DpM
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We were short a few peeps. I ended up ordering the one I wanted direct.
Fingers crossed they ship soonish.
As always great shots Alice.
The 3A Thread
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We were short a few peeps. I ended up ordering the one I wanted direct.
Fingers crossed they ship soonish.
As always great shots Alice.
I've just bought BC & Horse off eBay. Maybe paid over the odds but I figure this'll be grail material very soon and it's a beautiful display piece. Also snagged a Zaku on PO so I'm a very happy boy right now 
I have to say, as I wind down my collecting, I'm seriously thinking of just concentrating on Threea and enterbay figures from now on rather than Hot Toys & Sideshow. They just seem to offer that something extra that the other 2 companies have seemed to have forgotten how to do.....
I have to say, as I wind down my collecting, I'm seriously thinking of just concentrating on Threea and enterbay figures from now on rather than Hot Toys & Sideshow. They just seem to offer that something extra that the other 2 companies have seemed to have forgotten how to do.....
Wanderer I'm so with you man. I made my dicission about a week ago. It threeA all the way for me. All this Hot Toy collecting has gotten down right obnoxious for me. ThreeA offers something a bit more artistic and creative. Not to mention how freakin awesome the whole Legion is. Going to start thinning out my HT collection . If anyone looking to trade hit me up.
Good on you Ronin 
Yeah, I think I'm starting to lose interest in HT's stuff. Don't get me wrong they are an awesome company at the top of their game but I think I'm just about done in terms of collecting my favourite movie characters. I didn't initially "get" what threea was about but now after a few pieces, I love the design aesthetic that runs through their work. It's eye catching and generally beautiful
Their unique design just sets them apart.
The Drizzle
Super Freak
I didn't initially "get" what threea was about but now after a few pieces, I love the design aesthetic that runs through their work. It's eye catching and generally beautiful
You guys sound like me. I still have some of my Hot Toys, and I will buy more once in a while, but HT's "getting too big for their britches" attitude is wearing on me. Their prices now are downright obnoxious. it's the rare figure that is less than $200 now. HT's have always been overpriced, but since they have grown in popularity, they seem to have been emboldened to push the price envelope further. At the current prices, they have to be making a killing. They don't care to keep prices reasonable to keep long time customers like me, they almost seem proud to be able to jack the prices up. They are building a house of cards that will fall one day. My money is precious, I don't make a lot, so I don't even begin to want to be a HT completist anymore. I have found a lot of happiness with threeA, lots of nice Legion members that have been very helpful to me, and excellent to buy and trade with. Sure, I'm not the craziest about how vague some of the communication from 3A is, or Ash's occasional weird remarks that confound, confuse, and sort of insult, but I will admit it's fun to be a part of the "secret toy club", and threeA items have inspired my creativity and customizing side like no other figure line has. My painting has improved from having 3A figures, and learning to emulate their techniques. As much as I like HT product, I tire of how fragile they are and how expensive they are. I have noticed that, though similar in shape, 3A bodies are more durable plastic than HT bodies. I can really ENJOY my Zombs, leave them out, let 'em get dusty, pose them, etc. My HT are in a case, and you dare not touch them. They also have far too much rubber in their composition, and that contributed to my other reason to thin my HT- As I look at them, some just scare the hell out of me owning them. Better to sell them now at a profit (and buy more threeA) instead of watching Batman and many others begin to crack, ooze oil, etc. there are going to be a lot of mad HT owners in 5 or 10 years when their prized collections are degrading. There is far too much rubber. I'm trying to avoid the rubbery HT figures now with what I do buy at all costs.
Well said Driz. I have no problem selling off my HT collection for ThreeA for all the reasons you just stated up there
The Drizzle
Super Freak
I totally disagree with everything you guys are saying about HT.
Don't get me wrong, I think HT's stuff is great looking, and the workmanship is seriously detailed, but so much of what they are doing is untested/unproven. they make figures that look marvelous at the time you open the box new, but they don't seem to care about whether the figure will last, whether it will stay good looking. Not enough planning for future life of the figure is done. If they can get it to you looking good, they don't care how it looks in 6 months or a year. They have moved on to the "Next exciting overpriced thing you need to buy". Too many figures have knee joints that are falling apart, design flaws like the leaky rubber, the rubber on lots of Iron Man's joints and abdomens fade too easily, Hell, my MK IV IM's neck collar stained the flesh-color Tony Stark neck red in a spot. It's those unpredictable "value-destroying" defects added with the way too high prices that are putting me off. I will still buy 3 or 4 figures a year from them, but my days of 20+ figures a year is long over.
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dedguy
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I'm just sick of people who have no idea what they are talking about (I have no idea about manufacturing costs or how to run a company either) say that Hot Toy's products are "overpriced" with absolutely no evidence to suggest this. Not looking to start an argument, I just want people to stop being so damn negative all the time.
Nothing to argue about, Its simple.. you don't like the product or the price. You don't buy it.. What I'm sick of is the complaining and nothing gets done. People still buy. Its almost reflected the same as our economy. People complain they don't have jobs.. Gas prices are too high.. Insurance rates are thru the roof.. Yet no one does anything. They just keep buying more useless crap. I see people craming stores with crap in thier carts. Starbucks and Apple.. Now Hot Toys.. It's capitalism folks. If you want things to change just stop buying!! Companies don't care about you, all they care about and have always cared about is your wallet.
dedguy
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This I also don't believe. Sure some companies dont care about anything but money but it's not true of all companies. Generally it is true of companies no longer run by someone which are generally older companies.
The Drizzle
Super Freak
Yep... that's why Hot Toys is getting so much less money from me. I'm voting. ThreeA gets my most positive vote today. HT gets a much lower vote of confidence.
I've been in business and in collecting things long enough (I'm 44) to be able to see that some businesses are more aggressive in pricing their items than others. HT is obviously making a larger than average margin of profit, riding on their wave of popularity. they push price points at every turn. My point is that they would be much better served by using that customer goodwill in a more positive manner, not moving to wring every penny out of the customer, but trying to present more value for the dollar to them. As beautiful as many HT figures are, I feel put off when I see the pricetag. I've also seen a lot of collectibles companies fall when they start to believe their hype a bit too much, and I see HT going in that direction. Nothing wrong with a little critique, and discussing why you buy what you do, I'm not out to offend anyone. If you have been collecting things as long as I have, you get a good feel for whether you are really getting your money's worth in the price of an item. Hot Toys used to feel more like I was, when figures were $100-$150, but since they now seem to be $200+ they don't. I'm very thankful that threeA does feel like a much better value, so that's where my vote is going. Nothing wrong with being discerning.
I think in the long run, Hot Toys continually pushing the median price point higher hurts the industry as a whole. People get "priced out", that creates ill will, and sales drop.
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dedguy
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How do you draw this obvious conclusion?
I'm fine with critique of their product and saying that their prices are too high for you personally (not that they are more expensive than they are worth) but armchair critique of the way they run their business I'm not really okay with. Even someone with general understanding of business I don't think can make any informed critique of Hot Toy's business practices without the information to do so and I haven't seen anyone present anything in regards to even simple cost/benefit analysis of Hot Toy's products other than baseless conjecture.
Again, how do you draw this conclusion?
Everyone's prices have gone up. Sideshow's prices have gone up at a faster rate than Hot Toys. The whole hobby has gotten more expensive for a large variety reasons that I can't really enumerate because I simply don't know. You can pretty easily look around and compare prices from a lot of companies that where around 5 years ago and see similar price increases across the board. That information is available and pretty easy to compare. Even still in the face of that a lot of people like to claim it's all Hot Toy's fault but I don't buy it. Again, no nothing to back that statement up.
ThreeA's products are a good value, but at least from what Ash says they're run on the very edge of making any profit (and even still people claim ThreeA is "cashing in" or "milking it" by making a few variants of the same design). Sometimes even loosing money on products. Also don't forget all their products thus far released are unlicensed. I have no definitive data as to what licensing costs are like other than hints from Ash and other companies that they aren't insignificant.
It just feels to me like people keep parotting the same things over and over again about various 1/6 companies without really thinking about what they're saying or looking for any actual knowledge to back up the statements. It's fine if products have gotten too expensive for you. That's not the same as wild conjecture about how you're being ripped off. That just bugs me. So much negativity and this "everyone is out to get me" mentality. Not saying that's precisely what you're saying, but it seems to be the general gist of the vocal minority on a lot of the collectable forums I visit.
dedguy
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Also, I should note. I used to be that guy. Complaining all the time about how some company has wronged me (hell even still guilty of it in regards to Mattel) but I find the older I get the less cynical I am. I was a psycho opinionated cynical _______ in my teens, much less so in my 20s, and in my 30s I increasingly just assume the best of the world unless I have something definitive to say otherwise.
I have just found personally cynicism is a waste of time and often misguided as hell.
I have just found personally cynicism is a waste of time and often misguided as hell.
Another issue I think Hot Toys and others face is likeness rights. Can you imagine how much it costs them to have to pay someone for the rights of thier image.. You think James Franco did not cash in somehow when HT made the Goblin figure?? Everybody wants a cut.. Then again there is alot we don't see or understand behind the scenes.
Come on Dedguy, there's nothing wrong with a healthy debate. Yes The Drizzle's comments may well be conjecture but as we're all outsiders looking in, based on what we see, I think they're reasonable conclusions to draw...
I would say that Hot Toys are not solely responsible for the price hikes in collectibles, this is a trend shared with all the companies. Wider reaching, its simply the climate we're in as a whole unfortunately.
I don't have issue with any of the companies however, as I said earlier, I just think that threea offer something different and unique and haven't lost sight of their fanbase the way HT seem to have as they go further into mainstream....
I would say that Hot Toys are not solely responsible for the price hikes in collectibles, this is a trend shared with all the companies. Wider reaching, its simply the climate we're in as a whole unfortunately.
I don't have issue with any of the companies however, as I said earlier, I just think that threea offer something different and unique and haven't lost sight of their fanbase the way HT seem to have as they go further into mainstream....
The Drizzle
Super Freak
Yeah, I don't feel like I'm cynical, but I definitely am a bit jaded by how things seem to be going with most companies. I absolutely do believe Hot Toys have led the charge as far as rising prices goes. I can see a few incremental rises necessary in this economy, but I feel like HT has taken a more greedy type of advantage of it, and raised prices even more than is warranted. HT is pretty much bound to be responsible for Sideshow raising their prices so much. After HT and SS made friends, SS's prices jumped up big time, and there is just no way in hell their figures are worth it. I stopped buying SS figures entirely. I don't think any company is "out to get me", but you're naive if you think they're not out to get your wallet. Yes, licenses can be expensive, but SS was getting licenses hand-over-fist long before HT, and they kept their prices reasonable until HT came along. Most SS figures were $60 or less before HT made the scene, Hot Toys absolutely pioneered the way to seeing figures as big-ticket "boutique" items. There are positives and negatives to all of this in the rise of Sideshow and then Hot Toys, but I absolutely believe it is Hot Toys that is responsible for training figure collectors to accept such a high price tag. The materials are not that expensive, the labor can't be but so high either, we're talking about Chinese factories who have never been known for being expensive, I still hold the firm opinion (and yes, it is my opinion) that Hot Toys especially are making a much higher margin of profit per item than most companies do for their manufactured goods under the guise of art. To bring this back around to threeA, I am thankful that I don't think that Ashley Wood is trying to take this kind of advantage of his fans, though his meeting with Howard at HT worries me, I don't want him to poison Ashley's thinking with his greedy ways- the reissues of "limited" items, the overpriced repaints of items (like the silly recolors of Iron Man, War Machine, etc) I too think this is a pretty healthy debate, sorry if I don't think the best of everyone. I used to think the best of Hot Toys, but their choices and business practices have definitely colored my opinion of them. I don't think that way of Sideshow- I think they just saw an opportunity based on HT's changing the thinking and expectations of the average collector. To their credit, they don't constantly revisit figures, or make weird, non-canon recolors of figures just to cash in that much. Somehow, dedguy, I think you are reading more emotion into what I'm saying or something- I'm not mad with the world or anything, I'm just making observations based on watching this hobby and participating in it closely for many years. Not sure why you don't include me in all the people you assume the best of. But oh, well.
I with you dedguy. I getting too old to complain. It's just not the energy I like to attract so I try not to do it, but everyone is making valid points here. Nothing wrong with people voicing there opinions. Clearly Hot Toys is making us all think a little more about our money and less about or awesome figures. As for me, I like it the other way around.
Either way you look at this Hot Toys conversation is just helping me appreciate 3A more as company, the Legion as a community, and Ash/ Kim as Artist and business owners. Let's get this thread back to more of what we like and less of what we don't.
Either way you look at this Hot Toys conversation is just helping me appreciate 3A more as company, the Legion as a community, and Ash/ Kim as Artist and business owners. Let's get this thread back to more of what we like and less of what we don't.
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