430 replies to this topic

[ironmask]

Those blow the DST shit away.

Still, they'd be sexier, at 1.75" tall <333

[Beastformers]

I'm sorry I'm out. (For now)

Think they are great looking well sculpted figs and they'll sure beat the DST line without a doubt but it looks like the choice has been made creating these BB meets He-mann like figures instead of the more compressed BB looking Lizard figure we've seen before. I think its good a choice has been made between these two styles of figures but for me it turned out to be the wrong one.

Like DST this ROTB line has to face the reallity of today knowing that awesome Beast Saga line is comming up and its impossible to battle against that force of well planned promotion and with new great looking figs showing up almost every week. While a few months back this line which was sheduled to become launched first and still had the advantage of collectors eagerly waiting for a new succesfull line, including me, now they've become runner-up since Beast Saga did the right trick in the meantime.......

I hope you ain't gonna tell me that compressed rough looking Lizard will still be launched as well because in my opinion that would look like a second line within the ROTB which only shows they are not able to make a decission as with the size issue. For the sake of the quality sculpts (which is for sure the case) please make a decission in size asap to prevent making the same mistakes DST did with creating expectations and making the wrong choices in the end.

Really hope this time the right factory in China can be found and the result will be as good as the sculpts, than its a matter of painting which might get me back on board

Good luck Jon!

Edited by GJNL, 14 June 2012 - 04:31 AM.

[McCTXToys]

I like thise MUCH better but think the rhino's head should be more substantial.

[Bruticus82]

I like thise MUCH better but think the rhino's head should be more substantial.

Agreed, Rhino should probably have a bigger head.

[Doctor Dew]

Was thinking about these today and wondering if things were still on track for this line to move forward?

[jkaris]

Yes.

I should be sending 2 of these to 80mm lions China for reference this coming week.



They can use the two to make 1 articulated version to make the metal mold from.



And the other two sculpts (Rhino and unrevealed) @60mm I should have in hand to send to the other factory within a month.

Wheels are still turning , albeit very slowly.

[Doctor Dew]

Hooray! I hope I wasn't coming off as pushy, I'll wait for however long. I just wanted to know if I should stay excited about the figures. Thanks.

[jkaris]

Hooray! I hope I wasn't coming off as pushy, I'll wait for however long. I just wanted to know if I should stay excited about the figures. Thanks.

No worries man. One thing I have learned is to be very patient with this line. So many things have gone wrong, but so many things have also gone right.

I was listening to an interview with Matt from Onell the other day:
http://tmsidk.podbean.com/2012/07/26/matt-doughty/
and he was talking about the roadblocks he hit when he first started Glyos. One thing was getting the first few orders and having to hand scrub each figure because the paint apps were just garbage.

Hearing about what Matt went through and the issues with getting this line out, I think we have had it relatively smooth so far.

[Blackjack357]

Interested in seeing the updates on this line, love BB and the new Beast Saga looks sweet, these could be awesome as well. If I read everything correctly, you refunded all the money from Kickstarter, will you be doing a new one? I'd love to jump in on that this time, if so.

[jkaris]

Nope, the Kickstarter was cancelled before any monies were ever collected, so nothing to refund.

I'll be shipping the two repros to China on Friday, so it will take a week to get there. Then I am not sure how long until they have a working sample for us to approve. But at least they will have something with the correct proportions to mold off of, versus the mis-proportioned one they sculpted from the 3d renderings.

We won't be doing another Kickstarter and will sell the first round of figures once we have them in-hand, although this specific Lion will be going out free to those who initially pledged at the $45 level or higher as a token of thanks. We may have some left over to sell though. It really depends on what comes back from China.

[jkaris]

These pre-protos arrived today:



I am shipping 2 to the original (80mm) factory in China tomorrow. Hopefully they can add decent articulation and come back with something a lot better than the one they sculpted previously.

[Blackjack357]

These pre-protos arrived today:



I am shipping 2 to the original (80mm) factory in China tomorrow. Hopefully they can add decent articulation and come back with something a lot better than the one they sculpted previously.

They look cool, did they mold them in different colors? How many total beasts do you think you're going to shoot for?

[adam16bit]

Has there been any news on these guys? I've been hoping to see some news on if any of the little guys are moving ahead. Here's hoping!

[jkaris]

Hi Adam,

Here is the latest.

The original factory got back to me last Friday to say that they were unsuccessful using the 80mm protos we sent and that they can only do the cheesy ones they made originally. She said they should be done in 20 days and will ship them then. I didn't post any updates because I wanted to wait and see if they actually arrived and if so, what condition they are in.
My best guess? They ship early February and we have them in-hand within a couple months from there. Once (if) they arrive I'll email the Kickstarter pledgers for the info on where to send their freebies.

Outside of that, nothing notable has happened yet, since we had been hoping that this factory would finally come through. The other options we were looking at had basically been put on hold pending the outcome of the original factory.

I'm a bit bummed that the factory couldn't come through, but not really surprised.

I look at it like it's just another hurdle to get over.

[ironmask]

So, we haven't heard anything out of this project for a while, and was wondering if there was any progress since we last talked about it?
Is it still in limbo? I hope it's not off of the table, entirely.

[jkaris]

Slow progress. Like molasses. Nothing to report at the moment.

We'd love to pump out a bunch of new designs (there are already 8 figures designed, five of them we have as 3d prints), but that is all academic until we get a solid manufacturer in place. The current place in China is supposed to be sending the bootleg looking gold lions this coming month, but I don't want to count those chickens before they hatch. You've seen them and other than novelty, they are not much to look at. Definitely not anything we'd want to carry on with.

There is another, very reliable factory waiting in the wings, but we are having some delays in getting the articulated protos to them for a firm quote.

There is other stuff going on behind the scenes, but nothing I can report on.

We could speed it up if we went RTV, but that isn't really an option because of the price we'd have to charge per figure. Injection molded at around $8 per articulated, painted figure is much better than non-articulated monocolor RTV figures at $20-$25 each.

So, in a nutshell, it's still going, just at a snail's pace.

[Rubberhammer]

I hope they still get this thing up and going.

While I love the original BB's, the Beast Saga and DST figs just don't do it for me. I don't own a single one of them, but I did throw in on the Kickstarter for these.

I was really looking forward to these, they really look like some cool figs.

[OmegaTraf]

Not to be crass but,I was kinda looking foward to my freebie pinhead lion or whatever you had planned to send out to the kickstarter pledgers.

[Ericnilla]

"Excuse me miss, I don't mean to be crass, but you must be leaving the country if you're packing that much ass"

[jkaris]

Not to be crass but,I was kinda looking foward to my freebie pinhead lion or whatever you had planned to send out to the kickstarter pledgers.

I was looking forward to sending them out, too.

Here is the latest. I'll post a Kickstarter update as well.

The Factory came back last week and said, "Gee, we're so sorry to have wasted all your time over the last year and a half, only to tell you that now we will not be able to make the short sample run that we agreed to and you already paid for. So, you can either bump up your order by 7x to meet the new MOQ (minimum order quantity) or we can just give you a partial refund of what you paid (a little less than 1/3). Only the figure costs, not the mold cost, since we already made that." Not in those exact words, but that is the jist of it.

That pretty much kills any future dealings with that factory. The only thing left to do with the is try to get our money and mold, which doesn't really look promising. I could get all pissy about it, but you know, shit happens. Another bump in this very long road.

So, with that avenue closed, we will continue to focus on the other two options we have been pursuing (both are still progressing, but slowly). And once we get one or both nailed down and can make these figures via injection molding, we will give you an update. Those of you who I have promised freebie gold lions to, WHEN (not if, when) we get these going, you will still receive your lion.

Until then, here is a pic of the 60mm scorpion figure we had printed when we did the 80mm lion (for the above mentioned factory) and 60mm Rhino. He is easily my favorite of the group so far. Hopefully we can see him in PVC sometime this year (knock on steel).

[Ericnilla]

Ive heard a few horror stories involving Chinese factories, so if you can get anything back that is great to hear. Ive heard of people loosing $10,000 - $20,000 in deals that have gone bad, or supposed changing of hands by owners and all past deals cancelled with no refund. That's what scares me the most about trying to find a factory over there.

[Beastformers]

Sorry to hear about this as I know you must have been very bussy with this behind the scene's for the last year or so since the first Kickstarter was cancelled. Hope you will find a way to get things going as the first figs really triggered my imagination and this Scorpion fellow looks great as well.
Is there nothing our talented custom/casting/sculpting members can do here!? There should be more than enough knowledge with the guys (like ehm Mr. Nilla and others) out here to have some good long lasting molds made. In that case there might be no runs of thousands but maybe its would be more realistic to scale it all a little down and produce some more exclusive runs or was it really the idea to make this a US release within shops as well?

Anyway I hope somehow someday the backers will be able to have some of these cool sculpts in hand.
Keep the good work up because someday all your effort on this project has to pay off!

[Muscle Things]

it's an awesome line. can't wait for the smooth sailing period for ROTB once we get the right fit with the factory. These are gonna be amazing injection molded in mass quantities.

[cassel87]

sounds like North Korea is behind this mild to moderate bump in the road.

[FANtomCore]

These pre-protos arrived today:

rotb_lions_x8.png

I am shipping 2 to the original (80mm) factory in China tomorrow. Hopefully they can add decent articulation and come back with something a lot better than the one they sculpted previously.

Do you have anymore of these prototypes? Can I buy one?