Incoming WALL OF TEXT
Chad and Debbie are great people. Nice, honest, hardworking, talented, and have good positive vibes and ambition. The non SP lines that TH has made are all really well done and they have a proven track record over the years of delivering what is promised. The SP line blew me away with being pretty much the only line we can count on to not only get quality product, but to get a classic, comic-inspired line up of a complete Justice League as well as so many other sub teams and background characters that have never really been done and that the bigger companies will just probably never do. I was never going to be all in, but I was looking to get about 24 or so characters and probably would have ended up with maybe 12 more than that in the end. Over the past year, though, my enthusiasm has waned a bit (not totally) because of the many things I’ve noted below. Despite this post, I’m still reserving judgement. I should get Superman soon and I’m waiting to see how they handle him and Wonder Woman. I’m really looking forward to Martian Manhunter. I think no matter what I’m getting the 7 Justice League + Hawkman/Hawkgirl, but if things don’t turn around a little bit over the next year, I’ll probably just keep it at the 9 and move on.
Keep in mind that nothing written here is done in anger or meant in any mean way or ‘hair’s on fire’ way, so please don’t try to read that into any of this. I like TH and am enthusiastic about their vision, I’m just a bit tamped down on their ability to acheive it. I also know that TH are aware of many of these things and I’m sure want to change/improve them going forward.
Some things that I’ve taken note of:
1. Unrealistic release dates/many delays on just about everything. Even after acknowledging how he underestimated the release, he still seems to not be able to ‘reign it in’ on FB live streams. Rightly or wrongly this leads to frustration/disappointment from customers and puts an unneccessary negative light on the whole deal.
2. Confusing terminology : “it’s here” can mean done at manufacturing/on the boat/at the dock/in customs/in the warehouse/up for preorder. Again, people hearing “it’s here” and then having to wait another month to get it can put a negativity that doesn’t need to be there.
3. Harley leaning issues. It was supposed to be looked at and taken care of before it ever went out, but it still happened to some.
4. Harley EX headsculpt issues. It was taken care of, but it shouldn’t have happened in the first place. With such a small operation, they might not be able to catch these things before it’s too late (WW seam, Supes paint/cape)
5. Messed up the $15 rewards.
6. Changing FB live times and days. Being inconsistent in communication can be as frustrating as bad communication.
Design choices:
1. Questionable smile on Supergirl Portrait.
2. Having Harley in a flying pose without a second point of connection.
3. **The decision to make a seam on WW neck. Existance of seamline (whether defective or not) on neck of Wonder Woman not known until too late. Should not be visible seamlines on statues at all, most collectors would agree.
4. The decision to not have an attachment point on the shoulders for superman’s cape. Not the same shape/design as the proto and fits poorly on some. (also, Chad says that all have been shipped out and he hasn’t heard hardly and bad feedback. All shipped out =/= everyone has them yet, so a bit premature)
5. Sloppy paint job on Superman. (Superman, one of the MAIN characters that needs to be perfect)
My general concerns going forward:
1. They are too understaffed to handle this much product and keep it on time and at the level of quality we are expecting.
2. Delays will continue.
3. Not sure they aren’t able to put the final finishing design elements in or test them properly to make these perfect and look like the protos.
4. We will be stuck with a Wonder Woman** with a seamline neck and a Superman with subpar paint and not so good cape because they won’t fix them to the level they need to be and won’t do another Wonder Woman or Superman for several years.
5. The inconsistancies and missteps will lead to this small company to struggle enough that it won’t be as expansive as the vision of a Bowen-esque line for DC, which will lead to even more people moving away and a downward spiral.
** I truly believe that they should make a new upper torso for Wonder Woman with the head attached and the hair as the removable part. All they would have to do is remake the two torsos with heads (reg and ex) and one hairpiece attachment that would work on both. There would be no need to redo the whole statue and all the hands/weapons/lower body/stand. With less than 250 EX and probably not too many regulars, it wouldn’t be a huge run, and I honestly wouldn’t even mind paying something to get it done, so that it is done right (the way it should have been).
