I suppose if it is easy to sell extra figures to other people on forums/facebook groups, via "friends and family" you are right. But if you can't find a taker like that, you will sell on ebay- and as of this year if you sell more than $600 in stuffs (in the US) you will get a W-9 from Ebay (or paypal) who will report that income and you will have to pay taxes on it. (And even worse, figure out HOW to pay taxes on it).
Not the end of the world but still a major hassle. I don't even do my own taxes but I'm sure the guy who does will charge me extra for figuring out how to file my action figure/fashion doll taxes.
But for that issue, I'd buy this guy and wait and see if he is really as good as the prototype suggests. I guess what I should do is do some digging to see how well Inart typically matches up post production with prototype.
If you look at my feedback, I have a long history and have gained a lot of trust. But I would not ask someone to send funds as friends and family for an expensive figure. And no one should; it’s not worth it.
I understand your points and I am aware of those changes. They have negatively affected the collecting community, especially in terms of helping people find collectibles. But for this particular case, it’s only an issue if:
1. You want to make a profit off it, which someone is fully entitled to do. But selling it at cost will keep them under the threshold. Just the shipping cost to the buyer could be sent friends and family if needed.
2. You’re selling more items in a year than just this figure, at which point you’re already passing that threshold so it doesn’t matter.
3. Even if you pass the threshold, you are not paying tax on it unless you actually make a profit on it. So it’s extra paperwork to show you didn’t, but you were already doing paperwork anyway.
Basically for someone who doesn’t sell in general, I think it’s still worth preordering this figure versus risking trying to find it later. That is definitely going to cost more.
And if the figure is an absolute disaster, there are going to be options for getting their money back if enough people are upset.
The Queen Studios/InArt 1/6 line has just started so you won’t find any in-hand production examples. But Queen Studios has released statues and busts and they generally seem to be well received so you can take a look at those.
The prices they’re asking are high, and they know the expectations are equally high. If they drop the ball on the Ledger Joker or this, the line is going to be dead.
I do genuinely hope they stick the landing for all the good folks excited about these. It’s hard for me to imagine they mess it up knowing they have big plans for the future that fully depend on the first couple of figures.
I’d like to get a figure at some point just to see what it’s like, but I want them to succeed primarily because just having the specter of competition hanging over Hot Toys has pushed them to start making improvements. We need healthy competition so Queen Studios/InArt’s success would be a boon for all 1/6 collectors.
,
