Willy Miniatures : new KS !!

[Corvidius]

I think the reason that the other "star player" minis haven't caused issue is because there's no consistancy of design in the existing models. Gw shot themselves in the foot by having 3 very different Griff minis that are only identifiable by the fact they're listed as Griff. The same with the various Zugs, the only real unifying factor is baldness. Eldril/eldred, other than both being elves there's nothing distinctive between them.

Thrud on the other hand has multiple models made by more than one manufacturer but all recognisably the same character in the Thrud comic.

[Corvidius]

I object to him ripping off what is the trademark of a independent artist that helps the Blood Bowl community raise thousands of pounds for charity.

And yes, if he produces this it will be another manufactuer I won't buy from, and I won't be sorry when he get's sued.

i'm very sure he does'nt care if you don't buy his miniatures...

Really? Kind of thought the idea was to get customers, not alienate existing fans/customers.

[txapo]

i'm very sure he does'nt care if you don't buy his miniatures...

you are wrong he cares.

[tzoscey]

so you can put a ogre head, or a barbarian head, or a norse god head ...but is problem a 4th optional head? i dont' get it.
if i get this miniature, i will use any of the other heads not the thrudd kind.
any time it would be a issue, he just has to remove 4th head from the blister. if i were him, i would remove it for certain countries (just 2 in mind) now.

if willy doesn't care, why did he remodel the first miniature?

[Heff]

I just wonder why he included the head if he DOES care. I have decided to be charitable and say it was a brain fart. Which is my opinion of the whole figure. I really do not like it at all and can see the head causing big trouble for him.

[Corvidius]

I just wonder why he included the head if he DOES care. I have decided to be charitable and say it was a brain fart. Which is my opinion of the whole figure. I really do not like it at all and can see the head causing big trouble for him.

An option that could be charitable would be if he removed the Thrudesque head and donated them all to Carl who could in turn donate the heads to Thrudball. Then the heads would encourage charity but not infringe on GW IP and Willy wouldn't be using Carl or Heresy's IP (depending on the nature of that deal). It's a wacky idea that'll never happen but I think any encouragement for the Thrudball is a good thing.

[Virral]

So, even though someone that work's with Carl (Heresybloke) has said Carl would probably have to take legal action, you still think he should do it?

One thing that's nagging me about this comment, Heresybloke is not exactly above a bit of IP infringement himself. Multiple versions of the last three Doctor Who's and other characters from that series (Eccleston, Tennant, Smith) Captain Mal from Serenity, Predator, Orko from He-Man. There is no attempt to hide what he's doing here beyond changing the name (Dr Hugh, Norko etc etc), in some cases even the descriptions of these make it perfectly clear who it's supposed to be.

Just pointing out that here Heresybloke hasn't changed anything I can see to differentiate these figures from their source material, but is in an agreement with Carl to produce official Thrud figures and therefore feels legal advice is necessary when someone comes to close to that? It's pretty blatant double standard.

Edit: Clarified my initially incorrect belief that Carl = Heresybloke. I was referring to the owner of Heresy Miniatures not the creator of Thrudd.

[GalakStarscraper]

I sent Willy an email today since Impact! stocks Willy's figures. I let him know that Chris and I were willing to stock the figure but that we'd be removing that head from the sprue and throwing them in the pewter recycle bin that we have before putting it in inventory.

Willy said he fully understood and even offered to cut off the head before shipping the figure to me to save me the effort (which I thought was a decent offer). I don't support at all the infringement on Carl's IP so I won't sell anything that infringes on it ... but for me as a reseller ... that is an easy option for me as I can just refuse to sell the head.

Already converted the image for use on our site when we place our next order with Willy.



Oh and I confirmed with Willy that the body he is selling is just the one pictured on the left. The long loin cloth was removed as part of the resculpting.

Galak

[GalakStarscraper]

So, even though someone that work's with Carl (Heresybloke) has said Carl would probably have to take legal action, you still think he should do it?

One thing that's nagging me about this comment, Carl is not exactly above a bit of IP infringement himself.

Everything you just displayed had nothing to do with Carl. That was all the work of Andy Foster ... totally different person.

And as long as I'm correcting statements:

don't like it, don't buy it. who the hell are we to tell anyone what to make?

the buyer can back carl(a person no one here knows) by not using the head in question.

Answer to the first question: we are the buyers ... we vote with our pocketbooks. We are EVERYTHING to tell someone what to make if they want to stay in business. The day any business adopts the attitude that you have BfG is the day that business begins to die. One of the main reasons that 80% of small businesses fail in the first two years is because they think like you. They think they know what is best for their customers and don't have to listen to them and so they take their arrogance like yours and carry on and then wonder why sales are decreasing and then wonder after that why they are out of business. The folks have every right to express to Willy their deep concerns ... and its totally up to Willy what he does with it. But any person who would suggest as you have that the customer has no rights to speak up on what they want has not a clue on how to conduct good business.

To the second statement: Seriously ... do you think before you type this stuff. Why would you possibly think that some of us don't know Carl? I know that giraffe who is on TFF knows Carl pretty well and I have corresponded with Carl on multiple occassions to different subjects. I've talked to him enough to say that I got a solid measure of the person and the man and I highly respect him. "A person no one here knows" ... I guess every forum needs one of you to keep the discussion interesting.

Galak

[Virral]

Plus GW are waiting for someone to make a BB Thrud/Thrudd: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=34320&hilit=Thrud&start=90#p620907
Really worth pulling GW Legal's tail?

Oh and say hello to Deathball Big Boris! Fantasy Football? Check. Big Muscled Guy in Barbarian style clothing? Check. Horned Helmet head looking small for his body? Check.

[Virral]

So, even though someone that work's with Carl (Heresybloke) has said Carl would probably have to take legal action, you still think he should do it?

One thing that's nagging me about this comment, Carl is not exactly above a bit of IP infringement himself.

Everything you just displayed had nothing to do with Carl. That was all the work of Andy Foster ... totally different person.

Galak

Fair enough, I figured "Heresybloke" was the guy who runs Heresy Miniatures and is Licensed to sell the official Thrud mini, I thought Andy was just the sculptor. I feel that my point is still valid, the store selling official Thrud mini's also sells a range of other figures that blatantly copy IP they have no right to. At best it sends a message that IP only matters when it affects you personally.

Edit: Ah now I see, rereading the original statement I'd say that "Heresybloke" aka Andy Foster has advised Carl he'd need to seek legal action. That is most definitely a total double standard but I was completely incorrect in saying that Carl has infringed on someones IP.

Just to be clear though, as I said above I totally agree that this head should be removed from sale.

[GalakStarscraper]

Oh and say hello to Deathball Big Boris! Fantasy Football? Check. Big Muscled Guy in Barbarian style clothing? Check. Horned Helmet head looking small for his body? Check.

Sorry Virral that is also not correct. Big Boris is a trademark character of Heresy and has a very definite look to him. Anyone (and I'm in that crowd) that actually owns the model you linked to and a Thrud figure could see that the dimensions are all VERY wrong to be Thrud and that the facial features (which are definitive) are a match for the other Big Boris figures and not Thrud.

Galak

[Virral]

Oh and say hello to Deathball Big Boris! Fantasy Football? Check. Big Muscled Guy in Barbarian style clothing? Check. Horned Helmet head looking small for his body? Check.

Sorry Virral that is also not correct. Big Boris is a trademark character of Heresy and has a very definite look to him. Anyone (and I'm in that crowd) that actually owns the model you linked to and a Thrud figure could see that the dimensions are all VERY wrong to be Thrud and that the facial features (which are definitive) are a match for the other Big Boris figures and not Thrud.

Galak

Sorry to you Galak but this is very much a subjective matter not an objective one. To me Boris is clearly intended to be a Thrudd replacement and bares striking similarities to Thrudd's design. You're welcome to disagree with me but don't try and tell me I'm objectively incorrect. The idea that GW would recognise the distinction you're talking about if they were seriously interested in stamping out BB related Thrud is laughable (again, in my opinion).

Edit: I'd also point out that in the case of Willy's figure plenty of people have made the same judgement without feeling the need to own a physical copy first, yourself included.

[GalakStarscraper]

Sorry to you Galak but this is very much a subjective matter not an objective one. To me Boris is clearly intended to be a Thrudd replacement and bares striking similarities to Thrudd's design. You're welcome to disagree with me but don't try and tell me I'm objectively incorrect.

All good ... I stand corrected on objective vs subjective evidence ... just make sure to schedule a vison test soon (IMO).

[Corvidius]

To me Boris is clearly intended to be a Thrudd replacement and bares striking similarities to Thrudd's design.

I had thought that myself for a while until I was examining what makes Thrud distinctive while another model is a generic barbarian. Now I'm more of the opinion that Big Boris is tremendously generic. Depending on which version of him we're talking about he shares a common bald barbarian look that could just as well be Zug tbh. The helmet is similar to Thruds but you can clearly see his face unlike Thrud. So while I would agree that he has similarities to Thrud I think that's because they are both muscled barbarians.