1/6 Doctor Who Figures - BCS and everything else

[Niceman]

Re: Big Chief Studios - 1/6 Doctor Who - #04 Tom Baker

Just doing a US costing.
141.66 + 27.50 = 169.16 ( less than UK price before postage), and at today's exchange, $255.48

How about shipping?

Either way, that compares pretty poorly to a HT figure delivered in the US.

 

[Lejuan]

Re: Big Chief Studios - 1/6 Doctor Who - #04 Tom Baker

How about shipping?

Either way, that compares pretty poorly to a HT figure delivered in the US.

The shipping is there, £27.50. And tbh, it has been a long while since a HT set with accessories other than hands and a sidearm was less than two hundred and twenty bucks.

 

[Niceman]

Re: Big Chief Studios - 1/6 Doctor Who - #04 Tom Baker

The shipping is there, £27.50. And tbh, it has been a long while since a HT set with accessories other than hands and a sidearm was less than two hundred and twenty bucks.

Ah, my mistake. Then around $255/$260 depending on the fluctuation of the exchange rate. Well, take a look at the recent HT figures with similar accessories. Coulson is $185 shipped. Nick Fury was $189. Hawkeye was $189. Black Widow was $189. Thor is $199. When you get up to $225 you're look at characters with a lot more to them than BC figures.

That's all a lot lower than around $260.

And consider how many people are replacing BC bodies with HT bodies (add $60ish) and they're no bargain financially. My only point is that buying direct is very expensive. Amy Pond is selling for $189 at BBTS. That's at least $40 cheaper. In the long run, these figures will need to be bought from a US distributor like that. There is a limited number of figures those of us in the US will drop an extra $50-60 bucks on to buy direct. I'm happy to get 10,4,& 3 (maybe even 4 &9) even at these prices, but after that I would prefer a US distributor and a price more in line with their competition.

 

[Lejuan]

Re: Big Chief Studios - 1/6 Doctor Who - #04 Tom Baker

You're looking at all of this from a US-centric point of view, which is fair enough. For an Australian used to shelling out around forty bucks shipping on top of every release, the value seems much better.

 

[DGTWoodward]

Re: Big Chief Studios - 1/6 Doctor Who - #04 Tom Baker

You're looking at all of this from a US-centric point of view, which is fair enough. For an Australian used to shelling out around forty bucks shipping on top of every release, the value seems much better.

Due to the enormous shifts in world financing, the almighty dollar now not quite as almighty and the USA borrowing money from Communist China...? Really? America owes China...who ever thought that that would happen? I think that our American cousins are now beginning to feel the 'real world' costs of buying thing from oversees. A cost that non US residents who are ordering from America have had to live with for a long time.

It's not a nice awakening so it's understandable, and they don't like it.

Welcome to the rest of the world.

 

[Darthgothikus]

Re: Big Chief Studios - 1/6 Doctor Who - #04 Tom Baker

Yeah, not to be argumentative, but honestly, this is how we UK/ Euro collectors feel ALL THE TIME!

This is one of the very few companies making High end figures based in the UK (Production in China I know).

I do agree that they are way overpriced though, as are Hot Toys, Medicom, Enterbay........ but what ya gonna do? We keep buying they keep price increasing.

 

[DVD1]

Re: Big Chief Studios - 1/6 Doctor Who - #04 Tom Baker

Hey, I live here in China, where they make these things! By the time I get mine, its traveled the distance of the entire planet and cost me postage..twice! Haha!
Fortunately, I make up for all that by just being able to walk down town to pick up my Hot Toys figures.

 

[murdomac]

Re: Big Chief Studios - 1/6 Doctor Who - #04 Tom Baker

Prices, prices, prices, always a problem and they are getting out of hand, ebay is a good example just study on there for a while, first take the quite ridiculous buy it now prices then compare that with the few people that are actually brave enough to auction thier figures and you begin to see a trend.

Some recent examlpes - a Matt Smith doctor BIN £170 - £200+ one sold for £63 one for £83, Inception Cobb BIN £120 selling for £57, Hot Toys Terminator T-800 BIN £225+ sold for £150, Hot toys Hicks BIN's of 3/4/£500 (lol) sold for £135, and there are lots of other examples of all sorts of different figures/manufacturers.

As ebay is an open market and therefore goverened by the market and most will only pay what they feel something is worth the above would suggest figures are disgustingly overpriced as an open auction doesn't come close to the R.R.P.

BCS have managed I think with the "limited Edition" "only 700 worldwide" line which is a recognized marketing ploy to drive us into a buying frenzy and seems to have worked for them, thier pricing though jumping from £150 (which in my opinion was already pushing it) to £170 (non sig editions ofc) for no other reason it would appear than to recoup lost monies from their own errors is typically cynical for a business.

I'm in this catogory, I have bought this figure, paid in full, the pull of childhood memories is to strong and outweighs the sensible adult telling me it's way to much to pay for a pice of plastic and cloth and by doing so have no doubt contributed to the problem, but nostalgia is a powerfull thing.

 

[thedarkknight]

Re: Big Chief Studios - 1/6 Doctor Who - #04 Tom Baker

The price on the direct from Big Chief has me much more cautious in what I buy, which in a way, is a good thing. I pre-ordered a limited David Tennant and a signature Tom Baker, but am seriously considering dropping David, with price as a main factor. By no means am I saying the figures are "not worth it", but I have to decide what I truely want, as funds are not unlimited in my case. So, with fewer impulse buys, it keeps my collection more focused on things that I really want and probably won't sell down the road, unless I absolutely need the money.

 

[Doom Saber]

Re: Big Chief Studios - 1/6 Doctor Who - #04 Tom Baker

The price on the direct from Big Chief has me much more cautious in what I buy, which in a way, is a good thing. I pre-ordered a limited David Tennant and a signature Tom Baker, but am seriously considering dropping David, with price as a main factor. By no means am I saying the figures are "not worth it", but I have to decide what I truely want, as funds are not unlimited in my case. So, with fewer impulse buys, it keeps my collection more focused on things that I really want and probably won't sell down the road, unless I absolutely need the money.

If you don't want David, I will buy it off of ya.

I agree with the impulse buys. I think Baker and Tennant would be my last 1/6 figures

 

[JonWes]

Re: Big Chief Studios - 1/6 Doctor Who - #04 Tom Baker

Thing is, BCS are selling these ex vat to non uk customers, and postage doesn't hit the cost of vat, so, I can't see a better option than to buy direct from BCS.

I think you're missing the original point. Someone wondered if more 10's (which BCS is sold out of) would be sold elsewhere. Yes, it's going to be cheaper to buy from BCS with their exclusives because IF someone like BBTS bought some, they'd be selling the figures for $400 or something to cover costs and make money.

As far as pricing, I recognize a lot of what you guys are saying is true. But, at the end of the day, the actual cost to me—regardless of the reasons—is just too high for me to justify long term. Even as a huge Doctor Who fan. So I'm hoping after this year they either go back to the same distribution they did with 11 and Amy... or they work out a deal with a specific store (WhoNA would be my recommendation) where they allow them to import in bulk and give them a break to make the costs more reasonable.

I'm all up for paying $200 for these plus shipping. Getting closer to $300 is just too much long term. I think these figures are hitting a ceiling that people will pay. For 10 and 4? People will go the extra mile. And as much as I love ALL the Doctors... that won't be the case for all of them.

 

[TheObsoleteMan]

Re: Big Chief Studios - 1/6 Doctor Who - #04 Tom Baker

If they're not willing to sell the most iconic version of Tom Baker outside of their own site, then I seriously doubt they'll ever sell through other retailers again.

 

[Doom Saber]

Re: Big Chief Studios - 1/6 Doctor Who - #04 Tom Baker

I think you're missing the original point. Someone wondered if more 10's (which BCS is sold out of) would be sold elsewhere. Yes, it's going to be cheaper to buy from BCS with their exclusives because IF someone like BBTS bought some, they'd be selling the figures for $400 or something to cover costs and make money.

As far as pricing, I recognize a lot of what you guys are saying is true. But, at the end of the day, the actual cost to me—regardless of the reasons—is just too high for me to justify long term. Even as a huge Doctor Who fan. So I'm hoping after this year they either go back to the same distribution they did with 11 and Amy... or they work out a deal with a specific store (WhoNA would be my recommendation) where they allow them to import in bulk and give them a break to make the costs more reasonable.

I'm all up for paying $200 for these plus shipping. Getting closer to $300 is just too much long term. I think these figures are hitting a ceiling that people will pay. For 10 and 4? People will go the extra mile. And as much as I love ALL the Doctors... that won't be the case for all of them.

I think BCS is taking advantage of the 50th anniversary as in releasing the two most popular Doctors in the series as exclusive 50th anniversary figures. It would make sense having these two limited editions considering how the 11th Doctor was discounted at some stores to around $120 from the $200 price tag - I got mines for 165 with free shipping on ebay, but it came with over a hundred dollars worth of books for free; the visual dictionary, the encyclopedia, the handbook, and a Doctor Who mag with the actor playing Church-Hill on the cover.

Maybe because of how the 11th Doctor didn't too sell too well (to the point of online shops having discounts for the figure) and how Amy (who will more likely be a shelf warmer considering how the signature edition figure is still on sell on the website) has had production problems since day 1, BCS wanted to try the exclusive route to make more revenue. It would suck if they continue to go with this trend since I would imagine that the lesser known Doctors (5, 6, 7, and 8) will sell if they are exclusive to the site.

 

[Niceman]

Re: Big Chief Studios - 1/6 Doctor Who - #04 Tom Baker

You're looking at all of this from a US-centric point of view, which is fair enough. For an Australian used to shelling out around forty bucks shipping on top of every release, the value seems much better.

Discussion of them having a US distributor would make sense to be seen from a US-centric point of view, don't you think?

 

[JonWes]

Re: Big Chief Studios - 1/6 Doctor Who - #04 Tom Baker

Maybe because of how the 11th Doctor didn't too sell too well (to the point of online shops having discounts for the figure) and how Amy (who will more likely be a shelf warmer considering how the signature edition figure is still on sell on the website) has had production problems since day 1, BCS wanted to try the exclusive route to make more revenue. It would suck if they continue to go with this trend since I would imagine that the lesser known Doctors (5, 6, 7, and 8) will sell if they are exclusive to the site.

They definitely presented it, originally, as more of a 50th-only thing. I hope that sticks.

 

[Captain Britain]

Re: Big Chief Studios - 1/6 Doctor Who - #04 Tom Baker

Interesting debate about pricing and great to see it so polite. I don't think there's much point in complaining about the price, you either have the money or you don't. If Tom had been cheaper I might have bought him; but if he'd looked better, if the likeness and scarf material had been startlingly good instead of merely good, then I would probably have bought him at the current price. However, £170 for a figure that doesn't look like being top, top, top quality is an easy pass. More expensive figures mean you get choosier.

 

[Doom Saber]

Re: Big Chief Studios - 1/6 Doctor Who - #04 Tom Baker

Interesting debate about pricing and great to see it so polite. I don't think there's much point in complaining about the price, you either have the money or you don't. If Tom had been cheaper I might have bought him; but if he'd looked better, if the likeness and scarf material had been startlingly good instead of merely good, then I would probably have bought him at the current price. However, £170 for a figure that doesn't look like being top, top, top quality is an easy pass. More expensive figures mean you get choosier.

If the headsculpt of this Tom figure turned out as well as the Matt Smith one, I wouldn't want to dream of getting the Warrior's Gate upcoming Tom Baker pre-S12?-S17 head.

I think the problem with the sculpt is that the eyes are too wide open. While it is true Tom Baker have big eyes, the way they are shown in the sculpt has him in a surprised look like this photo:

The gesture of the mouth makes the headsculpt in a surprised, scared look. I think a more serious and determined Tom Baker head would have bee more suitable.

Getting the alternate WGP head plus a possible painter would cost 200 more. Not to mention the body used for the Tom Baker figure looks too skinny. Sure, Tom was a skinny fellow, but his shoulders should be broader or more likely, the head is just too big.

I think when I get the figure and before the WGP alt head comes out, I will be using the WGP S18 Tom Baker's head

 

[Doom Saber]

Re: Big Chief Studios - 1/6 Doctor Who - #04 Tom Baker

They definitely presented it, originally, as more of a 50th-only thing. I hope that sticks.

I hope that is the case too. Perhaps that once these two are out the door, as well as the eventual release of the 12th Doctor, BCS will revisit the two doctors. Someone here have said that BCS will do another 10th Doctor (makes sense since there are images of an alternate red sneaker for the 10th doctor on BCS' FB page), so maybe BCS just did the two most popular doctors for the 50th Anniversary.

I wonder if they could squeeze in John Hurt's Doctor for the 50th

 

[Lejuan]

Re: Big Chief Studios - 1/6 Doctor Who - #04 Tom Baker

Discussion of them having a US distributor would make sense to be seen from a US-centric point of view, don't you think?

Whenever an American complains about how much the cost of shipping adds to a dolly, nobody else cares

 

[Niceman]

Re: Big Chief Studios - 1/6 Doctor Who - #04 Tom Baker

Whenever an American complains about how much the cost of shipping adds to a dolly, nobody else cares

Hey, I get it. That's cool. You can hate on us as much as you want.

However, there are a lot of Americans on this thread and the comment was in regards to those of us in the U.S. for whom these figures cost FAR more than even a HT or Enterbay figure.

EDIT: It's not about sympathy, it's just economics. It costs $40-60 more to buy directly from BC than it would from a US distributor.