Star Wars subscription service?

[Darth Waller]

I think this is an interesting idea. So far I've been home for preorders I wanted, but I'm starting a new job next month, so the ease of preorders will be over. Something as suggested by Dave would be beneficial for me because I wouldn't have to worry about ordering a figure if it's already reserved for me.

Because of my love for Star Wars, I can't see Sideshow making any figure I wouldn't want anyway.

 

[hairlesswookiee]

i voted yes just simply because it would make things easier, but what happens if you dont like a particular one?? would you be allowed to cancel the order?? or what happens if you plain just dont have the money...i know it sounds sad, but i had a car accident once that costed me my toy spending money.(on any other site that might sound pathetic)

 

[FlyAndFight]

I voted no.

I don't want to be committed to purchasing any product sight unseen.

With that being said, if we were to have this "club" thing working and I were to receive a figure that I don't like, would Sideshow pay for the return shipping and credit my account?

 

[tomandshell]

what happens if you plain just dont have the money

One thing Sideshow could do is charge you $500 or so up front (plus shipping for 8 or 9 packages), and then send you all the figures for that year without having to worry again about expired or maxed out credit cards or declines. If I know I'm going to get them anyway, then I would be happy to pay for them up front if it meant not having to stress out again like on Friday.

If it were just a matter of indicating interest in the product, I think they already know we are interested--as the sales have shown! It would really all be to our benefit (not Sideshow's) to have a subscription service--the figures will sell out in hours no matter what. If we want the advantage of not having to deal with the stress of preorder then we would need to pay a premium. If it's all our benefit then we should be willing to pay the money up front for a year's worth.

 

[SKARY]

I like the idea of a SW exclusive figure club. I think that a $10. non-refundable per figure deposit but applied to your total would be fair to show your committed to this.plus it would make people think twice about cancelling an order. And if one did cancel an order they would lose their place on the club and it would open a space for someone on the club waiting list. So lets see say the next piece's exclusive is limited to 1750 make 875 for club members and 875 for the general public.Also they would have to make this option available to freak members first for their loyalty to sideshow or have some sort of lottery for memberships whatever THEY (Sideshow) see fair.
Just my opinion but great thread discussion here................................OUT

 

[FlyAndFight]

I'm not about to jump through hoops in an attempt to throw my money at any company. I'm especially not about to send them $500.00 dollars ahead of time. The Star Wars line is obviously popular, so the loss of one customer won't even be noticed, but I think it's a bad idea.

SideshowToys has become a premier collectable company with the best customer service in the business. This elitest type of move towards a club would be a bad move. I really don't agree with the "If you balk, you lose your place in the line" idea.

I'd rather put up with refreshing a screen for an hour in order to place an order, than any of the above ideas.

But that's just me..

 

[Hjalmar]

I would sign up for this instantly, no questions asked. Sideshow guarantees me each SW 12-inch exclusive edition, no hassle, and I'll guarantee them I'll pay for it, no hassle.

They've done subscription plans before (LOTR medallions).

I'd even subscribe to multiple lines (Universal Monsters 12 inch, horror, twilight zone, outer limits) if they let me. I suspect many of you would also sign up for Buffy, and some folks would be willing to do the PF LOTR.

-Rob

 

[Bum]

If you have a fairly good sized budget, and you are a completist type of collector, then it is a very good option for you to sign up for an automatic "list" or whatever for purchase on all of them. It WOULD be nice to be guaranteed a figure every time.

The only question with that is, you still leave some of the pick-and-choose collectors out the window. this solution only addresses part of the problem.

it would also be nice if the pick-and-choosers who are still loyal to SSC, and a bit loyal to a particular line can have a chance to sign up for an item ahead of time.

MAYBE, have it set several ways IF SSC is willing to deal with it.
Have one set for the collector's club. You set up an item number, say "A10000" and call this the 'COLLECT ALL ITEMS', and charge you the full amount... only thing is, will all of them be $54.99? That locks SSC at a certain price they may be wanting to charge a little more, or, maybe, a little less. The refunding or extra charging would suck as far as a Customer Service issue.

And then, the second part to implement is still let SSC loyalistis, through the newsletter, have a chance to buy it at a leisure time instead of putting them in a small time window to buy the item(s), and then deal with the non-regulars. No, this doesn't mean that anyone who has a newsletter is automatically guaranteed one, but like i mentioned in another thread, give a choice upfront. if you say yes, you get to buy one. if no, that's that. back to fighting with the others if you change your mind.

The figures will sell, regardless, so unless they make the sizes godawfully high, they shouldn't have too much burden of having a lot in inventory.

 

[Booyah!]

Yes, without a doubt. Brillant idea. I've always considered the 12" line the staple of my Star Wars collecting and will gladly sign up for every exclusive made.

If nothing else, it will help cut back on the monthly heart attacks alot of us are anticipating for upcoming releases.

 

[lcummins]

Bad idea! Period!

Both the Luke and Anakin exclusives sold out in record time for Sideshow! Lots of people did not get one or the other or both and have complained. If Sideshow had a "subscription" club, wouldn't that probably just increase the edition size of exclusives to the point that people would then complain they are no longer exclusive?

Some have suggested a lottery or something similar to join the club; if you think the complaints are loud now, wait until some of you miss out on joining that club!!

Some have suggested that members of this board deserve some kind of special treatment. While this may be an unofficial "official" board for Sideshow, that does not mean anyone here deserves anything special over others.

Sideshow is trying to make a system to order that is as fair as possible to everyone around the world, while not costing the company in terms of overtime to keep employees after hours, etc. The only way to satisfy the ones who miss out on a pre-order is to increase the edition sizes; then people complain about large edition sizes! And for those complaining about the pre-order times, there would be others who complained about a weekend or night pre-order time.

Personally, I think the new system comes the closest to satisfying the most people. The biggest complaint was the servers couldn't handle the loads and they are working on that. I can't wait to here the complaints when a big pre-order only takes 15 minutes to sell out because the servers can handle the loads and everyone gets on at once and places their orders! And no, that isn't a pro for a subscription service in my opinion!

 

[Agent0028]

...big pre-order only takes 15 minutes to sell out because the servers can handle the loads and everyone gets on at once and places their orders! And no, that isn't a pro for a subscription service in my opinion!

Funny how overloaded servers and hitting the reload key a few dozen times doesn't seem so bad anymore.

BTW Hjalmar...can I borrow some money?

 

[Darth Waller]

While this may be an unofficial "official" board for Sideshow, that does not mean anyone here deserves anything special over others.

Sure we do!

 

[pitchin]

Some have suggested that members of this board deserve some kind of special treatment. While this may be an unofficial "official" board for Sideshow, that does not mean anyone here deserves anything special over others.

We have a traitor in our ranks!!!

 

[lcummins]

Ok, maybe...

Shhhh! I was trying not to make the other boards jealous!