After so many years, I'd like to talk about my unique choices and explain why.
Three choices make me a blogger (or creator) who lives in a niche within a niche that is within another niche... basically, a huge "nichesibility"!
Let me explain these three bullets:
1- Do characters not esy to find on the market: I don't have to replace the industrial market. If I want a Spider-Man statue, I buy it directly from an original Marvel Disney store. I make what I can't find, what I can't buy. No remakes, no alternative versions. Only minor characters; I'm not saying unknown, but rather forgotten.
2-First and only choice 1/21: I only make in 1/21 scale, or our old so called beloved Eaglemoss scale. Today, there are billions of creators who work in 1:12 or 1:4 scale, which are much larger scales.
3-Adherence to the comics, not the MCU.
Let's dig a little bit deeper into those three topics.
1-The forgotten characters.
Many years ago, I started creating Marvel characters for my collection that Eaglemoss wouldn't have made. I couldn't imagine my collection with Spider-Man but without Tarantula. And Tarantula was the first one I made. I haven't stopped since.
But I've kept some clear rules: I don't sell. Because I don't work on commission; I make characters that others don't make, I don't work on something that big companies already produce and that you can buy right now, and above all, I only work on what I like because it's my hobby.
This is how over 700 Marvel characters were born: with perseverance, archaeological study of old comics, heroes' outfits, exhuming from my memories the meteor characters that had appeared only a couple of times but had left a mark on my childhood dreams.
The same logic, of preserving memory, also drove me to publish the 1/21 Xcom statues.
I made them 1/21 because I wanted them to look "in conformity" even when displayed next to the Marvel figures, so I always stuck with the same scale.
I had hoped for years that Firaxis would reach an agreement with some industrial company to produce those figures, but it didn't happen.
After so many years, very little is still said and discussed about X-Com, which for me was the best game ever made for both PPC and PlayStation.
So I decided to make them myself. Because I wanted them on my shelves and because in my romantic vision I imagined that perhaps Firaxis, seeing these little useless statues made by a fan, would one day say, "Oh yeah? You really want X-Com 3? We'll make it happen." Too bad it didn't happen.
And then The Boys. Everyone's chasing Homelander and Butcher, and yet... there's a whole world there too. I watched every season of The Boys and was fascinated.
I wanted all the characters, but I could only find Homelander and a few of the 7. So I built them myself. Always in 1/21 format, because Victoria Neuman also deserved a place on my shelf.
These choices (avoiding famous characters, avoiding what's already available for purchase, focusing on historically significant video games that others have forgotten) place me in a truly small niche, and I'm comfortably right there.
2-The 1/21 scale.
Eaglemoss did something special, something no one had dared to do. A display scale at a "popular" price. After the collapse of Eaglemoss, it wasn't right to suddenly discontinue CMFC. So I continued it myself, and when I also equipped myself with the STL format, I thought that the other Eaglemoss orphans would also be pleased to have forgotten, obscure, and unknown characters.
Today, no one makes in 1/21 scale except a few romantic customizers who sell a few pieces on eBay for a few euros. There are very few of us left.
Today, the public seeks effect: the "WOW!", something big, aggressive, technological, and realistic. Today, 1/12 and up to 1/4 scales are highly sought after. However... These scales, although much easier to handle and paint, cost a fortune and, above all, take up a lot of space.
The wonder of Eaglemoss's 1/21 scale was precisely that: you could keep so many characters, teams, heroes, and villains on a shelf, all consistent in scale with each other and with the base speaking a common language.
Today, you buy a few 1/4 statues and say "WOW!" Half of the statue is made of the base, which contains smoke, lightning, rocks, and more... the statue is imposing and beautifully painted. But everything is so big that after a few statues, you run out of space. And all the authorized Companies and customizers have their own scale. I often see collectors showing photos of rooms full of Marvel figures, but all of them are inconsistent in scale. A single piece is wonderful, fetching up to thousands of euros, but these figures put together look like the inventory of an old toy store that's about to close and has started a huge sale off. There's no visual coherence between the various figures. There's no order, no recognizability.
The 1/21 scale gave me the opportunity to have hundreds and hundreds of figures that were all consistent with each other, displayable, recognizable, and above all, without having to sell a kidney. But it's a niche, and since these are figures that no one else makes and no one's looking for, since I'm making in 1/21 scale, that puts me in a niche within a niche. Nicher...
3-Adherence to the comics.
Another though choice.
For the next few months, everyone will want the next Spider-Man, the MCU n-version. Some want him metallic, some want him red, and some want him blue.
In a year, a new Marvel movie will be released, and that kind of Spider-Man will be out of fashion. Everyone wants at least 1/12 scale so the character's face can truly resemble the actor. But then the actor changes, gets older, does something else, and that face will go out of fashion.
Today, the MCU has devoured the comic book world. I can't find the new Thor or Defenders issues at the newsstands anymore. I haven't had anything to flip through for years.
This is unfair. Stan Lee would be very pissed off today, I guess.
Many films are based on short stories, books by famous authors. But we shouldn't just celebrate the film, we must remember that behind it all is a book.
So let's honor and show love to the pencilers, inkers, and scriptwriters of comics.
Comics may go out of fashion one day, but for 70 years, Marvel Comics has inspired generations, who have collected them, read them over and over again, until they tore the pages.
Eaglemoss called it the "Classic" Marvel figurine collection for a reason. It was based on the figures and costumes from the characters' classic comics. This was a tribute to the history of Marvel comics, and after Eaglemoss's demise, this tribute was interrupted. And that's why I believed it was right to continue, free for all comic fans, for years and years, just out of passion.
But today, 99% of the audience wants figures from the MCU. These plastic toys, which they call action figures (but they're just toys), are appreciated only if they have the actor's face, the costume from the latest film; they don't connect with the comics, they don't embody their legacy; they're stand-alone, commercial, without a comic book soul.
And... as you know... I've decided to stay in this niche also, which is within a niche as said, that was carved out within a smaller niche.
That's all.
As a fan for you fans.
Skif
