Re: Cinemaquette Batman Speargun (and other props)
"Please note that the Speargun is not removable from the base."
Seriously? For 400.00 the affix the spear in the gun and you can't take it off it's base? Then what's the point of having a folding handle?
You have to understand that studios are absolutely PARANOID that some idiot will harm themselves (or worse...someone else) with a licensed prop replica and then the studio will get dagged into a "et al" lawsuit.
I have been battling the "It MUST be affixed to the plaque or base" war with the studios since 1994. It takes a LOT of arguing and discussion to get them to relent on this point.
Sometimes, they won't BUDGE. Warners is one of those who say: "It must be affixed or else don't do it...period."
It is the result of a larger, WORLD-WIDE problem. People are IDIOTS. Rather than WORKING hard for a living, everyone is looking for a "instant payday".
This means that people are looking for SOMETHING to sue someone else for. Having worked closely with almost all of them over 16+ years, I have seen that the studios are keenly aware of this ...the "deep pockets" scenario.
If the consumer manages to get it off the base, it is like a "release of liability" for the manufacturer and studio.
Looking at it from their standpoint, why would they want to give that up?
I am actually surprised that they have been willing to listen to my arguments and come down from this legal standpoint. But I can assure you, it will only get worse with time. Not better.
BTW: A few different people have sent me better pics of that Batgun replica. It is TOTALLY a recast (or re-engineered copy) of mine. It has all of the same mistakes I made on my old replica. It's kinda funny. Warners probably wouldn't give them any reference, so they had to go find it somewhere on the net.
The studios do not like to have to provide reference. Actually, the studios don't really want to do much of anything for the fees they are paid. Most of the really good support staff have been laid-off, during down-sizing, or moved on to other careers. So the studios are working with much-smaller licensing departments and younger, much-less-experienced staff who can't adequately support the licensses that they have.
I could tell you horror stories. Licensing has really changed for the worse over the years.
But that is ANOTHER story...
