Sideshow now interfering with Custom Work on Facebook

[Darklord Dave]

I remember some changes taking effect last year. As in no completed figures of already licensed items. That seemed fair enough. What shideshow seems to be pushing for here is the death of the custom section altogether. Will that be the case for ssf?

They are required by their licensors to insure to the best of their ability that no one that doesn't hold a license for the property is selling items on any venue that is connected to Sideshow.

So one-off customs that an artist creates for themselves will be fine. I'm still working out the details on the rest.

 

[Darklord Dave]

Chicky i have a question, can we still have pictures of unlicensed figures as our avatars and signatures? Like,not links or anything but just avatar pics

As I interpret the rules, a photo that isn't promoting a sale is okay.

 

[The Ween]

Dave and Chicky-Boom!

 

[GeneralZodLives]

Sorry it's taken so long for me to weigh in on this. I appreciate Chicky addressing the question here and engaging directly with our members.

This email was directed to affiliates and should never have been made public. There are some poor interpretations and accusations being slung around and it's unfair to Sideshow for anyone to accuse them of being anti-artist or just about the money. Sideshow has always been about the art and community and have been incredibly supportive to this forum and fandom in general.

There is nothing new in this policy - it has always been Sideshow's policy to not allow their affiliates to promote unlicensed items for sale. It is unfortunate that they are using the term "custom" now to refer to what I consider a "bootleg" and I think that has generated a lot of misinformation and bad feelings.

I've been having the "push/pull" on this subject for many years and Sideshow has been pretty lenient about enforcement. I've always felt that mass produced bootlegs hurt the hobby and I've done my best to police the forum to prevent the rise of such bad operators as Crazy Toys and Redman.

Truth is, this forum could not exist without the affiliate sales. We now have over 45K members and consistently have over 1000 connections at any one time. This kind of traffic costs money and server costs often exceed the monthly income from affiliate sales (Viglink and Sideshow combined). That is why Premium Membership was created.

Now this forum will have to evolve - I hope you all will stick with us as we make the transition.

You may not be thinking about this right now, but please let me know if you ever decide you want to sell SSF.

 

[Shawpaw]

May be about that time.

 

[slickythesloth]

If the custom section goes, a lot of people go with it. Sounds like the only way to solve this is by cutting affiliate ties with SSC, or play by their rules and lose a huge chunk of the community. Depends how much dave cares about the users as a whole in that section, but I doubt he cuts ties with SSC.

Another option (and the best) would be to sell SSF’s to someone who doesn’t want/need affiliates telling them how to run a private board.

 

[JonEl]

If the custom section goes, a lot of people go with it. Sounds like the only way to solve this is by cutting affiliate ties with SSC, or play by their rules and lose a huge chunk of the community. Depends how much dave cares about the users as a whole in that section, but I doubt he cuts ties with SSC.

Another option (and the best) would be to sell SSF’s to someone who doesn’t want/need affiliates telling them how to run a private board.

Agreed, i absolutely think the removal of the custom section would be the end of the board unfortunately.

 

[crows]

If the custom section goes, a lot of people go with it. Sounds like the only way to solve this is by cutting affiliate ties with SSC, or play by their rules and lose a huge chunk of the community. Depends how much dave cares about the users as a whole in that section, but I doubt he cuts ties with SSC.

Another option (and the best) would be to sell SSF’s to someone who doesn’t want/need affiliates telling them how to run a private board.

the name of the forum is sideshow collectors.... sideshow, sideshow is the entire reason for the forum to exist. sideshow promotes their figures and statues here.
it isnt about the affiliates, dave would have to change the name and everything. and because it costs so much to run the site, cutting affiliates would run the site to the ground after one month.

if anything this forum still exists because of sideshow, without them, theres no forum

 

[D-9-]

If the custom section goes, a lot of people go with it.

+1 interested only in custom section

 

[SwedishHeat]

Advertisers should not be able to dictate the content of a media platform, that's like rule number 1.

Imagine the scandal if Comcast bought ads in some newspaper and then told them they can't run any stories about entertainment companies that aren't owned by Comcast.

I get that the content exists in a gray area of the law, but going after content providers about it is wrong.

 

[slickythesloth]

the name of the forum is sideshow collectors.... sideshow, sideshow is the entire reason for the forum to exist. sideshow promotes their figures and statues here.
it isnt about the affiliates, dave would have to change the name and everything. and because it costs so much to run the site, cutting affiliates would run the site to the ground after one month.

if anything this forum still exists because of sideshow, without them, theres no forum

The only way SSF’s is associated with SSC’s is because of the affiliates, it started as a fan-based forum and always will be.

Hence why it’s called sideshow freaks and not Sideshow Collectibles forums. Dave privately owns this domain, not SSC.

 

[SteveU30]

There’s a really easy solution, setup another forum just for Customs that’s not affiliated with Sideshow and migrate the section over to that. Would take a little bit of work no doubt but it would solve all of the issues.

 

[crows]

The only way SSF’s is associated with SSC’s is because of the affiliates, it started as a fan-based forum and always will be.

Hence why it’s called sideshow freaks and not Sideshow Collectibles forums. Dave privately owns this domain, not SSC.

withtout SSC dave cant afford to keep the place running. the place would go under. the forum is running because of SSC. take it out you might as well kill the forum

 

[slickythesloth]

I think you’re getting confused over what the board is worth compared to what it costs to run. You do bring up a good point though, and only Dave has that answer honestly.

 

[crows]

I think you’re getting confused over what the board is worth compared to what it costs to run. You do bring up a good point though, and only Dave has that answer honestly.

he already said the only reason they came up with premium membership is because of how expensive it is to run this place. im going by what dave said.

 

[earthdog]

Any thought to just a Membership? Much less than a premium membership but some smaller amount that The majority of active members would be willing to pay monthly or annually.

If people here can afford collections of $150 - $1500 toys they can surely afford to chip in and keep this site running without having the content neutered.

 

[crows]

Any thought to just a Membership? Much less than a premium membership but some smaller amount that The majority of active members would be willing to pay monthly or annually.

If people here can afford collections of $150 - $1500 toys they can surely afford to chip in and keep this site running without having the content neutered.

you mean pay to post customs? or make like a secret section of this forum for custom work? hidden from the rest of the forum?

 

[earthdog]

you mean pay to post customs? or make like a secret section of this forum for custom work? hidden from the rest of the forum?

Like pay a small subscription fee to gain access to the entire board, as is. All of it. Custom section, sales sections and the regular discussion boards. If you aren’t a member can’t log in.


I don’t know the costs of running this site but here’s an example of what I’d consider a reasonable price structure:

Pay as you go - Monthly standard membership $1

Prepay - Annual standard membership $10 ($2 savings incentive to help start paying for the site right away)

Prepay - Annual premium membership $20 - $25

I’m thinking premium memberships could potentially lower from $25 due to offsets from standard memberships but I don’t know.

Thoughts?

 

[Shawpaw]

I just don’t see this forum surviving for long. The custom section will go away. That damage has been done. Though many of us shell out money for collectibles, most wont pitch in money for membership.

SSC is likely in financial distress, leading them to charge more for items, shipping, and to reduce quality of product. SSC will outlast this board (in terms of being functional), but I’m guessing it won’t be by as much time as people would think.

 

[crows]

Like pay a small subscription fee to gain access to the entire board, as is. All of it. Custom section, sales sections and the regular discussion boards. If you aren’t a member can’t log in.


I don’t know the costs of running this site but here’s an example of what I’d consider a reasonable price structure:

Pay as you go - Monthly standard membership $1

Prepay - Annual standard membership $10 ($2 savings incentive to help start paying for the site right away)

Prepay - Annual premium membership $20 - $25

I’m thinking premium memberships could potentially lower from $25 due to offsets from standard memberships but I don’t know.

Thoughts?

I would pay 3 bucks to be able to change my name....
It is ridiculous that name changing was made part of the premium only benefits....

Im suprised having signatures was not made a premium only feature.... i rather not be able to have a signature but be able to change name....