Hot Toys Quality Control: Whats Goin On?

[Rorywan]

Well I received a second set of Indy DX (for customs) and the headsculpt had a huge nose rub on the paint. That's the second time in a few months I have had this happen. I have been collecting HT for years, I would traditionally only expected this type of QC on EB releases.
They used to get terrible bad press for the same problem.

And Captain America has been delayed because of QC?

 

[Uncanny Web-Slinger]

I see Luke Wilson in that Mcfarlane figure

 

[shadowfla]

Well I received a second set of Indy DX (for customs) and the headsculpt had a huge nose rub on the paint. That's the second time in a few months I have had this happen. I have been collecting HT for years, I would traditionally only expected this type of QC on EB releases.
They used to get terrible bad press for the same problem.

And Captain America has been delayed because of QC?

maybe it could be custom's fault...is strange from hot toys...

 

[Uncanny Web-Slinger]

Indiana Jones DX - Pimple version

 

[Rorywan]

maybe it could be custom's fault...is strange from hot toys...

No, there have been quite a few of these showing up from HT. Box wasn't opened by customs so thats all HT's fault.

My first one has a ripped shirt, also quite common it seems.

And a lot of people's hats are damaged at the front.

This is what I mean by falling HT QC!

 

[Rorywan]

Indiana Jones DX - Pimple version

but but

 

[Guinnessfan]

Thats sucks to see and hear of QC problems...I collect Coarse vinyl toys as well and if this was to happen to one of their pieces (granted its usually a limited run of 250 or so) you would easily get a replacement directly from Coarse and the guys there would make sure that future releases would be packaged better. With that said HT packaging is usually pretty good but nothing is perfect. Seeing those Indy pics makes my OCD go off about all of my PO's I have

 

[work13]

Thats sucks to see and hear of QC problems...I collect Coarse vinyl toys as well and if this was to happen to one of their pieces (granted its usually a limited run of 250 or so) you would easily get a replacement directly from Coarse and the guys there would make sure that future releases would be packaged better. With that said HT packaging is usually pretty good but nothing is perfect. Seeing those Indy pics makes my OCD go off about all of my PO's I have

Hot toys packaging is awesome from an "AESTHETIC" standpoint, but not from a durability standpoint. I bought the Enter the Dragon Hot toys bruce lee. The design of the box from an artistic standpoint was pretty nice. The durability of the materials they used for the box however, was pretty bad. There are rips down the folded areas of the box, and the rips get worse and worse each time it's opened. Needless to say, some of the materials used to make the boxes are very delicate. But it doesn't just end with the box. The durability of the figures and their accessories are starting to go down as well. I can't tell you how many times I've read about people complaining about the rubber and how it's melting, lights not working, paint fading or not applied properly, paint smudges etc... Now that hot toys is getting bigger, let's hope that their quality control doesn't get worse by cutting corners or taking short-cuts. Let's hope they don't get too greedy and big-headed. Let hope that they don't get lazy and rest on their laurels.

Further, I hope that their new foray into the 1/4 th scale figure arena doesn't equate to them further neglecting their 1/6 scale figures in terms of Quality control.

As for Indy, some say it's a great sculpt at certain angles. If it was a great sculpt, it'd be great from ALL angles.

 

[samueljd]

And Captain America has been delayed because of QC?

What are the QC issues with Captain America?

 

[Rorywan]

Lots of griping going on about costume problems. Broken straps, bad seams etc. personally I think the new sculpt should be more of an issue!

The 2nd batch has been delayed a month or so, no reason given.

 

[noisetrigger]

I work with the HT distributor here. So it's fair to say I have gotten my hands on quite a fair share of HT stuff over the years. I know a lot of you like to say you are with HT from the start but the company I am working for has been an official distributor back when they were just doing military figs and bootlegged. (we actually got a C&D from Lucas for the HT famous type "director" figure).

First, the facts. HT has issues. Wow, no surprise there. Any mass manufacturer will have problems. It's no secret that you can't have 100 perfect releases.

If anything, HT has been improving in their consistency and QC. Sure I agree we see more problems now but only because we are also getting a lot more orders for HT than ever. It's at least a few fold increase in the demand for HT figure over the years.

With so many made, it is only natural to see more problems. I like to point out that some complaints here and over at FB hardly equals the rest of the world.

The problem with the internet age is that you think the world is so small. Well, it's not. Those so called 'many' problems posted here are only a miniscule percentage.

Another thing that people are equating with is your unrealistic expectation is not the barometer for good QC. Please remember that there are handmade, handpainted, basically put together by hand. And because of that, "imperfections" are to be expected. In good ole Britain, they call this character .

FB and forums has in-fact blown things out of proportion. We gotten quite a few requests from customers to cancel Captain America. Reason being because of all the complains in the internet. Funny thing is, none of them have seen the actual thing in hand. They are just going by the crowd. Many people here are.

We got the same issue with Indy because of some bad pics and misleading info. But it's all sold out now (Indy) and all customers couldn't be more happier. Basically, everyone who complained about the price of Indy shut their mouth the moment they saw the real thing. It's a good buy suddenly.

I also like to clarify that the Alice sculpt we got is the exact same thing as the proto. We got the confirmation straight from HT. This was the fifth revision of the HS. That's why it was covered in Tokyo because the HS was still under revision that time.

There are a few broken records out there who kept on exclaiming that HT did the ole..switchcheroo but they didn't. Some bad pictures and lightning and bad info and until now, they are still people who will not admit that HT did a great job with Alice.

I guess it's just cool to hate on HT now because they have become the 'Empire".

Seriously, play some figures or go out or something. It's really lame to nitpick a figure to the point where even the real one will be called a double.

 

[Guinnessfan]

I work with the HT distributor here. So it's fair to say I have gotten my hands on quite a fair share of HT stuff over the years. I know a lot of you like to say you are with HT from the start but the company I am working for has been an official distributor back when they were just doing military figs and bootlegged. (we actually got a C&D from Lucas for the HT famous type "director" figure).

First, the facts. HT has issues. Wow, no surprise there. Any mass manufacturer will have problems. It's no secret that you can't have 100 perfect releases.

If anything, HT has been improving in their consistency and QC. Sure I agree we see more problems now but only because we are also getting a lot more orders for HT than ever. It's at least a few fold increase in the demand for HT figure over the years.

With so many made, it is only natural to see more problems. I like to point out that some complaints here and over at FB hardly equals the rest of the world.

The problem with the internet age is that you think the world is so small. Well, it's not. Those so called 'many' problems posted here are only a miniscule percentage.

Another thing that people are equating with is your unrealistic expectation is not the barometer for good QC. Please remember that there are handmade, handpainted, basically put together by hand. And because of that, "imperfections" are to be expected. In good ole Britain, they call this character .

FB and forums has in-fact blown things out of proportion. We gotten quite a few requests from customers to cancel Captain America. Reason being because of all the complains in the internet. Funny thing is, none of them have seen the actual thing in hand. They are just going by the crowd. Many people here are.

We got the same issue with Indy because of some bad pics and misleading info. But it's all sold out now (Indy) and all customers couldn't be more happier. Basically, everyone who complained about the price of Indy shut their mouth the moment they saw the real thing. It's a good buy suddenly.

I also like to clarify that the Alice sculpt we got is the exact same thing as the proto. We got the confirmation straight from HT. This was the fifth revision of the HS. That's why it was covered in Tokyo because the HS was still under revision that time.

There are a few broken records out there who kept on exclaiming that HT did the ole..switchcheroo but they didn't. Some bad pictures and lightning and bad info and until now, they are still people who will not admit that HT did a great job with Alice.

I guess it's just cool to hate on HT now because they have become the 'Empire".

Seriously, play some figures or go out or something. It's really lame to nitpick a figure to the point where even the real one will be called a double.

I agree with you...I just don't want to end up with a flawed fig that I've been waiting for for months and months...I know nobody does and it's ridiculous to think that a mass produced fig will be flawless for all those who purchases them. With that said as long as I can get a replacement if there are any problems cool, I still think HT is pretty top notch and SSC and BBTS have good CS so I'm not gonna worry about it going forward.

 

[jayveeeusebio]

I work with the HT distributor here. So it's fair to say I have gotten my hands on quite a fair share of HT stuff over the years. I know a lot of you like to say you are with HT from the start but the company I am working for has been an official distributor back when they were just doing military figs and bootlegged. (we actually got a C&D from Lucas for the HT famous type "director" figure).

First, the facts. HT has issues. Wow, no surprise there. Any mass manufacturer will have problems. It's no secret that you can't have 100 perfect releases.

If anything, HT has been improving in their consistency and QC. Sure I agree we see more problems now but only because we are also getting a lot more orders for HT than ever. It's at least a few fold increase in the demand for HT figure over the years.

With so many made, it is only natural to see more problems. I like to point out that some complaints here and over at FB hardly equals the rest of the world.

The problem with the internet age is that you think the world is so small. Well, it's not. Those so called 'many' problems posted here are only a miniscule percentage.

Another thing that people are equating with is your unrealistic expectation is not the barometer for good QC. Please remember that there are handmade, handpainted, basically put together by hand. And because of that, "imperfections" are to be expected. In good ole Britain, they call this character .

FB and forums has in-fact blown things out of proportion. We gotten quite a few requests from customers to cancel Captain America. Reason being because of all the complains in the internet. Funny thing is, none of them have seen the actual thing in hand. They are just going by the crowd. Many people here are.

We got the same issue with Indy because of some bad pics and misleading info. But it's all sold out now (Indy) and all customers couldn't be more happier. Basically, everyone who complained about the price of Indy shut their mouth the moment they saw the real thing. It's a good buy suddenly.

I also like to clarify that the Alice sculpt we got is the exact same thing as the proto. We got the confirmation straight from HT. This was the fifth revision of the HS. That's why it was covered in Tokyo because the HS was still under revision that time.

There are a few broken records out there who kept on exclaiming that HT did the ole..switchcheroo but they didn't. Some bad pictures and lightning and bad info and until now, they are still people who will not admit that HT did a great job with Alice.

I guess it's just cool to hate on HT now because they have become the 'Empire".

Seriously, play some figures or go out or something. It's really lame to nitpick a figure to the point where even the real one will be called a double.

I just hope I'm not one of the few who'll get an issued figure.

 

[jayveeeusebio]

Well I received a second set of Indy DX (for customs) and the headsculpt had a huge nose rub on the paint. That's the second time in a few months I have had this happen. I have been collecting HT for years, I would traditionally only expected this type of QC on EB releases.
They used to get terrible bad press for the same problem.

And Captain America has been delayed because of QC?

Yikes! Will you get a replacement for that?

 

[Rorywan]

I work with the HT distributor here. So it's fair to say I have gotten my hands on quite a fair share of HT stuff over the years. I know a lot of you like to say you are with HT from the start but the company I am working for has been an official distributor back when they were just doing military figs and bootlegged. (we actually got a C&D from Lucas for the HT famous type "director" figure).

First, the facts. HT has issues. Wow, no surprise there. Any mass manufacturer will have problems. It's no secret that you can't have 100 perfect releases.

If anything, HT has been improving in their consistency and QC. Sure I agree we see more problems now but only because we are also getting a lot more orders for HT than ever. It's at least a few fold increase in the demand for HT figure over the years.

With so many made, it is only natural to see more problems. I like to point out that some complaints here and over at FB hardly equals the rest of the world.

The problem with the internet age is that you think the world is so small. Well, it's not. Those so called 'many' problems posted here are only a miniscule percentage.

Another thing that people are equating with is your unrealistic expectation is not the barometer for good QC. Please remember that there are handmade, handpainted, basically put together by hand. And because of that, "imperfections" are to be expected. In good ole Britain, they call this character .

FB and forums has in-fact blown things out of proportion. We gotten quite a few requests from customers to cancel Captain America. Reason being because of all the complains in the internet. Funny thing is, none of them have seen the actual thing in hand. They are just going by the crowd. Many people here are.

We got the same issue with Indy because of some bad pics and misleading info. But it's all sold out now (Indy) and all customers couldn't be more happier. Basically, everyone who complained about the price of Indy shut their mouth the moment they saw the real thing. It's a good buy suddenly.

I also like to clarify that the Alice sculpt we got is the exact same thing as the proto. We got the confirmation straight from HT. This was the fifth revision of the HS. That's why it was covered in Tokyo because the HS was still under revision that time.

There are a few broken records out there who kept on exclaiming that HT did the ole..switchcheroo but they didn't. Some bad pictures and lightning and bad info and until now, they are still people who will not admit that HT did a great job with Alice.

I guess it's just cool to hate on HT now because they have become the 'Empire".

Seriously, play some figures or go out or something. It's really lame to nitpick a figure to the point where even the real one will be called a double.

Firstly, thank you for your post. You did so with intelligence and thought which I appreciate, until you completely blew it with your last couple of lines, which I will highlight in bold. I mean seriously, you say that on a toy collectibles forum, where people spend their incredibly hard earned cash on allegedly top end product!
&

There are also several problems with your logic, the main one being that we in SSFreaks are just a little drop in the pond, if that is so, and the problems being reported are relative to the amount of people posting here, there is a massive massive problem in "the big world".

Head over to the Batman Begins EX thread, I would estimate that 80% or more have had QC issues with this release. Thats 80% of the people who post on here. It follows that a similar percentage of the entire output also has these problems.

You say Indy is sold out now and all customers are happy with it? WTF? I have two and both are faulty, one with a dodgy hat and ripped seams the other with a damaged head.
I can tell you, I'm not happy. Stop with the senseless PR, you just come across as dishonest. Did you even bother to look at the pics on the previous page?

I think you are being a little condescending to your fellow freaks to be honest. We are not stupid. And we just want what we are paying for, high-end collectibles/toys that we expect to be of a certain standard.

Whether we play with them all night in our closets or under our beds is none of your business, ensuring that your customers are happy and satisfied with the quality of your products is.

 

[Noodlerizer]

Firstly, thank you for your post. You did so with intelligence and thought which I appreciate, until you completely blew it with your last couple of lines, which I will highlight in bold. I mean seriously, you say that on a toy collectibles forum, where people spend their incredibly hard earned cash on allegedly top end product!
&

There are also several problems with your logic, the main one being that we in SSFreaks are just a little drop in the pond, if that is so, and the problems being reported are relative to the amount of people posting here, there is a massive massive problem in "the big world".

Head over to the Batman Begins EX thread, I would estimate that 80% or more have had QC issues with this release. Thats 80% of the people who post on here. It follows that a similar percentage of the entire output also has these problems.

You say Indy is sold out now and all customers are happy with it? WTF? I have two and both are faulty, one with a dodgy hat and ripped seams the other with a damaged head.
I can tell you, I'm not happy. Stop with the senseless PR, you just come across as dishonest. Did you even bother to look at the pics on the previous page?

I think you are being a little condescending to your fellow freaks to be honest. We are not stupid. And we just want what we are paying for, high-end collectibles/toys that we expect to be of a certain standard.

Whether we play with them all night in our closets or under our beds is none of your business, ensuring that your customers are happy and satisfied with the quality of your products is.

You are still in the minority, Ht does have QC issues and the new batman probably has the worse QC issues from any HT before, but for most other figures including Indy are flawless 95% of the time.

 

[noisetrigger]

Firstly, thank you for your post. You did so with intelligence and thought which I appreciate, until you completely blew it with your last couple of lines, which I will highlight in bold. I mean seriously, you say that on a toy collectibles forum, where people spend their incredibly hard earned cash on allegedly top end product!
&

There are also several problems with your logic, the main one being that we in SSFreaks are just a little drop in the pond, if that is so, and the problems being reported are relative to the amount of people posting here, there is a massive massive problem in "the big world".

Head over to the Batman Begins EX thread, I would estimate that 80% or more have had QC issues with this release. Thats 80% of the people who post on here. It follows that a similar percentage of the entire output also has these problems.

You say Indy is sold out now and all customers are happy with it? WTF? I have two and both are faulty, one with a dodgy hat and ripped seams the other with a damaged head.
I can tell you, I'm not happy. Stop with the senseless PR, you just come across as dishonest. Did you even bother to look at the pics on the previous page?

I think you are being a little condescending to your fellow freaks to be honest. We are not stupid. And we just want what we are paying for, high-end collectibles/toys that we expect to be of a certain standard.

Whether we play with them all night in our closets or under our beds is none of your business, ensuring that your customers are happy and satisfied with the quality of your products is.

Firstly, I need to point of that I am not HT HK. We are just a distributor. I am relating our experiences with HT products, from a mass retailer POV. I dare say I deal with more HT products (and whatever problems) on an everyday basis than most collectors. (I am also not doing PR for HT. Why should I? It's not like they are paying me out of their own pocket. But HT is some of the more helpful companies we have dealings with. Try dealing with the Japanese and you will know what is horrible PR).

That means I actually have a first hand experience on how "widespread" these problems are.

At the end of the day, forums, FB, it just represents a small percentage of the total amount of people who collect HT. Do not mistake these voices to represent the opinions of every single collectors all over the world. I think Freaks here give themselves too much credit. Sure we have lots of members and we are surely the biggest figure related forums here but our membership pales in comparison to most social forums.

I am well aware of the Batman issue. I read through the thread. But I can't comment on that since we don't get the exclusives because we have no toy fair here. But 80% of people here have issues doesn't mean 80% of Batman sold have issues.

However I can say that Iron Mark V is the most problem free Iron Man releases so far. Defect rates are way lower than the previous Marks. They really outdone themselves on such a complex figure.

You must be mistaken in thinking that when I say that everyone is happy, I am talking about everyone is the whole world. I am not. Just saying whoever we have sold to here are happy with Indy.

As for your Indy, I am really sorry about your figure but I can only say bad luck. You have to take it up with whoever sold you the fig to sort it out just like how we will also take care of any HT product we sell that has unacceptable defects.

Let me take a ballpark figure. Let's say we sell 200 HT figs. On average we might have around 5 problematic figure. That's a small percentage by any standards. If you mutiply 200 with 10, 2000 figures sold and 50 defective figures, I still say it's a relatively small amount of problematic products. EB and Medicom has a much higher percentage of problems (EB at one point has a 50% problem rate. That means every other one sold has problems. That is one reason we stop carrying EB products, another reason being no one dares to pre-order EB stuff anymore, this is a situation where collectors really speak with their wallet).

The fact that we are still getting record breaking pre-orders for HT products just goes to show that confidence in their product is at an all time high. Sure they have some lemon (DX02 but to HT credit, they did replace every single one that we sent back within the stipulated period)

I am surprised that people are actually offended with my jab. You guys can stand thenammmagazine but not a small jab from me? I thought you guys are a lot more tougher than that.

But seriously. it's really aimed at people who took the time to actually do the Captain America proto and final product comparison with all the lines and boxes. I mean nitpicking figures at a micro level? No one will ever be happy.

I used to do that but one day I realized I am not enjoying the figure anymore but instead finding faults with it every single day. I totally lost the plot.

I am much happier now that I can enjoy the figure as a whole and not by how many thread count the fabric has.

 

[Rorywan]

Sorry your post makes little sense. You said everyone who ordered from you is completely happy? How do you know that?

And I'm well used to QC issues with figures. I only posted those Indy pics to demonstrate the failing levels of HT QC. Nearly all the Indy hats we have seen are damaged, most of the Batman Begins figures are damaged, what are you saying, the members on these boards are just particularly unlucky?

Could you take a moment to explain to us what happened with:
1: Batman Begins Exclusive.
2: just for ____s and giggles.. The melting Watchmen: Comedian.

Thanks.

 

[Hamanu]

At the end of the day, forums, FB, it just represents a small percentage of the total amount of people who collect HT. Do not mistake these voices to represent the opinions of every single collectors all over the world. I think Freaks here give themselves too much credit. Sure we have lots of members and we are surely the biggest figure related forums here but our membership pales in comparison to most social forums.

If you count just the collectors from Asia and Europe who don't speak English, you've got at least 50% (if not more) of the total number of collectors just in that group.

 

[Rorywan]

If you count just the collectors from Asia and Europe who don't speak English, you've got at least 50% (if not more) of the total number of collectors just in that group.

Yes of course, and they don't have the facility to complain Or discuss it on a forum like this one.