WETA rayguns V Metal Hellboy Samaritan

[CustomCreations]

The Hellboy Samaritan Metal edition has just sold out- selling an edition of 850 items.
Now, I know Hellboy is a 'brand' but I would be interested to hear from fellow board members why they feel the Samaritan has sold out so quickly (what, 3 weeks?) whereas the WETA rayguns are still for sale, with an edition of 500 per piece, some 9 months on.
Having a Manmelter myself, I can vouch for the quality ( although I know some people had the odd problem as mantioned on WETA forums)

What are your thoughts??

Dan.

 

[Gigatron]

Easy, Hellboy has (now) 2 movies behind it, plus years of comic books. Even somebody who saw the movie is now familiar with the license. And through all the different medium, the Samaritan has figured rather prominently.

So when Sideshow offers a pretty damn fine replica of a rather predominent prop, it's going to do well amongst fans.

Weta, on the other hand, is an FX house. They decided to design and release some generic ray guns that haven't been featured in any media, but only reminiscent of the 50's serials. That's a heck of a niche group to go after. The guns aren't famous from a movie or popular comic book. They look nifty, sure, but that's a hard selling point.

Most people buy/make props to feel a connection to a favorite film/comic book/tv show/whatever. The Samaritan has the connection, the ray guns have nothing to connect to.

-Fred

 

[CustomCreations]

Nice reply. I like the word 'connection' in your synopsis...gets me thinking on my project nicely ;-)

So, my follow on from that-
Would this argument affect keen collectors of blasters and guns too ? or just memorablia collectors ?

 

[kmcmillin]

Not to mention the Hellboy Samaritan is almost $200 less than the Weta......

 

[Riv]

Not to mention the Hellboy Samaritan is almost $200 less than the Weta......

Bingo.

I like the Weta guns, but they're more than I'd want to pay for something with which I have no previous familiarity. They're "neat to have", not "Wow, I've been waiting for this for years!" And for being just "neat to have", they're too pricey for me.

 

[Gigatron]

Nice reply. I like the word 'connection' in your synopsis...gets me thinking on my project nicely ;-)

So, my follow on from that-
Would this argument affect keen collectors of blasters and guns too ? or just memorablia collectors ?

My feeling is that the Weta rayguns appeals to a very particular set of collectors - people who are interested in 40' - 60's sci-fi. Not that the guns are from a particular movie or show, but you could imagine them from the old radio programs.

Gun collectors tend to collect actual firearms, modern and/or historical - nothing to do with movie memoribilia ro sci-fi.

Blaster collectors will more than likely stay with blasters from known films; star wars, trek, MiB, etc. They may dabble in the occassional one-off custom (like a Nerf repaint) or even Weta's stuff, but the mainstay of the collection is more likely to be better known (to other geeks) blasters.

Plus, as has been mentioned, Weta has essentially priced themselves out of the game. I'm not saying the pieces aren't worth it, but the price really narrows down the number of people who will collect. Now you need people who are into generic, non-descript "golden age" sci-fi, with considerable spending money. That's a very small group of people.

-Fred

 

[MooMooEgg]

although i find the WETA rayguns to be cool, i wouldnt pick any up. when showing off collections (at least for me), people really appreciate the items more when they can associate it with a film they've seen (e.g., I have a Walther PPK replica, and no one seems to think anything of it until i tell people it's the gun James Bond uses. THEN they're like, "oh, cool!")

 

[Funky]

although i find the WETA rayguns to be cool, i wouldnt pick any up. when showing off collections (at least for me), people really appreciate the items more when they can associate it with a film they've seen (e.g., I have a Walther PPK replica, and no one seems to think anything of it until i tell people it's the gun James Bond uses. THEN they're like, "oh, cool!")

Wll, there's my response to the letter.

 

[KnightAsylum]

Nothing that has not been said before here but...

It is because it is from the movie. Without having seen it on film it would mean nothing to me. Just like any prop vs any made up thing. If there is no association with something I care about, then I don't care.

Expensive (for something that does not function) prop items are a small niche market anyway in terms of global sales. Make it a product not directly related to anything, just with a kind of ol' fashion niche appeal and you are in super-niche territory. I was surprised they made them (weta) and expected they would only sell a couple of these when I saw them

 

[phase pistol]

Yeah the Samaritan being "from" something, carries a lot of weight.

Also the WETA guns are a REAL hard sell. I only have the scaled replica from ComicCon, and that only because my friend got it for me. My friend who COLLECTS ray guns, and he can't bring himself to buy one of the Wetas. :lol

My problem with the WETAS is, nice as they are, they're overdesigned. Too baroque, too many greeblies and tubes and stuff. They seem like they'd break just from your looking at them.

Also the guns are trying to be too "steampunk", which doesn't really fit into any classic style of ray gun. A little cleaner, a little more "Buck Rogers"... and it would be a different story. That book that Dark Horse came out with, the "Dr Grodbort's Catalog" or whatever it's called, has got some alternate designs that are better then the ones they actually made, IMHO.

- k

 

[CustomCreations]

Thanks guys, some interesting comments but what I expected !
Its interesting for me to see what is the priority here with 'us' collectors. In some respects, would buying into collecting the License outway buying the product itself?
I agree the Weta stuff is a little over greebled, but it does help with the overall mystery of the product. I got the manmelter because the 'outline' made more sense.
Ok, so heres a question. If the Weta range was connected to a known license,although the product still of wetas own design, and the price point was lower, would that be more appealing to you?

 

[Funky]

Of course.

 

[CustomCreations]

splendid !

 

[barbatus]

When I first heard of the Weta Rayguns I immediately fell in love with the whole concept. I followed the original RPF thread about them, where many people criticized the design as being overloaded and not true to steampunk. All this criticism may be very valid, but it never bothered me that the design may not follow a certain philosophy consistently (because I didn´t even know the word steampunk before reading about it on the RPF).

The missing connection to a known license is no problem for me. Still it is a little disappointing to see that the creative and artistic power at Weta isn´t used to further develop the backstory. “Doctor Grordbort´s Contrapulatronic Dingus Directory” may be a nice book, but it only has 32 pages. Why not at least release a graphic novel?

So, why didn´t I buy the Manmelter (my favorite) already? It is only because of the price. 690$ is far beyond what I might be able and willing to pay. A few months ago I bought a screen used working hero Meccan rifle from Riddick for less than that.

It would have been interesting to see if the Rayguns sold out for a price similar to the Samaritan.

Weta has another Raygun on their side, the „Victorious Mongoose”. Yet again I love the design of the gun. Since it is much smaller than the previous ones here is hoping that this one will be affordable.

EDIT: The Victorious Mongoose seems to be 550$. A real "bargain"...

 

[CustomCreations]

Yeh I got the Manmelter. I convinced myself it was market research- which, actually it was, really.
I note the point of the Dictionary. I am awaiting for mine- it should open the weta 'world' up a bit. The mongoose looks lovely- if you see the links on the weta forum, it has a lovely box with it to.
Interesting note-
I went on a lecture on marketing and pricing, and I managed to get the Weta range to be used to the group as an example of reverse pricing- ie what we buy it for, what the distributers might buy it for, and what it would potentially cost WETA to make, compared to what their markup might be. VERY interesting ! ;-) (although hyperthetical , of course)

 

[Ramiel]

I think I know why you are asking these questions... And the answers are helping me too...
The only let-down about the Weta rayguns for me was just the price... I understand that we are paying the design, the painting, the finishing touches, and all the accessories (like the great boxes), but afterall these guns are made of resin...

 

[KarlBud420]

I think I know why you are asking these questions... And the answers are helping me too...
The only let-down about the Weta rayguns for me was just the price... I understand that we are paying the design, the painting, the finishing touches, and all the accessories (like the great boxes), but afterall these guns are made of resin...

I thought I read somewhere that they are actually metal and not resin. Can you confirm that CustomCreations?

Personally, I love the designs, or as some described it, the overdesign. I love the swappable greeblie cartriges and the fictional backstories. The sticking point for me is the price, edition size of 500 or no.

If I can't afford $400 for the metal Samaritan (with supercool lightup LED bullets no less), there's absolutely no way that I can drop almost $700 on a prop no matter how I feel about it. Considering my "completionist" tendencies, I couldn't limit myself to just 1 of the Weta guns, it would have to be all 3 or 4 of them. That's serious coin for me so I managed to convince myself that they're not a "have to have" item.

So basically, I think Weta priced themselves beyond the reach of most collectors.

Bruce

 

[DARTH SABER]

I thought I read somewhere that they are actually metal and not resin. Can you confirm that CustomCreations?

I picked up WETA's F.M.O.M. Wave Disruper gun, and I can assure you that it is metal . (It's been about 5 years since I bought a prop over $200, so I figured what the hell.)

I also don't mind the "overdesign" of these rayguns.
As a matter a fact , the overdesign of these guns reflects the impractical, cheesy sci-fi designs that are so well associated with the 30's, 40's, 50's.

And I do agree that the era of these guns should have been DieselPunk instead of SteamPunk....But then again that's a minor gripe that doesn't matter to me at all.


DS

 

[Ramiel]

All metal? Well, this explain the price a little more... But still too expensive for something like that...
If they could produce at least a sort of "short film" to "promote" those guns, probably it would help the sales... Something like the work they did on the skull island seen in "King Kong" for example...

 

[Got Maul]

Answer is real simple as gigatron pointed out, one market is wider than the other. Thus the audience is larger, more chance for sale. That's the peril of niche' markets. When they are small, you already limit your exposure and lower your chance of a sale. Unless you have a good financial base to back you, the only companies who have a remote chance in hell of surviving a niche market are the ones connected to big wallets.