Cancelled The Demogorgon 8" Collectible Figure Statue

[SamuraiJack]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2020932877/the-demogorgon-8-collectable-figure-statue?ref=category_newest

The Demogorgon figure stands approximately 8 inches tall, and is solid cast resin. Fully painted, assembled & ready to display!

Edited October 26, 2016 by Darsc Zacal
Tag updated

[SamuraiJack]

About this project

We, like many others, fell in love with this figure. The Demogorgon reminded us of our childhood. Being adult collectors, we wanted to create a statue that we would be proud to display in our home or office.

Recreating this figure in 3D at a larger scale required us to enhance the design and add more details and texture to the sculpt.

Shown with original Demogorgon mini and standard D20 (not included)

Cast in solid resin enabled us to capture every detail of the original 3D render. We redesigned the base not only for aesthetics but also to enhance the footprint and give it a good weight and feel for the statue.  

 

 

 

[Pingo]

Do they have the rights to the artwork?

 

I though that demogorgon sculpt and the molds were now owned by Mirliton Miniatures, in Italy.

[Egg of Coot]

Do they have the rights to the artwork?

 

I though that demogorgon sculpt and the molds were now owned by Mirliton Miniatures, in Italy.

 

Yup, Mirliton owns the rights to this piece.  Seeing as there is no "officially licensed" label anywhere in the KS info, or even so much as a credit to the original sculptor, I seriously doubt these guys have the requisite permissions.  I can see a cease & desist coming down the pipe on this one.

 

The Egg 

[Darsc Zacal]

Well... I guess we'll see how long this lasts.

Stranger things and all.

[Maledrakh]

I love the statue, but am troubled about this. I have joined and asked about this in the comments on the KS. We'll see what they respond with.

[Pingo]

I love the statue, but am troubled about this. I have joined and asked about this in the comments on the KS. We'll see what they respond with.

 

Uh-oh.

 

The creator's response:

 

 

I have done the research & could find no active copyright for the demogorgon miniature. This sculpt was created with extra details & a slightly modified pose and base, just so it was not an exact replica. It is also much larger, at 8 inches. The original sculptor of the mini (who did an amazing job) would not own the rights to the original, the company that hired him would.

 

This was created as an homage to a mini figure I have loved since childhood.

 

That does not sound like due diligence.

[Gadgetman!]

Has anyone tipped off Mirliton, yet?

[Pingo]

Another post from the creator:

 

KreationX Creator 35 minutes ago

@Via Ludibunda : I am aware of the miniatures being sold in Italy, but that does not mean they own the rights. There are tons of Demogoron merchandise out there now, from t-stuffs to pins & posters, none of which are hold the license. Again, these statues were created based of the miniature & was not designed to be competition for the Italian supplier. We would never try and recreate/sell this as a mini, we are offering an 8"statue for collectors to display.

So far as I know, Mirliton IS the current license-holder for those old Grenadier minis. Is that not the case?

 

Also, "lots of other people are doing it" is not a great argument.

[Lidless Eye]

Via Facebook's "Old School Miniatures" page, according to John Dennett (the original sculptor) and Stefano Grazzini of Mirliton, this is being made without their permission and being looked into by lawyers.

The original has been brought back into production by Mirliton, and there is an upcoming Kickstarter for a resculpt by Mr. Dennett coming soon, that this has nothing to do with.

Unfortunately, I cannot copy the whole threads to post here from where I am, but I will try to grab them later.

[Gadgetman!]

I think their 'lots of other people' is the TheDemogorgon _ com site which curiously features an 8" statue that you can preorder today... 

There's no visible contact info on the site, really, but a quick whois finds that Robb De Nicola, from Retro Cuties in New York is behind that site. 

But on KS it's  Michael J Thomas from CreationX who's the one in control...

 

Interestingly enough, the statue is listed with a retail price of $69.99 on both sites. 

Is it the same statue?

 

Ih he just reselling someone else's product?

That's a big nono according to the KS rules.

[Pingo]

Has anyone tipped off Mirliton, yet?

 

I did this morning, and Mr. Grazzini responded that he was already aware, thanks, and had notified Kickstarter.

[Gadgetman!]

Feel free to also drop him a message about that other website. 

[Egg of Coot]

The creator's response:

 

 

I have done the research & could find no active copyright for the demogorgon miniature. This sculpt was created with extra details & a slightly modified pose and base, just so it was not an exact replica. It is also much larger, at 8 inches. The original sculptor of the mini (who did an amazing job) would not own the rights to the original, the company that hired him would.

 

This was created as an homage to a mini figure I have loved since childhood.

 

That does not sound like due diligence.

 

 

What the hell kind of "research" did these guys do?  The original sculptor's name and the current copyright holder for the miniature come up in the FIRST entry when you enter "Grenadier Demogorgon" into Google.  I can only hope that they get their asses sued off . . .

 

The Egg

[Maledrakh]

well, I dropped my pledge here. The creator just pooh-poohs that the "someone in Italy" sells the minis and states that that does not mean they hold the IP. and that there is "tons of unlicensed demogorgon merch out there"

 

Yeah. right. as if that line of argument will hold up in court.

 

and it's funny how this coincides with the minis appearance on Stranger Things.