AOW: Zodd and Armored Berserk PVC statues
- Thread starter Aazealh
- Start date
Whoa! Conan has the source info! And to think that at first I thought you were just some confused, crazy fan 
It's not doing that bad. Volumes 1-3 are in their 5th printing or so. That doesn't happen with every series.conan said:
I'm not a collector personally, but I might be if the sale price for most of the figures was a little more reasonable. Somehow I keep thinking AoW is just skimming a 75-90% profit on most of these statues. They're high quality sure but... THAT high quality? If I'm wrong, please correct and trounce me.
The comics popularity is excellent, but unlike many fans out there of regular comics like Batman, Superman, or Spiderman; it seems that most Berserk fans pick up Berserk as an extra comic instead of their one dedicated (I like to say "obessive") book each month...
Hopefully these fans become the "obsessive" fans (like us!
) who are willing to buy the statues and toys...
If all of the fans who were buying the DH Berserk volumes were buying statues and action figures, it'd be possible to find the toys everywhere because collectible volume would increase...
And I wouldn't be able to find Judeau figures on the pegs of my local Sam Goody for only $2.50 each....
You have to remember in terms of collectibles, Berserk has a steady and dedicated group of buyers, but outside of those few hundred individuals, few actually pick up the statues (probably due to the astronomical prices!!)
If the statues were priced more reasonably (which is what Yamato USA is trying to do in bringing them to the USA), we may see a bit more volume and popularity...as well as new products...
The comic is doing great, the collectibles...not so hot...
With quality statues coming out in the USA for less than $120.oo-150.oo based on stuff like Batman, Superman, and Spidey; and everything from AOW lately costing upwards of $200.oo and based ONLY on the Berserk manga, new fans that may have looked twice at a Berserk statue are now looking at something else...
Again, this gets back to the comic/manga fan buying collectibles based on their favorite books. If they are willing to do it, great. Berserk popularity - both in comics and in collectibles - will increase. But this just isn't happening in the USA...which is sad...
Like I said before, I have the PVC Berserker pre-orded for Nov release and it cost around $75.oo dlvd....which is still high IMO on a piece like this...I can get five McFarlane figures for that and they are basically PVC/plastic "statues" of cool characters...
AOW needs to pull their heads out of their ass in the pricing dept. and if they want to penetrate the USA w/ Berserk stuff, they need a better marketing pitch than they are using now...
Back in late 2001, when Toycom was importing the first Guts Black Swordsman figures, I did a review of the figure as soon as it came out for Figures.com
(see the review here: http://systems.figures.com/Features/index.html?show_article=27097&domain=figures.com&dom=fig&domain_id=4)
Later that year, the marketing dept. for Toycom, who imported the figure to the USA for AOW, used my review as their advertising pitch to buyers at the 2002 New York Toy Fair. It was flattering that they thought so highly of my review, but as a fan of Berserk and a toy collector, it was obviously my favorite figure of the year. It had/has cool accessories, great scale (8" tall!), great articulation, awesome paint application, and there were a variety of variants for fans who wanted mad face or calm face or both...
Hell, it's still my favorite figure, even today!T
The Guts Black Swordsman (and it's many variants) were popular probably due to it's cool "Dark Ages/ Medieval"-type look and the price (less than $20.oo). It sold a ton back in 2002 and 2003 thanks in part to a good advertising campaign and word of mouth. (I'd like to think my review helped too!)
The point of this whole post is, if more Berserk fans bought Berserk toys and statues, the more statues and toys we'd see...but it's not happening in the USA and I don't see it changing w/ increasing prices for statues and no new figures on the horizon...
We need a good Guts Berserker Armor figure w/ removable cowl and cape and the Dragonslayer to retail for about $20-25.oo in the US. It's sell to toy fans due to the price and design (again w/ the Dark Ages theme) and Berserk fans would eat it up just like they did three-four years ago w/ the BS figure...
just my .02 worth...
Hopefully these fans become the "obsessive" fans (like us!
) who are willing to buy the statues and toys...If all of the fans who were buying the DH Berserk volumes were buying statues and action figures, it'd be possible to find the toys everywhere because collectible volume would increase...
And I wouldn't be able to find Judeau figures on the pegs of my local Sam Goody for only $2.50 each....
You have to remember in terms of collectibles, Berserk has a steady and dedicated group of buyers, but outside of those few hundred individuals, few actually pick up the statues (probably due to the astronomical prices!!)
If the statues were priced more reasonably (which is what Yamato USA is trying to do in bringing them to the USA), we may see a bit more volume and popularity...as well as new products...
The comic is doing great, the collectibles...not so hot...
With quality statues coming out in the USA for less than $120.oo-150.oo based on stuff like Batman, Superman, and Spidey; and everything from AOW lately costing upwards of $200.oo and based ONLY on the Berserk manga, new fans that may have looked twice at a Berserk statue are now looking at something else...
Again, this gets back to the comic/manga fan buying collectibles based on their favorite books. If they are willing to do it, great. Berserk popularity - both in comics and in collectibles - will increase. But this just isn't happening in the USA...which is sad...
Like I said before, I have the PVC Berserker pre-orded for Nov release and it cost around $75.oo dlvd....which is still high IMO on a piece like this...I can get five McFarlane figures for that and they are basically PVC/plastic "statues" of cool characters...
AOW needs to pull their heads out of their ass in the pricing dept. and if they want to penetrate the USA w/ Berserk stuff, they need a better marketing pitch than they are using now...
Back in late 2001, when Toycom was importing the first Guts Black Swordsman figures, I did a review of the figure as soon as it came out for Figures.com
(see the review here: http://systems.figures.com/Features/index.html?show_article=27097&domain=figures.com&dom=fig&domain_id=4)
Later that year, the marketing dept. for Toycom, who imported the figure to the USA for AOW, used my review as their advertising pitch to buyers at the 2002 New York Toy Fair. It was flattering that they thought so highly of my review, but as a fan of Berserk and a toy collector, it was obviously my favorite figure of the year. It had/has cool accessories, great scale (8" tall!), great articulation, awesome paint application, and there were a variety of variants for fans who wanted mad face or calm face or both...
Hell, it's still my favorite figure, even today!
TThe Guts Black Swordsman (and it's many variants) were popular probably due to it's cool "Dark Ages/ Medieval"-type look and the price (less than $20.oo). It sold a ton back in 2002 and 2003 thanks in part to a good advertising campaign and word of mouth. (I'd like to think my review helped too!
)The point of this whole post is, if more Berserk fans bought Berserk toys and statues, the more statues and toys we'd see...but it's not happening in the USA and I don't see it changing w/ increasing prices for statues and no new figures on the horizon...
We need a good Guts Berserker Armor figure w/ removable cowl and cape and the Dragonslayer to retail for about $20-25.oo in the US. It's sell to toy fans due to the price and design (again w/ the Dark Ages theme) and Berserk fans would eat it up just like they did three-four years ago w/ the BS figure...
just my .02 worth...
Yea, the prices are what turn me off from getting some of the statues I want.
You either fork over the 100's of bucks + fee's + shipping for AOW for the "exclusive" or you wait and hope that they come state side, which is a little cheaper, but can still be considered "high" to a lot of people.
I'd prolly snatch up both the Magun/maken statues if they were both <120'ish.
I just wish they'd release a new version of Guts on horseback.
You either fork over the 100's of bucks + fee's + shipping for AOW for the "exclusive" or you wait and hope that they come state side, which is a little cheaper, but can still be considered "high" to a lot of people.
I'd prolly snatch up both the Magun/maken statues if they were both <120'ish.
I just wish they'd release a new version of Guts on horseback.