Chinese factories, QC and Sideshow - rambling thoughts.....

[Taibhse]

Imho, every industry builds product to a particular cost price to ensure a profit margin, and all industries experience QC issues.. for example, anyone who has researched a model of car before buying, is likely to find some online horror stories about the model they are considering.. I cannot comment on SSC statue figures QC, since I do not collect them, but I have been very happy with the SSC action figures I have purchased, across a range of licences.

Many criticisms tend to reflect either the original cost of a product, or the state of technology when a product was produced. Often older action figures, simply reflect the limitations of the materials used and the manufacturing process for action figures back in the day.. sometimes manufacturers experiment with materials which turn out to be unsuitable, and if they repeat that mistake, that is definitely grounds for robust criticism, but imho, this is the best of times and the worst of times for collectors, because we are now getting so many stunning figures that anything that fails to reach the pinnacle of our expectations, suffers by comparison..in a manner it probably would not have done, 10-15 years ago.

I doubt Chinese factories are more prone to having issues with overseas clients simply because they are 'foreign', than any other nation's factories.. the commonest reasons for misunderstandings and QC issues, are not having representatives who are fluent in the customer and factory nation's language, on each side of the sourcing arrangement, and inefficient management systems at the factory.. and Sideshow have an excellent reputation for replacing genuinely faulty products.

On thing is certain however, there is nothing as efficient as the interwebz, for propagating conspiracy theories.

 

[devilof76]

If anything, Chinese nationalism is no less arbitrary an explanation as Sideshow greed, apathy, and general malevolence.

 

[Doom Saber]

I honestly do not think racism plays a role, and I always feel that whenever someone pulls such a race card to explain something like quality control of why certain Japanese games aren't released in the states, it is out of sheer ignorance as if racism no longer exist in the US.

Anyway, having been in companies where they have different branches in the state or vendors throughout the country to make goods, it is more about having access to the other facilities to maintain quality control. For instance, I worked at an online company (that no longer exists) that made gifts. In terms of quality, the building across the street from the facility I worked at had the best quality, whereas the worst was somewhere in the east coast. The 2nd was somewhere out of the state too, but the relationship between the company and the vendor was good. As for Sideshow and Hot Toys, the former relies on quantities of products they make whereas the latter focuses more on the quality. Hot Toys might be able to go to the factories more often than Sideshow to make sure the paint tones are used correctly and the tailoring is correct.

 

[Pork Chop Express]

I honestly do not think racism plays a role, and I always feel that whenever someone pulls such a race card to explain something like quality control of why certain Japanese games aren't released in the states, it is out of sheer ignorance as if racism no longer exist in the US.

Well said.

It's part of manufacturing in general. I've had the same issue with aftermarket car parts, made in the USA. Unless any manufacturer has very (extremely) tight qc it's bound to happen, more so when more hands are Involved and when work is spread out. I doubt first world collectable expenditures have tolerances that high. The pharmaceutical industry has compliance requirement issues often enough.

If you don't like it send it back.

 

[annexasia]

QC Asia factory inspection is relevant information to see if in the future they can become possible manufactures.

 

[Snakey Jones]

Are there people in china with anti-western sentiments? Of course; just as there are people in many other countries with anti-western sentiments and people in western countries with anti-foreign sentiments; wherever you are there's some dumbass who ruins it for everyone. But to say this plays into QC issues is far reaching at best; as many have pointed out it's more likely that Hot Toys has better correspondence with it's factories then sideshow does due to location and better understanding of cultural idiosyncrasies. So you could argue CULTURE plays a part but not "i hate white people so much i'll **** up their dolls".

 

[annexasia]

QC service and perform on-site Product Inspections standards in Asia.

 

[qualitymm]

yes !! i salute you sir for this thread. so many excuses for the company to tell us why the highet cost, why quality become ******, blabla
i have friends who have factory in china. they said china can make so many quality level that you wanted. of course with quality come with price.
and obviously some company wanted to cut corner.

 

[ali032373]

Even if it was racism (which seems remote in the extreme) doesn't someone at ss have to approve the final product? If someone you hired handed you a crate of crap, wouldn't you be like "this is unacceptable and I'm not paying for it"?

Also it's not the factory making decisions on fabric or outfits. The factory doesn't make the head sculpts.

Finally, ss has some latitude in making at least the comic figures. Ex- batman has had a dozen looks over the years. But HT, who makes movie accurate figures, must be faithful to the source material. HT doesn't have the luxury of "interpreting" figures. They MUST make an accurate sculpt of a particular person, which I think is a higher burden.

So Company A with a higher burden makes top quality figures for $x.
While Company B with a lower burden makes lower quality figures for (roughly) the same amount.

That shouldn't be.

A new Mercedes costs $80k. But a Subaru is $35k. When Subaru starts charging $80k you'd think the quality would be commesurate. But no, you're still getting the regular Subaru.

 

[GoldDigger]

Guys, if you bought a statue and the quality is not up to par, this is just not fair, period. I have forwarded my complaint to the Better Business Bureau and have them to be the mediator to help me resolve my concern. I just have enough with Sideshow already, paint imperfection and lack of willingness to help. I spent my hard earn $ but receive something that is not up to par is unacceptable.

You guys can try to get the Better Business Bureau involved as well if Sideshow is unwilling to help.

 

[Medusoid]

Guys, if you bought a statue and the quality is not up to par, this is just not fair, period. I have forwarded my complaint to the Better Business Bureau and have them to be the mediator to help me resolve my concern. I just have enough with Sideshow already, paint imperfection and lack of willingness to help. I spent my hard earn $ but receive something that is not up to par is unacceptable.

You guys can try to get the Better Business Bureau involved as well if Sideshow is unwilling to help.

The BBB is a joke. It's not going to help anything.

 

[Taibhse]

Even if it was racism (which seems remote in the extreme) doesn't someone at ss have to approve the final product? If someone you hired handed you a crate of crap, wouldn't you be like "this is unacceptable and I'm not paying for it"?

Also it's not the factory making decisions on fabric or outfits. The factory doesn't make the head sculpts.

Finally, ss has some latitude in making at least the comic figures. Ex- batman has had a dozen looks over the years. But HT, who makes movie accurate figures, must be faithful to the source material. HT doesn't have the luxury of "interpreting" figures. They MUST make an accurate sculpt of a particular person, which I think is a higher burden.

So Company A with a higher burden makes top quality figures for $x.
While Company B with a lower burden makes lower quality figures for (roughly) the same amount.

That shouldn't be.

A new Mercedes costs $80k. But a Subaru is $35k. When Subaru starts charging $80k you'd think the quality would be commesurate. But no, you're still getting the regular Subaru.

I have heard plenty of horror stories about Mercedes (recently, not so much back in the day), BMW, Porsche, Volkswagen and Audi.. not sure why German cars have quite the reputation for quality that they do, particularly now they churn them out in vast numbers.. price is not necessarily an accurate measure of quality/reliability.. imho, Subaru make good cars (but the spares prices are scary).