You can't have the positive feedback without the negative feedback. Both are important to any company and there really isn't any intimidation from people on the board. People are going to say dumb things, people will say nice things, people will say straight mis-informed thing and people will say straight up mean things - but isn't that what a forum board is?
I jumped in yesterday because there seemed to be a couple questions on whether the lantern would illuminate so I wanted to let those who like the figure and were concerned know that we do intend for it to illuminate. Maybe those who were on the fence might be able to make a better decision. I'm certainly not trying to convince anyone to buy - that is your money and your choice. Fortunately I was able to answer some recurring questions about the costume, hopefully it described why we made the decision we did.
I don't have much to do with the product price other than to advise those who make the decision what the development costs are, what we need to pay to produce the figure. They then have to factor in licensing, spreading the tooling and development cost across the unit pricing, transportation, etc. There are actually a lot of costs that go into producing a figure that you wouldn't believe. I work here and sometimes I get surprised at all the hidden costs that have to be paid before Sideshow can turn a profit.
Now I can say this with all honesty in simple black and white terms - from one collector to a group of fellow collectors, and immediately afterwards for the next few days, I'm told I'm full of BS, that's not what these cost to make, Sideshow is lying, they steal peoples babies at night, they caused the port issue, there is a collaboration with other companies to screw the collector. No matter what I say, or how I say it - there are just some folks who either refuse to believe it, or don't want to believe it, they know someone 'in the know' (FYI - please take these people with a HUGE grain of salt) or are just pissed because costs go up. I get pissed too when I go to get a 3.75 Star Wars or Marvel figure and they are $11 now, but knowing what it takes to make these things and produce overseas - I get it. Doesn't mean I like it - but I get.
So, I can understand why collectors, who may not work in this industry and may not have this info will question the pricing. Totally valid but there really isn't any conspiracy to screw anyone over. You can choose to believe me or not.
So the NRD - $20 - sure it's $20 you may have not had to pay a year ago or 6 months ago, but for this figure, the NRD was implemented. So, if down the road you decide to cancel before receiving the product, yes, you are out $20 bucks. But if you hold onto your purchase and get the product and decide when you get it that you don't like it, you can return and you get your NRD and and full refund back. Yes - it sucks to have to pay to ship it back, but that's just how it operates. Why is GL more than Batman? - because he is. He costs more to make. It may not seem like it - but how many pieces make up the construct? How many pieces make up the lantern? What is the process to print the material? Don't just look at piece count - look at the pieces. Why can other companies sell comparable product for cheaper? Any number of reasons- low overhead, they have their OWN factory, they are 30 minutes away from their factory via train, they are making a product that doesn't have a license attached, isn't licensed..etc. I don't expect anyone to understand and I'm not justifying - I'm informing.
In the end it's up to you - if you don't like it, don't buy it. We are not going to win everyone over, especially when we go with our interpretations of characters, which you will likely see more of. Our aesthetic preference isn't going to match everyone else's, especially the diehard fans of the character who like their specific version. We can't please everyone and we release every figure knowing there will be post after post of people who hate it - totally cool. But there will be those who do like it, which is also cool. For those that don't, hopefully there will be another figure that does resonate with you.
Please also understand that each figure involves multiple artists. I know that a majority of people on these boards are also artists so you know the effort it takes to create art. You may not like the end result but I think from one artist to another, you have to at least respect the process. I also think it's a bit unfair to single out artists and try and publicly shame them because of an aspect of the figure they worked on. I think some forum members get frustrated because they can't understand how or why decisions get made. Well, thats because you aren't in the multitude of meetings and discussions and restless late night thoughts on how to make the multiple aspects of these figures work. Each figure is a collaboration of artists so to single one person out - it's unfair and not cool. "How the hell can they sign off on this" - well we did and we know that not everyone will like it. Sensing a recurring theme?
The theme is - it's cool not to like something. You aren't offending myself or anyone else. All I ask is to just consider that all things are done for a reason. I don't expect you to know the reason because you don't work at Sideshow, but know it's never with the intent to offend the fans of character. We will never, ever offer anything that will get 100% approval from the public - we know that going into each product. Thats just not how this industry works. People are passionate about things and that passion is also shared by us.
You don't have to believe me, but I do thank you for reading as well as your comments, be it positive or negative on anything we do. Everyone on here because they are passionate about collecting - so thanks for your passion.
