Yes, I think there is a degree of culture clash going on too. I never assumed that my cultural norms were the same as his and took that into account when judging any responses. I think some people overreact. I've even been accused of drinking kool aid (not even sure what that is tbh) because I did not want to join in being rude. If you choose to throw insults at anyone who disagrees, maybe the problem is you? Edit: (Not you davejames lol - general comment).
And that is a problem here. There is a mob mentality among a minority of folks that if you aren't with them then you are against them. They want to be able to tell him whatever they want and he has to accept it, but point out any errors in their statements, or god forbid offer a differing point of view and you are a apologist, and against the board.
You guys, I appreciate your instinct to be humble and kind. The world needs a whole lot more of that, no doubt. But this is not a question of culture clash. Hong Kong is a veritable treasure trove of business and a commerce hub for the entire world, and you'd better believe the people who run all those companies that supply customers on a global basis understand what business relations and customer service is supposed to look like. They live it every day, and they do it well.
What we have here is a deeply idiosyncratic individual who sees his work not as public commerce, but as his own personal project that he is almost exclusively doing for himself and also to please the classic Trek innovators responsible for bringing these shows to us currently and back in the day that he has befriended over the years. He has wrapped just about 100% of himself into this project and because of this he literally feels like the project is a physical part of him.
Making this endeavor so personal is what leads us directly into the customer service issues many have experienced.
Again, the only conflict customers have is in expecting to experience the same basic customer care model from EXO that they have had with every other business they've dealt with, and having the door slammed on them instead is not something that's easy to accept when it's their dollars that allow the company to exist at all.
So, this is nothing to do with a mob of irrational people looking for someone to be rude to. When normal customer expectations are thwarted on nearly a daily basis, combined with threats to deny certain products to them, and to be cast off as undesirables, it's not normal to sit back and think that's ok. And I'll also add that when another group of customers DOES decide to sit back, think this treatment IS ok and scream "Nothing to see here!" That does tend to come off as folks so desperate not to get on his bad side and deny themselves the chance to get into this Section 31 elite group that your personal pride is a sacrifice you're all too willing to make. And that position may not sit all that well with the former group whose only crime is a desire to be treated with the same common level of respect just about all customers of any normal business enjoy.
That's the lay of the land.
NOW SWITCHING GEARS!
We all know by now who we're dealing with and what to expect from him. He is NOT going to be persuaded or shamed into the idea that his approach to this endeavor is flawed or wrong.
So, with all this evidence right in front of all of us, the only question that remains is are we willing to put OUR personal pride aside (you know that same personal pride that I verbally crucified NT for above) and add the items to our collections that we want so badly that we KNOW we will almost certainly never get from any other source? Each of us will have to answer that question for ourselves individually. For some, maybe that price is too high, but I'd wager that for the VAST majority of us, we can find a way to put NT's ways and approach to things in pocket somewhere, and not let it bother us to the point of not getting these figures at all and move the F on!
I've said this before, so let me say it one (hopefully last) time. You'd better be thankful for NT's personal insanity because with Trek occupying such a relatively small wedge of fan support compared to other more storied properties, ONLY A CRAZY MAN would get this deep into a line of merchandise with what one has to assume are minimal profit margins and such a (again relatively) limited body of source material to work with.
So, the bottom line is that NT's mind-set, that this is a personal project for him and him alone ( and because of his personal altruism and goodness he'll grudgingly let us get in on too!), is the ONLY THING that's is making this line a reality!
So, make your own personal choice as to whether you can tolerate the treatment you get from NT or not, and then work with him or don't BUT CAN WE ALL SHUT UP ABOUT IT NOW? That would be GREAT (says the Jedi Master who literally just wrote a book on the subject
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Thanks for the platform, I'm done...........you know, unless anyone disagrees with any WORD of this!
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) . . . and may your heads never fall fall off at an inopportune moment 
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