Need some help/advice with a broken statue

[steve_fab]

Hi everyone.

I am really hoping the forum community can offer me some help and advice. Just last week I ordered a Sideshow Ms Marvel exclusive premium format figure. I missed the boat on this piece and ended up paying quite a bit more than retail as a result. However I was happy to be able to track one done and was excited to receive it and put it on display.

Well it arrived today and the first problem was that I had to pay an extra $60 due to customs (even though it was marked as "gift"). So not only did I pay extra to begin with, but the ever greedy Canadian government decided to get their cut as well ... sigh

Still I was happy that it arrived - that was until I opened the box. Everything looked good at the beginning. The seller shipped it in the original sideshow brown shipper and the box itself looked fine. When I cut open the tape around the foam, everything also looked ok. However when I started taking the plastic off the main body the left leg (the one with the peg no less) came right off as I took the pastic off. At first I thought it was supposed to do this but within 10 seconds I knew there was a problem as a few small paint chips fell right off with the leg.

This is the first time this has ever happened. I don't have a huge collection (around 12 or so statues) but this is the first time this has ever happened. I'm sure that a few people will suggest that I send the statue back, but then I would be down the return shipping plus the $60 customs fees I already paid. And of course I'd have no statue either.

I ended up paying $450 shipped which seemed like a good price, and I even confirmed with the seller before hand that the statue had been checked to make sure there were no issues. Now I'm not sure if this damage happened during transit, or if I got screwed over by the seller. Either way I'm in a horrible position as I'm not sure what to do.

I've also considered perhaps trying to repair the statue as I really want this piece in my collection. So along those lines, if anyone has any advice as to how I can fix this myself, it would be greatly appreciated. The leg looks like it could be glued back on as it appears to be a "clean" break, but I'm not as sure about the 4 pain chips that came off with the leg.

I don't post on here much, but I have bought things from board members before and probably visit the site on a daily basis. Oh and just for the record, this transaction didn't happen on the forum. Right now I'm just looking for some friendly and hopefully helpful advice.

I've taken a few quick pictures of the damage since I thought that might be helpful.

Thanks in advance!

 

[jonny88]

I would send it back for a refund if you paid through paypal, take the loss on shipping and fees and get back as much as you can. If you can repair it and keep it remember it's then worth nothing if you want to resell it. The amount you paid for fees is alot. The most l ever paid for boarder fees was $15, and that was for a big statue. Did you buy through SS or second hand?

 

[Natrix]

If it weren't for the chips, it would be an easy fix as the leg is a separate keyed piece that could be glued back to the body with a little epoxy.

 

[bandito]

Easy to repair, I'll insert a metal rod pinning the 2 parts together, added reinforcement...... glue/sand/epoxy fill the broken pieces... repaint back, colour matching black paint should/would be easy.

 

[steve_fab]

Hi thanks for the responses.

@fear 555 xX
I purchased the statue from a US online retailer. I've never had to resell anything before but I understand what you are saying about value if I try and resell. Fortunately I tend to keep everything I buy since I never pick something up that I don't intend to hold on to.

@Natrix
Yeah initially I honestly thought the leg was detachable (like the head) but when the little black chips fell off I knew it was a bad break. I think the leg could be glued back on, but since it's the leg with the peg, I'm worried about stability.

@bandito
I have no skill or experience in this kind of thing. I could use super glue or something to fix it, but that's about the extent of what I would feel comfortable doing. Repainting, metal rods etc. are way beyong my skills.



Quick update: I sent the seller an email this evening. He got back to me right away and said the statue was fine when he sent it and that it was insured for the full amount. I think he wants me to ship it back to him but like I said, I'm worried about losing out on what will probably be over $100 (customs plus return shipping).

Horrible situation

 

[filip629]

If I paid that much for a statue, I'm not fixing it. It gets returned. It just sucks to be on the hook for the shipping and customs costs. Good luckwith whatever way you choose to go with this.

 

[Natrix]

Other than the broken chips, the leg is not technically "broken" off of the statue since it is at a joint of a separate piece that is glued together at the factory. You can tell by looking at the key (peg) on the body that there is very little glue residue on it so very little was applied to it at the factory. You could easily put some two part epoxy on it and reattach it without worry of it coming off again. I have had to do that before and it works fine. You wouldn't even know any different other than the chips on the legs since that is how it would be attached from the factory.

The broken chips on the leg (if they are clean enough) could be carefully superglued back on and may not be very noticeable. That would be easy enough to figure out by matching the chips up to where they broke off of.

Maybe try line the chips up and if they aren't to bad, see if you can get a partial refund.

 

[xYx]

Quick update: I sent the seller an email this evening. He got back to me right away and said the statue was fine when he sent it and that it was insured for the full amount. I think he wants me to ship it back to him but like I said, I'm worried about losing out on what will probably be over $100 (customs plus return shipping).

Horrible situation

Something similar happened to me. The statue arrived with defects that I could not accept so the seller requested that I ship it back to him so he can refund me. I ship it to him & he receives it damaged & I was left to claim the money for insuring it. It sucks.

You're stuck between a rock & a hard place. Best of luck on what you do.

 

[steve_fab]

Well I was reading up about this statue and it seems that a lot of people had issues with it. However from what I could tell, the majority of issues were with the heads - specifically the very delicate looking hair.

I have to admit I'm very hesitant to ship this back and then be out over $100 plus no statue. On the otherhand it sucks that it broke, but I am hopeful that the damage is repairable - even by someone like me who knows next to nothing about this stuff.

Does anyone have tips about the best way to fix this breakage? I know people will think me crazy for spending that amount of money and not immediately sending it back, but if I could do a decent job fixing it I could live with it.

Reattaching the leg shouldn't be much trouble right? I'm assuming I should use some kind of crazy glue but I am more worried about the fixing the chips so that the damage is not too noticeable. Some of those chips are so tiny, I can't imagine how the heck I could glue it back on. In fact, I don't even know if it makes more sense to try and glue the chips first, and then the whole leg ... or vice-versa.

I guess there's a first time for everything but it sucks when it happens to you I just hope this doesn't happen again in the future as I recently placed an order for a Cyclops PF and a Rogue PF as well. Fortunately those orders were placed domestically so I'll keep my fingers crossed I suppose.

Still - so weird that the heads looked to be 100% fine, while the leg looked like it had been barely glued on. As someone mentioned, looking at the leg (even the pictures) it seems that hardly any glue was put on it