Do you like Marvel Open Edition Statues?

[Kibishii]

There is really one reason I am anti-open ES....

Why am I going to pre-order a $2000 statue that will possibly be over-produced and can be bought for much less once it is released? Value may not be important to you, but it sure as hell is to me because these aren't Toys R' Us shelf fodder.

Since Hot Toys has greatly increased the ES of their items, I do not preorder. I just wait for them to be released and buy them for much less.

 

[peedi]

Im actually neutral on this one ,i stand by sideshow decisions to set TBD on pfs and other lines and a open ES on more cotly ones like the LSF
one thing we know every year new collectors joing this Hobby and since now Sideshow is the only company producing great statues at this scale,and limited ones at that , new collectors would invarilably hav a desire to get the older ones that are fetching marked up prices, now if they can afford it well and good, but in my case i started collecting a year back and pfs like Thor and cap are beyond my range, so should i get the newer releases like Vision and hawkeye PF,im a completist and like to have a full team , so how good Vision and Hawkye are its a easy pass for me,this is where sideshow is in a dilemma, the lesser know character would be left sitting on their shelves if they decide to make a large ES for the these secondary characters,keeping it TBD give them a certain time to gauge the market and thats y im not suprised at the super low editions of Rhino,SPiderwoman..
Im certain sideshow knows more of the market than most of us here including the older collectors who feel they are the reason for sideshows success
but if u look at the pictures from this comic con , one thing i noticed is suddenly sideshow marvel dc pf are a total meh compared to the Horror, gaming PF and LSF, they know the marvel PF line is saturated and now they have to open to other lines to keep their success going

I agree and identify with much of this.

This OES debate brings out a lot of divides amongst collectors but at the end of the day I think SS thinks about these things more than what most of you give credit for, whether you like their decision or not. They're a business, so while every decision won't be the best one I doubt they'd do something to intentionally hurt themselves. I'm sure they have a team who markets and researches...it's not just about making art. As someone with a marketing degree I don't always agree (like I would make all EX 750 or less no matter what, but judge ES on Regs accordingly) but I can definitely see where some of those decisions come from when you include factors of costs and the nature of fickle collectors.

 

[Ramatuelle]

Fuzzy: Original art is great too. It's incredible to own a one of a kind piece of art from truly talented artists. You collect original art as well Rama?

I don't, but this is for two reasons: I don't have limitless disposable income, so I am happy to get what vendors like Sideshow bestow upon us; and secondly I am an artist myself. Unfortunately I don't sculpt, but as far as two-dimensional art, that I can make. So I am lucky in that respect.

I have been known to tweak existing pieces though. For instance, I own the Gentle Giant? movie Green Goblin sculpture, I think I tweaked that paint-wise for about a week before I got that to where I wanted it. That was one abysmal paint-job let me tell you.

You make a valid point Rama, but even so most flipping has been curtailed with the introduction of the NRD. Many statues take days if not months to sell out since the introduction of the NRD, which gives most customers who want one a good chance of getting them and resellers will have to pay and risk their NRD.

That I won't dispute.

My hatred of flippers comes from my time in the fashion-doll hobby, which I am still a part of. Many, many times a doll company releases a run of say, 100 rare and highly desireable dolls - and often they can run upwards of $500 apiece. These pieces will be hotly anticipated and people stay up all night waiting for the preorder to go up... We have collectors who will swoop in and buy up blocks of ten or twenty of them, and within minutes of the sell-out they are on the Bay at a 400% markup. The seller does not even have the item in hand yet, but they're instantly up. Meanwhile people who wanted the doll to keep themselves missed out because of other people's greed. They stayed up all night with thier fingers on the trigger, only to still miss out. I can't tell you the fury and resentment this creates.

A lot of companies now have limits of one or two per person, because people got so infuriated. There are ways around it, but for the most part people buying large blocks of an edition in Doll-Land are over. To which I say, YAY.

 

[Jazz]

The issue isn't exclusively "open" edition size as defined in the OP. The issue is supply and demand and the risk involved with having "open" edition sizes because of it.

In all collectibles, the market/hobby exists because things are scarce and are "worth" something. If you reach the point where items can be bought on the secondary market for less than MSRP within a couple of months of release, then that's where things go downhill and downhill very fast.

I assume that's what people are worried about with open edition sizes showing up on PFs and comiquettes.

 

[Ramatuelle]

In all collectibles, the market/hobby exists because things are scarce and are "worth" something.

Maybe. I can tell you that I buy something because I'm thinking, "That is awesome and I want one." Conditions of worth and rarity rarely if ever cross my mind: if I want it, I want it. That's just me.

 

[Awesome]

You know what? If people are okay with open editions Sideshow might as well just start production on every sold out " limited " item they have ever made since that would be considered open as well. Let's screw over everybody that has ever paid more than retail for a sold out product, open editions don't hurt the market right?

 

[quadcent]

You know what? If people are okay with open editions Sideshow might as well just start production on every sold out " limited " item they have ever made since that would be considered open as well. Let's screw over everybody that has ever paid more than retail for a sold out product, open editions don't hurt the market right?

yeah not at all, look at the up rising that happened when they changed the Terminator Endo to limited instead of and ES, everyone freaked, which i could hardly blame them.

 

[Ramatuelle]

You know what? If people are okay with open editions Sideshow might as well just start production on every sold out " limited " item they have ever made since that would be considered open as well. Let's screw over everybody that has ever paid more than retail for a sold out product, open editions don't hurt the market right?

You're being ridiculous and you know it.

 

[Kibishii]

You know what? If people are okay with open editions Sideshow might as well just start production on every sold out " limited " item they have ever made since that would be considered open as well. Let's screw over everybody that has ever paid more than retail for a sold out product, open editions don't hurt the market right?

All people asking for high/open ES items, you are putting nails in the coffin of this hobby. EVERYTIME a hobby has been over-saturated with easy product, the value plummets and the entire market tanks. Most fans DO NOT want their "high-end" collectibles flooding the market and becoming easy to get after initial release.

Again, look at what is happening to Hot Toys. I loved getting Hot Toys Captain America, Thor, Spiderman, Alice (RE), Jill (RE) all for far less than retail once they were released.

This really is economics 101: supply & demand. Sure, it sucks that you missed out on some of the early- and awesome- Sideshow releases and now they are worth alot of money. Suck it up. I missed out on the Predator 1 EX maquette and it sucks. That is part of a healthy collectibles market.

 

[Jazz]

Maybe. I can tell you that I buy something because I'm thinking, "That is awesome and I want one." Conditions of worth and rarity rarely if ever cross my mind: if I want it, I want it. That's just me.

So you wouldn't be mad if you paid $400 for a statue and in a couple of months you could buy it on eBay for $200? I'd assume you'd immediately stop buying at retail and would start waiting for things to go "on sale".

Every action figure line/collectible I've seen this happen with becomes discontinued/goes out of business.

 

[peedi]

The issue isn't exclusively "open" edition size as defined in the OP. The issue is supply and demand and the risk involved with having "open" edition sizes because of it.

In all collectibles, the market/hobby exists because things are scarce and are "worth" something. If you reach the point where items can be bought on the secondary market for less than MSRP within a couple of months of release, then that's where things go downhill and downhill very fast.

I assume that's what people are worried about with open edition sizes showing up on PFs and comiquettes.

For PFs and Coms, yes. They are expensive to the average person who doesn't collect, and are even getting expensive to those who do collect, but relatively they aren't the big ticket items. They need closed ES.

On the other hand, examine a Mercedes Benz lot. Will every car sell? No. Because the price eliminates those on a Toyota budget. All I'm saying is we need ES to limit ownership, but on the larger items the costs limit ownership. Two different methods to accomplish the same thing.

As for the Stormtrooper...it's a Stormtrooper. And eventually I will get one because I want one. Until then I'm going after pieces I know will sell out.

Ahh...that's exactly what those of you complianing about the LSFs are talking about. If its not limited in number, you can just get it at any time. I can see how that's a concern. At the same time, I can get an OES Stormtrooper for way less than the LSF or LSB. The cost of those, just like a Mercedes, limits who will have one. Even if it's available, it doesnt mean you can just get it.

 

[Ramatuelle]

So you wouldn't be mad if you paid $400 for a statue and in a couple of months you could buy it on eBay for $200? I'd assume you'd immediately stop buying at retail and would start waiting for things to go "on sale".

Every action figure line/collectible I've seen this happen with becomes discontinued/goes out of business.

Happens a lot in the collectibles market. It has happened to me.

Everyone faces the Collector's Dilemma: buy now and face possibility of loss of value later, or wait for the lower price and miss out completely because something became highly desired - and now there are none left? You win some, you lose some. I have suffered both ends of the spectrum - its part of life.

 

[Awesome]

You're being ridiculous and you know it.

Really? or do you have no counter argument to what I wrote since it's reality?

 

[dino76m]

my god, people are again jumping to all sorts of conclusions
if any one of u noticed , Sideshow has been changing and adapting their policies a lot to adapt,
if u notice they still have a lot of items regular versions, released sometime back which had a exclusive change of head
eg, T1 pf, rogue,psylocke, vampirella,
and now did anyone notice how the latest pre orders , the reg versions have both the heads,that guarentess them a regular version sell out otherwise 5000 people will be battling over 500 exclusives with another 5000 new collectors deciding to skip the reg as well, do u think sideshow want that to happen,peole just looking for ex while the reg is still availale.
they keep changing , its their business.and also the open Es are for items like the LSF and some maquettes which arent ensured a sell out.
buy what u like and leave the rest of things like grail value and market value to fate, what would happen if u just happen to drop one ur grail exclusives on the floor, u would still want to fetch 2k for it??

 

[Ramatuelle]

Really? or do you have no counter argument to what I wrote since it's reality?

Stating that since open editions exist, Sideshow might as well begin production on every last piece they have ever sold out of is a gross exaggeration and also something that has no chance of happening in real life, and you know it. Its an over-dramatisation of the issue, and I don't take it seriously.

 

[Awesome]

Stating that since open editions exist, Sideshow might as well begin production on every last piece they have ever sold out of is a gross exaggeration and also something that has no chance of happening in real life, and you know it. Its an over-dramatisation of the issue, and I don't take it seriously.

Bowen did something similar and look what happened, I wouldn't put it past Sideshow to do the same.

 

[occulum]

Its an over-dramatisation of the issue, and I don't take it seriously.

..... on this board?? ... naaahhhh......

 

[dino76m]

Bowen did something similar and look what happened, I wouldn't put it past Sideshow to do the same.

bowen certainly aint out of business , are they?? they still are gong strong giving various interpretations of characters, , u can pick and choose, new colllectors dont need to give damn about leaving a team incomplete
Sideshow offers a better scale compared to Bowen but the sad part is they release only a character one time in a particular scale , apart from a small variation in costumes,like the redhulk, so if u werent around the time of release , u r going to spend a lot of money getting it ,
frankly i think sideshow are done with marvel , most of their pf and comiq are just about there in terms of comparison to LSF , horrot and the new gaming line. So it no wonder they have kept a high Es on the new dc line as well as change of Head on both reg as well as exclusive , they dont want the new collectors to feel left out when they miss the exclusive and reg is still in stock,
keep bashing sideshow all u want they will do what they see best for their company and will adapt to it, like Bowen did,

 

[Ramatuelle]

Bowen did something similar and look what happened, I wouldn't put it past Sideshow to do the same.

Bowen's out of business now?! This is news, last I saw he was still churning them out, same as he ever did. I have also yet to see him rereleasing old stuff. That would rule, I'd love to have that very limited-ed full-statue Electro he did a few years back.

Are you from an alternate reality?

 

[pins79]

Utterly disappointing that Sideshow has decided to make Galactus an open edition. WTH! I moved away from Hot Toys to Sideshow because of the shenanigans Hot Toys was pulling with re-releasing figures. Now I see Sideshow is making slow moves towards that end. I'm a hardcore collector of many things and part of the fun of collecting to me is the exclusivity of owning something unique. Pride of ownership. Seeking that next great collectible before it sells out.

Yes, sometimes statues skyrocket in price in the secondary market but then again, sometimes statues are duds and backfire on flippers. I figure things even out and hopefully it keeps the number of flippers in check that way.

I agree with increasing the edition size of the more popular characters like Hulk, Batman, Superman, etc. It gives collectors a chance of owning their favorite statue that way. But god damn, respect your name Sideshow "Collectibles." Keep your customers happy. Release an edition size, stick to it, and focus on making those statues the best in terms of QC that they can be so that more people buy your future statues. Instead you make so called collectibles open-ended and piss off your consumer? Geez...