Attention Chris Howes

[siquisiri]

:

 

[costumeball]

Wow, some of you guys are sure quick to pile on.

When these things start up, everyone is acting all "what a great privilege to have a pro sculptor involved in these fan projects" and WILLINGLY ponying up the cash in advance, mostly in recognition that it IS essentially a fan service, and then as soon as things aren't perfect, BAM!

I just don't see the point of all the negativity until more information comes to light.

 

[Shai]

Negativity

 

[Cryoguns]

For the past month or so, I've had the nagging feeling that things may turn this way with Chris' lack of communication and updates. He's posted several times that he knows his limits and what he can handle for a workload, except that he's proven he can't. Almost 10 months after one of his first SSF commissions (Summer Glau) started, he's still yet to finish two variants...annoyingly enough the two versions that had the most interest. I can't get a response from him in either PMs or email, and I don't believe I was emailing with a frequency even close to being harassing (asked about every 4-6 weeks for an update).

I'm putting in a note and removing Chris' payment information from the Summer Glau threads until he's got the last two heads completed and ready to ship. I don't want anyone else getting screwed should this whole thing go even further south.

Chris, should you read this (since you don't respond to my emails), my advice to you is this:

Any projects you've actually started sculpting on? Finish them. No more excuses.

Any projects you haven't started? Refund any money collected and close it down. You're in way over your head.

Any projects anyone asks you to start? Turn them down due to your other obligations.

 

[KBA]

People have been askng for weeks if the unpainted house heads have started shipping. No response. If he's answering emails today, there is no reason for this silence.

 

[barryo]

i paid for this guy up front.........& now the show is canceled............

damn, kharma really is a ^^^^^....

 

[EVILFACE]

Wow, some of you guys are sure quick to pile on.

When these things start up, everyone is acting all "what a great privilege to have a pro sculptor involved in these fan projects" and WILLINGLY ponying up the cash in advance, mostly in recognition that it IS essentially a fan service, and then as soon as things aren't perfect, BAM!

I just don't see the point of all the negativity until more information comes to light.

I guess you have never given someone money and never got anything in return.

 

[costumeball]

I guess you have never given someone money and never got anything in return.

Where is the evidence that he isn't going to deliver the work that has been paid for?

Where was there any time/deadline guarantee posted anywhere?

I'd be all for a lot of these posts (and worse!) once non-delivery is a proven thing, but until then, again . . . I just don't see the purpose of a lot of this.

Besides venting I suppose.

 

[The Drizzle]

People have been askng for weeks if the unpainted house heads have started shipping. No response. If he's answering emails today, there is no reason for this silence.

This, no answer to my email, plus seeing the House head being offered on ebay a couple days ago is what finally brought me to the board to see what was up. I don't check in every day.
I'm glad people are talking though, if not we would never have known that he still owes people Joker heads, which is cause for concern. I don't think anyone is being too negative- I don't think it's too late for Chris to show himself here and work it all out. As i said, though, all these things combined does seem like cause for concern, though.

 

[KBA]

Communication is important. When someone has your money, is able to reply to you but chooses to ignore, that is a problem.

 

[Commtech]

Wow, some of you guys are sure quick to pile on.

When these things start up, everyone is acting all "what a great privilege to have a pro sculptor involved in these fan projects" and WILLINGLY ponying up the cash in advance, mostly in recognition that it IS essentially a fan service, and then as soon as things aren't perfect, BAM!

I just don't see the point of all the negativity until more information comes to light.

I don't think you know exactly what's going on. "Until more information comes to light?" The guy has had enough time already to respond. Are you saying that we should wait another 6 months to a year to get an answer? I don't think so. So please don't contribute with your comments if you are not well informed and/or affected by this situation.

 

[Commtech]

Where was there any time/deadline guarantee posted anywhere?

No, but some people have been waiting for more than a year. Isn't that enough time to make them think they are never getting their orders or money back?

 

[YoNoSe]

I was wondering what was going on with all those CH projects. I was afraid this would happen. I definitely agree that there should be some rules about up-front payment.
The problem is Dave and the mods can't really regulate or be responsible for the $$$ transactions that go on throughout the board. So it's up to us to create and adhere to our own guidelines.
I have to say that my sympathies lie with the customers in all of these situations. I've read about customizers getting in over thier heads and not having time to communicate and that dog doesn't hunt for me. If you have time to PM a price quote and withdraw funds from your Paypal account (or in this case, create Ebay listings) then you have time to communicate. You've decided not to. Getting yourself into months worth of backlog doesn't happen overnight.
Obviously people get too sensitive on both sides of the issue but the bottom line is we are talking about a quantifiable service here. Either you can or can't do it, on or around a certain time. Mistakes and delays happen but they can't be appreciated by a costumer if you don't tell them.
That said, I really do hope that there isn't any terrible personal problem keeping Howes away. But the info so far ain't pretty.

 

[jinroh75]

i usually don't like to make comments but after having jiffed by andgor and then a subsequent one on the osw from edylhands (although i did receive the sculpt after almsot 2 years), it does kind of suck that it's gone this route. i can't even imagine how much money is held by chris from all the various stuff he's been holding on. i know for mine it's at least $200. i just hope we hear from chris soon before this turns into another andgor. i've sent him several messages without response well over 3 months ago both through email and pm, but no response. it's one thing to not finish the work and that's fine. at least do a cut and paste to say "yeah i'm busy, i'll get to it when i get to it."

 

[DarkArtist81]

I am not pre-paying in full for anything in the future. This is hurting all custom artists, and not just Chris.

Well said.... and EXACTLY why I am not doing this anymore. I plan on getting through with what I am doing and if I ever come back, I will do things differently in every way. Not going to EVER take money up front for something I will do later, it's just too easy for things to get out of hand and away from you.

 

[JacktheRipper]

Well said.... and EXACTLY why I am not doing this anymore. I plan on getting through with what I am doing and if I ever come back, I will do things differently in every way. Not going to EVER take money up front for something I will do later, it's just too easy for things to get out of hand and away from you.

DA, what would be the drawback to having the product done instead of taking the commission and then working on it? Time? Money? Both?

What I don't get is paying for something you haven't really seen. Sure they have a history of product, but that doesn't necessarily mean the commission work will be to your liking.

 

[Anzik]

I've purchased heads from Spencer and Mr Barlow and both delivered in a very reasonable time frame. I paid for two unpainted House heads, one unpainted River and one unpainted David.
House and River are apparently done and I'm disappointed this has taken so long and gotten to this point.

 

[DarkArtist81]

DA, what would be the drawback to having the product done instead of taking the commission and then working on it? Time? Money? Both?

What I don't get is paying for something you haven't really seen. Sure they have a history of product, but that doesn't necessarily mean the commission work will be to your liking.

Well, the way I USED to do things was that I would pay out of pocket to make a prototype... which would sometimes take me a while... since I don't have much money to begin with.

I would then offer to remake the proto in a small run of figures and take orders. Sometimes the orders would get away from me, as I added figures to the run here and there for buddies and good customers. This was a bad idea and really didn't work.

I did it this way because I needed money for the parts. Some figures can cost up to $90 or more for parts alone, so imagine trying to make 10 of them to sell. And then imagine making them, thinking they will sell... and then offering them...only to have them NOT sell. You are then out a grand, and you feel stupid on top of it.

The downfall to this plan was that some parts would take long times to arrive, life would throw a monkey wrench into your plan, family trouble, etc. Or for me, school became a factor. I don't have much time available each day for painting... and so I got behind and left my customers feeling cheated and angry. It sucks. I don't recommend that system to other customizers.

Honestly, I don't think there IS a right way to do custom business. Unless you have money to start with, you are just building a castle on top of a frozen river. Eventually you will either grow too big and crack the ice, bringing your castle down OR you will stay too long and the ice will melt underneath you... (life happens, time goes on, etc).

Really, the best way is to offer work that is finished... and when you sell that, invest in your next figure... but most people won't do that, because you may lose the investment. Either way, you are bound to fail eventually.

 

[JacktheRipper]

You're talking about building an entire figure, right? Is this what Mr. Howes was doing? I was under the impression that it was just head sculpts with the customer doing all the other stuff ie. clothes, body, etc.

 

[Doom Saber]

You're talking about building an entire figure, right? Is this what Mr. Howes was doing? I was under the impression that it was just head sculpts with the customer doing all the other stuff ie. clothes, body, etc.

he does H.S. and for one project, a set of armour