Aussie Hot Toys "Freight Forwarding" advice, please?

Hello everyone,

New forum user here, and relatively new convert to the delicious crack that is Hot Toys.

I was wondering if I could ask more experienced sages for some advice to a newbie?

Specifically, despite still being in stock and in open preorders respectively, I cannot purchase Hot Toys' Avengers Captain America and Thor from Sideshow to my current Australian address, due to the "allocation" for my region being exhausted, apparently. (Which I find a confusing policy, but whatever.)

Anyway, Sideshow CS suggested to me that I try a "Freight Forwarding Service" and claims it is popular with many of their customers, but googling that term has deluged me with an excess of choice and no clear sense at all of what would be an appropriate company, or what kinds of costs would be involved.

So could anyone -- particularly anyone in the Australasian region -- who has any experience with Freight Forwarding offer me any pointers, please...?

It would be much appreciated.

Hey mate,

Weird. I'm in Melbourne and I've never had this happen. I guess I get in early enough or something.

Usually I like ordering from Sideshow because they give you rewards points for using on later purchases, but there are plenty of local e-tailers that can sell you these figures.

Try some of these.

www.popcultcha.com.au

www.shopforme.com.au

www.casefresh.com.au

www.gofigurecollectables.com.au

I think this is a new policy, someone commented on having their order cancelled, however they were honering existing pre-orders.

can't help with the forwarders unfortunately.

Or some other e-tailers from the Asia Pacific region (closer to Hong Kong) which has far better pricing (and probably cheaper shipping too) than through SSC..

EFFalcon said:

I think this is a new policy, someone commented on having their order cancelled, however they were honering existing pre-orders.

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Do you mean to say that normal in-stock orders are being rejected for Australasian customers across the board? How recently, may I ask?

Because I have received a converted backorder for the DX-12 Bruce Wayne that was placed within the last 6 weeks,
without any problem,
and have pre-ordered without incident all the other HT Avengers within the last few days,
short of Hawkeye (sold out),
and the aforementioned "region quota" issues with Thor and Cap.

Freight forwarding services will charge a not insignificant fee. Just order with another store I reckon. If you're picking up two or more figures, use BBTS.com. Their Pile of Loot feature lets you store items with them up to a six month period and then have them sent in one shipment whenever you want in that 6 months (or might be even more than 6 months).

Lejuan said:

Freight forwarding services will charge a not insignificant fee. Just order with another store I reckon. If you're picking up two or more figures, use BBTS.com. Their Pile of Loot feature lets you store items with them up to a six month period and then have them sent in one shipment whenever you want in that 6 months (or might be even more than 6 months).

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Thanks. Yeah, I do actually use BBTS a lot for other things, but their prices on HT are generally higher than Sideshow, definitely on Captain America, and their shipping is also a fair bit higher in turn.

(Also, if there are any defects of QC, I can't go to Sideshow directly.)

So I'm just wondering if the price & shipping markup on BBTS would still be less than freight forwarding...?

Basically I know absolutely nothing about freight forwarding -- I've never heard of it before.

I agree with post number 2.

Side show Cap - $215 + shipping
Popcultcha Cap - $250 free shipping.

Swings and roundabouts for 10 bucks worth of points....

I guess you've got the exclusives. Never been big on exclusives myself, not for Hot Toys anyway.

TunnelRatTrap said:

Thanks. Yeah, I do actually use BBTS a lot for other things, but their prices on HT are generally higher than Sideshow, definitely on Captain America, and their shipping is also a fair bit higher in turn.

(Also, if there are any defects of QC, I can't go to Sideshow directly.)

So I'm just wondering if the price & shipping markup on BBTS would still be less than freight forwarding...?

Basically I know absolutely nothing about freight forwarding -- I've never heard of it before.

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1. BBTS is almost always 10% cheaper than SSC on HT figures. I'm surprised that Cap isn't.

2. Their shipping is more expensive - but it evens out with 2 figures purchased and shipped using POL. Plus they pack their stuff really well and it arrives in 2-3 days.

3. BBTS CS is rock solid - HT generally don't sell out too quickly after release, so any QC issues are easily resolved. They cover return shipping too.

4. I worked it out a while ago, and going with BBTS was definitely cheaper than freight forwarding. I'd only use that service if it was an item I couldn't get anywhere else. Google "US address for Australian shipping" and you'll get a whole bunch of links to check out.

5. As others have said, sometimes Oz sellers are comparably priced on some items.

Seriously dude.

Just buy from an Australian shop.

Eapo_q42 said:

Seriously dude.

Just buy from an Australian shop.

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Can you suggest one that doesn't jack the prices through the roof?

Only place I know in Sydney that stocks Hot Toys is Hobbyco, they have a pretty limited range, and although I got the sold-out Nick Fury for a fairly reasonable $220, they want $329 for the still widely in-stock Nicholson Joker.

I'd be delighted to know of somewhere better though.

Lejuan said:

4. I worked it out a while ago, and going with BBTS was definitely cheaper than freight forwarding.

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Thanks mate, pleased to hear from someone who's done the maths.

Eapo_q42 said:

Try some of these.

www.popcultcha.com.au

Click to expand...

Solarsailor said:

I agree with post number 2.

Side show Cap - $215 + shipping
Popcultcha Cap - $250 free shipping.

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Cheers guys. Do I take it from this that you've actually both used Popcultcha without issue...?
(I'm always hesitant to first-time it on an online store I've never heard of, and I'm new to buying such big-ticket items, you see.)

TunnelRatTrap said:

Thanks mate, pleased to hear from someone who's done the maths.





Cheers guys. Do I take it from this that you've actually both used Popcultcha without issue...?
(I'm always hesitant to first-time it on an online store I've never heard of, and I'm new to buying such big-ticket items, you see.)

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Popcultcha are awesome, they've always been really responsive to my queries treat me like a valued customer. They're always about a month and a half behind Sideshow getting they're stock in (both HT and SS products), but are reliable and great guys to deal with.

Balrog said:

Popcultcha are awesome, they've always been really responsive to my queries treat me like a valued customer. They're always about a month and a half behind Sideshow getting they're stock in (both HT and SS products), but are reliable and great guys to deal with.

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Thanks man, that's a big help. On the strength of that I've just placed an order with them for the Toyfair exclusive Jim Gordon, which was for a much better price than eBay.

Based on how smoothly that all goes, I'll seriously consider placing my order for Cap with them.

I think I still generally prefer ordering from Sideshow, given the chance. The rewards points are nice if you're ordering as many things as I am all of a sudden (most of the Avengers), the occasional gift cards ain't bad, and I love the extra items you get with some of their EXcluive versions, like Superman's kryptonite, my first and until recently only Hot Toy.

But mostly I like the comfort of a comparatively direct line for replacement parts (my Superman, for example, had issues), as well as the flex-payments, which is a bit of a lifesaver for a newbie like me who's suddenly ordering rather a smidge beyond his means.

[I kinda wish they were spaced out more, actually, with most of the Avenger and Dark Knight figures supposedly arriving in March.]

Anyway, now I've just gotta try tracking down a Hawkeye without having to sell a kidney...!

TunnelRatTrap said:

Anyway, now I've just gotta try tracking down a Hawkeye without having to sell a kidney...!

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I was actually in Sydney recently, and I was staying in Drummoyne. Nearby in Abbotsford found an anime shop called Anime at Abottsford. They had a Hawkeye in there for a really reasonable price. It was only like $230 I think. Less than I paid for mine, I was kinda annoyed.

This was about week and a half ago. Might still be there.

TunnelRatTrap said:

Only place I know in Sydney that stocks Hot Toys is Hobbyco, they have a pretty limited range

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You haven't looked around hard enough! I was there for 4 days and I found more than that. There's the one I just mentioned, plus I found some at King's Comics on Pitt Street as well. They also had Enterbay stuff there. Way overpriced though.

Yeah - Popcultcha are great, even better when you catch them on a discount day.

I snagged the PC Sagat statue for $360 including shipping. That's as cheap as the Americans are getting it. There's not many things you can say that about in OZ!

Plus they usually stock sold out SS items like the Jim Gordan, Hawkeye, etc etc.

Just adding to the love for popcultcha. Really great to deal with and the Deposit option for pre-orders is as close we can get to flex-pay down here

No don't buy from an Aussie retailer, you just get ripped off.

My 2ways

1. BBTS, combine shipping and make use of their 'Pile of Loot'. Saves you heaps, if you are prepared to wait a bit and let stuff build a bit.

2. Use a freight forwarding company. I use shipito.com, you do need to pay a $50 subscription fee (which easily pays for itself), they will receive, store, give you heaps of shipping options and even consolidate multiple packages that come to you post box.

They work by providing you a US shipping address in LA. Really great service, can't speak highly enough about them.

Big PLUS by having this when the limited items are released, like the Avengers Mk6 Ironman last year, that was restricted to the Aussie market, you havea yanky address to be able to order it.

I have used Popcultcha as well, they are good, but do slug you excessively for the cost of their initial freight expense. Use them at Christmas time and around July new financial year sales to save heaps. Lt Gordon is a great buy at present, they haven't caught on to the prices this is fetching around the world.

TunnelRatTrap said:

Do you mean to say that normal in-stock orders are being rejected for Australasian customers across the board? How recently, may I ask?

Because I have received a converted backorder for the DX-12 Bruce Wayne that was placed within the last 6 weeks,
without any problem,
and have pre-ordered without incident all the other HT Avengers within the last few days,
short of Hawkeye (sold out),
and the aforementioned "region quota" issues with Thor and Cap.

Click to expand...

I think the item in question was a Black Widow pre-order.

however i can't remember exactly, i'd have to go looking for the comment.

Sideshows Aussie shipping looks to be creeping up in price aswell.. i'd always gone SS over BBTS just based on the shipping differences, but now i'd reconsider.

Eapo_q42 said:

I was actually in Sydney recently, and I was staying in Drummoyne. Nearby in Abbotsford found an anime shop called Anime at Abottsford. They had a Hawkeye in there for a really reasonable price. It was only like $230 I think. Less than I paid for mine, I was kinda annoyed.

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Mate, you are a deadset legend. I skipped over to Abbortsford that very morning and snapped it up!

Can't tell you how grateful I am to have secured that without the high expense and anxiety of eBay, which seemed like pretty much my only option left for Hawkeye!

The dude working there did say that his boss generally doesn't order Hot Toys for the store as a matter of course, unless customers specifically order them (and even less so after some deadbeat orders, apparently), so probably not a great option in future though.
But still, I got my Hawkeye!
Thanks heaps!