Would you buy Hot Toys style figures at 1/9th scale?

[dkaneman]

I'm a long time 1/6 scale collector and I would love to see more detail in 1/9 scale, although with lower pricing since I think there will be many details lost in transition.

[Dr.Mind]

Great thread, samurai!

Yeah, I think 8-inch scale needs to move towards greater realism and detail if it's to remain a viable format...

I actually think the 8-inch format has the potential to be an industry-wide "game changer". If you can produce 1:9 scale toys that are really detailed (I'm talking along the lines of new 3 3/4" Star Wars, not Hot Toys), don't cater to nostalgia (i.e. aren't "simplified" or "cute" or retro in any way) and - this one's important - are affordable... then I think 8-inch scale would explode in mainstream popularity just like it did in the '70s. Imagine the DCUC or Star Wars lines, scaled-up to 8-inch tall "modern" action figure bodies that are super-poseable, with clothes that are made out of real fabric. I think just about every level of toy consumer (parent, kid and collector) would go ape for mass-market toys that looked like that.

Absolutely true. This is one of the most clever statements on the possibilities of the scale that I've ever read. I think what Mattel is really doing with its retro-line is keeping out the new fans from actually getting into the 8" format. I love my Megos, but it's about time they came of age...

[SgtPepper]

But that assumes that detailed and realistic is "good" and simplified is "bad".

No, no, no. Let me clarify Scott.
I dont beleive that Marty would reject a prototype because it was turned in to "realistic or to accurate" to the character being made. Original mego was a hit then because kids loved them. They are a hit today because those kids have grown up and still love them. So, what do kids love today when it comes to action figures? Realisim, poseabiltiy,durability.
I am just using not only my own tastes' that I remember from childhood(I wanted cool, real looking toys as a kid, not a blue dinosuar) as well as my own childrens' tastes'. I have a large original mego collection, which I love because I have fond memeries of them from childhood. My kids think they are lame. Sad, but true. Now, I also have a huge custom collection and these same kids think these are amazing. They love the fact that they look so real.
The sad reality of this is most(not all) kids will walk right by mego, and
re-mego to pick up a Necca, McFarlane, Marvel Legends, or DC Universe ect,figure. That is what todays mego is up against.
Personally, I really dig(and own) most of the new mego stuff coming out, but I realize for it to really take hold, it needs to take the next step in realism as well.

[Sandman9580]

Great thread, samurai!

Yeah, I think 8-inch scale needs to move towards greater realism and detail if it's to remain a viable format. While Mego has a certain aesthetic charm that you don't necessarily need to have "grown up with" to appreciate, the fact of the matter is that a huge part of Mego collecting is based on nostalgia, and that makes its appeal limited. But that's not to say it's an either/or proposition - there's plenty of room for both styles in the marketplace. As MegoScott said, it depends on the license. (There's no one better than EMCE to take on the challenge of the Superfriends, IMO. And I'd love to see "Alex Raymond-style" Flash Gordon figures someday, but if it's all the same to everyone, I'd prefer it if Hot Toys didn't do them. My last name isn't Gates or Buffet, and I don't need to see the pores on Emperor Ming's face.)

With Hot Toys, the whole "nostalgic impulse" is sort of obliterated. People (myself included) buy Hot Toys simply because the quality of the product far surpasses anything most of us thought it was okay to expect from a toy company. I don't remember ever having the desire to own a Vito Corleone Godfather figure; I'm a huge fan of the movie, but when McFarlane made their figure, I sort of shrugged and went about my business... ditto Sideshow's PF figure. But when Hot Toys made theirs, I was suddenly filled with the new, weird, and overwhelming desire to own a Godfather figure. I bought it despite the hefty price tag, was glad to buy it, and a year-plus later it's still one of my favorites.

But (as TrueDave said) does anyone really want that kind of realism in a 1:9 scale figure? Think about it. The HT Godfather has miniscule, painted-on eye-lashes, his irises are more than one color, and he has little moons on his fingernails! I love realism but I think if anyone bothered to produce that kind of detail in 8-inch (and I doubt anyone could, God help them), I think I'd look at it and ask "why?" I mean, if you're going to put that much care and detail into it, why not just do it in the more "dimensionally impressive" 1:6 scale?

So, yeah... I'm down with buying super-detailed 8-inch figures, but I don't think it's viable - or even desirable - to have them be up there in the Hot Toys stratosphere.

Also, one more thing (this may be getting a bit off-topic, but I think it relates to this discussion):

I actually think the 8-inch format has the potential to be an industry-wide "game changer". If you can produce 1:9 scale toys that are really detailed (I'm talking along the lines of new 3 3/4" Star Wars, not Hot Toys), don't cater to nostalgia (i.e. aren't "simplified" or "cute" or retro in any way) and - this one's important - are affordable... then I think 8-inch scale would explode in mainstream popularity just like it did in the '70s. Imagine the DCUC or Star Wars lines, scaled-up to 8-inch tall "modern" action figure bodies that are super-poseable, with clothes that are made out of real fabric. I think just about every level of toy consumer (parent, kid and collector) would go ape for mass-market toys that looked like that.

Again, I'm glad we have the retro stuff, but if the detail can be dialed up a bit, I think there's a lot of untapped, mainstream potential for the 8-inch format. If that happens, everyone wins - kids, customizers, vintage Mego collectors... everyone.

Show them the way, Zica!

[madmarva]

I would definitely buy Hot Toys-type or quality figures in the 8-inch scale.

I love everything about the original mego figures in a nostalgic way, but even as a kid I struggled with the fact that the figures did not look enough like the characters they were portraying.

The head sculpts on the super heroes were close enough to be recognizable, but none of them were what I would call good likenesses of the characters in comics or film or TV. You could tell Superman was Superman, but he didn't look like Curt Swan's art or like George Reeves. And when the 12 inch Superman came out, I wished Mego had not even tried to make the head look like Christopher Reeve it was so far off.

From the just plain goofy-looking Robin head sculpt to the no white sleeves, no gloves on Captain America and Tarzan's crazy cave-man suit, to pointed ears on Aquaman and furry hands on Falcon, the mego figures had issues. Mego got in the ballpark on the characters but that was about it.

That being said, the figures had great playability. The Type-2 body was fantastic. Not too big like big GI Joes and not too small like Star Wars figures. Loved the fact you could change their clothes and heads. To me playability is what made megoes great.

But now as an adult who enjoys looking at the figures rather than playing with them. I'd rather have figures that are as accurate as possible. That's why I love the custom figures that so many craftsman on this site create. Even the ones that are very mego-like pay much greater attention to detail than mego ever did.

I collect DC Direct's 13 inch figures. While there are some misses (Wonder Woman), most of the figures are very accurate renditions of their characters.

While I'm overall pleased — other than the wonky bodies — with what Mattel has produced in their retro line, I would prefer more realistic head sculpts, better emblems on the costumes in terms of placement and durability and better gauntlets on the costumes that represent the figures' gloves. They really should taper down at the wrist.

[megoscott]

Mmm, he did say Marty wouldn't reject it because it was "too good", which I took to mean that realistic was good.

I'm just saying that making a great figure today doesn't have to mean hitting the Hot Toys mark. But maybe I'm stating the obvious.

[The Bat]

But that assumes that detailed and realistic is "good" and simplified is "bad".

But he didn't say simplified was "bad"...simply that if Marty Abrams was in charge of a Toy Company today...would he reject a Sculpt because it two well done, to realistic?

[megoscott]

But that assumes that detailed and realistic is "good" and simplified is "bad".

[The Bat]

IMO, mego was top of the line as realistic as they could at the time. Why would'nt the next generation of 8" clothed figures want to be the best they could be? I cant imagine Marty Abrams sitting at a board meeting saying, "we cant use that prototype because it looks to real, you know, to good".

That's a very good point.

[SgtPepper]

I am not sure there are enough "collectors" to keep retro-mego alive on their own. My kids are 15 &13 and could really care less about toys that have that "cute" type look, like mego did. They want stuff that looks real, like a tv show or movie does.
IMO, mego was top of the line as realistic as they could at the time. Why would'nt the next generation of 8" clothed figures want to be the best they could be? I cant imagine Marty Abrams sitting at a board meeting saying, "we cant use that prototype because it looks to real, you know, to good".

[megoscott]

I don't know, I'm such a Mego dork I want them to be Mego like, but I wonder if in order for this scale to grow beyond it's retro roots it needs to evolve in the Hot Toys direction or stay on a cheaper/more toylike direction.

It really depends on the license. For select Super Heroes it makes sense, but I think it's better that the Retro Action heroes are simpler/cheaper because they are more Mego-like and they can make a ton more characters. I bought the Zica Buck Rogers to support what Zica was doing, I think they are very artful and inspiring toys, but I actually think Buck would be better suited to a more Mego-like and less detailed approach. I'm not sure that license deserved the deluxe treatment, but that's the license they landed and they took it and ran with it.

I think the public would respond better to Lost figures if they were more detailed and realistic--Mego is an acquired taste--it's appropriate to the show and appeals to a wider adult base. But then again, I also doubt you'd sell 4 times as many if they were twice as expensive--whatever the ratio is that makes it financially worthwhile.

As a fan of a property with a lot of characters I prefer seeing 12 figures made at the Mego level than 4 made at the Hot Toys level.

[The Bat]

To Hell with you Guys...I WILL own the Takara BATMAN!

[TrueDave]

I dislike every Batman suit that has ever appeared on film except for yours Sandy, Adam West is passable for kitch factors. I wish somehow Hot Toys would make a Dead End Batman. That would be my dream Batman figure.

True dat.

[BlackKnight]

I dislike every Batman suit that has ever appeared on film

Agreed .

[CaptainTrenchcoat]

I dislike every Batman suit that has ever appeared on film except for yours Sandy, Adam West is passable for kitch factors. I wish somehow Hot Toys would make a Dead End Batman. That would be my dream Batman figure.