Premium Format New Sideshow Spider-Man (Comic) PF

[Y4NK33 PL4N3T]

I have asked this question on numerous occasions...and never really get a response.

We have people that complain vehemently about Sideshow's pricing and quality control. There are countless posts about how Sideshow is "not the company the use to be" or people implying that the quality control issues are systemic based on a few examples found in the forums. How many posts have we read from people that are supposedly "done with Sideshow"?

For the record I am not stating that Sideshow has not aggressively increased prices or that there have not been instances of sloppy QC.

My question has always been...if the issues are SO bad...if the prices increases are so intolerable...if the QC issues are so rampant...how does anyone justify giving any of their business to Sideshow???? Some folks try to rationalize it by saying ..."well I am buying less Sideshow product". But...you are still buying from Sideshow. Why would anyone expect Sideshow to change their business practices if we keep giving them financial incentives??

At the end of the day...the only conclusion I can come to is that we are blowing the QC problems out of proportion and/or we are accepting of the price increases. The pricing increases and the supposed rampant quality control problems cannot be that bad if we are all continuing to frequent Sideshow threads and continue buying Sideshow products.

This is a can of worms if there ever was one.

I don't think frequenting threads means you automatically support a company, it's products, it's business methods and/or philosophy. My guess is that people frequent threads b/c they're interested in the subject matter first and foremost, in this case Spider Man. Speaking for myself, if I see a Spider Man statue thread I'm diving in b/c I love the character regardless of the manufacturer.

My sentiments on the meat of your question is much in line with Josh's when he posted this above:

"ratio of enjoyment for my money is no longer there and it's probably coming more quickly now, but no, I don't think me just stopping is going to hurt them as much as you think and I know me stopping will just make me miss something I enjoy. So for now I'll figure out ways around it."

My way around it has been a more firm approach and one you alluded to traylor - to stop buying Sideshow statues. This will continue to be my approach until I feel the ratio of enjoyment for money spent on SSC product > everything else, and admittedly it's been a long wait. Instead of quitting the hobby entirely, I ended up moving heavily into 1:6 scale collecting to get my fix, and it's only been this year I've been enticed back into the 1:4 scale market with companies like PCS, XM, Prime 1 & CC doing it right.

I truly want Sideshow (and every other company) to produce high quality end products so that the collecting community can all benefit from the variety with none of the headaches. I'd be happier than a pig in a mud than to never have to think about QC again prior to a purchase, and hopefully new competitors in the market can push Sideshow in the right direction on the QC front. I think it's safe to say we all want to see this Spidey and the rest of SSC's products turn out spectacular regardless of how many thousand they churn out at the factory.

 

[laudel7]

I cant tell if CBG is being serious or not. The change of head ex pic has been posted on this thread more than once and you still havent seen it??

 

[savageHULK]

Love the pose. I just hope Sideshow did extensive age testing on it. My biggest concern would be leaning (especially at his right wrist and shoulder) over time.

How would they do extensive age testing? (Seriously curious haha)

 

[Golden_Boy]

How would they do extensive age testing? (Seriously curious haha)

It's the job of certain employees...it's in the fine print.

 

[traylorc]

Now what you're telling me is that because I don't like the new prices, I should stop, flat out. However, I don't think that will necessarily hurt Sideshow as much as you think it will. I think there would need to be at least a few thousand people stopping flat out to really hurt them. So who does it hurt? Well it hurts me, because I'm no longer collecting, which I enjoy. So, instead of stopping, how about slowing down. Sure, tough choices will need to be made but slowing down still gives them less of my money and keeps me doing something I enjoy.

Of course there will come a time when I simply can't justify paying what they demand for their pieces any more, or the ratio of enjoyment for my money is no longer there and it's probably coming more quickly now, but no, I don't think me just stopping is going to hurt them as much as you think and I know me stopping will just make me miss something I enjoy. So for now I'll figure out ways around it.

Josh...you make some great points. I want clarify something...I'm not trying to lead revolution against Sideshow. I'm not saying we should not buy Sideshow products because of pricing or QC issues.

There seems to be tons of negative sentiment against Sideshow. Are there instances where Sideshow could do a better job? Absolutely. Are there instances of poor quality control? Absolutely. But if you listen to the sentiment on the boards...IMHO the perception is that Sideshow has rampant QC issues. Many people have come to that conclusion based on QC issues they have seen discussed 24/7 on the boards. We take 5-6 examples of problematic Iron Patriot statues, quote the pictures of those same 5-6 examples until the thread hits 300+ pages...and then we stand back and say "see...every Iron Patriot maquette has QC issues". I have always felt the examples of QC issues may be isolated incidents...but the forum tends to create a mob mentality. My point was I think we tend to exaggerate issues on the forum. Because if the perception of the Sideshow's QC issues matched reality...most of us would not continue to support Sideshow. In words...realistically things cannot be as bad as we make them out to be on the forum.

Same goes with pricing...none of us likes paying more for PFs. But Sideshow cannot stay in business by passing on price hikes to an unwilling customer base. My point is while most of us do not like the price hikes, deep down we know that rising prices are a fact of life. So let's stop acting like the price hikes will prevent us from purchasing Sideshow product in the future. The truth is some people will need to be more selective in what they will purchase...but many of us will continue to buy additional Sideshow product because we enjoy collecting.

 

[Mister Ski]

How would they do extensive age testing? (Seriously curious haha)

Accelerated age testing is a common test used in many industries to evaluate product performance over time. It involves placing the product in an oven at elevated temperature, humidity, etc.

Click this link if you really want to know more.

Accelerated aging - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[traylorc]

This is a can of worms if there ever was one.

My bad...

 

[gobombersgo]

This is a can of worms if there ever was one.

I don't think frequenting threads means you automatically support a company, it's products, it's business methods and/or philosophy. My guess is that people frequent threads b/c they're interested in the subject matter first and foremost, in this case Spider Man. Speaking for myself, if I see a Spider Man statue thread I'm diving in b/c I love the character regardless of the manufacturer.

My sentiments on the meat of your question is much in line with Josh's when he posted this above:

"ratio of enjoyment for my money is no longer there and it's probably coming more quickly now, but no, I don't think me just stopping is going to hurt them as much as you think and I know me stopping will just make me miss something I enjoy. So for now I'll figure out ways around it."

My way around it has been a more firm approach and one you alluded to traylor - to stop buying Sideshow statues. This will continue to be my approach until I feel the ratio of enjoyment for money spent on SSC product > everything else, and admittedly it's been a long wait. Instead of quitting the hobby entirely, I ended up moving heavily into 1:6 scale collecting to get my fix, and it's only been this year I've been enticed back into the 1:4 scale market with companies like PCS, XM, Prime 1 & CC doing it right.

I truly want Sideshow (and every other company) to produce high quality end products so that the collecting community can all benefit from the variety with none of the headaches. I'd be happier than a pig in a mud than to never have to think about QC again prior to a purchase, and hopefully new competitors in the market can push Sideshow in the right direction on the QC front. I think it's safe to say we all want to see this Spidey and the rest of SSC's products turn out spectacular regardless of how many thousand they churn out at the factory.

For me that ratio is no longer there. For the last 3 years that I have been into statues I have been averaging 16 statues per year as I have just over 50 now. This hobby at the rate I was buying and the way the prices are now is pretty much a monthly Corvette payment. I have 5 more PF's on order, I haven't ordered one since batgirl (which I regret). After these I have room for 5 more PF's and they will be saved for the right Spiderman and Batman villains. I was going to get this statue but I will just live with the last comm.

I personally don't see the value anymore.

 

[Josh-A-Tron]

Josh...you make some great points. I want clarify something...I'm not trying to lead revolution against Sideshow. I'm not saying we should not buy Sideshow products because of pricing or QC issues.

There seems to be tons of negative sentiment against Sideshow. Are there instances where Sideshow could do a better job? Absolutely. Are there instances of poor quality control? Absolutely. But if you listen to the sentiment on the boards...IMHO the perception is that Sideshow has rampant QC issues. Many people have come to that conclusion based on QC issues they have seen discussed 24/7 on the boards. We take 5-6 examples of problematic Iron Patriot statues, quote the pictures of those same 5-6 examples until the thread hits 300+ pages...and then we stand back and say "see...every Iron Patriot maquette has QC issues". I have always felt the examples of QC issues may be isolated incidents...but the forum tends to create a mob mentality. My point was I think we tend to exaggerate issues on the forum. Because if the perception of the Sideshow's QC issues matched reality...most of us would not continue to support Sideshow. In words...realistically things cannot be as bad as we make them out to be on the forum.

Same goes with pricing...none of us likes paying more for PFs. But Sideshow cannot stay in business by passing on price hikes to an unwilling customer base. My point is while most of us do not like the price hikes, deep down we know that rising prices are a fact of life. So let's stop acting like the price hikes will prevent us from purchasing Sideshow product in the future. The truth is some people will need to be more selective in what they will purchase...but many of us will continue to buy additional Sideshow product because we enjoy collecting.

I agree with everything you said

 

[comicbookguy]

I cant tell if CBG is being serious or not. The change of head ex pic has been posted on this thread more than once and you still havent seen it??

I'm serious I went to the SS site and I see a pic of spidey. I click on it and there's no movement on the pic. So I guess it's a preview pic until the actual PO comes up. I click on new PO and still no spidey. The only 2 pics I see is the ones posted on here.

 

[DFanatic]

What do people think about the price of this? I really like this statue so I'm pre-ordering but curious about others.

Price is ridiculous. My suggestion to everyone here is to NOT pre-order! Why does this need to be pre-ordered? It doesn't. They will make thousands of these, they won't sell out anytime soon and you can most likely get a nice discount down the line. Think of all the statues you pre-ordered that later went on sale with double rewards. Sideshow has offered discount on items as soon as they become available... a big slap on the face of people who pre-order (it has happened to me). Not to mention, you get too see what it looks like in hand first.

Besides, if you like Symbiont Spidey better, there is a 99% chance they will make a variant.

 

[comicbookguy]

Price is ridiculous. My suggestion to everyone here is to NOT pre-order! Why does this need to be pre-ordered? It doesn't. They will make thousands of these, they won't sell out anytime soon and you can most likely get a nice discount down the line. Think of all the statues you pre-ordered that later went on sale with double rewards. Sideshow has offered discount on items as soon as they become available... a big slap on the face of people who pre-order (it has happened to me). Not to mention, you get too see what it looks like in hand first.

Besides, if you like Symbiont Spidey better, there is a 99% chance they will make a variant.

I will wait. Maybe ss can make a low ES? Surprisingly like darksied

 

[Collectorcol]

^ Good advice (not CBG that will never happen) unless you need the Ex. Which probably won't be available on release.

 

[comicbookguy]

^ Good advice (not CBG that will never happen) unless you need the Ex. Which probably won't be available on release.

Any pics of the ex head?

 

[Collectorcol]

Any pics of the ex head?

Yes, I've seen them thanks...

 

[DFanatic]

Yes, I've seen them thanks...

 

[sarakawa]

Any pics of the ex head?

There is no EX head...

In fact this whole thread is a joke...Spidey is a late April fools joke...

Call SSC if you think im lying...

 

[comicbookguy]

I just google sideshow Spider-Man premium format and nothing with ex head? What do one have to do to just see a pic of the ex head? SS site have none pics either? Where are you all finding the pics?

 

[comicbookguy]

There is no EX head...

In fact this whole thread is a joke...Spidey is a late April fools joke...

Call SSC if you think im lying...

Don't believe. Can't be, better not be..

 

[Spidey976]

I just google sideshow Spider-Man premium format and nothing with ex head? What do one have to do to just see a pic of the ex head? SS site have none pics either? Where are you all finding the pics?

Looking at them on the SSC page and they are SPECTACULAR!!!