Asmus - Gandalf the White - Crown Line

[warlock664]

Well, that’s … disappointing.
I was waiting for funds from recent eBay sales to post before ordering. Oh well,I have no doubt it’ll be back. I would’ve liked to have it for Christmas, though.

 

[Waiden]

By the way, I don´t believe that the demand for this figure is that huge, and in any case much less than for GTG. This is a typical case of what in economics is called "Artificial scarcity", in this case to create a future demand when (hopefully) a second batch comes. This is in my opinion a very ugly gesture towards us collectors who have always supported Asmus and have not even been informed of the limited preliminary offer.

I think the demand is higher than for any previous Asmus releases. At least based on the local collector's group I am part of, there are collectors which do not own a single Asmus figure, and yet they purchased or are interested in this one out of how great it looks. But on the other hand, GTG was also listed at many other sellers so who knows.

 

[Bucky Underbelly]

He's up on Big Bad Toy Store, by the way. https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/225413 (Which, if you're in the US, has a very inexpensive shipping option with their Pile of Loot feature.) I'm sure Asmus just sold through their first batch and that more will be on the way soon. (I would bet a big chunk of this first wave was bulk orders that went to retailers like BBTS, which is why they sold through so quickly.)

 

[Cody501]

It is back in stock, I just ordered mine after today's mini heart attack.

 

[Bucky Underbelly]

The difference between their first GTW and this one is astonishing. The hobby, and this company in particular, has come a LONG way.

 

[Jbeltram4]

I’m hoping Sideshow will carry since they had Gandalf the Grey. Don’t want to pull the trigger elsewhere if I can get a payment plan in. Def don’t wanna miss this one.

 

[ghilbertit]

It's in stock again... just ordered

 

[Waiden]

See, everything worked out for now
I assume there was some limit in the CMS for how many can be ordered. But who knows how many are actually left.

 

[FlyAndFight]

Huh, my order is shipping already. Can’t wait

I too received my shipping notification. Can't wait to see this one in-hand!

 

[Waiden]

I too received my shipping notification. Can't wait to see this one in-hand!

Boooo, I am in the other half, and yet I ordered on Sunday at 8 am haha. Unfortunately, there is about 7 hour difference between the EU and Asia. However, they say patience is a virtue

 

[superdoug]

I too received my shipping notification. Can't wait to see this one in-hand!

Me too!

 

[Mike86]

Wondering if it might sell out initially and then they’ll make more available to pre-order. Would make sense if only a set amount was made to order and ready to go.

 

[lordnastrond]

It seems likely to me that the idea of it being done and made available in batches is the truth of the matter.
Anything so limited that it completely and permanently sells out within 24hours, ALWAYS make a point of pointing out how limited it is - it becomes one of the major selling features. The fact that this Gandalf isn't suggested as being quite so limited suggests to me that this isn't the case and they are only going up on site when they are made available.
However this can be quite frustrating to buyers as without pre-announced times and quantities of orders being communicated beforehand it becomes a "hunt" to get the figure - like trying to find a PS5 in the early batches, for some such as myself it becomes too much like work.
It can also hurt sales as it creates the perhaps false impression that the item will not be restocked, or suggest a long wait until it is restocked.
This is why pre-orders are still the preferred option.
I know Asmus were stung over the Ash and Arwen debacles - but they need to look at the real issue why those debacles happened, and it wasn't pre-ordering and to be frank it wasn't the customers, it was poor quality control on their part. It was a rod they made for their own back and they need to be careful not to create a new one.

 

[denrep-lilium]

So, I think I have to mention it here. On their web store there are two kinds of things:
sold out - means that there are no planned rounds of production (may be sold out for good)
out of stock - means there will be more available, but they are either at the factory, or there is another round of production coming. Yet they actually had Sold out items back again. So, some demand produced new batches. As it was with Crown GtG (which is back in stock).

Has Asmus made any comments about making another GTG head?

They said that it will be available for purchase for those who have V1 Gandalfs, but just as with GtG - only the head.

 

[user 72759]

They said in this thread somewhere that they were going to have a limited in stock quantity on their website and then it would later be sold through typical retailers. I got a BBTS email about it this morning too.

Seems like this is all going according to plan.

Edit: Oh wow, I didn’t get an email notification but mine not only is marked as shipped it appears to already be in transit!

 

[Wor-Gar]

I wonder how many people who were outraged that this sold out have still not pulled the trigger on POing now that its back up?

 

[Wor-Gar]

View attachment 607613

That's what I have.

I remember being satisfied with it after I white-washed the black crisscross pattern on the vest. 9 years is a long, long time ago.

There's really no comparison how much better this new Gandalf the White looks. Asmus really did their best work here.

 

[Sassafras]

By the way, I don´t believe that the demand for this figure is that huge, and in any case much less than for GTG. This is a typical case of what in economics is called "Artificial scarcity", in this case to create a future demand when (hopefully) a second batch comes. This is in my opinion a very ugly gesture towards us collectors who have always supported Asmus and have not even been informed of the limited preliminary offer.

I disagree - IMO Asmus is a smaller operation, and it's all over the news about internationally worker shortages and other issues, supply issues. There have been communication issues, yes, but they also DO communicate, unlike a lot of companies, directly, with us.

We don't know what's going on. Maybe a shipment of horses came in and all the legs are broken. Maybe the company making the costumes dumped the job for a larger job (I've read that happens). Maybe all the boxes ended up misprinted and have to be redone. There's a lot of moving parts when running any company is still a mess - look at all the HT delays (I've waited on Loki so long I forgot I ordered him). Now Sideshow want you to "lock in" your orders. Maybe a lot of flippers rolled in and grabbed all the stock.

These days the only figures/collectibles I'm sure of are the ones I know have been sitting around at Sideshow for a while.

 

[hoodonit00]

I wonder how many people who were outraged that this sold out have still not pulled the trigger on POing now that its back up?

Thought has crossed my mind.

 

[Sassafras]

I’m hoping Sideshow will carry since they had Gandalf the Grey. Don’t want to pull the trigger elsewhere if I can get a payment plan in. Def don’t wanna miss this one.

Well, I'll wait on Sideshow. $400 is $400 at this time of year.