AppleInsider Staff
In Icon, the Chinese company that created the doll, said in a statement that the doll is no longer being made and is not available for sale, according to PC World. They said they "received immense pressure from the lawyers of Apple and Steve Jobs family."
"Though we still believe that we have not overstepped any legal boundaries, we have decided to completely stop the offer, production and sale of the Steve Jobs figuring out of our heartfelt sensitivity to the feelings of the Jobs family," Tandy Cheung of In Icon said.
The retail price of the plastic doll is $99, but reseller prices on sites like eBay were significantly higher. The figurine came with a pair of black socks, glasses, a leather belt, a bar stool, a "One More Thing" backdrop, and two apples, with a bite taken out of one of them.
Word that Apple was attempting to halt sales of the action figure first surfaced earlier this month. The Cupertino, Calif., company asserted that it owns the rights to the likeness of Jobs.
Cheung said he originally created the action figure of Jobs as a tribute to him. It is a poseable figurine that was shown in promotional images delivering a keynote, sitting on a stool, and pointing, mimicking things Jobs did in real life.
The action figure isn't the first object to carry a likeness of Jobs that Apple shut down. Om December of 2010, the company also halted sales of a miniature statue depicting Jobs holding an iPhone and standing atop an Apple logo.
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32 Comments
A tribute. A $99 tribute, each.
What a cowardly position to take by the action figure maker company!
I had one of these on pre-order. It's all good though, I'm sure that I'll be able to find something else to spend $110 dollars on. The action figure maker should have known that this kind of reaction from Apple was coming. Were they expecting Apple to approve of it? Duh
It's not like this same exact thing hasn't happened before with an earlier Steve Jobs figure. Were they not aware of that? They should have gone ahead and let themselves be sued. Maybe Apple could have stopped the action figure in certain jurisdictions, but not everywhere and not in every state. The action figure didn't infringe on any Apple trademarks because no Apple products came with the action figure.
Maybe I'll get one of those Planet of the Apes action figures that I saw a while ago instead. Those look pretty realistic and impressive too. They had better because those are around twice the price.
People should leave basements of their parents sometime and go outside. I know it's scary, but singing birds and fresh air is free.
People should leave basements of their parents sometime and go outside. I know it's scary, but singing birds and fresh air is free.
That's the pot calling the kettle black...
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You know, I'm starting to think that we've all been incredibly Poe'd. Like, everyone. Because we take at face value what we see here. Sure, we see through the easy trolls and the blatant anti-Apple shills, but I can't help but wonder if we've been missing the big one all along.
Hiding in plain sight comes to mind. As do all the other clichéd phrases about this sort of thing.