Ask Ken at Palisades

[BigSPEEGS]

Originally posted by beaker
...and to anyone who didnt get a good laugh over that, go to the Saban buyout thread for some real good laughs!

NOT FUNNY! We've had at least three heart attacks so far over that comment alone!!



-SPEEGS

 

[Hairfarmer]

The Dark Crystal question one more time

Originally posted by ResidentLilly

BTW Ken, IF IF IF you guys got awarded the Dark Crystal license, would they be in scale with the Muppets? *pleeeeease* If you can answer, that is.

Doubt that license will ever be picked up by us, as much as I would love to work on figures. [/B]

I know this was a couple of days ago but I just found the forum and signed up today.

I've been working as a textile designer for seven years. I've been employed by three of the home decor/accesory industry leaders and if I've learned ANYthing about licensing it is that it's temporary. The contracts always have to be renewed and companies can, and often do, snake competetors licenses away. Now I'm not advocating industrial espionage, well OK, maybe I am, but I think once ya'll get around to series 4 or so the numbers should speak for themselves when it comes to licensing vendor choices. The Sideshow figures of Jen and Kira are better than nothing but they look almost nothing like the original characters! The series 1 figures that ya'll have produced are on a copletely different plane than SS's DC figures! And just from the on-line images i've seen you're not kidding when you say the series 2 are even better! This is probably beating a dead horse to you by now but I'm really praying that you can get the DC license out from under SS. I've had a dream of having a scale replica of Aughra's model of the Heavens for years. I know you can make it come true if the proper contracts can ever be put in place. I haven't been able to get the thought out of my head ever since I got my Dr. Teeth figure in the spring. I've always loved DC and seeing the quality of your figures has gotten me as fired up about hopeing for the best quality, most authentic DC figures since I lived in Atlanta and volunteered at the Center For Pupetry Arts. I got to spend as much time as I wanted with the original pupets for Skek Ung - the Garthim Master and Ur Ac - the Scribe. Not to mention Link and Dr. Strangepork.
I think I'm officially rambling now.
The Reader's Digest version I guess would be:
Awesome job on the figures so far, I can't wait to see the rest! and... Do whatever it takes to get the DC license so it can get the care and quality it deserves!

J~

 

[ResidentLilly]

About the Dark Crystal license. It isn't that we need to go get the license or take it from someone. An action figure license was offered to us...we said no. Three main reasons. One, the guarantee money was too high, way too high to take the risk. Two, the Sideshow product is not all off the shelf, which will probably result in markdowns and makes us question what kind of fan base there is for the license. Three, because having spoken to several key retailers most said they probably would pass on buying it.

None of that is relevant to the fact that I personally would love to work on those figures. But it is similar to Resident Evil. I love that game. Loved working on the figures. But sales were so dismal on S3 that we are probably gonna lose out on that one.

Sometimes it isn't about how cool something is...it is how much retail support, licensor support and fan support a property has. That explains why a line like Power Rangers makes someone rich. Have you ever looked at those things?

 

[Juxton]

Dang, I was really wanting some Skeksis. Oh well, I figured as much judging by Sideshow's sales. I'm one of the few that bought those figures as soon as they came out.

Ken, I know you probably can't really talk about who's buying what in the company (as in Saban) but do you think this will have a bad effect on the Muppets line of figures? This is the best line to ever be produced, IMHO, and I'd hate to see it disappear after series 3 because some other company may not think it's lucrative enough or something.

 

[ResidentLilly]

Obviously I don't really know if the sale of Henson would have an effect on the line of Muppets. I tend to think it would not. It certainly could, but I would expect that we would have several series out before that even would be a consideration...and besides, why would a new owner stop the figs? It just results in money for the company and has many guarantees that would need to and would continue to be paid to Henson, and thus it's owner.

Of course, someone else could have a different take, but I am not sure there is historical precedent to suggest the contract would become invalid if the sale of the company became a reality.

 

[Juxton]

Sorry, I thought you would know anything that might be happening with the toy line.

As far as why would it happen? I don't know. I do know that lots of things change when companies change hands, if that is what's happening, so anything is possible. The other posts in this thread about this just got me a little worried, especially the one saying that if Saban buys it out, the toyline after series 3 would be in jeopardy, and you would be even more limited on what you could produce. Don't know if this is legit info, but it seemed presented as such.

 

[ResidentLilly]

Originally posted by Juxton
Sorry, I thought you would know anything that might be happening with the toy line.

As far as why would it happen? I don't know. I do know that lots of things change when companies change hands, if that is what's happening, so anything is possible. The other posts in this thread about this just got me a little worried, especially the one saying that if Saban buys it out, the toyline after series 3 would be in jeopardy, and you would be even more limited on what you could produce. Don't know if this is legit info, but it seemed presented as such.

That was someone having a little fun. No need to panic.

 

[Juxton]

Thanks!

 

[Aerosmith]

Juxton go reply to my post on the Spawn board!

 

[Misfit Toy]

Originally posted by ResidentLilly
About the Dark Crystal license. It isn't that we need to go get the license or take it from someone. An action figure license was offered to us...we said no. Three main reasons. One, the guarantee money was too high, way too high to take the risk. Two, the Sideshow product is not all off the shelf, which will probably result in markdowns and makes us question what kind of fan base there is for the license. Three, because having spoken to several key retailers most said they probably would pass on buying it.

None of that is relevant to the fact that I personally would love to work on those figures. But it is similar to Resident Evil. I love that game. Loved working on the figures. But sales were so dismal on S3 that we are probably gonna lose out on that one.

Sometimes it isn't about how cool something is...it is how much retail support, licensor support and fan support a property has. That explains why a line like Power Rangers makes someone rich. Have you ever looked at those things?

Well...no wonder Sideshow's figures didn't sell, they looked very far from the puppets in terms of their face and hair. IMO, which is probably very very ludicrous, I think a few reasons led to the markdown **** for the 12" Dark Crystal figures.
1) The likenessess, while good, may have turned some die-hard fans away. Jen is supposed to have many different colors in his hair: Blacks, browns, greys, silvers, and blues. The Sideshow doll has a mass of black and blue hair. Of course, Jen's hair is probably impossible to mass produce, but perhaps that means that rooted hair wasn't the way to go in the first place...
Sure most people really don't giva a hoot if the doll's hair is wrong, but a collector of these things, aka a die-hard DC fan, would be disappointed. I know if I couldn't customize them I might've passed, seeing the $30 price tag.
2)Perhaps a tad too many were produced? I see these things in every Suncoast I've been in. Sure Sideshow made them "Limited Editions" of them specifically for the fan base, but the fan base expectations in a product are very high if they're, again, paying $80 or whatever for a set of two figures from a fantasy film released a decade ago.
3)Scale. Yes it was very reasonable for the company to use their Sideshow 12" figure bodies, and simply modify them to the Gelfling scale, but who are we supposed to display them with? I know I plan on having mine right next to the MEGA Muppets. Perhaps with the release of the MEGA Muppets, an interest might be taken in the 12" DC figures again? But on their own, the figures weren't compatible or inexpensive enough to stake a place in most collectors' collections. I think a line of 6" scale (like the Muppets) which could feature better likenessess (whatta ***** rooted hair and cloth is...) and a less demanding price tag would be a far more successful route.

I know that yo've thought about all of this over and over and you probably want to strangle me for my ignorance, but that's just my two cents. I'm actually very happy with my Dark Crystal figures, now that I've customized them and found a place for them. I know very little about the money-making ins and outs in the toy industry. But maybe Sideshow's example of a collector based series is the way to go for this type of license...Perhaps a buy-direct-from-Palisades route is the only way to go. But then again, there's money involved, and if you know the only way to please a licensor is by your company losing money, then producing them would solely be out of the goodness of your hearts, and that's not how business is.

So what's my point? Thank you Palisades for the terrific Muppet line, the involvement you take in us the fans, and I hope that you guys have many successful lines that might in fact open the door a little wider for the possibility of the Dark Crystal characters. I've got an order for series 2 of the Muppet Show and I can't wait for them to come.