Ask Kotobukiya

[srttoz]

Originally Posted by dechirico7

They have to have so many pre-orders to justify the cost of production.

lol I understand the business side of why they got cancelled, its just unfortunate that they are a smaller company and need to make cuts like that to survive.

[asura]

I have stopped collecting Koto too since the day they cancelled their Ares bust. I was very dispointed that day. Same happened with the busts actually, they stopped making them!

Only way I m getting back at Koto is if they do another license than Marvel. For Marvel, there are already close substitute. If Koto is smart enough to take a niche license such as Top Cow or other Image comics (something that doesn't currently exist), I would consider collecting their statues!

[demonhunter]

But TopCow characters are even more obscure among the collectors' and consumer circles I would think.

Marvel characters like Spiderman, Wolverine, Thor are being pushed mainstream due to their hollywood movies, and mainstream toys/children product(corn flakes, pencil cases etc) merchandising. People know and like them.

But for TopCow characters, aside from comicbook readers, generally it is hard for people to recognize these characters as they don't know them, and they had not have that much exposure as the Marvel or DC characters, let alone know there is a TopCow.

If the pre-orders were so bad for Rogue and Sabertooth, I'm afraid it might be even less for TopCow characters.

[asura]

I have a different approach regarding this: there is already Sideshow, Bowen, Diamond Select and now Gentle Giant that produce Marvel statues and busts. The market is crowded with Marvel products. What comic book fans could expect would be characters that haven't been produced yet! I think the Angelus statue from CS Moore is going to sell well for this reason (besides the reason that the sculpt is fantastic).

If the pre-orders were so bad for Rogue and Sabertooth, I'm afraid it might be even less for TopCow characters.

Take a look at the Darkness statue from CS Moore and see for how much it goes on ebay. Same applies to the Magdalena statue! There is a strong demand for these characters/statues and as long as the quality follows, demand will as well!

I think collectors are looking for more diversity and having 23 statues of Wolverine becomes tiring. I wish some statue manufacturers could understand that.

As for the sabretooth and rogue statues: if manufacturers base their sales forecasts only with preorders, they better stop the business...for ignoring all the potential consumers that are not internet shoppers and that buy their statues in comic stores! From what I can see, this trend is increasing since the quality of many, many statues is decreasing. Consumers need to see it first. Who has never been fooled by awesome production pictures and once they see the statue for real, the paintjob is just disgusting?

[cannonlocke]

Gonk, question on Bishoujos. With the sudden shift to produce them on bigger scale than the 1st 6 ladies. does Koto plan on revisiting the first ones (Rogue, Black Widow, Psylocke, Emma, Phoenix and Wanda) and make versions with the same scale as the new ones? I want to complete this line but having different scales doesn't make for a good display. Koto should really stick to one scale for the bishoujos and make it consistent.

[VS1976]

The stem from Koto possible cancelation of the Marvel line IMO has to do with QC issues. Poor paint application & or paint cracking upset a lot of buyers. I was at a LCS and the Cap was still for sale. The shield had a lot of cracks. I think if upset alot of fans, they will look elsewhere. Koto needs to step up the game of they want to be part of the Marvel producers. The ship is sinking fast!

[NorthernLadMSP]

Originally Posted by cannonlocke

Gonk, question on Bishoujos. With the sudden shift to produce them on bigger scale than the 1st 6 ladies. does Koto plan on revisiting the first ones (Rogue, Black Widow, Psylocke, Emma, Phoenix and Wanda) and make versions with the same scale as the new ones? I want to complete this line but having different scales doesn't make for a good display. Koto should really stick to one scale for the bishoujos and make it consistent.

VERY good question!!! I want to know the same thing.

[Matches Malone]

Originally Posted by VS1976

The stem from Koto possible cancelation of the Marvel line IMO has to do with QC issues. Poor paint application & or paint cracking upset a lot of buyers. I was at a LCS and the Cap was still for sale. The shield had a lot of cracks. I think if upset alot of fans, they will look elsewhere. Koto needs to step up the game of they want to be part of the Marvel producers. The ship is sinking fast!

I hear you. I too saw Cap at an LCS and despite loving this sculpt I just couldn't bring myself to buy it due to the paint/paint flaws

[gonk]

Originally Posted by cannonlocke

Gonk, question on Bishoujos. With the sudden shift to produce them on bigger scale than the 1st 6 ladies. does Koto plan on revisiting the first ones (Rogue, Black Widow, Psylocke, Emma, Phoenix and Wanda) and make versions with the same scale as the new ones? I want to complete this line but having different scales doesn't make for a good display. Koto should really stick to one scale for the bishoujos and make it consistent.

Our Bishoujo scale is currently at 1/7 and will remain that way for the foreseeable future. Feedback on the size increase has been overwhelmingly positive from our retail partners but I do see your point as a fellow collector. While I don't foresee existing 1/8 releases getting the bump to 1/7 scale, it's possible some of your favorites gals will be revisited with new costumes and poses!

[Rocket]

Originally Posted by gonk

Our Bishoujo scale is currently at 1/7 and will remain that way for the foreseeable future. Feedback on the size increase has been overwhelmingly positive from our retail partners but I do see your point as a fellow collector. While I don't foresee existing 1/8 releases getting the bump to 1/7 scale, it's possible some of your favorites gals will be revisited with new costumes and poses!

Interesting. I've already shelled out for all the 1/8 girls, so it would be a bittersweet thing to see them redone. Alternate versions of each would certainly make it a lot easier to swallow. I would strongly hope that it stays at 1/7 going forward though