Big Chief Studios James Bond Series

[matrix69]

I believe what matrix was getting at was that Craig himself, or his agent/team, is being picky and constantly rejecting the sculpts that BCS is submitting.

Nothing BCS can do if Craig keeps saying 'No'. They are contractually allowed to make merch using his likeness, but Craig has to give his approval, and if he never gives approval ... people continue to give BCS crap for 'not striking while the iron is hot'.

Yes Craig's image rights would be a separate contact from the Bond franchise.

Maybe he has it written in his contract that there's to be no Bond dolls made of him until he's left the role?

 

[matrix69]

I've had some dealings with EON and Danjaq and I can tell you they are very hands-on in every way. It's more likely they are deciding which figures BCS can release and in what order.

I also heard quite some time ago that they were not interested in toys when Craig came onboard -- and that agreement to Craig may still very much be in effect. While he's Bond, maybe they are just honoring that agreement not to "toy him up" and cheapen the new direction.

I hope you're right and that we might eventually get a nice CR version after Craig relinquishes the role.

 

[Wor-Gar]

I hope so too. Again, this is just all guesswork but...

I find it hard to believe that a franchise like Bond or Star Wars or Indy or MCU would not include likeness rights as part of their deal to hire the actor. I understand the actor gets approval of their likeness (within reason) but the idea that one actor could potentially shut down a toy line for a successful franchise seems unlikely. I mean, if RDJ decided he didn't want toys of himself I really doubt Disney would tolerate him constantly declining his Stark likeness approval to do so. All that gets worked out in advance in the overall deal.

In Craig's case, it was agreed to by both parties as part of his overall deal -- therefore as mentioned above, they likely agreed to "no dolls" while Craig is Bond (although even that has its limitations I imagine -- I doubt they figured he'd be Bond for so long with so few films). Anyway, has there been any officially licensed Craig as Bond dolls since he came onboard?

 

[Johnny Utah]

Nope. There was a line of 7 inch figures canned too. They were from Corgi.

 

[j007klein]

Marine Boy, Tim is waiting on his ride......

 

[Sardo Numspa]

It actually comes down to what Barbara Broccoli likes. She came down hard on SSC when their figures weren't so good and nobody apart from BCS has dared to approach her. She could be why there has never been an official 1/6th Craig.

I don't buy that for a second. When those SSC Bond figures came out they were excellent compared to anything else on the market. Back then, Sideshow was still the best 1/6 scale manufacturer. Hell, Hot Toys wasn't even making 1/6 figures back then.
There is nothing to suggest that Broccoli came down on SSC and was disappointed in their figures.

 

[Rogerbee]

Well, there weren't any licensed figures for many, many years after that line finished and it's definitely what I heard at the time. Shop owners in the UK were sending them back as they just weren't selling. You could hardly call figures like Xenia Onatopp amazing.

 

[matrix69]

Didn't SS have a proto of Craig from CR in the works? I remember seeing a small pic of the head sculpt on these boards many moons ago, before Babs or Craig...or maybe both pulled the plug on the figure line.

 

[matrix69]

Marine Boy, Tim is waiting on his ride......

View attachment 539279

Nice looking custom

 

[Rogerbee]

DC can't have a complete figure ban in his overall contracts as Medicom released a licensed 1/6 figure of him from Cowboys and Aliens. I don't think he has much say on what happens with Bond, I would have thought that control belonged to the producers.

We will see! It may not have helped that there have already been many unlicensed Craig Bond figures, DID being the most prominent. Just remember that, their LALD 'Bond' was licensed through Roger Moore himself and had nothing to do with Eon.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Well, there weren't any licensed figures for many, many years after that line finished and it's definitely what I heard at the time. Shop owners in the UK were sending them back as they just weren't selling. You could hardly call figures like Xenia Onatopp amazing.

I was at Danjaq's old offices in Santa Monica about 8 years ago and was inside their "toy room" where there was lots of Sideshow figures. The people showing me were very happy with all the toys at that time.

DC can't have a complete figure ban in his overall contracts as Medicom released a licensed 1/6 figure of him from Cowboys and Aliens. I don't think he has much say on what happens with Bond, I would have thought that control belonged to the producers.

We will see! It may not have helped that there have already been many unlicensed Craig Bond figures, DID being the most prominent. Just remember that, their LALD 'Bond' was licensed through Roger Moore himself and had nothing to do with Eon.

I'm not sure what Cowboys and Aliens and a Moore figure have to do with the lack of Craig Bond figures. No, Craig can't have a total figure ban. And yes, I imagine it has much more to do with Danjaq/EON coming to that agreement with Craig when he was being hired and they were trying their hardest to make Bond "cool" again.

 

[Morgenergy]

BCS are churning out more pre-orders than product. They have 30 pre-orders at the moment (including 2/3 packs, Variants and the Zavvi re-releases)...and that's only the 1/6 scale figures!

Don't get me started on half the tat they're putting out. Bobbleheads. What year is it?

I think their priorities are way out of order, considering the brand image they're clearly trying to put forward. With the time, money and effort they've put into landfill based on hasbeen TV shows, they would've been able to put out an absolute storm of high end figures... and not just from the 007 line.

 

[Rogerbee]

I was at Danjaq's old offices in Santa Monica about 8 years ago and was inside their "toy room" where there was lots of Sideshow figures. The people showing me were very happy with all the toys at that time.



I'm not sure what Cowboys and Aliens and a Moore figure have to do with the lack of Craig Bond figures. No, Craig can't have a total figure ban. And yes, I imagine it has much more to do with Danjaq/EON coming to that agreement with Craig when he was being hired and they were trying their hardest to make Bond "cool" again.

The backdoor licensed Moore has, I think, to do with Eon being selective about what they license. After all, they would already have agreed with BCS that they would be doing a LALD Moore Bond, so DID had to go a different route.

 

[Luke_911]

Argh just really frustrated that after all these years we can't even have a Craig Bond. Skyfall remains one of my fav Bond films to date.

 

[Rogerbee]

Maybe, now his tenure is over, we may. You never know....

 

[Platty]

I feel sorry for BCS when they do release a Craig as it’s guaranteed there will be people disappointed in the sculpt, Craig looks different in every single picture you see of him! Proper chameleon face! BCS ain’t gonna please everyone that’s for sure.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Yeah.

I wonder which Craig BCS would be allowed to start with? The blue tux from Skyfall seems to be the most distinctive. I'd prefer the CR tuxedo personally as I feel that's Craig's definitive Bond outing.


I'm disappointed that Craig never wore scuba gear and went underwater. He'd look cool coming up out of the water all SEAL'd out. Maybe in NTTD.

 

[davejames]

Yeah the blue Skyfall tux still remains my favorite, even though I wasn't as fond of his shorter hair in that movie. But he also looks so much younger in the first two movies, and ultimately I'd rather have that older and more grizzled Craig we saw in the last three.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Ideally I would like to see him from the parkour chase first.

 

[Gipetto0812]

I feel sorry for BCS when they do release a Craig as it’s guaranteed there will be people disappointed in the sculpt, Craig looks different in every single picture you see of him! Proper chameleon face! BCS ain’t gonna please everyone that’s for sure.

Very true, not to mention what we see in our minds eye of what we think Craig looks like. There have a been a bunch of custom sculpts that folks have fawned over and have paid crazy money for that I've felt look very little like Craig, almost caricature-sque. But, like you said, he looks different in almost every angle. He's going to be a tough nut to crack. I wonder if an "idealized" version of him may be the best route, sort of like what HT does at times.

Yeah the blue Skyfall tux still remains my favorite, even though I wasn't as fond of his shorter hair in that movie. But he also looks so much younger in the first two movies, and ultimately I'd rather have that older and more grizzled Craig we saw in the last three.

It's a great look for sure and for obvious reasons why folks love it. For me, I think when it comes to tux looks, I prefer the Casino Royale black tux.