Wow, for those of you that don't mind recasts... LOOK

This is pretty damn amazing. I'm not a huge supporter of recasts, but I thought I'd post this up here anyways for those that don't mind. Hobbyfan is basically a huge recast company in America that scouts all the Hobby Shows in Japan and make high quality recasts of the kits they find. They virtually try to get all the kits they can.

Anyways, they also sometimes sell prepainted recasts (Hobbyfan has their own artists), and look at their latest release! It's a preorder for the 1/10 Griffith on Horse. It's a pretty sweet deal.

http://www.hobbyfan.com/product_info.php?products_id=4516

These recasts are MUCH MUCH better than thai recasts, so have no fear about them being brittle or rough. I've seen Hobbyfan's work in person (their headquarters is in Emeryville, CA, 10 mins from where I live) and their painted work is very clean.

$341.... not a bad price for such a beautiful piece, even if it isn't original.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Yeah, not original and no money goes to the people it should be going to (like the original artist or Kentarou Miura). Can't say I'm a fan of these practices.
 
Aazealh said:
Yeah, not original and no money goes to the people it should be going to (like the original artist or Kentarou Miura). Can't say I'm a fan of these practices.

Yet, these recasts look fantastic nonetheless. Besides Aazealh, it's not like we're seeing any companies here in U.S actually licensing to make Berserk figurines, kits, action figures and all that good stuff. So, Hobbyfan is what we're gonna have to bear with.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
BayJumper said:
Besides Aazealh, it's not like we're seeing any companies here in U.S actually licensing to make Berserk figurines, kits, action figures and all that good stuff. So, Hobbyfan is what we're gonna have to bear with.

That's not an excuse. These guys are just making money off other people's backs, and it's not even their own work in the first place. It's the reason most enthusiasts aren't big fans of recasts, even in spite of the quality. Hell, they don't even know the series nor the character's name (they call it "Sword of Berserk - Knight on Horse"). Berserk collectibles were licensed in the USA in the past, imported from Japan, re-labeled and all. It was stopped, seemingly because not enough customers were interested (so it didn't generate enough money). You can still find a lot of official Berserk items in the US anyway, but that's not the point. We're not talking about a common model kit that's available to everybody but the poor American fans here, it's a very rare item even in Japan. Rarity is a big part of collectibles, and is often used as a mean to justify the price of these products in the first place. Now if collectors want statues and the like, they can import them directly from the source (ordering online from a site in English, could hardly be easier), and as collectors I'm sure most of them don't mind the rarity at all. Besides scouring auction sites in search of the super rare item is half the fun of collecting. New statues are produced regularly, so even if people can't get the older ones, well that's part of the game, now isn't it? They can still buy the new ones. They're happy to have some statues other people can't get anymore, so the same goes for them.

It might not be fair to casual fans that want cheaper products that they can find easily (action figures and PVC statues are the only way to go for them), but it's not the question here (in spite of being your real concern, apparently), and it's not what this company is selling in any case. It's true it looks good in their pictures, but in the end it's still a recast that costs $350. Some people don't mind recasts for various reasons and that's good for them, but don't try to justify this kind of behavior when you don't know what you're talking about, and especially not to me.
 

JIN

Yudanero...
Aazealh said:
  Besides scouring auction sites in search of the super rare item is half the fun of collecting.
Its sooo true, sniff sniff  :judo:


:troll: ..and with nothing to more to add to the thread I'll sneak off while increasing my post count.

(a clear violation of rules...as taken from Forum Rules, subsection: THINK. Before posting, please ask yourself the following question: "Am I making a post which is either informative or interesting on any level?" If you can answer "yes" to this, then please post. If you cannot, then refrain from posting. Before replying, please ask yourself: "Does my reply offer any significant advice or help contribute to the conversation in any fashion?" If you can answer "yes" to this, then please reply. If you cannot, then refrain from replying.)
 

CnC

Ad Oculos
JIN said:
(a clear violation of rules...as taken from Forum Rules

perhaps don't draw too much attention to that :guts:

As for the recast, I suppose I could understand if there were no way of getting an official one. But, like Aaz said, kinda defeats the point of having a collectable. Its kinda like selling scans. "its the manga... only digital, baby!"
 
CnC said:
perhaps don't draw too much attention to that :guts:

As for the recast, I suppose I could understand if there were no way of getting an official one. But, like Aaz said, kinda defeats the point of having a collectable. Its kinda like selling scans. "its the manga... only digital, baby!"

Just like Stan Lee once said, "rare comics are collectibe and valued not because they're great, but only because they're rare."
Anyways, I don't think that there's such a thing as a collectibility anymore, when it comes to older Berserk kits and statues. They're so fuckin' expensive, that just for the price of a couple of kits, you can buy a fuckin' car. This ain't collectibility. This is madness.
 
BayJumper said:
Just like Stan Lee once said, "rare comics are collectibe and valued not because they're great, but only because they're rare."
Anyways, I don't think that there's such a thing as a collectibility anymore, when it comes to older Berserk kits and statues. They're so fuckin' expensive, that just for the price of a couple of kits, you can buy a fuckin' car. This ain't collectibility. This is madness.

Nothing like self justification and rationalization.

It's like drug dealers in very urban areas. "I'm just doing what I have to do to survive" it's still not right.
 

CnC

Ad Oculos
Maiku said:
It's like drug dealers in very urban areas. "I'm just doing what I have to do to survive" it's still not right.

Berserk statues = crack? Is AoW your dealer?

BayJumper said:
Just like Stan Lee once said, "rare comics are collectibe and valued not because they're great, but only because they're rare."
Anyways, I don't think that there's such a thing as a collectibility anymore, when it comes to older Berserk kits and statues. They're so fuckin' expensive, that just for the price of a couple of kits, you can buy a fuckin' car. This ain't collectibility. This is madness.

Is that really being discussed? The price of this recast isn't that cheap either. Rarity is also an aspect to these statues' collective worth. Furthermore, to many it's worth the price.
It sure ain't solely the representational ability of AOW's sculptors, imo. :troll:
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
BayJumper said:
Just like Stan Lee once said, "rare comics are collectibe and valued not because they're great, but only because they're rare."

Well if these statues aren't great and only cost money because they're rare, there's no point in buying them, even as recasts, right? Especially since the recast costs $350 but has no added value due to rarity; it's literally worthless going by that logic. It'd be like buying photocopies of those "not-great" rare comics.

BayJumper said:
I don't think that there's such a thing as a collectibility anymore, when it comes to older Berserk kits and statues. They're so fuckin' expensive, that just for the price of a couple of kits, you can buy a fuckin' car. This ain't collectibility. This is madness.

On the contrary, that's an integral part of collecting. And prices over $1000 aren't uncommon at all for collectibles in a lot of fields, just ask a stamp collector. Berserk isn't that big of a deal in that regard compared to other "themes," and in any case there are people more than willing to pay the price. If you aren't, you aren't, but then you shouldn't complain about it. New items that are more affordable are being released regularly, so it's not like there's no alternative either. Besides, prices vary on auctions, if you're patient you can get even the rarest kits/statues for a "reasonable" price. And you'd get a pretty shitty car with only a couple of them anyway.
 
Hobbyfan Link

They have updated the informations of the statue.
They have a very low stock, if you want one, go for it (quickly)

A good deal to own this marvellous piece for cheap, even if it is not an Art of War resin kit painted (but the quality is... delicous, really, they do a very good job. I think that the resin quality is rather equal to the quality of Art of War's resin).

The original kit costs those days something like 100 000 yens and had never been sold painted by Art of War.
 
Kenji-kun said:
The original kit costs those days something like 100 000 yens and had never been sold painted by Art of War.

Well that is not totally true. It was sold as a kit by AoW but for an extra fee when you ordered the item they'd paint it for you.

Mike
 
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