Premium Format Aquaman - Premium Format Figure

[marker2037]

You're still buying it from them

That's what he's saying. Sideshow still will get their cut.

 

[Gipetto0812]

wow if I was more of an Aquaman fan I'd totally PO this one on day! and i don't even normally like fully sculpted statues

 

[sarakawa]

Re: Aquaman - Premium Format DC Comics - SSC

You don't find ot strange that Prime1 is only doing video game based 1/3rd statues and TV based versions of Arrow and The Flash at that size? And no' most people want comic book versions of these chararacters which is why Sideshow can sell thousands of 1/4 scale PFs and Prime1 hasn't dented Sideshows sales a bit.

Prime1 is only going to be able to do what Sideshow allows them to do, it was said by both Jerry over PCS and XM studios that Sideshow basically has Control of almost every scale of the DC license which is why they were not allowed to do anything but what they had.

So no, its not even close to direct competetion. Sideshow will continue to controll the comic based versions of the characters in any scale they want and Prime1 will get video game and tv based 1/3rd and some movie based 1/2 scale pieces.

Yea, honestly that's not a good thing. For one company to hold such a monopoly over one region is bad for us collectors. That being said, it could definitely be worse. Sideshow is pretty solid for the most part. They have some hits and misses but overall, the quality is solid. The customer service is solid as well. Still, I enjoy what companies like XM and Prime 1 are offering. It would be nice to see a more even distribution among distributors in the future...this would really be the ideal situation for us collectors. As for Aquaman, if SSC prices stuff like this to make a bit more sense rather than what we saw with Red Son Bats, I will be POing more in the future than I expected. I have a nice credit to drop this to $390 which is pushing me to PO even more.

 

[Asdf]

Re: Aquaman - Premium Format DC Comics - SSC

Yea, honestly that's not a good thing. For one company to hold such a monopoly over one region is bad for us collectors. That being said, it could definitely be worse. Sideshow is pretty solid for the most part. They have some hits and misses but overall, the quality is solid. The customer service is solid as well. Still, I enjoy what companies like XM and Prime 1 are offering. It would be nice to see a more even distribution among distributors in the future...this would really be the ideal situation for us collectors. As for Aquaman, if SSC prices stuff like this to make a bit more sense rather than what we saw with Red Son Bats, I will be POing more in the future than I expected. I have a nice credit to drop this to $390 which is pushing me to PO even more.

Yup... more competition will only benefit us as consumers. Don't matter it's Prime1, SS, IA or XM. =)

 

[Josh-A-Tron]

Re: Aquaman - Premium Format DC Comics - SSC

Yea, honestly that's not a good thing. For one company to hold such a monopoly over one region is bad for us collectors. That being said, it could definitely be worse. Sideshow is pretty solid for the most part. They have some hits and misses but overall, the quality is solid. The customer service is solid as well. Still, I enjoy what companies like XM and Prime 1 are offering. It would be nice to see a more even distribution among distributors in the future...this would really be the ideal situation for us collectors. As for Aquaman, if SSC prices stuff like this to make a bit more sense rather than what we saw with Red Son Bats, I will be POing more in the future than I expected. I have a nice credit to drop this to $390 which is pushing me to PO even more.

It's going to take a company willing to spend enough to get a split of the licensing in order to make any real progress as far as competition that will eventually benefit us as consumers.

Yup... more competition will only benefit us as consumers. Don't matter it's Prime1, SS, IA or XM. =)

That's the problem, there isn't any real competition. Direct competition is the only way we as consumers win because it would cause a quality and price war between companies. Right now, look at the marvel side of things with Iron Studios/XM/SSC there isn't direct competition because of the regional licenses which means each company can still pretty much charge whatever they like and quality only really changes if the company themselves decide to make an effort, no oen is forcing the issue. If they were in direct competition, SSC would have to include more switch outs and XM would have to lower prices and both would have to try and keep quality at a certain level or lose business to one or the other. As it stands now, none of them have to do anything.

 

[filip629]

Re: Aquaman - Premium Format DC Comics - SSC

You don't find ot strange that Prime1 is only doing video game based 1/3rd statues and TV based versions of Arrow and The Flash at that size? And no' most people want comic book versions of these chararacters which is why Sideshow can sell thousands of 1/4 scale PFs and Prime1 hasn't dented Sideshows sales a bit.

Prime1 is only going to be able to do what Sideshow allows them to do, it was said by both Jerry over PCS and XM studios that Sideshow basically has Control of almost every scale of the DC license which is why they were not allowed to do anything but what they had.

So no, its not even close to direct competetion. Sideshow will continue to controll the comic based versions of the characters in any scale they want and Prime1 will get video game and tv based 1/3rd and some movie based 1/2 scale pieces.

Keep in mind that Prime will be releasing comic based statues of DC characters in 1/5 scale. It's interesting that we have yet to see a DC comiquette from SSC.

 

[nemenforcer]

I can agree with that. Competition is competition. All the companies are competing for a scarce resource, nerd hobby money

I know this last year I spent a small fortune on XM statues and that has directly impacted my SS orders. This week alone I made the conscious decision to purchase XM Ms Marvel and pass on the SS Balent Catwoman. I'v also played with the idea of picking up the Prime1 Optimus and Bee but if I did that it would all but guarantee no more SS pieces over the next year. For me, I prioritize based on the line. I have always been more of a Marvel person so XM is taking most of money. But if I was more of a DC person I would throwing money at SS. That said the Prime1 Arkham line is everything I have always wanted and I am super disappointed with what SS has done with the line. Even if not in pricing, SS still needs to produce better products that can compete for my money and I think they are getting better in some areas. I think this Aquaman is fantastic if DC was my main line.

 

[Josh-A-Tron]

Re: Aquaman - Premium Format DC Comics - SSC

Keep in mind that Prime will be releasing comic based statues of DC characters in 1/5 scale. It's interesting that we have yet to see a DC comiquette from SSC.

That was said, and then never mentioned again, but Sideshow has stepped back from 1/5th scale statues, as a matter of fact I think in the last 3 years the only 1/5th scale things we've seen is the Engineer from Prometheus and He-man, though the new Alien is supposed to be 1/5th as well. It's still no where near the amount of 1/5th scale stuff they used to produce and I think the market dictated that.

I'm of the mind that Sideshow is basically letting certain licensing they have be rented to Prime1, they have good terms with them and they can distribute them to the US.

 

[Josh-A-Tron]

I can agree with that. Competition is competition. All the companies are competing for a scarce resource, nerd hobby money

I know this last year I spent a small fortune on XM statues and that has directly impacted my SS orders. This week alone I made the conscious decision to purchase XM Ms Marvel and pass on the SS Balent Catwoman. I'v also played with the idea of picking up the Prime1 Optimus and Bee but if I did that it would all but guarantee no more SS pieces over the next year. For me, I prioritize based on the line. I have always been more of a Marvel person so XM is taking most of money. But if I was more of a DC person I would throwing money at SS. That said the Prime1 Arkham line is everything I have always wanted and I am super disappointed with what SS has done with the line. Even if not in pricing, SS still needs to produce better products that can compete for my money and I think they are getting better in some areas. I think this Aquaman is fantastic if DC was my main line.

I buy both Marvel and DC, I could never allow myself to throw the kind of Money at Xm that they ask, and then have shipping on top of it and I dislike most of they head sculpts, though they have been getting better. Prime1 is doing great things with the Game related stuff, that said, it's game related. I prefer my comic depictions of these characters. Now, If Prime1 does produce a 1/5th scale comic Batman, that I'll buy, but in no way does it effect my spending on 1/4 scale DC statues.

 

[sarakawa]

I buy both Marvel and DC, I could never allow myself to throw the kind of Money at Xm that they ask, and then have shipping on top of it and I dislike most of they head sculpts, though they have been getting better. Prime1 is doing great things with the Game related stuff, that said, it's game related. I prefer my comic depictions of these characters. Now, If Prime1 does produce a 1/5th scale comic Batman, that I'll buy, but in no way does it effect my spending on 1/4 scale DC statues.

XM stuff is pricier but I also find a little solace in the fact that they are worth double what I pay for them before I even receive the statue. Plus, so far I have only been interested in their X-men pieces which they can't touch anymore for the time being. Prime 1 stuff looks amazing and I think the AK stuff has appeal even if you haven't played the games. But you're right about 1/4 scale in that no one can truly challenge SSC in North America. I wonder what really prompted them to charge $429.99 for Aquaman? Red Son Bats at $489.99 just sounds ridiculous now.

 

[Tbolt]

I can agree with that. Competition is competition. All the companies are competing for a scarce resource, nerd hobby money

I know this last year I spent a small fortune on XM statues and that has directly impacted my SS orders. This week alone I made the conscious decision to purchase XM Ms Marvel and pass on the SS Balent Catwoman. I'v also played with the idea of picking up the Prime1 Optimus and Bee but if I did that it would all but guarantee no more SS pieces over the next year. For me, I prioritize based on the line. I have always been more of a Marvel person so XM is taking most of money. But if I was more of a DC person I would throwing money at SS. That said the Prime1 Arkham line is everything I have always wanted and I am super disappointed with what SS has done with the line. Even if not in pricing, SS still needs to produce better products that can compete for my money and I think they are getting better in some areas. I think this Aquaman is fantastic if DC was my main line.

And that is why there can be no real benefit of competition in this market. Not enough people collect these things for there to be multiple players doing the same characters at the same scale in the same market. All it does is dillute the sales.

Really impressed with this Aquaman, especially what they have done on the EX. It is a real 'must have' Exclusive. Hope they are going back to that model. I know they don't want to make the Reg's so unattractive that they can't move them, but they really need the draw for making early direct orders worth it again.

 

[filip629]

And that is why there can be no real benefit of competition in this market. Not enough people collect these things for there to be multiple players doing the same characters at the same scale in the same market. All it does is dillute the sales.

Really impressed with this Aquaman, especially what they have done on the EX. It is a real 'must have' Exclusive. Hope they are going back to that model. I know they don't want to make the Reg's so unattractive that they can't move them, but they really need the draw for making early direct orders worth it again.

There's no competition because SSC paid Marvel and DC for exclusive rights to produce their characters in 1/4 scale in the North American market. Marvel and DC should just do away with exclusive licenses. That way, they can control who gets to play ball in every market. The problem is that there are not many companies set up to compete with SSC. A company would have to have the basics to at least start up (capital for licensing, distribution, artists, sculptors, manufacturing, etc..). Because of this, I would imagine it's hard for Marvel or DC to turn away hard cash offered by SSC for exclusive rights to the North American market.

 

[Tbolt]

There's no competition because SSC paid Marvel and DC for exclusive rights to produce their characters in 1/4 scale in the North American market. Marvel and DC should just do away with exclusive licenses. That way, they can control who gets to play ball in every market. The problem is that there are not many companies set up to compete with SSC. A company would have to have the basics to at least start up (capital for licensing, distribution, artists, sculptors, manufacturing, etc..). Because of this, I would imagine it's hard for Marvel or DC to turn away hard cash offered by SSC for exclusive rights to the North American market.

You missed the gist of my point. Competition is meaningless in this market, because there is not a huge number of collectors for these things. It is so niche, even at the higher numbers, multiple companies competing directly would just canabalize each other, and I can't see companies taking many risks on obscure characters in that set up either. I can actually see that as being a much worse thing for collectors. Sure we all want to be catered to, but if nobody can make a decent profit, companies go out of business.

 

[Decoyoctopus10]

You missed the gist of my point. Competition is meaningless in this market, because there is not a huge number of collectors for these things. It is so niche, even at the higher numbers, multiple companies competing directly would just canabalize each other, and I can't see companies taking many risks on obscure characters in that set up either. I can actually see that as being a much worse thing for collectors. Sure we all want to be catered to, but if nobody can make a decent profit, companies go out of business.

I'd venture to say that the number of collectors in increasing at a faster rate than it ever has because it's more socially acceptable.

 

[sarakawa]

Yea I don't agree with the "not enough collectors" reasoning. XM stuff is seriously pricey and they sell out in minutes. SSC used to sell out uber fast when their ESs were lower. I think the game is as big as it's ever been and only getting larger from here on out. I think we need a few big players in direct competition to get better quality and more controlled prices. SSC would only lose out because they have gotten too inflated and even then they would manage just fine. I'm hoping Aquaman's price is a direct indication of what they have learned over the past couple years of increasing their prices at an alarming rate. That they have found the sweet spot to be in the low to mid $400s moving forward. That would really be awesome!

 

[filip629]

I'd venture to say that the number of collectors in increasing at a faster rate than it ever has because it's more socially acceptable.

Yea I don't agree with the "not enough collectors" reasoning. XM stuff is seriously pricey and they sell out in minutes. SSC used to sell out uber fast when their ESs were lower. I think the game is as big as it's ever been and only getting larger from here on out. I think we need a few big players in direct competition to get better quality and more controlled prices. SSC would only lose out because they have gotten too inflated and even then they would manage just fine. I'm hoping Aquaman's price is a direct indication of what they have learned over the past couple years of increasing their prices at an alarming rate. That they have found the sweet spot to be in the low to mid $400s moving forward. That would really be awesome!

I agree with both of you. Competition could happen...if SSC didn't corner the North American market. If XM could sell here in North America, SSC would have competition. However, when SSC started seeing XM merch popping up here in the States, they didn't hesitate to contact Marvel and let them know XM merch is being sold outside of their restricted region. SSC paid for a exclusive license to sell 1/4 statues in North America and they don't want anyone else playing in their pond. If Marvel didn't offer exclusive licensing to anyone (let companies sell to whichever countries they want), all of us collectors would be better off IMO.

 

[MaddHappy]

Love the price tag on it.
I just need to know why was this at 430, while the other new pieces are about 500.

 

[Legion564]

I don't think there are as many collectors as some of us think at this price point. This site and statue forum are the only ones I visit that have some high income posters. There are a couple other comic related sites I visit and people are complaining about how they have to cut down their pull list because Marvel or DC raised prices by a dollar or something. Then there are high end art collectors who don't buy too many statues. Comic related collecting is pretty diverse so I think higher end statue collecting has to grow a bit for more companies to come in. Even with something as recent as the Batgirl one Sideshow had to make more because they didn't expect the first batch to sell so quickly.

 

[Josh-A-Tron]

I don't think there are as many collectors as some of us think at this price point. This site and statue forum are the only ones I visit that have some high income posters. There are a couple other comic related sites I visit and people are complaining about how they have to cut down their pull list because Marvel or DC raised prices by a dollar or something. Then there are high end art collectors who don't buy too many statues. Comic related collecting is pretty diverse so I think higher end statue collecting has to grow a bit for more companies to come in. Even with something as recent as the Batgirl one Sideshow had to make more because they didn't expect the first batch to sell so quickly.

You'd be surprised how many there are. I'm a member here and on statue forum and I'm on about 5 different facebook collecting groups for just statues. The amount of people buying is pretty incredible even at higher prices.

 

[yodasan]

Kudos to Sideshow on the exclusive which really saved the bacon, errr...sushi on the Aquaman PF.