Yeah, nothing is stopping them from putting that head with another figure. And I'm positive they'll do exactly that at some point.
This is true, but also, they put money where audiences will spend money. Studios are only buying IPs with a big existing audience now so that they can spend less on marketing. Publishing will cancel a trilogy if the first book doesn't PREORDER enough copies. It sucks out here.
I did not see this til you said it and now I do see it and I can't unsee it.
Kulan Gath was a foe to both Conan and Red Sonja, though his first appearance was in Conan #14, as you noted. He faced off against both of them several times, with them usually teaming up to fight him (at one point, Conan beheaded Gath while Sonja cut his heart out!). I'd say he became associated with Sonja more due to Marvel Team-Up #79, where Spider-Man and a Sonja-possessed Mary Jane fought him. Dynamite has since featured Kulan Gath in their main Red Sonja series, as well as a crossover with Marvel that reunited her with Spidey.
I remember reading that when the issues first released, and I cannot tell you how freaking cool it was at the time. While Marvel Team Up #79 was a fan favorite issue, and had been reprinted in a trade at least once at that point, it still wasn't something I ever expected them to revisit...let alone go batshit crazy with it like they did. At the time we didn't get a bunch of information about books months in advance like we do now...that story arc began and my reaction was "holy shit"!
That movie's mere existence pretty much convinced me that "public domain" is going to be a blight on culture as so many characters enter it in the coming years.
Jeremy said on Wednesday night they ‘have a plan’ to get those heads to fans somehow. Not sure if they’ll do a head pack (safest option IMO) or include them with some other female figure. It’s hard to claim IP infringement on a generic head pack. They don’t own the look of redhead females. There would have to be a clear likenesses or something instantly recognizable like Darth Vader’s helmet to not be able to get away with selling things separately in a head pack.
Yeah, that's correct. On its own, it's just a head unless it's either iconic in design itself (Batman's mask, Vader's helmet) or a 1:1 recreation of a piece of artwork or photograph. The smartest play, given that they've already drawn a lot of attention to themselves with this, is to put it with a completely different figure or in some kind of decent-size accessory set.
Thank you for educating me.
I’m a bit surprised they don’t do more “assemble the homage from these figures” ersatz-BAF stuff. But I guess the direct homage figure sells better.
Fair points! Even the likes of Mezco and McFarlane released weapons packs designed to go with certain DC characters when DC was going through their no-weapons policy a few years back. ‘Double trouble’ was a double set of guns and knives timed perfectly with their Batman and Two-face set. The thing is, DC was probably in on the work around and since their name wasn’t anywhere to be found on the packaging probably let those things happen with their blessing or maybe even at their suggestion. That wouldn’t be the case here so you’re right packing them with a totally different figure might be the safest route to avoid any further issues.