Jamros wrote:
Here's the question, though: how is licensing working for this model? Large scale models aside, we now currently have 4 (four) companies producing Lord of the Rings/Hobbit miniatures of the same approximate scale--Games Workshop, Knight Models, Wizkids, and Mithril Miniatures. I was under the impression that GW had some sort of exclusive license?
This is speculation on my part, I'm no legal whiz and I certainly don't know the specifics of LOTR/Hobbit licensing, but anyways here's how I've always understood it to break down:
GW's license is with New Line, to produce 25/28mm scale models for tabletop gaming. They can make whatever is allowed within New Line's license (stuff from whatever literary works New Line has access to, even if that stuff doesn't end up in the movies). The also obviously have some leeway in inventing characters.
Mithril's license is with the Tolkien Estate and/or publishers of the books, and therefore doesn't conflict with licenses allowing miniatures based on the movies (as long as the imagery isn't taken straight from the movies, which it isn't).
Knight Models has a license for 35mm scale hobby models, i.e. not intended for gaming and not made for any particular rule set, but rather as display pieces.
Wizkids' products are another class altogether, as they are blind-box collectibles. Even though they are used for a tabletop game of sorts, the license does not conflict with GW because it is categorized as a separate type of product.
Dunno if this makes sense, or is necessarily the case, just how I have understood things to be.