Overall it looks very nice! It's weird seeing Cerebus's mouth fully open underneath his snout, though.
No pop out penis? ;)
On the assembly video, on the left it should be "9 inches" (left off the s) (for savings?). Also, the angle that the camera was at made some of the assembly not show on camera, particularly the head.
Minor quibbles, though! Excellent job overall! When can you start taking my money?!
Grey medallions instead of Gold = more efficient production... excellent!!!
There are many images of Cerebus left handed... I guess I have lucked out on picking left handed cerebus for the references...
BUT, fear not... Flipping the figure will not be a concern...
Let's wait for you to physically get the statue in hand.
One thing that had slowed me down in sending it to you... ( I had this completed for about 2 months ) I have been running calculations on size vs cost... and I found the golden spot where the cost escalates after a certain size... golden spot = 6 inch from base to helmet
once you review... and if there are not serious revisions... I'll be able to present you a final master, which all statues will match against.
Personally, I'm inclined to wait for the action figure since, for me, that covers both bases. You put it up on the shelf and it's a statue. You take it down and move the moving parts and it's an action figure.
What sort of a price point are we looking at and how much of that does Aardvark-Vanaheim get?
Hate to be...abrupt...like that, but in one sense we are talking about "available CEREBUS fan dollars". Just as "there's only one taxpayer, there's only one CEREBUS fan" and (at least theoretically) the IDW COVERS book is going to be making a claim on a chunk of those dollars sometime before (?) the end of the year.. and we're determined to be getting CAN6 launched in pretty short order after CAN5, something that hasn't happened before. How much of a strain is that going to put on CEREBUS budgets? No idea, but we will be finding out soon :)
Also: If you're talking about a $30 statue and A-V gets $25 of that -- in advance -- that's one thing. If you're talking about a $200 statue and A-V gets $10 of that -- back-end -- you're talking about something else.
I'm always trying to be as open as possible with the fan base about what decisions are being made along these lines and why. We're just not in a "because it's COOL" situation. Anything I authorize has to go -- in a MAJOR way -- towards the restoration/preservation side of things.
The biggest "why" right now is "Cash Flow Riptides", exemplified by the $16K instalment payment for CHURCH & STATE I being here for all of 48 hours until it had to go out to Marquis to pay for GOING HOME. And that's ALL that it paid for.
@Dave - I think the difference with the figure/statue is that there is a strong possibility of it going beyond just the Cerebus "fan".
There are probably quite a few (how many, I'm not sure) folks who will buy the thing simply because it is cool, and it will look good on their shelf next to their assortment of other action figures/statues.
That collector exists. I used to be one. I'd buy action figures that looked cool, or to round out a collection, whether or not I was fan or eve read the books, watched the movie or TV show they appeared in.
It'll certainly make a great conversation piece. Bring 'em on! Please...
Okay, well, that still leaves me with: how much money is A-V going to realize out of this and how many CEREBUS fan dollars are you talking about "routing" into a statue?
It's a nice statue but I can't see it helping with our primary purpose: restoring and preserving the 6,000 page graphic novel. Certainly not in the same way that the Kickstarter CAN Portfolios do.
For a LOT of CEREBUS fans, I think it's going to be an "either/or" -- and personally, I'd prefer that they just have to worry about the cost of the next CAN Portfolio.
If you don't mind, just post your figures so we can all have a look at what you're picturing. As I told you on the phone, I think 30 statues at $50 each is extremely optimistic, selling them direct. If I recall correctly you were talking about a $200 statue. I just don't see the CEREBUS audience as being in the "$200" statue category. If you're talking about cutting A-V a cheque for...half of that? Multiplied by however many statues YOU think YOU can sell, I'll consider it. But, I really just see that as a cash drain on the readership when I think I'm already pushing the limits on that trying to get the 6,000 page graphic novel restored and preserved.
As an accountant once told me, "Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered."
As always Dave is the voice of reason. Everything he said made sense, and as much as I'd love a big Cerebus statue on my mantle the restoration project must come first. Has anyone looked at 3D printing a smaller version? Maybe something like that could be included in the Kickstarters. Or maybe turn it into a vinyl garage kit type model?
Gary! Hi! I appreciate the vote of confidence. It's a tough one because I'm really not a "statue guy". There are statues that I don't remember getting royalty payments on (as in, most of them) that I have a certain fondness for, so those are the ones I'll be comparing George's statue to when I see it. In this day and age of 3D printing what are the "optics" like on me just doing -- that is, getting someone to do -- one of those statues?
I appreciate that George is doing this to try and help with our nearly bottomless need for cash (a result of doing a nearly bottomless graphic novel that needs to be digitized) as he's done so much to help behind the scenes. It is a little awkward to have the statue posted on AMOC, whetting the appetites of the CEREBUS statue people but, at the same time, what could be BETTER for the CEREBUS statue people? CEREBUS STATUE! COOOOOOL!!! As al put it, "Me Want Badly".
Fisher has been busy doing the 1990 letters but should be picking up my mail SOON! I assume it's just sitting there in the Bridgeport mall post office.
Problems (in my opinion) with George and Dan's statue SEEN LIVE:
1) the spike on top of the helmet is too small and too thin. It actually broke most of the way through in transit.
2) I think we're just lucky that the horns on the helmet made it (same reason). All three need to be thicker and more rounded so they don't suffer stress fractures in the mail. And to make it less likely to break if it's dropped or falls off of a shelf (I speak as the custodian of an Off-White House full of little aardvark ears and tails that have lost their owners).
3) Something needs to be done with the ears which, right now, look like articulated action figure ears. They're obviously inserted into their holes and look as if they should move up and down or rotate. Since they don't -- and since this is, theoretically, a statue -- I think they need to be molded as part of the head -- laid back along the scalp like those of an attacking dog.
4) Cerebus is too "svelte". He needs to be pear-shaped. I think the best way to fix this is for me to get some plasticine (or whatever they call plasticine these days) and add it to the figure and shape it. This won't be a priority for me, but the next time I'm near a toy store I will attempt to explain "plasticine" and "modelling clay" to whomever is behind the counter and buy some and pack on some pounds where I think Cerebus needs it.
4) It's extremely light, thinner than the plastic on the old models we used to assemble and paint. If I buy something labeled a statue, I'm picturing something with genuine heft to it. I think you would have to call this a "plastic figure" and show people a cutaway view of how thick the plastic is. I'm not a statue person but if I was buying this for a statue person, the way it looks would persuade me to think about buying it but as soon as I picked it up, I'd go, "Uh, no. It's an action figure that has no points of articulation".
5) There's a weird ripple to the texture of the piece that I don't find appealing. Another one of those "If I picked it up in a store that would be a minus for me".
You could take a photo of the statue... print it out and draw the outside lines on the body to indicate increase in weight... a lot simpler this way... I think.
and... the weight of the statue goes directly to the shipping cost... the lighter the statue, the cheaper the shipping cost in the mail.
21 comments:
Overall it looks very nice! It's weird seeing Cerebus's mouth fully open underneath his snout, though.
No pop out penis? ;)
On the assembly video, on the left it should be "9 inches" (left off the s) (for savings?). Also, the angle that the camera was at made some of the assembly not show on camera, particularly the head.
Minor quibbles, though! Excellent job overall! When can you start taking my money?!
Wooh!! Wooh!! Wooh!! Wooh!!
Dave still has to personally review it...
It's in the mail out to Dave as of today...
xrossing fingers... :)
GPG
Uh...since when is Cerebus left-handed?
cover of volume 1...
George! Thanks for the phone message!
So far? The medallions are gold (wrong) instead of grey (right). Pet peeve of mine.
Any other example of a left-handed Cerebus BESIDES the cover of volume one? (Good example, but still...)
Hi Dave,
Grey medallions instead of Gold = more efficient production... excellent!!!
There are many images of Cerebus left handed... I guess I have lucked out on picking left handed cerebus for the references...
BUT, fear not... Flipping the figure will not be a concern...
Let's wait for you to physically get the statue in hand.
One thing that had slowed me down in sending it to you...
( I had this completed for about 2 months )
I have been running calculations on size vs cost...
and I found the golden spot where the cost escalates after a certain size...
golden spot = 6 inch from base to helmet
once you review... and if there are not serious revisions...
I'll be able to present you a final master, which all statues will match against.
so far...
GPG
Me want! Badly!
We'll also be needing a Prime Minister, Pope, "nude" and other versions too...
And, I thought the original idea was that it would be at least partially articulated...
Jeff Seiler... You eagle-eye sluth...
You are getting the ACTION FIGURE mixed up with the STATUE...
The action figure is still in production...
the statue(s) are easier and quicker to bring to market...
Sneaky George... :)
Please tell me there is a moonroach next
Paul McKenzie
Personally, I'm inclined to wait for the action figure since, for me, that covers both bases. You put it up on the shelf and it's a statue. You take it down and move the moving parts and it's an action figure.
What sort of a price point are we looking at and how much of that does Aardvark-Vanaheim get?
Hate to be...abrupt...like that, but in one sense we are talking about "available CEREBUS fan dollars". Just as "there's only one taxpayer, there's only one CEREBUS fan" and (at least theoretically) the IDW COVERS book is going to be making a claim on a chunk of those dollars sometime before (?) the end of the year.. and we're determined to be getting CAN6 launched in pretty short order after CAN5, something that hasn't happened before. How much of a strain is that going to put on CEREBUS budgets? No idea, but we will be finding out soon :)
Also: If you're talking about a $30 statue and A-V gets $25 of that -- in advance -- that's one thing. If you're talking about a $200 statue and A-V gets $10 of that -- back-end -- you're talking about something else.
I'm always trying to be as open as possible with the fan base about what decisions are being made along these lines and why. We're just not in a "because it's COOL" situation. Anything I authorize has to go -- in a MAJOR way -- towards the restoration/preservation side of things.
The biggest "why" right now is "Cash Flow Riptides", exemplified by the $16K instalment payment for CHURCH & STATE I being here for all of 48 hours until it had to go out to Marquis to pay for GOING HOME. And that's ALL that it paid for.
A good word for that is "sobering".
@Dave - I think the difference with the figure/statue is that there is a strong possibility of it going beyond just the Cerebus "fan".
There are probably quite a few (how many, I'm not sure) folks who will buy the thing simply because it is cool, and it will look good on their shelf next to their assortment of other action figures/statues.
That collector exists. I used to be one. I'd buy action figures that looked cool, or to round out a collection, whether or not I was fan or eve read the books, watched the movie or TV show they appeared in.
It'll certainly make a great conversation piece. Bring 'em on! Please...
it has to be the statue...
the action figure has way way to many moving parts to get it into production and be low in retail price point...
( no pun intended )
George
Okay, well, that still leaves me with: how much money is A-V going to realize out of this and how many CEREBUS fan dollars are you talking about "routing" into a statue?
It's a nice statue but I can't see it helping with our primary purpose: restoring and preserving the 6,000 page graphic novel. Certainly not in the same way that the Kickstarter CAN Portfolios do.
For a LOT of CEREBUS fans, I think it's going to be an "either/or" -- and personally, I'd prefer that they just have to worry about the cost of the next CAN Portfolio.
If you don't mind, just post your figures so we can all have a look at what you're picturing. As I told you on the phone, I think 30 statues at $50 each is extremely optimistic, selling them direct. If I recall correctly you were talking about a $200 statue. I just don't see the CEREBUS audience as being in the "$200" statue category. If you're talking about cutting A-V a cheque for...half of that? Multiplied by however many statues YOU think YOU can sell, I'll consider it. But, I really just see that as a cash drain on the readership when I think I'm already pushing the limits on that trying to get the 6,000 page graphic novel restored and preserved.
As an accountant once told me, "Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered."
Words to live by. :)
As always Dave is the voice of reason. Everything he said made sense, and as much as I'd love a big Cerebus statue on my mantle the restoration project must come first. Has anyone looked at 3D printing a smaller version? Maybe something like that could be included in the Kickstarters. Or maybe turn it into a vinyl garage kit type model?
Gary! Hi! I appreciate the vote of confidence. It's a tough one because I'm really not a "statue guy". There are statues that I don't remember getting royalty payments on (as in, most of them) that I have a certain fondness for, so those are the ones I'll be comparing George's statue to when I see it. In this day and age of 3D printing what are the "optics" like on me just doing -- that is, getting someone to do -- one of those statues?
I appreciate that George is doing this to try and help with our nearly bottomless need for cash (a result of doing a nearly bottomless graphic novel that needs to be digitized) as he's done so much to help behind the scenes. It is a little awkward to have the statue posted on AMOC, whetting the appetites of the CEREBUS statue people but, at the same time, what could be BETTER for the CEREBUS statue people? CEREBUS STATUE! COOOOOOL!!! As al put it, "Me Want Badly".
Fisher has been busy doing the 1990 letters but should be picking up my mail SOON! I assume it's just sitting there in the Bridgeport mall post office.
Problems (in my opinion) with George and Dan's statue SEEN LIVE:
1) the spike on top of the helmet is too small and too thin. It actually broke most of the way through in transit.
2) I think we're just lucky that the horns on the helmet made it (same reason). All three need to be thicker and more rounded so they don't suffer stress fractures in the mail. And to make it less likely to break if it's dropped or falls off of a shelf (I speak as the custodian of an Off-White House full of little aardvark ears and tails that have lost their owners).
3) Something needs to be done with the ears which, right now, look like articulated action figure ears. They're obviously inserted into their holes and look as if they should move up and down or rotate. Since they don't -- and since this is, theoretically, a statue -- I think they need to be molded as part of the head -- laid back along the scalp like those of an attacking dog.
4) Cerebus is too "svelte". He needs to be pear-shaped. I think the best way to fix this is for me to get some plasticine (or whatever they call plasticine these days) and add it to the figure and shape it. This won't be a priority for me, but the next time I'm near a toy store I will attempt to explain "plasticine" and "modelling clay" to whomever is behind the counter and buy some and pack on some pounds where I think Cerebus needs it.
4) It's extremely light, thinner than the plastic on the old models we used to assemble and paint. If I buy something labeled a statue, I'm picturing something with genuine heft to it. I think you would have to call this a "plastic figure" and show people a cutaway view of how thick the plastic is. I'm not a statue person but if I was buying this for a statue person, the way it looks would persuade me to think about buying it but as soon as I picked it up, I'd go, "Uh, no. It's an action figure that has no points of articulation".
5) There's a weird ripple to the texture of the piece that I don't find appealing. Another one of those "If I picked it up in a store that would be a minus for me".
great!
I can work with these notes...
except the part of adding fat on Cerebus...
You could take a photo of the statue...
print it out and draw the outside lines on the body to indicate increase in weight...
a lot simpler this way... I think.
and...
the weight of the statue goes directly to the shipping cost... the lighter the statue, the cheaper the shipping cost in the mail.
so far...
GPG
Whatever happened with this? Are there still going to be a Action Figure and a Statue? I really want Both!
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