![Orders to Begin Black Friday With Archie and staff who work on the Sonic comics still licking their wounds a bit from this Summer’s settlement, Ken Penders has ramped up […]](http://www.tssznews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/ken_penders_header.jpg "Penders Announces “First Lara-Su licensed product” Imminent")
Orders to Begin Black Friday
With Archie and staff who work on the Sonic comics still licking their wounds a bit from this Summer’s settlement, Ken Penders has ramped up preparations for the debut of The Lara-Su Chronicles, based on the character who once appeared in the Archie series.
On Twitter today, Penders announced the first licensed product in the series should be available to order by next Friday, while not necessarily clarifying whether it will be the premiere issue or something else:
It may be small and simple, but the very first Lara-Su licensed product has now gone into production, available for order on Black Friday.
— Ken Penders (@KenPenders) November 21, 2013
On his message board, Penders elaborated further:
My focus right now is the production of THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES: NEW WORLD ORDER in various formats, as well as the merchandising of the characters as many fans have been requesting. Progress is being made on all fronts, and I anticipate having my first ancillary product launch by no later than Black Friday.
I’m currently awaiting the sample of the first product so I can review and approve it to go forward with production.
Personally, I would love it if all the legal wrangling were over, but until that happens, I have no choice but to see the process through to its conclusion.
Penders is still involved in legal wrangling, albeit this time with Sega and Electronic Arts directly. His appeal of a dismissed lawsuit against both parties over the use of storylines in Sonic Chronicles was recently denied by the 9th Circuit Court of appeals.
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I’m utterly confused reading this.
Why does he not explain what this licensed product is? Does he think that telling people which character it is, and nothing else, will get people to flock to buy it? Even collectors need to set limitations on what they will or will not collect, especially when it comes to something with merchandising as diverse as Sonic. No one person, or even museum, has a full collection of Star Wars action figures or Disney Parks pins. Collectors need to decide what to focus on. No one will blindly collect EVERYTHING except the pound-foolish.
Why are pre-orders so soon? Black Friday is now less than a week away. Is the prototype already completed? I doubt it is, because otherwise we’d get photos (and he isn’t even telling what it is people would buy). He’s really putting the cart before the horse if he’s going to start taking pre-orders before production numbers are finalized. And why Black Friday? Will he promise to give them whatever this is before Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa/Boxing Day? Because otherwise, there is no point in taking pre-orders on Black Friday. Black Friday is a shopping rush because of store sales and people making sure they get a sought-after item before it vanishes. It’s not an Everybody Goes Shopping for the Sake of Shopping Day.
Where did he get a manufacturer/distributor for this stuff? Last I remember, he was repeatedly laughed out of court, albeit the legal status of Julie-Su and the others are in a gray area. Still, it would mean that any toy company would be apprehensive with anything to do with him, because they don’t want to get caught up in the courtroom storm surrounding him. And even if he DID get a company to make and distribute this product, why have we not heard from them? They’re usually the first to announce something, especially if they cater to collectors. And while a minor issue, toy companies, collectors and mainstream alike, do not like franchises aimed at males with a female protagonist. Historically, they’ve been poor sellers–this is what doomed Sym-Bionic Titan and why the Wonder Woman movie is in development hell.
You raise very good points that I do agree with. However, as a Transformers fan, I have been very aware of how he can do this. Anyone who’s spent any amount of time in the Transformers Fandom circles recently will have likely heard of at least one “Third Party Toy Company.” These are the small business people that at high prices, low return value, create products that Transformers fans often want Hasbro to make, but for some reason won’t. Some, like iGear, make “knock-offs,” or toys that are similar to what’s on the market. Others make accessories and upgrades, and other miscellaneous stuff that require having an official figure. And still others, like Maketoys, create full on new stuff. Either figures that are of characters from the old lines that haven’t had new official figures, or are based on what’s seen in the comics, or completely original figures that are new characters. If this is a figure or statue, it’s probably from a company like what Transformers Fans are familiar with, and there’s always new ones popping up. So if you haven’t heard of this company, you likely will if you decide to hang around long enough.
Someone should make a petition to sway Penders to not only scrap the Lara-Su Chronicles but also give up the rights to his characters forever.
http://www.kenpenders.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=2621
Ken announced his product….An Acorn Royal Secret Service patch….. Yea…..First original product under his company Floating Island Productions…
Yea…
OH BOY I JUST CAN’T WAIT!!! I’m a huge Ken Penders fan and I just can’t contain my excitement for the Lara Su Chronicles!! Ken taking these characters away from Archie was just a great decision and is definitely for the better!………………………………..SAID NO ONE!!!!!! (Had you all fooled didn’t I?) I mean really, has anyone ever actually said anything close to that ever? Does Ken Penders really think 5 years from now people will be reading this garbage and thinking, “Wow, I am so grateful he took these characters away from Archie’s comic and made his own third party fanfiction.” His only noticeable contribution to the comic book world has forever been stained with this awful lawsuit and one can only hope five years down the road when nobody remembers who Ken Penders is will he think to himself , “maybe my revenge on Archie by screwing up a couple of their issues and the expected stories thereafter was the wrong decision and I should have just been happy to have a legacy in comics at all instead of trying to hurt Archie but really just hurting my fans.” As the Sonic comics progress and the characters I loved that are gone are starting to become just a strange memory to the comic continuity so will I continue on and let go of the past to embrace the present. I just needed to get this off my chest before then. Thank you Ken Penders for the wonderful characters you added to the continuity, and also screw you for those same characters you took away. My memory of you as a writer will forever be a negative one now!