Bizarre as this might sound, I have only ever ordered one Sideshow Collectibles boxed figure from the pre-order stage, from a dealer, at retail MSRP. Only once. Only one figure. I did buy some used sets and loose sets over time, but that was different.
The set was the SSC Indiana Jones Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull set. I bought two of them from
@Timewalker1 Toys. Back then, if you ordered two, you qualified for their free shipping program. (This was a LONG time ago. When you still got a newsletter in the mail with a stamp on it and you had to make a phone call to place an order) I wanted this set because this was the first set to have the NEW type Sideshow body, the upgrade from the classic original Buck body, and I wanted to see what it was all about. This new body was rough. I mean rough.
I rarely do dealer plugs, but this time I will. Timewalker Toys was my go to dealer for a long time in the old days. Steven Allen, the owner of Timewalker, is one of the best dealers I've ever encountered in this hobby. Honest, patient, understanding, good communicator, lots of integrity. You couldn't ask for more. No offense to anyone else, but he is only dealer I would ever completely trust. In all my years of enforcing commerce at OSW, Timewalker was the only long term dealer where I NEVER heard one bad thing about them. Never. And I heard it all back then.
https://www.timewalkertoys.com/
Thank you Steven Allen for your service to this hobby and for all the collectors in it.