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SpaceGhost2K
03-15-2009, 06:15 PM
Let's talk about them.

Here is a short list of limited edition plates. These are plates where we know how many were made, either because they're numbered or we know the source of the plates.

PREY: Roughly 10.
Moto GP 06: Ten, numbered.
Canadian Launch 54: 46
Canadian Launch Jump In: 158
X05 Canada Big Leaf: 200
X05 Canada Small Leaf: 200
X05 Canada Many Leaves: 200
X06 Canada: 300
Supreme Commander: 250
Rise of the Argonauts: 980
E305 Rings of Light (rare): 500
E305 Rings of Light (common): 5000
Bioshock: 5000

As you know, the plates at the very top of this list go for crazy money, while even plates limited to 5,000 still go for $50-$75 each.

So here's a question for you. Let's say I was going to make some limited edition plates. How many should I make?

See, the thing to consider here is that none of those plates I listed above could actually be BOUGHT anywhere as a limited edition. They were initially free to the original recipients, and the few that made it to the secondary market are the ones that sold for a lot of money. Chances are, if all 980 of "Rise of the Argonauts" had been available to buy at a storefront, there's no way they'd get the $100-$200 a piece they get on eBay.

I've seen less than ten of the Supreme Commander or ROTA plates, even though there are almost a thousand ROTA plates. I have only once seen ONE of the X05 Canada plates, although there are a couple hundred of each out there.

I'm gonna just pick a show. Let's say "Lost." My customs were popular. The show's been around a few years and has a couple more before it's history. And it has a large cast.

So let's say I did this. Let's say I made a dozen plates:

1) Jack
2) Kate
3) Sawyer
4) Locke
5) Kim
6) Sun
7) Hugo
8) Sayid
9) Juliet
10) Desmond
11) Ben
12) Charlie

I could even do more:
13) Charles Widmore
14) Christian Shepard
15) Claire and Aaron
16) Penny Widmore
17) Daniel Faraday
18) Richard Alpert
19) Danielle Rousseau
20) Eloise Hawking
21) Eko
22) Rose and Bernard
23) Michael and Walt
24) Alex and Karl
25) Ana Lucia
26) Libby
27) Boone and Shannon
28) Frank Lapidas
29) Charlotte (red head)
30) Miles (ghost whisperer)
31) Oceanic 815
32) The Hatch
33) The Smoke Monster
34) The Polar Bears

Now I have to think about this like if they were action figures in a box. They'll put a couple each of the popular figures and one each of the lesser figures. If they did a box of only popular figures, the lesser figures would never get made. If they did a box of just lesser figures, stores wouldn't carry them.

What I might do, in order to get some of the minor characters in there, is do it by season, and then maybe by subgroup. For instance, Miles, Charlotte, Daniel and Frank all in one set.

Anyway, I can figure that part out later. In the meantime, here's the question: How many do you make of each "design?"

I could do a set of six plates, and make 500 of them. Invariably, someone would complain that I left someone out. The good part is, it would build anticipation for future plates while increasing the secondary market value of the first wave of plates. The bad part is, if there was a struggle to sell off the first six plates, it might prevent a second six (and the additional characters) from being made, plus it might affect your ability to pay for the cost of using these characters. If you'd made twelve plates out of the gate, that problem might be solved.

Keep this in mind. These are going to go beyond the normal members of these forums. We'd be targeting fans of the show, rather than faceplate collectors (since, let's be honest, there are more of them.) The good part is that, there are almost 30 million Xboxes out there, so selling 300 or 500 or 1,000 of ANYTHING on a faceplate shouldn't be impossible.

So it's out there for discussion: large cast, numerous image options... how many of each plate do you make?

Symmetric-XBA
03-15-2009, 11:26 PM
i would do a total of 51 plates for each of the top 12, having the actor/actress who played that role sign 1 of theirs (so you will have a total of 12 sigs, 1 per plate) then i would make 1 more and have everyone sign it. With the other characters I would say about another 50-60 per char. for the rest. I wouldn't suggest selling them yet though as the econ. is taking such a bending-over, but maybe through a fundraiser chairity either out there in la or nyc or maybe even on the internet, but something big to get your name out there.

SpaceGhost2K
03-16-2009, 01:29 AM
i would do a total of 51 plates for each of the top 12, having the actor/actress who played that role sign 1 of theirs (so you will have a total of 12 sigs, 1 per plate) then i would make 1 more and have everyone sign it. With the other characters I would say about another 50-60 per char. for the rest. I wouldn't suggest selling them yet though as the econ. is taking such a bending-over, but maybe through a fundraiser chairity either out there in la or nyc or maybe even on the internet, but something big to get your name out there.

Getting permission to make the plates, and getting access to the actors/actresses are two different things. Are you saying, though, that 50 is an acceptable number for a limited edition plate?

Symmetric-XBA
03-18-2009, 12:48 PM
i would say 50 is yes when you're talking about the quantity of material for these faceplates.

Ohsay
03-19-2009, 08:43 PM
YOUR INSANE!

sorry, but you are thats crazy amount of work.
I'm not a fan of lost but i sure would like one of those if/when there done, and yeh 50's a reasonable number.

SpaceGhost2K
03-20-2009, 01:45 AM
Guys, I'm not talking about making fifty (100, actually) stencils times ten different plates and making them by hand. I'm talking about making professional plates, like the Xbox Addict.com plate.

I can make 1, or 10, or 50. 100. 500. 1000. 5000. 5261. 10000. 100000, if I had the money (and a mental disorder).

Think of it like the Street Fighter plates that are currently in stores. If you were going to do a limited edition Street Fighter plate, maybe six different versions with Ken, Chun-Li, Cammy, etc... how many of each would you make? (NOTE: There were ten thousand of each of those two styles of plate made.)

On one hand, their "limitedness" will appeal to some people, and making them more limited will help them retain their value. Offering a set also encourages people to by the whole set.

On the other hand, it would be nice to actually make some money on them, and stopping at 50 when 500 people would buy one if they could, would be a dumb idea. It costs money for the "rights" and you have to at least make enough of them to pay for that, and leave some for your efforts.

391,000 people bought Xbox 360's in February, 2009. Would it really make sense to make 50 "Lost" plates? I want to be limited, but 50 feels to me like it's not hardly worth the effort of getting the license.

wasabisabi
03-20-2009, 04:22 AM
You could either make more than 50 or make 50-100 and charge alot of $$ for a piece. I am sure collectors will pay lots of $$ for one (at the very least I would) if there were very limited.

Symmetric-XBA
03-21-2009, 05:48 AM
34 subjects x 50 faceplates per subject = 1700 faceplates

1700 faceplates x $40 per faceplate = $68,000

SpaceGhost2K
03-21-2009, 12:11 PM
Ah, but....

10 subjects x 500 plates each x $19.99 = $100,000.

"Don't count your chickens" and all, but still.