Hot Toys MMS429 - Return of the Jedi Luke Skywalker

[xipotec]

Like I said, I totally understand wishing it were an all-in-one DX like DX07. But that is assuming it would have been for the initial release. The part I think is funny and honestly stupid, is that people are suddenly getting up in arms and shouting betrayal when the pre-order for this goes up, even though they've already purchased their ROTJ figure and we knew an Endor Version was coming. The bottom line is they were going to complain no matter what, and they're honestly just complaining about having extra options at this point.

The complaint is 100% valid if both figures were currently up for Pre-Order. It's also 100% valid to go "man, I do wish it were all one release initially". It is stupid to buy the original figure and then go "I'm being betrayed by HT because the variant version (that I knew was coming before my other figure shipped) has some options that I feel like I should have gotten!". Well, now those people have those options to buy them parted out and they're still complaining.

Whats so hard to understand about why people are upset? If you offer a product, and there will be multiple versions of it, the decent thing to do is to put up BOTH AT THE SAME TIME.....so your buyers can make a choice.

Not squirrel one away in secret with different options until after the first is sold....

Its pretty obvious why folks are upset.

Had this been released as previewed no one would be upset about it.



Sent from the inside of a giant slug in outer space.....

 

[xipotec]

These made wading through those past 10 pages of nonsense worth it.

“At that speed do you think you’ll be able to pull out in time?”

Holy god man......

LOL

“He’s Braver than I thought”


Sent from the inside of a giant slug in outer space.....

 

[Prime Clone]

At least they've reserved the Jedi cloak for the first release, that's a value-add.

I have the first ROTJ Luke on preorder at Popcultcha and it's been delayed till this month. Wonder what their policy is in these situations?

 

[mikesgtrs]

They wont refund you at POp if you want to cancel the order they will only give you store credit. From the looks of things (only speculation) POP maybe in trouble with creditors and could be the reason why stock is delayed . From my 17 years background of financial services POP culture is showing signs in my opinion of possible financial trouble. It may not have originally been from financial issues, but stock depeletion , stock delays , selling stock for undercost when items namely hot toys have shelfwarmed for years have had an effect somewhere which affects company abillity to pay creditors.

 

[Prime Clone]

Uh-oh, thanks for the heads-up. I have over $A2000 of preorders with them that I transferred from another Oz dealer with a bad record, so hopefully they don't go belly-up.

Wonder if their recent bandwidth rationing is another sign?

 

[mikesgtrs]

Definitley possible. Most retailer shops in Australia are ending their Hot Toys stocks im talking about walk in stores like Zing and Game Traders. Hot Toys are the main cause of the issue as the prices are just too steep now . Ive spoken to alot of these store owners and Hot Toys have ruined aspects of their business so they wont stock them anymore. They are overpriced and people just cant afford them now. Reallity check, 1/6 collecting maybe on the way out in the next few years unless something changes

 

[Prime Clone]

Yeah I'm one of the many looking at exiting the hobby (but not before picking up a few must-have characters).

The bandwidth problems started when they were flooded during NYCC, but seem to have continued.

Here's their FB post from last month:



Dear valued customers,

We wanted to reach out to you today to discuss our current service standards and address the negative experiences we know many of you have had shopping with Popcultcha over the past few weeks. Firstly, we would like to sincerely apologise for the ongoing delay in orders being dispatched and our inability to stay on top of and respond to customer enquiries.
Since the release of Funko’s NYCC products on October 5th we have been plagued with substantial technical issues that have limited our ability to process orders. This blew out our 10 - 12 business day estimate for NYCC orders, and has created a snowball effect that has delayed all other orders that have been placed since October 5th. Despite our efforts of adding a second shift and working weekends, we still have been unable to catch up. We have not yet received a timeline from the third party providers we rely on to resolve these issues, as such we are stuck waiting and share your frustration.

To ensure our customers are not being delayed any further, we have made some procedure changes and expect all current orders to be dispatched within 10-15 business days. Depending on the nature of your order and how many items are required to be picked and packed, you may find that your order is dispatched quicker than this estimate.

For customers who have an item on preorder with us that is now in stock, we have a separate team that will begin working through the current backlog next week. We expect all of these preorders to be processed and sent to our warehouse with 15 business days. We also have a small team who are working through orders that do not contain Pop! Vinyl figures to ensure that customers ordering action figures, statues and gifts are not held up by the delays driven by NYCC orders, new Pop! Vinyl orders and a record number of preorder items all arriving at the same time.

Along with the increased delay in orders, we have also received an overwhelming amount of customer enquires. We currently have over 5,000 unanswered enquires that our team are working hard to answer. While we completely understand the frustration of not getting a response from our team, and the anxiety that can come along with not knowing the status in your order, we do request that you do not contact us multiple times, as this is simply adding more questions on the pile, and will not result in your issues being resolved any quicker. We would also like to request that you do not yell or lash out at our customer support team, they are working tirelessly to resolve your issues and are not at fault for our current delay.

Our best estimate for receiving a response to your enquiry is currently 15-20 business days. We recommend for urgent issues, that you please call our team on 1300 586 291 (International: +61 3 5240 7988) during our core business hours (Mon - Fri 9:00AM - 5:30PM AEDT).

We would like to thank you for your patience during this busy period and apologise once again for the delay and the lack of communication on our part until now. We were working on and hoping to get a solution from our partners first before reaching out to you all with an update, however this has unfortunately been difficult to obtain. We know we suck right now, but are working hard to make sure we return to the Popcultcha you know and love. Please have a read over the following FAQ that we hope may answer any questions you may have.

Kind regards,

Popcultcha HQ

FAQ:

1 - Where is my order?

At this stage you can expect all orders to be shipped within 10-15 business days

2 - I have preordered an item that is now in stock. When will it be sent?

We have a seperate team that will begin working through our current backlog of preorder items starting next week. We estimate this will take 10 - 15 business days to work through.

2 - Can I cancel my order?

Yes, of course. Due to the current backlog of enquires, can you please phone our team on 1300 586 291 (International: +61 3 5240 7988) during our core business hours (Mon - Fri 9:00AM - 5:30PM AEDT) to organise your refund.

3 - My order is missing / arrived damaged / is incorrect, what can I do?

Please send through an email to [email protected] stating your order number and name, and include photos of the received items, the paper invoice included within the delivery, and the packaging it was shipped in with the post label clearly visible. This will allow us to better ascertain how to proceed in helping resolve your issue. Please be aware that due to our current backlog that our current estimate of response is 15 - 20 business days. For urgent enquires please phone our team on 1300 586 291 (International: +61 3 5240 7988) during our core business hours (Mon - Fri 9:00AM - 5:30PM AEDT).

4 - When is my preorder coming? / Are you getting this item?

Due to the current backlog of enquires we are currently unable to answer specific questions about upcoming products or when preorder items are coming into stock. We will continue to update our online product listings to reflect the most accurate ETA as provided by our suppliers.

If you have preordered an item and you can no longer find that product on our website, this means that product has pre-sold out. We still have your order in place and will ship it once it arrives in our warehouse.

 

[punisher1974]

These made wading through those past 10 pages of nonsense worth it.

“At that speed do you think you’ll be able to pull out in time?”

I forgot that line TonTon. Awesome.

 

[TaliBane]

They wont refund you at POp if you want to cancel the order they will only give you store credit. From the looks of things (only speculation) POP maybe in trouble with creditors and could be the reason why stock is delayed . From my 17 years background of financial services POP culture is showing signs in my opinion of possible financial trouble. It may not have originally been from financial issues, but stock depeletion , stock delays , selling stock for undercost when items namely hot toys have shelfwarmed for years have had an effect somewhere which affects company abillity to pay creditors.

Ugh, I was hoping to use my remaining pennies on the Leia Bespin. My guess is those pennies really will be worth pennies by then.

I always wondered how they could ship so cheap, even overseas - I guess someone wasn't doing the sums carefully enough.

 

[Prime Clone]

I always wondered how they could ship so cheap, even overseas - I guess someone wasn't doing the sums carefully enough.

I think it was more to do with the USD>AUD exchange rate.

 

[TaliBane]

Along with the increased delay in orders, we have also received an overwhelming amount of customer enquires. We currently have over 5,000 unanswered enquires that our team are working hard to answer. While we completely understand the frustration of not getting a response from our team, and the anxiety that can come along with not knowing the status in your order, we do request that you do not contact us multiple times, as this is simply adding more questions on the pile, and will not result in your issues being resolved any quicker. We would also like to request that you do not yell or lash out at our customer support team, they are working tirelessly to resolve your issues and are not at fault for our current delay.

Our best estimate for receiving a response to your enquiry is currently 15-20 business days.

Kind regards,

Popcultcha HQ

I always thought that bandwidth "queue" thing was super weird - a few people were like "it's just busy" but I've never seen that anywhere else.

I mean I love a queue as much as the next guy, but I got tired of it after about five seconds... "I'm in line... to enter a website... an e-commerce one..."

 

[TaliBane]

I think it was more to do with the USD>AUD exchange rate.

It hasn't dropped THAT much though. Seemed like way-cheap shipping for something close to "overnight."

 

[TonTon]

I ordered a figure a couple weeks ago that processed and shipped promptly. Has anyone had any other experience than that with an in-stock HT order?

Seems like it’s just the lengthy pre-order delays.

 

[Tortfeazor]

Nice pic! Can the gloved hand on the light-up arm move at all? I don't care much about the light-up feature, but none of these releases come with a normal gloved saber hand. I want to have him holding it right over left.

I've heard some people have been painting the blade too, is it pretty dull without the light on?

I shot mine with a light coat of Plastidip (Blaze Green). Otherwise yes, it’s very dull and barely even looks green.

 

[Greejo]

I ordered a figure a couple weeks ago that processed and shipped promptly. Has anyone had any other experience than that with an in-stock HT order?

Seems like it’s just the lengthy pre-order delays.

I ordered a Royal Guard a few weeks back, that was processed and shipped quickly...had it in a few days.

 

[Saintv1]

I cant be the only one upset about this right? It feels so deceptive to show this figure right after the other one. No one on reddit seems to care

My opinion is that it's generally a bad practice to make your early adopters feel like they got a bad deal.

It's nice that at least the original release has one unique item (the cloak), but it's frustrating the the Endor release has a Deluxe option while the original release did not. That's specifically to try an coax people who bought the original who wouldn't have otherwise bought an Endor version, because the Deluxe includes non-Endor parts that probably would have been a better fit for the original release.

Buyers of the original can't even sell their original version for a straight upgrade, because the Deluxe doesn't include the cloak (correct me if I'm wrong).

I'm not made about it, I'll just try to get the parks I want on the aftermarket--but I feel like there was probably a better way to handle the release.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

 

[choombaz]

They wont refund you at POp if you want to cancel the order they will only give you store credit. From the looks of things (only speculation) POP maybe in trouble with creditors and could be the reason why stock is delayed . From my 17 years background of financial services POP culture is showing signs in my opinion of possible financial trouble. It may not have originally been from financial issues, but stock depeletion , stock delays , selling stock for undercost when items namely hot toys have shelfwarmed for years have had an effect somewhere which affects company abillity to pay creditors.

Yep something is definetly up. Over extended themselves? I’ve never seen such bad service from them in five years as I have in the past two months.

 

[Prime Clone]

Sounds like they were overwhelmed with the demand for NYCC Pops and things snowballed from there. Yet another reason I don't like Pops!

 

[Sixth Scale Man]

God, I hope PC isn't in trouble. I still find they best suit my budgeting needs, They have AfterPay, PayPal "lay-by", I like their pennies and early-bird pre-order prices too. I'm still blaming those pesky Pop Vinyls for their woes. Imagine keeping up with what seems like 60 releases a week. Can they really be selling all the franchises they represent?
Anyway, I hope my Luke turns up in the New Year. He will be my definitive version for my collection. I doubt I'll get the Endor version, even though I would get the Leia and Han Endor versions.

 

[SilverStar17]

Han and Leia in Endor gear I could understand, because those outfits are what I would consider to be "RotJ" Han and "RotJ" Leia. Their definitive looks in the film, basically. Luke in his Endor gear isn't what I would consider to be "RotJ" Luke.