Fellbeast Artist Proof

[Balrogslain]

What would they do when King Elessar Statue #1234 was received broken & sent back? Would they replace the statue or would they replace the whole thing with an AP. Or go to the extreme as theKOTD statue, where the base & statue are together?

 

[elwood49]

It turns sour though, when you start to read descriptions like "ultra rare", "better quality", "artist's approval" and more of such nonsense. THAT's when honesty fades and the comparison with SF's Balrog rears its ugly head

I agree completely. I think if the seller mentions that the AP has better quality than the normal release, then that is a misrepresentation. However, simply selling an AP as "rare" is not a stretch, IMHO.

 

[PropBoy007]

x

 

[PropBoy007]

AP Facts:
You can not order them from Sideshow, and they are not to be sold by dealers eithers. Matter of fact, APs are usually governed by written rules outlined in license agreements. They make their way into the general population and then some may end up on Ebay, and the fact that they make it there at all, is rare. This, on to itself, is probably the biggest factor that drives the AP premium, along with this comment:

If your not an insider, then this is your chance to get only what the insiders have. The naysayers tend to miss this point completely AND the point of collecting vs. difficulty to obtain. Supply vs Demand.

LE vs APs:
You can not buy as many APs as you want, there is no ordering window of opportunity, there are always far, far fewer items labled AP, then those labeled with numbers.

So for those of you who focus on the actual details of the item itself and its quality differences, you still are missing the point. APs are about what you can't easily obtain, that little bit of difference in labeling, that difficutly in search, waiting and having to compete to get it, and having to pay the price to obtain it. It is the quest of every collector, "I have something very few have", regardless of how subtle the differences are.

 

[buzzardio1080]

they are certainly no different in quality
but they are rarer
if an auction says something like
" artist proof, painted by artist , higher quality paint ,job " etc
then yeah , thats misrepresentation,and should be panned.
but to state that it is ultra rare is no misrepresentation at all.
i have seen loads of these statues on ebay and the aps are always , (even c/t bust)
rarer than the editions, making them rarer pieces (obviously)
this cant even be argued ,its fact, but once again
they certainly are no different in anyterms to the editions(quality wise)
:bliss

 

[arannz]

Re: APs

Here's something I posted over on the S&F board:

Most APs from at least the more recent numbered pieces end up at Weta. Whether they get them directly from the factory or whether Sideshow sends them the APs to fill their quota after they have shipped all the other orders is uncertain. The whole point of the APs is for the sculptors and painters at Weta who created the prototypes to make sure that the paintjob/cast by the factory is correct and that there are no problems with what will be the end product. It usually only takes Weta a couple of opened APs to decide if a statue is right for mass production and then they are left with all the rest. This is what the guy from Weta told me: some may be given to the cast and crew of the movie, some to Weta people, but the more recent pieces always seem to have plenty left over. The ones that are left over they then sell after they have run out of the numbered ones. I guess it is a case of clearing out the warehouse and freeing up space for new stock. For them that side of it is really just a business, so they don't want an extra 20 AP Gimlis lying around and as a business they don't want to destroy them when they can sell them.

The guy from Weta told me they usually make 20-30 APs and one of the Sideshow US people told me 20-50. I think for any given piece you can be sure there are no more than 50 APs and only a smaller number of those, say 10-40, were ever available to the public.

So realistically I guess you could add 20 to 30 to the edition size of any of the numbered statues, in terms of how many statues were ever available for sale to the public. Not for all of the statues though. Some of the earlier numbered pieces I havn't seen APs for sale anywhere, except very rarely on Ebay from someone in a country other than NZ.

Whether they are rarer can be argued. Yes there are much fewer APs than numbered pieces, but each numbered piece is the only one with that particular number right? So doesn't that make each numbered piece rarer than an AP, which is labelled the same as 10-50 others? It all depends how you look at it.

Personally I like the idea of having an AP-labelled piece rather than a numbered one, even if the quality is the same.

 

[Lasher33]

Re: APs

What would they do when King Elessar Statue #1234 was received broken & sent back?

Normal procedure is (was) to replace it with the same number, not with an AP.

and they are not to be sold by dealers eithers.

As a matter of fact, there were quite a few dealers in NZ that sold APs. Apparently NZ dealers also sold the WiKi Crown for a while... (for only $25,-!!!)

It is the quest of every collector

It may be your quest, PropBoy007, but it isn't mine. Nor is it the quest of many others here on the board. And it certainly isn't the quest of every collector...

this cant even be argued

Interesting fallacy, Buzz
Because it can, of course. It all depends on your point of view...
For instance, arranz already pointed out:

each numbered piece is the only one with that particular number, that make each numbered piece rarer than an AP, which is labelled the same as 10-50 others

Good debate, everyone!

 

[buzzardio1080]

Re: APs

YEAH I LOVE A GOOD WELL MANNERED DEBATE,

I MUST SAY THAT ONLY LAST WEEK I BOUGH AP GONDOREANS FROM REEL COLLECTABLES IN NEW ZEALAND, SO I SUPPOSE DEALERS DO GET APS.
AND THE POINT FROM ARRANZ, IS CERTAINLY INTERESTING(IM NOT SAYING I BUY IT , BUT ITS DEFINATLY SOMETHING I HADNT THOUGHT ABOUT)
APS ARE JUST DIFFERENT (EXACTLY THE SAME ,BUT DIFFERENT ) TO THE NUMBERED ONES AND I GUESS PEEPS WANT EM,
I ONLY HAVE AP HELMS (ANYONE EVER ,EVER EVER SEEN ANY OTHER AP HELM , CUZ I HAVENT(OBVIOUSLY I HAVE SEEN OTHER GONDOREANS)))BUT , IF A WANTED AP STATUES , I WOULD CERTAINLY PAY MORE FOR THEM.
AARANZ HAS GOT ME THINKING
NUMBERED APS
SORRY LETS NOT EVEN GO THERE
:bliss

 

[buzzardio1080]

Re: APs

OH AND APS ARE RARER
SO THERE
LOL
:bliss

 

[Balrogslain]

Re: APs

Where's the key?

 

[Revilal]

Re: APs

The piece they used to photograph the FB on the SSW site.
Now, that was a well painted piece... Was it an AP?

 

[GTB]

Then why is it there isn't AP for unlimited edition like Aragorn and Sam and Bill??