"Normal" clothing/outfits for figures?
Poe Ghostal
something I often do relating to figures - how it gets decided what the
figure "wears" when it's made.
Sometimes it's easy. Superman, for the most part, only has one outfit.
Superheroes in general, even though the suit may change, you've got a pretty
good idea what they'll look like. But in the case of Neo - he only wears the
trenchcoat for about ten minutes of the movie, if that. So why does the
figure include the trenchcoat? Because people wanted it. Because, quite
frankly, that's exactly how *I* would have wanted to see him. When you think
of the character, that's how you remember him - from the lobby sequence
(this isn't necessarily true for everyone, of course). The
trenchcoat-and-guns is what we think of as Neo's "uniform" or "costume."
It's what we think of him wearing when dealing with situations in which the
most action would be occurring - namely, battle.
The whole deal with Ash is another example. Gareee, you'll back me up on
this - for the new Movie Maniacs Ash, everyone wants either last-third Evil
Dead II Ash, or beginning-of-AOD Ash. We want the torn shirt, the brown
pants, the scars on the face, the shotgun, and the hand/chainsaw. We *don't*
want Ash with a nice clean shirt and both hands, or Ash wearing his suit of
armor with a cape (though the latter would, of course, be a great variation,
if we could have 2 figures). Given the choice of only 1 outfit, we'll take
the EDII Ash. Why? I'm not entirely certain, but I would hazard a guess that
the EDII Ash seems to be the most "normal" Ash, and it's an outfit that he
could conceivably be wearing in adventures *after* the end of AOD (see the
sketches for the new Playstation game Evil Dead: Ashes 2 Ashes: he's got the
chainsaw, torn shirt, etc.).
Of course, variations have carved their own niche in both the play and
collector's market. You've got your ten thousand different Batmen, and your
new space-helmeted Dr. Evil. But you know which Batmen I like best? The
cartoon's "Detective Batman" and one of the movie ones they made, for Batman
Returns, the variation where he's wearing the blue/gray suit and the blue
cape. Normal Batman. Personally, I'm not big on variations. I really hate it
when we repeatedly get "definitive" figures...now I have two Han Solos, the
original and the new Commtech one...what do I do with the old one? Goodwill,
here I come...
Han Solo's another example. The definitive Han Solo (this is still, of
course, IMO), is wearing his outfit from the first film.
Anyone else have any thoughts on this? Do people actually prefer all the
variations, or would you be happy with good, "definitive" figures, maybe a
few costume changes (but none of these Arctic Blast things), and instead of
variations, more characters?
-Poe Ghostal, formerly Spy Dude
--
It has to start somewhere. It has to start sometime.
What better place than here? What better time
than now?
morpheus_d...@my-deja.com
"Poe Ghostal" <jcl...@adelphia.spammenot.net> wrote:
> Anyone else have any thoughts on this? Do people actually prefer
all the
> variations, or would you be happy with good, "definitive" figures,
maybe a
> few costume changes (but none of these Arctic Blast things), and
instead of
> variations, more characters?
Well, I definitely have no desire to see variations for variations sake
(ie all the multicolor batmen, the 5001 Tatooine Lukes with different
accessories, etc), but I do think there is room for multiple figures of
the same character.
Take Star Wars for example: sure, Han has one difinitive outfit -- the
one from the first movie -- but he also has a couple of decent costume
changes, too -- the Hoth outfit and the Endor trenchcoat. How silly
does Han look riding a Taun-Taun in just the white shirt & black vest?
Luke is even more of a problem, since there are two, possibly three
"definitive" versions -- Tatooine, Jedi, and possibly pilot.
Major costume changes should definitly be accomodated. Variations
(such as the Hoth Han) only should be made if there is a need (without
a Taun-Taun, I don't really need Hoth Han, anymore, do I?)
Not sure if that answers your question or not, though :)
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
David Thiel
news:85he3f$av2$1...@news.fas.harvard.edu...
> Sometimes it's easy. Superman, for the most part, only has one outfit.
I used to think that too, but that's not true anymore. Most of the costume
variations in the Man of Steel line actually came from the comics. (Come to
think of it, Superman--and Batman--had a lot of alternate costumes back in
the wacky 60's.)
> But in the case of Neo - he only wears the > trenchcoat for about ten
minutes
> of the movie, if that. So why does the figure include the trenchcoat?
Because
> people wanted it. Because, quite frankly, that's exactly how *I* would
have
> wanted to see him.
Excellent point...and there would've been a lot of bitching if he hadn't had
it. Kinda like the Dapol Doctor Who Tom Baker figure that came without his
trademark scarf.
> The whole deal with Ash is another example. Gareee, you'll back me up
on
> this - for the new Movie Maniacs Ash, everyone wants either last-third
Evil
> Dead II Ash, or beginning-of-AOD Ash. We want the torn shirt, the brown
> pants, the scars on the face, the shotgun, and the hand/chainsaw.
Yep. Absolutely.
> Why? I'm not entirely certain, but I would hazard a guess that
> the EDII Ash seems to be the most "normal" Ash
Well, at the risk of sounding pretentious, it's also the moment when he
transcends from being just another poor horror-movie victim into a
full-fledged, ass-kicking, zombie-chopping superhero. The chainsaw hand is a
big part of the appeal too...it's wacky, plus it pleases the gore hounds.
Even the poster for AoD featured this version of Ash, despite the fact that
he keeps the chainsaw for all of about three minutes in the actual film.
> I really hate it when we repeatedly get "definitive" figures...now I have
two Han Solos, the
> original and the new Commtech one...
Yeah, but on the other hand, if the first one blows (as the original POTF2
Han did), I wouldn't want to stop Hasbro from releasing an improved model.
The exception is when they (IMO) deliberately put out an "inferior"
product--and I'm thinking "Batman Beyond," where the closest thing you could
find to a "regular" character was the translucent blue version--then spring
a standard version on us in the third assortment.
> Anyone else have any thoughts on this? Do people actually prefer all
the
> variations, or would you be happy with good, "definitive" figures, maybe a
> few costume changes (but none of these Arctic Blast things), and instead
of
> variations, more characters?
Of course, I want a "definitive" character (and I agree with all of your
choices for definitive versions of the characters you mentioned), but I
realize that costume variations are inescapable. Much as I want secondary
characters, it's clear that the conventional wisdom is right...Batman will
always sell better.
Ideally, what I want is a mix of secondary characters (even if it's only one
or two per assortment) and costume variations *that make sense*--either
actual costumes derived from the source material, or reasonable
extrapolations that don't look stupid.
I don't mind a Bat-variation like Hover Jet Batman (from the Animated
line--dark purple "tech-look" costume, and a cool retro-looking hovercraft
thing). At least that one looks like something Bruce might conceivably have
in his Batcave.
The white Arctic ones even make sense, since a black outfit is going to
really suck if you're fighting gun-toting goons on a snow-covered landscape.
So do some of the fire-fighting versions--like the Animated version that's
currently on the pegs.
What I (and probably most of us) hate are the pastel-colored Batmen...color
choices that 1) serve no practical purpose, 2) are at odds with Batman's
intention to blend into the night and strike fear into the hearts of
criminals, and 3) look damned dorky.
--
David Thiel
Champaign, Illinois
d-t...@uiuc.edu
www.geocities.com/Area51/Cavern/3227
Ghos† Man
---Ghos† Man
http://community.webtv.net/geisterhaus/TheHauntedToyAisle