How many of you will really keep your Biker Scout order ???

[DouglasMcc]

After viewing everyone's buying habits here, I am willing to bet over half of you "cancel" it within 6 months months of its release. LOL, let me explain - some of you will cancel it over the months leading up to its release, because something "shinier" pops up on the collectibles radar. Then, another chunk will sell it after receiving it to pay for something else "cooler" - many at cost or slightly below. In the end, other than the hardcore ... i.e. Lucas' biotches ... no one will have this piece in their collection in the near future due to its size, price, and character (sorry, the scouts were the inbreds and reject clones - the most incompetent bunch in the whole Imperial fleet ... seriously, you people want an 800 dollar statue of idiots who couldn't even protect their rides from feisty teddy bears ). Now, if that was Luke on the bike ... possibly with an interchangable hand for lit saber poses ... then it might be different ... and cheaper one would assume.

 

[Darklord Dave]

What else could "strictly limited" mean?

Judging from Tom's numbers, strictly limited could very well mean 1000 or even 2000. No SW piece will ever by 15 or 50, unless it's a bronze or over $1000 item.

I'm swearing I have NO knowledge of the edition size, but I'm predicting 1250 and I'm pretty confident about that. So start your cancellations now so I can get to drowning puppies in ice cream.

 

[user 1190]

Judging from Tom's numbers, strictly limited could very well mean 1000 or even 2000. No SW piece will ever by 15 or 50, unless it's a bronze or over $1000 item.

If its over 1000 I dont get the 1 per dealer thing.

 

[SolidLiquidFox]

Even at $800, a 500 piece edition size doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of the numbers on that list.

The $800 factors heavily from a company point of view. You get stuck with any of those other SW PF's and you can move them little by little through different ways. Now, you get stuck with hundreds of large boxes taking up space in the warehouse and nobody wants to pay $800...well, that's another story. I hope Sideshow doesn't overestimate SW. I always hear "but this is a SW item so we make more". Ebay trends paint a different picture.

I know everyone was going nuts over this piece at the convention and all that. However, we all know a lot of people have low attention span when it comes to this stuff. They'll rant and rave on the forums about "I got my preorder!!!" and "this is exciting and a must buy!!" but when it comes time to pony up the $800 they are forced to cancel for various reasons.

If this was the one cool item of the next 2 years then I would say 1,000 was reasonable but we all know SS comes out with cool stuff all the time. SDCC stuff for this year is still pending. This item is destined to be the next Jabba+Throne if Sideshow gets greedy. The awesomeness of this Scout Biker PF can be overshadowed by a poor choice in ES. Is not fair but that's the way expensive collectibles go.

 

[customizerwannabe]

If its over 1000 I dont get the 1 per dealer thing.

1 per dealer means a lot more to be sold directly by Sideshow. It sold out and Sideshow made most of the money directly. They made a higher profit than if they gave their dealers large allotments. By not giving the dealers many they're hoping for fewer cancellations. They are effectively cutting out the middle man. What is there not to get about that?

 

[Darth Loki]

I know this PF is expensive, but I think you're under estimating the SW collectors. 1000 of any SW item, especially one as kick ass as this, is not a lot.

 

[tomandshell]

I understand that Star Wars is popular and they want a reasonable number of fans to be able to secure their order. But you also have to consider the large number of unsold Boba Fett and Luke/Yoda PFs that are sitting in their warehouse right now. Those same fans that scramble to cover their bases and order are also fickle and will cancel at the drop of a hat, leaving many statues unclaimed at the time of shipping.

I think that they should begin to shoot for smaller numbers and stay away from TBD edition sizes--not everybody in the universe will be happy two hours after the sellout, but by the time that shipping and billing day rolls around, things will have struck a balance. Initial demand at the time of a free and easily cancelled preorder should not be the indication of an appropriate final edition size. When so many remain unsold and the rest are selling far below retail on the secondary market, they are making too many.

 

[user 1190]

1 per dealer means a lot more to be sold directly by Sideshow. It sold out and Sideshow made most of the money directly. They made a higher profit than if they gave their dealers large allotments. By not giving the dealers many they're hoping for fewer cancellations. They are effectively cutting out the middle man. What is there not to get about that?

Yeah I get that if its less then 1000 but if its not I dont get it. I seriouly doubt they sold more then 1000 of these at $800 that fast. Once yo get back closer to a regular ES why cut out the dealers. Thats all I am saying.

 

[starwarsgeek7]

I am not very knowledgeable about any of these edition sizes but I wanted inform that I originally placed a NON Flex-pay order, ending in #s 320 and then later (a couple hours) called SSC and asked if I could change to Flex-pay. The sales rep said "Sure, just cancel your first order and then re-order using the Flex-pay." And it wasn't like she told me "do it right now cuz we're low on stock" The new order ended in #s 840. Doesn't this suggest an ES of greater than 800? I'm not as familiar with how SS order # corresponds to the actual item #, but for most business' invoices there is a correlation. IMHO I'm guessing the ES will be around 1000.

 

[customizerwannabe]

Yeah I get that if its less then 1000 but if its not I dont get it. I seriouly doubt they sold more then 1000 of these at $800 that fast. Once yo get back closer to a regular ES why cut out the dealers. Thats all I am saying.

From the dealers I've talked to in the past, I've gotten the impression that SS has been slowly putting the squeeze on them for awhile. Maybe on something as impressive as this, they are willing to gamble that they can sell them all themselves. Giving the dealers one is a real slap in the face unless the ES is incredibly low. It's all speculation until we see the ES. Kinda fun to speculate though.

 

[Natrix]

I am not very knowledgeable about any of these edition sizes but I wanted inform that I originally placed a NON Flex-pay order, ending in #s 320 and then later (a couple hours) called SSC and asked if I could change to Flex-pay. The sales rep said "Sure, just cancel your first order and then re-order using the Flex-pay." And it wasn't like she told me "do it right now cuz we're low on stock" The new order ended in #s 840. Doesn't this suggest an ES of greater than 800? I'm not as familiar with how SS order # corresponds to the actual item #, but for most business' invoices there is a correlation. IMHO I'm guessing the ES will be around 1000.

Order numbers have nothing to do with edition sizes.

 

[darth dypshyt]

I think that they should begin to shoot for smaller numbers and stay away from TBD edition sizes--not everybody in the universe will be happy two hours after the sellout, but by the time that shipping and billing day rolls around, things will have struck a balance. Initial demand at the time of a free and easily cancelled preorder should not be the indication of an appropriate final edition size. When so many remain unsold and the rest are selling far below retail on the secondary market, they are making too many.

My thoughts exactly...but, I suppose Sideshow would be aware of this too...and yet, they still do it. So, whatever...if they got the space to store these until they sell all of them, more power to 'em.

 

[starwarsgeek7]

Order numbers have nothing to do with edition sizes.

Crap! I thought I had it all figured out for you guys!

 

[Darklord Dave]

It is conceivable that there were 500 orders in between his first and second orders - sure they weren't all speeder bikes, but the majority of them probably were. But that just means there are over 500, not that there are over 800 as the order numbers are for every product they sell.

 

[user 1190]

It is conceivable that there were 500 orders in between his first and second orders - sure they weren't all speeder bikes, but the majority of them probably were. But that just means there are over 500, not that there are over 800 as the order numbers are for every product they sell.

Well after doing some lookig at my order numbers there were like 1100 order numbers between my order at 10:03AM and the order I got at the very end and is one of the last 10 or orders at 6:37PM. There was another 650 orders in the 48 hours after the last one. Now remember that the John Conor that same day along with any other orders. Seeing how I have a very early order and alo one of the last orders it is VERY safe to say there will be less the 1000 of these.

 

[Mister Gosh]

When so many remain unsold and the rest are selling far below retail on the secondary market, they are making too many.

Are you sure? I mean, isn't some undercutting/clearancing on the secondary market a good thing? One of the things I like about SSC is that they don't under-produce. If there wasn't the price dip there, then I think we'd see way more speculator action on their items, which would ultimately be *bad* for the hobby. Price dips mean that generally only people who actually want the item for their own purposes will buy it.

I understand that people who buy at full retail get upset when they "could have" bought something for cheaper, but the other side of that coin is scalper-friendly edition sizes. Maybe there's a happier medium between the two, but If they have to make a mistake, I'd always come down on the side of too many, rather than too few.

Besides, short and long term secondary market value are rarely (if ever) linked, regardless of edition size.

 

[Lord Aykroyd]

Well after doing some lookig at my order numbers there were like 1100 order numbers between my order at 10:03AM and the order I got at the very end and is one of the last 10 or orders at 6:37PM. There was another 650 orders in the 48 hours after the last one. Now remember that the John Conor that same day along with any other orders. Seeing how I have a very early order and alo one of the last orders it is VERY safe to say there will be less the 1000 of these.

oooo ... now this is fun!

 

[RoboDad]

Well after doing some lookig at my order numbers there were like 1100 order numbers between my order at 10:03AM and the order I got at the very end and is one of the last 10 or orders at 6:37PM. There was another 650 orders in the 48 hours after the last one. Now remember that the John Conor that same day along with any other orders. Seeing how I have a very early order and alo one of the last orders it is VERY safe to say there will be less the 1000 of these.

Hang on a sec, how is it that you have two orders? The piece is limited to one per customer. You aren't publicly admitting to "working the system", are you?

Oh, and BTW, I guess I need to remind everyone that the orders taken over the web site on Friday do not constitute the complete ES for the Speeder Bike PF. International dealer orders have not yet been factored in, and they may account for as many as have already been ordered.

And, of course, I don't think the John Connor bust made much of a dent in the order numbers on Friday. It has up for pre-order for over two days, and neither the attendee nor the non-attendee versions even show a low quantity yet.

 

[customizerwannabe]

The Speeder Bike and Scout Premium Format figure is now officially sold out! But don't fret - if missed out on placing your pre-order join the wait list. If you are among the first people to sign up for the wait list, you have a great chance of securing this piece when it ships at the end of the year.

Should say if you are among the first few hundred people.
If the ES is 500 I'll take it ALL back!

 

[lcummins]

Don't forget, it doesn't count phone orders either; that is a separate numbering system. I will stand by my prediction of 1250 ES.