Asmus - Gandalf the White - Crown Line

[Bornz0r]

Ha oh dear. So waiting to shop around definitely didn’t work out in my favour.
It hasn’t popped up anywhere I can buy without incurring massive customs and VAT, KG haven’t responded to my query made a few days ago so I still don’t know if they’ll be an option and the one place I’ve seen it show up in the U.K. is charging the oh so unjustifiable price of £465. That’s $553 btw and apparently that’s with them offering £30 discount…

May just have to accept this is not meant to be.
Maybe when InArt get the Two Towers license they’ll do him. I still don’t really like the colours of the outfit or material for the boots so it’s not as devastating as I’d have expected I’d feel for my first instance of missing out on a LOTR figure. However, had Asmus stated this was limited I would have ordered immediately without even thinking about it.

Pretty sure this isn’t going to help their image as it’s clearly the diehards who snatched him up asap and they weren’t the ones who needed convincing.
So now the doubters will know that Asmus can deliver a decent product, they just can’t own it because hardly any were made. Score!

Funny how GtG is still available years later but this is extinct after a couple days though.
Asmus either underestimated demand by a lot or the scalpers rinsed that 3 order limit from multiple accounts and eBay is about to explode.

TNS figures mentioned that they will be taking pre-orders too

 

[Chopper Face]

TNS figures mentioned that they will be taking pre-orders too

Thanks.
They aren’t the most reliable but they’re still likely to be a more cost effective option for me than sideshow or anywhere domestic.

 

[superdoug]

Crazy to see how fast an in stock $400 figure (I know he also came with a horse) sold out especially with no in hand reviews. I wonder how many were made. I am now a little worried about fast sellouts of other LOTR figures like Boromir, Eowyn 2.0, Haldir, the new version of the hobbits, etc.

I just checked and if you are in the States and still looking for him bbts and timewalker still have him up for preorder as well as Sideshow so there are still options out there if you missed buying him direct.

 

[DDani]

Oh my god, Asmus, who came up with this marketing disaster again? I really don't understand what's the point in not selling as many figures as you can. Surely, it could be assumed that there won't be such demand as for GtG, but obviously it was underestimated. This only forwards customers to InArt - I think they will have a GtW eventually... If you fear not selling all preorders, you could still do a limited number of deposit preorders and accepting full payments after it ran out... Even if you come out with a slim version later, there will be bad feelings in many missed this out.

Similar tragedy that you've done with the GtG hat - everyone received a new one, only those did not who ordered the figure, including me. If you can block suppliers who did not sell GtG from selling GtW, you already know who sold GtG, so only one step would be needed to find the buyers and send them the hat. Or at least give the possibility for pay shipping, if that is the problem.

I ordered GtG from KGHobby, but I haven't seen GtW up there, assumed eventually it will be accessible there too. You should have been synced with the retailers and let customers know that where it is not up on 2022-11-15, they won't have it, so order somewhere else... Now mostly the only option is Sideshow, which to get it in the EU requires selling a kidney. Same goes for exclusives, still not available in the EU, the only viable option seems to be Sideshow for those. All EU fans are really thankful for these steps.

 

[BagginsOfBagEnd]

Yeah it seems having no preorder window on their website for this release is a solution in search of a problem.

There have been QC issues but that wasn't caused by having a preorder lead in time, it was a consequence of poor QC supervision.

Even if the QC issues are resolved in these non-preorder releases correlation is not causation. Unfortunately all this is going to do is frustrate existing customers and create an immediate market for scalpers.

Not a fan of this business model at all. Scalpers paradise if they get in there first before the collectors.

I'm now concerned about releases going forward selling out quickly. I prefer to order from UK retailers so I can use reward points etc. There are many characters upcoming that I wouldn't want to miss getting and the UK sellers can often taken several days to put them up (that's if they stock them) by which time they could be sold out on the Asmus website.

Would be helpful to know for future figures, whether they are limited or open editions prior to pre-order so people can make decisions and hopefully not miss out.

 

[satanatos]

@DDani I ordered my GtG from KGHobby as well, however, communicated directly with Asmus when I heard about the new hat. They sent me the invoice for the shipping costs and I got the hat just fine. Otherwise it can be hard to get some figures in the EU due to the massive customs and VAT charges. This is where Kit, Giantoy and KGHobby come to the rescue in 99% of the cases.

 

[Tolkien Nerd]

Not a fan of this business model at all. Scalpers paradise if they get in there first before the collectors.

I'm now concerned about releases going forward selling out quickly. I prefer to order from UK retailers so I can use reward points etc. There are many characters upcoming that I wouldn't want to miss getting and the UK sellers can often taken several days to put them up (that's if they stock them) by which time they could be sold out on the Asmus website.

Would be helpful to know for future figures, whether they are limited or open editions prior to pre-order so people can make decisions and hopefully not miss out.

Totally agree!
I'm not fussed about missing out on GTW, as good as he looks.
But Thranduil is a whole different ball game for me. When Asmus put him up, and especially if they reveal he is limited, then my fingers will move so fast on my laptop there could be a danger of a serious fire!

 

[lordnastrond]

Totally agree!
I'm not fussed about missing out on GTW, as good as he looks.
But Thranduil is a whole different ball game for me. When Asmus put him up, and especially if they reveal he is limited, then my fingers will move so fast on my laptop there could be a danger of a serious fire!

Completely agree - not that bothered about GTW, but I do find the business model a serious problem and not friendly towards the customers and collectors, as others have noted it basically encourages a scalper's paradise.
Also agree on Thranduil - if I am denied my petty pretty elven king then my wrath with be untethered and know no bounds!

 

[superglue81]

I calculated how much Gandalf the White would cost from the Asmus website to Spain. Fedex always goes through customs because they charge a commission for the procedures. Counting the figure price +shipping costs + 21% VAT + extra tariffs for being a merchandise of more than 150 eur + FedEx charges a commission for customs management: The final price was around $570. However, through TNS, KGHobby or OSK, I would only pay figure + shipping. The sales model only through asmus is unfeasible for buyers from Europe. Via Sideshow is exactly the same.

EDIT: the shipping price also counts to calculate the VAT

 

[mitraheroe]

As beautiful as this figure might be, FedEx imposture as the only way of shipping (impossible for EU collectors due to VAT, customs, etc) plus this weird limited order time frame with no previous warning, let alone the 3 limited per customers (one average collectors would need normally one, but scalpers can buy as many as the want from different accounts) makes Asmus marketing strategy a complete failure. Resentment against the Inart move and taking revenge against retailers who didn't sell Crown GTG didn't help either. I hope they will learn from this.
But then again: did they from their Arwen/Ash debacle?

 

[Wor-Gar]

Seems the "sell out" a few days ago gave people the proper FOMO to then order this when it became available again.

Besides that, this is still available like everywhere -- BBTS, Timewalker, AlterEgo, Sideshow...

 

[Someperson]

Licensors change their minds about stuff ALL the time.

That’s a bummer.

 

[Venzhe]

Seems the "sell out" a few days ago gave people the proper FOMO to then order this when it became available again.

Besides that, this is still available like everywhere -- BBTS, Timewalker, AlterEgo, Sideshow...

There’s probably ample numbers of this figure available, as Wor-Gar points out. The only thing throwing this off is that Asmus was ready to ship immediately, but all these other retailers are waiting for the boat with stock. This is similar to the problem Sideshow has had fulfilling Hot Toys orders to American buyers when they could be buying a toy immediately from a HK reseller.

This is also further compounded with this being Asmus’ first release like this, and people are uncertain of order fulfillment. Look at the people that are concerned a place like Sideshow might not fulfill their order because Asmus has said sold out. Pretty sure Sideshow knows exactly how many are in transit to them, because that is how inventory works when everything has been produced already.

I would bet that Asmus held onto the same proportion of Gandalf the White as any of their other figures made before, but were surprised by the effectiveness of selling a figure when they were the only game with it ready to ship or even take orders. And look how many of their other recent releases are still available direct.

 

[Chopper Face]

Seems the "sell out" a few days ago gave people the proper FOMO to then order this when it became available again.

Besides that, this is still available like everywhere -- BBTS, Timewalker, AlterEgo, Sideshow...

All good options for the US.
All excessively expensive options for everyone else.

There’s being able to get it and then there’s being able to get it for what it’s worth.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Sorry, I'm US-centric... I don't know good places abroad. Popcultcha in Aus is about all.

 

[superglue81]

Seems the "sell out" a few days ago gave people the proper FOMO to then order this when it became available again.

Besides that, this is still available like everywhere -- BBTS, Timewalker, AlterEgo, Sideshow...

Everywhere outside of Europe, which means a lot of fees and taxes for us. You are lucky in the USA.

 

[WtchKng]

I grabbed him on Sideshow

I could not simply pass up on him, I've always said that this is one figure I always wanted.

Same here. Ordered on Sideshow yesterday.

 

[Chopper Face]

Sorry, I'm US-centric... I don't know good places abroad. Popcultcha in Aus is about all.

I (and assume most in Europe) pretty much depend on the Hong Kong resellers to avoid going broke- and, so far, it seems like Asmus has excluded them from selling GTW.

Still early days though as they are also often slow to put things up. Big shame about Kit though. That’s a real blow.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Big shame about Kit though. That’s a real blow.

What happened with Kit?

 

[Someperson]

Wish it had been made a bit clearer how limited it was going to be…I‘d have pulled the trigger yesterday and ordered instead of fretting over potential customs charges. Snooze you loose I guess but can’t help feeling disappointed.

I think it’s still up on sideshow for preorder!