What a nice surprise. Not necessarily the figure I would've wanted - but seeing anything from Hot Toys related to the Nolan Trilogy in 1/6 is always welcome.
Like others have said, the greatest improvement is probably going to be the tailoring. Is that worth buying a brand new figure? I don't know, but I miss being excited about Hot Toys Batman figures.
Of course, everyone would prefer a 1/6 Ra's or a 1/6 Returns Catwoman - but these are probably popular enough (especially the Catwoman) that they would merit a wider release, not a Toys Fair exclusive.
(Also, releasing on the 11th anniversary is a cute nod to the Two-Face duality!)
Wonder if this is going to be a surprise one-off or the start of a new wave of 1/6 TDK figs?
Unlikely. Disney is running the Hot Toys show now, and has been for a few years.
Anyone complaining about Hot Toys' poor business decisions need to take that into account. Hot Toys is feeling the squeeze from the Mouse.
They definitely got likeness rights from Liam Neeson. So, I'm almost sure there will be Ras Al Ghul from HT soon.
I'm a little out of the loop - is this a recent development? Was there an announcement of such an acquisition, or a release of a non-Ra's Liam Neeson character?
Original was clearance fodder. Let's see what happens this time.
Keep in mind that the market and the 1/6 figure ecosystem was
very different back then.
When the original came out, Hot Toys was just finally stepping up its game and breaking out to become the standout leader of 1/6 figure quality. The collector population was smaller, the "auto-acquire" mindset from consumers wasn't in place yet as Hot Toys hadn't been
the premiere toy company for a very long time...and, maybe most importantly, Sideshow hadn't acquired their monopoly over the American market for Hot Toys.
Perhaps most importantly, Sideshow hadn't acquired their monopoly over the American market for Hot Toys. There was healthy, American competition, which lead to lower prices. It's also possible that these figures were originally overproduced, due to the increasing hype for "The Dark Knight" and the first release of Hot Toys TDK figures.
I'm not saying this guy will sell like gangbusters now - Hot Toys faces the opposite problem, with TDK hype having fizzled years ago. But I do think the comparison between then and now isn't very informative due to the situation being so different.
I remember when they were on clearance. I bought a whole case of them for $45 a figure from Hastings. Sold them over the years - the last one went a year and a half ago, for more than ten times the price I paid for it.
So there's at least
some market for it, even if it's not a lot. But you don't need a lot for a Toys Fair exclusive.
I think a true statement would be “Hot Toys is incapable of giving everybody what they want”.
