I reached out to Sideshow about a week ago regarding the staining on the neck. I received the following response through email:
"So unfortunately, this is the result of all of the pieces within the edition that we received from Hot Toys, so a replacement will not resolve the red markings. They all have the same red coloring on his neck.
If you would like to return the piece, we can definitely offer you a full no-cost refund of your order."
I definitely appreciate the no-cost replacement offer, but I am not certain I am willing to send back the figure if there is no replacement option available.
If they could provide a timeline in the near future for when new stock would be available without the staining, I would likely move forward with the refund option.
The staining on mine is fairly bad, but it is only on one side and I do plan on displaying him with the coat most of the time. On the other hand, it is a lot of money to spend on something that is not perfect, and if I ever wanted to display him without the coat in the future it is not going to look good. I reached back out to see if they had any idea if a new revision was being worked on before making my decision.
Good luck to anyone receiving their figure in the coming days!