AgentHemlock
Ponderous
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2025
- Messages
- 208
Sort of, I feel more compelled to contextualize that project because I actually know about it and have listened to him talk about the character etc, and I also know the practical reasons for why he's launching how he's launching, etc. Which is why I earnestly tried to answer your question: "Do you need a bunch of some YouTuber's mascot/avatar on your toy shelves, and if so - why? Explain the appeal to me."
To which I think I did a pretty good job listing different reasons why people would want this fig. But you came back with "it's more about why people who are not you, the person whose vanity is being sated, want to be involved. It FEELS a lot like that parasocial relationship people have with YT personalities and it gives me the ick, personally." which is dismissing all the other reasons people would buy the figure and say it's about the ego of the creator and the parasocial relationship with their followers. I don't know if you see it - but that comes across as disparaging, like the figures themselves are not good enough to buy because of their own merit as action figures. Then the bar kind of got moved to ....
"literally just a vanity project that really only appeals to hangers-on that think Wade is the coolest dude that ever duded?" That sounds disparaging dude?? I don't know what to tell you. Maybe if I heard you in person it'd hit different but it sounds like it's a dismissal of the validity of the figure outright on its own merits and ignoring all the reasons people would like the figure to stick with your personal intuition that people would only want it for icky reasons, which doesn't make sense to me. Like is there even another 1/12 ape man/big foot dude out there like him? What about the cryptid angle? Repeatedly insinuating people are just buying this to glaze Wade, you don't see how that's disparaging? Again, like I said before - it seems like a blanket dismissal of people who'd want something that you don't on the grounds that you don't want it.
To again add context, I'm sure Wade would love to do a full line of action figures with new sculpts and tooling etc. but it just wasn't on the table at the moment, the margins are pretty tight. From what he's communicated, he seems to have realistic expectations for the campaign and is at peace if it doesn't fund, but he didn't want to wait around until the tariffs suddenly go away or Trump isn't president anymore, and he's putting together what he can do at the moment. Again, he said these would have been outfit kits but ultimately the cost margins made it make sense to include a buck, but also, it allows people who don't have the first Odious to get the outfit they want.
But also, companies repaint and release variants all the time, and they sell and make money. It's like—why is he so unusual? Like i said earlier, there are people who will want a soldier, but wouldn't want an urban lumberjack, so they are appealing to other people. Especially in that small shop/3rd party/LegionsCon community world where a lot of people buy small and particularly want to support each other and parts swap for customs. Which I feel is community, not parasocial.
