Archive for December, 2007
Sideshow has an inconsistency problem with its LOTR PF line. I realize now that that is more detrimental to its progress than even the well-acknowledged matter of them ‘taking too damn long’. Not to brush aside the issue of pace, as it was, and may well continue to be an arrow at its side; however, what Aragorn proves is that people are still interested in the idea of LOTR Premium Formats.
Which is kinda good, if you’re in the business of selling them. It didn’t matter how long it took between pieces, as long as the pieces were awesome, they would be warmly embraced. That didn’t happen with Frodo. That certainly didn’t happen with Gandalf the White. In fact, Aragorn is the first honest-to-goodness home run since the line debuted with Lurtz.
Our poll back in July when things were most dire, indicated even then, that people longed for GREAT PREMIUM FORMATS! Over 50% voted to pour more resources into the line, even at the possible expense to the figures and dioramas. I’m glad to see the LOTR-PF line on better footing, but can Sideshow keep it on track?
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 Weta Collectibles
Weta unveiled a new piece from their Doctor Who line: The Master And Auton. Doesn’t strike any special chord with me, but I’m simply not a fan of the franchise— our resident Who guru on the forum is loving it though!
Sideshow Collectibles
On Christmas, SS announced that they can now pretty much anything they please with Reservoir Dogs; press release says “license includes rights to create Vinyl Collectible Dolls, 12-inch figures, Premium Format figures, Dioramas, polystone Statues and Busts”. They’re also aiming to top off their Universal Monsters license with dioramas.
More interestingly, Sideshow is promising on January 1, a “HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT” (cap emphasis theirs) that “You won’t want to miss”. Hyperbole? We’ll find out soon.
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Your fiery brand of individuality simply cannot be contained nor restrained. I know this. I sense it. That’s why I added avatar support, so we can know you by your picture when you comment. See it in action here.
How to set up your own: http://site.gravatar.com/
What is a gravatar? Well, it really is well explained above, but in short: an avatar tied to your email address. It’s not for this site alone; but for any blog you visit (that enable gravatars). Global avatar– clever eh?
The default avatar is the AP logo, but I’d much rather see your own. I think we have AP plastered enough around here.
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There’s been a lot of Aragorns, some good ones, despite all of the bashing (Weta’s Aragorn at the Black Gate my personal fave). None of them has yet quite captured Viggo’s eyes quite like this Aragorn PF. It’s a very specific, deep set, intense stare seen during moments of the trilogy (that shot right after sending Arwen off with Frodo comes to mind). It’s a bit wild, almost crazed; pure Viggo.
Now stop it with that DC nonsense and come back to Sideshow Andy!
In other Sideshow news:
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Hellboy is cool and all, but what’s next for you Guillermo? Something more furry and height-challenged?
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You may have noticed our wee Flickr group for Artist Proof Collectiblog. Thing is, as popular as Flickr is (wikipedia says they host over 2 billion images)- there isn’t wasn’t a great amount of collectible photos on there; not the kind of stuff we collect. Believe me, I checked.
 
So we are in fact, blazing a trail, and we’ve barely begun. Most of the existing Flickr collectibles groups are geared toward “action figures”; not our forté. The most relevant one, devoted to Sideshow Collectibles– started 4 months ago, tallying 60 photos and 4 members. The [[AP]] group, in our second week, is already well past 100 photos, and on 16 members.
What I like about Flickr is the fact that a community can still be achieved without operating to mostly a sheltered audience. When a gallery is hosted on a forum, the only people visiting are mostly those on the forum, and probably not a huge percentage them. On Flickr, you can broadcast your photos to the whole world, who find your photos through tags, descriptions, and indeed groups. If no one from the forum is looking at your photos, lots of other people still are. By the same token, contributions can be culled from those not even familiar with S&F or [[AP]]– in fact, the majority of current members are simply random Flickr users whom I’ve invited.
And even better is the fact that the gallery is totally yours. If this forum and blog goes bye-bye, big deal– your flickr is still your flickr. From a user perspective, I think that should certainly be comforting.
Essential to all this are the flickr badges– the blocks which stream the latest images sent to the [[AP]] group that you surely have noticed by now on both the forum and the blog. Nothing better than fresh content. It does so in sort of a sporadic and unpredictable manner, which, intentional by design or not, I’ve found to be ingenious. If someone sends a massive pile of images dedicated to the same item to the group at once, the badge won’t be necessarily be dominated by this action. There is always something different to look at; something refreshing, interesting, vibrant. That is the hope, anyway.
Photos:
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Know what a million geeks cheering simultaneously sounds like? Today would’ve been as good a day as any to find out, as Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” is officially announced with Peter Jackson producing. No director attached yet, and some sources make as if the position may be eventually filled by PJ himself. I think if he was gung ho about it, they surely would have sorted that out by now. We will not see the barefooted one at the helm again is my prediction, though I hope I’m wrong.
* MGM and New Line will co-finance and co-distribute two films, “The Hobbit” and a sequel to “The Hobbit.” New Line will distribute in North America and MGM will distribute internationally.* Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh will serve as Executive Producers of two films based on “The Hobbit.” New Line will manage the production of the films, which will be shot simultaneously.
* Peter Jackson and New Line have settled all litigation relating to the “Lord of the Rings” (LOTR) Trilogy.
Said Peter Jackson, “I’m very pleased that we’ve been able to put our differences behind us, so that we may begin a new chapter with our old friends at New Line. ‘The Lord of the Rings’ is a legacy we proudly share with Bob and Michael, and together, we share that legacy with millions of loyal fans all over the world. We are delighted to continue our journey through Middle Earth. I also want to thank Harry Sloan and our new friends at MGM for helping us find the common ground necessary to continue that journey.”
What about the collectibles?
There is little doubt that Weta will be involved. Therefore, a ’second coming’ of Weta LOTR collectibles is at the minimum, quite probable. The Hobbit will be exactly the shot of adrenaline Weta Collectibles needs.
Of course, nearly everyone else has gotten into high-end LOTR game since Sideshow Weta first blazed the trail so many years ago. It is not impossbile that we may see a full-fledged simultaneous collectible blitz from Weta, Sideshow, Gentle Giant and the likes. Thanks for the Christmas present, New Line. |
What Hobbit-ibles do you want?
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