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Post by zovex on Sept 15, 2004 11:50:02 GMT -5
I CAN'T FIND ANY ANYWHERE.......WHERE ARE YOU BUYING THEM?
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Post by ShaneReinecke on Sept 15, 2004 12:27:04 GMT -5
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Post by Secter on Sept 15, 2004 12:32:03 GMT -5
Hasbro no longer produces them. Another smaller company named Saizan does so they are not available at most retailers like they use to be (all though, I never seen them anywhere besides TRU in the first palce). If you still want to get them though, they are available all over online at places such as BBTS, EE, and Ebay.[/b]
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Post by zovex on Sept 15, 2004 14:04:32 GMT -5
THANKS, I GUESS I SHOULD HAVE SAID I WAS WONDERING ABOUT STORES.....BUT SINCE THERE APPARENTLY AREN'T ANY THE LIST OF WEBSITES WOULD HAVE BEEN MY NEXT QUESTION........
SO, HOW DID THAT WORK, HASBRO HAD STIKFAS, THEN RIPPED OFF THE DESIGN AND KICKED STIKFAS OUT?.....DOES MISTER BANY J. SEE SOME XEVOZ PROFIT?
I KNOW IT STILLS GIVES CREDIT ON THE PACKAGE BOTTOMS.......
NOT THAT I AM COMPLAINING, I LIKE XEVOZ BETTER THAN ANY OTHER LINE EVER........
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Post by ShaneReinecke on Sept 16, 2004 8:18:55 GMT -5
Actually, we both listed Big Bad Toy Store and Entertainment Earth as suppliers, and I provided links directly to the product sections on their respective sites.
As for the hows and the whys and all that jazz, I've written on this a few times before, and I certainly can't give out all of the details, nor do I even have some of the more discreet details, but in a nutshell....
Ban and co. had nothing to do with the creation of Xevoz, Stikfas is Stikfas, Xevoz is Hasbro. A team at Hasbro had been working on the concept for a little while, and when they saw Stikfas they knew that this was the design that they had been searching for to implement into the Xevoz concept.
They took Stikfas onboard for about a year and a half or so and helped the (at that time) new upstart business to get it's big push into the industry, while they continued to work on Xevoz in the background (with the newly gained Stikfas figure design). When Hasbro felt that they were ready to go all out with Xevoz, they needed to pull in all of their resources to make it happen. In addition, Stikfas was having a very hard time getting itself into the main stream retail market, even TRU had a hard time fuly supporting them. As far as I am aware, at some point they even offered the Stikfas team the ability to be a part of the Xevoz team, but Ban knew the direction that he wanted to go with Stikfas, and so declined the offer. Thus the dissolution of the partnership between Stikfas and Hasbro.
I could probably say many more things about the partnership and the eventual dissolution, but I've been sworn to secrecy on a number of issues, and I may already be going too far over the line as it is. As for royalties, that is one of the areas that is extremely secretive, I know of no one outside of the core Stikfas team that knows (or will ever know) any of the specifics of that deal, but one would assume that since the name is on the bottom of the box, there are some form of royalties being paid out.
Before reading this next paragraph, please keep in mind that I LOVE Stikfas, and that I certainly mean them (Ban, BH, and co.) no disrespect by what I am about to say, but in the end this is more or less the truth....
In all honesty, Hasbro probably didn't even need to get the permission to use the design if they so chose to. The Stikfas ball joint system, albeit unique in application, is not the first and only time that someone has used a similar ball joint in a toy, and as far as I am aware the actual patent held by Stikfas only covers the 3.5 inch design. The ankle design is about the only really truly unique design element that no one else could make a claim to, everything else is kinda straight forward. Although no one else ever thought (or at least carried through with the thought) to make a figure completely using the same diameter ball joint before, so that could certainly only be accredited to Stikfas. In the end, if nothing else, Hasbro has money and lawyers, and Stikfas would have been hard pressed to "fight the power" on equal ground.
It was a sad split in some ways, but all things considered both companies seem to be very happy with how things have gone since. Things have been a bit of a slow recovery process for Stikfas, but they are recovering, and they are growing, and they have a lot more creative freedom over the direction that the line is headed in again.
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Post by zovex on Sept 16, 2004 10:52:01 GMT -5
I THOUGHT THERE WAS SOME BIG LEGAL THING WITH THE TITANIUM FIGS......THEY AREN'T 3 INCH.
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Post by ShaneReinecke on Sept 16, 2004 12:57:04 GMT -5
Plain and simple, internet rumor and speculation.....
Stikfas placed an ad in ToyFare about being the original and the only 3" customizable action figure, and implied some kind of legal patent, but I don't recall what else it said specifically. When people saw the ad in ToyFare, they quickly began speculating about who they (Stikfas) were gearing up to sue. By the end of that first day I had seen at least 3 different speculations making the rounds. In the end no one has ever heard anything more about it publicly.
Knowing certain things about another certain toy company and it's owner and some events that took place both publicly and privately, my guess would be that if this ad was aimed at anyone it was aimed at **cough** Geoff Beckett **cough** from **cough** Shocker toys **cough** regarding the **cough** shockini **cough** line of 3" customizable action figures. This would have been more to do with the aforementioned persons buisness practices and personal actions as much as anything else.
On that note, as far as I am aware, there have been NO lawsuits, and there are NO lawsuits currently in the works. Of course, I am not privy to every little detail so there may have been something going on behind the scenes, but oddly enough (come to think of it) I haven't heard much about Shockinis in quite some time.
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Post by Grayfox on Sept 16, 2004 14:25:29 GMT -5
Only thing I heard about Shockinis is that they're now a Southern Island exclusive. I don't think it means much, but that's what I know.
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Post by Secter on Sept 16, 2004 14:44:04 GMT -5
Well, Stikfas were only available near me at TRU, and the TRU that did have them had such a small, small quantity. I am talking like less then 10 sets, probably around 5 and none were any newer then the Beta with Dragon setand the Fireman.
My point? The split between Hasbro and Stikfas has personally had no effect on me, and wouldn't have even if I woulda been into Stikfas and had been buying them. They were just not available at near enough retailers, and I think this includes pretty much everywhere else to, besides just my area. Other then some TRU and comic shops, they just wern't really in retail stores. [/b]
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Post by zovex on Sept 16, 2004 17:15:16 GMT -5
SHOCKINI'S ARE ALL OVER THE NET NOW....I THINK THEY ARE JUST NOW COMING OUT......
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