>>8118009He's been asked in the Kickstarter comments about companies like Hot Toys or Prime 1 getting the Spawn license. But his response was literally not wanting other companies to do the things he could do himself.
This last week, Shartimus interviewed Todd and stayed on him with some hard-hitting questions regarding the industry, modern collector preferences, comparisons to other figures (imports), etc. Todd wouldn't budge, but it does give more insight to this topic.
In the interview, Todd says something to the tune of: "if your dream Spawn figure has lights and poseability and all sorts of extra features and accessories, that figure will have to be 12 inches and cost $300."
He later talks about $80 imports and how they have to be overpriced because they don't sell as many units as cheaper figures (which is only logical). But the point is: one way or another, those Japanese companies still manage to make their bottom line. So why can't Todd throw a bone to the high-end collectors once in a while? Release a big-ass, hyper-detailed 1/6 Spawn, make it a limited run and charge a couple hundred. Or hell, a 1/4 statue since it's been a while. Of course the customer base won't be as large as for a $20 toy, but there will be enough buyers out there to make it worthwhile. If 15,000 people are fanatical enough to pledge an average of $130 for this 7" Kickstarter reboot, surely 1,000 or 2,000 people would happily drop a few hundred on a Hot Toys version.
To summarize:
In one moment, the man says he won't share the Spawn license because he can easily do Spawn the way Prime 1 or Hot Toys would.
In another moment, it sounds like he's taking a principled stance against releasing anything over $40, just because he doesn't like charging high prices for his products. So no, I would say he CAN'T do what those other manufacturers can.
Fuckin' share the license, dude.
