Mummy PF SSE Limited to 50: SS Lottery

[El Roranous]

I have to run for a couple hours so if anyone wants to disagree with me...do it now because I won't be able to defend myself

HAha, no I am done disagreeing. Have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

 

[Kookie]

HAha, no I am done disagreeing. Have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Same to you...Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

[LOTRFan]

As far as scalpers go, it is just going to be different ones who aquire the item now. The lottery probably worsens the problem.

And now it appears you have effectively peddled yourself in a circle.

 

[Asura]

I think Fritz had some what of a good idea, and it gave me an idea. Those who buy alot of the Universal Monster line, should get an offer to 'first dibs'. Sideshow keeps records of who is buying what, I am sure. theres alot of sclapers in here salvating at the chance to put it on ebay and get free SS points while there at it.

 

[Bannister]

I think Fritz had a good idea, those who bough the regualr edition (NOT JUST NOW) should get an offer on this LE version first. Or those who buy alot of the Universal Monster line should get an offer to 'first dibs' as well. theres alot of sclapers in here salvating at the chance to put it on ebay and get free SS points while there at it.

As someone who ordered the PF Mummy as soon as it went up and someone who has flipped his share of stuff on ebay, I think this is a bad idea as well. By doing this it would basically be telling SSE collectors that they are not as important as the people who collect the color versions.

 

[lcummins]

Either way, this is a test that Sideshow is doing so prove them wrong and don't buy into it. Sideshow will sell out of this peice because people don't stand up for what they believe in. If every one who had a problem with this system refused to buy into it then Sideshow will have to revert back.

HAhaha but then again, that plan will probably backfire leaving all those that really want this piece to search elsewhere.

As you stated, this will never work because you can never get enough people to participate! Last year at Spooktacular when Sideshow put the SSE Wolf Man and SSE London After Midnight up as "in stock" orders, I was upset about it because I need time to budget for items this expensive. Although it may seem like it, I am not rich and have to struggle to afford some of these pieces! In protest, I did not order either one, partly because I knew the SSE took a long time to sell out. In the end, I got the Wolf Man and the LAM for 1/2 price over the next year. Who lost out here? Sideshow did! They could have sold both of them to me at full price if they hadn't been "in stock" and instead, just normal pre-orders. The same will be true with the lottery. Only Sideshow will lose on this and the collectors who really want this item will find a way to get it, but they shouldn't have to! If they didn't announce the edition sizes, it may help, but when it is an "in stock" listing, many will still lose out because they can't afford it at that moment, especially at a time like Christmas!!! I think they need to stop the "in stock" marketing and just list them for pre-order along with the color versions, and determine the edition sizes based on initial orders! That way no one loses out and they don't need to make more than necessary. And if that means some kind of cancellation policy change, then I will accept that as well, but I think as others have stated, that opens a whole new "can of worms" that will cause Sideshow more problems than it helps!

 

[lcummins]

As someone who ordered the PF Mummy as soon as it went up and someone who has flipped his share of stuff on ebay, I think this is a bad idea as well. By doing this it would basically be telling SSE collectors that they are not as important as the people who collect the color versions.

Absolutely! And again, if collectors got many of their pieces from a retailer, then Sideshow has no record of that and that would be saying that people who support Sideshow retailers (as well as Sideshow) are not as important!!!

 

[JSA]

Sorry, JS, but I couldn't disagree more. Life isn't fair. If I am able to be online at the time an ultra-rare item goes up for sale, I should be able to score it. Period. If I lose out with that way of doing things, so be it. As I said before, that's happened to me more than once, and I can live with that. But creating some politically correct lottery system to "level the playing field" really sucks.

If I don't get one of the 50 pieces, I will be absolutely furious. Not because I missed out, but because this skewed version of "fairness" will have robbed me of it.



Oh, and Merry Christmas!

Exactly RD! Life isn't fair. Agreed. What Sideshow is doing, as a business,
is to make things as fair as possible for their customers. As a business that
makes very good sense I believe. Sideshow (I'd imagine) wants their products
to go to 50 different people for a 50 ES item, instead of 1 person buying all
50 items. I'm being extreme of course in my example, but I've got to believe
that Sideshow wants as many happy customers as possible, and I do think
that the lottery should accomplish that. If I get picked - great! If not, then
I pay the going rate for whatever the item is if I want it enough.

I've been on both sides of the flipping fence, and what goes around comes
around, and I can't rightfully gripe about that. Win some, lose some, just
be prepared to pay the piper if it is something you reeeealy want for your
collection, like I did on the Grey Hulk, and Negative Zone Spidey, etc....
Otherwise its time for me (or anybody else) to collect something cheaper!

Merry Christmas to you too RD!

JS

 

[Batty]

Well, I'm still willing to get in on the lottery to help one of you guys out. I just want to be fair about it if I am able to get one.

 

[Kookie]

Look...bottom line this move is pissing people off...including me. We live in the United States not Communist China. Sell the stuff like a normal business or expect people to go elsewhere. I'm sick of this squeaky wheel getting the oil crap.

THIS IS NOT GOOD BUSINESS!!! Why do you think no company does this....BECAUSE IT DOESN'T WORK. Why the hell would I put up with a lottery when I can shop at Neca, GG, Bowen, MR, DC Direct, Weta, etc where I don't have to deal with this crap. I have been a LOYAL Sideshow customer for over 4 years but am seriously considering my future collecting with Sideshow if this continues.

JS...Have you really given serious thought about this. What if you go 0/5 with these lotteries and miss out on the products you would kill for....you would hate Sideshow.

 

[Darth Madden]

TBH there is no fair way to distribute these.

Maybe an idea would be to make the super limited editions (less than 100) only available to purchase with reward points meaning only loyal sideshow customers would get these & any potential flipper would avoid them as the money outlay to get the points required to purchase the items would be more than the flip price but true collectors collect anyway.
The rare item would not be gone within 1 minute as it takes time to accrue the points

That is a pretty good idea.

 

[Kookie]

For the record....my comments are not directed towards members of this forum, they are a way of expressing my anger at this decision towards Sideshow, specifically because I know they frequent this board.

I can take the spirited arguments about how a sculpt turned out, or why a line hasn't released a new product in a while, or how the paint application turned out. This is different, this decision has affected all our abilities to collect items from a business that sells products. This decision has turned capitalism into communism and it isn't right. Sideshow has in a way discriminated their own hardcore fanbase with this decision.

 

[darth dypshyt]

There ARE times where a lottery makes some sense. When there were hundreds of people waiting in line at Best Buy last month to get a PS3, a lottery was the best solution. It took all of the potential for violence out of the equation. And, since the initial shipment of PS3s wasn't the ONLY shipment, people who lost out would still have the chance to get one at a reasonable price. They just wouldn't be among the first to own one. But with this piece, it's a one-time deal. No second chances (outside of ebay). That WILL alienate a lot of Sideshow's customers.

No RD you can't have it both ways...If you say business should be down to, first come, first served, that should apply to everything..whether that's for statues or whatever....if someone is willing to pay a price and is first in...they get it right??
Don't worry about the person you beat out..."Fair" is for losers...right..

 

[darth dypshyt]

They should've put it up for sale without identifying an edition size number. This way they could've allotted the 50 slots to potential customers without the customers knowing. Once the 50th piece is sold, then put up a Sold Out/Wait List disclaimer listing the edition size at a later date (when the item starts to arrive to it's customers). It's just the idea of throwing out an exact edition size number will cause of furor amongst it's collectors. The lottery only adds to the widespread panic...

See...now here is an idea that I defy ANYONE to say is "total BS"...

 

[Kookie]

See...now here is an idea that I defy ANYONE to say is "total BS"...

I can agree with that point from Nitro as well.

 

[Agent0028]

I'll toss in my $0.02 that I agree with Nitro, I think that would have made the most sense. Honestly I would have missed out on it because I would have played the wait and see game--wait and see how the after christmas funds are, wait and see what other products I may want that are released (sorry but Dooku PF trumps the Mummy). But as others have said, at least then I would be kicking myself. As it stands now I think I'll pass on entering, this post just goes to show, there are alot of others who want this more than me. And granted I'm disappointed because I would have loved to add the Mummy to my collection I guess I'll just accept this as one of those wasn't meant to be times. Maybe when the Ardeth Bey PF comes along...

 

[Bannister]

What they should do is not announce the edition size, but still put the low quantity alert bar up. Most people wouldn't even click on the link unless they knew the edition size was tiny, then the people who are really interested would and when they would see the low quantity alert, they would know it probably has a low es and should buy it now or miss out.

 

[RoboDad]

No RD you can't have it both ways...If you say business should be down to, first come, first served, that should apply to everything..whether that's for statues or whatever....if someone is willing to pay a price and is first in...they get it right??
Don't worry about the person you beat out..."Fair" is for losers...right..

No, apparently you didn't understand. The reason Best Buy used a lottery for the PS3s was because there were people willing to physically harm each other to get a better spot in the line. In that instance the need for public safety overrules any other policy or process.

In this case, however, there is no likelihood of knife fights or broken bones, and the desire to create artificial "fairness" is absurd and unnecessary.

 

[RoboDad]

Exactly RD! Life isn't fair. Agreed. What Sideshow is doing, as a business, is to make things as fair as possible for their customers. As a business that makes very good sense I believe.

I don't. (see below)

Sideshow (I'd imagine) wants their products to go to 50 different people for a 50 ES item, instead of 1 person buying all 50 items. I'm being extreme of course in my example, but I've got to believe that Sideshow wants as many happy customers as possible, and I do think that the lottery should accomplish that.

OK, now I'm really confused. You think it is possible that one person could order all 50 of the statues? That would be physically impossible, even if someone were able to maintain 50 separate accounts. The chance of one person getting all 50 orders in (even with help on 50 different computers) before other customers complete their orders is incomprehensible to me.

But, be that as it may, you are mistaken in your belief that this will lead to more happy customers. It will, I am quite confident, lead to significantly fewer of them.

If I get picked - great! If not, then I pay the going rate for whatever the item is if I want it enough.

If I get picked, great. If I don't I will be livid with rage at Sideshow. Not because I didn't get the piece I dearly want, because their insanely stupid lottery process PREVENTED me from being able to get it on my own merit.

I've been on both sides of the flipping fence, and what goes around comes around, and I can't rightfully gripe about that. Win some, lose some, just be prepared to pay the piper if it is something you reeeealy want for your collection, like I did on the Grey Hulk, and Negative Zone Spidey, etc.... Otherwise its time for me (or anybody else) to collect something cheaper!

There are two ways one can "win" something. It can be done through pure dumb luck (as in a lottery), or it can be done through perseverance and effort, as in winning a race. I much prefer the latter form of winning for myself. At least then, if I lose, I know it was because of my own lack of effort.

On the other hand, if I lose in this lottery, and am forced to pay eBay prices, I will place the blame squarely on Sideshow's shoulders, and they will pay the ultimate price (in my canceled orders necessitated to "pay the piper").

Oh, and if/when that happens, and I call to cancel many of my orders, I will tell Sideshow in no uncertain terms why I am canceling them, namely their own stupidity.

 

[Bannister]

Kudos to Sideshow for this Lottery System! I hope they implement it on more really limited items in the Marvel and SW lines.

Give every collector the same chance to own something. Not dependant on who has a faster connection or other outside variables.