SS Ark of the Covenent Photo Thread.

[IrishJedi]

Sideshow size is possibly better

No. The size is more off than Hasbro's, which is actually much closer to 1:6 scale of the Ark in the film.

 

[bmarz1000]

Dude, if it's legitimately a cost concern, that's BS. Sideshow is cutting far too many corners as it is just to fit a price point. It's hurting the quality of their product and the consumers are responding with their wallets.

It's understood that Sideshow's price creep was brought on by Hot Toys' emerging success and the understanding that the 1/6 scale community was willing to pay that price. So Sideshow is trying to maintain a sub-Hot Toys price while maintaining a sub Hot Toys quality, meanwhile, Hot Toys are selling out and Sideshow is stuck with leftover figs. So, whose business model is working?? People will pay $150 for a knockout figure. They won't pay $90 for a figure that needs fixes. Sideshow has the holy grails of pop culture licenses and they need to treat them with the respect they deserve, not release "fixer-upper figures".

That's the best thing I've ever read on this forum. You nailed it.

 

[choopie]

If polystone can't support any kind of shiny layer, then that's fine. I understand that Sideshow was wanting to provide the collector with a high-end collectible of an important movie prop replica. However, the other flaws not withstanding, the matte surface takes away from any detail in the Ark itself. I can't really see how Sideshow could not have noticed these issues without approving its final production and release.

I only hope that Sideshow improves upon future releases. The fact that reg. Toht is sold out, while the exclusive version continues to rise in in-stock quantities should tell them what the issue is here. Pointing fingers at the collector and saying that the Indy line is dying because of lack of interest is the wrong way to approach it. Yes, collectors can be demanding when it comes to accuracy, but regarding the Ark, I think all arguments here addressing the issues are valid.

 

[Darren Carnall]

Ignoring the fact that some of the key noticeable features (feat, lid, angels) are wrong.... I think if they couldn't get polystone shiny (fair enough if they couldn't) ..then they shouldn't have used it. The look of the piece is more important than how much it weighs.

 

[galactiboy]

I have to agree... getting the right finish is honestly one of the most important aspects. If they make a C-3PO Pf and it looks like this I think people would blow a gasket

 

[MicroJow]

The Low Quantity Alert has disappeared and now it is simply available for Pre-Order. How long ago did that happen?

- J

 

[kl241]

Why not use die-cast metal instead of polystone?

 

[thenammagazine]

Dude, if it's legitimately a cost concern, that's BS. Sideshow is cutting far too many corners as it is just to fit a price point. It's hurting the quality of their product and the consumers are responding with their wallets.

It's understood that Sideshow's price creep was brought on by Hot Toys' emerging success and the understanding that the 1/6 scale community was willing to pay that price. So Sideshow is trying to maintain a sub-Hot Toys price while maintaining a sub Hot Toys quality, meanwhile, Hot Toys are selling out and Sideshow is stuck with leftover figs. So, whose business model is working?? People will pay $150 for a knockout figure. They won't pay $90 for a figure that needs fixes. Sideshow has the holy grails of pop culture licenses and they need to treat them with the respect they deserve, not release "fixer-upper figures".

Last time I checked, HotToys wasn't selling out either. Sideshow has a huge assortment of HT figs available and quite a few on GC status at that. Even the awesome Godfather Ex is still available. Several other retailers also have older HT in stock, upto and including the military ones. So I think there's some flaw in your comparison.

 

[Indiana Fett]

Dude, if it's legitimately a cost concern, that's BS. Sideshow is cutting far too many corners as it is just to fit a price point. It's hurting the quality of their product and the consumers are responding with their wallets.

It's understood that Sideshow's price creep was brought on by Hot Toys' emerging success and the understanding that the 1/6 scale community was willing to pay that price. So Sideshow is trying to maintain a sub-Hot Toys price while maintaining a sub Hot Toys quality, meanwhile, Hot Toys are selling out and Sideshow is stuck with leftover figs. So, whose business model is working?? People will pay $150 for a knockout figure. They won't pay $90 for a figure that needs fixes. Sideshow has the holy grails of pop culture licenses and they need to treat them with the respect they deserve, not release "fixer-upper figures".

Last time I checked, HotToys wasn't selling out either. Sideshow has a huge assortment of HT figs available and quite a few on GC status at that. Even the awesome Godfather Ex is still available. Several other retailers also have older HT in stock, upto and including the military ones. So I think there's some flaw in your comparison.

Also, While I do think a lot of cancellations have occurred because the ark that's shipping still isn't good enough for some people, I also believe it has a lot to do with everything hitting at once.

SS is shipping out or sending their 15 day notices on virtually EVERYTHING right now. If you go through A LOT of other threads on this board and see what's shipping or coming soon, you'll see a lot of posts that say "CANCELLED", "HAD TO CANCEL THIS DUE TO LOW $$$" or whatever. So it's not just a symptom of the ark.

That, and SDCC coming has really put a strain on a lot of people, thus a lot that pre-ordered 10 months ago now have to cancel because 2 PF's and 3 other 12" figures they pre-ordered are all arriving at the same time as well.

 

[choopie]

The Low Quantity Alert has disappeared and now it is simply available for Pre-Order. How long ago did that happen?

- J

Must have been today at some point. I checked this morning and still showed low quantity status.

I wonder if Sideshow is taking note. But I'm sure they are too busy with SDCC to notice.

 

[galactiboy]

This really has been an insane month for collectibles. I did cancel mine after not being super happy with Toht and figuring I probably didn't need to spend money on both him and the Ark.

But at this point I'd just be canceling in favor of other stuff.

 

[Indiana Fett]

Must have been today at some point. I checked this morning and still showed low quantity status.

I wonder if Sideshow is taking note. But I'm sure they are too busy with SDCC to notice.

More proof that it's not just with the ark, I just noticed that the Obi-Wan Kenobi AOTC Exclusive 12" figure is listed as "IN STOCK" as well. Star Wars Exclusives ALWAYS SELL OUT in a hurry on PPO days...and I remember this being sold out and waitlisted. Not anymore...They have AT LEAST 100 of these currently in stock as there's no 'Low Quantity' alert, and it's limited to 1000 as well.

Woah the economy.

https://www.sideshowtoy.com/?page_id=4489&sku=21731

 

[Indiana Fett]

This really has been an insane month for collectibles. I did cancel mine after not being super happy with Toht and figuring I probably didn't need to spend money on both him and the Ark.

But at this point I'd just be canceling in favor of other stuff.

And tons of posts seem to be showing that about EVERY product. Mass cancellations due to too much hitting at once and too little $$$ right now in everyone's pocket.

 

[choopie]

I agree that the economy is a driving factor in cancellations. But it also seems to be commonplace to pre-order like mad and then make decisions come shipping time as to what to keep and what to cancel, especially when Sideshow allows you to cancel without penalty. This trends seems to have been going on for quite some time.

When you have a market saturated with collectibles from a variety of licenses in various formats, products that don't live up to expectations get canned in favor of other things, and I think that is what happened with the Ark. I think that if a product comes out looking good and it's popular, collectors are more apt to try and keep their order. If this would have been the case with the Ark, it would still be sold out. But that's just my .02.

 

[Mad Old Lu]

Also, While I do think a lot of cancellations have occurred because the ark that's shipping still isn't good enough for some people, I also believe it has a lot to do with everything hitting at once.

SS is shipping out or sending their 15 day notices on virtually EVERYTHING right now. If you go through A LOT of other threads on this board and see what's shipping or coming soon, you'll see a lot of posts that say "CANCELLED", "HAD TO CANCEL THIS DUE TO LOW $$$" or whatever. So it's not just a symptom of the ark.

That, and SDCC coming has really put a strain on a lot of people, thus a lot that pre-ordered 10 months ago now have to cancel because 2 PF's and 3 other 12" figures they pre-ordered are all arriving at the same time as well.

I agree that the economy is a driving factor in cancellations. But it also seems to be commonplace to pre-order like mad and then make decisions come shipping time as to what to keep and what to cancel, especially when Sideshow allows you to cancel without penalty. This trends seems to have been going on for quite some time.

When you have a market saturated with collectibles from a variety of licenses in various formats, products that don't live up to expectations get canned in favor of other things, and I think that is what happened with the Ark. I think that if a product comes out looking good and it's popular, collectors are more apt to try and keep their order. If this would have been the case with the Ark, it would still be sold out. But that's just my .02.

Definitely. Things are all coming at the same time. Even when pre-ordering, the items seemed to be paced better. But delays, like Toht Ex and Vader, made everything bottleneck to this month.

 

[MicroJow]

Well I, for one, strictly fall into the "not satisfied with product" category. Immediately after canceling, I bought a regular edition Toht and Hasbro Ark. And I'm STILL going to have to buy some replacement glasses for Toht...

At this point, the only other figure I REALLY want Sideshow to make is a Ceremonial Belloq with alternate screaming head so I can have him posed with melty Toht behind the Ark.

- J

 

[SwedishHeat]

Last time I checked, HotToys wasn't selling out either. Sideshow has a huge assortment of HT figs available and quite a few on GC status at that. Even the awesome Godfather Ex is still available. Several other retailers also have older HT in stock, upto and including the military ones. So I think there's some flaw in your comparison.

Here's a list of in-stock Hot Toys product. . . no Godfather on the list. And admittedly, the ones they have are pretty lame. Machiko is cool, but a non-cannon figure so demand is low

Here's a list of in-stock Hot Toys figs at Alter Ego Comics. No Godfather there either.

Vito's on backorder at BBTS. I'm sure with some searching I could find one somewhere, but in those three quick checks, nothing.

Now, I understand you're not a big fan of Hot Toys, but you at least have to cede some ground to them. The final product almost always comes out BETTER than the initial pictures, I can't think of any cases in which the final figure came out worse, hence the 'almost'. I mean, Sideshow has responded in the Q&A that they do try to respond to customer feedback on a piece, but usually the product is too far along in the production cycle to change things, which is honestly the main problem they have. They said they can't change the sculpt (which is hardly ever the problem, they have great sculpts) but the can change paint and other cosmetic details (I don't know what that entails). If the pictures they post are so far along in the production cycle, why do the production pieces come out looking "vastly" inferior to the solicitation pictures??

I can't imagine they get many suggestions on how to improve a figure when the pictures are posted, they look great, that's why they sell out so quick. All the comments about paint and such are after the figure is already in people's hands and at that point, it's too late.

 

[SwedishHeat]

More proof that it's not just with the ark, I just noticed that the Obi-Wan Kenobi AOTC Exclusive 12" figure is listed as "IN STOCK" as well. Star Wars Exclusives ALWAYS SELL OUT in a hurry on PPO days...and I remember this being sold out and waitlisted. Not anymore...They have AT LEAST 100 of these currently in stock as there's no 'Low Quantity' alert, and it's limited to 1000 as well.

Woah the economy.

https://www.sideshowtoy.com/?page_id=4489&sku=21731

That one came out looking like poo, as I recall. The Clone-Obi came out great, but this one, not so much. So, lots of people cancelled.

PPOs always sell out because people like to reserve the piece. Then they cancel when they see the final product.

 

[thenammagazine]

Here's a list of in-stock Hot Toys product. . . no Godfather on the list. And admittedly, the ones they have are pretty lame. Machiko is cool, but a non-cannon figure so demand is low

Here's a list of in-stock Hot Toys figs at Alter Ego Comics. No Godfather there either.

Vito's on backorder at BBTS. I'm sure with some searching I could find one somewhere, but in those three quick checks, nothing.

Now, I understand you're not a big fan of Hot Toys, but you at least have to cede some ground to them. The final product almost always comes out BETTER than the initial pictures, I can't think of any cases in which the final figure came out worse, hence the 'almost'. I mean, Sideshow has responded in the Q&A that they do try to respond to customer feedback on a piece, but usually the product is too far along in the production cycle to change things, which is honestly the main problem they have. They said they can't change the sculpt (which is hardly ever the problem, they have great sculpts) but the can change paint and other cosmetic details (I don't know what that entails). If the pictures they post are so far along in the production cycle, why do the production pieces come out looking "vastly" inferior to the solicitation pictures??

I can't imagine they get many suggestions on how to improve a figure when the pictures are posted, they look great, that's why they sell out so quick. All the comments about paint and such are after the figure is already in people's hands and at that point, it's too late.

You don't understand ^^^^, apparently. I am a fan of HotToys and not only do I utilize TTs for most of my customs, but have a substantial collection from them. I just don't feel the need to drop to me knees, have HT drop trow and bob for them every time another company releases an unsatisfactory product. Even HT has their issues and it's fairly naive to argue that they don't. This forum is full of those issues, which at their pricepoint, is not as forgivable.

Bottom line. So Sideshow ^^^^ed up on the Ark. WTF does HT have to do with it?! Nothing. So why bring them into it?

 

[Wor-Gar]

Ark and Toht at SDCC -- ark looks pretty good here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/starwarsblog/3747661438/sizes/l/in/set-72157621782078894/