Sideshow Toys

[Jayspawn]

Aside from myself, who else is impressed as hell with Sideshow Toys?! I've been collecting their 007 and various Classic Monster figures. And I have to say, the quality is outstanding. True, they are a little pricey for 12" figures, but I think it's worth the price.

So far, I've picked up....

James Bond 007 : Sean Connery, Dr. No, Pierce Brosnan, Earnest Stravo Blofeld, George Lazenby, Franz Sanchez, and Timothy Dalton.

Classic Monsters: Karloff Frankenstein, Lugosi Dracula, Fritz, Chaney London After Midnight, Nosferatu, Chaney Wolfman.

and Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock minibusts.

Anybody else?

[jpak001]

Those Sideshow 12ers aere very nice...

I don't have any yet, but that's only because my funds are running low with all this other stuff I collect. I might HAVE to get that James Bond Jaws figure that's coming out though.....

[Jayspawn]

Yeah, Jaws looks very cool. He's also the most expensive one, but maybe worth it. I believe Roger Moore and Christopher Lee are up next. Those are must haves!

[RooJay]

I have long sung the praises of Sideshow. However, I have begun to fear for their future recently as more and more of their brick and mortar retailers have begun to liquidate their stock and far less new product has been showing up in the usual places like Suncoast, Electronics Boutique, and Spencer Gifts. I have also noticed that some of the new product they have announced seems to have been greatly delayed and perhaps even permanently cancelled - such as their awesome looking and highly promising By the Sword and Fife and Drum lines. They have also recently announced that there will be no more Twilight Zone figures in the forseeable future (dashing my hopes for a Rod Serling figure), and it appears as though their wicked cool Six Gun Legends line has all but been cancelled after the upcoming Doc Holliday figure. All that's really left are the Universal Monsters, Holy Grail (both of which are rapidly running out of characters to be produced), Brotherhood at Arms, Bayonets and Barbed Wire (both of which haven't seemed to have much product in the works; in spite of the announcement of Peter Jackson's involvement in the latter line), Platoon (which has probably already run it's course with the availability of the recent Sideshow website only exclusive figures), Modern Horror Classics (which does look very promising and may hopefully lead to bigger and better things! Though honestly - how many characters could they and would they possibly include in this line?) and James Bond (for which, no new product aside from Jaws has been shown since the line was originally revealed). Prototypes have been shown for the Life of Brian line, but I honestly doubt the line will have nearly the same impact and success as the Holy Grail line. (By the way, how many other fans have been disappointed that they missed out on the Knight of Ni figure - perhaps the one figure most wanted by fans of the movie. They thought they wouldn't be able to sell more than a thousand?!)

Of course, there are also the excellent lines of mini-busts and statues (including the Muppets, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, the Simpsons, and the Brian Froud figurines), but how many people are there that want them and are actually able to afford all of them?

I honestly hope Sideshow manages to keep it together (they are by far my favorite toy company!), and that I'm just being pessimistic. If I were to give them a bit of advice - maybe they should expend less effort and money buying licenses and producing lines of questionable collector interest like Get Smart, Hogan's Heroes, and Happy Days (which they had announced some time back they had acquired the rights to, but never developed any product for anyway) and do whatever it takes to get hold of some of the more exciting and sought after licenses such as Indiana Jones, Braveheart, Gladiator, Highlander, the Matrix (12 inch) and the like.

[jpak001]

Originally posted by RooJay
[BIf I were to give them a bit of advice - maybe they should expend less effort and money buying licenses and producing lines of questionable collector interest like Get Smart, Hogan's Heroes, and Happy Days (which they had announced some time back they had acquired the rights to, but never developed any product for anyway) and do whatever it takes to get hold of some of the more exciting and sought after licenses such as Indiana Jones, Braveheart, Gladiator, Highlander, the Matrix (12 inch) and the like. [/B]

You are so right about that.

Whoever does have licenses to those lines could be making a lot of $$$, that's for sure. I wonder if anyone actually already has 12" licenses to those lines already.....

[Jayspawn]

it would be nice to know. Then then if we did, we would nag them to death.

[evenflow]

I think Sideshow is amazing. I really hope they continue with the Twilight Zone line.


It would be awesome is they could get the rights to Indiana Jones.

[RooJay]

They actually have an e-mail link on their website where they accept product suggestions; maybe we should bug 'em. I already have!

[evenflow]

Not a bad idea.

[Jayspawn]

I would like it if Sideshow made 12" figures from "The Godfather." Now that'd be cool!!!

[jpak001]

Yeah, a 12" speaking Don Corleone, sweet!

Or even better, a 12" profanity spewing Scarface! I would buy that in a heartbeat!! (they could do a "powdered" variant)

[Jayspawn]

Personally, I would like a 12" Don Corleone (Brando!) and Michael (Pacino).

Sideshow is now shipping their 12" Roger Moore as James Bond 007 and Christopher Lee as Francisco Scaramanga from "The Man with the Golden Gun." My personal favorite Bond movie. Wohoo!

[Jayspawn]

Yeeaah! NewForceComics.com has 12" Roger Moore and Christopher Lee from "The Man with the Golden Gun" in stock! I of course, have ordered mine.

Next up: Sean Connery as 007 and Oddjob!

[RooJay]

Godfather and Scarface figures from Sideshow would be excellent! I'm also thinking that a Pulp Fiction line would be pretty cool, and I think would sell pretty well to boot. Plenty of figure possibilities for that license (although the Gimp is probably best left alone). I've also always thought that adding licensed western figures to their Six-Gun Legends line would be a great idea - Newman and Redford as Butch and Sundance, Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn and others from Tombstone, the characters from the Young Guns movies, Eastwood from Unforgiven...hell - any Clint Eastwood western figures would be killer, and why not some figures of the Duke himself? I would imagine there'd be a lot of interest in these kinds of figures even from folks who aren't normally into figures. Surely they have more sales potential, and would generate more interest than the Get Smart line?

[Jayspawn]

Wohoo! 007 and Scaramanga arrived in the mail today! And cool figures they are! The suits they're wearing are incredible! And the themed accessories are pretty nifty too! Definatly one of the BEST Christopher Lee collectibles ever!

"As you can see Mr. Bond I am now without a dought, the Man with the Golden Gun."

[aikman8_1999]

Jaws is great but man, he sure is pricey.
I wish I knew when these things became investment pieces rather than toys

[Jayspawn]

I only display mine. I have my 12" Universal Monsters in storage. But I have all 9 007 figures up.

[RooJay]

Yesterday must've been my lucky day - I was at the mall with my girl, and we decided to stop in to Spencer Gifts where it turns out they were having a 50-75% clearance sale (seems they've been having a lot of those lately). I didn't even bother to look at the clearance section since they usually only have crap that no one wants there until the manager came around and gave me the little suggestive selling spiel they usually cram down everyone's throat for their clearance sales. I politely (but dismissively) thanked her, but for some strange reason managed to throw a quick glance back at the section (probably also just to be polite to the lady) when - lo and behold - I noticed several each of the Monty Python Black Knight (whom I'd thought I might have missed out on forever!) and the French Taunter! I thought to myself that fifty percent off is two for one, and that was far too good to pass up! What's more, I would've actually paid full price for the Black Knight if he'd not been on clearance, and I was even more shocked and pleased when I reached the register and learned that he was actually 75% OFF!!! I paid like eight bucks for the Black Knight (would've gladly paid forty for 'im) and sixteen for the Frenchie!
Now if only I could find that Patsy and Sir Robin I missed for eight bucks apiece...

[Jayspawn]

Thats a great find! I noticed that my Media Play store has 12" Dr. No at 50% off.

[RooJay]

The Suncoast stores in my area have had the Twilight Zone figures at 25% off recently, and I have even seen the Eye of the Beholder set at 50% (really wish I'd had the cash on hand for that one!).

[RooJay]

Sideshow's Michael Myers:
http://www.sideshowtoy.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=modhor_12&item=7304

[RooJay]

Keith David from Platoon:
http://www.sideshowtoy.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=military&item=5506

[Jayspawn]

Figures.com has a very nice picture of the upcoming 007 "Q" figure from the Brosnan James Bond films. It's gonna be a Sideshowtoy.com exclusive after Jaws. I can't wait!!!

[RooJay]

I know, I'd love to own a Q figure, but there's a pretty good chance I'll never see one because it's a fairly safe bet that he'll be limited to only 1000 units like the Knight of Ni that most fans of Holy Grail had been wanting even more than the Grail Knights themselves. I don't have the money to pre-oder him at the moment, and isn't that 50 dollar price tag just a bit steep anyway?

[Jayspawn]

Yes I think its pretty steep. $40 would be just fine I should think. Oh well. They're can't be too many more 007 exclusives they could make.

And on related news, the Star Trek Picard and Data mini busts are now shipping.

[RooJay]

I have a lot of love for Sideshow (have I ever mentioned that they are my favorite toy company?), but I would like to take a moment to talk about a couple things about them that really kind of bug me.
Firstly, I was a bit worried (even angered) when they originally mentioned that they were pulling out of the mass market and going specialty store only. I thought for sure that it meant that I would never be able to find all those cool Universal Monsters (to go along with my Frankenstein and Wolfman) anywhere at retail, ever. My fears turned out to be unfounded as pretty much all of Sideshow's product has been readily available at places like Spencer Gifts, Suncoast, and MediaPlay. Unfortunately (and quite disappointingly), I have found new frustration in Sideshow's recent policy of taking what has to be some of the most eagerly awaited figures in their various lines, namely figures like the Knight of Ni, Jaws, and probably Bond's Q as well, and only producing them in extremely limited numbers.
When I first heard about their Holy Grail line, the first thing that came to mind was "Sweet! Can't wait for the Knight of Ni!". When I spoke to collector friends who were even just very casual Monty Python fans, it was the same thing - "Are they gonna do the Knights of Ni?". I know I could well be wrong about this, but doesn't it make sense that pretty much everyone who has seen that film and might be remotely interested in the toys would want the Knight of Ni, if not as their only figure choice, then at least just to go along with all of their Grail Knights? I'm sure if we were to run some kind of poll for Holy Grail fans asking "if they could have only one figure from the movie, which would it be?" - the majority of them would say they'd want the good old Knight who says Ni!
There were something like 7500 Grail Knights produced initially. I'm sure at least a thousand or so more were produced of the same characters in the muddy variants. Wouldn't it have made more sense to produce something more like 3000 of the "he who say Ni" figures, at least?!
What about the Bond line? Is not Jaws pretty much Bond's most recognizeable villain? WOuld it not have made more sense to produce more of the big guy than say Tee Hee? Now, I haven't seen the official numbers on Jaws so I could easily be wrong about him, and it turns out that he only sold out because he was so popular and everyone quickly snatched up all 3000 of the figures, but somehow I doubt this is the case. Don't even get me started on Q! I know he's probably not as in demand as the various versions of Bond or his villains, but c'mon - he's Q! He's the only actor/character that's been pretty much constant in each Bond adventure. Plus, on Sideshow's own website they say something to the effect of "European collectors will probably be able to find Q in their local specialty stores, but Americans are privileged (I'm paraphrasing) in that they can only get the old guy on our website in the limited time that he'll be available before all 1000 sell out!" Lucky us :frus:
Maybe I'm just being a sourpuss because I ain't gots no money right now. I just wish that if they're gonna offer all this cool stuff that they'd try to make sure that everyone who wants one, gets one. Seems to me that most of their latest figures are pretty much instant sell-outs; why not make a few more when that happens? The Knight of Ni is gone. It doesn't seem like they intend to ever offer any more. I'm pretty much SOL. :cry:

Anyway...

Secondly - I'm not sure what to feel about how they have announced a lot of really cool merchandise like the English Knight and Viking warrior from their proposed (not to mention designed, sculpted, and exhibited) "By the Sword" line, the "Fife and Drum" line, the Peter Jackson involved "Bayonets and Barbed Wire" figures (since his involvement was announced the releases have inexplicably petered off. Pardon the pun), and expansions to the awesome "Six Gun Legends" line. I was of the mind that the By the Sword line was just what the booming 1/6th scale market needed - something different. Maybe it's just my own desires and biases talking, but I would've thought that there could be a major market for this kind of thing. Don't Knights tend to sell pretty well? Plus, all of that stuff (like all of Sideshow's product...when you can find it) was absolutely frikkin' awesome! Basically what I'm tryin' ta say here is that Sideshow's stuff is so cool that I can't help but want a whole lot more of it!

[RooJay]

Anyone else see the neato-keen Blackbeard the Pirate figure they were showing at San Diego? I can't wait to get my mits on that puppy - that is, assuming they're not just teasing us like they did with the English Knight and Viking Warrior from the proposed By the Sword line that seems to have been abandoned. :rolleyes: I'm really praying that this one'll get released along with a whole entire line of pirates (Pirates of the Carribean anyone? They've already got permission to use Johnny Depp's likeness for the Platoon figures...).

[evenflow]

You know i really loved the Twilight Zone line. I am so upset that the line seems to be over, no new figures were shown this year.