Thranduil on Elk - 1:6 scale figure

After looking at some photos of their recent Thorin throne statue, gotta say...the paint was not impressive. The close-up photos I saw of his face almost made him looked diseased. The skin color was so mottled.

Hopefully if this one turns out good, it can be found after release (and in-hand photos). Because I'd need to see in-hand photos first at that price.

Congrats to the folks who picked one up. Can't wait to see the in-hand pixs someday. Majestic!

I still say that of all the pieces released so far, this one will be one of the top grails in the line.

I like this one a lot. Ordered and will keep it, but after this I think I may throw in the towel on figures. I will break for Sauron and possibly any Nazgûl. After seeing the price on the new Alien 3 Dog Maquette, pricing in this hobby is just going to a point I don't really want to peruse.

Having seen some photos and a video of the final piece on Facebook, I can officially say I'm glad I passed on this. It's NOT awful. I imagine plenty of folks will be pleased with it. It's just got typical Weta paintwork on Thranduil's face, which means for me personally, it's not worth the $1000. I could get one repainted, but now you're tacking on an extra $200 or so with shipping included.

People are freaking out on the Flamers forum. If I don't like it I'll just return it, it's that simple.

Pork Chop Express said:

People are freaking out on the Flamers forum. If I don't like it I'll just return it, it's that simple.

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Agreed

Pork Chop Express said:

People are freaking out on the Flamers forum. If I don't like it I'll just return it, it's that simple.

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Are they? LOL. I'll have to take a peek. Why are folks surprised, though? All my Weta pieces have only so-so paintwork, particularly on the faces. I had to return two Thorin statues because the beards were so messed up, and one came with his pupil bleeding onto his cheek. Creepy. Third time was the charm.

Oof. Actually, I'm seeing at least two new photos on that thread, and it does actually look worse than some of my other Hobbit pieces. That's surprising.

Nenya said:

Having seen some photos and a video of the final piece on Facebook, I can officially say I'm glad I passed on this. It's NOT awful. I imagine plenty of folks will be pleased with it. It's just got typical Weta paintwork on Thranduil's face, which means for me personally, it's not worth the $1000. I could get one repainted, but now you're tacking on an extra $200 or so with shipping included.

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Where can you get a decent paint job for $200? I would guestimate $500+ for something worth the effort.

67L88Stingray said:

Where can you get a decent paint job for $200? I would guestimate $500+ for something worth the effort.

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Sorry - to clarify, I meant repainting ONLY Thranduil's face and hair. Entire thing would probably be more than $500. I'd say $800 to $1000, easy.

Nenya said:

Sorry - to clarify, I meant repainting ONLY Thranduil's face and hair. Entire thing would probably be more than $500. I'd say $800 to $1000, easy.

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This is shaping up to be a major disaster - perhaps the penultimate disaster - for WETA in their history of producing collectibles.

If they offer refunds, no doubt lots of people will take them. If they give rebates , then they lower the value and its a public admission of low quality. If they do nothing - they risk alienating the collector and jeopardizing future business. If the scrap the entire product and do it again - they probably lose lots of money on this. Its a lose/lose proposition for them.

gideon said:

Its a lose/lose proposition for them.

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Crisis management, when well done, can strengthen customer trust. It will be interesting to watch because those 1000 customers are exactly their most loyal customers and the ones with $. Not dealing with this situation well might actually get them out of the statue business.

I'm told that Weta used to have excellent customer service, but that's no longer always the case?

True/not true? I honestly don't know. I didn't actually buy any of my pieces directly from them.

The paint apps issue should have been caught by Weta before these expensive collectibles left the factory. They will now have to own up to their unfortunate mistake.

I didn't order this one but if I did, I would never take a rebate. It's either get it replaced with a better painted one or return it for a full refund and never again pre-order but wait until in-hand pics start getting posted.

At this point I'm really just waiting for a new Sauron. No flesh and basically all armor so Weta should be able to pull it off. Same for a Nazgul...

Anyone here canceling their orders?

Pork Chop Express said:

At this point I'm really just waiting for a new Sauron. No flesh and basically all armor so Weta should be able to pull it off. Same for a Nazgul...

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God help us when they price it though...It will probably be more than the SS PF cost just a few years ago.

67L88Stingray said:

God help us when they price it though...It will probably be more than the SS PF cost just a few years ago.

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True, but that's the one villain I'd brake for. I'm running out of space and getting over the raising cost overall for this particular hobby.