[INDIEGOGO] Robot Invaders, characters inspired by sci-fi movies and more....

[grant]

So I'll just leave this quote from the project creator.

 "It's a little bit risky because I don't want to pay copyright."

That's hilarious. And pretty much sums up why not to do this.

[obsidian3d]

Red flag noted.

[Wachaza]

I wouldn't be surprised to see a wide-front C&D backlash against the lately increasing temerity of manufacturers making "not" figures. It's like a Jenga tower. Someone will be too bold and the backlash will hit all of them.

Someone (Eureka??) got done for the Chaos Space Weasels and "not" Planet of the Apes pulling the ranges when the copyright holders make big threatening noises. Most of the "not" miniatures avoid problems by not mentioning who they are based on and sailing under the notice of the copyright holder. IIRC weren't Eureka grassed up to Fox by someone making a real effort to drop them in it?

[Vermis]

Someone (Eureka??) got done for the Chaos Space Weasels and "not" Planet of the Apes pulling the ranges when the copyright holders make big threatening noises.

Personally I think someone should do not-minis of the new PotA movies. A lot more feasible than doing the specific costumes and make-up of the originals - just do a chimp with an assault rifle - and a more entertaining swarm-apoc scenario than the same old zombies. (On that note, John Wyndham died in '69. Does that mean triffids are fair game in 2019...?)

On the original topic... nnnyeah. Dunno too much about the 'ripoff' thing. It seems to be the meat and potatoes of a lot of sci-fi and fantasy minis these days. To be honest I was never too fussed about Battlestar Galactica, old or new, to get too fussed about this.

[Rhoderic]

Someone (Eureka??) got done for the Chaos Space Weasels and "not" Planet of the Apes pulling the ranges when the copyright holders make big threatening noises.

That sort of thing has happened more than once, I think. Weren't there some Stargate Jaffa that were discontinued for that reason at some point? Maybe I'm misremembering. Anyway, my impression is that for some time now, until recently, there's been a steady, "comfortable" equilibrium of "covert" releases of figures based on off-limits IP and subsequent withdrawals of such figures due to legal threats, but that more recently some new people have been entering the industry with a more brazenly cheeky attitude to other people's IP. Or maybe it's just the hype and fanfare that comes with crowdfunding that's shining a bigger light on IP theft when it happens nowadays. In either case, I fear that a backlash is coming.

What sometimes confounds me is the all-or-nothing attitude that some manufacturers have, wherein they want to make miniatures based on other people's IP only if they can copy it exactly, or they don't want to make them at all. The IP holders to Planet of the Apes can't claim that human bodies with ape heads are theirs and theirs alone. But instead of taking advantage of the leeway that creates, miniature manufacturers seem to have this moth-to-a-flame compulsion to sculpt ape-humans dressed exactly like they are in the original film. They could have come up with some adequately alternative mode of dress that nevertheless retains that feel of retro sci-fi fashion. I for one would have been perfectly content with that.

Lately, as I've been developing a genuine interest in Star Wars for the first time in my life, I've been dispirited over the fact that no one (that I know of) seems to make a range of "almost Storm Troopers" in multiple poses that look just different enough from the IP with a small margin of safety to be spared the C&D letters. People only want to make Storm Troopers exactly as they are in the films, or no Storm Troopers at all. I feel the same way about Star Trek Klingons (I'm mainly interested in their general mode of attire and their hair / facial hair styles - the forehead ridges don't interest me much). I know there's a small handful of covert Klingons to be had from a couple of manufacturers, just not enough for my purposes.

Of course, I'm only speaking as someone who doesn't manufacture miniatures himself, so make what you will of my opinion; it may not be worth much. Nevertheless, it's my subjective belief that if someone were to make ranges of "almost" Stormtroopers, "almost" Klingons and "almost" PotA Apes, they'd still sell well enough (by whatever modest standards count as "well enough" in this bush-league industry) even accounting for that some puritans might eschew them.

[grant]

Star Wars is a franchise that will crush you like the Empire crushed the Rebellion on Hoth. They have stupid money, and it's worth stupid money, so they will defend it to the death.

I do wish someone made a decent range of not board game Star Wars.

[Cory]

Star Wars is part of Disney and they are the truly serious end of IP protection.

I once had a home listed for sale that had a little mermaid themed bedroom, of which there were pictures in some of the online ads. The C&D was neither polite nor the end of things, even though we complied with their requests immediately. Nothing went to court, but there was enough pressure to make sure we remember the Big Mouse next time we thought about stepping out of line.

[Rhoderic]

Star Wars is a franchise that will crush you like the Empire crushed the Rebellion on Hoth. They have stupid money, and it's worth stupid money, so they will defend it to the death.

That's what I'm saying. One simply can't get away with releasing an unlicensed range of actual Star Wars Storm Troopers. So why not do a range of sci-fi soldiers that have a clear Storm Trooper vibe but look adequately different in the specifics of their design to not be actual IP theft? Must it be all or nothing?

The same goes for Cylons and most other icons of sci-fi.

[grant]

[Major_Gilbear]

@ Rhoderic:

If you want stormtroopers, have a look at Dreamforge's Eisenkern. With a little subtle conversion to help them fit, they go well with Star Wars stuff.

I've pinched a picture from Agis' website to show you what I mean (sorry Agis - hope you don't mind!)

[commissarmoody]

@ Rhoderic:

If you want stormtroopers, have a look at Dreamforge's Eisenkern. With a little subtle conversion to help them fit, they go well with Star Wars stuff.

I've pinched a picture from Agis' website to show you what I mean (sorry Agis - hope you don't mind!)

Bad Ass! 

[Rhoderic]

I'll admit, I hadn't looked at the Dreamforge Eisenkern in that light before. Neat!

[Commander Vyper]

Work well with WOTC minis for some variety of clones too.