Dracula Diorama Came Today

[Anton Phibes]

Thanks for posting pictures. I can safely say I definitely prefer the SSE version over the color.

I can safely say the opposite.

You couldn't give away SSE versions of Uni-Monsters items until they made them(*cough, cough*) "Exclusives". They also never finished any of the lines in b&w. Now, that may be different now, but it has forever left a dreadful taste in my mouth for all things sse.

The only was that would ever chnage would be if Drac was suddenly smurf blue with a pink cape and platform shoes and purple hair. then I'd have to go SSE. In the meantime...gimme color.

 

[bonedaddy77]

I can safely say the opposite.

You couldn't give away SSE versions of Uni-Monsters items until they made them(*cough, cough*) "Exclusives". They also never finished any of the lines in b&w. Now, that may be different now, but it has forever left a dreadful taste in my mouth for all things sse.

The only was that would ever chnage would be if Drac was suddenly smurf blue with a pink cape and platform shoes and purple hair. then I'd have to go SSE. In the meantime...gimme color.

I agree with ya on that. The only SSE pieces I own are the Vampyre bust (only got the SSE because I got a sweet deal) and now this Dracula dio. All my other monster stuff is color. I figured the SSE dios would be nice to give a different look to all the color PFs and busts.

Here's a quick pic of my monsters. Will probably put the dio next to the Vampyre bust for now.

 

[Anton Phibes]

I am envious of people who have space enough to display things like that. My place is crammed fulla stuff all over the place.

 

[Avfin]

Bonedaddy77---great collection

 

[stickman]

Dracula look cool. I wish I had room for these. Congratulations on the purchase.

 

[decompthewhite]

Ok, so reviews like this make me nervous:

https://www.statueforum.com/showpost.php?p=2507253&postcount=27

Well it is an honest review, the pics do not lie. I have posted comments on the ministry of info ,and they keep removing them there are other negative reviews and oppinions, but mine for some reason keep getting the axe.Sideshow has sent an e mail that they are sending a return mailer to me to return it for a replacement, but unless they resculpt the or mold the head shown on thier site for a whole year to lure in customers it wont do any good. All I am asking is that Sideshow deliver what they show on thier site or change the way they do buisness,by that I mean post all the pics of the product that you want in the begining but when it gets closer to the time to release the product show your customers exactly what they are going to get.Many years ago the goverment set in place rules for companies to follow for advertising it all started when GI Joes started moving on thier own via Stop motion which to a child makes it look like the toy actually moves.Soon after that many toy companies followed with comercials full of special effects to make thier product look more apealing. When the hammer dropped comercials where only allowed to show movement if it actually moved if it didnt the commercial had to show a childs hand moving it .I have seen the special effects moving back into the commercials for years now and much like that ,companies showing pictures with studio lighting and Photoshop touch ups of a hand painted by a profesional version of the product that will be sent overseas to be massed produced with 0 suppervision or care by the actual company the end result is a product that looks nothing like what was presented by the company for pre order .This needs to stop !!!!!!!! I have supported Sideshow for years I have shelves and shelves of thier product .I am sorry and sad to say that the quality of Sideshow has gone from WOW to ...................... Also the price of the product has gotten WAY out of hand $60 - $100 for a 12" action figure ? what happened to the $29 figs that look allot better than what you are charging double for now .I could go on and on but Im affraid it will fal on deaf ears .Only when all of the customers who arent happy with Sideshow forcing them to take what they are given stand together and stop buying from them until they change thier ways will we see a better product until then all you will get is a statue you arent very happy with on your shelf ,a harsh reminder that you payed good money for an infierior product.

 

[Anton Phibes]

I have a few issues with the diorama too, and I too think they need a little tighter amount of control over their quality department. But I still like the piece. I did notice they seemed to be sloppy (see my above critiques), but I managed to get one that's acceptable to my standards as a collector. And I am pretty picky about my stuff.


Obviously you are very upset (to the point of feeling betrayed by SSC), but a mass boycott won't change much unfortunately. If they are being seemingly misleading in the pre-orders department, its probably not intentional. But they do put a disclaimer up stating that the prototype is what is being shown. Not the final product. that way they're covered.

To be honest, I am amazed SSC is still bothering to do such a specialized niche as Universal Monsters at all. Low run for the first one of 600, and 100 less for the second issue means...they just aren't selling as many as they'd like. Look at the busts. they are great to be sure, but only 100 Mummy and 500 Frankenstein? Not too many people still care about these characters, I am afraid. The number dwindles daily. If something is in black and white, some folks automatically mark it as "unworthy" to be watched. That's why re-makes are sll the rage in Hollywood. But I digress.

Factor in the cost cutting measures that are obviously taking place to survive in a global recession (that get worse daily), and its pretty much a given that they aren't going to spend any more resources or capital on the product than they already are. Unless they pass the costs along to the consumer. That would be us. Sometimes from the raw sculpt to the point of sitting on a customer's shelf at home...some things have to be worked around...and some of the quality gets lost.

The only thing that is likely to happen if people boycott their product is that they'll just stop producing the lines in question that are being boycotted.

If it continues to be a problem, another collectibles company will take advantage of this perceived weakness once the economy improves. Then Sideshow would be dethroned.... and a new company would arise to take their place.

In the meantime, I will sort through all of the statues that don't make the "grade" quality wise to find one I like...and be happy I got "a good one".

 

[decompthewhite]

Hey Anton I agree with what you say, but the poor quality isnt line specific,its rampant across the board.To be charging the prices they charge for this stuff my guess would be they arent really worried about the economy at all ,in fact they are lucky any of us are buying at all the way things are I purchased this a year ago when things where good ,since then I have become unemployed as the co. I work for has no work comming in .I see how fast SS sells out of new releases so I dont see why anyone would be concerned at all how Sideshow has to spend a little more money to make the product at least resemble the pictures that they sold us on a year ago,and pass it on to the customer. ???? I think they have allready done that $100 for a 12" action figure ????? ouch .Reguardless of economic times (an excuse Im tired of hearing ) or whatever the case may be if a consumer is paying top dollar for a product they should damn well get the best product that company can put out and if lack luster paintjobs and poor craftsmanship is all Sideshow has to offer then they should either lower thier prices or find some people who care about what they are doing for a living to finish thier products for them .I know a boat load of guys who can paint circles around this stuff who would love the job ,and no you cant pay them china wages just a descent hourly wage .I know what you are all thinking as I write this More money more time ,but you pay for what you get and good things are worth waiting for .I think that Fanboys including myself have caused allot of this spoiled demand for the product to get out faster, well this is what it brings you .Its both Sideshow's and the fanboys fault for driving the product quality into the ground .I wish SS would release these statues unpainted so some of us collectors that prefer a certain quality of paint work on thier pieces have the option,hell it might even be a cool novelty that takes off for them .??????????

 

[Anton Phibes]

All these pre-painted statues are in the first place is garage kits, and they just finish them and mail them out. Most folks cannot paint or don't want to paint. If they go back to offering "raw pulls" without any finishing, you're just going back to good old fashioned garage kit building.

Seems to me most of the current collectibles market owes its origins to the garage kit hobby anyway. Even pegging a figure's feet to slide down into a base was originated in the garage kit hobby. I think Bowen was the first to introduce the method into the statue collecting realm. Bowen himself being one of the garage kit pioneers.

If you get too aggravated with Sideshow, you could always just go collect and build/paint garage kits. Yagher (who sculpted the two dioramas SSC has put out so far) sculpts tons of garage kits. Including dioramas. Which is probably where SSC got the idea anyway. Check out Wonderfest or X-O Facto if you decide to go the garage kit route. But I have enough garage kits, and don't have much time to paint these days. So for my Uniu's, I will stick to Sideshow. At least for now.

 

[buzzybean]

Well, I gotta say, while the sculpt is great, the factory errors abound. Of the ones I looked at, there were paint globs, paint scratches (re-touched with a dang sharpie), tight fitting or irregular bases/to pegs...and even....wait for it....

a head glued with a slight turn to it. That's right, either the head is a separate piece glued to the body in the assembly line process or it was a bad mold. Dracula is actually looking off to the right a little, not focusing directly on Renfield. I got the best one of the lot, that only had one minor flaw on the bottom of Dracula's shoe that I was able to touch up. But clearly there are some issues with quality control at whatever factory they use/used this time. Pics of a nice minty one below.

WoW Your paint ops look nothing the the one on mine! The flesh tones on mine have little to no pink in them at all. I would have been THRILLED to have gotten the one that you got!

BB

 

[Anton Phibes]

WoW Your paint ops look nothing the the one on mine! The flesh tones on mine have little to no pink in them at all. I would have been THRILLED to have gotten the one that you got!

BB

There also appears to be some underlying blue shade in the flesh tone also. Kind of ashen in appearance.

 

[decompthewhite]

I have been collecting and now produce my own Garage kits since 90 I remember Randy being at a Fangoria convention with Classic Plastic and the first mass produced Garage kits. I was only suggesting that they offer unpainted copies to folks that want them that way skilled individuals who can and do want to paint thier own.

All these pre-painted statues are in the first place is garage kits, and they just finish them and mail them out. Most folks cannot paint or don't want to paint. If they go back to offering "raw pulls" without any finishing, you're just going back to good old fashioned garage kit building.

Seems to me most of the current collectibles market owes its origins to the garage kit hobby anyway. Even pegging a figure's feet to slide down into a base was originated in the garage kit hobby. I think Bowen was the first to introduce the method into the statue collecting realm. Bowen himself being one of the garage kit pioneers.

If you get too aggravated with Sideshow, you could always just go collect and build/paint garage kits. Yagher (who sculpted the two dioramas SSC has put out so far) sculpts tons of garage kits. Including dioramas. Which is probably where SSC got the idea anyway. Check out Wonderfest or X-O Facto if you decide to go the garage kit route. But I have enough garage kits, and don't have much time to paint these days. So for my Uniu's, I will stick to Sideshow. At least for now.

 

[Anton Phibes]

I have been collecting and now produce my own Garage kits since 90 I remember Randy being at a Fangoria convention with Classic Plastic and the first mass produced Garage kits. I was only suggesting that they offer unpainted copies to folks that want them that way skilled individuals who can and do want to paint thier own.

Well no wonder you're so discerning, you're either a talented modeler or you know those who are. I build and paint some kits of my own as well. See attached pics. However, no matter how tight Sideshow gets in their quality department, their offerings cannot compare to an artist who spends hours on a piece (like 3Demonic, Tom Gore, Saul Alvarez, Jim Baldwin, etc.)vs. some underpaid, overworked (and quite possibly abused and/or underage) worker in China.

But they need to try.

 

[buzzybean]

That Creature v.s Croc is boss and probably the best shade of color/s I've ever seen used for him; real fish-like! Probably could have been coated to make him look wet though.

BB

 

[Anton Phibes]

That Creature v.s Croc is boss and probably the best shade of color/s I've ever seen used for him; real fish-like! Probably could have been coated to make him look wet though.

BB

Whoops! I put the wrong Creechie up! That Creature is actually painted by a friend of mine named Tony. You're right though, its the best I've seen. Here is the one I meant to post(not as good---but hey, its mine. I do what I can). All of those others are mine though. I swear sometimes I feel like I'm getting scatter brained.

 

[Avfin]

Creature looks great--is this a kit?

 

[Anton Phibes]

Creature looks great--is this a kit?

Yup. All of those are kits. I painted all but the "vs. Croc" piece. That one got put up accidentally. Can't inadvertently take credit for something i didn't do...even if it is cyberspace.

 

[occulum]

have you guys seen this?
... from The Clubhouse ...

Hey folks! I've been working on this one for Michael Hudson over at
ReelArt Studios. Pending the Frazetta's approval (of course!), it's pretty
much done at this stage except for the little tree (which is currently
just a temp. placeholder), Dracula's cape, which I'll finish when I cast
the base in resin and raising the Wolfman's right leg a little so his thigh
is just a bit higher up. Thanks for looking!

Original Painting

For these photos, everything's being precariously held together with
superglue, sticky putty and wax drops, so some of the angles are a little
off, but I figured it's good enough to show for now until I finish the
alterations I mentioned.

 

[buzzybean]

Whoops! I put the wrong Creechie up! That Creature is actually painted by a friend of mine named Tony. You're right though, its the best I've seen. Here is the one I meant to post(not as good---but hey, its mine. I do what I can). All of those others are mine though. I swear sometimes I feel like I'm getting scatter brained.

Another nice Creature!

I've been meaning to get into collecting garage kits for years as I've been a consistent reader of Amazing Figure Modeler and get to see all the choice stuff that's out there in the marketplace.

My only problem is that I'm not skilled enough to build and paint these so I would have to hire someone to do it and now we are talking a lot of dough.

I saw a great King Kong built-up at Chiller last April. It was a '33 Kong from the chest up, breaking up the railways. Real cool! I also saw a kit of the demon statue from the Exorcist...scary cool!

BB

 

[Anton Phibes]

have you guys seen this?
... from The Clubhouse ...

OOOOOhhhhhhh...that's nice. But I must not yield to it. Outta money and outta space.