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JimWantsAliens
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Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2017 6:07 pm Reply with quote

Does anyone know how Hot Toys managed to get Dr Weller's likeness signed off? Chronicle Collectibles have said they can't do a helmetless RoboCop bust due to not being able to secure likeness rights, yet they have openly said the mouth on the existing bust is modelled from a caste of Peter.



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Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2017 9:45 pm Reply with quote

dont know but iam doing the head tho at the min. iam 99% bang on lol
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Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2017 12:43 am Reply with quote

Well, the short answer is because Hot Toys paid a ton of money. Their stuff sells for such high prices they can afford to buy exclusive licensing rights if they wanted, which would prevent someone like Chronicle unable to even attempt to acquire it. I'm not saying this is the case, however, and it is possible they just don't want to pay the hefty cost to acquire it. Peter Weller is a pretty good situation because, let's face it, Robocop is literally the only character from the Robocop series with a human face that can sell. Sure, ED-209 and Robocain are popular, but the general public is not gonna shell out the cash for a Lewis or Dick Jones figure, especially on the statute/Hot Toys level, so Weller can pretty much charge what he wants. And if Hot Toys plunked down for exclusive rights, then that's that. I remember a similar situation in the 90's with basketball figures. Only one company could use the player's actual likeness, I think they were called Starting Lineup, and then there were a bunch of other companies putting out shitty generic basketball figures until McFarlane eventually got involved in that. But that's ancient history now.

As for the likeness argument, I absolutely love and respect Peter Weller's work and still think he is the best Robocop, but I am not one of those people that say Peter Weller IS Robocop. As much as I love the first two movies, I also love Robocop 3, the original Marvel cartoon, the Series, and of course the comics are my favorite, so when I am getting a statue or figure of Robocop I don't really need it to be Peter Weller to be happy with it. I'm looking over at my Robocop figures right now and I never really thought of them as being from Robocop or Robocop 2 or anything. I prefer the helmeted look and vagueness. Even my McFarlane 12", which has battle damage kind of based on the end of the first movie, do I look at it and think of it as Robocop from the first movie. No, it's just Robocop and that battle damage could have been the result of a battle with Terminators, Predators, or the Punisher. The only helmetless Robo I own is a Mez-It that I ripped the helmet off of, but I do get why people want a detailed, helmetless Robocop with perfect Peter Weller likeness. And for y'all, I feel your pain. It is a tough situation and has held back countless companies and products before. But personally, I think Weller's bald ol' mug would be a bit spooky to look at every day.




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Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2017 2:52 am Reply with quote

I believe Pimp's right. Hot Toys has more money than they know what to do with and I'm sure that played a big part in securing the rights. But I'm confused on where the details lay on the likeness. I wonder if it's just an issue when the product is helmetless/full face. Because Enterbay for sure has, at least, one Weller mouth piece for the helmeted look on their figure and they didn't get his permission that I'm aware of and they definitely didn't use Weller for the full face.
I'm unfortunately one of those who prefers a spot on Weller face/likeness and I'm super picky about it. I wish I weren't. It's become a point of contention lately with CC's 1/2 scale bust. I'll admit, some of the better painted ones do resemble Weller but only slightly in my opinion. HT got it right. It looks like Weller from R1. Enterbay's looks like Weller from R2. The Chronicle bust looks like a cross between Weller and Eden to me. They claim they used an original Weller face cast from '86 as reference but they look nothing alike to me.




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Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2017 10:44 am Reply with quote

Cheers guys. I thought it was probably the case that HT have more money and they're established.

Never thought about the exclusive deal possibility though. Damn, that would suck.

People forget the Enterbay is a RoboCop 3 figure, so is based on Burke, although helmeted, the jaw looks very Weller.

It's not so much that I want Weller's likeness, as much as I like that helmetless look in the original trilogy. That make-up effect is so cool. Even now, watching R1 on a massive cinema screen, it really looks like a human head grafted on to metal. It really stands up and hasn't dated at all. Must have taken ages to apply so no wonder we don't see much of it in the films, and no wonder they simplified it for the series.




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Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2017 6:31 pm Reply with quote

JimWantsAliens :
It's not so much that I want Weller's likeness, as much as I like that helmetless look in the original trilogy. That make-up effect is so cool. Even now, watching R1 on a massive cinema screen, it really looks like a human head grafted on to metal. It really stands up and hasn't dated at all. Must have taken ages to apply so no wonder we don't see much of it in the films, and no wonder they simplified it for the series.


I'm with this. I very much like the helmetless Robo (Or RoboMurphy as I often refer to him in that state) and if I were to have that helmetless look, it'd have to be Weller and be.. if not perfect than damn close at least. It's just iconic, can't afford to fuck it up. And yes much of that is 'cause I am one of those Weller is RoboCop people, too. I do have to admit I got a chuckle out of that one remark about Weller staring at you everyday though, I kinda get that. tongue

That said, on a helmeted figure, I can be much more amenable like Pimp, though if a figure's in a particular price class I'd expect it to be accurate because if I were to shell out that much for it I'd expect and even demand for it to be that good, comes down to craftsmanship as much as accuracy there, simple as that. Especially if it's of a certain size and bigger - I think Poco has a point about the bust there, a piece that big you can't have it off by much or it's just gonna look obviously off. With that the images I've seen of the bust it looks.. well, ok. Ok, but not great. Though it looks better in some shots than other so I don't know.. Some shots of the lips look real fucked but others not as much.. Bah. Need a real review of that one with some video.

Anyway, I do agree with Pimp's assessment about having an exclusive, makes sense (I too remember the deal with the B-ball figures and I think they even did on some other sports figures the same way back then, one outfit had the exclusive likeness rights), and yes fairly sucks if so.

PS - Jim, that makeup prosthesis took 6+ hours to apply for Weller in R1. But damn it is worth it, I agree it still stands up to this day.
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Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2017 8:13 pm Reply with quote

Stan The Man :
[that makeup prosthesis took 6+ hours to apply for Weller in R1. But damn it is worth it, I agree it still stands up to this day.


Yeah and on top of the time to get into the suit! I know we've discussed the helmetless look here before, and that it makes sense for scenes where Murphy is kinda emotionally vulnerable, but I always felt the reason we don't see him helmetless much im the sequels was a practical consideration. (In fact, there's only 1 scene in R2 where we see the real Peter with that effect, as after the gang dismantle him, it's the animatromic puppet.)

You're totally right, if a piece is that expensive, it needs to be accurate. Here's hoping they re-negotiate at some point in the future. I never thiught the Hot Toys figure would happen so never say never. If the Chronicle Robo pieces keep selling well, they might consider upping their bid.




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Posted: Sun Oct 01, 2017 11:16 pm Reply with quote

Very interesting read!

I look forward to seeing Chronicle's 1/1 bust. While they can get away with a very iffy likeness at 1/2, lifesize needs to be absolutely spot-on.




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Posted: Wed Sep 18, 2019 11:33 am Reply with quote

That Peter Weller likeness.... Hot Toys nailed it.





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