A sad, familiar refrain....

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jedibear

Figuring it out
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I was just reading through some posts in the Darth Maul thread after the figure was put up for pre-order this week....I had seen the pictures from some of the cons and the bit on Sideshow's blog and was pretty excited about this new version of an old favorite....the new portrait looked stunning and his Sith garb looked crisp and striking.

I was going to post this in the thread and thought better of it....after sifting through post after post of folks blasting away at Sideshow yet again, gotta rant a bit, but I knew if I put it in there, it would spin the thread into a real b***h fest and...I'll just get it out of my system here....

And as usual lately, it was post after post of people complaining and blasting Sideshow about the price, the lack of stuff being offered with the figure, no stand....and on and on. I found myself swept up in it and posted my "complaint" (no stand)...then I saw a post from someone lamenting that there was no "Ask Sideshow" thread anymore.....

Let's see.....some Sideshow folks may quietly lurk in here and check out the vibe only to see post after post of complaining and dissatisfaction? I don't think anybody in their right mind would want to open themselves up to that all of the time. An endless parade of the same group of folks who don't so much ask questions as they do just complain and harass. It's not hard to see why that thread went away...

We will never know what really goes on behind the scenes with dealing with a big license like SW or Marvel....especially now that they are both under the same boot. Hasn't anyone else noticed that beyond what has been shown at the cons recently, there isn't any other pending SW 1:6 figures on the horizon from Sideshow? Yes, there were whispers of the bounty hunters 4-LOM and Zuckess being produced but other than that....nothing.

Each release we've seen from Sideshow over the last couple of years as been met with scathing ridicule and rudeness in here...is it any surprise that any of the folks at Sideshow don't want to come in here and interact with folks? Anyone who dares to actually "enjoy" a Sideshow release is shunned and pummeled by pages of posts pointing out every issue with the figure, all ending in the same refrain...it's not Hot Toys....just wait'll they do it....

Yes, Hot Toys has been putting out some impressive figures for the SW license so far....no denying that. I'm beyond impressed with Chewbacca. Old Ben and Han are well-crafted, but slightly off in their own way. The Stormtroopers are well-rendered, but almost too perfect (for my taste anyway). I'm sure the tidal wave of new figures from the new movies will be just as well-received by the folks in here, and any issues or inconsistencies will be marginalized by the chorus of hallelujahs.

But for me, I've enjoyed many of the figures I've picked up from Sideshow lately, even the ones that have been ripped to shreds in here. I like the two Hoth figures, the clones have never been better and Jango makes a great display piece. Were they all just perfect and ready to go out of the box? Of course not...but I hate to break it to folks in here...neither are the HT ones.

Yes...the level of craftsmanship is very different between the two companies, to be sure. But being involved in a bit of manufacturing myself, I know that it comes down to a lot of thing like proximity to manufacturing, materials being used, design choices and implementation and of course, dealing with the clients (in this case the licensors) that can create the differences between what two companies creating the same thing can produce. Hot Toys will always have "the home field advantage" in a lot of those things.

Yes, it's been a pain on the wallet to see Sideshow take such leaps in pricing on this scale of figures. Has the quality improved with these leaps? I dare say yes...perhaps not to the level of HT's offerings in the same price range, but the effort is there, at least to this fan and collector. Jango is a good, recent example of a figure that just got ROASTED on the board....to the point where even people who obviously didn't HAVE the figure were ripping into it simply based on the other negative posts. It got ridiculous. Yes, I had some issues with Jango when I got him...he was a lot more fragile than I expected (all of those small parts) and the head-swap feature does NOT work easily..but...I haven't had more fun in a while snapping shots and really enjoying a figure that I was delighted Sideshow chose to make and that I waited a long time for. He looks AWESOME on display...a Sideshow release I'm very happy with.

Sorry about the almost rant-like tone here, but dang...it just gets discouraging to come in here and just know it's going to be the same old thing every time a new figure is announced...ripping it apart before it even shows up, ripping it further once it goes up for PO, tearing it to pieces during the wait, and finally roasting it to a cinder because it ended up meeting those zero expectations. Zaps the fun out of it....I can only imagine what it seems like to Sideshow.

And hey...my hands are dirty too...I've done my fair share. Just gotta remember to work a little harder at avoiding the mob mentality that goes on in here sometimes.

I'm all for reading constructive criticism and suggestions but...well, one can dream can't one?

Anyway...as far as Maul goes...I'd like to get this one. I'm still deciding. Don't like those NRD's....but that's another rant for another time.... :)
 
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