Hot Toys: The Suicide Squad: Harley Quinn (Artisan Edition)

[Berry The Music Man]

Lazy effort , have better use for $400 !

 

[Entropy]

So there was about 20 minutes of being able to order her through a very slow loading sometimes crashing site that occasionally emptied your cart, followed by a queue of a couple thousand that then were unable to buy due to an “already in someone else’s cart” error message. And some said this wouldn’t sell quickly?

 

[dominishin]

I had to go through my phone, desktop kept getting that server error earlier.

Honestly these artisans have been pretty easy to get as you came on time (right when it goes up, not 30 min later). I've only missed 1 artisan, Loki, because it went up the same day it was revealed.

 

[Starfleet Captain]

$425!? No magnetic base? It’s pretty nice with good accessories, but are they out of their Vulcan mind?

 

[webhead05]

Maybe InArt has just ruined my perception, but I don't get all the comments on price for this, tbh. It's right in line with other Artisan releases:

Wonder Woman (WB100) - $400 (not technically Artisan, but the first to use wool hair)
Joker (TDK) - $515
Joker (Phoenix) - $460
Jack Sparrow - $495
Loki - $445
Anakin - $415
Scarlet Witch - $445

The biggest outlier is Black Widow at $385. You don't have to like the price point for what you get, of course, but Harley isn't any more egregiously priced than others of that tier.

 

[Raνen]

$425!? No magnetic base? It’s pretty nice with good accessories, but are they out of their Vulcan mind?

I wish I could say the Artisan hair adds $100 to the price and its not fully down to price gouging but

 

[The Buffinator]

I had to go through my phone, desktop kept getting that server error earlier.

Honestly these artisans have been pretty easy to get as you came on time (right when it goes up, not 30 min later). I've only missed 1 artisan, Loki, because it went up the same day it was revealed.

I haven't tried for all of them, but so far the only ones I've been able to successfully get through the queue for are WW100, Scarlet Witch, Black Widow and Harley. What I want to know is, where was this luck with women when I was younger??

 

[sabin23]

So there was about 20 minutes of being able to order her through a very slow loading sometimes crashing site that occasionally emptied your cart, followed by a queue of a couple thousand that then were unable to buy due to an “already in someone else’s cart” error message. And some said this wouldn’t sell quickly?

Obviously, these limited edition runs are all a marketing ploy to create FOMO.

This Harley figure would still sell well if it was an open or timed run but this Artisan line creates hype and more brand awareness for Hot Toys.

Admittedly, I got caught in the hype. I was on the fence with this Harley but decided to secure the PO due it being “limited”and kick the final decision down the road. I did not check the box for “protect my order” so I can cancel later to get my NRD back.

There have been other Artisan or Artisan adjacent figures that I 100% truly wanted or missed out the first time - Black Widow 2.0, Spider-Man 2.0, Wonder Woman WB100.

 

[webhead05]

I can see both sides of it. Yes, having limited runs is obviously a marketing strategy; I'm not so naive as to ignore that. By the same token, we've seen what mass-produced rooting has looked like in the past, so I'm inclined to believe that limited runs are the only way HT can reasonably achieve a higher level of quality.

Harley will be my third after TDK Joker and WB100 Wonder Woman. On the bright side, exclusivity means you won't have trouble getting your money back if it disappoints in-hand.

 

[sabin23]

I wish I could say the Artisan hair adds $100 to the price and its not fully down to price gouging but

InArt charges about a $100 premium for rooted versus sculpted so that seems to be market rate. The ArtToys Edward Scissorhands rooted is about $150 more than sculpted.

Like you mentioned, I don’t know the true value or expenses involved.

I sent my Sansa Stark (GOT) head sculpt to an artist to get rooted a few years ago - IIRC, that was at least couple hundred (if not more).

but that Sansa root job was a custom one-off to my specifications (not assembly line like Hot Toys) and you’re paying the artist for the labor, time, materials, etc. And Sansa has some semi-complicated braids to replicate.

 

[Entropy]

you’re paying the artist for the labor, time, materials, etc.

Exactly, whether they’re independent or work for a big company like Hot Toys.

I agree that the edition is size is less about driving fomo and exclusivity and more about what staff can actually accomplish before being needed for the next project. But, yeah those numbers are used to advertise. And of course with smaller edition sizes the production costs are spread out over a smaller number of units so there may be cost cutting by reusing previously sculpted portraits. That said, price creep is real and will in all likelihood continue to go up and up.

 

[KitbashOfficer]

Maybe InArt has just ruined my perception, but I don't get all the comments on price for this, tbh. It's right in line with other Artisan releases:

Wonder Woman (WB100) - $400 (not technically Artisan, but the first to use wool hair)
Joker (TDK) - $515
Joker (Phoenix) - $460
Jack Sparrow - $495
Loki - $445
Anakin - $415
Scarlet Witch - $445

The biggest outlier is Black Widow at $385. You don't have to like the price point for what you get, of course, but Harley isn't any more egregiously priced than others of that tier.

True, up to people whether they pay the price or not, but my god...$425 for a figure where the only justification really for that is rooted, wool hair... Mike Tyson punch-staggering. I don't want to hear *bleep* about the economy with a number like that.

 

[Entropy]

Unlike WW, S Witch, Anakin, Sparrow, there’s a new costume here and accessories to design and produce as well. Those costs could be spread out over more units if there was a previous version or a non Artisan edition. My point being, 2000 figures and the price would be higher, 1000 higher still, 500 more $ per figure, and a 1 of a kind = ten$ of thousand$ if not more.
Not that the hair isn’t a driving factor but there’s probably more at play we aren't always privy to.

 

[BigBoss9293]

Secured mine as well but as others have said, definitely on the higher end considering the suit is most definitely pleather. I got my 2016 Harley rooted and it definitely elevates the figure. I wonder how much demand there would have been for a 2.0 of the 2016 outfit.

 

[webhead05]

Secured mine as well but as others have said, definitely on the higher end considering the suit is most definitely pleather. I got my 2016 Harley rooted and it definitely elevates the figure. I wonder how much demand there would have been for a 2.0 of the 2016 outfit.

I would've been salivating over an Artisan 2016, but at least this way mine didn't lose (all) its value.

 

[DParga21]

I feel like the "limited edition" crap for figures people have been wanting, like this Harley, is going to majorly bite Hot Toys in the ass. It reminds me of PLaymates and their oh-so-brilliant idea to make 1,701 "Picard from Tapestry" figures, ensuring no one ever had a chance to actually get one.
I'm fine paying a premium price for a premium figure, but when I can't even order the damn thing?

 

[Mike86]

My thought pre-ordering is even if I decide later on that I don’t want it I can probably sell it. Popular character and version of the character in the fan favorite outfit.

 

[skizzoid]

Tried ordering when it went live and repeatedly got the error message about it being in someone else's cart (when the website wasn't also down). Had work meetings all afternoon and didn't get to check again until later when it went to waitlist. The fact that I'm okay with that probably tells me all I need to know about buying this, but the part I'm more upset about is that I have about $40 in rewards that'll expire before I ever get off the waitlist for this (and there's no way Spook makes up for that).

 

[sabin23]

Secured mine as well but as others have said, definitely on the higher end considering the suit is most definitely pleather. I got my 2016 Harley rooted and it definitely elevates the figure. I wonder how much demand there would have been for a 2.0 of the 2016 outfit.

Your rooted Harley looks great!

Forgot how much it brings the figure to life. I considered doing the same many years ago but at this point, I’m probably better off waiting a little longer for Harley 2.0.

I have the JND Harley which resolves some of that discontent with the HT.

 

[sabin23]

I feel like the "limited edition" crap for figures people have been wanting, like this Harley, is going to majorly bite Hot Toys in the ass. It reminds me of PLaymates and their oh-so-brilliant idea to make 1,701 "Picard from Tapestry" figures, ensuring no one ever had a chance to actually get one.
I'm fine paying a premium price for a premium figure, but when I can't even order the damn thing?

I feel your pain - the PlayStation 5 30th Anniversary edition were near impossible to get during first batch of sales direct with Sony PlayStation’s store.

The $1,000 bundle were being flipped for $4,000 - $5,000 (completed sales) - limited run of about 12,000 worldwide.

I think PlayStation Japan is putting restrictions to filter out some scalpers but probably won’t make much of a difference - requiring a PSN account and register 30-hours of game time.