Sideshow grumble

[The Josh]

Eh, I think their Jabba, Bib Fortuna, Plo Koon, ROTS Obi Wan and Kit Fisto easily fell into that category as well. Vader, AOTC Kenobi and the troopers aside as they are not yet available, although the prototypes were awesome, you also forgot Darth Maul. --> :maul

But this is silly as the Smithsonian has Hasbro Star Wars toys in it too. Plain and simple, "Museum Quality" is a matter of perception and opinion. And to be honest, after seeing several of the SSF members' galleries of their 12" SW collections, I can honestly say I didn't stop and think, "Damn, that TESB Han has a pig face!" There's always something about every single figure they produce, with the exception of Padme and Yavin Luke, that captivate me by the amount of detail involved in the design, execution and yes, even quality, on a mass scale.

I have to agree. When I look at the stuff I still have or stuff others have I just look and admire how nice the stuff looks. Every piece has an issues from every company. People really need to try and enjoy their hobbies more instead of turning them into some kind of perfection game.

 

[Lee in MI]

I don't think most folks are looking for perfection at all...just the best they can be. And we all know SSC has the talent, licenses and potential to be just that. Hot Toys should not be chomping at their heels like they are.

 

[ck1]

I don't think most folks are looking for perfection at all...just the best they can be. And we all know SSC has the talent, licenses and potential to be just that. Hot Toys should not be chomping at their heels like they are.

Those sentances are wrong on so many levels.

 

[Lee in MI]

Those sentances are wrong on so many levels.

Care to elaborate or do you just like jumping in conversations, saying something esoteric, then leave?

 

[thenammagazine]

HotToys this, HotToys that. Yeah, HotToys makes great action figures. I own many but I also have forked out a bunch of cash to do so. I wonder what would happen if Sideshow increased their quality, followed by their prices to match HotToys (think at minimum $175 per action figure plus shipping!). I wonder how many people would whine about it:

"Gee, Sideshow, your stuff's sooooooooo expensive! Too expensive! Drop your prices and put everything back on the buck! I can't afford it now!"

Everyone says they'd be more than happy to pay it, but the forums are PACKED with people whining about the higher prices of Medicom and HotToys 1:6 action figures...

 

[Lee in MI]

"Gee, Sideshow, your stuff's sooooooooo expensive! Too expensive! Drop your prices and put everything back on the buck! I can't afford it now!"

Put it back on the buck!!!

Everyone says they'd be more than happy to pay it, but the forums are PACKED with people whining about the higher prices of Medicom and HotToys 1:6 action figures...

...and yet they keep selling...

 

[thenammagazine]

Put it back on the buck!!!

...and yet they keep selling...

This is true. But I'd be very interested to see a comparison of which sells more. A higher price means a smaller consumer base. Case in point. StarWarsShop.com bought, wasn't it 1000 of the Shock Troopers? They had them listed for months and months and they didn't sell until they were discounted to $75. That's a HUGE loss. Sideshow makes 6,000 Storm Troopers and they sell out in less than 6 minutes. Do the math.

 

[lcummins]

...Sideshow makes 6,000 Storm Troopers and they sell out in less than 6 minutes. Do the math.

Actually, it was the exclusive version which sold out that fast, and it was limited to 1500 figures, a large percentage of which, were pre-sold at SDCC before the PPO even went up. The regular was an edition size of 6000 and it lasted for many days (maybe even weeks) before selling out.

 

[Lee in MI]

Actually, it was the exclusive version which sold out that fast, and it was limited to 1500 figures, a large percentage of which, were pre-sold at SDCC before the PPO even went up. The regular was an edition size of 6000 and it lasted for many days (maybe even weeks) before selling out.

Thats correct...and remember that those 6000 are retailer orders that are not really final sales. In many cases, lots of these go back to SSC due to the retailers not be able to sell them...this accounts for some of the waitlist conversions and many of the second chance opportunities. Remember the mysterious Hot Toys USCM's that suddenly became available that caused so much commotion? It wasn't a warehouse find...it was a retailer return.

 

[thenammagazine]

Remember the mysterious Hot Toys USCM's that suddenly became available that caused so much commotion? It wasn't a warehouse find...it was a retailer return.

Doesn't that prove my point?

Additionally, the 6k aren't all retailer orders. I'm putting my money on the fact that the majority of those excess were customer purchases directly from Sideshow.

 

[Lee in MI]

Doesn't that prove my point?

Additionally, the 6k aren't all retailer orders. I'm putting my money on the fact that the majority of those excess were customer purchases directly from Sideshow.

Actually it doesn't...you see those were sitting somewhere in Whoknows, USA and they wouldn't sell. Once SS got em back, they sold em right away...at whatever the Hot Toys price was. The HT and Medicom stuff sells...and it sells very well. So to your point, no, if SS stepped up their quality (on the production side) and matched their prices to that effort, they would still sell figures just as briskly as Medi or HT. Sure there would be some rumblings, there always are, but if the matched what HT's production level is as far as quality, you bet your arse they would still sell a lot of figs even at $120-140 bucks.

Well let me clarify. I didn't mean to suggest all 6k were retailer orders, but my money would be on the majority of those being just that...but both positions are a matter of opinion and we'll never know, so moot point.

 

[onethousandmasks]

I always tought of Sideshow as a less expensive alternative. Medicom and Hot toys are too expensive for some of us poor folk. Yes, Sideshow has gone up in price, but if you guys noticed so has HT and Medicom. The price hike has gone up all across the board in this economy.

 

[Vader AL]

just need to vent, I HATE HATE HATE signatured required shipping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:emperor

rant over.

 

[ck1]

Care to elaborate or do you just like jumping in conversations, saying something esoteric, then leave?

Sorry for late reply, I have been drooling over the new trooper from ssc!

I dont understand where you're coming from regarding Hot Toys as competition to ssc. First of all aren't hot toys manufacturing the ssc trooper range? Also I dont know why people would consider competition as bad when in reality it only drives up standards. Progress I like to call it

 

[onethousandmasks]

Sorry for late reply, I have been drooling over the new trooper from ssc!

I dont understand where you're coming from regarding Hot Toys as competition to ssc. First of all aren't hot toys manufacturing the ssc trooper range? Also I dont know why people would consider competition as bad when in reality it only drives up standards. Progress I like to call it

I agree. Also, as far as competition goes, I dont get it either, since neither are producing or have the license for the same stuff.

 

[FQRizzo]

just need to vent, I HATE HATE HATE signatured required shipping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:emperor

rant over.

I would like to agree with you x 1000. It should be the other way around. You should have to make special arrangements to get signature confirmation, not remove it.

 

[thenammagazine]

Actually it doesn't...you see those were sitting somewhere in Whoknows, USA and they wouldn't sell. Once SS got em back, they sold em right away...at whatever the Hot Toys price was. The HT and Medicom stuff sells...and it sells very well. So to your point, no, if SS stepped up their quality (on the production side) and matched their prices to that effort, they would still sell figures just as briskly as Medi or HT. Sure there would be some rumblings, there always are, but if the matched what HT's production level is as far as quality, you bet your arse they would still sell a lot of figs even at $120-140 bucks.

Still makes no sense. They DIDN'T sell at the other retailer. So Sideshow action figures sell there whereas they think HT are too expensive. I've seen several customers at my local comic shop who feel the same too. Masks has proved my point:

I always tought of Sideshow as a less expensive alternative. Medicom and Hot toys are too expensive for some of us poor folk. Yes, Sideshow has gone up in price, but if you guys noticed so has HT and Medicom. The price hike has gone up all across the board in this economy.

Additionally, take a long hard look at the number of HotToys action figures Sideshow imports vs. what they sell from products they manufacture. We're talking about comparing sales of hundreds of HotToys to thousands of Sideshow. It's not hard to go out on a limb and say if they imported 8,000 of any of HotToys action figures that's a hard number to sell, especially at the near $200 mark, regardless of quality. StarWarsShop couldn't even sell 1000 shock troopers at $150. They had to knock the price down 50% to $75 and take the loss. Now multiply that by eight.

 

[thenammagazine]

Sorry for late reply, I have been drooling over the new trooper from ssc!

I dont understand where you're coming from regarding Hot Toys as competition to ssc. First of all aren't hot toys manufacturing the ssc trooper range? Also I dont know why people would consider competition as bad when in reality it only drives up standards. Progress I like to call it

I think HotToys just worked with them on the design (though don't quote me on that). As for competition, keep in mind, it also drives the prices up in some cases.

 

[ck1]

I think HotToys just worked with them on the design (though don't quote me on that). As for competition, keep in mind, it also drives the prices up in some cases.

Competition usually drives prices down, anti-monoply and all that.

 

[thenammagazine]

Competition usually drives prices down, anti-monoply and all that.

Yes, well, "competition" and all, that hasn't happened with any of these action figure companies. All three have raised their prices over the last two years. Shoot, even Hasbro has raised the cost of their 12" Joe line.