Chris Howes' Sculptural Creations

[costumeball]

why so you can turn that around on us and tell us to have more patience? do it yourself.

If you claim someone is lying, the burden of proof is on you.

 

[costumeball]

Yeah, it's all within the Howes' threads, the promises and let downs, the way he's tried to twist blame on anyone except himself, and also the proof that many of us had already asked for refunds many times, and he just ignores those requests.

Sorry, but once again I fail to see how "I'll try to have this ready by _____" constitutes LYING.

He even starts ignoring people who try to help out by asking for refunds on behalf of others. Chris really has gone way past any decent business practices weeks ago. Start asking him about the people that want refunds- you'll either never hear from him again, or he'll just answer as if you never typed the question, and he never saw it.

Funny you should mention that, since in my last e-mail I did offer to help with refund requests since he said he isn't posting on the boards anymore.

Interesting. I'll let you guys know what the reply is.

 

[Jendini]

...OR, will I be a collector who took part in a group commission where EVERYONE agreed to pay UP FRONT for custom heads that (at the time, especially) were available nowhere else, created by a professional sculptor offering his services at a ridiculously reduced rate, with no promise that they would be available by any specific deadline, and with no promise that they would only be sold to us on the initial list, and with no promise that they would be prioritized over "real job" gigs?

Maybe that makes me a sucker, but with the exception of the captdan/diver thing which we haven't heard the full story on, none of this has been surprising to me. Well also, some of the sad displays of entitlement from some people, I didn't expect that either.

It's been 7 months, and the ones I ordered have not been started. They're not even next on the list. Now he's not responding to email and he won't give anyone a refund. Any reasonable person would think that they'd been had.

This is not a "sad display of entitlement". It's not what "everyone agreed on" either.

If he wants out because he promised his services "at a ridiculously reduced rate", then he should refund our money so he can go do whatever he's got lined up that's better. If he's got some great contract doing something else, (and if he refunds my money) I'll wish him well and never bug him again.

 

[The Drizzle]

Sorry, but once again I fail to see how "I'll try to have this ready by _____" constitutes LYING.

No, but "The first wave of House heads has been sent out" and "all the unpainted heads have been sent out" is. Unless of course all of wave one is just the one unpainted head that Collector49 received. (which it isn't, many of us ordered unpainted heads)

 

[costumeball]

It's been 7 months, and the ones I ordered have not been started.

I'm sorry you feel scammed, but I see you were signed up for some X-Files heads, right? Was there any place in that thread where you were told that delivery would be made within 7 months?

And just for the record, I'm really not trying to be a jerk here.

As one (of an apparent few) who is in e-mail contact with him, I'll try my best to facilitate communications.

 

[costumeball]

No, but "The first wave of House heads has been sent out" and "all the unpainted heads have been sent out" is. Unless of course all of wave one is just the one unpainted head that Collector49 received. (which it isn't, many of us ordered unpainted heads)

I'm not doubting you, but I'd like to see where those quotes are from.

Again, not doubting, just curious to read those posts.

 

[galactiboy]

I'm not doubting you, but I'd like to see where those quotes are from.

Again, not doubting, just curious to read those posts.

Here's a nice summary from the Maximus thread:

I just spoke with Chris via email. I wanted to ask him when I could expect the progress photos of the Maximus armor set he promised almost three weeks ago. His response...

"Not to sound flip, but when it's ready. "

He continues by saying..."I want to have the head ready to show along with armor and weapons, it's roughed but not in the "Battle Cry" expression yet. I hope to do that over the next few days."

Here is a history of Chris's updates about this project. I will update this as time goes on so we can track Chris's progress on the commission:

January 15th, 2009 - "I'll have some photos of the chest ornamentation hopefully tomorrow. It's been interesting working on the detail...."
https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43310&highlight=photos&page=39 Post #390

No update was posted.

March 16th, 2009 - "Sorry for the long delay, but I will have a good update for you, hopefully tonight. I have not been idle..."
https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1539765&highlight=photos#post1539765 Post #423

No update was posted.

April 18th, 2009 - "I'm going to have some Maximus photos this weekend, finally!"
https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45265&highlight=maximus&page=87 Post #868

No update was posted.

May 10th, 2009 - "Two swords tomorrow! Plus updated chest armor and roughed out head. Really.... I promise...... cross my heart, etc."
https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1666166&highlight=maximus#post1666166 Post #985

No update was posted.

May 16th, 2009 - "So that my first born isn't forfeit here is the start of some photos. The chest piece is nearly done, I just need to add the tiny figures and add a little detail."

One photo was posted.

If you go to https://www.chowes.com/forsale/heads/armor/ you can see that Chris uploaded the chest armor photo to his website on 01-Apr-2009. The photo was more than a month old by the time he posted it. It was also on his personal website for two weeks prior to him posting it on this forum. I guess he couldn't be bothered to show it to the people who had already paid.

June 12th, 2009 - "One of those things I was working on was the Maximus stuff. He's Almost done and will be posting the finished photos in just a few days. I'm sure folks will like it, it's looking rather nice."
Email conversation with Chris.

No update was posted.

July 1st, 2009 - ""I want to have the head ready to show along with armor and weapons, it's roughed but not in the "Battle Cry" expression yet. I hope to do that over the next few days."
Email conversation with Chris.

I will be emailing Chris once a week for progress updates. I have made other arrangements to recover my money should he not deliver.

Enjoy... and try not to make conclusions about members. I have to admit I was initially bothered by how upset some members were at Chris. But since the first complaint Chris has basically buried his head in the sand and blamed others for his own lack of professionalism.

 

[The Drizzle]

I'm not doubting you, but I'd like to see where those quotes are from.

Again, not doubting, just curious to read those posts.

Don't remember where in the thread it was, seems like it appeared about the time Collector49 got his head in the House thread- the message may have been relayed by him. Back then he was getting communication like you were. Really, read it all, it's eye-opening.

I don't have time to search for you because:

1. I don't feel I have anything to prove, it's all there if you read.
2. I'm working on a custom project of my own to hopefully make back some of the money I was screwed out of, and these replies take my hands from the work. I still have at least 2 more days worth of work to be done so I can offer the item because I refuse to treat people like Chris Howes has treated us- people will get product from me within a few days of paying, and I will answer any and all questions.

You are one of a couple of (lucky? dunno that I care to talk to him now, I'm not impressed with him) people that Chris has bothered to answer. I still maintain that it gives you a better sense of well-being about all of this, but you aren't getting the experience all the rest of us have so far. Totally ignored, and treated with disdain in his two measly rants he's made in the last 3 or so months.

 

[costumeball]

That Maximus stuff IS pretty damning in that context.

But it also reads to me as someone with good intentions just being too busy and having to prioritize other stuff. Praiseworthy? Hardly. But a far cry from "scammer".

I don't have time to search for you because:

1. I don't feel I have anything to prove, it's all there if you read.
2. I'm working on a custom project of my own to hopefully make back some of the money I was screwed out of, and these replies take my hands from the work.

So, you don't want to spend any more time on these forums posting when you could be spending that time working on custom projects....

Hmm, sounds familiar.

I still maintain that it gives you a better sense of well-being about all of this, but you aren't getting the experience all the rest of us have so far.

I don't doubt that at all, but why would he selectively be ripping people off? If (hypothetically) he's ripping YOU off, why wouldn't he rip ALL of us off?

I'd think that the fact that he's in contact with SOME members and has sent out SOME product should put those with prepaid orders MORE at ease.

 

[mosaicsquare]

on my count he has only sent out 2 things.

1x house head to collector49 - the guy who started the first chris howes complaint thread

1x house head to mollins - the girl who bought one from ebay

so 2 people out of the 10s and 100s of people who ordered something from him SOME is a bit of a stretch.

 

[The Drizzle]

So, you don't want to spend any more time on these forums posting when you could be spending that time working on custom projects....

Hmm, sounds familiar.

I know you are basically joking, but because this is important to me I do feel the need to answer: I didn't take on too many projects, and I haven't taken any money without product ready- in fact no one even knows what I am working on. When I do offer my item, you can be assured it will be ready to ship, and I will answer any and all communications. Check my trade feedback here, I give excellent service. Conversely, I expect at least decent service when I buy.

I don't doubt that at all, but why would he selectively be ripping people off? If (hypothetically) he's ripping YOU off, why wouldn't he rip ALL of us off?

I'd think that the fact that he's in contact with SOME members and has sent out SOME product should put those with prepaid orders MORE at ease.

It doesn't comfort most of us. He's being very selective about who he answers, and he always ignores people wanting refunds. It's also infuriating continuing to see him sell on ebay that which he should be mailing to us who have paid already. I really think the reason he sends a little something out now and then is so he can say he is working and fulfilling orders if Johnny Law ever comes down on him. He took on a LOT of commissions- most that he has never shown any work for. I also think it gives him leeway to keep saying facetiously that "this person can get through to me, I'm waiting right here if you would just email me" when in reality he's just ignoring most of it. The Russian spammer excuse was totally laughable. Any person with a sliver of common sense could figure out a way to fix that problem if it blocks their communication in one small minute.

 

[Voorhees27]

costumeball IS Chris Howes!

Its getting old, nobody here is agreeing with you so GTFO already. Unless you're just here to troll? Either way you've become very annoying and ignorant to the entire situation.

 

[thainer]

No, I don't. Did you try the "Hello" subject line?
Were you polite in the contents of said e-mails?

I admit, if I hadn't heard from him at all, I would definitely be concerned, but all I'm seeing is an angry few saying they've had no contact with him.



Yes, I do think that's reasonable. As I understand it, he does this in his spare time as pretty much a hobby and a service to the fans. He's not making huge profits off of this, especially if compared to what he probably earns sculpting "for real". So if he has to put them on eBay to bring in a little more cash to compensate his time, and make it more worth his while to do these, I say more power to him.

While it might be "bad form" or "annoying" to see eBay customers getting theirs before those of us who were there from the beginning, we were never promised otherwise, and I don't see how that means we won't get ours.

If anything, they'll be better versions of them if you're getting painted heads, in which case the later versions will likely be more polished after practicing on all the previous ones.

I'd say the 7000 to 11000 dollars he took in and returned nothing would count as a pretty huge FN profit to me. I am getting pretty sick of the Howes' apologists on here coming up with all these stupid reasons why it is ok that he ripped us all off and is delivering no product or refunds to those of us who politely email and ask for them.

 

[Mollins]

on my count he has only sent out 2 things.

1x house head to collector49 - the guy who started the first chris howes complaint thread

1x house head to mollins - the girl who bought one from ebay

so 2 people out of the 10s and 100s of people who ordered something from him SOME is a bit of a stretch.

I'm not a girl

 

[costumeball]

Check my trade feedback here, I give excellent service. Conversely, I expect at least decent service when I buy.

I apologize if you feel I was questioning your integrity. As you say, I was attempting a friendly jibe to try to make things a little lighter in here. Sorry if I offended.

It doesn't comfort most of us.

As I said, for what it's worth I will try to get some info about refunds and stuff, and call me naive, but I just don't see how a person with such a relatively high profile in the industry would choose to ruin his reputation for the sake of a few thousand dollars. It just doesn't make any sense to me.

 

[costumeball]

costumeball IS Chris Howes!

Speaking of "getting old" . . .

Its getting old, nobody here is agreeing with you so GTFO already. Unless you're just here to troll? Either way you've become very annoying and ignorant to the entire situation.

How am I trolling? I'm not the one doing the name-calling.

And what, if I don't agree with you, I can't post? Since when?

 

[thainer]

Why don't you spend less time apologizing for Howes and a little more time reading these threads and you might gain some insight as to why so many of us are so pi$$ed off at that scammer. Unless you are Chris Howes and you know exactly what you have said and done.

 

[mosaicsquare]

I'm not a girl

crap i assumed you were a girl cause you said your boyfriend painted your figure.... i guess boys can have boyfriends too. sorry

 

[ProgMatinee]

i do get a weird feeling costumeball is trolling to see what evidence we have against chris. personally i believe its not to our benefit. my gut says everything we post is being compiled and twisted. I believe refund requests being ignored combined with a unwillingness to provide adequate time table is legally enough to file a complaint with his local police department. i suggest being careful with the information you provide to costumeball and i suppose a potential chris howes lurking around.

 

[dwing]

I have stayed out of the thread up to this point. Both Saya(my wife) and I have spent money on 4 hs. Neither of us believe Chris is trying to rip any of us off. He does have a good standing in his profession and I don't believe he's willing to let that go for what he's making here. Are we happy about what has taken place, no.
Costumeball- Chris has stated, "I'll have updates this week." Or, "Hs xyz has been sent." In those statements and the fact that updates were not made nor the hs received makes it easy to see where others feel he's lying.
Personally, Saya and I feel in the end we will get the HS or our money back. Now, how long will we give him? That, we have not determined but feel it should be a group effort just as the commision was a group effort.
I understand those that are angry and I understand your feelings. Chris does need to give updates, send completed sculpts out and refund those that wish refunds vs. hs.