. If Nanjin could do the entire Bridge Crew (not to mention the TNG and DS9 crews and some of the Alien races) I'd be all over it. I'm just not sure Nanjin has the resources to take it on. Can a mid-sized company match the likenesses? I'm not sure because the bar is pretty high. But it would be great to have someone like an Iminime taking on the line. The good news is there seems to be an opportunity for more mid-sized and niche companies to hop into the 1:6 market these days. So it's probably only a matter of time before we do see some higher quality pieces with great likenesses creating some real competition for the bigger, slower moving companies who seem content to sit on licenses and not produce a lot of what collectors are asking for.

 

[intothevoid]

This was the second part of my reply and more "blue sky" thinking.

I said it would be great *IF* they could get SW, ST and LotR. Which wouldn't happen anyway without a proper (and expensive) license. And SS is not HT or EB. Sideshow's crappy human sculpts are what has kept me out of the LotR and SW lines for the most part (I bought a few and subsequently sold them after seeing how horrible they were). Sideshow is doing a nice job on the Aliens, Droids and Armored characters, but the humans were terrible. Yes, HT has Luke coming and a few more announced but we've seen how slowly that's been going. Iminime's sculpts look much nicer than SS's and they are hungrier than Hot Toys, so it would be great to have a producer on it that could deliver a high quality line of humans. Regarding Nanjin's Star Trek, I have those and they are fantastic. But you're talking about a small custom operation as opposed to a mid-size company who might be able to have a real go at the property. Iminime is at that middle tier between the big guns like HT and EB and the limited edition artists like Rainman and Serang. HT and EB have a bunch of licenses but are constantly retreading and/or overlapping on the same characters--Batman, Terminator, Bruce Lee, Iron Man, Rambo, rinse, repeat. It would be nice to have Iminime and a few other hungry, mid-sized companies in that niche of high quality $250-$350 figs of fan favorite characters.
I'm guessing here, but let's say on average HT and EB probably sell 500-1000 units per character release (Batman and Iron Man are likely at the higher end which is why you see so many versions). Rainman and Serang's runs are 10-20. So I'd figure Iminime and other mid-sizers would be looking for characters where they can do runs of maybe 50-100. That being the case, I would think they want to produce characters that are recognizable and have a decent sized fan base.

Good post but I believe HT runs are now more like between 5k and 10k, and maybe even higher on the top end.

 

[PopCultKid]

Yea my guess is back when a piece used to sell out fast on Sideshow, they were doing 3000-4000. My guess is they're probably doing 5000-6000 nowadays.

 

[axecutioner18]

5000 is a minimum number these days in terms of mass produced figures...

 

[karamazov80]

If HT produced 5,000+ Dastans, then that sucks for them :lol

 

[axecutioner18]

They kinda make that up with 8000+ Batman DX figure sales... its a funny world, when your company becomes a giant, losses on certain lines dont hurt that much... but when you are small and growing, marginal losses hurt a lot...

 

[Mr. EcKo]

No Country for Old men Anton Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[nexus]

5000 is a minimum number these days in terms of mass produced figures...

Since they're not numbered I had no idea. 5,000 figs at $200/ea. is $1M gross. That starts to make sense when you figure cost of licensing, production, packaging, marketing, distribution, overhead. Still probably leaves a tidy margin. So maybe the mid-sizers are looking at anywhere from 250 > 500 > 1000 units per @$300, which is going to be $75K > $150K > $300K gross. All the more reason why character selection has to be pretty spot on. Although in this thread we are talking about 50 sets.

 

[PopCultKid]

If HT produced 5,000+ Dastans, then that sucks for them :lol

:lol

Actually it sucks for the retailers(unless the HT flagship store still has Dastans on the shelf :lol). HT sells most of their stock and the guys who get the shaft are Sideshow and a bunch of other big retailers that stock heavy. Those are the people that are still choking on a bunch of Supermen, Goblins, Friends, Bruce Lee's, etc. that they can't find homes for.

From what I'm gathering from some guys I know that buy big, they feel like HT really over produced Supes(maybe 1000-1500 more than usual).

 

[Mr. EcKo]

Toy Anxiety still has a Boxed Dastan for sale :lol

https://www.toyanxiety.com/princeofpersiaprincedastan-boxedfigure.aspx

 

[axecutioner18]

Well the inevitable has happened

BATEMAN HAS BEEN SHOWN INTEREST BY IMINIME!
They will start work as soon as we can fill the interest list and show enough interest!
also this will be managed by me like the Ras Al Ghul/The Demons Head project was so I will make sure all the voices are heard and all the input taken to make this the DEFINITIVE BATEMAN figure!

Show you interest and get on the list here!
https://sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showthread.php?t=115822

 

[TheMadButcher]

Can't believe it today....
Fight Club gets approved and Bateman announced!
Thank you Denny and Iminime.
Maybe i will win the lottery too?

 

[Lejuan]

You buggers better buy the hell outta those Fightclub figures.

 

[TheMadButcher]

You buggers better buy the hell outta those Fightclub figures.

With iminime having the best Pitt likeness to date........we will!
48 people interested for a pair without even seeing a picture. Once a pic is up these things will be gone before you know it.

 

[Lejuan]

With iminime having the best Pitt likeness to date........we will!
48 people interested for a pair without even seeing a picture. Once a pic is up these things will be gone before you know it.

:lol awesome. If the FC figures do well it'll really bolster the cred of the interest threads I think.

 

[TheMadButcher]

:lol awesome. If the FC figures do well it'll really bolster the cred of the interest threads I think.

Good news for all.

 

[nexus]

Great to see Fight Club proceeding (on the list) and Bateman up for consideration (already put my name on the list for that one). Perhaps a few others can be pitched for the next round. How about some more Matrix figs (Morpheus? Trinity? Twin?) or Females (Leeloo and/or Ultraviolet?) Or my longshot Kiss figs?