Could Sideshow make D.I.Y Statues?

[Silas Loki]

I tried to make the title as NON misleading as possible.....

Anyway, I wonder how many people would be interested in a line of Statue "kits" from Sideshow that came unpainted. Essentially the idea would be that the collector / hobbyist would build and paint the statue themselves.

I was thinking about this in relation to the new Wonder Woman statue. Right now I'm sure many people are crossing fingers and toes in the hope the paint apps get to 85% of the artists proof Sideshow use (scandalously) for advertising. But what if you could buy the naked statue and either ship it off to the likes of Vince Vell or even spend a month making it into a master piece yourself?

This wouldn't be for everyone, clearly, as time and the cost of a Vince Vell paint job isn't in everyone's reach, but it must be something some people would consider. What if the price was significantly lower than a "finished" piece? So if WW is $399.99 then the bare statue might be $199.99 - reasonable as theres no costs for assembly and paint for Sideshow to recoup....

Do people think this would devalue or enhance the hobby? Do people think that piracy would be a problem?

What do you guys think?

[BarrelCannon]

I don't think that could happen. It would devalue their product. They are too big for that now. If they were doing much smaller ES sizes it would make more sense to do that. At least that's how I feel.

[Y3E]

Although I wouldn't mind paying less and building the ststue myself I prefer to pay the extra money and buy complete from SS. If kits were availabe I would have boxes and boxes of infinished kits.

And yes, piracy would be a huge problem

[Luminous]

This sounds like what PrototypeZ is doing; and they happen to have the DC license.

[pdenham]

I think it's a great idea- and one that we will see done by someone enterprising in the not too distant future (with a couple years).

What I'm envisioning is more along the lines of basic unfinished (i.e basically nude but not necessarily anatomically fully rendered) figures on genre-inclined bases.
For example, you would have a figure, with one leg up of course, posing like Wonder Woman on a broken column with assorted 'ancient warrior' props incorporated on the base.
But it's not painted or costumed. It's a half finished canvas made for the purpose of customizing.
The options are basically limitless here. Especially if you offer a range of heads (shapes/genders/expressions) that you can affix.

More people can customize than can sculpt from start to finish. A kit like this could bridge the gap and fill a niche people don't realize exists yet.

At less than half price, for instance, I would definitely buy that WW PF- unfinished and unpainted and in a plain box- and fix it up to how I would want to see it.

Someone will offer this eventually. Of that I have no doubt. It would be much like buying basic bucks in the action figure realm.

[jedi_don]

Sideshow model kits are a bad idea. Recasters around the would rejoice at such news and flood the world with cheap, crappy, illegal knock-offs. Worst than they do now with recasting from completed statues.

And good luck to PrototypeZ in trying to stop recasting of their products in China, Singapore and Thailand.

[pdenham]

why bother casting blank, inexpensive statues that have no real value in and of themselves?
So they can undercut SS by $50 in the hopes of selling mass quantities to make it worthwhile?

They really don't need take a SS piece and recast it- if all that is being offered is a blank slate with basic generic elements. They could probably hire someone to do the whole project from start to finish.
The whole point of recasting is to recast something that already has a ridiculously inflated value.

The only 'value' to something like this is what the customer eventually brings to it through their efforts.
SS could knock kits like this out in about 1/5 the time it takes to do a fully licensed statue.

No approval process, no costuming, no paint apps...
And no license fees.

[Vracula]

Only interested in pre painted personally,cant be bothered with painters or painting myself.

[jedi_don]

why bother casting blank, inexpensive statues that have no real value in and of themselves?
So they can undercut SS by $50 in the hopes of selling mass quantities to make it worthwhile?

They really don't need take a SS piece and recast it- if all that is being offered is a blank slate with basic generic elements. They could probably hire someone to do the whole project from start to finish.
The whole point of recasting is to recast something that already has a ridiculously inflated value.

The only 'value' to something like this is what the customer eventually brings to it through their efforts.
SS could knock kits like this out in about 1/5 the time it takes to do a fully licensed statue.

No approval process, no costuming, no paint apps...
And no license fees.

Are you unaware of the recasting business of resin figure "garage" kits? While the garage kit business dropped from its peak a few years back, there are still plenty of recasters around and on ebay. Since recasters don't pay license fees they can sell it a lot cheaper than Sideshow ever could. Plus the recasters would sell assembled and painted statues undercutting SS even more.

Hard Heroes did both statues and kits, and I doubt the sold that many kits.

The demand for kits versus completed statues is just not big enough to matter.

[pdenham]

were these kits generic (blank and non descript) or were they supposed to be representing something specific...even if there were not using trademarked names or logos on the packaging?

I realize the kits were unpainted...but I'm not talking about just unpainted statues. And if they have the choice between recasting a $200 retail kit of a generic figure or an OoP "name" statue the same size that now sells for $1000 fully painted....which one are they going to go to the trouble doing? Recasting is recasting- but why not just go the extra trouble of painting a fully formed one and realize 5 times the return?

I guess I just don't see the point of recasting a generic human figure when at the same time you could recast "Hulk" or something with an actual, marketable brand affiliation.

[Nidgit]

The main problem with this idea IMO, is that most people just don't have the time, the skill or the inclination. Plus they have to have all of the equipment and resources to finish it, including the airbrushing equip, paints, etc, etc and a place to do the work.

[pdenham]

Most probably don't.

The question is would there be enough interested in it to make it worth the effort.
And the key here is that there is, relatively speaking, minimal effort involved here.

And unlike a statue of Superman, a blank generic figure posed in a certain way without the comic book costuming could appeal to a wide range of art students as a basic drawing aide- similar to the poseable generic figures they have today...which I've never found to be all that great for my purposes.

[Vracula]

If I could build kits I would not be buying sideshow.There are kits out there that are much better than what sideshow are producing. Problem is I have banana's for fingers and potatoes for eyes.

[ross-fan]

Don't most of the Sideshow statues end up getting "remade" and sold from over seas eventually anyway. There is a SS Ironman Maquette from the second movie with all the light up features on the "bay" up for sale. It was from a "kit".

[Vracula]

Don't most of the Sideshow statues end up getting "remade" and sold from over seas eventually anyway. There is a SS Ironman Maquette from the second movie with all the light up features on the "bay" up for sale. It was from a "kit".

It's called a recast.And we don't like recasts.

[ross-fan]

I know that. I didn't know squat until I got on this site seven years ago. I was directed by Barbara from Kit Builders.

[Spidey976]

Recasters are already selling these on the bay. I saw a naked Rulk Comiquette "kit" posted just a little while back for MORE then the originall costs painted...lol. I have to admit it would be tempting to take a shot at painting something like that myself, but I can see why SSC wouldnt want to do it. Again the Recasters woul be dancing in the streets.

[Spazzy]

I would buy but I agree with what was already said I would have boxes full of unpainted pieces.

I don't see them doing it

[SONICobra]

i believe this has already been discussed in another thread...

and that SSAlex has said they have no plans to start making "kits"

and that while I like customizing statues now and then I have no interest in kits

[Halcyon]

... Problem is I have banana's for fingers and potatoes for eyes.

We don't want to know what kind of freakshow is down your pants then..

[jaguargod]

I have some Predator kits by Narin and S. Hayes that I had painted by Joe Dunaway and Bobby Sutton, and there is just no comparison. I have even painted a few myself, and even though I am no expert, some of my work is as good or better than what comes out of China. I would buy a kit, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

[Silas Loki]

Piracy would really only be an issue for the second hand market rather than Sideshow directly. Let's imagine Sideshow made Wonder Woman as a kit and only released 100 sets. The way SS does business, those hundred sets would be sold to collectors and done. If pirate copies are made it would be because one of those collectors has sold the kit to someone like E2046 or E2046 bought a kit directly......either way, SS has made their cash on the 100 sets.

Someone has already said, the kit on its own would have relatively little value, it wouldn't have the certificate of authenticity or an issue number that would come with the finished PF, so the kit would only really gain value once the collector has invested time / money to complete it.

With regards to people having the time or money to complete a kit, well, that's really a given. You could throw that critique at model kits, GamesWorkshop, and any other number of hobbies that involve some level of creativity / involvement beyond the initial purchase.

Personally I'd be all over it.

[DynamicMenace]

could they? yeah they could if they wanted to.

[Vracula]

We don't want to know what kind of freakshow is down your pants then..

Cmon man that is probably the first thing people would want to see :laugh:

[Python]

Didn't sideshow start off making kits back in the day, or did I dream that?

Either way I would love it personally. Or if not kits just blank castings of their statues at a discount. SS usually have fantastic sculpts that are sometimes let down in the paint shops. Anybody who has a repainted SS statue of any kind will know the extra detail that can be found at times. This would save the trouble for those who decide they would rather do it themselves or pay an experienced painter. They could just have a small second run of blanks surely.