Author Topic: Why there are no more pictures of Bly  (Read 20716 times)

SilverZ

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Why there are no more pictures of Bly
« on: July 15, 2005, 04:35 AM »
Here’s a story you won’t get on other sites.

I was in the Hasbro booth this morning, taking pictures of the 3-3/4” line for the site, when one of the Hasbro line marketers came up to the display unit I was next to. He pulled out his keys, unlocked the cabinet, and proceeded to rearrange the figures according to hand-written notes he was holding. I asked him if he had the final assortment and names for the new 12, and was told that yes, he did, and he was arranging them in accordance, and could give me the names and numbers in a moment.

As he was setting up the last figures, and I was tinkering with my camera next to him, out of the corner of my eye I caught someone approach the cabinet, to the left of the Hasbro rep, but thought nothing of it – until the Hasbro rep turned suddenly, slightly confused, and immediately angry. Looking back at the case, Commander Bly, the figure farthest to the left and closest to the front of the display, was gone. Disappeared. Stolen. Right out from underneath him, someone reached in, grabbed the figure, and took off. I had noticed someone approach and leave, but didn’t know who it was, or see him swipe the figure.

There was a moment of confusion, and what I’m sure for him was absolute anger, and then the realization that he was gone, and so was Bly.

Here’s where things get complicated. Apparently, this Bly was the “master paint reference,” and the figure was in a state where it had been approved by LFL and was on its way to manufacturing. The hitch being, if the factory needs paint reference to start the run, there is no hard copy of the approved figure to instruct them on. A new one would have to be created. (My assumption here is that a newly repainted sample would need to be resubmitted to LFL before being OK’ed for manufacture). So, if there are any problems or questions overseas on specifications for the paint apps on the figure, they’re out of luck. That could cause a delay in the release of Commander Bly.

That’s what he explained to me. Perhaps, and I hope this is the case, that that line of thought is a worse-case scenario said in the moment. I hope it works out for them, because the whole event was pretty damn low, and lame.

So if you’re wondering where good pics of Bly are on JediDefender, it’s quite simply because someone at Comic Con is a rat-fink dirtbag, who may have well screwed us out of a figure for this year. Thanks, *******.

We’ll hope for the best and Hasbro doesn’t run into any snags because of one complete moron.

J
« Last Edit: July 15, 2005, 04:51 AM by Tydirium »

Offline Ben

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Re: Why there are no more pictures of Bly
« Reply #1 on: July 15, 2005, 04:51 AM »
I guess we'll have to watch ebay for this thing. I'm sure it will end up there.

Seriously, what kind of ******bag steals like that? That would have to take some stones. BIG ones.
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Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: Why there are no more pictures of Bly
« Reply #2 on: July 15, 2005, 09:16 AM »
That was pretty crappy. After Jared took off, I could hear some people looking at the new figures asking where he was, if only they new. Nothing good will come of this. Hopefully, we'll all be watching e-bay like a hawk to see if this guy is stupid enough to try to sell it.
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Offline DoctorPadawan

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Re: Why there are no more pictures of Bly
« Reply #3 on: July 15, 2005, 10:21 AM »
As funny as the story is on one level (Hasbro's National Security has been breached!), the fact that some jerkoff stole something out of a case is unforgivable and reprehensible.  What did this guy hope to accomplish by stealing it?  I mean, the fact that this was Hasbro's "only sample" of the figure, while reeking of overreaction, should be enough to get the word out around the con amongst ALL the sites that there is a thief in SDCC to be on the lookout for.

This should be announced at the Q&A this evening and they should take one of two approaches (if not both):

1.  Pull the "I'm going to turn the lights out and whoever stole Bly can put him back on the desk without being identified and/or punished" approach.

OR

2.  Post a reward for information leading to the return of Bly to the Hasbro booth or to the identity of the thief. 

Either way, I don't know what the thief hopes to accomplish by stealing it.  I mean, he'll never be able to sell the figure on Ebay, because everyone will know it is stolen, alert Ebay, and then the guy can be caught by Hasbro; even if he keeps it, he won't be able to really talk about it as being the sole paint sample of the figure without revealing himself as the person who stole it.  It's like the guys that stole "The Scream" a while back: sure, you've got a (more or less) one of a kind piece of art, but who can ever know about it?

Offline Angry Ewok

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Re: Why there are no more pictures of Bly
« Reply #4 on: July 15, 2005, 10:27 AM »
I guess I'm weird, but instead of stealing the Bly at the SD comic con, I was just going to wait for the Bly to be mass produced and shipped to my town.

Weird, I know.

Offline Gatillo

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Re: Why there are no more pictures of Bly
« Reply #5 on: July 15, 2005, 10:34 AM »
Ok ok, I'll give it back.  I just wanted Jedi Defender to have real exclusives pics of Bly.  Oh Well  :P
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Offline Rob

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Re: Why there are no more pictures of Bly
« Reply #6 on: July 15, 2005, 10:36 AM »
Here’s a story you won’t get on other sites.
Here’s where things get complicated. Apparently, this Bly was the “master paint reference,” and the figure was in a state where it had been approved by LFL and was on its way to manufacturing. The hitch being, if the factory needs paint reference to start the run, there is no hard copy of the approved figure to instruct them on. A new one would have to be created. (My assumption here is that a newly repainted sample would need to be resubmitted to LFL before being OK’ed for manufacture). So, if there are any problems or questions overseas on specifications for the paint apps on the figure, they’re out of luck. That could cause a delay in the release of Commander Bly.

That still sounds like a load of B.S. to me.

If Hasbro has one ounce of professionalism to their process, the instant that a figure is painted and approved, someone would create a set of Orthorgraphics clearly labeling which color is to be applied to each portion of the figure from all relevant angles - probably noting RGB values as well as simple paint shade terms.  

Granted I don't know how they make toys exactly, but I work at a place where character color is decided on a regular basis and it's all carefully noted and documented.

If that word just came from the Hasbro guy in the heat of the moment, I'm guessing he was mistaken - but I could be wrong.

Offline Rob

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Re: Why there are no more pictures of Bly
« Reply #7 on: July 15, 2005, 10:38 AM »
Either way, I don't know what the thief hopes to accomplish by stealing it.  I mean, he'll never be able to sell the figure on Ebay, because everyone will know it is stolen, alert Ebay, and then the guy can be caught by Hasbro; even if he keeps it, he won't be able to really talk about it as being the sole paint sample of the figure without revealing himself as the person who stole it.  It's like the guys that stole "The Scream" a while back: sure, you've got a (more or less) one of a kind piece of art, but who can ever know about it?

People who steal high priced one-of-a-kind artworks do so for one of two reasons.

They're either private collectors who could care less about sharing it, selling it, or discussing it.

Or, they're trying to sell it on the black-market.

Of course, this guy is probably a tad bit below that type of stuff. 

Offline Gregorbian

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Re: Why there are no more pictures of Bly
« Reply #8 on: July 15, 2005, 11:01 AM »
Wow, that's crazy.  I'm sure we'll see it on eBay in a couple of months because anybody stupid enough to steal something out of a display cabinet surely does not have the intellectual capacity to weigh the consequences of their actions.  They probably did it with the sole purpose of selling it.  Scumbag  >:(
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Offline Ben

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Re: Why there are no more pictures of Bly
« Reply #9 on: July 15, 2005, 12:40 PM »
don't you know there ain't no devil, there's just God when he's drunk

Offline Darth Broem

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Re: Why there are no more pictures of Bly
« Reply #10 on: July 15, 2005, 02:07 PM »
Well that's unfortunate.  These companies are probably going to have to cut back on the amount of stuff they show now.  Apparently they do not have enough eyes to keep watch on their stuff.  Who knew it would turn out to be like shoplifting at a comic con? 

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Re: Why there are no more pictures of Bly
« Reply #11 on: July 15, 2005, 02:13 PM »
Well that's unfortunate.  These companies are probably going to have to cut back on the amount of stuff they show now.  Apparently they do not have enough eyes to keep watch on their stuff.  Who knew it would turn out to be like shoplifting at a comic con? 

Yeah, that will really suck if at next year's con, Hasbro just brings a bunch of photos of the figures because some dumbass stole one this year.   What the hell is wrong with people? >:(
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Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: Why there are no more pictures of Bly
« Reply #12 on: July 15, 2005, 08:20 PM »
I'm going to hate it if Hasbro desides to not display protypes or scales back their previews next year because of this. It the way it always works, one idiot ruins it for everyone else.
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Offline evenflow

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Re: Why there are no more pictures of Bly
« Reply #13 on: July 15, 2005, 08:30 PM »
That sucks on so many levels. It may ruins things in the future, may delay a figure we want, and just sucks cause its wrong. I dont think we will be seeing it on ebay.
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Re: Why there are no more pictures of Bly
« Reply #14 on: July 16, 2005, 11:54 PM »
If Hasbro has one ounce of professionalism to their process, the instant that a figure is painted and approved, someone would create a set of Orthorgraphics clearly labeling which color is to be applied to each portion of the figure from all relevant angles - probably noting RGB values as well as simple paint shade terms.  

You know, I just noticed this today, but something tells me that if Hasbro has a photo of Commander Bly in their Comic Con Q n A Presentation then I'm 100% positive that they've already got other photography of the figure to use if they have to go through a re-approval process or something lame like that.

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