Premium Format Article: Re: Jean Grey - Jim Lee Era

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Thank you both for your answers. I think the owner of my local comic store has something to do with Semic. This whole deal might even be because I showed him the first XM mags wip pictures back then asking if he could try and secure a deal with XM to import their stuff in France.
Well, pretty sure I have nothing to do with this, but having a way to get XM products here is good news !
 
XM statues cost North American customers 600-800$

Sideshow statues (for now) cost $350-400

Simply based on supply and demand - the competition has no competitive advantage on price which is a HUGE factor when it comes to sales. The "sold out" edition sizes of Magneto are impressive but Sideshow still sells four times the amount simply based on their price advantage and market. Sideshow has a 10 year head start and some of us see no sense revisiting the same characters again.

Also could we have a separate XM section of the forum? It's annoying how every single thread turns into a XM is better than Sideshow thread.

This thread is about Jean Grey.
 
XM is like a virus spreadin on every thread, soon DC section probably too :lol
 
Asdf said:
XM is like a virus spreadin on every thread, soon DC section probably too :lol
Click to expand...

Just what I need, a bunch of people going through every SS DC thread spouting off about how the paint app on a cartoonish over priced statue is far superior and worth the almost double price. Perhaps they should start their own website, XM freaks.
 
​
Tavegg said:
LoL now that we're back to discussing Jean Grey there's nothing to talk about :dunno :lol
Click to expand...

Because this statue is just :gah:

Meanwhile Phoenix statue in the other side of the world is :yess:

Not even close :slap
 
Mamba said:
​

Because this statue is just :gah:

Meanwhile Phoenix statue in the other side of the world is :yess:

Not even close :slap
Click to expand...

Well, in all fairness, they are 2 different characters Mamba. We have yet to see what SSC will be doing with Phoenix. This Jean PF is made to go with the current Lee line. The problem is that not many peeps like it. I think that's why discussions here go off topic.

It's just a sad fact that SSC doesn't put much effort into their Marvel license. It's been hit or miss for far too long with SSC and their Marvel pieces. It just feels like they don't care. Look at their last few releases. Jean, DD, and Emma are all getting hammered pretty good. It's a mixed bag with Thor and Doom (I actually really like both of them). Now let's look at XM's last few releases...Mags, Wolvie, and soon Thanos and Haweye. There's pretty much universal love right there. All those pieces look pretty fantastic IMO.

I see a lot of less XM talk in the threads were SSC nails a Marvel PF. Red Skull and G Hulk are great examples. However, XM is doing a lot of things right and obviously have a following. So, whenever SSC releases an uninspired piece, we'll see XM fans say...wait and see what XM can do with the character.

I have to be honest. I wasn't blown away with their initial offerings. I liked Cap a lot but there were a few minor things that stopped me from pulling the trigger. Hulk and Black Widow were not my cup of tea. I was pretty much resigned to buying my 1/4 pieces from SSC. And then it happened. Mags, Wolvie, Hawkeye, Phoenix, and Thanos. Damn, it seems I'm now blown away with each release. Then I hear that XM brings on Sosa as their AD. Wow! One of my very favorite sculptors now directing XMs future.

This is why XM WILL NOT go away. They offer inspired sculpts, solid statues, fantastic paint apps, killer QC, and low edition sizes. SSC used to do business this way. Not anymore. Their Marvel pieces are just falling flat too often. Then when they do hit on a piece, we have to sweat whether or not it'll arrive without QC issues. It used to frustrate the hell out of me. Not anymore. I have options now.
 
You know someone mentioned this on Facebook and it made me feel sympathetic towards how SS is doing things. Back in the day SS statues used to sell out in like minutes. It was a mad scramble to acquire your favorite comic character once released. So after all the moaning and complaining about there not being enough Exclusives what did SS do? They increased the ES. People complained about shipping cost? SS started making hollow casts. It's just a creation of our own complaints. The lack of QC undoubtedly can be attributed to the sky high ES to some extent.

That being said I'd love to see SS come out with a premium line of collectibles. Smaller ES. Solid resin cast. Fully sculpted. All the bells and whistles. Make these a much lower ES. Make sure the quality and paint apps are done to perfection. Add all types of extra switch out options and portraits. Increase the price to what SS has too in order to justify the making the line.

I know it's far fetched. Probably never happen but I think it would be a very smart move by SS to gain a portion of that market share back. Also allows collectors to acquire statues at an extremely reasonable price and the guys who are comfortable splurging some extra dough to have a high end collectible would also have that option. Just a thought
 
filip629 said:
Well, in all fairness, they are 2 different characters Mamba. We have yet to see what SSC will be doing with Phoenix. This Jean PF is made to go with the current Lee line. The problem is that not many peeps like it. I think that's why discussions here go off topic.

It's just a sad fact that SSC doesn't put much effort into their Marvel license. It's been hit or miss for far too long with SSC and their Marvel pieces. It just feels like they don't care. Look at their last few releases. Jean, DD, and Emma are all getting hammered pretty good. It's a mixed bag with Thor and Doom (I actually really like both of them). Now let's look at XM's last few releases...Mags, Wolvie, and soon Thanos and Haweye. There's pretty much universal love right there. All those pieces look pretty fantastic IMO.

I see a lot of less XM talk in the threads were SSC nails a Marvel PF. Red Skull and G Hulk are great examples. However, XM is doing a lot of things right and obviously have a following. So, whenever SSC releases an uninspired piece, we'll see XM fans say...wait and see what XM can do with the character.

I have to be honest. I wasn't blown away with their initial offerings. I liked Cap a lot but there were a few minor things that stopped me from pulling the trigger. Hulk and Black Widow were not my cup of tea. I was pretty much resigned to buying my 1/4 pieces from SSC. And then it happened. Mags, Wolvie, Hawkeye, Phoenix, and Thanos. Damn, it seems I'm now blown away with each release. Then I hear that XM brings on Sosa as their AD. Wow! One of my very favorite sculptors now directing XMs future.

This is why XM WILL NOT go away. They offer inspired sculpts, solid statues, fantastic paint apps, killer QC, and low edition sizes. SSC used to do business this way. Not anymore. Their Marvel pieces are just falling flat too often. Then when they do hit on a piece, we have to sweat whether or not it'll arrive without QC issues. It used to frustrate the hell out of me. Not anymore. I have options now.
Click to expand...

Tavegg said:
You know someone mentioned this on Facebook and it made me feel sympathetic towards how SS is doing things. Back in the day SS statues used to sell out in like minutes. It was a mad scramble to acquire your favorite comic character once released. So after all the moaning and complaining about there not being enough Exclusives what did SS do? They increased the ES. People complained about shipping cost? SS started making hollow casts. It's just a creation of our own complaints. The lack of QC undoubtedly can be attributed to the sky high ES to some extent.

That being said I'd love to see SS come out with a premium line of collectibles. Smaller ES. Solid resin cast. Fully sculpted. All the bells and whistles. Make these a much lower ES. Make sure the quality and paint apps are done to perfection. Add all types of extra switch out options and portraits. Increase the price to what SS has too in order to justify the making the line.

I know it's far fetched. Probably never happen but I think it would be a very smart move by SS to gain a portion of that market share back. Also allows collectors to acquire statues at an extremely reasonable price and the guys who are comfortable splurging some extra dough to have a high end collectible would also have that option. Just a thought
Click to expand...

Okay I'm going to entertain this line of thought real quick even though I think it's pretty ridiculous. Most of Sideshow's offerings come with a mixed reaction. Hell Even Batman and Superman, which most people swear by now that they've seen in hand pictures had their detractors. So let's toss the Sideshow doesn't care bag out the window. By the way, Daredevil has people that love the piece as well, and there's still people ordering Emma and Jean, even if they aren't my cup of tea, people still like them. That's the beauty of it, different people getting what they like.

Now, on to the "market Share" Sideshow lost, this is the part I love the most. You think that a company that does most of it's business over seas and only puts out 300pcs of a statue in total concerns Sideshow? Even when Sideshow had lower ES they'd put out a reg that was double to triple the XM numbers and would sell every single one. Doctor Doom, EX 500, that's over an XM run in itself, the Reg. 1000pcs. 1500 Doom's total. Maybe in the very beginning there releases were as small as XM's but it hasn't been that way in a long time. How many XM pieces do you think made it to the US? 100? 150? Hell let's say 2/3s 200pcs made it here. While XM was selling their 300pc Hulk Order Sideshow sold 2000 multi-colored Hulks, Has almost Sold out of the Red Hulk regular, that's another 1000pcs and has sold who knows how many G. Hulks. Many of which sold to people who also bought XM pieces. Hell they've sold out of EX they've issued in the last 20 years at 1/4 scale.

The whole point of this isn't XM vs. Sideshow, the point is that the argument that XM is doing anything to Hurt Sideshow yet is ridiculous. Sideshow took 20 years to build their brand, the Regs are sold in Comic Shops World Wide and the EXs are sold direct to a huge number of places. Sideshow has Seen other companies come (PCS, Syco Collectibles, Kotobukiya, Gentle Giant, XM, Prime 1) and they aren't flinching yet. So until XM puts out it's first 999pc item and it sells out and then they do that 10 more times, and people actually stop buying Sideshow all together (Which is going to be mighty difficult considering, even though others might like this, the quaility Sideshow gives for it's price), this XM is hurting Sideshow, just isn't happening.

Now out of the dream world and back to Jean Grey.
 
Josh-A-Tron said:
Okay I'm going to entertain this line of thought real quick even though I think it's pretty ridiculous. Most of Sideshow's offerings come with a mixed reaction. Hell Even Batman and Superman, which most people swear by now that they've seen in hand pictures had their detractors. So let's toss the Sideshow doesn't care bag out the window. By the way, Daredevil has people that love the piece as well, and there's still people ordering Emma and Jean, even if they aren't my cup of tea, people still like them. That's the beauty of it, different people getting what they like.

Now, on to the "market Share" Sideshow lost, this is the part I love the most. You think that a company that does most of it's business over seas and only puts out 300pcs of a statue in total concerns Sideshow? Even when Sideshow had lower ES they'd put out a reg that was double to triple the XM numbers and would sell every single one. Doctor Doom, EX 500, that's over an XM run in itself, the Reg. 1000pcs. 1500 Doom's total. Maybe in the very beginning there releases were as small as XM's but it hasn't been that way in a long time. How many XM pieces do you think made it to the US? 100? 150? Hell let's say 2/3s 200pcs made it here. While XM was selling their 300pc Hulk Order Sideshow sold 2000 multi-colored Hulks, Has almost Sold out of the Red Hulk regular, that's another 1000pcs and has sold who knows how many G. Hulks. Many of which sold to people who also bought XM pieces. Hell they've sold out of EX they've issued in the last 20 years at 1/4 scale.

The whole point of this isn't XM vs. Sideshow, the point is that the argument that XM is doing anything to Hurt Sideshow yet is ridiculous. Sideshow took 20 years to build their brand, the Regs are sold in Comic Shops World Wide and the EXs are sold direct to a huge number of places. Sideshow has Seen other companies come (PCS, Syco Collectibles, Kotobukiya, Gentle Giant, XM, Prime 1) and they aren't flinching yet. So until XM puts out it's first 999pc item and it sells out and then they do that 10 more times, and people actually stop buying Sideshow all together (Which is going to be mighty difficult considering, even though others might like this, the quaility Sideshow gives for it's price), this XM is hurting Sideshow, just isn't happening.

Now out of the dream world and back to Jean Grey.
Click to expand...

You are living in a dream world NEO:)!
 
Tavegg said:
You know someone mentioned this on Facebook and it made me feel sympathetic towards how SS is doing things. Back in the day SS statues used to sell out in like minutes. It was a mad scramble to acquire your favorite comic character once released. So after all the moaning and complaining about there not being enough Exclusives what did SS do? They increased the ES. People complained about shipping cost? SS started making hollow casts. It's just a creation of our own complaints. The lack of QC undoubtedly can be attributed to the sky high ES to some extent.

That being said I'd love to see SS come out with a premium line of collectibles. Smaller ES. Solid resin cast. Fully sculpted. All the bells and whistles. Make these a much lower ES. Make sure the quality and paint apps are done to perfection. Add all types of extra switch out options and portraits. Increase the price to what SS has too in order to justify the making the line.

I know it's far fetched. Probably never happen but I think it would be a very smart move by SS to gain a portion of that market share back. Also allows collectors to acquire statues at an extremely reasonable price and the guys who are comfortable splurging some extra dough to have a high end collectible would also have that option. Just a thought
Click to expand...

James, I'm with you 100%. How long have I been begging SSC to do a 1/4 fully sculpted line? Their COM line doesn't sell. They admitted that much themselves. Turn it into a 1/4 fully sculpted line. Do all the things you mentioned above (charge a premium price for a premium piece). I'd be so down with that.

SSC should be getting a majority of our business by default. They have an incredible stable of artists and a price that can't be beat since we live in the US. However, I'm trying like hell to pare down what I want from XM because their pieces are just blowing me away right now and they cost a pretty penny to get them here in the States.

SSC's problem with their Marvel license doesn't just boil down to hollow statues and high edition sizes bro. First off, shipping companies now charge by dimensional weight. So, I firmly believe hollow statues are made to increase SSC's bottom line. As far as the ES is concerned, SSC is leaving their merch up for months (and in some cases years because of open ES). They are now just looking to saturate the market with their merch. I'm not saying we need to go back to the days of instant sell outs but is leaving a product up for sale for months/years the answer?

I can honestly say all of my issues with SSC lie with the Marvel license and just general QC overall. I pretty much only collect Marvel & DC pieces and I have no issue with their DC merch. SSC needs to step it up on their Marvel merch as a whole. Their character choices are questionable at best. We have 2 Red Skull PFs, 2 Doom PFs, 2 Emma PFs, 2 Punisher PFs, and even a Bucky Cap PF. No Magneto, Thanos, Juggernaut, FF (except Ben), or Phoenix PFs (to name just a few). XM has had the license for about a year and already have Mags, Thanos, and Phoenix ready to roll for us. SSC has had the Marvel license for 10 years and we are still waiting for PFs of those characters. The fact that we are willing to scramble to PO XM merch and pay double the price of a PF means something.

All we can do is make suggestions and hope SSC is listening. However, the status quo doesn't work with me anymore when it comes to SSC's Marvel merch. For every XM piece I buy, that's one less piece I buy from SSC. Hell, it may even be 2 pieces I cut because I need to pay extra to pick up XM merch. No more impulse buying SSC pieces of characters I'm on the fence about. I need that money for XM now. What it all boils down to James is that I'll buy what I like from either company. However, I'm really liking what I'm seeing from XM much more than I am from SSC of late. I think a lot of us are. I wonder if SSC is noticing? More importantly, I wonder if they'll do anything about it when they do notice. I mean, this is the Sideshow freaks forum and yet XM is dominating the Marvel section of this board. There's a reason for that.
 

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