1/6 scale collectible figures for BG a la Hot Toys or Asmus--if they existed would you collect them?
A dream of mine recently is to see a company like Hot Toys or Asmus make a line of posable 1/6 figures for Baldur's Gate. I realize it's probably a pipe dream. But I wonder how many millennials and older generations that have tremendous love and nostalgia for the game would collect such figures if they existed...
Such "toys" are actually collectibles. Only a limited number of them is made. After they sell out they increase in value on the secondary market such as EBay. Popular figures often double in value from the original price.
For something like this to fly, the buyer must be 1) a devoted fan of the BG game series, and 2) willing to invest in collecting such figures. That there are still plenty of fans that have great love and nostalgia for the game is a given, I would think. Whether enough of those devoted fans would readily become 1/6 collectors is the big question.
If you've never seen Hot Toys or Asmus figues, check them out. It is astonishing how utterly lifelike the figures are.
Hot Toys has the licenses for the major superhero films and Star Wars, plus many other action-adventure and fantasy film franchises. Hot Toys is the big dog in the 1/6 collectible industry. Asmus has a much smaller inventory but they have the license for Lord of the Rings. And let me say as a collector of Asmus Tolkein figures myself: their prototype pictures at the website for LotR and The Hobbit fail to do justice to the figures in hand. In real life they really do look like they're right out of the film.
Hot Toys are running around $250 these days. Asmus typically runs a little less costly, sometimes even as low as $100. I would guess a BG figure from Hot Toys would probably run around $220-240? Whereas by Asmus they might go for, I dunno... say, $180-200... That's just a rough guess, though.
One thing Asmus excels at is in reproducing clothing and gear. They're actually a bit better at it than Hot Toys, imo. (Although Hot Toys usually does a phenomenal job at that too.) And over time Asmus has vastly improved with the quality of head sculpts. To the point that Asmus head sculpts now typically rival, and in some cases surpass, Hot Toys.
Sideshow Collectibles, the premier Hot Toys distributor in the U.S., offers a flex pay plan that lets the customer preorder and spread payments over 4 months. You can now buy directly from Asmus although I'm not sure if they also offer such a flex pay plan.
(Just providing this info to educate as an avid collector myself, not shilling for either.)
Anyway, assuming topflight quality for either manufacturer...
Would you over time collect, say, a core BG adventuring party? And get a Sarevok figure?
Which NPCs for you would be must have if you were to start such a collection?
Do you think that the introduction of collectibles for the BG game series might also help invigorate interest in the games?
Such "toys" are actually collectibles. Only a limited number of them is made. After they sell out they increase in value on the secondary market such as EBay. Popular figures often double in value from the original price.
For something like this to fly, the buyer must be 1) a devoted fan of the BG game series, and 2) willing to invest in collecting such figures. That there are still plenty of fans that have great love and nostalgia for the game is a given, I would think. Whether enough of those devoted fans would readily become 1/6 collectors is the big question.
If you've never seen Hot Toys or Asmus figues, check them out. It is astonishing how utterly lifelike the figures are.
Hot Toys has the licenses for the major superhero films and Star Wars, plus many other action-adventure and fantasy film franchises. Hot Toys is the big dog in the 1/6 collectible industry. Asmus has a much smaller inventory but they have the license for Lord of the Rings. And let me say as a collector of Asmus Tolkein figures myself: their prototype pictures at the website for LotR and The Hobbit fail to do justice to the figures in hand. In real life they really do look like they're right out of the film.
Hot Toys are running around $250 these days. Asmus typically runs a little less costly, sometimes even as low as $100. I would guess a BG figure from Hot Toys would probably run around $220-240? Whereas by Asmus they might go for, I dunno... say, $180-200... That's just a rough guess, though.
One thing Asmus excels at is in reproducing clothing and gear. They're actually a bit better at it than Hot Toys, imo. (Although Hot Toys usually does a phenomenal job at that too.) And over time Asmus has vastly improved with the quality of head sculpts. To the point that Asmus head sculpts now typically rival, and in some cases surpass, Hot Toys.
Sideshow Collectibles, the premier Hot Toys distributor in the U.S., offers a flex pay plan that lets the customer preorder and spread payments over 4 months. You can now buy directly from Asmus although I'm not sure if they also offer such a flex pay plan.
(Just providing this info to educate as an avid collector myself, not shilling for either.)
Anyway, assuming topflight quality for either manufacturer...
Would you over time collect, say, a core BG adventuring party? And get a Sarevok figure?
Which NPCs for you would be must have if you were to start such a collection?
Do you think that the introduction of collectibles for the BG game series might also help invigorate interest in the games?
Post edited by Lemernis on
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Now, a life sized Sherincal or Yxunomei one the other hand...
But there is no comparison between playing cards and a 1/6 figure. I think for many folks, those that have never actually seen one of these figures in person it's hard to imagine how satisfying and addictive they become, lol. It's like the characters from your favorite films or games have come to life in 1/6 scale. Just to get a flavor, here's a YT video by a collector who is particularly talented at photographing and filming videos of Hot Toys figures. Even if you're not a fan of BvS of Justice League it is undeniable that the reproductions are just beautifully detailed.
Anyway, I would sooooo collect these.
I guess I could just go with the BG1 canon party of course. I.e., Imoen, Minsc (and Boo!), Jaheira, Khalid, and Dynaheir. But it would ultimately depend on how well each figure is realized.
I dunno, it would be hard to choose...
I actually might go with Imoen, Minsc, Kivan, Edwin, and Montaron.
And of course Sarevok would be must-have.
If they did it, they'd probably want to go Irenicus, Sarevok, Imoen and Minsc at first, and grow from there. They are pretty popular I think, and might actually be able to garner interest.
One's I'd also be interested in would be Shar-Teel, Xan (if he comes with a Moon Blade), Dorn, Korgan, Jan, Haer, and Aerie. But thats because I like them, though I'm not normally that partial to Xan, I just think his sword is cool.
I was kind of the same way until I caught the bug for collecting the 1/6 figures from superhero films and Tolkien's Middle-Earth. I mean, at least to the extent that I couldn't have imagined caring about having something like that, i.e., the physical object. The movies and books were what actually mattered, right? But once I decided to actually get one I was amazed at the level of detail. It's Ike a piece of a film or book came to life in miniature. I do get what you're saying, though fwiw. And at the end of the day it's still how they Iive in one's imagination anyway. Like, I have all but Gandalf now for my collection of LotR's fellowship of the Ring. And it will be cool to see them all assembled. Still glad I got them, and I do enjoy them. But it still can't truly match how they live in my head. And yet it's not all-or-nothing for me, either. I guess I can honestly also say that they do augment how they live for me purely mentally as well.
I doubt they would make Abdel, lol. But I could easily imagine them making head sculpts of the stock portraits the game gives us for PCs, and then allowing for creation of a custom PC by outfitting them with choice of armor, weapons, and other gear. When one thinks of all the custom weapons and items in the game that could get insane. In theory you could outfit any of the characters with specialized weapons and gear. There would have to be a limit on that, obviously... but at least a lot of the stock gear and a few special weapons and items could be made available to customize any character with.
Xan without a doubt would come equipped with his flaming elven Moonblade. Minsc would have a miniature Boo that he could either hold in hand or that perhaps could poke his head out of a ranger's satchel. Branwen would come with her electric hammer +2. Etc.
I mean... a kawaii Xzar-kun? Yes, please!
The face could be just like Tanya Degurechaff's.
If many of the figures were to run about $100-150 and you could spread out the payments the way Sideshow Collectibles does you could put together an adventuring party over time. Spreading payments out it makes it much more doable. Some figures would sell out fast, though--Minsc and Imoen for sure. Probably Kivan... So you'd have to be sure to get a preorder in before they ran out.
Sarevok and Irenicus would probably cost the most. Probably $200-250. Or occasional 'deluxe' versions (upgraded re-issues) of certain figures. Including monsters. I'd love to see a pimped out ogre mage such as Kahrk.
Anyway, if BG figures actually became available I know I would be unable to resist.
Anyway, hopefully that gets the idea across of what you might be able to expect from such items. Asmus has done a very fine job with the Middle-Earth line.
If it was Hot Toys all the better, because they do this work best overall. But making BG figures seems like the kind of job that Asmus would excel at. Plus, Hot Toys is so busy manufacturing figures for blockbuster films that I doubt they'd be interested in a two decades old CRPG. Sideshow makes figures as well, but I think Asmus does a better job than Sideshow.