An idea for the SS marketing team

[cstojano]

The current approach to new product is to release a sneak peak, then a bigger sneak peak, then the whole shebang with perhaps a special purchasing event. Several months transpire and the piece eventually ships.

Why not do the following. Announce a new product that is ready to ship, take all orders, ship that week. I bet pieces sell out much faster with many fewer cancellations. We only like the sneak peaks now because so little is being produced and this gives us a glimmer of hope. I know I would purchase far more if the pieces shipped soon after the order was placed. The reality is that we grow tired of things and seeing something online for 5 months before having it in hand makes the heart go yonder collecting wise, for me at least. Imagine the excitment it would generate to receive an email tomorrow saying the Morgul Lord PF is ready to ship, here it is, here is the price, the ES, so order away. No buyer's remorse

 

[Darth Madden]

I don't think shipping the same week is good but maybe a month is fine. I have canceled a lot of things because I just lost interest from it taking so long to get here. I never understood why it took so long.

 

[EVILFACE]

Cause they get preorders, make them and then ship them. Seems the best way to do instead of making them upfront and possibly being left with a large amount of unsold product.

I'm fine with the preorder wait. The anticipation of the piece is part of the enjoyment.

 

[darthviper107]

The wait is also good so people can plan. I'd miss out on a lot of stuff if they just put them up for order simply because I wouldn't have saved the money for it.

Plus, they'd have a larger amount of returns from people who later changed their minds, which the return process for Sideshow is very costly.

Plus with preorders they can get a better idea of the interest in a collectible and set the edition size so they don't overestimate and produce too many.

 

[The Craw]

no thanks. this is exactly what Mattel does for their MOTU classics line. stop by the masters thread on order day if you wanna see some chaos. scalpors buy everything as fast as they can and then sell it back to the real collectors on Ebay.

 

[Kuzeh]

What does this idea have to do with SS's marketing team? ...
And yep, I second most of the comments here... specially the Mattel one...

 

[The Craw]

sideshow's is the most stress free ordering process out there. even if i miss a preorder by a few hours or even a day the wait list is pretty much guaranteed to convert.

 

[cstojano]

Well I wasn't thinking the things would sell out. Hell they could get the item and do an initial run. They should be able to predict how many they will sell. I don't think we are talking about the faux bronze ES sizes here which do sell out immediately and then n-1 appear on eBay shortly thereafter. It just drives me nuts to see a closeup of a piece of a hand, then more info leaks out and the piece is fully unveiled to great fanfare but falls off the face of the planet for 4-5 months.

But I guess I never thought about the planning part. I don't buy a lot so the price never really bothers me. I certainly don't save for things but I guess if you buy quite a bit this does become an issue. Mostly I am sick of hearing about the Gandalf the Grey PF and just want the damn thing to ship already. PLus with the latest tease we have 18 pages of speculatory and anticipatory posts.

Did things run this way back in the old days when more than 2 statues were released per year?? Surely someone is still around from the glory days.

 

[darthviper107]

Gandalf is definitely one of the things that needs planning. At the time it came up I had no extra money. PF's are expensive, and 1/6th is starting to get expensive as well. But now that I know when it's coming I've been able to plan to afford it when it ships.

And generally I just avoid threads after the preorder. No one adds anything useful at all until the item ships anyways so all there is is a bunch of crazy-talk

 

[EVILFACE]

It's been like this since they left retail stores and went direct. Started with The Phantom of the Opera figure if I remember right.

 

[mr.thrifty]

I'm fine with the way it is. I like being able to have plenty of time to think about it.

If I'm still wanting it after all that time then it'll be a keeper. not so much of an impulse buy.

 

[Trustey]

no thanks. this is exactly what Mattel does for their MOTU classics line. stop by the masters thread on order day if you wanna see some chaos. scalpors buy everything as fast as they can and then sell it back to the real collectors on Ebay.

SCALPOR!!! That sounds like the name of a MOTU character!

 

[Darklord Dave]

Cause they get preorders, make them and then ship them. Seems the best way to do instead of making them upfront and possibly being left with a large amount of unsold product.

I'm fine with the preorder wait. The anticipation of the piece is part of the enjoyment.

Yep. Sideshow has existed in an impossible market for as long as they have because they have a sensible distribution model that works well for them. I don't think it's a secret that edition sizes are set after the initial preorder. If they were to try to guess at demand prior to ordering, there would be far more unhappy collectors out there that either weren't able to get the item, or it loses value immediately on the secondary market thanks to over production.

 

[Blu Falcon]

The current approach to new product is to release a sneak peak, then a bigger sneak peak, then the whole shebang with perhaps a special purchasing event. Several months transpire and the piece eventually ships.

Sideshow needs to stick with this approach. It allows time to ponder, plan, save and anticipate.

 

[Moriaman]

Even though the wait can be torture i believe the current way is best all round,however it would be nice if SS sprung a suprise announcement say a few times a year that would be made ready to ship,very limited in numbers,mind you they do this for the con ex dont they?

 

[Valarauko]

If SS implemented this plan, they would definitely get a lot less business from me. With several months between preorder and shipping, it helps me to manage the finances better. Plus many times I've ordered a statue but then, in the course of a couple of months, additional pieces are announced that I prefer. If I had to pay right away for everything, I could find myself missing out on items that I like much better because I'm all tapped out. I would be forever paranoid about buying anything (hypothetically speaking of course).

 

[Blu Falcon]

If SS implemented this plan, they would definitely get a lot less business from me. With several months between preorder and shipping, it helps me to manage the finances better. Plus many times I've ordered a statue but then, in the course of a couple of months, additional pieces are announced that I prefer. If I had to pay right away for everything, I could find myself missing out on items that I like much better because I'm all tapped out. I would be forever paranoid about buying anything (hypothetically speaking of course).

Agree 100%

OP's plan = FAIL

 

[The Ween]

I like the way it is because it feels like Christmas over and over and over again!

 

[Red Metal]

Add me to the group that's fine with the current pre-order process and timeframe.

I really like being able to plan my purchases now. Before when I was really into the Hasbro Star Wars stuff (and other retail action figures), I never really knew how much I would spend on a given day till I got home from hunting. So much stuff dropped at random times based on when stores restocked. There would be a day when I would spend $50-$100 and then I'd go three or four weeks without buying anything because the stores would be dry. Plus, during that time I'd still be going out hunting and wasting gas money, time, etc.

So whereas action figures are alot different than SSC/high-end collectibles, I'm much more content with planning my purchases and being able to budget my hobby better. I'm glad I made the switch.

 

[FrodoEyes]

Not everyone is financially sound enough to just throw money at something the instand it's announced. Better to know it's coming and cut back on other things if need be, or put a bit of money aside a month to be able to afford it. As you say, you don't buy much so it would be fine for you, but that's quite narrow-sighted - what about the rest of the world?