JND: Justice League Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) Platinum 1:3

[Lokki]

I have only seen Bale and Ledger selling under retail. Mera also, but that one some are soured on Amber. All their other pieces are well above retail.

Agreed, I've been hunting for WW84, no chance - at least not, at or below retail.....that said, I expect most of 2023 releases to be hitting the bargain basement after they start shipping in 2024/25, during the usual annual sales events. Ultimately, retailers can only sit on stock for so long.....I've even noticed some retailers in Europe are flat out, refusing to stock the latest releases from JND.....no doubt, they've realised their customers are not willing to pay the inflated prices....

Assuming JND expects to raise their prices again this year, I think their market will shrink even further, and will eventually just be focused on Asia, as the price increases, cost of shipping, taxes (and the ever decreasing ability to flip these pieces on the secondary market) will drive international customers away on mass. Right now, if JND wants to stay in business, and retain its "status" as a premium figure company - they need to drop making statues, and focus on 1/6......at this stage, making 1/4 statues isn't even a option for them, as they've set their bar too high....making smaller, less detailed, and cheaper statues would destroy their image....

 

[67L88Stingray]

I don't think they need to stop statues, they just need to get another 5-10% closer on their likenesses so there is no doubt that they are worth the money. I want to get both Superman versions from them, but the likeness is just a bit off for their retail price. Had they nailed them both I would have ordered already(as well as Arwen). As it is many just don't hold up the hype.

 

[DarthAlias]

Well between QS and JND, their Bruce Wayne both TDK and Pattinson look better than QS. I sold off my QS Batman for the JND and definitely a better statue. I don’t see why their Batman is selling so low but maybe people are just over Nolanverse considering there’s a lot of options out there.

 

[Lokki]

Well between QS and JND, their Bruce Wayne both TDK and Pattinson look better than QS. I sold off my QS Batman for the JND and definitely a better statue. I don’t see why their Batman is selling so low but maybe people are just over Nolanverse considering there’s a lot of options out there.

It could just be the "flipper" crowd / mentality. I wonder how many collectors saw the JND hype, and the way WW84 was selling way over retail on the secondary market - and bought up proceeding JND pieces as a speculative purchase - hoping they could flip it and turn a profit later on. It looks like the hype train for JND has run its course, and the bubble seems to have burst for statues full stop - so those guys who speculated on JND are probably dumping their statues while they can.......

 

[DarthAlias]

Yeah you’d have to be foolish to think about buying and flipping these. Too expensive to risk it. I’m only hesitant to buy at retail now.

 

[Gipetto0812]

Flipping these types of collectibles just isn't the right game right now. Maybe it was a couple of years ago, but not so much these days. And having dealt with selling most of my statues within the last year has really made me reconsider if I want to stay/continue with buying statues. I love the presence they have mostly, but jeez I'm finding I definitely need to be sure I want it b/c it's so much easier to sell a figure than a statue. Sure, it will suck to the lose the NRDs on some of the statues I have on order right now, but it's so much more of a hassle to sell a statue these days, especially if you don't have the shipper any longer. Finding and/or making a box that's big enough I've found to be the biggest chore and instantly makes me regret buying the thing in the first place

 

[Lokki]

Flipping these types of collectibles just isn't the right game right now. Maybe it was a couple of years ago, but not so much these days. And having dealt with selling most of my statues within the last year has really made me reconsider if I want to stay/continue with buying statues. I love the presence they have mostly, but jeez I'm finding I definitely need to be sure I want it b/c it's so much easier to sell a figure than a statue. Sure, it will suck to the lose the NRDs on some of the statues I have on order right now, but it's so much more of a hassle to sell a statue these days, especially if you don't have the shipper any longer. Finding and/or making a box that's big enough I've found to be the biggest chore and instantly makes me regret buying the thing in the first place

So true....all of it, but people are having a hard time coming to terms with this new reality, and I think it's going to take a little longer for the penny to really drop. I believe, what we're seeing now, is just the beginning of the down turn.

I think, one of the biggest factors to hurt statue collecting (aside from the horrendous pricing, logistic costs, and ridiculous wait times) is the genres that these statues have grown up with, are starting to lose relevance......there will a always be a "hardcore" following for these staple I.P's, but nowhere near enough to support the current business models these statue companies are using. This is why I see 1/6 (or smaller scale) action figures dominating the figure industry going forward. I mean, relatively speaking, I'd bet money that the action figure market dwarfs the statue market by a significant magnitude.....and given what we've seen in the last 24 months, with regards to detail, if not the quality of the high end 1/6 figures - who wants to pay through the ass for a statue, that doesn't guarantee the same level of quality / detail, takes more space, is more easily damaged, is impossible to modify / kitbash, is increasingly more difficult to sell......the list goes on.....in the end, statues make less and less sense, even to me.

It's gotten to the point, where I'm even thinking about Ball Jointed Dolls as a potential scratch for my figure itch....although, I'm "troubled" by the BJD community, which seems to be flooded with cat women, gay men and people who not only name their dolls, but carry them in cosy little bags when they go on holiday - and refer to their dolls as "people" - honestly, 100% of the people in that space, that I've seen, just seem unhinged to me....no offense intended, but it's off putting in the extreme....so, I'm holding off on any further investigation down that path.....

 

[GaryPool]

Agreed, I've been hunting for WW84, no chance - at least not, at or below retail.....that said, I expect most of 2023 releases to be hitting the bargain basement after they start shipping in 2024/25, during the usual annual sales events. Ultimately, retailers can only sit on stock for so long.....I've even noticed some retailers in Europe are flat out, refusing to stock the latest releases from JND.....no doubt, they've realised their customers are not willing to pay the inflated prices....

Assuming JND expects to raise their prices again this year, I think their market will shrink even further, and will eventually just be focused on Asia, as the price increases, cost of shipping, taxes (and the ever decreasing ability to flip these pieces on the secondary market) will drive international customers away on mass. Right now, if JND wants to stay in business, and retain its "status" as a premium figure company - they need to drop making statues, and focus on 1/6......at this stage, making 1/4 statues isn't even a option for them, as they've set their bar too high....making smaller, less detailed, and cheaper statues would destroy their image....

Getting those import fees is crushing. Especially with the high postage anyway. Postage and import fees pretty much coming to half the cost of a statue sometimes.

I feel like JND are squeezing from their customer base in all honesty. So much of their statues are produced in-house. The casting of the Silicone, the painting, the 3D-printing, the hair (and I think their glass eyes as they were designed by Kojun). So realistically it's mostly just tailoring that comes from elsewhere and perhaps a few more pieces.

So in that regard, and the statue that I think really started to up the price as not reflective of the price, especially in terms of what came before it, is Justice League Superman. Of course, a more inflated price, as said to be a result of market economy, will also inflate the shipping costs and the import tax. It's just not feasible to collect many of these, not feasible to try to trade to make space for more. There's a cap to this studio I believe, certain character will pull them through. but I think for the most part they're pricing themselves out.

If they'd have stuck to their WW84/Ledger Joker pricing I could see these more likely to sell out every time.

 

[DarthAlias]

They’re selling out but I think it’s to mainly AD around the world. However those dealers are lowering their prices too because of overstock.

 

[Mose Harper]

That looks absolutely terrible. The teeth throw the whole thing off. A bajillion dollars later and customers get buck teeth lol.
Harley’s teeth looked off too, way too big.

JND did screw up with Gadot's teeth and mouth.
They are like the joke about every problem looking like a nail if all you have is a hammer.
They are so proud of their dentures, that they shove them in without studying how they should apply here.

Whether Gadot has an open, relaxed mouth, or is open and speaking, she tends to display only a sliver of her top teeth, but a more generous portion of her bottom teeth.
All upper and no trace of the lower horrendously skews what was otherwise an overwhelmingly successful effort. What should be one of the very best likenesses of her ever.
It's a real shame.

I wonder if they can be taken out without damaging the integrity of the head, and then modified and returned in place?

This is one area where Queen got it spot on.

It can be mitigated by not displaying it with the head above eye level, or using some dramatic lighting to cast the interior of the mouth in shadow- but it's always going to be an unfortunate misstep for what should have been a high water mark for these kinds of things.

 

[WolfBoy]

It can be mitigated by not displaying it with the head above eye level, or using some dramatic lighting to cast the interior of the mouth in shadow-

Which is how everyone takes photos of her to prove the teeth don’t look bad. Oh well.

 

[generalszabo]

JND should do a Freddie Mercury, at least then they'd get the teeth right

 

[GaryPool]

Just got her back in from repair - they did a great job, not sure if it's a replacement or the paint job was just expertly done - they covered all of the costs, the right thing to do.

Forgot how incredible of a statue she is. Putting the price aside, this is an absolute masterpiece. This and their Batman are worlds beyond . Absolute phenomenal craftsmanship. Roll on Superman!

 

[GaryPool]

She's waiting on Superman to show up...