Attention Chris Howes

[Mooncat]

Anyone know where he lives has his address ? or has a telephone number ? if its a 'PC problem' or a 'medical emergency problem' or an 'other reason' . . . hey Id hate it to be so but the guy might have died ??

or it might be

laziness, over commiting and now realising the situation and burying his head in the sand !

Then maybe a polite knock on the door or ring of the telephone might resolve his head from the sand ?

or it might establish a reason an excuse ?

Anybody sent him stuff previously ? willing to part that information to someone in Cincinnati ?

 

[toyadventurer]

Again, as I said before (in another thread) he has not “come through” with any commissions…not one. The Bale, Joker, and Stark were not commissioned sculpts, He did those on his own and sold them here, and that’s how he should have continued working. So quit with the “He’s come thorough” argument.

Well, actually he has. Chris sculpted a Mad Max head for me back when he first joined the boards. I am not defending him just wanted to point out that he has delivered at least one sculpt that was commissioned. I agree that he needs to come forward and give us some updates and his game plan for the future. Not that this will make it alright, although it might help calm the masses. I for one am growing a little tired of hearing customizes who took money upfront give excuse after excuse and not give a refund when it's clear they can't produce the goods.

 

[toyadventurer]

Wow this is more widespread than I thought.....

He was selling sculpts across 3 boards and has not delivered any of them!!!!

It's the same sculpts. The threads were mostly started by members here trying to drum up interest. Please don't try to make it a bigger deal than it already is.

 

[Spenser]

Well, actually he has. Chris sculpted a Mad Max head for me back when he first joined the boards.

Was that a private commission? If it was is not the same thing. He has not delivered on any “group commission” if that’s how I need to put it.

 

[uscmhicks]

Can anybody pm his email address that was used to send payment via paypal ?.
I can find the transactions then .

 

[toyadventurer]

Was that a private commission? If it was is not the same thing. He has not delivered on any “group commission” if that’s how I need to put it.

Fair enough. I was responding because you had said "any commissions".

 

[Spenser]

Fair enough. I was responding because you had said "any commissions".

Thats true

 

[die]

He came through with a few private commissions for sure. I know he did the Steve Austin head for Bionic-Joe and they had a falling out because Chris was offering the sculpts here to forum members before sending the original to Bionic-Joe, then Bionic-Joe started selling Chris' sculpts on ebay.

I think Chris got kicked off of ebay for selling the Joker heads?

I hope he comes through with everything, he always claims his rep is very important & he's been doing this work for 20 years...I'd hate to see him go out like that. I know if he does what's right, he can redeem himself. It's just a matter of how important it is to him to make things right.

 

[abake]

Here's one of Chris' House sculpts up for sale:

https://cgi.ebay.com/Unpainted-1-6-...66:2|39:1|72:2096|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50

 

[kl241]

This thread is pure comedic gold.

C.Howes=Melvin Pelyayo

 

[Studio49]

As per GordonGekko's request...

1) How many commissions/custom projects total were you involved in and what specifically did you order?

I am involved in two, House head and cane and Maximus armor set

2) How much money per item and also in total did you pay?

I think the total is $220 for both commissions including shipping

3) What was your method of payment?

Paypal for both

4) When did you send payment?

January of this year

5) Was there a date of performance indicated by Howes for completion?

Not a solid date, but generic "in a couple of weeks" estimates

6) How long now, specifically, have you been waiting?

Since January of this year

7) How many contact attempts (email, PM, other) have you made since paying?

Many multiples, but most of those were bounced back

8) How many of those contact attempts were given a reply, how many were ignored? If you've made contact, what was the last date of contact with Howes?

No replies at all

9) What was the online community ( or other venue ) of origin where you made your order?

Sideshow Freaks

10) Do you still have records of your transactions and contact with Howes? ( Money order stubs, emails, PM transcripts, screenshots of PayPal pages, etc, etc)

Sure do

 

[die]

Here's one of Chris' House sculpts up for sale:

https://cgi.ebay.com/Unpainted-1-6-...66:2|39:1|72:2096|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50

5 available !?

 

[Husker75]

I think this thread is stupid as hell.

You guys haven't heard from him in what.. around two weeks?

YOU are the reasons for the backed up pm's and failed e-mails, because you keep spamming him with stupid freakin questions like "are we there yet?"..

do we deserve more updates? yes. of course.

are we getting screwed? I don't think so. I think he's just busy. He clearly bit off way more than he could chew at this time. But then again, we all bombarded him with projects when he already makes a living with a very large workload for a job.

Chris has never been rude to me, and i always get an answer eventually. But i've learned not to rush it.

He said he was doing a production line on the house heads, which i assumed would take a little while, hence why i'm not frantic.

Police reports?
Little extreme in my opinion.
Customs are not exactly a fast thing all the time. Getting the police involved seems a little triggerhappy.

If a month goes by with no contact, i can see maybe getting upset. But we heard from him like two weeks ago.

I just think this is all getting a little over-dramatic.

And yes, i'm into him for a lot of moola too. So obviously i have my concerns as well. But some of you are acting pretty childish and contributing to fearmongering by ranting and raving.

everyone BREATHE DAMMIT!

 

[milo1164]

I don't know how people will pay for his Ebay auctions. His Paypal account seems to be frozen. If you click his site and try to commision a sculpt ($500) you get a Paypal warning. Such a shame it's come to this. Hopefully, everything will work out for those who prepaid him.

 

[Voorhees27]

 

[pixletwin]

Sometimes the people here scare me. But then I read the following post and my faith in SSF is restored.

I think this thread is stupid as hell.

You guys haven't heard from him in what.. around two weeks?

YOU are the reasons for the backed up pm's and failed e-mails, because you keep spamming him with stupid freakin questions like "are we there yet?"..

do we deserve more updates? yes. of course.

are we getting screwed? I don't think so. I think he's just busy. He clearly bit off way more than he could chew at this time. But then again, we all bombarded him with projects when he already makes a living with a very large workload for a job.

Chris has never been rude to me, and i always get an answer eventually. But i've learned not to rush it.

He said he was doing a production line on the house heads, which i assumed would take a little while, hence why i'm not frantic.

Police reports?
Little extreme in my opinion.
Customs are not exactly a fast thing all the time. Getting the police involved seems a little triggerhappy.

If a month goes by with no contact, i can see maybe getting upset. But we heard from him like two weeks ago.

I just think this is all getting a little over-dramatic.

And yes, i'm into him for a lot of moola too. So obviously i have my concerns as well. But some of you are acting pretty childish and contributing to fearmongering by ranting and raving.

everyone BREATHE DAMMIT!

 

[pixletwin]

But I still think its really poor form how CH has been doing business. Seriously? eBay auctions of customs before the actual patrons get theirs? BOOOOOOOOOO!

 

[C.Howes_Sculptor]

Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated....


What the heck? I logged on to make some updates and I see this? If someone had had the courtesy to email me using a simple subject line like "hello"( like I kept posting and asking folks to do due to the hardcore SPAM filters I had to erect in order to try and mange the THOUSANDS of Russian SPAM emails that are being bounced back to me on a daily basis) so their email would get through to me to let me know about this paranoia, I would have appreciated it. I still get dozens of emails a day that I have to answer, so I know you can get one through! In fact, I got one yesterday that just said "test". Was that someone here? Well, Test works!

Let me state this unequivocally: I am here, working hard, and I have not disappeared and absconded with anyone's money.

I have a feeling I know who has been whispering in folks' ears and trust me, he isn't exactly pure of heart. People like him sap every iota of fun out of this hobby. Nice job, sir.

So, where have I been? Working my butt off. I work from sunup to way past sundown most days. Last week, for example, I put in more than 100 hours. Weekend, whats that? Just 2 more work days to me.

Do you really think I would but the immense time and effort into sculpting these things just to not deliver them? Does that make sense? Do you think I'm doing the custom work for financial gain? Hardly. Think about it. I give the generous precast discount of only $20.00 per head. And I give ample opportunity for anyone who wants to get on board to get that discount. Then, after 99% of people who want the head get the discount, it only goes up to $35.00. Where else can you get that? I should charge twice that from the get go. What I charge barely covers rubber, resin and casting time. My real income comes from commercial work which I've been deluged with this year. Everybody wants a piece of Chris.

The reason I do the custom work is that I have a passion for this stuff. And I thought I had a lot of friends here that would appreciate the kind of professional quality that I bring to the table. I wish I could survive only doing custom work, but the reality is that I simply cannot. I have to feed my family with the soul crushingly boring run of the mill toy work.

For some reason, people have not noted the numerous times I have said, and others have said for me, "this is going to take a while." I'm not sure why.

Everything that folks have committed to will be finished, but I need to look long and hard at my future in this community.

To those of you who understand the kind of devotion and hard work this stuff takes and have maintained your faith in me, I thank you heartily.

For those who have lost faith, don't believe everything you hear, eh? There might be a hidden motive.

 

[Voorhees27]

Thats a great post, can I have a refund now?

 

[Husker75]

a hidden motive? never!

Hi Chris!
Why.. it's almost like i just said a few minutes ago that i was sure you'd be back soon to give us an update!
amazing what can happen if people actually have some patience!

That was the fastest i told you so i think i'm ever gonna get though.. haha