donofoblivion wrote:The circumstances behind this announcement--if the rumors posted here are true--sound pretty silly to me. Wouldn't surprise me at all if the core of negativity was made up of general Pop!-haters.
To be honest, I don't believe that Bond fans have caused this all by themselves, despite what they might think. It's likely a combination of the following:
- Fans not endorsing the line enough (both from an elitist Bond fan perspective and a can't-collect-everything Funko fan perspective)
- Some of the figures warming shelves in the UK and Europe and getting huge discounts
- The first wave only consisting of 'classic' Bond and not 'modern' Bond
- EON/Danjaq (the copyright holders) wanting too much creative control (has been a deal breaker in the past)
- Licencing costs getting more expensive
- Funko not being able to make the promised second wave due to licencing constraints
I'll explain the last point in more detail: Both Jinx (from 2002's Die Another Day) and Daniel Craig from Casino Royale (2006) were planned for the first wave, appearing on pre-order lists, and receiving sketches by Funko artists. At the same time, Big Chief Studios announced their high-end scale model figure line. They admitted that due to licencing constraints, they were not able to make figures based on the Brosnan and Craig eras.
When Funko's first wave was announced, both 'modern era' figures were absent. Those figures were probably cancelled late in the game due to the same request: classic era only, please.
The following is pure speculation, but bear with me: I raised an eyebrow when I saw that the second wave consisted of 'modern era' Bond. Was the ban lifted? Not for Big Chief, who continued to announce classic Bond. Did Funko get a special treatment?
The difference beween the two companies is that Big Chief produces limited quantities in a very high price range, and delivers directly to the customers. They can "get away" easier with making very niche characters. Funko needs to appeal to the masses when making a second wave (I'm not counting their very obscure Star Wars characters). I imagine some stores asked Funko: "No-one is buying these old characters, you're sitting on a goldmine. Can't you produce Daniel Craig Bond? That will sell!" So Funko tried to work out a deal to make characters from the modern era.
And I think that's the deal that fell through. Maybe Danjaq made them cancel the plans last minute again, maybe Funko promised things to the stores they actually could not make at that time.
Whatever happened, both companies seemed to have a fall out, resulting in Danjaq taking the licence away. If both companies are used to dealing with things in a certain way that's opposite to each other, then there's a problem.
.GIF "palpyleft")
