Iron Studios 1/4 Darth Vader

[Scottpe]

Seriously there were people a few people some pages back swearing up and down that SS wouldn't carry this because of their new Vader. I said the same ****, it's money and they don't ****ing care cause it's not gonna hurt their Vader that much. And surprise they're carrying it. Now it's "oh they just don't want to carry too many cause of their Vader". Pffft

We can probably go back and forth for days speculating on SS's motivations for selling this IS Vader and what the impact might be on the sale of their in-house piece. There is no way for us to know. And regardless of the final ES for the IS piece, we also have no clue what portion of those SS will actually be responsible for. They may have seen an opportunity to capture some quick sales from those out there (like me) who weren't interested in their statue because of the pose or whatever reason, and for all we know they may only sell a few hundred of them.

One last thing cause I'm sure tons of you have this picture of a giant warehouse of thousands of vaders and other stuff. When it comes to huge ES they don't always make the whole run at once. That's why some of it has future order dates even though it's in stock. Even stuff that sold out gets made in batches cause of their huge ES nowadays.

I'm sure this is true. But regardless, there are costs associated with managing the inventory, warehousing it, marketing it, etc. The longer the sale of any particular statue drags on, the longer those costs accumulate.

But I digress. It will be interesting to see what the final ES on this IS piece is. As someone who ordered it, I obviously hope it is on the low side.

 

[dao2]

We can probably go back and forth for days speculating on SS's motivations for selling this IS Vader and what the impact might be on the sale of their in-house piece. There is no way for us to know. And regardless of the final ES for the IS piece, we also have no clue what portion of those SS will actually be responsible for. They may have seen an opportunity to capture some quick sales from those out there (like me) who weren't interested in their statue because of the pose or whatever reason, and for all we know they may only sell a few hundred of them.



I'm sure this is true. But regardless, there are costs associated with managing the inventory, warehousing it, marketing it, etc. The longer the sale of any particular statue drags on, the longer those costs accumulate.

But I digress. It will be interesting to see what the final ES on this IS piece is. As someone who ordered it, I obviously hope it is on the low side.

See the difference being is I don't need sales numbers or data, or even a logical reason as to why they do this. I literally just have to look at what they've done before. They've done the same **** before, they clearly had reason to do it. Maybe it's a **** reason, but I don't need to know those reasons, just the fact that they've done it, and multiple times. So logically you'd assume they'd continue doing it. Saying they won't is just making stuff up to fit what you think. Saying they will is just following patterns and history and that's really all the evidence that you need If such a thing happens again with a different statue, or different license I would say the same thing.

It's not like their spiderman is much different. SS has a new spider man, they did the same ****. If IS did another SW statue there's a good chance that SS will carry it. And if they don't carry it it's probably for a reason other then the fact that it's afraid it'll hurt their own sales.

 

[Scottpe]

See the difference being is I don't need sales numbers or data, or even a logical reason as to why they do this. I literally just have to look at what they've done before. They've done the same **** before, they clearly had reason to do it.

I honestly don't really think it's a question of whether they should/shouldn't. As you pointed out, since they HAVE done it in the past means that there is obviously some benefit for them to do so. But I believe every situation is probably a bit different, and suspect there is likely a 'threshold of pain' for them regarding the ES size in this case, considering the huge ES of their own piece which it will be competing with. I wouldn't even be surprised if their distribution agreement required IS to cap the ES at some agreed upon maximum. But again, all we can do is speculate on what's really going on behind the scenes.

Regardless, I'm just happy that SS is distributing it, and at a much more palatable price than what we were initially seeing! I have only been interested in purchasing one Vader statue, and have been waiting for a very long time for the 'right' one to come along. For me, this one is it. I hope he's as great in-hand as he looks in the preliminary pics and video we've seen.

 

[dao2]

While there is definitely some cap, even if SS didn't have one there would be. But I'm sure it has to be a lot larger. Brazil is a very small market by itself compared to NA and EU. The ES IS would set alone is probably too small for SS to care, but given SS distribution in other territories I'm sure SS asked them to expand it. A hundred or so pieces wouldn't be worth it to them.

I am also indeed very happy SS (or at least someone, which in this case has to be SS as they have the license) is carrying it and I too am surprised at the price. I expected it to be the same price as Spider Man as the MSRP for that in brazil was the same as Vader's but $100 more via SS. Larger ES can help bring the price down (though you hardly ever see SS actually lower their price with a higher ES ).

 

[Scottpe]

...though you hardly ever see SS actually lower their price with a higher ES ).

Very true...unfortunately.

 

[Newbieguy]

Maybe there should be a thread called "SSC business strategy discussion" to keep other threads like this one focused on the item. Can we get back on topic? 99% of us don't give a witches titty why any company does what they do.

 

[Centurion]

 

[Scottpe]

Maybe there should be a thread called "SSC business strategy discussion" to keep other threads like this one focused on the item. Can we get back on topic? 99% of us don't give a witches titty why any company does what they do.

Really it was just an offshoot of the speculation on what the ES might be. But I hear ya. Feel free to introduce a new point of discussion. Seems like we're pretty much just in a holding pattern on this piece for now...

 

[Newbieguy]

Really it was just an offshoot of the speculation on what the ES might be. But I hear ya. Feel free to introduce a new point of discussion. Seems like we're pretty much just in a holding pattern on this piece for now...

For super top secret base ES is 974. Again, who cares what the ES is? You like you buy. You don't like you don't buy.

 

[Scottpe]

Again, who cares what the ES is? You like you buy. You don't like you don't buy.

Some people care what the resale value might be down the road. For me it is a display piece that I will enjoy looking at, but there is also an 'investment' aspect to the purchase. A lower ES usually means higher value in the event that I need/choose to sell the statue. The ES isn't necessarily going to influence whether I purchase it, but it is still an important piece of the puzzle.

 

[myc]

its obvious that you want a lower ES as a collector. ALso when you Pre-order something. You dont want your pre-order to be about 20% cheaper on ebay once released because there are 3478023840389 pieces unsold yet.

 

[ambasah]

what myc said.

unless you have more money than you know what to do with, you don't want to receive your statue and find it readily available for 20-30% less than you paid. Just ask anyone who owns any of the red son statues what it feels like : )

 

[epitaph04]

Yes we all love low ESs. It's a cool feeling to own something that is truly limited, and it's what makes me preorder things, hence why I havent preordered any SS product in a good while thanks to their artificial ES. However, if I am in love with the design and it's a character that means a lot to me, then the ES doesn't nearly matter as much to me. Case in point, this statue. This is the ultimate vader to me, and I need.

 

[dao2]

Yes we all love low ESs. It's a cool feeling to own something that is truly limited, and it's what makes me preorder things, hence why I havent preordered any SS product in a good while thanks to their artificial ES. However, if I am in love with the design and it's a character that means a lot to me, then the ES doesn't nearly matter as much to me. Case in point, this statue. This is the ultimate vader to me, and I need.

Ditto, while it's not as important to me as how awesome something looks knowing something is "rare" is literally how collectibles industries started and what they're built on Though when that is really the primary thing they are built on that is why they are inevitably doomed to crash ^^

Also important because I expect something with a high ES to be cheaper. It costs them less to produce so you damn well better not be surprised when I expect to get a piece of that discount. And of course resale value

 

[afattori]

Preordered today. Used $20 off coupon. Will be my first star wars 1:4 scale.

 

[Newbieguy]

I have yet to and never expect
to make money off any figures / statues I own. I buy what I like, enjoy them and if I get tired of them or. O longer fit in my collection I sell them for what I can. I have a 1/6 Luke in disguise for sale which is a pretty sought after discontinued item and I doubt it will even sell for retail plus shipping.

 

[JAL4U2C]

I emailed customer service to see if they could add a few extra payments to the flexpay but they won't. I don't see what the problem is to add the payments since it will be late arriving anyways. Oh well. No sale.

 

[Centurion]

I emailed customer service to see if they could add a few extra payments to the flexpay but they won't. I don't see what the problem is to add the payments since it will be late arriving anyways. Oh well. No sale.

Haha!
You should have told them, "C'mon! You guys are going to move the shipping back 6 months anyway, then after that, announce that there is a 4 month delay from the factory!"

You know...the usual.

 

[Grizzzy]

1/6 figures will rarely go up in resale value due to many factors, mainly because the hard(er) core collectors are more interested in the heavier, larger pieces such as 1/4 and up. Who will pay what ever they feel it's worth to them, especially if it has a low ES and second hand market obtain ability/availability. 1/6 figures also rare even have an ES. This ofcourse does not include the vehicles such as the tauntaun etc. whilst I have this on pre-order, I'll be paying close to $1100 for it once import taxes and shipping is added (AU) so I'd sure as hell prefer a low ES in case I need/am forced to sell later down the track for any reason, as mentioned by other posters.
I actually started buying 1/4 statues to make a bit of money here and there at first to be able to buy a more expensive statue, for basically free, which is what I've been doing. However, this game is way too addictive as now I have 30+ statues sitting in my cupboard, mostly brand new . Don't get me wrong, some I'll never sell, like the tauntaun or the Vader and Obi mythos unless the price is right.

Back to topic, I'm so excited for this piece and plan to display it. I just hope it doesn't land up on local sites for 75% of the price with a massive ES... it just won't "feel" as valuable to me in that case.

 

[Grizzzy]

Oh and a big congratulations to anyone that has pre-ordered their new IS Vader. This thing looks bad ass, and I know we're all gonna love the **** outta it!