Hot Toys Quality Control: Whats Goin On?

[Rorywan]

Too many licenses? Growing too fast as a company? Or just a general decline of in QC?

There are many separate threads on this in the different sections, but I thought it would be good to bring them all together in one place to see if this is a real issue now, or just another phase for the company. Personally, I have seen a massive drop in quality over the last year.
Too big, too fast?


They have released some amazing sets recently. But there was a time when almost every production model was as good or if not better than the proto version.

Recently, we have had several controversial releases (please add):
DX Indiana Jones: (Headsculpt, crude clothing, some great accessories)
RE: Alice: (Completely different from proto, many disappointed)
Batman Begins: EX version: (Massive QC problems, over a wide range of elements)
Captain America: (QC costume problems and completely different ugly headsculpt)
Iron Man: Various (Lighting/parts/paint QC problems)

Then we have the massive delays:
Tron Light Cycle (now over a year late), DX Pirates.. etc

And finally the rubber deterioration issue, which has always been there,
Rambo, Rocky, ED209, Mars Attacks, Dark Knight DX02, Sarah Conner, Watchmen:Comedian, and I'm sure more to follow..

So what does the future hold for HT? I'm still a big fan. But I'm not pre-ordering so quickly these days.

Please discuss?

 

[King Darkness]

Its really nothing new at all, for years HT has had numerous figures with a very wide array of quality issues.

It comes from them pushing the boundries so far with seemingly every new release. They have yet to sit back and just pump out safe, easily made figures. Everything they do is far and beyond what has ever been done. Naturally, when you are consistently pushing the limits they are gonna have more than the average amount of failures.

For whatever reason, people just seem to forget about Hot Toys' many many many figure issues with every new release, and then go crazy when there is yet another issue, somehow forgetting about the 50 that came before it.

Collectors with tiny attention spans and even shorter memories.

Its nothing new at all.

 

[Rorywan]

Do you not correlate the massive amount of license announcements with falling QC?

I've been pretty much with HT from the early days, I notice a real change in the last year?

Head over to the Batman Begins EX thread for a taster, real overall issues with a high profile release.

 

[Lejuan]

The only one one on that list that puzzles me is Bruce Wayne Bats. They took a perfectly good original figure and stuffed it. The rest comes down a lot to personal taste and how picky you want to be. Indy was not my cup of tea and I canceled, but most folks who kept their order seem happy with it; IM MKIV was a complex figure that only a relative few people experienced QC issues with (if this forum is anything to go by); I haven't followed Alice, but wasn't there a kerfuffle over a wide-angled lens shot that made the sculpt look way worse than it really was? Captain America got a bit of attention by a whiney pants collector and their crappy camera but didn't the figure end up pretty solid? I'd be interested to hear what others have to say about the HT QC thing but to me it sounds like overall they're doing a pretty good job

 

[Rorywan]

The only one one on that list that puzzles me is Bruce Wayne Bats. They took a perfectly good original figure and stuffed it. The rest comes down a lot to personal taste and how picky you want to be. Indy was not my cup of tea and I canceled, but most folks who kept their order seem happy with it; IM MKIV was a complex figure that only a relative few people experienced QC issues with (if this forum is anything to go by); I haven't followed Alice, but wasn't there a kerfuffle over a wide-angled lens shot that made the sculpt look way worse than it really was? Captain America got a bit of attention by a whiney pants collector and their crappy camera but didn't the figure end up pretty solid? I'd be interested to hear what others have to say about the HT QC thing but to me it sounds like overall they're doing a pretty good job

If you head over to the HTC site you will see some rather shocking costume QC on Captain america. But to be honest I think the head sculpt is more alarming. I thought Alice was pretty shoddy too.
The batman thing, I just don't get it, completely agree with you.
CR Superman, is a 100% perfect figure IMO. So it just seems that they have taken too much on to me.

 

[FQRizzo]

Sometimes companies can get too big for their britches.

I think the main issue I have is with likenesses. The DX Luke looks bad and the HT Indy could have been better. Also, the Iron Man Mark V looks too skinny and has paint fading issues.

I don't necessarily think this is the decline of HT, but when compared to their previous body of work, it is a bit disappointing.

 

[Rorywan]

Sometimes companies can get too big for their britches.

I think the main issue I have is with likenesses. The DX Luke looks bad and the HT Indy could have been better. Also, the Iron Man Mark V looks too skinny and has paint fading issues.

I don't necessarily think this is the decline of HT, but when compared to their previous body of work, it is a bit disappointing.

Yeah, thats pretty much my view as well. I think they just need to refocus and get their house in order. I think the DX Luke proto sculpt is very disappointing, as I posted over there.. I hope they pull a "Superman" rather than an "Indy" on that one..

 

[FQRizzo]

I wish they would get away from their PERS obsession. I think it is throwing off some of the sculpts. Indy would have been better off without it.

 

[Rorywan]

I wish they would get away from their PERS obsession. I think it is throwing off some of the sculpts. Indy would have been better off without it.

Yeah, 100%.
I think it looks pretty good on Nicholson Joker and 89 Bats. But lets wait and see. It is really hit and miss, I think it looks bizarre on DX Luke.

 

[Lejuan]

Part of the problem might be expectations; they pretty much nailed Supes, Spiderman too, and 89 Bats and Joker are looking like crackers also. I've been lucky in that every release I've really wanted has delivered a perfect figure in hand. Except Indy. I was really hoping for a solid Ford Indy... but there's always ToD.

As for the delays, I'm happy for the wait if it means a better figure. Plus I enjoy a good, torturous wait. Makes my candy taste sweeter.

 

[transhi100]

The only one one on that list that puzzles me is Bruce Wayne Bats. They took a perfectly good original figure and stuffed it. The rest comes down a lot to personal taste and how picky you want to be. Indy was not my cup of tea and I canceled, but most folks who kept their order seem happy with it; IM MKIV was a complex figure that only a relative few people experienced QC issues with (if this forum is anything to go by); I haven't followed Alice, but wasn't there a kerfuffle over a wide-angled lens shot that made the sculpt look way worse than it really was? Captain America got a bit of attention by a whiney pants collector and their crappy camera but didn't the figure end up pretty solid? I'd be interested to hear what others have to say about the HT QC thing but to me it sounds like overall they're doing a pretty good job

Pretty much how I see it. The only real QC issue recently is the BW Batman. Everything else is really collectors panicking overall very minor details that can be easily fixed or bad pics, which in most cases end up not being an issue at all. Alice is a good example because that head sculpt ended up better than the prototype; people went going crazy over the early distorted pics that made her head look fat.

 

[King Darkness]

Do you not correlate the massive amount of license announcements with falling QC?

No.

I have been collecting Hot Toys figures for six years and there have been numerous figure issues and some delays through out.


If Hot Toys stuck to very basic clothed figures, with a few accessories you can bet there would be very little to no issues at all, but they insist on making stuff that pushes the limits and thus have a ton of issues.

I see more vocal complainers and inexperinced collectors with unrealistc expectations more than I see a qenuine failing in quality control.

Like I said before, its been a Hot Toys trade mark since their very first MMS figures.

But everyone is entilted to believe what they want.

I'll leave your thread now

 

[Rorywan]

Sure thing man, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
But every thread I go to is talking about more delays or QC issues.
I just saw the same thing in the Avatar thread?

Dunno, maybe it's just me.

 

[SwedishHeat]

I've never understood why people complain about delays. I just don't get it. Why is it a problem if something is coming 6 months later than originally anticipated?? If something's not done yet, then it's not done.

 

[Rorywan]

Well I paid for a Tron Light Cycle almost a year ago. And I won't get it until next year, what's to be happy about?

 

[COSMOSTARX]

They're way over their heads. Too busy trying to put out competition and pump things out in full force, leaving customer satisfaction in hindsight.

I wouldn't be surprised if they botch up the Jack Sparrow. Then again, with how ridiculously stupid Medicom x Enterbay are pricing theirs, it makes it a no brainer and customers who are deciding between those two will still likely pick Hot Toys version even if he looks like a clown in hand.

 

[SwedishHeat]

Well I paid for a Tron Light Cycle almost a year ago. And I won't get it until next year, what's to be happy about?

Then don't pay for it upfront. You shouldn't be doing that anyways, that's your problem.

Tell your retailer you want your money back and the delays are unacceptable. He'll give you your money back and he'll be pissed and if it happens enough times, he'll get pissed at Hot Toys and stop ordering.

THAT sends a message, complaining on the forum does nothing.

 

[Rorywan]

Then don't pay for it upfront. You shouldn't be doing that anyways, that's your problem.

Tell your retailer you want your money back and the delays are unacceptable. He'll give you your money back and he'll be pissed and if it happens enough times, he'll get pissed at Hot Toys and stop ordering.

THAT sends a message, complaining on the forum does nothing.

I wasn't complaining.
And a huge amount of people outside of the US order from reputable HK ebay sellers. At what point do you cancel your order?
These delays have been incremental. And that doesn't send a message to anyone. HT don't care about ebay sellers losing customers.
And that wasn't the point of the conversation.

They're way over their heads. Too busy trying to put out competition and pump things out in full force, leaving customer satisfaction in hindsight.

I wouldn't be surprised if they botch up the Jack Sparrow. Then again, with how ridiculously stupid Medicom x Enterbay are pricing theirs, it makes it a no brainer and customers who are deciding between those two will still likely pick Hot Toys version even if he looks like a clown in hand.

 

[Uncanny Web-Slinger]

Do you not correlate the massive amount of license announcements with falling QC?

I've been pretty much with HT from the early days, I notice a real change in the last year?

Head over to the Batman Begins EX thread for a taster, real overall issues with a high profile release.

Same here i've got quite a Few Hot Toys and only the most recent releases have had big problems.

Add to your list the possinle delay of Jake Sully, Baby Doll, Amber and the Iron Man Mark 2 fro 4th quarter to 2nd quarter 2012

 

[Kamandi]

You should never pay for merchandise that far in advance. In many instances you have a window to contest a bad sale and a year may put you legally out of bounds.