Breakfast Topic: Figureprints
by Mike Schramm 
Apr 28th 2008 at 8:00AM
When we first heard about Figureprints, everybody seemed fairly keen to get one -- there were thousands of people trying to get in on the drawing, and lots of folks were more than willing to put down their $100 for a custom, real-life figure of their characters created directly from the in-game models.But as the Dude (if censored) might say, new stuff has come to light. We've seen the first Figureprints off the press, and the quality, so far, hasn't been impressive, to say the least. We should note that Figureprints is replacing that figure in the gallery, but we'd like to know: has all of this new information changed your mind about Figureprints?
Are you still excited to get one, or have you changed your mind from originally liking the idea to not so thrilled about the actual product? Or, like Matthew Rossi, have you said "This aggression will not stand, man," from the beginning? OK, that's not really what he said (I just wanted to quote the Dude agaIn), but where are you at on Figureprints lately? Yea or nay?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Virtual selves, Odds and ends, Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Chais Apr 28th 2008 8:06AM
Lol @ Figureprints
Another way for Blizzard to get money while putting in as little effort as possible.
:D
naranjar Apr 28th 2008 8:35AM
The point is that FigurePrints is not run by Blizzard in any shape or form. It is run by a fan of Blizzard's products, namely World of Warcraft.
Brian Carnell Apr 28th 2008 9:15AM
"The point is that FigurePrints is not run by Blizzard in any shape or form. It is run by a fan of Blizzard's products, namely World of Warcraft."
You sir, are a moron. This is an officially licensed Blizzard product, not just some fan cranking these out on his own time. Blizzard takes in revenue from each one produced and saw and approved these before this guy ever went into business.
jake Apr 28th 2008 8:28AM
Blizzard? ...
Anyway, I love the idea, and would love to get one; even at that quality. I just can't justify the $100 price tag.
$30 maybe.
zeem Apr 28th 2008 8:25AM
@1: You sir are about to feel the full force of the WoWinsider commentcommunity for your idiocy...be prepared
Chais Apr 28th 2008 8:30AM
Ive been to Wowinsider everyday for a while now
I know where most stand on Blizzard money siphoning abilities, and I excercise my right to disagree.
:D
Stan Apr 28th 2008 8:35AM
Feel free to disagree, but Blizzard has nothing to do with this. Figureprints is its own company totally separate from Blizzard.
Chais Apr 28th 2008 8:38AM
Yeah sorry about that
I read the first look on figure prints after I posted that
still havent figured out how to delete posts
thank you
:D
Brian Carnell Apr 28th 2008 9:07AM
Huh? Who cares if it is a separate company...this is a licensed product so Blizzard is indeed profiting off of these crappy things.
gen Apr 28th 2008 8:26AM
I don't think the first previews were that different from the end product in the photo up there. From what I've seen, they've all had that dustiness, almost as if they are made out of sandpaper.
As a business, I think it's a very exciting idea. Perhaps the technology still needs to be developed to deliver shiny figures with bright, true to the game colors. It's almost impressive now but I'd wait until then.
Dah Apr 28th 2008 8:29AM
I never thought any of the figureprints looked that good. The first ones looked dusty as well. This one just looks dustier.
Tatiyanna Apr 28th 2008 8:37AM
@1 & 3
Blizzard? Oh heck I'll say it.
This is not a blizzard product but a third party. If you sir choose to make a statement that you read Wowinsider everyday, then maybe you should re evaluate your reading comprehension skills.
Chais Apr 28th 2008 8:38AM
YAHHHH
naranjar Apr 28th 2008 8:45AM
You're going to get many "OMG UR STUPID" comments in reply to your first comment because the comment interface of this blog doesn't really give you the option of a) deleting your comment or b) accurately and easily showing a comment thread. Your initial comment (authored by Chais) would be the top of the thread. The resulting thread started by zeem would branch from your initial comment. The resulting thread started by me would also branch from your initial comment. Then each thread would cascade down individually. The way that sites such as LiveJournal do it (which has been mentioned several times in WoW Insider) happens to be vastly superior to the program that is being used here at WoW Insider.
To the people at WoW Insider: I suggest a CMS with a different comment system.
Chais Apr 28th 2008 8:46AM
lol ty
:D
Eternalpayn Apr 28th 2008 9:31AM
But... With a new interface, it wouldn't be nearly as easy to ridicule stupid comments.
xD!
Aldazor Apr 28th 2008 8:39AM
I still wanna get one and i'm willing to pay the 100$, but since i'm playing on the EU realms, i can't.
kiaus Apr 28th 2008 8:46AM
True, it is not Blizz doing this but a third-party....
But, Blizz did license it, and licensing a property should usually include some kind of quality check to make sure the brand is not 'cheapened' by a sub- standard product. Blizzard owe it to themsleves and the value of their brand to stop bad quality products coming out.
Now granted, these are the first of their kind on the market, but I would like to have seen a bit more quality control involved in their production.
Dave Williams Apr 28th 2008 2:11PM
You're totally right that any good company should be careful about its licensing, and I can assure you that as someone who has tried to secure a Blizzard license that they are exceptionally picky (in a good way). The thing to keep in mind is that this is a pretty exciting new technology - the fact that unique full color 3d models can be printed at anything close to these prices is simply amazing.
I think it's awesome to have as an option - if you want more vibrant colors or bigger figures, you can grab the plastic "action figures" or the minis coming from Upper Deck. Personally, I'm willing to pay a premium for *MY* character, and just wish I'd gotten lucky in the lottery.
One last thought - there are several pictures of finished Figureprints on their website and they all show the "dustiness", so I can't see how someone could act all surprised by it. It's not like the Figureprints folks are hiding that or performing some sort of bait-and-switch with photoshopped images.
Chais Apr 28th 2008 8:47AM
2 ppl beat you to telling me that
:D