Forgiving imperfections on PF's(and other pieces)

[Chargersfan57]

Ok, so I'm new to the wonderful world of collecting (and I must say it's incredibly addicting) and I just received my 3rd PF today.

So far I own:

Mystique EX PF
Indy PF
Lara Croft PF

My mystique showed up flawless! which was great, but when I received my Indy PF I noticed a large paint chip on his hat. You couldn't look at him without noticing that large white spot.

Needless to say I sent him back for an exchange.

That was 2 weeks ago and last week my waitlist for the Lara PF converted.

Well today both packages arrived at my door so today was a good day.(kinda)

Indy arrived first and he was perfect except there is something inside the base that's loose. When I shake it, I hear something raddle inside. That's fine because obviously he won't be moving when he's displayed.

Then lara showed up and I must say the outer box isn't that great. It's not dented or anything but it has black marks all over it plus there are a couple wet water spots on it. (Also there was no ES on the box)

But it's what is inside that count's, So I opened it up And lara looked great.
Base is perfect, everything, except I noticed some dark lines all over the lower part of her right leg (Just above her boot). There was also a small line by her mouth. I rubbed them to see if they'd go away and now the one by the mouth is less noticeable.

Maybe not enough to warrant a return though. I know I have to decide for myself. But I don't want to get something worse Plus I just exchanged indy. Also the lines are not EXTREMELY noticable

My question...what is acceptable to you. Is everything in your collection "perfect" I know that with these things being handmade that not everything will be perfect.

 

[Ven]

dam you sideshow... dam you.

 

[Chargersfan57]

Haha.....yeah.....

 

[LOTRFan]

Post a pic, that will help you get a consensus.

 

[samueljd]

I couldn't deal with those imperfections myself. I can accept certain things, such as colors darker or lighter than I expect them, but paint chips or rubs or just stray paint marks are unacceptable for me.

 

[Balsquat]

Most PF's are not perfect man I don't care how much people say that theirs is. Everybody has their own level of acceptability but lets face it, these things are fragile. I say keep it, you will be able to learn to look past it. You need to get over being a perfectionist early in your collecting if you hope to continue to enjoy. That's my opinion anyways.

 

[SpawnFan]

I don't really get bothered by small imperfections, especially if I get better prices out of them from the aftermarket.

 

[Morgan the Raider]

I agree with with Balsquat. If it's not that noticeable just go with it. It doesn't help to obsess as a collector. It just makes you enjoy so much less. Take it from someone who used to go nuts over little things.

That said, if it's horribly noticeable than exchange it.

 

[Chargersfan57]

My Camera is broken at the moment.

I couldn't deal with those imperfections myself. I can accept certain things, such as colors darker or lighter than I expect them, but paint chips or rubs or just stray paint marks are unacceptable for me.

I agree I'm spending a lot of money on these!

 

[Chargersfan57]

Most PF's are not perfect man I don't care how much people say that theirs is. Everybody has their own level of acceptability but lets face it, these things are fragile. I say keep it, you will be able to learn to look past it. You need to get over being a perfectionist early in your collecting if you hope to continue to enjoy. That's my opinion anyways.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[LOTRFan]

I agree I'm spending a lot of money on these!

Bottom line, if it is an obvious QC issue and it will eat at you every time you look at it; send it back - it will take extra time, but in the long run you will be glad you did.

 

[SpawnFan]

But you never know what you might get back.

I'd say keep it if the flaws are not noticeable, depends how anal you are about ^^^^ like that off course.

 

[Balsquat]

Thanks for the advice.

No problem man. Your thread struck a chord with me cause I'm the exact same way.
Here's a similar thread i started.
https://sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53544

I had a life size bust arrive with a scratch.
I thought I was going to puke.
I eventually buffed most of it out, but more than that, got a discount of $150 on the bust and learned to live with it. Best decision I ever made. The bust is my favorite piece ever and at a sweet price. I don't even see the scratch anymore, though the first week, its all I noticed.

 

[Chargersfan57]

Thanks again Balsquat that was a good read. I agree that expecting every piece to be flawless will just disappoint the collector. I put her on my desk and looked at her from all angles and I decided that I will keep her.

From 5 feet away you can't even notice it. Up close you can but I think I can live with it.

Besides, she raids tombs shes bound to get a little dirty.

I think she's gonna be "mint" enough for me

 

[jstep13]

Good question. For me, Im not that big of a stickler. Basically if it displays well and a 'civilian' cxant notice the flaw then Im good.

 

[Havok]

I can definitely understand where your coming from man. I know for a fact that none of the pieces in my collection are perfect, they all have a few imperfections. Most of the time though I can't even notice them under my normal lighting conditions, but when I take them out in natural light it brings out the marks and such.

So for me personally, if I can't notice them under my normal lighting conditions in my display area, then it doesn't warrant an exchange. If it's something very noticeable like a paint chip or a really bad mark or paint rub though, then yeah it would bother me and I would send it back, even though the wait for another one would be hard.

Try to see if you can possibly rub those marks on Lara's leg off man, you might get lucky. Just be careful you don't rub too hard and take the paint off or anything. Remember though, this is only my opinion, it really comes down to what you can live with personally. Since these are all hand made though, you can't really expect perfection, so the earlier you accept that, the better. Good luck to you dude, and welcome to the world of collecting.

 

[kazukijun]

One would expect perfection from a line called Premium Format.....

 

[GondorGirl]

So for me personally, if I can't notice them under my normal lighting conditions in my display area, then it doesn't warrant an exchange. If it's something very noticeable like a paint chip or a really bad mark or paint rub though, then yeah it would bother me and I would send it back, even though the wait for another one would be hard.

Quoted for truth That is exactly my position as well

 

[theguru1]

One would expect perfection from a line called Premium Format.....

One would, but you won't get it. PF, all polystone, anything really. From a scratch, crack, paint slip, air bubble hole to a full break, look careful and close enough and you really won't find anything that's 'perfect'. I don't think I really have a single thing that if you want to be picky, you could call perfection, not even my 7 of 9 PF

In some cases I've had statues for months, even a year or more and had a very good look over, closely dusted many times and looked at it for ages and then one day, noticed a flaw that I had never seen before.

So really it just depends on what is wrong and what you can live with. Some things like large paint chips or breakages anyone would return. A minor paint mark or scratch may well matter where it is. Can you see it every time you look at it or is it on the base, covered by a foot when on display.

I too have the Lara PF and it isn't perfect. There are a couple of black marks (dots really, .5-1mm) mostly on the back of one leg. I know they are there, but on normal display, even from various front angles, you can't see any of it.

So decide what you can live with and follow up as need be. But don't give SS too much slack, otherwise quality will just continue to drop and its starting to get bad enough already.

 

[King Darkness]

I am generally forgiving of minor imperfections. But a lot is based on the price of an item too. If I dump several hundred on an item it damn well better be perfect. With 1/6 stuff I am more tolerant.

But anything extremely noticable, regardless of price it will get sent back.