InArt: The Lord of the Rings - Aragorn 1:6

[BladeS]

Understood. Confirms what I've heard.
But there are people, on the contrary, that only have had good experiences w/ TW, right?

For in stock items and figures that aren't highly in demand, they tend to be pretty reasonable. So a lot of collectors who only buy Hot Toys, which has a lot of volume, say that they have never had an issue. This gives the impression they are reliable.

I've talked about length about my dislike of them, and there's even a discussion RIGHT now on the Scarlet Witch topic about whether to order from them.

They're shady, inconsistent, and unreliable. As I said, it's a gamble. Will you get your figure? Maybe, maybe not. I can't say, all I know is that they cost me a couple hundred dollars by not delivering a pre-order, and that's all I need to never use them again.

 

[asgardianboy]

For in stock items and figures that aren't highly in demand, they tend to be pretty reasonable. So a lot of collectors who only buy Hot Toys, which has a lot of volume, say that they have never had an issue. This gives the impression they are reliable.

I've talked about length about my dislike of them, and there's even a discussion RIGHT now on the Scarlet Witch topic about whether to order from them.

They're shady, inconsistent, and unreliable. As I said, it's a gamble. Will you get your figure? Maybe, maybe not. I can't say, all I know is that they cost me a couple hundred dollars by not delivering a pre-order, and that's all I need to never use them again.

You preordered, then they wouldn't deliver the piece? They forgot about you? Did you get the downpayment back? By the time that happened, prices were much higher than when you preordered?

 

[Raleig.h]

That would be for the Premium version, upon release, including shipping. Correct?

Damn.... TW offers the Premium for USD445 incl. worldwide shipping.... Then again, TW has had a bit of bad press lately. I am wondering if it is worth going that path.

Any opinions, anyone?

wouldn't be surprised if they try to hit you with more shipping after the figure has released.

 

[asgardianboy]

wouldn't be surprised if they try to hit you with more shipping after the figure has released.

Have they done that in the past too?? For what reason??

 

[mikeljanin]

Have they done that in the past too?? For what reason??

You don't need more info than what has already been said. There's plenty of horrible stories to not trust them. If you decide to order with them, proceed at your own risk.

 

[asgardianboy]

You don't need more info than what has already been said. There's plenty of horrible stories to not trust them. If you decide to order with them, proceed at your own risk.

Understood. Thank you all.

 

[Sktchwlkr]

Understood. Thank you all.

Your concern is totally warranted though. Spending close to $500 on a figure is enough to make one anxious. Adding on buying from a company with a divisive reputation obviously doesn’t help. Even though I’ve never had personal experience with TW, I won’t consider them based on what I’ve read here and other places.

 

[POshy]

Just a quick note regarding TW: the current Scarlet Witch is a "good" example. You can still PO her for $175 and they might quote you for $30 shipping or something. If you buy the in-stock SW it costs like $290 plus shipping. That difference is already suspicious enough for me. If they decide to finally ship your PO in a few months those $30 could quickly become 50, 80 or whatever.

If you wanna buy Hot Toys just go with TBA or T4K. They have them up for good prices on release day. If you want "sold out" InArt figures, just wait for OSK to put them back up. There'll always be cancellations close to release.

 

[asgardianboy]

Just a quick note regarding TW: the current Scarlet Witch is a "good" example. You can still PO her for $175 and they might quote you for $30 shipping or something. If you buy the in-stock SW it costs like $290 plus shipping. That difference is already suspicious enough for me. If they decide to finally ship your PO in a few months those $30 could quickly become 50, 80 or whatever.

If you wanna buy Hot Toys just go with TBA or T4K. They have them up for good prices on release day. If you want "sold out" InArt figures, just wait for OSK to put them back up. There'll always be cancellations close to release.

I see. Thanks for your point.
T4K would be Toy4kidults?
TBA is.... what?
I'll contact OSK to let him know. Thanks for that tip.
I'd certainly need a reasonably priced InArt Gandalf. BTW does anybody know what was Gandalfs price at preorder time? Prices now are morally and financially out of question.

Lastly, you said USD480 for Premium Aragorn on OSK. Did that include postage to USA?

Your concern is totally warranted though. Spending close to $500 on a figure is enough to make one anxious. Adding on buying from a company with a divisive reputation obviously doesn’t help. Even though I’ve never had personal experience with TW, I won’t consider them based on what I’ve read here and other places.

That is exactly the reason why I am having to annoy you guys..... :-(
I don't like when people coalesce to screw somebody's reputation. I know out of own experience that a lot of lies always go into that. But judging by what I am reading, even though TW might be serviceable for the easy stuff, they can't be entrusted with serious preorders like these ones.

 

[denrep-lilium]

Lastly, you said USD480 for Premium Aragorn on OSK. Did that include postage to USA?

Kit always includes shipping in his price.

 

[POshy]

I see. Thanks for your point.
T4K would be Toy4kidults?
TBA is.... what?
I'll contact OSK to let him know. Thanks for that tip.
I'd certainly need a reasonably priced InArt Gandalf. BTW does anybody know what was Gandalfs price at preorder time? Prices now are morally and financially out of question.

Lastly, you said USD480 for Premium Aragorn on OSK. Did that include postage to USA?

Yep, T4K=Toys4Kidults and TBA=ToysBuyingAgent.

Prices on OSK always include international shipping! Unless it's huge box like the Joker 2-pack leftovers where there's additional shipping to some countries, not many though. US and Europe are always "safe".

Gandalf was $515 on OSK, don't rememeber other sites now. Might have to check the thread. KGHobby is always a bit cheaper but they charge at least $33 for a 1/6 figure depending on weight - unless you're regular member with free shipping.

 

[asgardianboy]

Kit always includes shipping in his price.

I was not aware of that. OK, thanks.

Yep, T4K=Toys4Kidults and TBA=ToysBuyingAgent.

Prices on OSK always include international shipping! Unless it's huge box like the Joker 2-pack leftovers where there's additional shipping to some countries, not many though. US and Europe are always "safe".

Gandalf was $515 on OSK, don't rememeber other sites now. Might have to check the thread. KGHobby is always a bit cheaper but they charge at least $33 for a 1/6 figure depending on weight - unless you're regular member with free shipping.

Thanks for the info. I knew T4K (the guy is a bit unfriendly, but well). Will definitely check TBA. Thanks again.
I just contacted Kit, to consider me for any Gandalf cancellations. Thanks for the tip, bud.
USD515 is a more reasonable baseline. Thanks again.

 

[Cap'n Cook]

Kit always includes shipping in his price.

Actually it doesn’t cover every location.

 

[asgardianboy]

Actually it doesn’t cover every location.

Which locations are left out?

 

[Cap'n Cook]

Which locations are left out?

Don’t know which but know mine definitely is.

 

[asgardianboy]

Don’t know which but know mine definitely is.

Where are you, approximately?

 

[Cap'n Cook]

Where are you, approximately?

Guernsey, a small island between England and France

 

[asgardianboy]

I have read about it. Maybe the place is a bit isolated, and the courier asks for more..... I could understand that.

 

[Lizard Lips]

Understood. Confirms what I've heard.
But there are people, on the contrary, that only have had good experiences w/ TW, right?

Yeah I've had some good experiences with them and some frustrating experiences but I've never been ripped off by them. The worst I've experienced is ridiculous delays on a PO but I learned my lesson and will never PO from them again. For stuff that's in stock I've had no issues, they're pretty quick to ship, the price for the figure and the shipping was reasonable and the package arrived in good condition.

I can't say I'd recommend them but if you're looking for a cheap deal they have delivered on that to me a few times so to me it was worth the risk.

 

[Gipetto0812]

Understood. Confirms what I've heard.
But there are people, on the contrary, that only have had good experiences w/ TW, right?

As I always tell the ones who say “I’ve had great experience with TW and have ordered X amount of figures with them with no issues” that it’s not a matter of if you will have an issue, but when you will have problems with them. There are a good handful of ppl here who used to defend them until they finally got screwed by TW and now have learned to not use them anymore. I got screwed on my very first order with them so I at least didn’t have a false sense of confidence in them.

I know some ppl say that TW is good for In Stock items just not POs but that’s not always safe either. For one example, one member PO’d the exclusive Captain America stealth suit figure from TW within hours of it going up for PO if I remember correctly, yet never got their order. Then, TW marked that figure as in stock and at a higher price, but yet TW still didn’t send them their order. And that’s just one example of them not sending items even if they list them as in-stock

And to your question about them up charging you more on shipping when a product is ready to ship, yes they’ve done that before. I’ve heard it quite a few times over the years, I just don’t recall the reasoning.

I know there are folks who might think some of us are just trying to tarnish TW’s reputation; but, I am one of those ppl who saw one of Justin’s videos and thought “it can’t all be true what ppl are saying about them” and after my one and only order with them, I found out it was true.