A Gorgeous Ultima Avatar Statue
Xar Dragon sent me an email this morning alerting me to a recent DeviantART submission of his: a highly detailed statue of the Avatar:
Complete with Blackrock Sword!
Download a high-resolution version of the image here:
* Avatar, Warrior of Virtue
Xar describes the statue in this way:
This is a sculpt of the Avatar from the Ultima video game series. The statue is about 12″ tall with a 4″ base and was sculpted out of apoxy sculpt clay. This remains my favorite game series and I tried to capture some of the Ultima universe in my sculpt. I would love to hear some feedback, especially from my fellow Ultima fans. I want to sell some reproductions if enough people are interested. Please let me know what you think and if you would like to purchase a statue. Reproductions would be done in white resin or cold cast bronze. Thank You.
Well, Ultima fans…he wants feedback, so please offer him your feedback! The statue is, as I said above, marvelously detailed, and given the presence of the Blackrock Sword is meant to be a representation of the Avatar at about the time of Ultima 7. The Ankh and Silver Serpent feature prominently on different pieces of his armour, which I must admit reminds me slightly more of Ultima 8 than Ultima 7, but still works very well in the composition.
Xar Dragon has quite a lot of talent as a sculptor, if I do say so myself!
As noted, in the description above, he’s also looking to sell reproductions, so if you’d be interested in one of those, I’d suggest leaving a comment directly on the piece’s deviantART page. Feel free to offer up your general thoughts on the work either there or here, however.
Note: In asking about whether people would want reproductions, he is also looking for fans to suggest what they feel would be a fair price for a statue of this size and detail. I’ve talked with him about his material and production costs a bit, and from that I’m of the opinion that the per-statue price should be at least $60, if not in the $75 range. Because after all, we wouldn’t just by paying for the materials that make up the statue; we’d also be paying Xar Dragon for his time and investment of his (considerable!) talent in his love of Ultima.
That statue is totally badass. Really beautiful work. I had a gut feeling there would be a lawsuit even before getting to the part about selling it though. I think it should be perfectly fine to sell as long as it isn’t branded using a trademark like “Ultima”, but it’s just a matter of time before EA lawyers find out about this.
I recommend that he either not sell it or try to partner with EA, allowing them to distribute it. With that kind of backing it could even be sold painted, which would really make it breathtaking. Starting an entire line including the Avatar’s companions and enemies (Blackthorn, Mondain, Minax, Batlin, etc.,) would be awesome.
I’ve shot him an email discussing those issues, and I’ve left it up to him as to how he wants to proceed. If he wants to talk to EA, I know who to put him in touch with, and will do so. If he wants to just try sell this thing, I’m here if he catches trouble for it.
Same as for any project developer…I’ll do what I can to support them and help them find middle ground with EA should the fecal matter hit the rotary air impeller.
Also…EA probably already knows about this. Once something hits my site, they pretty much can be said to know about it.
That’s welcome news all around.
In light of your statement that EA probably already knows about this (inferred) because it has hit your site, I wonder what employee they have subscribed to it, what their area of expertise is (lawyer, public relations, generic informant), and who they report to.
Also the last line starting with “Also…” was an edit because it wasn’t in the email notification I received for thread posts. Interesting that you thought it important enough to include post sending.
To be honest, while I rail against worthless corporate fuck holes that don’t care about games, I’m somewhat excited by the increasing interest and interdependency of EA and Aiera in these last several months. Not sure why, maybe you have some insight (are you excited?).
That I couldn’t tell you for sure, but there isn’t a week goes by that I don’t see traffic from (at least) EA Redwood Shores (their main campus) and BioWare Mythic. Other EA studios pop up in the traffic logs as well, though those two are the most frequent.
As to the interconnectedness of EA and Aiera, it’s an informal arrangement at best, but it’s to the advantage of all involved.
We here are a big resource for them, both in terms of providing information about Ultima and its history (via e.g. The Codex), and in terms of providing reasoned opinions about what Ultima is and should be. That’s not to say that they are interested in doing a project which will be nothing more than an exercise in fan wish fulfillment…but it is to say that they take things under consideration.
And in return, I can shoot the Ultima brand manager at EA an email over issues like this (should the need arise)…and actually get a reply, and then one that is typically open to finding an actual solution to the issue at hand.
This kind of engagement of fans isn’t totally unique in the gaming market, but neither is it that common, and I think we’re all rather lucky that EA reached out in this way. I’d hate to run a site like this for an Ubisoft game!
Well, EA hasn’t copyrighted the Ankh have they? Maybe with a creative name he can sell them without permission. This statue is indeed badass, but it doesn’t *look* like any version of the Avatar illustrated by Origin or EA. It could be derivative of anything, really. The probably would probably stem from actually naming “Ultima” or “Avatar” in sales or promotional copy, right?
Soldier of Virtue
Virtuous Stranger
Demon Sword Warrior
Paragon Warrior
Anything to sidestep the BS legalities and get this thing on my desk is fine by me!
That should read “The problem would probably stem from…”
That’s what I get for posting before coffee. Natch.
I want to thank everyone for the compliments about my statue and thank WTF Dragon for providing an excellent site where I can not only display my work but receive some good advice and support. Hopefully something good will come of all this.
Thank You.
I’m right there with you RavDragon. There really isn’t much on this statue that shouts Ultima. The Ankh and the serpent are generic images.
In the miniatures industry there are quite a few examples of “look-a-like” lines of miniatures. I’ve seen everything from Star Trek ships to James Bond sold without any issues with the rights hold. It all depends how the item is marketed.
Hrmm. Blackrock sword is pretty distinctive
While the Black Sword is a distinctive item, this is a variation of it. Xars’ has a wire wound handle, and seems to feature fewer flares and protrusions than the one in Ultima 7 or on the FoV box.
http://codex.ultimaaiera.com/wiki/Black_Sword
None of the other items are particularly iconic, save the ankh (which can’t be copyrighted, being an ancient Egyptian symbol of life).
I’d say pick a non-Ultima name for it, as noted above (I particularly like Virtuous Stranger), and see how it goes.
I’d gladly pay for this kind of thing. I’d compare it with similar “licensed” products, such as QMx offers, but $60-70 is probably fair, especially if the figure is high enough quality to prevent dings and scratches (apoxy vs. resin vs. more costly pewter or metal). This isn’t a 20mm figurine, but a one foot statuette, which is just cool as hell.
Very nice!