Kevin Bostic
A 12-inch collectible action figure depicting late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is once again for sale on a Japanese site, marking at least the second time in a year that a figurine company has attempted to cash in on Jobs' likeness.
Legend Toys has put up a product page and ordering information for a figurine crafted to reproduce Jobs in one-sixth scale as he is best remembered. Clad in reproductions of his signature jeans, tennis shoes, and black turtleneck, the Jobs figurine comes with a set of glasses, three pairs of hands, an apple, and a miniature leather sofa in which it may recline.
It retails for $200.
On the product page for the action figure, its designers also included a series of photos, wherein the jobs figurine sits atop the shoulder of a wax figurine of Steve Jobs at Madame Tussauds Hong Kong.
It is difficult to say how long the order page for the figurine has been up, but it will, if past events are any indication, likely come under heavy fire from Apple's legal department, which is fervent in protecting the image of the company's co-founder.
Apple's legal team in 2010 reportedly exerted immense pressure on online auction site eBay to remove listings for a series of Steve Jobs figurines. The figures, depicting a more cartoonish Jobs holding an iPhone while standing atop an Apple logo, had reportedly fetched bits of up to $2,500. The figure's glasses were moveable.
And, nearly a year ago to the date, an action figure from a Hong Kong company called In Icon drew pressure from lawyers for Apple and Jobs' family. That doll — which came with the typical Jobs garb, a "One More Thing" backdrop, two apples, and a bar stool — had a retail price of $99 before it was taken off the market.
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4 Comments
You've got to be kidding. I know SJ is an icon, but they believe there's a market for such an action figure? Where would you put it?
This one isn't too bad. No nonsensical caricatureness, no giant, unbobbleable bobble-style head…
I would have liked just the merest hint of a wry smile on those lips, but still.
It's MAYBE worth $200 (since it's limited production) if that's real leather, real jean material, real silk on the mock turtleneck, and large enough. 1/6th scale would put him at… roughly 12.3 inches, right?
I dunno; I certainly don't think it's creepy or anything, but I'd have to be far richer and have far more space in my house to pay that much for a miniature Steve Jobs, as cool as it is and as detailed and well-made as it looks.
That wax Jobs is pretty good, too.
[quote name="AppleInsider"]a figurine crafted to reproduce Jobs in one-sixth scale as he is best remembered.[/quote] I don't remember him being 1/6th scale. [quote name="Wide with Pride"]I know SJ is an icon, but they believe there's a market for such an action figure? Where would you put it?[/quote] Next to Batman. He would be in the Justice League. Batman doesn't really have any powers either, it's all gadgets with him too. All of these figurines would be kept in the house wherever the dusty, unopened box of prophylactics bought in 1974 is kept. [quote name="Tallest Skil"]I certainly don't think it's creepy or anything, but I'd have to be far richer and have far more space in my house to pay that much for a miniature Steve Jobs, as cool as it is and as detailed and well-made as it looks.[/quote] It looks a bit creepy to me, more from how they present it as some sort of Christ-like figure. The doll I suppose is fairly understated and has the resemblance but you'd be better off with a photo/poster.
If Madame Tussauds had the legal right to produce the wax figure of Jobs, which I have to assume that they do, there may be a loophole in their contract that would have permitted them to produce or have produced a toy replica of the wax figure, which is how Legend Toys might be able to get away with this. I can't tell if that photo of the "doll" sitting on the wax figure is real or a Photoshop job, but if real, Tussauds doesn't let anyone touch their work, so there must be some association between the two firms.
I can understand Jobs' family going after the toy company, but I have trouble understanding how Apple has the legal authority to stop anyone from producing such a toy as Jobs is (obviously) no longer an executive or owner of the company, even if his estate might be. And of course, the laws vary tremendously from country to country. In some regions of the world, public figures have a great deal of control over their images, but in other places, they have almost none, especially when the image is not being used to sell another product. Some countries would consider this a piece of art and not subject to any copyright or legal image restriction.
If Apple doesn't go after them, Levi's might. While clothing is not ordinarily entitled to copyright or patent protection (aside from trademarked logos) in the U.S. and in most countries, Levi's does have trademark protection on the stitching design on the rear pocket, which seems accurately reproduced on this figure.
I would never buy such a product (I don't think there's a single toy in my house, aside from a yoyo sitting in a drawer somewhere), and I would be embarrassed to display such a thing, but I have to admit that it seems extremely well made and is probably well worth the $200. I think it might be funny to have a figure like that of myself. And maybe I wouldn't mind well-made figures like that of Einstein, Groucho Marx and maybe Nicholas Tesla and if I had those three, why not Jobs as well?