<div class='quotetop'>(PHArchivist @ Jul 20 2006, 02:50 PM) [snapback]1284611[/snapback]</div>
Also, some of these comments here lean more towards the emotional side, and less on the constructive criticism side, (some -- not all).
[/b]
I think there are a number of people, at least in the unofficial C-3PO and R2 worlds who have a lot of unspoken concern regarding this development. It’s funny because in all the discussion today, nobody has yet come out and asked the question that I’ll bet is on everyone’s mind… “does mean they’re going to come shut us all down?”
ItÂ’s almost as if asking the question frightens people. You donÂ’t have to be Force sensitive to feel it though.
I mean George Lucas visited the R2Builder's room at CIII. It's not a secret that people make their own R2. TheyÂ’ve always been higher quality than Lucas could EVER produce and sell profitably as a collectable. Every time a licensed replica idea came up, everyone pointed to the Don Post debacle. The cost to make them was too high and they didnÂ’t sell well. Up until now there has been a little confidence because it always seemed implausible that a full-scale replica would ever be a viable licensed offering. Apparently someone felt they could make the numbers work. Perhaps the Star Wars kids are now thought to be making big enough bucks.
The QUESTION isÂ… will any unofficial activity be seen as a threat to an official product? Would drastic (and in my opinion short-sighted) action be taken to "protect the licensee"? Could they finally be closed down? Could GeorgeÂ’s visit have caused him to realize that people MIGHT spend lots of money for full-scale characters?
I mean arguably the benefit from looking the other way on things like trooper armor and the 501st was more of a beneficial business arrangement for a long time. In return for more-or-less looking the other way, he got free costumes and people falling over themselves to volunteer for his promotion activitiesÂ… Far more profitable to allow it than the few sheckles heÂ’d get from licensing a suit of armor that might only sell a few due to the harsh economics of the high-end collectables market.
At one point the hammer fell on Stormtrooper armor and to my knowledge there wasnÂ’t even an official offering to compete.
ItÂ’s a fine dance where one desires to remain as low to the radar as possible.
IÂ’ll use an analogyÂ… Just this week, Microsoft bought a very useful website (
www.sysinternals.com) that offers many useful tools to the IT world for free. Guess what the tech worldÂ’s reaction was upon hearing the news. Well the site was VERY busy as people grabbed everything they could before Microsoft got a chance to either close it down or censor what was being offered.
LetÂ’s just say if you want to build your own R2 IÂ’d smuggle out the plans before the blockade.
Ben
