# No Watchmen model kits?



## BatToys (Feb 4, 2002)

No Watchmen model kits? The Owlship looked like a natural.
Moebius or PL could have done a large scale kit of that but maybe WB has high royalties.


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## Zorro (Jun 22, 1999)

_Hurm._


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## TrueFaith (Feb 24, 2009)

Only thing I've seen is a resin kit of The Comedian. On eBay for about $100. I collect mini-busts and have been picking up Watchmen ones, but there don't seem to be many models available.


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## Geoff Boaz (Jan 1, 1970)

BatToys said:


> No Watchmen model kits? The Owlship looked like a natural.
> Moebius or PL could have done a large scale kit of that but maybe WB has high royalties.


I'm sure you know much of this already Battoys, but for others... The watchmen is similar to the '66 batmobile is some regards. DC/Warner is not the sole owner of the property, Alan Moore owns rights too. In fact a few years ago the very 1st watchmen toys were almost to market and Mr. Moore nixed the deal with DC Direct. Any models or other high-end collectible items would probably have to run a quagmire of lawyers, moore and other stakeholders, and make the endeavor not worth it in the long run. There are a few knick-nacks here and there, but don't think we'll see models.

There are some new toys by DC Direct for the movie though, and a few statues too, such as:
TOYS









Statue









The DC Direct toys are the only figures being made, no Mattel, HASBRO, Playmates, etc have rights. This property is closely maintained.

These are the 1st toys that were comic based, and never made it to release:










There is an owl ship by DC Direct too. It's based on the blueprints, 

lights-up and is 1:24 scale.









Plenty of stuff out there for fans, just not a big blitz of it.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

I can't see it. Its not the most well known graphic novel/comic. If you didn't see new kits for Dark Knight or the new/upcoming Star Trek, I doubt you would see kits for this. Plus the Moebius Iron Man isnt quite out yet and look how long ago that movie was out.


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## Rattrap (Feb 23, 1999)

That's the big problem, as Tom Lowe or Frank would probably tell you. Most of these licenses are very short duration, and by the time you get the product developed and in stores, the license is over, unless you pay a really exorbitant fee to renew the license. Plus in the case of movies, the span of interest is very short, not to mention the crap shoot of choosing a license (Titan A.E. Dredge Alien, anyone?)

I've heard that this is what happened to Polar Lights Captain America repop. By the time the masters were made, and it reached the US, there was almost no time left on the license, which is why it was on the shelves for such a short period. The Cap was my favorite Aurora kit, and I've never even seen one of the PL kits in real life.


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## veedubb67 (Jul 11, 2003)

One point of clarification - the DC Direct site it says the Owl doesn't light.

http://www.dccomics.com/dcdirect/?dcd=10478

Rob
Iwata Padawan


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Rattrap said:


> That's the big problem, as Tom Lowe or Frank would probably tell you. Most of these licenses are very short duration, and by the time you get the product developed and in stores, the license is over, unless you pay a really exorbitant fee to renew the license. Plus in the case of movies, the span of interest is very short, not to mention the crap shoot of choosing a license (Titan A.E. Dredge Alien, anyone?)
> 
> I've heard that this is what happened to Polar Lights Captain America repop. By the time the masters were made, and it reached the US, there was almost no time left on the license, which is why it was on the shelves for such a short period. The Cap was my favorite Aurora kit, and I've never even seen one of the PL kits in real life.


local comic shop just shut down and sold the kit for $5 (considering they had it for $35!?!?)


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## Geoff Boaz (Jan 1, 1970)

veedubb67 said:


> One point of clarification - the DC Direct site it says the Owl doesn't light.
> 
> http://www.dccomics.com/dcdirect/?dcd=10478
> 
> ...


Maybe they changed it. This was the earlier solicitation:

" *This wonderful light-up*, 1:24 scale replica of the Owl Ship is reproduced from the actual blueprints used to make the ship in the movie! In addition to the *back-lit photographic interior*, this replica includes environmental elements on the base that reflect owl elements from the movie!
The entire piece, including the base, measures approximately 7" high x 12" wide x 12" deep, and is packaged in a 4-colour box."


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## TrueFaith (Feb 24, 2009)

Rattrap said:


> The Cap was my favorite Aurora kit, and I've never even seen one of the PL kits in real life.


They're fairly easy to get on eBay. I just built one and it even had the clear plastic "splashes" coming out of the puddle. I think they phased that out in later PL reissues.


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

TrueFaith said:


> Only thing I've seen is a resin kit of The Comedian. On eBay for about $100.


At the moment, it's $140 + $20 shipping.


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## TrueFaith (Feb 24, 2009)

Zombie_61 said:


> At the moment, it's $140 + $20 shipping.


Right. I wonder what they had to go through to get the license for that resin kit....or if they even bothered to get one. WB has sent out quite a few "cease & desist" orders to eBay sellers of unlicensed Watchmen items over the years and there are still a lot of unlicensed items still at auction now even after the movie has opened.


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## lunadude (Oct 21, 2006)

Geoff Boaz said:


> Maybe they changed it. This was the earlier solicitation:
> 
> " *This wonderful light-up*, 1:24 scale replica of the Owl Ship is reproduced from the actual blueprints used to make the ship in the movie! In addition to the *back-lit photographic interior*, this replica includes environmental elements on the base that reflect owl elements from the movie!
> The entire piece, including the base, measures approximately 7" high x 12" wide x 12" deep, and is packaged in a 4-colour box."


Whatever it does, I'm not thinking it is worth $325.


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

Trouble is that if they are selling it for $325 they are not about to license it out as a kit of another replica.
I like the ship and wished it was available in a smaller scale model kit, but no freak'n way am I going to spend that much for one.

.


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## Steve244 (Jul 22, 2001)

here are some pics inside and out of the prop. It appears to run on MS Windows.


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## razorwyre1 (Jan 28, 2004)

TrueFaith said:


> Right. I wonder what they had to go through to get the license for that resin kit....or if they even bothered to get one. WB has sent out quite a few "cease & desist" orders to eBay sellers of unlicensed Watchmen items over the years and there are still a lot of unlicensed items still at auction now even after the movie has opened.


you can rest assured that its unlicensed. 
moore has a grudge against dc. while he wont take $ out of gibbon's pocket by actually keeping the film from being made, if he can keep dc from making any extra $ off of it, he will (the whole argument seems to stem from a dispute over royalties on "watchmen "smiley" buttons years ago. dc said they were promotional materiels, so moore had no claim to royalties. moore said that because dc charged customers for them, there were merchandise, and he was entitled to a piece of the action. this was the start of his entire beef with dc.)


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

I had thought the smiley face button was part of general pop culture and Watchmen mearly adopted it to make a sarcastic point. Even Mr. Natural (R. Crumb creation) in the head comics wore one.
Did Watchmen actually use the Smiley Face first?

.


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## TrueFaith (Feb 24, 2009)

Alan Moore has a grudge against everyone. That's one of the things that makes him so loveable. 

The "smiley face" was created by a guy from my home state of Massachusetts. Worcester, Ma in fact. He created it for an insurance company's sales campaign way before "Watchmen" was written. A local comic shop in Worcester (That's Entertainment) had him at the store signing copies of the Watchmen trade paperback with the smiley button on the cover a few weeks ago. Weird movie tie-in, eh? Apparently he never trademarked it and didn't make very much money for the design. While "smiley" may be in public domain, the smiley with the blood spot is definately copyrighted by DC and they vigorously go after anyone who trys to sell copies.


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## razorwyre1 (Jan 28, 2004)

smiley isnt in public domain, and if you notice, theres a copyright statement on all watchmen stuff that uses it acknowledging the owner.


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

The Smiley Face is in public domain- perhaps the Smiley Face _with Blood Splatter _is what that copyright refers to.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smiley

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...hts=&as_occt=any&cr=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&safe=off


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