Anyone buys from from La Cité Des Nuages? No more Hot Toys supply?!

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nathan.never

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Just wondering what is going on with La Cité Des Nuages Belgioum online store?

They cannot get any Hot Toys pass the custom Office for months now, seems they are in some kind of dispute with the custom Office concerning Hot Toys not having correct European union mandatory warning labels for toys?

As they are an official Hot Toys retailer, this has become a huge problem for many collectors in Europe.
I have preorders lined up with them for the next two years with deposits paid, and now I do not know what is going to happen?

Anyone have some more info? Should we ask our deposits back?
 
I was wondering what the hold up was. I missed out on the Luke ROTJ but luckily bought him in the US on a business trip a month ago. I still have 2 HTs on pre-order through them though, and keep checking their status regularly on the site. They became my go-to site in Europe with the 10% off membership card.

Didn't other European stores have delays in getting HT in as well? I thought it was a common issue that ROTJ Luke has been delayed, at least.
 
I was wondering what the hold up was. I missed out on the Luke ROTJ but luckily bought him in the US on a business trip a month ago. I still have 2 HTs on pre-order through them though, and keep checking their status regularly on the site. They became my go-to site in Europe with the 10% off membership card.

Didn't other European stores have delays in getting HT in as well? I thought it was a common issue that ROTJ Luke has been delayed, at least.


There are no delays across Europe AFAIK.
I know for sure that UK and Germany based stores get supplies without delay. Which makes the whole situation even more ridiculous since same European Union import laws apply.
What I know for sure is what customers were briefly informed via email during summer. This email stated that due to custom officer rotation in Belgium a new officer took upon himself to apply EU toy import restriction laws on Hot Toys (maybe even other collectables) and forbid them for import since some injury or health warning lables are missing on the packaging. The importer tried to explain these are not toys, and not intended for use for children (which is stated on the box), but was not heard. The whole container was sent back to manufacturer for relabeling.

And this was 2 months ago. It was said that the next shipment will be properly labeled and processed without delay. But it seems this is not the case since no preorders are arriving in stock on their web site. I asked for an explanation from their customer service, and didn't get a definite answer on what is going on. They only said that all shipments are still delayed due to custom Office dispute.


But what is even stranger is that they are regulary putting up new HT prerders on their site and taking deposits for them?!
 
Hm damn. Maybe I should get in contact with them to see what's up. Perhaps I'm luckier if I do it in French.

Please do. I have been trying to get a straight answer from them for weeks now, but their replys are taking forever and when I do get one it is very vague.
All I managed to get from them is that the problem with the custom office is still not solved and that there is no timeline of possible solution.
If you manage to find out more, please report here.


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They are an established business. I am sure they will sort out their customs issues. We have had the rotj Luke in and shipped quite a few weeks ago now and our stock is imported to Germany and then shipped form there. There were no issues with the hot toys and sideshow pallets that time.
 
I finally got around to asking them about the status of the HT Boba Fett DX, which is due end of November according to the page. I also added that I noticed that they haven't received any new HT in stock in a few months.
I got an answer after about 24 hours that "yes, we will receive the figure beginning/mid December", with no further information/clarification. I asked in French BTW.

I just followed up asking about the import issues with HT figures that I heard about, if those issues have been resolved. Let's see what their response is.
 
Thank you for reporting.

They keep pushing back due dates, last time I talked to them it was said the stock will arrive late November.

I also pressed them for more info about custom office problems, and apparently they are taking it to court since custom officers are holding their ground in claiming Hot Toys are in fact toys for children and therefore not comply with EU toys safety regulations. They said that a whole container of already paid figures is held by custom office for 3 months now. A new container is due any day now and it is uncertain if it will be confiscated as well.

As we all know, if they go to court, a law case can take years, so I am uncertain why they still take preorder deposits on new Hot Toys announcements.

I hope they have a backup plan how to get these figures that doesn't envolve going to court. But all is uncertain...

The whole situation is beyond absurd. All other EU member countries import Hot Toys without any problems, and same laws apply. It looks as if Belgium is under some different dictatorship regime.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
I never got a reply to my follow-up question about the import issues.

However, it seems I got really lucky with my Boba Fett DX order. Three new HT finally got in stock: 1/4 Batman, Training Armor WW, and the DX Fett (not regular). I just paid my remaining balance, should hopefully have in hand within the next week!

Let's see when the next HT releases start coming in. I still have the regular HT Emperor on order as well which is currently shipping from Sideshow.
 
Finally one large shipment has arrived and cleared custom! It seems that from now on there should be no more problems since warning labels mandatory for toys in EU are being put on boxes before they leave HK. Still, a few containers are being held in customs from this summer which didn't have this warnings and they are trying to get them released without sending them back to HK for labeling as that would mean additional costs for the shop.


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Emails.
They are slow but they do get arount to answering them eventualy.

I pre-ordered the Hot Toys Empire Strikes Back Darth Vader, from them, paid for it, it was shipped and when I opened the box the correct invoice was inside, but the figure inside the package was a Hot Toys Emperor Palpatine :slap

I've contacted them multiple times with no reply. Has this happened to anyone before?
 
They will make it right, don't worry. They may be slow in responding but they do get around to solving everything to customers satisfaction.


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