1/6 Hot Toys - MMS285 - Avengers: AOU - Hulkbuster

[zavira]

Thanks

Although I feel like it should be open bar, just to help us deal with the price tag

I got in when it was $82.50 a payment.

Definitely need an open bar for the ones just preordering this now. "Payment Plan for as little as $185.62/month "

 

[duo_maxwell_1017]

I got in when it was $82.50 a payment.

Definitely need an open bar for the ones just preordering this now. "Payment Plan for as little as $185.62/month "

Luckily my payments are only $65.00 each month. I used $287.00 in rewards.

 

[zavira]

Luckily my payments are only $65.00 each month. I used $287.00 in rewards.

That's like a free deluxe 1/6 figure there.

 

[ali032373]

No, it's not. Thats the illusion of ss reward points. You spend more upfront to get points that you can only spend with ss.

Why not just pay the cheaper price from another retailer, skip the points, and spend the difference in price on gas, or tequila, or potato chips, or widgets? Or save it?

 

[TheBatman]

No, it's not. Thats the illusion of ss reward points. You spend more upfront to get points that you can only spend with ss.

Why not just pay the cheaper price from another retailer, skip the points, and spend the difference in price on gas, or tequila, or potato chips, or widgets? Or save it?

Because I know I will be buying another Hot Toy in the future...

 

[duo_maxwell_1017]

No, it's not. Thats the illusion of ss reward points. You spend more upfront to get points that you can only spend with ss.

Why not just pay the cheaper price from another retailer, skip the points, and spend the difference in price on gas, or tequila, or potato chips, or widgets? Or save it?

But, I am buying items that I want, and I use those rewards to buy other items. With rewards I am only paying $537.50 plus shipping for this. Also no other retailer offers flexpay.

 

[ali032373]

Youre not getting any kind of discount. Youre paying full price- you've paid for this by overpaying on all the other stuff you bought. SSC takes that overpayment and converts it to points you can redeem later. But only w/ SSC.

 

[TheBatman]

You pay for something full price, which they give you rewards back for shopping with them.

You use those rewards later on as a discount towards another item from their store.

The cycle continues.

Not sure how "Youre not getting any kind of discount. Youre paying full price". This math doesnt make any sense.

 

[yacobschlomo]

Seems to make sense to me (comparatively speaking). For example - I could have ordered Doctor Strange for $216.99 + $9.85 shipping from Pop Culture Zone, for a total of $226.84. Instead, I ordered from sideshow for $234.99 + $10 shipping for total of $244.99. That's $18.15 more. I received $11.75 in rewards from sideshow. Which still puts me at $6.40 more than Pop Culture Zone. So not only are the rewards points not "free" - you're still ending up paying more money at sideshow even after the rewards.

 

[BringsTheAwesome]

Seems to make sense to me (comparatively speaking). For example - I could have ordered Doctor Strange for $216.99 + $9.85 shipping from Pop Culture Zone, for a total of $226.84. Instead, I ordered from sideshow for $234.99 + $10 shipping for total of $244.99. That's $18.15 more. I received $11.75 in rewards from sideshow. Which still puts me at $6.40 more than Pop Culture Zone. So not only are the rewards points not "free" - you're still ending up paying more money at sideshow even after the rewards.

Truth.

 

[Chris8907]

If you were going to order through SS anyway, it technically is free money. Tons of companies do the same gimmick. The point is that was $287 he didn't have to spend. That's a win to me.

 

[ali032373]

But he DID have to spend the $287. He spent it overpaying for other stuff. It's not free.

If anything reward points are more like a forced down payment on a future item in addition to the cost of the current item your buying.

 

[yacobschlomo]

I guess it's all semantics. But I personally don't consider it free if I am paying a premium for it. Yeah, it's technically free rewards from sideshow that you can use only at sideshow. I understand why people order from sideshow - I generally do so as well myself. Using Pop Culture Zone as an example, you're paying around 7.5 - 8.0% more to get 5% in free rewards. I also pay more at sideshow if I want my figure double boxed (I've ordered a couple of items from Pop Culture and received them double boxed at no extra charge).

For example - In this situation, Duo-Maxwell has $287 in rewards. At the usual 5%, this means he spent $5740 to get those rewards. Lets say someone usually buys from Pop Culture Zone. They get savings instead of rewards - so they didn't get anything free. But they save around the standard 7.5% discount from MSRP. Instead of $5740, they spent $5310. So one person spent $430 more to get $287 rewards. So is it really free if you're paying more for it up front?

 

[Chris8907]

I get what you are saying, but they don't HAVE to give you rewards points. So that $287 was extra money he wouldn't have had otherwise since he probably would order from SS regardless.

I don't pre-order figures from them because they have the best price, I do it because they are a reliable company that has been good any time I had an issue. I order most figures after market and have saved almost $1,500 compared to buying from SS.

Think of it this way. If you had a favorite bar you liked, but knew they were a little more expensive than a bar down the street, would you stop going? What if your favorite bar offered a free drink every time you bought 10? You'd be excited about the free drink, even though you could have had 12 drinks down the street at the other bar for the same price.

 

[ali032373]

The bar analogy has a few problems- bars have different clients, atmospheres, amenities, popularity, location. Lots of variations.

Here, we're all buying the same product in the mail. It's a cut and dry transaction.

But ok, let's stick with the bar. Lets assume there are 2 bars that are absolutely equal. Bar A sells a drink for $12. And you get $2 credit for a future drink at bar A, and only at bar A. Bar B sells the exact same drink (same quality) for $10. Bar B does not have a rebate.

After 4 drinks at bar A youve spent $48 and have a $8 credit you can only spend at bar A. At bar B youve spent $40. That $8 diffenece can be spent on *anything*, including more drinks. Not only that, you can spend that $8 *anywhere*, not just at bar B.

All bar A is doing is holding your money so you can keep buying drinks at bar A. And bar A only.

 

[Chris8907]

The bar analogy has a few problems- bars have different clients, atmospheres, amenities, popularity, location. Lots of variations.

Here, we're all buying the same product in the mail. It's a cut and dry transaction.

But ok, let's stick with the bar. Lets assume there are 2 bars that are absolutely equal. Bar A sells a drink for $12. And you get $2 credit for a future drink at bar A, and only at bar A. Bar B sells the exact same drink (same quality) for $10. Bar B does not have a rebate.

After 4 drinks at bar A youve spent $48 and have a $8 credit you can only spend at bar A. At bar B youve spent $40. That $8 diffenece can be spent on *anything*, including more drinks. Not only that, you can spend that $8 *anywhere*, not just at bar B.

All bar A is doing is holding your money so you can keep buying drinks at bar A. And bar A only.

I got that part, but I'm saying that people have a preference to buy from SS, so that's the "favorite bar" regardless of the higher prices. That was the point of the analogy, that people aren't going to order from a different company because they like SS more.

People know they are paying more, a 10 second Google will give you cheaper options. People would rather pay the extra money to buy from their favorite "bar". Even if the rewards weren't there, they would still do the same amount of business, or very close to it.

I'll pay a dollar or two more to have my favorite bottle beer at my preferred bar than save a little by going to a page I don't like as much. To each their own though.

 

[ali032373]

Fair enough.

I think underlying your "favorite" agument is that there is a certain security in ordering from ssc, which is why i ordered this from ssc. I figured i didnt want to put down an nrd and risk some retailer going bankrupt. I figured the chances of this happening to ssc was far less. So i paid more, but i also paid for the security.

Also ssc generally has better CS than the average retailer. You pay for that too.

 

[rocbolt]

At least half the rewards points I've got I never paid for, from spook and various giveaways. $300 worth easy. Plus I do prefer SS for the customer service, QC on Hot Toy Iron Men being what it is is I like to get replacement parts or entire figures without much drama.

 

[Tinman2000]

I never considered going through Pop Culture, do they replace broken or missing parts? SSC came through for me during the C-3PO debacle and when I purchased Maul; both are SSC products but I'm sure they'd do the same for HT as well.

 

[Veovis]

I'm still trying to imaging the box and box art!

Yup! In typical HT fashion, both should look amazing.

Given the item, the box should break with the tradition of being a plain cuboid, and be a replica of Veronica or the Hulk prison it builds. Something a bit special for a figure that's a bit special.