Attention Chris Howes

[DarkArtist81]

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.

Yes, but that is what I do...

Chris just sculpts heads... So I don't get his system at ALL. I've always respected him as an artist, but I have always thought his system was...quite honestly... INSANE. It's really wrong, to ask for payment from people for a sculpt that isn't made. For them to pay out of faith, to post a graphic showing everyone who has paid and all that... it just makes no sense to me.

I think he should have just did the sculpt once it was brought to his attention, and then he could sell copies to make due. Even if it was something crazy, he could always make a killing here or on Ebay. With a sculpt, no money is lost...only time. And I know time is money and all that, but when you are going to sculpt something that is heavily desired...it will sell. There are no doubts.

 

[King Darkness]

I'm into Chris for $70, hope I get my House head.

Never lost money here, hope this isnt gonna be my turn to loose money on the board.

 

[PRIME]

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

AGREE 100 % what i dont get is how come his selling the sculpt i want on ebay and i paid mine already, last year and still havent got mine yet ??? , i got a bad feeling about this ....

 

[Kuato]

Has anyone spoken with Kuato about Chris? It would be great if he could shed some light on the subject since they were working together on projects for a while.

Tay just sent me the link to this thread. To be honest this is the very reason I had to drop out as the promotional painter for Chris. He didn't seem very organized with his commissions and sculpts on top of the insane amount he was agreeing to do, there was no way I could handle all of them, as a matter of fact Ive even been offering refunds to anyone still waiting for their sculpt to be painted from me that initially paid last year. Chris seems like a good guy just got in over his head, i believe the 1/6 custom community gave him a great boost to get back into the business so I dont think he should neglect it so much at this point. Well everyone learns though, I myself dont request payment until after I have completed the commission now, works great for me and the customer I believe. Other than that I haven't spoken to Chris since I dropped out of painter last month, I requested Small Studios as my replacement dont know if Josh has spoken to Chris either since then.

Chris

 

[JacktheRipper]

See that's what had me confused. I get needing some money upfront if you're buying material to assemble an entire piece. Building an entire figure does not sound cheap. However, sculpting a head doesn't sound all that expensive. Time consuming? Yes. Also, the "jump in right now and pay this price 'cause when I have it you'll pay more" aspect bothered me.

 

[Deckard]

Well all I know is my count puts it at about 30 heads he's agreed to sculpt.

It seems most sculptors here take about a week or so give or take to do a nice looking commission.

Even given that time frame, after say 10 heads, wouldn't you start limiting yourself? Jeez, self control is the name of the game people.

 

[BadMoon]

I can only say this when it comes to customs. I am not doubting any of the others. But there are only two people on THIS board that I would let work on stuff for a year and have faith in them that it would be completed. That is Les and Josh. Anyone else I apologize but I just couldn't do it.

 

[tnaig001]

I can only say this when it comes to customs. I am not doubting any of the others. But there are only two people on THIS board that I would let work on stuff for a year and have faith in them that it would be completed. That is Les and Josh. Anyone else I apologize but I just couldn't do it.

I second that but would include Kuato in that list too

 

[karamazov80]

I know he hadn't done as much as some of those others, but I have had 3 heads painted by Saintsyn, and his turn around time was about a week for each.

 

[costumeball]

Hey guys, in a lot of ways I'm trying to play devil's advocate, but for the record I'm in for close to 200 bones on stuff from him, so it's not like I'm just talking.

That said, all you talking about better to wait until the product is done before paying, that's all well and good but isn't that a concern that should've been raised at the inception of these custom projects rather than (potentially) after the damage is done?

 

[Studio49]

I am going through the 5 stages of grief here.

First I denied it could be happening. "No way would Chris ignore people he took money from."

Then anger. "What a jerk. He is ignoring me. Why can't he just post? "

Then bargaining. "Ok, if he posts an update I will be ok. If he doesn't I will request a refund."

Now depression. "This isn't looking good. This sucks."

All that is left is acceptance.

 

[King Darkness]

I am going through the 5 stages of grief here.

First I denied it could be happening. "No way would Chris ignore people he took money from."

Then anger. "What a jerk. He is ignoring me. Why can't he just post? "

Then bargaining. "Ok, if he posts an update I will be ok. If he doesn't I will request a refund."

Now depression. "This isn't looking good. This sucks."

All that is left is acceptance.

I think I am on stage 3

 

[Lee in MI]

Hey guys, in a lot of ways I'm trying to play devil's advocate, but for the record I'm in for close to 200 bones on stuff from him, so it's not like I'm just talking.

That said, all you talking about better to wait until the product is done before paying, that's all well and good but isn't that a concern that should've been raised at the inception of these custom projects rather than (potentially) after the damage is done?

I personally have not lost any money with Chris and I haven't because he seemed like he was on his way to being in over his head...BUT when I mentioned this in the DK thread, someone jumped all over me saying I was unfairly questioning his abilities or something

 

[Voorhees27]

I am going through the 5 stages of grief here.

First I denied it could be happening. "No way would Chris ignore people he took money from."

Then anger. "What a jerk. He is ignoring me. Why can't he just post? "

Then bargaining. "Ok, if he posts an update I will be ok. If he doesn't I will request a refund."

Now depression. "This isn't looking good. This sucks."

All that is left is acceptance.

I was on stage 5, 2 months ago ..................... however I am currently in stage 46

 

[Studio49]

I was on stage 5, 2 months ago ..................... however I am currently in stage 46

I was unfamiliar, so I looked it up...

Stages of grief #46: Ambivalent pyromania - the desire to start fires combined with an inability to decide what to set on fire.

That sounds like fun.

 

[Deckard]

 

[Studio49]

Ok, one more post tonight, and then I gotta crash. These are a couple of the stories people have shared with me about Chris. I would LOVE to hear his side of the story regarding this info...

Chris was contacted by law enforcement after he stopped communicating with someone who had paid for items never received. As of today Chris still has not sent those items, and will not communicate with the person. Chris actually told the person that contacting law enforcement was a "mistake."

A member here was coordinating one of the many commission threads. Chris was very responsive to emails about the commission, until the money started coming in for the heads. At that point, he stopped replying to emails about the commission.

Nice, huh? If these things are true, which I believe them to be, how does that change your mind about waiting for commissions?

 

[karamazov80]

Now depression. "This isn't looking good. This sucks."

All that is left is acceptance.

I went through that whole process when dollyplanet.com stole $250 of mine earlier in the year. I wanted to sue, and was furious, etc., but ultimately, there was nothing I could really do. Eventually, acceptance does come of course, and life moves on, but I know it sucks right now. Though this doesn't mean much at the moment, at least you are learning a lesson. Better to learn it now than later, when it might have cost even more.

 

[Studio49]

I went through that whole process when dollyplanet.com stole $250 of mine earlier in the year. I wanted to sue, and was furious, etc., but ultimately, there was nothing I could really do. Eventually, acceptance does come of course, and life moves on, but I know it sucks right now. Though this doesn't mean much at the moment, at least you are learning a lesson. Better to learn it now than later, when it might have cost even more.

I think acceptance is coming fast, but it is only acceptance that the goods paid for are not coming. I will never just accept being ripped off. That won't be the end of it for me. I am holding back anything I have reserved for stage 6... vengeance.

I REFUSE to be ripped off. I will gladly drive to Cincinnati for a small claims lawsuit. I have friends there I can visit so the stay will be free. But that story is for another thread I think.

 

[karamazov80]

If you do, I may enjoy that vicariously, since I couldn't get to Tennessee to file a small claims suit against the company that ripped me off. I hope that you can get justice out of this one way or the other. I know you are an honest, decent guy, and didn't deserve that. But in a more general sense, people just shouldn't do this to each other, period.