New Sideshow Policy - non-refundable deposit figures over $224

[marker2037]

This is going nowhere . All I originally said was most of the old SS figures were a lot of crap which was in response to your post about how shocked you were to see prices go from $50 figures to $200+ figures in 9 years. If you're shocked that prices go up, perhaps you're in the wrong hobby or perhaps you don't realize how desperate people would've been back then for some of today's advancements in the hobby . Then I responded to your price rise analysis post and said they were poor examples.

Pay the NRD or don't. That's what this thread is about.

 

[marker2037]

IMO, any talk of "justifying" prices is an utter waste of time and will only lead to some good folks getting slightly bent out of shape. I thought this thread was about Non-Refundable Deposits anyway? Sideshow should just institute a blanket 10% NRD on all pre-orders across the board. It would make a lot more sense.

I think they will, but they have to wait for HT to put up new pre-orders as they probably wouldn't agree to putting the 10% on things already on the site. They could put them on their own stuff because, well, it's their own.

 

[TaliBane]

Check the price of gas, of a burger (even a bad one), etc.

Poor comparisons. Has the quality of a Big Mac or the quality of the gas improved along with the prices? Nope, they are exactly the same. There is no improvements in the product. They are the same then as they are now.

IMO, any talk of "justifying" prices is an utter waste of time and will only lead to some good folks getting slightly bent out of shape.

This is going nowhere.

Any time you want to donate those "lot of crap" older SSC figs... PM me.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Sideshow should just institute a blanket 10% NRD on all pre-orders across the board. It would make a lot more sense.

I think you should just have to pay everything up front and hope for the best.

Why plan?

Why worry?

Pay and pray... just like on ebay.

 

[MR Regan]

I've just PO an NRD. Hope it turns out ok with no delays.

 

[Pixelpiper]

I think you should just have to pay everything up front and hope for the best.

With a move to all-NRD-all-the-time, Sideshow should step up its practises to keep in check, which means putting up production level images right from the time they list an item for pre-order. They can't necessarily make certain their other suppliers do the same, but as they're buying large quantities I'm sure hey can exert some pressure to make that happen.

A deposit for a pre-order is sensible. Showing a prototype that will look nothing like the final piece when the pre-order goes live isn't.

 

[marker2037]

Any time you want to donate those "lot of crap" older SSC figs... PM me.

Just Pm me your address. I've got an original Maul body with your name on it =D

 

[Pixelpiper]

I never attempted to justify Sidehow's actions with respect t pricing, only to make a point that prices and products change. The cost of living has gone up all around us, Sideshow is no different. And since this is a collectibles market with exclusivities, it's up to them to figure out how to price things. Banging your fists isn't going to change that.

 

[TaliBane]

Just Pm me your address. I've got an original Maul body with your name on it =D

Will swap it for SSC Tusken body with ultra-stubby arms, rubbery ratchet knees (that don't hold their position at all) and the loosest ankles you will ever see on a 1/6 figure. And from only two years ago!



No... in truth... jokes and comebacks aside... SSC bodies are still sorta bad, right? In truth?

I never attempted to justify Sidehow's actions with respect t pricing, only to make a point that prices and products change. The cost of living has gone up all around us, Sideshow is no different. And since this is a collectibles market with exclusivities, it's up to them to figure out how to price things. Banging your fists isn't going to change that.

Well, you sorta kinda maybe sorta did. Just a teeny bit. And I took your advice to look at burgers and gas and stuff and... yep, fists were banged.

iMacs haven't changed all that much in ten years, and they are five times the cost. And we're all happy with that. Or maybe we've just made peace with it.



And Change? As the Buddhists say, the only constant thing is change. And Sideshow's pricing department are exclusively Buddhists.

 

[Pixelpiper]

No... in truth... jokes and comebacks aside... SSC bodies are still sorta bad, right? In truth?.

They totally suck, yeah. The shoulders are also a huge part of why the arms look especially bad when raised.

 

[marker2037]

Batman was good

 

[kl241]

They can justify it all they want. The reality though is this: They are driving collectors out of this hobby with their outrageous price increases, NRD's, cancellation fees, etc. Very few will actually pre-order now and pay an NRD for a figure that doesn't ship for over a year and then shows up looking nothing like the prototype like Nathan Drake, Hoth Solo, et al. If Sideshow bases their edition sizes solely on pre-orders then get ready to have ULTRA small editions of 100 or less. The current prices are outrlandish enough and nobody is going to be dumb enough to pay 3-4 times that for a sloppy painted bug-eyed ratchet-knee Nathan Drake quality "high-end" figure on the secondary market. That stuff will just sit there not moving. They are shooting themselves in the foot and have only themselves to blame. Sayonara Sideshow.

Funny how most of my 1:6 purchases this year alone have come from smaller independent companies that are producing quality figures that are superior to anything Sideshow is producing and for significantly less cost.

 

[Bardoon]

With a move to all-NRD-all-the-time, Sideshow should step up its practises to keep in check, which means putting up production level images right from the time they list an item for pre-order. They can't necessarily make certain their other suppliers do the same, but as they're buying large quantities I'm sure hey can exert some pressure to make that happen.

A deposit for a pre-order is sensible. Showing a prototype that will look nothing like the final piece when the pre-order goes live isn't.

I agree with this and mentioned it before. Sideshow should institute some additional practices or policies to reinforce customer satisfaction. Especially when it comes to the huge divide between prototype and final production. Maybe they should hire Hot Toys to oversee some of their quality control? Announce a Full Customer Satisfaction guarantee? Allow customers Yearly limited NRD refunds? Who knows?

However, asking Sideshow to hold themselves accountable and add another layer of responsibility is like getting Congress to hold themselves accountable. It almost will never happen.

They should get out of the one-sixth field if they can't deliver on final products. Stop asking for Hot Toys' prices when you can't meet their quality, Sideshow. Stick with statues and what you all do well...

At the rate they're going and how they spend money on ridiculous concepts like "Court of the Dead" (no offense to those who like it), Sideshow is going to end up being a high-end distributor and that's it.

 

[Rambler]

May need to change the dollar amount in the title of this thread. Obi-Wan has an NRD and he's priced at $219.99.

 

[karamazov80]

I think the NRD system began in earnest in 2010 or so. But even again, almost none of the figures or statues I pre-ordered had them. Of course, none of their figures cost $200 at the time, either, but they are adding the NRD to more and more types of products as time goes on.

 

[mustang33guy]

There is a NRD on HT Marty now on SSC. Not sure if there was prior but I was going to pre order finally and saw that and then went and PO'd with BBTS. I understand why they do the NRD but like everyone is saying with the varying looks from prototype to final product on not just SSC figures but all 1/6 figures I just don't want to throw 20-30 bucks down the drain upfront.

 

[Sidewinder]

There is a NRD on HT Marty now on SSC. Not sure if there was prior but I was going to pre order finally and saw that and then went and PO'd with BBTS. I understand why they do the NRD but like everyone is saying with the varying looks from prototype to final product on not just SSC figures but all 1/6 figures I just don't want to throw 20-30 bucks down the drain upfront.

No, it didn't have one before, it was minimum of 2 before you would pay an NRD. Looks like SSC are updating more of the pages to reflect the change.

 

[Sidewinder]

May need to change the dollar amount in the title of this thread. Obi-Wan has an NRD and he's priced at $219.99. [emoji38]

I think the threshold is $200+, however there are a lot of figures priced at $199.99 and nothing under $219.99 lol.

 

[marker2037]

I agree with this and mentioned it before. Sideshow should institute some additional practices or policies to reinforce customer satisfaction. Especially when it comes to the huge divide between prototype and final production. Maybe they should hire Hot Toys to oversee some of their quality control? Announce a Full Customer Satisfaction guarantee? Allow customers Yearly limited NRD refunds? Who knows?

However, asking Sideshow to hold themselves accountable and add another layer of responsibility is like getting Congress to hold themselves accountable. It almost will never happen.

They should get out of the one-sixth field if they can't deliver on final products. Stop asking for Hot Toys' prices when you can't meet their quality, Sideshow. Stick with statues and what you all do well...

At the rate they're going and how they spend money on ridiculous concepts like "Court of the Dead" (no offense to those who like it), Sideshow is going to end up being a high-end distributor and that's it.

Why? Because they make products that you don't like? No offense to you, but there are plenty of people who do and I think you're grossly underestimating how popular PFs are.

 

[Bardoon]

Why? Because they make products that you don't like? No offense to you, but there are plenty of people who do and I think you're grossly underestimating how popular PFs are.

Because Sideshow has done this before. And it's not only with original concepts, but licenses as well. I'm not underestimating the popularity of PFs, just how "popular" some of Sideshow's own home-grown lines are.

They killed their own Lord of the Rings stuff. What was a "popular" line has been whittled down to just ONE Premium Format figure. I know there were a lot of quality issues with that line.

G.I. Joe, albeit a well-done line and one of their most consistent in terms of quality, was just not selling well and is on "hiatus". Yet they bungled it by throwing out "dioramas" that cost about as much as the figures and constant repaints...kind of like the Star Wars troopers. I'd argue that they're on the verge of losing the Star Wars 1/6 license to Hot Toys and will likely NOT be making "The Force Awakens" figures.

Jurassic Park didn't do well, so they changed it to Sideshow's "Dinosauria". Those statues have been warming Sideshow's shelves.

In fact, I'd argue that Sideshow's vast array of "their own" products such as PFs, Comiquettes, Legendary Scale Busts, Dioramas, and 1/6 scale figures has overall gone down (in production/sale rate) since I first started collecting years ago.