How do custom statues work?

[Matalata]

I've seen more and more custom statues of Marvel, DC and others lately on the internet. How do these work? Are they licensed? Do the makers run the risk of getting caught if not licensed? How are they made? With those that have them, how's the quality?

[nbr3bagshotrow]

Buyer contacts sculptor and comes to agreement on price, character, design, and approximate timeframe. I would pay 1/2 up front and 1/2 on delivery. Research your sculptor well. Get references and pictures of other work. Quality will go with price. I’ve had 2 I’ve contracted. One was fantastic the other ok. The “ok” one was 1/4 the cost of the fantastic one.

They typically are not licensed and the IP owners aren’t looking to prohibit one off statues.

[built2shred]

From what I've seen as long as they keep the numbers very low (around 40) it's not really worth the hassle for IP holders to go after them.. but technically it is illegal to make statues of their copyrighted characters if you sell them for money...

[Augen]

Originally Posted by nbr3bagshotrow

Buyer contacts sculptor and comes to agreement on price, character, design, and approximate timeframe. I would pay 1/2 up front and 1/2 on delivery. Research your sculptor well. Get references and pictures of other work. Quality will go with price. I’ve had 2 I’ve contracted. One was fantastic the other ok. The “ok” one was 1/4 the cost of the fantastic one.

They typically are not licensed and the IP owners aren’t looking to prohibit one off statues.

Would you mind answering questions about the fantastic one?

[nbr3bagshotrow]

Originally Posted by Augen

Would you mind answering questions about the fantastic one?

No.

[Augen]

Originally Posted by nbr3bagshotrow

No.

Great, I had a few.

1. Who was the sculptor? How do you find someone that does custom statue work?

2. Did you provide a piece to be modified or was it from scratch?

3. What was the cost? The scale? Were there discussions about what went into the price?

4. How long is the process? How did communication work with the seller?

5. Could you show the piece?

[nbr3bagshotrow]

Tony Cipriano was the sculptor. e-mailed back and forth different designs from various pics from C&H comics. He would tell me where the difficulties would be on the various designs and ultimately ended up with this one. It's been a while since I got this and I want to say it took 3-4 months. The piece was from scratch. Tony and I did talk about making a mold should I want to cast additional ones to help with the cost. I decided I wanted one of a kind. Communication was via e-mail and never had a problem with it. Scale is approx 1/6 scale. Total height is about 12". Cost was $1500.

[Augen]

Wow! That piece is gorgeous, I loved Calvin and Hobbes growing up. Thank you for answering my questions.

[nbr3bagshotrow]

Originally Posted by Augen

Wow! That piece is gorgeous, I loved Calvin and Hobbes growing up. Thank you for answering my questions.

It’s definitely a great piece. Had a lot of offers. I have been planning on another C&H piece with Tony. Just got to give other life events out of the way.

[Matalata]

Thanks for the info, appreciate it! Gives me a better understanding.