I already see this Hannibal as part of a trend of rereleasing older limited articulation figures instead of Ultimates. They also recently released reissues of Otis & Spaulding from House of 1,000 Corpses, as well as Freddie Mercury. Seems obvious that they are testing the waters to see if people will purchase these older, more statue-like figures to cut costs.
Is that a bad thing though? It's pretty clear they're not giving up on doing articulated figures, but sometimes some characters may not require the hooplah of going all out for an Ultimate.
If they had done this with the straightjacket look, no big deal (although an articulated version could probably be done with a softgoods straightjacket).
I would have preferred either the jumpsuit or escape look though, and articulated like an Ultimate release.
Is that a bad thing though? It's pretty clear they're not giving up on doing articulated figures, but sometimes some characters may not require the hooplah of going all out for an Ultimate.
It depends. I don't think it's "pretty clear" they are not going to move away from articulation. The costs of producing those vs. rehashes of older staction type figures may make them consider ditching the "Ultimate" format altogether. If these statue type figures sell well enough, they may decide to move back to the minimally articulated format. I cannot help but think that these recent releases are them testing the waters to see if people will pay the same price for these as they do for the Ultimates.
Alright, I just received Hannibal after Jigsaw arrived a couple days ago, so I feel like I can throw my two cents in. I ordered them both before pics of Hannibal showed he was a rerelease. I was pretty miffed initially, but I decided to get him in hand & decide if I'd keep it return him. I passed on him way back when because honestly I thought the paint kinda sucked. It was improved enough here to convince be to go ahead & open him up. I still would've preferred an articulated ultimate version, but this is a nice looking representation of the character for my horror shelf, who I probably wouldn't move around that much anyway. I like the alternate heads enough to try to find a body I can swap one onto for a civilian look.
As for Jigsaw, I think he looks great in hand. The heads look a lot better to my eye in person than they have in pics, but I'm more motivated to display him with the pig head on, which looks fantastic!
So while I don't want them to lean heavy into staction stuff & sculpt reuse again, I like these both & would happily buy a new version of Dr Lecter strapped to his dolly.
Along with Hannibal on the handcart another that could benefit from a release would be that exorcist bed boxset. I don't see the articulation working on them.
@deckard that Exorcist set is one of my prizes possessions. I love everything about it. And the box is remarkably collector friendly, I've had to pop it back in for safe keeping during a move a few times.
@detrimental-fig Pricing does and should get cheaper with an older mold, the obvious cost savings is why they are doing it this way. Tooling a new articulated Lecter body would have been far more expensive, and therefore justified the Ultimate price tag. This is a non-Ultimate figure at the same price. They did sculpt some new heads, and they look great. It's not enough.
You say that, but them keeping the entire base, doing those new heads, etc. I don't see how or why they'd charge less. Or why you would expect them to have. It's not really a budget move for the consumer, not like the cheaper Remco glows or LJN D&D figs or what have you.
I'm so glad to see them finishing up this little line that could. That puppet case is going to make a nice display piece with the figures too.
So is NECA doing Sesame Street ultimates now too, in addition to the Toony Classics?
@cmoney Yep, those are Ultimate-style figures. That is fucking exciting! Bring on a Big Bird.
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