Masters of the Universe Classics

[Boba Ben]

I was kind of hoping for Panthor and Sy-Klone since I missed out on them.

 

[lerath666]

I don't believe that. There's a lot of work that goes into even a fairly simple head sculpt and resin and mold making gets exponentially more expensive the bigger you go.

I value my time and the time of others. It's really hard to talk about this without using real-world numbers. I keep trying to explain it and end up having to use my own pricing for contracted design work or the prices I have been charged for custom sculpting neither of which I really want to publish.

Okay so, let's say a custom unpainted 1/6 scale head costs you $100. I think that's pretty high but better high than low. Let's say that person sells 20 copies of that head. So that's $2000. If they are working for $60/hr, which is very reasonable for any sort of skilled commercial art or design work, that ends up being only a bit more than 30 hours total. Including the time (and money for materials) they need to sculpt, cast, and ship all those heads as well as all the time they spend dealing with "clients" I'd guess the actual time spent is a lot more than 30 hours.

So I don't think what people charge is unreasonable. If we're talking painted then pricing gets even more reasonable because there's little economy of scale there. It's nearly just as hard to paint two heads as it is to paint 20.

so, you're saying that an unpainted head should cost 1/2 as much as a completed Hot toys figure ( on average?)
That just seems a little odd to me. But this is just my opinion. At the end of the day, something is only worth what people will pay for it . And if you can get people to pay for it, by all means go right ahead.

Painted is a different story.

edit: ok, i just caught that you consider that high. This is my personal viewpoint on it, mostly based on the painters I've worked with.

an unpainted head generally should run about 50ish, with 30$ per head for a paintjob. Again, just my opinion.

I do feel, however, there are many artists out there who try to make a living off JUST painting and sculpting custom heads. if you CAN do it, more power to ya, but I find it surprising in the middle of the economic mess we find ourselves in, that anyone can.


TO spare anyone's bruised feelings, I feel the need to post the following : This is all just my opinion.

 

[lerath666]

one last followup. The Price gouging I'm talking about are the people who charge 100 to 150 for unpainted heads, and then an additional 120-150 for a painted version.

so yes, I think that 300$ is price gouging for a painted custom head.

 

[dedguy]

so, you're saying that an unpainted head should cost 1/2 as much as a completed Hot toys figure ( on average?)
That just seems a little odd to me. But this is just my opinion. At the end of the day, something is only worth what people will pay for it . And if you can get people to pay for it, by all means go right ahead.

Painted is a different story.

Yes. Comparing something a single person made to a fairly large company is comparing an apple to an apple orchard. If you want custom work no matter what it is you're going to be paying more. It's just how work load sharing functions. You can never expect to pay mass produced prices for custom artisan work.

 

[dedguy]

so yes, I think that 300$ is price gouging for a painted custom head.

That doesn't seem unreasoned to me at all. Your paying for a lot of skill, time, and materials.

 

[samueljd]

The price depends on what heads you get and painting. The heads that come with empty helmets are a little more. The heads range from 12-18 Euros. Shipping to the US was 8.50 Euros. So roughly $16-25 per head and about $12 shipping. He has a lot more heads than what i've bought. I think he has a 200x roboto head. a better Faceless one head. Filmation Hordak head. And lots of different enforcer heads from different species and genders. he also has some screaming he-man and faker heads. battle damaged faker heads. 200x Ceratus head.



he also made me this custom hammer for Tytus. though i don't think he makes these anymore.

Do you have a link to his Website? I'd like to pick up some of his stuff.

 

[The Craw]

I don't think he has a website. he just hangs out in the custom section of the .org. Just join the .org and PM him. User Name TIN.

 

[The Craw]

Custom heads and paint jobs on this board are way over priced by the way. and they all suck. yes, i said it. Plus all the customizers on this board turn into a bunch of flakes after awhile. seems they get in way over their heads and they they make up sob stories to try to keep the pitchforks at bay. When i first joined here, repaints cost $40-50. Now people charge $150 and they aren't even that good. and that's still if you ever get your stuff back. i can tell you, that there are a few customizers on this board i wouldn't mind meeting face to face.

 

[lerath666]

Custom heads and paint jobs on this board are way over priced by the way. and they all suck. yes, i said it. Plus all the customizers on this board turn into a bunch of flakes after awhile. seems they get in way over their heads and they they make up sob stories to try to keep the pitchforks at bay. When i first joined here, repaints cost $40-50. Now people charge $150 and they aren't even that good. and that's still if you ever get your stuff back. i can tell you, that there are a few customizers on this board i wouldn't mind meeting face to face.

Quoted for saying what I didn't have the stones to say myself

 

[dedguy]

The flakey nature of a lot of customizes here I totally agree with. I should also say usually custom head prices are something I'm not willing to pay for. It's not worth it to me. Doesn't mean it's not justified though.

 

[Boba Ben]

I don't have much experience with customizers on this board, but I bought a painted Hicks head from Les Walker back in '06 or '07 for about $40 and I thought that was reasonable. I also think Skiman does very nice custom paint work and his prices are very reasonable from what I've seen.

 

[DPrime]

The price depends on what heads you get and painting. The heads that come with empty helmets are a little more. The heads range from 12-18 Euros. Shipping to the US was 8.50 Euros. So roughly $16-25 per head and about $12 shipping. He has a lot more heads than what i've bought. I think he has a 200x roboto head. a better Faceless one head. Filmation Hordak head. And lots of different enforcer heads from different species and genders. he also has some screaming he-man and faker heads. battle damaged faker heads. 200x Ceratus head.

Wow! I might have to join the org just to get these...

I don't believe that. There's a lot of work that goes into even a fairly simple head sculpt and resin and mold making gets exponentially more expensive the bigger you go.

I value my time and the time of others. It's really hard to talk about this without using real-world numbers. I keep trying to explain it and end up having to use my own pricing for contracted design work or the prices I have been charged for custom sculpting neither of which I really want to publish.

Okay so, let's say a custom unpainted 1/6 scale head costs you $100. I think that's pretty high but better high than low. Let's say that person sells 20 copies of that head. So that's $2000. If they are working for $60/hr, which is very reasonable for any sort of skilled commercial art or design work, that ends up being only a bit more than 30 hours total. Including the time (and money for materials) they need to sculpt, cast, and ship all those heads as well as all the time they spend dealing with "clients" I'd guess the actual time spent is a lot more than 30 hours.

So I don't think what people charge is unreasonable. If we're talking painted then pricing gets even more reasonable because there's little economy of scale there. It's nearly just as hard to paint two heads as it is to paint 20.

I gotta agree. I mean, we're talking about one of a kind, sculpted heads here - and when we're talking 1/6, we're talking super-realistic (or at least, that's the intent).

You can't just make a blanket statement about a one-of-a-kind piece of art. Cost should vary greatly, depending on the talent, the popularity of the artist (lots of commissions mean price goes up - nothing wrong with that), the amount of hours the artist has to put in, etc.

 

[lerath666]

Wow! I might have to join the org just to get these...



I gotta agree. I mean, we're talking about one of a kind, sculpted heads here - and when we're talking 1/6, we're talking super-realistic (or at least, that's the intent).

You can't just make a blanket statement about a one-of-a-kind piece of art. Cost should vary greatly, depending on the talent, the popularity of the artist (lots of commissions mean price goes up - nothing wrong with that), the amount of hours the artist has to put in, etc.

If it was a one of a kind, original sculpt, of which no casts were made, I'd agree.
But recasts are made, by the artist usually.

 

[DPrime]

If it was a one of a kind, original sculpt, of which no casts were made, I'd agree.
But recasts are made, by the artist usually.

Ah, well, in that case...

I still wouldn't just put a cap on "what it's worth", but yeah, should be a bit cheaper if that's the case.

 

[Kuzeh]

Matty will have a Black Friday day,
great chance to score some figures people missed out on

https://www.mattycollector.com/store/matty/en_US/DisplayShopperDefinedBundlePage/OfferID.12716121709

 

[The Craw]

They are still trying to get rid of those ____ty Goddess figures.

 

[lerath666]

Oo..... Grey skull reissue, and eternian guards....

 

[Ex-Parrot]

I wanted another Trap Jaw, so of course that's one of the few that isn't up on sale...

Ah well.

 

[Kuzeh]

I might get some extra Eternian Guards...
Maybe an extra Skelly and Teela...

 

[samueljd]

Custom heads and paint jobs on this board are way over priced by the way. and they all suck. yes, i said it. Plus all the customizers on this board turn into a bunch of flakes after awhile. seems they get in way over their heads and they they make up sob stories to try to keep the pitchforks at bay. When i first joined here, repaints cost $40-50. Now people charge $150 and they aren't even that good. and that's still if you ever get your stuff back. i can tell you, that there are a few customizers on this board i wouldn't mind meeting face to face.

Agreed. Some of us who've been around here for a while have been burned or have seen other folks get burned on custom work. At least on a positive note, Ski is still grounded, Trevor has excellent pricing on his sculpts, and Seb and SilentSurfer know how to manage their workloads (gotta give credit were credit is due).