Miss Piggy as Princess Leia

[LeiaPiggy]

Hi!

I'm an avid Muppet and Star Wars fan....AND eBayer! Check out my OOAK Miss Piggy as Princess Leia:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3163982895&ssPageName=ADME:B:LC:CA:1


Chris

 

[Whatever]

Nice custom, but although you are allowed to make custums from Palisades figures, it is illegal to sell them.

 

[LeiaPiggy]

Thanks for the compliment, and yeah, I suppose eBay is selling...but mostly second hand goods...which is kind of what my figure is......re-furbished. I also do customs of Star Wars figures and the occaisional Barbie. Sorry, but I don't feel too guilty nor do I worry for Palisades, The Jim Henson Company or George Lucas....I buy and enjoy ALOT of their products. If they "go after" me, they might as well "go after" people who crochet Big Bird on baby blankets and sell them at flea markets for ten bucks!

 

[jtatooine]

Is that true though? Are you positive it's illegal to sell?

I remember Ken said that Toyfare purchased a bunch of the exclusive gonzo's and then repackaged them in lunchboxes and resold them. He said something along the lines of 'they paid for them and they can sell them however they want'... He said anybody could package a figure a different way, hand number it and resell them for a lot of money. I would asssume the same laws would apply to repainting/resculpting a figure. I may be wrong though. Don't kill me if my quotes are off.

Edit: forgot to mention, it's a really nice custom.

 

[Luke]

Toyfare are a wholesale client, they buy the figures with the agreements to sell them on. A custom isn't "re-furbished", it's modifying a copyrighted design, especially when it's being re-sealed on Palisades original card with their sticker altered. Selling this for profit is very much illegal and these kinda auctions usually end quickly.

 

[LeiaPiggy]

Profit?

I paid $14.99 CDN ($11.00 US) for the original Piggy and spent about 20 enjoyable hours do her make-over. I made one for myself and two for others to enjoy. (Anyone can make their own, but if they do not have 20 hours to "waste" doing so, I've done the work for them.) And as for profit: at $35/hour (which is what my time is worth) this little Piggy would have to sell for $1400......that's the labor PLUS the 100% retail mark-up. This is a labor of LOVE..........NOT PROFIT!

 

[Luke]

(Anyone can make their own, but if they do not have 20 hours to "waste" doing so, I've done the work for them.)

That's so generous of you but I think it cost the company who made that original figure hundreds of thousands for the license, sculpt, manufacturing etc etc. I don't think that gives you the right to modify it, re-seal it in their package and sell it on. If you love the line and enjoy making customs great, but I don't see any great need to sell them. Actually, I think we have rules here against advertising this kind of merchandise.

 

[jediX]

I'd never part w/ any custom I've made--they're priceless to me. Nice job on the figure, though...

 

[jtatooine]

I went back and couldn't find an actual quote about the Toyfare thing so I may or may not be wrong but I still think that it's not illegal to sell it. There are pages that sell custom action figures of any media character you want and because they aren't mass producing the same one, they can get away with it.

Once somebody pays for something why can't they alter it and resell it. I'd love to see the actual rules/laws on this, but I wouldn't know where to begin.

 

[LeiaPiggy]

Thanks Jedi X!

Thanks jediX! In the last year I've really got into customs, partly because of seeing all the cool ones on the net. It's sooooo rare to find them for sale though...(like you said, few will part with them!) That's why I made a couple more than the one I made for myself. On the RARE occaision I see a cool custom to purchase...usually Star Wars or Barbie....rarely see Muppet stuff....I buy it, otherwise, I try and make my own if I have the time.

PS Also, last time I checked, I was not some sort of economic terrorist trying to cripple the economy by making two custom toys to sell on eBay!