1/6 Luke Skywalker: Red Five X-Wing Pilot Sixth Scale Figure

[Niltusk]

Prices have been rising steadily, and that has something to do with Chinese production costs. It's effecting industry in general, to the point that some UK companies are even bringing production back home.

Then factor in licensing fees and everything else, such as 'desirability' of a character.

I haven't researched this, so I'm not going to say it's not true, but my wife collects high end dolls with much smaller es than we see and the prices for her are fairly stable from year to year ( although her aftermarket stuff is insane) so I don't see what the difference is, the bodies on her stuff look pretty much like the ones on my figs. Of coure this doesn't handle the other factors you mentioned, but I would think that if we were to blame it entirely on the factories, it would be across the board, not just on a couple toys from SSC.

 

[King Darkness]

I for one think this is a fair price. Look at all the accessories you get. I love the hands and gloves. You guys are overreacting. The licensing fees Hot Toys and Sideshow must be paying aren't their faults. $240 is a great price for this quality figure, this is the best Luke Skywalker offering ever. There's no doubt in my mind that this prototype will perfectly reflect the mass produced figure.

I'll be buying several. One for my 1/6 X-Wing, one to customize as Biggs, another as Wedge. $720 for all three ain't no thing. Just look at all the things we're getting, it's a bargain imo.

 

[marker2037]

I for one think this is a fair price. Look at all the accessories you get. I love the hands and gloves. You guys are overreacting. The licensing fees Hot Toys and Sideshow must be paying aren't their faults. $240 is a great price for this quality figure, this is the best Luke Skywalker offering ever. There's no doubt in my mind that this prototype will perfectly reflect the mass produced figure.

I'll be buying several. One for my 1/6 X-Wing, one to customize as Biggs, another as Wedge. $720 for all three ain't no thing. Just look at all the things we're getting, it's a bargain imo.


View attachment 143490


Don't like, don't buy.

Sarcasm detector on red alert

 

[Wor-Gar]

DiFabio's post made it to the Sideshow cafeteria bulletin board where the guy who pitched the new pricing can say: "See, it worked!"

 

[earthdog]

IT STARTS HERE!

 

[devilof76]

I don't care what any of you guys say. Next time I hit $100 in RP's, I'm buying it.

 

[Lejuan]

I don't care what any of you guys say. Next time I hit $100 in RP's, I'm buying it.

These kinds of prices can only be a plus for racking up rewards points.

 

[SwedishHeat]

These kinds of prices can only be a plus for racking up rewards points.

The more you spend, the more you save!!

 

[Darklord Dave]

Who would have thought it would be X-wing Luke that would outrage the masses...?

I love where this thread is going. Seems like a community coming together to say: I'm as mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore.

On a very small, niche scale of course.

Back before Hot Toys, Sideshow was very conscious of pricing when developing figures. If they couldn't make a figure "for a price" they would just not make it at all. So there might have been huge demand for certain characters from collectors; but licensing fees, production costs, etc. made bringing these figures to market untenable for Sideshow.

And then Hot Toys happened.

Figures got more detailed and complex. And they priced these complex figures at the level they had to in order to insure a profit. And collectors bought them - in droves. So HT did even more complex and refined figures. They charged over $100 for a 1/6 figure - "unheard of!" And collectors bought them - and non-collectors started noticing and became collectors.

Hot Toys continued to develop and improve and raise prices and other 1:6 manufacturers (including SSC) stepped up their game. Instead of rejecting a license because of the cost, or not developing a figure because it would be too difficult "for a price" they went ahead and did it anyway and priced it at a cost they had to in order to make a profit, no matter how high that price might be.

This may be the watershed figure that shows that no matter how great something is, there actually is a price point that collectors won't go beyond. But I suspect that it's just the vocal minority that is price resistant and this figure will sell fine.

If it doesn't - that sends a message - STOP doing things as well as you can and start cutting back on quality in order to stay under a certain price level. I'm sure some will say - "this figure couldn't possibly have cost that much to develop!" And you may be right - they could be averaging development costs across the line and decide Luke would take the brunt of it because he's likely to be such a popular figure. We don't know. But I am curious how he will sell - because it could be a turning point in 1:6 collecting.

PS - "anyone else order that $230 Robocop from the reboot movie that everyone unreasonably hated?"

 

[Star Puffs]

You are forgiven.

I for one think this is a fair price. Look at all the accessories you get. I love the hands and gloves. You guys are overreacting. The licensing fees Hot Toys and Sideshow must be paying aren't their faults. $240 is a great price for this quality figure, this is the best Luke Skywalker offering ever. There's no doubt in my mind that this prototype will perfectly reflect the mass produced figure.

I'll be buying several. One for my 1/6 X-Wing, one to customize as Biggs, another as Wedge. $720 for all three ain't no thing. Just look at all the things we're getting, it's a bargain imo.


View attachment 143490


Don't like, don't buy.

Genuine LOL moment. Well done sir.

DiFabio's post made it to the Sideshow cafeteria bulletin board where the guy who pitched the new pricing can say: "See, it worked!"

I wish this were satire, but...

 

[Star Puffs]

This may be the watershed figure that shows that no matter how great something is, there actually is a price point that collectors won't go beyond. But I suspect that it's just the vocal minority that is price resistant and this figure will sell fine.

If it doesn't - that sends a message - STOP doing things as well as you can and start cutting back on quality in order to stay under a certain price level. I'm sure some will say - "this figure couldn't possibly have cost that much to develop!" And you may be right - they could be averaging development costs across the line and decide Luke would take the brunt of it because he's likely to be such a popular figure. We don't know. But I am curious how he will sell - because it could be a turning point in 1:6 collecting.

Well I guess I'd like to see Sideshow achieve a Hot toys-level of finished product with no serious errors even once before they put on the brakes. I just went and scanned my collection (only OT, except for TPM Ewan ), the best ones in terms of final quality:

1. Desert Sands Deluxe Sandtrooper
2. Bossk
3. RotJ Vader
Honourable mention: Greedo

Literally the only human characters I would not upgrade to Hot Toys in a heartbeat are ANH Obi-Wan and Lando.

Besides, if they could sell Vader at this price point, there is no serious argument to be made that this figure cost as much. Inflation in the U.S. is 1% or less, roughly 3% in China on average. Sideshow made an ugly naked cash grab and they deserve to get slammed for it. It should not send any message about doing their best, because nothing I have ever seen from Sideshow suggests that is their company culture. They are and always have been a 'good enough' company.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Back before Hot Toys, Sideshow was very conscious of pricing when developing figures. If they couldn't make a figure "for a price" they would just not make it at all. So there might have been huge demand for certain characters from collectors; but licensing fees, production costs, etc. made bringing these figures to market untenable for Sideshow.

And then Hot Toys happened.

Figures got more detailed and complex. And they priced these complex figures at the level they had to in order to insure a profit. And collectors bought them - in droves. So HT did even more complex and refined figures. They charged over $100 for a 1/6 figure - "unheard of!" And collectors bought them - and non-collectors started noticing and became collectors.

Hot Toys continued to develop and improve and raise prices and other 1:6 manufacturers (including SSC) stepped up their game. Instead of rejecting a license because of the cost, or not developing a figure because it would be too difficult "for a price" they went ahead and did it anyway and priced it at a cost they had to in order to make a profit, no matter how high that price might be.

This may be the watershed figure that shows that no matter how great something is, there actually is a price point that collectors won't go beyond. But I suspect that it's just the vocal minority that is price resistant and this figure will sell fine.

If it doesn't - that sends a message - STOP doing things as well as you can and start cutting back on quality in order to stay under a certain price level. I'm sure some will say - "this figure couldn't possibly have cost that much to develop!" And you may be right - they could be averaging development costs across the line and decide Luke would take the brunt of it because he's likely to be such a popular figure. We don't know. But I am curious how he will sell - because it could be a turning point in 1:6 collecting.

PS - "anyone else order that $230 Robocop from the reboot movie that everyone unreasonably hated?"

Interesting. The X-wing Luke becomes more and more a figure to watch.

But in reference to the reverse message you mentioned -- which might be the inevitable back-lash -- I do hope Sideshow has already learned what happens when they cut back on quality to remain in a price range: Indy line, LOTR line, Terminator line...

 

[Mike86]

The thing is you can't have it both ways. People expect higher quality now and with that comes higher costs. Some people don't like that and its easy to write off Sideshow and Hot Toys as being greedy, but if you really look at how far they've come in a relatively short time period its rather impressive. I'm relatively new to the 1/6th game but in all honesty looking at earlier figures and learning about how much they originally cost for the quality of a lot of them even at lower prices I wouldn't have been interested as much. Now its crazy to me how good some of these items really wimd up turning out. So while I get the anger felt towards this figure's price if its justified in the end maybe it'll be worth it. Granted I realize that its cost prohibitive for some and you may have to be more choosy with your purchases but I'm happier owning a smaller amount of high quality items than a bunch of so-so stuff.

 

[OSCORP]

Let's see if SS actually produces a figure worthy of near HT pricing first.

It's so hard to commit $240 to a company that is yet to CONSISTENTLY prove us that their asking price is going to be worth it, at least with their 1/6 figures.

It doesn't get any simpler than this.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Let's see if SS actually produces a figure worthy of near HT pricing first.

THIS! Truth.

The thing is you can't have it both ways. People expect higher quality now and with that comes higher costs. Some people don't like that and its easy to write off Sideshow and Hot Toys as being greedy, but if you really look at how far they've come in a relatively short time period its rather impressive. I'm relatively new to the 1/6th game but in all honesty looking at earlier figures and learning about how much they originally cost for the quality of a lot of them even at lower prices I wouldn't have been interested as much. Now its crazy to me how good some of these items really wimd up turning out. So while I get the anger felt towards this figure's price if its justified in the end maybe it'll be worth it. Granted I realize that its cost prohibitive for some and you may have to be more choosy with your purchases but I'm happier owning a smaller amount of high quality items than a bunch of so-so stuff.

A good majority of us complaining have been around a long time, so its always harder to have paid X and then have to start paying XXX. Your day will come Mike. Couple years from now, you'll be like: Hey, this Vader shouldn't be $399. I got Sideshow's for $230.

 

[Mike86]

A good majority of us complaining have been around a long time, so its always harder to have paid X and then have to start paying XXX. Your day will come Mike. Couple years from now, you'll be like: Hey, this Vader shouldn't be $399. I got Sideshow's for $230.

Thing is I have a price point in mind where I'll plan to either quit collecting or buy only a small number of things I really want. I've long said that the day figures regularly are $300 or more is when I'm out. I still have to jusify the current prices but at this point I'm still comfortable enough to continue. I understand where you're coming from too but like I said a lot of the stuff at lower prices I wouldn't have had as much interest in just because a lot of older items didn't look as good (with some exceptions of course).

 

[Prime Clone]

And then Hot Toys happened. Figures got more detailed and complex. And they priced these complex figures at the level they had to in order to insure a profit.

Funnily enough, the earliest Hot Toys figures were inferior to Sideshow's because they were basically plastic model kits that had to be assembled. Even their earliest "true" action figures weren't that special (bootleg Neo, anyone?) It took HT a while to reach the standard we expect today.

 

[buzzybean]

Who would have thought it would be X-wing Luke that would outrage the masses...?

I love where this thread is going. Seems like a community coming together to say: I'm as mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore.

On a very small, niche scale of course.

Very, very, small scale.

 

[SwedishHeat]

Funnily enough, the earliest Hot Toys figures were inferior to Sideshow's because they were basically plastic model kits that had to be assembled.

That's just not true.

The Colonial Marines were labeled as model kits because they didn't have the license to call them "action figures". They were no more a model kit than the military figures you buy today. They came with a body in clothing and you had to put the armor on yourself. There was a thread here dedicated to building them up accurately, hardly a model kit. They were still better than a Sideshow figure at the same time. The bodies were better (better range of movement), the TrueType was miles ahead of the Buck.

Even their earliest "true" action figures weren't that special (bootleg Neo, anyone?) It took HT a while to reach the standard we expect today.

It took HT about 2 years to get to the level that they really started kicking ass. MMS started in 2005/06, by 2007 they released the POTC Jack Sparrow which was my first Hot Toys figure, and it was so much better than the ANH Luke it was silly. In 2008, they released the Tumbler, which was an incredible piece of work. At the time, Sideshow admitted there was no way they could do something like that. And SSC had been in business for 6 or 7 years at that point.

From when SSC started, how long did it take them till they could get to the point that they could engineer Grievous?? 5, 6, 7 years??? As Dave said they tried to stick with a price point, which wasn't working out for them. But to try and explain away SSC's shortcomings by saying "it took Hot Toys a while, too" is just patently false.

 

[jedibear]

Well....that price is ghastly, but at least they didn't compound the knife thrust by adding an NRD to this one....

....those pesky charges are another thing that is going to start slowing some folks down....I know it will with me.

I agree with Dave....this figure is a watershed moment. How far for how little will they go? While the price for what we appear to get seems over the top, I'd think some of the sting would be taken out if we see a figure as dynamite looking as the prototype featured in those pictures come out of production. If not, then I think it's going to fall into the category of "fooled me once...."*

*-although I readily admit, I've been fooled more than once already....but always back for more...