What some of you have to consider is that regardless of personal opinion on the piece itself to justify the price, SS gives customers enough evidence to prove its not a justified asking price. How can you produce a piece like Sauron or Galactus for less than 1k, yet wolverine (almost identical) on all levels for $1000 more?
The question becomes, how does SS justify that? The second question is how can the collector justify that?
Eventually they will stop producing any open ES piece. At that point they become "collectible" and potentially worth they inflated asking price as they are "sold out" in the traditional sense.
That part I take issue with is the fact I don't know how many SS is saturating the market with. Even if they sell out, their may be many for sale on the secondary market for years...possibly less than retail even. The other issue I have is that at any point in time if SS chooses to "reinstate" the production of this piece (as was done with the HCG 1:2 T-800) SS indirectly sabotages the value of the collectors substantial investment when "they" feel like drawing more money from the well.
It's exploitation of the collector. What's worse is that their ARE collectors that condone it and support it at their own financial and moral expense.
I am not telling people how to spend their money. I'm asking them to think about the consequences behind it. Not only does it deliver the message to SS that asking these prices is "ok", it also shows their are people out there incapable of thinking past the transaction.
If SS insists on selling open ES pieces, then I think it's only fair they price them as MASS PRODUCED pieces to bring down asking prices as low as possible. In the collectible world usually something with low availability commands high price tags as you're mostly paying for "exclusivity". With the LSF wolverine and others...you are getting NONE of that but paying the price as if you were.
In my opinion, it's morally wrong and should not be supported.
Chris
See I understand where you're coming from but also have to Disagree.
See the two Examples you gave, The Sauron PF and Galactus Maquette aren't the same size as the Wolverine Legendary scale Figure. Now the Height might be the same but the over all Dimensions? Not even Close. Here, I'll explain.
The Sauron Measures 36" tall standing Straight
The Galactus Measures 33" tall Standing Straight
The Wolverine measures 31" tall Hunched over.
Now you can argue that yes they're both taller, but froma figure Standpoint, the actual size of the figure, they're not. If Wolverine were stand Straight up and down he'd Be at minimum as tall Sauron. Now you might say that that doesn't justify the price, however..
The Sauron measures 18" wide
The Galactus measures 16" wide
The Wolverine Measures
33" Wide
He's Nearly TWICE the size of either of those wide, and He's 8" larger in Depth than the Sauron, but Just as Deep as the Galactus.
Now to you this may not mean a lot but This is More Figure than either of those.
The only place I can agree with you is that Yes, 2000 is too much, I honestly think that this should have been priced in the 1200-1500 range given the prices of other figures.
However, the edition size of an Item has
NEVER and will never dictate it's price with these larger companies. DC Direct never sold a 5k edition piece for under going market value. When Sideshow upped the PF price to $300, DC Direct Countered with The Muesum Quality's at $300. When Sideshow Upped the Price of their Comiquettes, Bowen Upped the price of their 1/7th Full Size statues.
The only thing that dictates price is the the Consumers willingness to spend. So don't think that just because they make a lot of an item any one of these Companies is going to lower a single price. That's never been how it goes, not with Collectibles, not with comics, not with cards or anything else.
-End Rant-