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

[dantes2501]

Quick question for anyone in the know.

I pre-ordered this a little while back as soon as it was available, and I think I may have made an error with my choice of supplier. All I've seen since then are negative comments online about this company, so I was just seeking a bit of reassurance really.

I ordered from Toys Wonderland, so is there anything I should be worried about? I'm not really sure what they've done to make so many people hate on them, but it's got me a little worried.

They lie. A lot. They badly copy Sideshow’s marketing strategies and people fall for it. They are a mess, they make lots of mistakes. Their shipping costs are among the highest. I ordered two times from them, for the first order I ended up paying 100$ shipping to Italy + taxes, for the second one I chose a sea shipment which cost less money. It took 70 days to get to my country but it’s now stuck in customs as they didn’t provide the necessary papers to get it released. There’s a risk it will go back to China….

 

[Venzhe]

Quick question for anyone in the know.

I pre-ordered this a little while back as soon as it was available, and I think I may have made an error with my choice of supplier. All I've seen since then are negative comments online about this company, so I was just seeking a bit of reassurance really.

I ordered from Toys Wonderland, so is there anything I should be worried about? I'm not really sure what they've done to make so many people hate on them, but it's got me a little worried.

The only reason I got the last and final thing I ordered from them is because I opened a case with PayPal and refused to back down on my protections unless I had a full refund or product in hand.

I knew the product was out and other retailers were shipping. They were giving me the ‘it hasn’t been released yet, maybe next month!’ lie. Even generated the fake shipping number to buy time. They will try every trick in the book to get your payment protection to expire. Too bad for them I watched my dates and opened a PayPal case in time. They shipped to me to clear up the PayPal case. The day I got the item delivered I also received a ******** email from them saying they hoped to get their stock in soon. I guess they forgot to take me off the chump list quick enough.

The only guarantee to get good service from them is if you can show you’re a toy reviewer on social media. Then they‘ll suck up to you every which way to send more chumps their way to fleece.

The ToysWonderland motto is: “There is a sucker born every minute, and YouTube reviewers will send them to us.”

Not only should you stay away from ToysWonderland, you should not support any morally bankrupt reviewers that sell for them. These people are the lowest of the low, selling out other collectors for free and first round shipping to be among the first to get a review up. And if challenged on their complicity, take the coward’s way out by saying ‘we aren’t affiliated!’ all while directly linking product on their reviews.

It isn‘t all bad though. Since there are still the occasional defenders of this company, I would say there is probably a good 10% chance they won’t try to screw you. Just be polite and not make accusations in any direct correspondence. Just don’t believe their lies, follow pages like this to be aware of when things have released, and be aware of your payment’s protection policies.

 

[pixletwin]

I’ve bought twice from Toyswonderland. Never had an issue. Shipping was super slow though, which I expected.

 

[user 67922]

I’ve bought twice from Toyswonderland. Never had an issue. Shipping was super slow though, which I expected.

Same here. I've had maybe ten figures from them now, and like you said delivery is slow, but they always turn up and are well-packed. I'm not advocating anyone buy/not buy from them.

 

[Mike86]

Is Gandalf still available for pre-order anywhere?

 

[Nagoya]

Is Gandalf still available for pre-order anywhere?

Looks like there’s still 2 in stock at specification:
https://www.specfictionshop.com/products/gandalf-inart-1-6-scale-figure

Edit: This just got moved to the waitlist.

 

[scarecrow jim]

All this ToysWonderland talk isn't filling me with confidence, I have the InArt Gandalf and Batman ordered with them.

 

[MojoMonkey]

Thanks for the responses, guys. Not sure what I'm going to do just yet. I'm kind of tempted to cancel the pre-order and wait for the possible new GTG head from Asmus. With the new GTW sculpt used as a base, I don't think there will be enough difference in quality to justify the £400+ the Inart one is going to cost me.

 

[Antarion]

Is Gandalf still available for pre-order anywhere?

If you are in Europe, LCDN has one for preorder but at a premium price

 

[Chopper Face]

All this ToysWonderland talk isn't filling me with confidence, I have the InArt Gandalf and Batman ordered with them.

Just pay attention to what happens with The Joker with TW once retailer batches start getting shipped out end of Feb/March.
You’ll probably be alright.

 

[batsheva]

Speaking of Gandalf.. just read this post by @charles_zenroom on instagram:

"few year ago I bought viper's gandalf the white and posted on my page; asmus owner threatened to sue me and others who bought the figure......the irony now is - viper runs inart now and he got Lord of the Ring license "

Threatening people for buying custom figure.. and now the custom sculptor got the official license too and made a much much better Gandalf..
That's how you deal with crooks. Viper bites!

 

[user 67922]

Speaking of Gandalf.. just read this post by @charles_zenroom on instagram:

"few year ago I bought viper's gandalf the white and posted on my page; asmus owner threatened to sue me and others who bought the figure......the irony now is - viper runs inart now and he got Lord of the Ring license "

Threatening people for buying custom figure.. and now the custom sculptor got the official license too and made a much much better Gandalf..
That's how you deal with crooks. Viper bites!

He’s a bit of a Robin Hood is Viper, a misunderstood criminal.

 

[batsheva]

He’s a bit of a Robin Hood is Viper, a misunderstood criminal.

Charles added this as well:

"Charles Zen Room:
asmus started off making unlicensed figures too....and they also run xensation Collectibles........I still remember buying their unlicensed figures such as Musashi and Slam Dunk."

So shady they are, being a thief themself, and calling a customizer a thief!

 

[psoul95]

Looks like there’s still 2 in stock at specification:
https://www.specfictionshop.com/products/gandalf-inart-1-6-scale-figure

Edit: This just got moved to the waitlist.

Dang, and I was gonna preorder this week. Anywhere else to preorder?

 

[Earth 616 Collector]

Speaking of Gandalf.. just read this post by @charles_zenroom on instagram:

"few year ago I bought viper's gandalf the white and posted on my page; asmus owner threatened to sue me and others who bought the figure......the irony now is - viper runs inart now and he got Lord of the Ring license "

Threatening people for buying custom figure.. and now the custom sculptor got the official license too and made a much much better Gandalf..
That's how you deal with crooks. Viper bites!

They should realize these makers start off as 3rd parties until they are noticed by the companies to give them a license. Hot Toys did and I'm sure Asmus did as well. They aren't going to get a license with no track record.

 

[batsheva]

They should realize these makers start off as 3rd parties until they are noticed by the companies to give them a license. Hot Toys did and I'm sure Asmus did as well. They aren't going to get a license with no track record.

That is very true.
And I found another hilarious comments on asmus' FB.. apparently they are trying to justify their own unlicensed products:

man.. that company never cease to amaze, in a bad way.

 

[Gipetto0812]

Quick question for anyone in the know.

I pre-ordered this a little while back as soon as it was available, and I think I may have made an error with my choice of supplier. All I've seen since then are negative comments online about this company, so I was just seeking a bit of reassurance really.

I ordered from Toys Wonderland, so is there anything I should be worried about? I'm not really sure what they've done to make so many people hate on them, but it's got me a little worried.

Toys Wonderland is not an authorized retailer. They are a reseller. They don’t actually place pre-orders with a supplier like other retailers do.

Let’s say you PO a hot toys figure- ToysWonderland sends someone to Secret Base or one of those physical Hot Toys stores to supposedly place an order for you. So their stock is solely based on how many individual orders that they physically place at one of those stores. And when they “run out of stock” their “second batch” is them waiting to get it from other local stores to hopefully find you one. That’s why when you contact them about why you haven’t gotten your order yet they either give you a fake tracking number or they say “maybe next month for next batch.” It’s b/c they didn’t actually secure enough stock from local stores to cover their PO numbers and now they gotta hopefully find one somewhere.

It’s super shady when you really learn about it.

There was another member here who bought about 10 or so figures from them. And now ToysWonderland have randomly suspended his account claiming he stole hundreds of dollars worth of reward points from them. And he was one who usually vouched for them b/c he too did not have a bad experience, until now.

I’ve had my own bad experience with them as well.

It’s very luck of the draw. But I think at one point or another, what has happened to someone else will eventually happen to you if you continue ordering from them.

The only ones who aren't phased by them are their social media influencers who get free/deep discounted figures from them as long as they sing praises for Toys Wonderland to drive more business to them.

 

[Earth 616 Collector]

Toys Wonderland is not an authorized retailer. They are a reseller. They don’t actually place pre-orders with a supplier like other retailers do.

Let’s say you PO a hot toys figure- ToysWonderland sends someone to Secret Base or one of those physical Hot Toys stores to supposedly place an order for you. So their stock is solely based on how many individual orders that they physically place at one of those stores. And when they “run out of stock” their “second batch” is them waiting to get it from other local stores to hopefully find you one. That’s why when you contact them about why you haven’t gotten your order yet they either give you a fake tracking number or they say “maybe next month for next batch.” It’s b/c they didn’t actually secure enough stock from local stores to cover their PO numbers and now they gotta hopefully find one somewhere.

It’s super shady when you really learn about it.

There was another member here who bought about 10 or so figures from them. And now ToysWonderland have randomly suspended his account claiming he stole hundreds of dollars worth of reward points from them. And he was one who usually vouched for them b/c he too did not have a bad experience, until now.

I’ve had my own bad experience with them as well.

It’s very luck of the draw. But I think at one point or another, what has happened to someone else will eventually happen to you if you continue ordering from them.

The only ones who aren't phased by them are their social media influencers who get free/deep discounted figures from them as long as they sing praises for Toys Wonderland to drive more business to them.

Not to mention the invoice they sent him for almost $800 saying he stole that amount in rewards over the year. How is that even plausible in a sane person's eyes? To make it worse they are now threatening to contact authorities in his area, which I see as a bluff and probably have no grounds on.

 

[Hologram AI]

For those who missed the old man.

https://onesixthkit.com/index.php?r...4MKyWup1K7MpVNJIiL38mqm4AFqjv9idm6OGOltNcBdBo

 

[MojoMonkey]

Toys Wonderland is not an authorized retailer. They are a reseller. They don’t actually place pre-orders with a supplier like other retailers do.

Let’s say you PO a hot toys figure- ToysWonderland sends someone to Secret Base or one of those physical Hot Toys stores to supposedly place an order for you. So their stock is solely based on how many individual orders that they physically place at one of those stores. And when they “run out of stock” their “second batch” is them waiting to get it from other local stores to hopefully find you one. That’s why when you contact them about why you haven’t gotten your order yet they either give you a fake tracking number or they say “maybe next month for next batch.” It’s b/c they didn’t actually secure enough stock from local stores to cover their PO numbers and now they gotta hopefully find one somewhere.

It’s super shady when you really learn about it.

There was another member here who bought about 10 or so figures from them. And now ToysWonderland have randomly suspended his account claiming he stole hundreds of dollars worth of reward points from them. And he was one who usually vouched for them b/c he too did not have a bad experience, until now.

I’ve had my own bad experience with them as well.

It’s very luck of the draw. But I think at one point or another, what has happened to someone else will eventually happen to you if you continue ordering from them.

The only ones who aren't phased by them are their social media influencers who get free/deep discounted figures from them as long as they sing praises for Toys Wonderland to drive more business to them.

Thanks for the info. I wrongly assumed they were reputable because they were a name I'd heard of. Bit stupid on my part for not researching properly, but I was in a rush because I wasn't sure how quickly pre-orders for this Gandalf would disappear.

I've already paid off around £260-£270, but it seems like it might be a bit of an issue if I try to cancel and claim my money back. The £78 deposit will be gone at the very least. I will probably ride it out and hope I get lucky, but I won't be using them again.