Statue Iron Patriot Quarter Scale Maquette by Sideshow Collectibles

[-jay-]

Price rises? Shouldn't we at least expect acceptable paint apps for the hundreds/thousands of dollars we're already paying? PF's are already edging towards $500 as it is.

That's what i was saying before. You should be able to get your new statue out of the box and enjoy it. You shouldn't have to be touching it up or sending it off for a repaint. If we were meant to have them repainted, then they should sell them unpainted.

 

[Spidey976]

I don't want to pay more Prices are rising quick enough thanks.

I expect something close to the proto when ordering, something that is at least in a displayable condition.

Price rises? Shouldn't we at least expect acceptable paint apps for the hundreds/thousands of dollars we're already paying? PF's are already edging towards $500 as it is.

The problem is prices are rising at the cost of inflation which means you are paying more for the same level of quality, BUT that level of quality is inconsistent between factories, and with SSCs ever increasing production slate you aren't going to get the same quality paint apps as you did yesteryear without paying a little more for it. Now if you were paying say $50 more a statue, but that ENSURED that, baring a brake during transport, you got a statue with an almost perfect paint app and tailoring, then I could easily see people bent happy with that. Hell make it a voluntary payment where you pay it and an SSC painter in California takes your piece out and touches it up right then and there BEFORE it ships to your house. I know I would pay for that assurance.

 

[Collectorcol]

Option to pay $50 more for a decent product?
Don't tick that option and you get a P.O.S?

We shouldn't have to pay more to get what we were promised at point of order... End of

 

[-jay-]

Spidey you been on the good stuff?

 

[Spidey976]

Option to pay $50 more for a decent product?
Don't tick that option and you get a P.O.S?

We shouldn't have to pay more to get what we were promised at point of order... End of

Nope pay $50 more and know that your piece will have an almost proto paint job and if you don't get that level you get $100 of the entire statue. Just something to give you that one extra level of QC, which is the main difference between an SSC piece and an XM piece.That or keep paying $500 for hit and miss statues.

 

[Tbolt]

Sorry Spudey, but you are WAAAAAY off here. Prices for this stuff are already rising MUCH faster than the rate of inflation. Sorry, not going to buy that excuse. That's also not why this came out poorly. GG has a competing product FOR LESS that doesn't look like a grade school art class painted it.

 

[Collectorcol]

...Or pay the list price and refuse to accept an inferior product.

So basically what I said. Don't pay the extra, don't complain when you receive ****.

Sideshows new motto 'Buy inferior or pay more for quality'

 

[Raikirik]

Nope pay $50 more and know that your piece will have an almost proto paint job and if you don't get that level you get $100 of the entire statue. Just something to give you that one extra level of QC, which is the main difference between an SSC piece and an XM piece.That or keep paying $500 for hit and miss statues.

I get where you're coming from but I think what most people are saying is that it should already be part of the prices we're paying now, which is certainly true. Problem is, (for whatever reason) it doesn't seem to be enough to guarantee a good or consistent level of QC.

 

[AC_808]

Huh ...I think I just got my first deleted post. Actually two posts, I think.

Oh well ....

 

[Spidey976]

Sorry Spudey, but you are WAAAAAY off here. Prices for this stuff are already rising MUCH faster than the rate of inflation. Sorry, not going to buy that excuse. That's also not why this came out poorly. GG has a competing product FOR LESS that doesn't look like a grade school art class painted it.

...Or pay the list price and refuse to accept an inferior product.

So basically what I said. Don't pay the extra, don't complain when you receive ****.

Sideshows new motto 'Buy inferior or pay more for quality'

I get where you're coming from but I think what most people are saying is that it should already be part of the prices we're paying now, which is certainly true. Problem is, (for whatever reason) it doesn't seem to be enough to guarantee a good or consistent level of QC.

I completely understand, and while I agree in principal the simple fact is that this step would ensure that pieces didn't have googly eyes, or crappy webs, or giant paint blobs, and any other of the dozen different painting related complaints that arise. Also, it would ensure that some of the issues would be sure to be caught before pieces got to peoples homes, and it could be voluntary. People are paying $800+ for XM pieces that are no bigger than an SSC PF, but that have superior paint apps and QC to at least some of the SSC pieces.

By the way I am just spit balling possible solutions to a problem that most people feel they are suffering from. I am not married to the idea at all.

 

[Stood]

A Premium Format statue was 350$ few years ago.
Now it is 450$.
And the dollar-euro exchange rate raised 16% in the past half year. (I live in EU) So I have to pay 45% more for a figure than few years ago.
So I pay just enough to have a figure that should not have a "paint job" like that.
It is just a shame...I hope it will change in the future.
Is there any QC controll? Or the QC is just a sticker in the box. "QC passed"

 

[Tbolt]

Spidey, these things are already too expensive. There can't be more than a few dollars worth of material in them. What we are paying for is the attention to detail, the 'museum quality work'. They pull it off still most of the time.

They produce, bar none, the best prototypes in the business. What is lacking is translating that into a reasonable facsimile of a delivered product on a consistent enough basis.

Two things bother me the most. 1. The ambivalent attitude. I mean, there is no way these same things would have slipped through with the SS name on them a few years ago. Even there worst received products from then show a consistent level of quality and attention to detail, even if they lacked in other areas. I can't even think of an older product that had cheap tailoring or shoddy casting. 2. As has been speculated by posters for at least a year or more, with so many releases in the pipeline, and some of these recent no excuse releases, it does make you question if they are in this for the long hall. Really odd strategy from them on a number of aspects.

I do hope that the entire run is not marred by these poorly painted pieces. Having legacy attached to this, I thought it would be golden. Such a shame to waste that sculpt.

 

[sarakawa]

Nope pay $50 more and know that your piece will have an almost proto paint job and if you don't get that level you get $100 of the entire statue. Just something to give you that one extra level of QC, which is the main difference between an SSC piece and an XM piece.That or keep paying $500 for hit and miss statues.

Spidey, the statues pretty much go up $25 every new PO we see. It will easily be $100 more per PF this time next year and guaranteed the QC issues will not go away. On other lines, i think the statues are pretty solid still. The IM line just isn't working for them. Every release has had documented wide spread issues and that hasn't changed in like 2-3 years. They need to just stop releasing IM pieces or address the issues. The mark VI and WM maquettes were actually pretty expensive $500 and $550 so maybe they just can't make these at $400? So in that respect, you could be right...if raising just IM line prices a little will help them make them much better, it could be worth it. The problem is they have released one too many issue laden IM pieces that should the next PF be $500, no one will believe that they are raising prices to improve quality.

 

[KingB]

Its the factories chosen. That all this boils down to. We get exceptional pieces coming out the doors from china like Comic Sups, Allied Cap which I am happy to pay for and then get IP and other shoddy products from others factories. Too many Cowboys (factories) and not enough Indians (SS Employees.)

 

[Raikirik]

Spidey, these things are already too expensive. There can't be more than a few dollars worth of material in them. What we are paying for is the attention to detail, the 'museum quality work'. They pull it off still most of the time.

They produce, bar none, the best prototypes in the business. What is lacking is translating that into a reasonable facsimile of a delivered product on a consistent enough basis.

Two things bother me the most. 1. The ambivalent attitude. I mean, there is no way these same things would have slipped through with the SS name on them a few years ago. Even there worst received products from then show a consistent level of quality and attention to detail, even if they lacked in other areas. I can't even think of an older product that had cheap tailoring or shoddy casting. 2. As has been speculated by posters for at least a year or more, with so many releases in the pipeline, and some of these recent no excuse releases, it does make you question if they are in this for the long hall. Really odd strategy from them on a number of aspects.

I do hope that the entire run is not marred by these poorly painted pieces. Having legacy attached to this, I thought it would be golden. Such a shame to waste that sculpt.

I also hope that other owners have received statues that are painted well and that the pieces with problems only represent a small number of defective statues.

For me, SS and Legacy produce the best representation of the Iron Man suits from the film and I only get that feeling from their sculpts. Other companies produce the film statues as well and while they may have better paint application or QC and do look pretty good in their own right, nothing else gives me the feeling that I'm getting a statue of a suit that was pulled right from the movie like SS and Legacy does, which is why it's a shame that most of the IM products seem to be plagued with issues.

I love my MK VI and WM maquettes and my Mark VI lsb. I would have loved to have the 1:1 busts as well but stayed away from them because of the issues surrounding their releases. I thought I would be safe with the 1/4 maquettes, but it looks like they may be affected as well. Maybe later batches will be better? It sort of reminds me of the Mark VI chin issue back when it came out. Later pieces ended up faring better IIRC.

My other fave company to produce IM stuff Hot Toys now has a 1/4 scale Mark 43 that looks fantastic and really shines as a great representation of the suit from the film. Based on how well it seems to be received they just might end up making more IM at 1/4 but while it's great to have options, I still enjoy the presence and feel of a SS Legacy IM statue. I really hope that SS can rectify these issues with their movie IM line for all those who enjoy and appreciate the work they produce.

The mark VI and WM maquettes were actually pretty expensive $500 and $550 so maybe they just can't make these at $400?

I feel like maybe if there wasn't so much black line detailing or none at all that like half the problem wouldn't be present? Would have appeared cleaner in most cases. Looking at the MK VI and WM the amount of line detailing is almost or pretty much is non existent.

 

[traylorc]

I also hope that other owners have received statues that are painted well and that the pieces with problems only represent a small number of defective statues.

IMHO here lies a very important point...

I do not want to see any collector be disappointed with receiving a product with QC issues. But let's be honest, what we tend to do on the forums is to take the first 5-6 set of pictures of a newly released product with QC issues (ala Iron Patriot), spend days blasting the identified issues, and we slowly start to assume that the identified issues are prevalent with all 3,500 IP maquettes. We then wonder how in the world can SS continue to raise prices when all of their products have these QC issues? It's a good question....because I think we all understand that continuing to raise prices while the majority of your customer base is negatively impacted by QC issues is not a sustainable business model. So one of two things is happening:

1) Sideshow's management is totally out of touch regarding their QC issues and their failure to act will cause customers to take their business elsewhere. This will result in significant declines in revenues & profits. SS is forced to either address the QC issues or risk going out of business.

2) The QC issues routinely identified on the forums negatively impact a small percentage of Sideshow's customer base. IMHO we have a tendency to assume that the issues identified in the forum are negatively impacting a large percentage of Sideshow' customers...yet none of us have any concrete information to support that assertion. Six months from now...of the 3,500 IP maquettes produced...what percentage will have been returned because of QC issues? What percentage of Apocalypse PFs were returned? How about the Wonder Woman PF?? What about previous Iron Man products??? Are we talking .5%, 2%, 25%, 50%???

 

[Raikirik]

Some great points for sure. Like I mentioned in my previous post, the Mark VI had that famous chin issue that brought up a lot of outrage and criticism, however the degree of the issue varied among pieces and eventually pictures of pieces surfaced that did not have the issue and the rage died down.

It is definitely commonplace for posts and pictures showcasing issues to arise as people who receive good statues don't have as much reason to be vocal about it.

 

[spardacus]

I get mine on Monday im worried though all those pictures look rough has anyone seen any good ones

 

[Y4NK33 PL4N3T]

The problem is that Sideshow isn't changing their QC procedure, that's exactly why their reputation is tanking. As KingB alluded to, getting a good end product from Sideshow is dependent on what factory produced it - a complete crap shoot.

Almost every single Marvel Iron Man with Sideshow's name on it since 2009 has been a QC mess in one way or another:

- Mk 3 bust: paint peeling, dead LED's
- Mk 6 Maquette: paint peeling off the chin, dead LED's, misaligned faceplates
- Mk 6 Bust: Upside down arc reactor (really!? ), horrible paint app, mismatched red paint on head and torso, broken parts, LED shining through the entire helmet
- Mk 7 bust: horrible paint app, dead LED's on arrival
- Mk 7 LSF: horrible paint app, dead LED's on arrival, foot pegs don't fit or sit flush, magnets too weak and parts fall to the floor and get damaged and/or break - and this is their top of the line $2000-$2500 Iron Man product mind you
- Iron Patriot Maquette: horrible paint app, horrible portrait

Only three releases since 2009 have shipped without a hitch for the most part: Hulkbuster Comiquette, War Machine Maquette & War machine bust.

Over half a decade later we're still seeing the same horrendous QC release after release and having the same conversations. One would think that a 20 year industry giant would have the resources to address and fix the problems that plague all their releases when start up companies and less established companies have it figured out. One would think that a 20 year industry giant would care about the problems that plague all their releases from the Marvel IM line by recalling them, making changes at their factory/factories and re-releasing an awesome product for their loyal customers to enjoy after years waiting. Offering $45-$60 credit to keep a QC-ridden end product and sweep it under the rug is historically not awesome.

The logical conclusion is that Sideshow simply doesn't care.

 

[KingB]

The problem is that Sideshow isn't changing their QC procedure, that's exactly why their reputation is tanking. As KingB alluded to, getting a good end product from Sideshow is dependent on what factory produced it - a complete crap shoot.

Almost every single Marvel Iron Man with Sideshow's name on it since 2009 has been a QC mess in one way or another:

- Mk 3 bust: paint peeling, dead LED's
- Mk 6 Maquette: paint peeling off the chin, dead LED's, misaligned faceplates
- Mk 6 Bust: Upside down arc reactor (really!? ), horrible paint app, mismatched red paint on head and torso, broken parts, LED shining through the entire helmet
- Mk 7 bust: horrible paint app, dead LED's on arrival
- Mk 7 LSF: horrible paint app, dead LED's on arrival, foot pegs don't fit or sit flush, magnets too weak and parts fall to the floor and get damaged and/or break - and this is their top of the line $2000-$2500 Iron Man product mind you
- Iron Patriot Maquette: horrible paint app, horrible portrait

Only three releases since 2009 have shipped without a hitch for the most part: Hulkbuster Comiquette, War Machine Maquette & War machine bust.

Over half a decade later we're still seeing the same horrendous QC release after release and having the same conversations. One would think that a 20 year industry giant would have the resources to address and fix the problems that plague all their releases when start up companies and less established companies have it figured out. One would think that a 20 year industry giant would care about the problems that plague all their releases from the Marvel IM line by recalling them, making changes at their factory/factories and re-releasing an awesome product for their loyal customers to enjoy after years waiting. Offering $45-$60 credit to keep a QC-ridden end product and sweep it under the rug is historically not awesome.

The logical conclusion is that Sideshow simply doesn't care.

I think what happens with most companies that get too big for their britches is that they lose touch with the business they started. The lose the tactile element they had when the business was small and more in their control. More people get hired. Some hired strictly with the goal to maximize profits. Its a business model unfortunately. Not to say SS is completely guilty of this.
The first day I went to Chipotles grand opening 10 years ago to buy a burrito I got so much chicken I could barely eat it. Now I go there and you're lucky if you get half a scoop of chicken. Is this because the employees just forget to put as much on? Some how I doubt it.