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Why we're not releasing the Ahri Statue

RiotBradmore·12/8/2015, 12:50:52 AM·183 votes·56,510 views

Hi Everyone,

We’ve decided not to release the Ahri Statue as scheduled on 12/7. We heard players’ feedback on Ahri’s face and want to take this opportunity to revisit this element of her design. Our aim is to make each experience you have with Riot Games Merch an amazing one -- whether it’s buying a poro at an esports event, unlocking Urf Figure via the Figure Fest mini-game, or unboxing one of our larger statues. We missed the mark on Ahri and we apologize.

SO HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? We want our statues to be accessible to as many players as possible and are constantly evaluating techniques that will allow us to deliver awesome art at lower price points. For Ahri, the goal was to deliver an epic statue at a retail price significantly below our polyresin Twisted Fate piece -- despite Ahri being similar in size and featuring greater sculpt complexity. To do this, we elected to make her body and face out of another material called PVC, which we used for the Thresh statue.

This decision and its associated production processes yielded a loss of resolution in the finer details and structure of Ahri’s face. We also applied Ahri’s eye makeup too heavily in production. All of this resulted in a final product that failed to fully capture Ahri’s unique look.

WHAT WILL WE DO NOW? We’re going to work with our manufacturing partners to find a solution that will delight Ahri fans while simultaneously meeting our goal of keeping statue prices contained. This will involve sending Ahri back to the factory and rethinking the design and construction of her face.

WILL THE AHRI STATUE RETURN? We hope so! We love the original concept of this piece and think that if we get the face right, then players will love her as well. That said, we’ll only release this statue if we can get it to the quality that players deserve, and that’s going to take some time. Thank you in advance for your patience.

We launched our merch store beta one year ago and the merch team has appreciated the feedback and support you have provided us along this journey. We love this game and these champions as much as you do and want you to be thrilled with our products. We didn’t meet that bar with Ahri, so we’re going to try again.

Thank you for your understanding.

299 Comments

Keevalroy12/8/2015, 12:55:39 AM118 votes

We’re going to work with our manufacturing partners to find a solution that will delight Ahri fans while simultaneously meeting our goal of keeping statue prices contained. This will involve sending Ahri back to the factory and rethinking the design and construction of her face.

Any chance on using her original splash art as a reference rather than the cinematic version? I'd think Ahri fans would much prefer that she looked like this.

http://i.imgur.com/gtzzgpr.jpg

MF is my Waifu12/8/2015, 12:55:31 AM92 votes

Who says they ignore feedback?

This is awesome.

skycrimes12/8/2015, 2:26:13 AM28 votes

PLEASE don't forget her neck! I think most people were just overtaken by the face that they also failed to notice that the neck was extra long. Thanks for listening!

TheTenk12/8/2015, 4:37:32 AM25 votes

The Ahri statue is just a poor piece of work in general. The face features the awful look of the cinematic (the anorexic Cruella De Ville faces in the cinematic, to be exact, not the well-done bodies), the fingers are like sloppy sausages with no bones, the skin is lifeless and does not curve and fold in any way, the orb in her hand is far too condensed and her tails look like they're made of cement.

You talk about the "inferiority" or downsides of PVC as an excuse, citing the Thresh figure as example, but the Thresh figure is just awfully made in every way. Look at the Japanese hobby fig industry, where large figurines are made with PVC and they maintain stellar quality, higher than the Twisted Fate figurine. Not just that, they're cheaper! I understand the detail-power that polyresin allows for, but detail does not mean quality: Twisted Fate's face is embarassingly poorly rendered compared to the effort put into his environment.

Japanese Figurine Examples: [X] [X] [X]

With all due respect, your sculptors and/or manufacturers are just lacking in the skill to justify the prices you use. Try to learn from a more competent figurine industry so you can provide the best possible service to your customers.

Nautricity12/8/2015, 1:04:09 AM25 votes

It's great to see that the community feedback was taken well into consideration before releasing it, +1 on the Riot Tally Board. Ahri

Fasmodey12/8/2015, 12:57:59 AM18 votes

Thanks! You guys are awesome. If it was another company they probably would think like '' nah they will buy anyway ''. You guys really care about LoL community and feedbacks. I hope we see this caring in the future too.

Jack º12/8/2015, 12:56:15 AM10 votes

yea that face, was kinda... horrible :l thx u for doing this <3

Spaghetti SIut12/8/2015, 1:43:00 AM8 votes

{quoted} WILL THE AHRI STATUE RETURN? We hope so!

Even a slightly unsatisfactory Ahri statue is better than no Ahri statue. I agree that the face is a little lifeless and yet I find myself wishing they went ahead with the release. I really hope they come up with the solution soon. Just my opinion here.

Hurstan12/8/2015, 2:57:04 AM7 votes

Personally, I'm really happy Riot listened to the player base and decided against releasing it. Ahri was the champion that got me to start playing League of Legends and is my main champion. I would suggest that they not only look at the two splash arts that have been used but also high quality fan artwork. The end goal here is to have a statue of Ahri that is accurate to who she is and pleases a majority of people. The way to achieve that seems to be doing a sort of "meta analysis" of the selected artwork to find how they are all related in design and appearance. It seems to me like a majority of players like the previous splash art for Ahri. Maybe that could be used as the foundation for the design and traits that people find more appealing on different artwork could be implemented to enhance the traits from the most popular splash art. So, how should they go about doing this? That will have to be decided. This is just my opinion on finding a starting point and providing suggestions. Take of it what you will. One day I hope there will be an awesome statue of Ahri released. Until then, good luck fellow summoners!

Thorgarr12/8/2015, 1:05:43 AM7 votes

Please, actually release it though. I did not have quarrels with the ahri statue and i really wanted to order it. So please once you have it redone in a way you are proud of, perhaps by next year, please release her. Thank you.Ahri

Spread Cats12/8/2015, 3:25:44 AM7 votes

Please make her tails fluffier and her body less thin.

Dominick Destine12/8/2015, 3:22:01 AM6 votes

Ahri is premium girl.

WrathfulAzn12/8/2015, 1:58:04 AM6 votes

Just wanted to Say how I heartily agree with this decision. Thank you for Listening!!!! Just a Thought maybe in future you could try testing a figure with the community like at the first test print or something. Cause I am sure there are a lot of people you would like to have there Favorite Champion right next to them fully realize in on their glory.Ahri Ahri Ahri

HowPlayGAEM12/8/2015, 8:00:41 AM6 votes

{quoted}

SO HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? We want our statues to be accessible to as many players as possible and are constantly evaluating techniques that will allow us to deliver awesome art at lower price points. For Ahri, the goal was to deliver an epic statue at a retail price significantly below our polyresin Twisted Fate piece -- despite Ahri being similar in size and featuring greater sculpt complexity. To do this, we elected to make her body and face out of another material called PVC, which we used for the Thresh statue.

This decision and its associated production processes yielded a loss of resolution in the finer details and structure of Ahri’s face. We also applied Ahri’s eye makeup too heavily in production. All of this resulted in a final product that failed to fully capture Ahri’s unique look.

I applaud you guys for listening to feedback, but I don't think blaming it on PVC is correct. It is entirely possible to have well designed faces with PVC material.

http://s1.tsuki-board.net/image/OhnoRaptors1372128963.jpeg

http://s1.tsuki-board.net/image/thedante901400604793.jpeg

http://s1.tsuki-board.net/image/I_Kyubey1368189151.jpeg

http://s1.tsuki-board.net/image/Ardenor1392498002.jpeg

Rico Nasty12/8/2015, 1:12:17 PM5 votes

Could you also make the orb a bit bigger?

Sinjid Zekachu12/8/2015, 4:02:55 AM4 votes

I prefer it to be like the new splash, since if you pull it off correctly it will look more like a league of legends statue rather than a japanese figure wannabe with the previous splash art. I think the new splash art statue is best for this situation. The things I disliked about the statue that you guys first presented was: -Her face was expressionless and had too much eye make-up, making her look like a drug addict -Her neck was a bit too long and creepy -Her face was so small that her hands looked gigantic in comparison -The orb was way to small -The tails were alright looking, but more could've been done.

Wolf12/8/2015, 3:45:10 PM4 votes

I have such a great love for the design of Ahri. From her Lore down to her original splash. Please do release her eventually as I freaked out when I saw her getting a statue!! That's awesome you guys are doing that! As far as price goes, it's understandable you want to reach out to a more affordable price, but I'm sure people are willing to work for that extra $50 if need be to get an absolutely ace statue that represents their favourite champion with justice, rather than be happy with a simply good statue that resembles Ahri, but doesn't make you drool over it! The flaws I personally could see, or issues I had with the statue, were not only her face, but her fingers. Her fingers looked way too rounded, she needs longer, more claw-like feminine nails and fingers. Her orb also, I found it to look way too tiny and also too green, in comparison to the in game model. I'm also agreeing with everyone else on here about the tails, that need more fluff! You guys are doing a great great job though! I can not wait to see how she turns out in the end! :D She really is something magical!

High512/8/2015, 3:40:33 AM4 votes

I wasn't super happy with where LoL was heading during worlds or pre-season. Glad to see the merchandise groups and gameplay groups are turning a corner.

Love LoL and I feel like it's getting better again. Related to this post, planning to get plushes for my nieces.

Callyyy12/8/2015, 3:02:14 AM4 votes

I agree, the face was a total flop but I'm glad they're reworking the statue. The outfit was great, tails could've been fluffier, hair was nice, but one thing I do hope they fix is her sphere. It should be bigger and bluer, it's too turquoise and minute. What do y'all think?Ahri

Kirano12/8/2015, 3:25:10 AM3 votes

Thanks for doing some improvements on the Ahri statue. As an Ahri main i really appreciate that you are doing this. About the statue, personally, everything was fine except for the face. I really like how it kinda resembles her design in the cinematic i think it looks great! And as for price, hopefully nothing as expensive as the TwistedFate statue maybe around $100?

Enosetc12/8/2015, 1:43:08 AM3 votes

tfw ahri's statue gets thrown into the magma chamber

JesusPwns09264/14/2016, 2:19:13 AM3 votes

Is it ever returning? I show up every couple months to see but it's not around.

I actually enjoyed the first face and would gladly buy one of the originals.

RicePud12/8/2015, 5:31:20 PM3 votes

Ahri I cannot wait for this statue to come out! It's right on top of my Christmas list :)

Tail does need to be** fluffier** though

Nephirelle12/10/2015, 12:12:07 PM3 votes

Nice thing. I was also so happy to hear about the figure, but did not like the heavy makeup and her face. Another thing is the figure also looks extremely thin compared to her splash arts and a lot of fan work. I see Ahri as a more curvy type having a bit wider hips, breasts and so on and not looking like Barbie.

A bit like this one:

http://artgerm.deviantart.com/art/Foxy-Ahri-399325683

Maybe you can also have a look on that for the redesign?

BlackBeltBullets12/8/2015, 6:40:00 AM1 votes

wonder if anyody got fired over this. would have cost riot a pretty penny