Hot Toys Grand Moff Tarkin

[Creighton]

Ill probably upgrade my ANH Vader when the time comes as well. The gloves and price are sweetening the deal.

 

[karamazov80]

Gotta go with the "pull my finger" pose.

 

[Malgus]

Also just switched to BBTS. Sideshow asked for some feedback recently and I told them to shove their NRD as I'll never shop there again.

I am sure they are just broken up at losing a customer who wants to order then cancel on a whim.

I prefer Sideshow because the flex pay keeps me from getting hit with big payments coming out at once.

 

[Matt S]

getting the two pack. Sent email to HT to please fix the nose plug. I'm sure that single email alone will make them fix it.......LOL

 

[Vortex]

I am sure they are just broken up at losing a customer who wants to order then cancel on a whim.

I prefer Sideshow because the flex pay keeps me from getting hit with big payments coming out at once.

The problem I have with the NRD is sometimes these things don't turn out so great (Luke) but i still buy them anyways because I don't like throwing away money. Without the NRD i would have cancelled on fair conditions. Even if it says "prototype blah blah", the change was just too great.

As to your second statement, you have plenty of time with these to work out your own payment plan. It's called saving.

 

[QuiGonFishing]

You just described at least 50% of the reason NRD are apparently here to stay at SSC but it's a losing proposition. It's just going to take them an annoyingly long time to discover that all they are accomplishing is driving customers into the waiting arms of BBTS (great shipping deals), and Alter Ego (reward points).

Except for the occasional exclusive, I've never looked back in my exodus from Sideshow.

They will figure it out.....eventually. But it will take the realization that orders are down, and BBTS/AE are having record years.

 

[subzro]

You just described at least 50% of the reason NRD are apparently here to stay at SSC but it's a losing proposition. It's just going to take them an annoyingly long time to discover that all they are accomplishing is driving customers into the waiting arms of BBTS (great shipping deals), and Alter Ego (reward points).

Except for the occasional exclusive, I've never looked back in my exodus from Sideshow.

They will figure it out.....eventually. But it will take the realization that orders are down, and BBTS/AE are having record years.

They will be fine. BBTS/AE and everyone esle gets their stock from SSC so they are still making money from whatever is sold in the US. Maybe not as much but they are still getting something. I still buy from SSC because of cheaper shipping (i don't qualify for the $4 deal) usually around $10-$12 vs $20+ from BBTS.

 

[pixletwin]

At this point I have swapped out so much of the SS and Vader for HT parts, all I need is the body and gloves and I'll have an HT Vader.

 

[dukefett]

They will be fine. BBTS/AE and everyone esle gets their stock from SSC so they are still making money from whatever is sold in the US. Maybe not as much but they are still getting something. I still buy from SSC because of cheaper shipping (i don't qualify for the $4 deal) usually around $10-$12 vs $20+ from BBTS.

You don't qualify for $4 BBTS shipping but your shipping is somehow cheaper than it would be for me to order from SSC? I live in the same state as them!

 

[TaliBane]

At this point I have swapped out so much of the SS and Vader for HT parts, all I need is the body and gloves and I'll have an HT Vader.

You can always buy that knock-off SSC DX Vader on ebay for $60 and get something close to the original SSC release.

 

[D.R.37]

SSC charges $20+ and I live 40 min away. BBTS is where I placed my POs for Jedi Luke and the Tarkin set. I still have some points at SS and waiting on a couple orders still but after that I think I'll be shopping at BBTS $4?? Ok!

 

[Choryujin]

SSC charges $20+ and I live 40 min away. BBTS is where I placed my POs for Jedi Luke and the Tarkin set. I still have some points at SS and waiting on a couple orders still but after that I think I'll be shopping at BBTS $4?? Ok!

Yeah. My last order with SSC for Drax was over $20 shipping. BBTS would have been $4 or $9 if I chose the faster way. I cancelled my BBTS PO because rewards came available and I got Drax for shipping cost only. BBTS was much cheaper in shipping even without $4 deal. Hell, I got a skateboard shipped from Cali for less than SSC charged me for Drax plus it got here faster than Drax did.

 

[QuiGonFishing]

They will be fine. BBTS/AE and everyone esle gets their stock from SSC so they are still making money from whatever is sold in the US. Maybe not as much but they are still getting something. I still buy from SSC because of cheaper shipping (i don't qualify for the $4 deal) usually around $10-$12 vs $20+ from BBTS.

Interesting. Are you in Cali? SS has always been the top shipping cost by a wide margin for me of all of the other companies.

You're right, of course, in that SS is the official US distributor of Hot Toys, but their margins are always best from direct sales. So even though these other companies can't put SS out of business from a strict competition standpoint, SS will see at some point that their model is not delivering the results they were targeting. My fear, though, is that instead of scrapping the NRDs and the other policies that have driven a lot of us away, step one will be to put the screws to the third party dealers before they look at sharpening up their own act. I guess we'll see.

 

[TonTon]

The other side of the coin is that they're okay with people buying from other places. They are a distributor after all, the more figures that are out in stores for people to check out and see in person also benefits them and the scale in general. Also up until recently Alter Ego, whom I wholeheartedly support, wouldn't allow free cancellations either.

 

[QuiGonFishing]

True. It's the their overall volume as distributors that allows SS to give up a little margin as a trade off to get access for their product into more markets and more hands.

BUT, since SS also doubles as a dealer themselves, they are happiest when we buy direct. I just think they would benefit from a re-evaluation of their model. Collectors will give up quite a bit for this Reward Point business, but I think SS is brushing up on the point of diminishing return (or at least they have it in sight). There are a lot of us who don't even consider buying direct anymore, unless we need to finish off our RPs.

 

[TonTon]

Maybe they got tons of complaints from their retailers, those are their customers too. Have to make them happy too. Sideshow was giving out monthly $20 codes that everyone could share before which basically turned every 1/6 figure into free shipping, or less as they were even charging $10 shipping on a lot back in the day, they often have exclusive items, offer rewards points, sometimes have 20% off and 30% off coupons for specific items while not allowing other retailers to show discounts that Heavy on specific items.

And of course items ship out first from Sideshow. Some if not many of those issues surely must piss off a lot of their retailers as it puts them at a huge competitive disadvantage. Just saying I'm sure that Sideshow can see different trends transpiring with their different tactics, they must have their reasons.

 

[hokietwo]

The other thing that affected was the dealer holdback on discounts. There was a time a few years ago the retailers were discounting the figures greater than 10%, some were common at 12%. That discount now is 8% maximum in general for pre-orders.
So something on the distribution agreement happened with the Hot Toys terms for sure.

The monthly codes going away and moving into the code for purchases model is a change just as TonTon stated.

 

[Wor-Gar]

The lack of competitive pricing is illegal. But no one will check into the evil toy market.

 

[QuiGonFishing]

Yes, for Sideshow it probably equates to squeezing one end of the balloon and watching the other end swell. As long as they are the sole US distributor, I guess they hold all the cards for a lot of the market.

BBTS may be playing it the smartest. They may not be able to get out from under the discount restrictions, but they can choose to combat the equation from a side that they can control, shipping cost.

 

[Malgus]

The problem I have with the NRD is sometimes these things don't turn out so great (Luke) but i still buy them anyways because I don't like throwing away money. Without the NRD i would have cancelled on fair conditions. Even if it says "prototype blah blah", the change was just too great.

As to your second statement, you have plenty of time with these to work out your own payment plan. It's called saving.

I rather pay most of the money up front for these figures so it's one less thing to think. As for your excuse for cancelling. I don't buy it. For the most part hot toys matches or surpasses their proto figures. The few times they don't causing people to cancel would not be enough to force Sideshow into requesting NRD. No that was caused by irresponsible people ordering then cancelling in too large a number. Of course the irresponsible people will lie about how often they really cancel and make excuses as to their reasons.