XM Studios 1/4 Ghost Rider

[comicbookguy]

they should announce form the bringing that they will be offering 250 pieces only during the show. The vast majority lined up thinking it's the only way to get one.

250 for both days at a huge xm event saying it's only exclusive at the event.....

 

[-jay-]

Nice

 

[entrari]

I think having this be an exclusive at the event was a huge mistake. The queue was a cluster**** with all sorts resellers coming out of the woodwork. Not to mention a huge chunk of the 250 pieces were gobbled up by VIPs and exhibitors, so basically they should just have sold it to them directly and not bothered with making fans line up for what essentially were less than a hundred pieces.

 

[iwaboi]

I think having this be an exclusive at the event was a huge mistake. The queue was a cluster**** with all sorts resellers coming out of the woodwork. Not to mention a huge chunk of the 250 pieces were gobbled up by VIPs and exhibitors, so basically they should just have sold it to them directly and not bothered with making fans line up for what essentially were less than a hundred pieces.

Well if you've got people willing to queue that number of hours/wake up early to secure a pre-order, then I think it's definitely within their liberty to choose whatever they want to make of that order, be it a holy grail for their collection, or a business opportunity (it's sad that this happens, but if you only consider genuine collectors as those who buy for the former, than I can tell you that some of us don't really have a choice). Beyond that, I can safely say that this statue was every flippers dream, and that I can already see the aftermarket prices on ebay shooting through the roof.

 

[entrari]

Well if you've got people willing to queue that number of hours/wake up early to secure a pre-order, then I think it's definitely within their liberty to choose whatever they want to make of that order, be it a holy grail for their collection, or a business opportunity (it's sad that this happens, but if you only consider genuine collectors as those who buy for the former, than I can tell you that some of us don't really have a choice). Beyond that, I can safely say that this statue was every flippers dream, and that I can already see the aftermarket prices on ebay shooting through the roof.

Well for me it's not that I mind the flippers so much. I guess they do serve a purpose in this hobby. I just think XM could do a better job at distributing their pieces. Find a trusted person who would sell it to the U.S. For you like what Paulo is doing for IS. That way the stats will get to the people who want them at a relatively reasonable price. And I really dont support getting into this hobby for the aftermarket value. It's ok and great to have pieces that go up, but I don't think it's sustainable for the industry to be built around creating value for speculators. I mean if XM wants their stat to be worth $3000 then just sell it at that price and make one worthy of it. Case in point the Vader pieces. No need to induce speculation and feed the frenzy. It's just not healthy, look at the Chinese stock market casino.

 

[comicbookguy]

Well for me it's not that I mind the flippers so much. I guess they do serve a purpose in this hobby. I just think XM could do a better job at distributing their pieces. Find a trusted person who would sell it to the U.S. For you like what Paulo is doing for IS. That way the stats will get to the people who want them at a relatively reasonable price. And I really dont support getting into this hobby for the aftermarket value. It's ok and great to have pieces that go up, but I don't think it's sustainable for the industry to be built around creating value for speculators. I mean if XM wants their stat to be worth $3000 then just sell it at that price and make one worthy of it. Case in point the Vader pieces. No need to induce speculation and feed the frenzy. It's just not healthy, look at the Chinese stock market casino.

 

[Asdf]

It is very hard to obtain some XM piece. Even in Asia.

 

[Josh-A-Tron]

Well for me it's not that I mind the flippers so much. I guess they do serve a purpose in this hobby. I just think XM could do a better job at distributing their pieces. Find a trusted person who would sell it to the U.S. For you like what Paulo is doing for IS. That way the stats will get to the people who want them at a relatively reasonable price. And I really dont support getting into this hobby for the aftermarket value. It's ok and great to have pieces that go up, but I don't think it's sustainable for the industry to be built around creating value for speculators. I mean if XM wants their stat to be worth $3000 then just sell it at that price and make one worthy of it. Case in point the Vader pieces. No need to induce speculation and feed the frenzy. It's just not healthy, look at the Chinese stock market casino.

Considering XM isn't even supposed to be selling it to people they know would distribute it to the U.S. I doubt that would be a smart move. This way they sell it to who ever happens to line up and if that person is a reseller that wants to sell it out of their region, so be it, they have no say.

 

[Cali604]

Well for me it's not that I mind the flippers so much. I guess they do serve a purpose in this hobby. I just think XM could do a better job at distributing their pieces. Find a trusted person who would sell it to the U.S. For you like what Paulo is doing for IS. That way the stats will get to the people who want them at a relatively reasonable price. And I really dont support getting into this hobby for the aftermarket value. It's ok and great to have pieces that go up, but I don't think it's sustainable for the industry to be built around creating value for speculators. I mean if XM wants their stat to be worth $3000 then just sell it at that price and make one worthy of it. Case in point the Vader pieces. No need to induce speculation and feed the frenzy. It's just not healthy, look at the Chinese stock market casino.

I'm always confused about this. XM cannot directly sell to the NA market due to licensing restrictions.. So people who buy XM may flip the statues. Whether they queue online or at a Convention they may be collectors or flippers. Even Iron studios... a lot of the buyers flipped Magneto 1/6 scale from $500-600 and sold for $800-1000 immediately. SSC has tons of flippers people buyin Lobo, Batgirl, and selling them immediately for inflated prices. SSC's counter was to raise their ES (more of a money decision than a noble one) but it didnt 100% solve their problem and now their QC suffers. XM made a promise to keep a low ES (with noble intention i.e. maintain rarity of statue and High QC) and everyone blames them for the flippers. Flipping exists everywhere but it seems more of a case that the NA flippers cant easily get access to XM which seems to upset everyone. And unfortunately even the collectors suffer for it. IMO XM cant be blamed for these issues. Its the market and the restrictions in place. If you put in the work you can still get the statues maybe at a inflated price tho

 

[comicbookguy]

I'm always confused about this. XM cannot directly sell to the NA market due to licensing restrictions.. So people who buy XM may flip the statues. Whether they queue online or at a Convention they may be collectors or flippers. Even Iron studios... a lot of the buyers flipped Magneto 1/6 scale from $500-600 and sold for $800-1000 immediately. SSC has tons of flippers people buyin Lobo, Batgirl, and selling them immediately for inflated prices. SSC's counter was to raise their ES (more of a money decision than a noble one) but it didnt 100% solve their problem and now their QC suffers. XM made a promise to keep a low ES (with noble intention i.e. maintain rarity of statue and High QC) and everyone blames them for the flippers. Flipping exists everywhere but it seems more of a case that the NA flippers cant easily get access to XM which seems to upset everyone. And unfortunately even the collectors suffer for it. IMO XM cant be blamed for these issues. Its the market and the restrictions in place. If you put in the work you can still get the statues maybe at a inflated price tho

wow, great post. thats the truth bro!

 

[entrari]

I'm always confused about this. XM cannot directly sell to the NA market due to licensing restrictions.. So people who buy XM may flip the statues. Whether they queue online or at a Convention they may be collectors or flippers. Even Iron studios... a lot of the buyers flipped Magneto 1/6 scale from $500-600 and sold for $800-1000 immediately. SSC has tons of flippers people buyin Lobo, Batgirl, and selling them immediately for inflated prices. SSC's counter was to raise their ES (more of a money decision than a noble one) but it didnt 100% solve their problem and now their QC suffers. XM made a promise to keep a low ES (with noble intention i.e. maintain rarity of statue and High QC) and everyone blames them for the flippers. Flipping exists everywhere but it seems more of a case that the NA flippers cant easily get access to XM which seems to upset everyone. And unfortunately even the collectors suffer for it. IMO XM cant be blamed for these issues. Its the market and the restrictions in place. If you put in the work you can still get the statues maybe at a inflated price tho

I think though the Iron Studios ones were mostly selling at a slight premium Plus shipping cost, that's not so much speculative as prohibitive pricing. I've got most of the XM I want though with the exception of a couple (decided late on black lot and DD) so it's not a big concern in asia. it's the crazy aftermarket prices that go 5 or 6 times the actual value that's troubling. It tempts resellers and others to hoard multiple copies. Just like the polybagged hologram cover craziness back in the 90's.
It stops us from buying all the pieces we want and lessens the number of statues that both companies can put out.

 

[Y4NK33 PL4N3T]

I'm always confused about this. XM cannot directly sell to the NA market due to licensing restrictions.. So people who buy XM may flip the statues. Whether they queue online or at a Convention they may be collectors or flippers. Even Iron studios... a lot of the buyers flipped Magneto 1/6 scale from $500-600 and sold for $800-1000 immediately. SSC has tons of flippers people buyin Lobo, Batgirl, and selling them immediately for inflated prices. SSC's counter was to raise their ES (more of a money decision than a noble one) but it didnt 100% solve their problem and now their QC suffers. XM made a promise to keep a low ES (with noble intention i.e. maintain rarity of statue and High QC) and everyone blames them for the flippers. Flipping exists everywhere but it seems more of a case that the NA flippers cant easily get access to XM which seems to upset everyone. And unfortunately even the collectors suffer for it. IMO XM cant be blamed for these issues. Its the market and the restrictions in place. If you put in the work you can still get the statues maybe at a inflated price tho

This.

 

[-jay-]

I'm always confused about this. XM cannot directly sell to the NA market due to licensing restrictions.. So people who buy XM may flip the statues. Whether they queue online or at a Convention they may be collectors or flippers. Even Iron studios... a lot of the buyers flipped Magneto 1/6 scale from $500-600 and sold for $800-1000 immediately. SSC has tons of flippers people buyin Lobo, Batgirl, and selling them immediately for inflated prices. SSC's counter was to raise their ES (more of a money decision than a noble one) but it didnt 100% solve their problem and now their QC suffers. XM made a promise to keep a low ES (with noble intention i.e. maintain rarity of statue and High QC) and everyone blames them for the flippers. Flipping exists everywhere but it seems more of a case that the NA flippers cant easily get access to XM which seems to upset everyone. And unfortunately even the collectors suffer for it. IMO XM cant be blamed for these issues. Its the market and the restrictions in place. If you put in the work you can still get the statues maybe at a inflated price tho

Great post.

 

[iwaboi]

Well for me it's not that I mind the flippers so much. I guess they do serve a purpose in this hobby. I just think XM could do a better job at distributing their pieces. Find a trusted person who would sell it to the U.S. For you like what Paulo is doing for IS. That way the stats will get to the people who want them at a relatively reasonable price. And I really dont support getting into this hobby for the aftermarket value. It's ok and great to have pieces that go up, but I don't think it's sustainable for the industry to be built around creating value for speculators. I mean if XM wants their stat to be worth $3000 then just sell it at that price and make one worthy of it. Case in point the Vader pieces. No need to induce speculation and feed the frenzy. It's just not healthy, look at the Chinese stock market casino.

Well I think the one big reason that they can't and won't introduce $3k statues as an RRP is that it would severely limit their customer target audience, and this would only be bad business for their company. Yes, the sculpt may be worth that sort of money, but not everyone would be willing to spend that kind of money on a single statue. It's more of business psychology than anything, kind of like putting all your eggs in one basket, expecting perfection (which as we all know, will never happen), and eventually it just wouldn't ensure that they'd survive in the current market, what with all the competition from SS and HT going on. No, they have to make it more mainstream, yes perhaps make them a little more premium to draw the fans towards whatever they're marketing. I think they've been doing a pretty good job on that front.

I personally don't champion this whole flipper ideology either. What I do know though, is that if it's not going to be XM statues, then it's going to be something else. Ultimately, collectors want to buy these statues for as reasonable a price as possible, and flippers don't allow that to happen. It's a downward spiral, but it happens all the time. Demand drives prices up in the presence of limited supply, simple economics really, and that much is never going to change. XM not being able to sell these statues in NA is every flipper's trump card, and until that changes, inflated aftermarket prices are here to stay.

 

[entrari]

I just hope this can be maintained and we'll have more of XM's statues in the future.
As for GR. do we know when we could expect a painted prototype? I wish this would be before they open PO's on it this weekend.

 

[Y4NK33 PL4N3T]

I just hope this can be maintained and we'll have more of XM's statues in the future.
As for GR. do we know when we could expect a painted prototype? I wish this would be before they open PO's on it this weekend.

Maintained? Stick it on your shelf, that's the maintenance.

Maybe you meant 'obtained'?

 

[iwaboi]

Maintained? Stick it on your shelf, that's the maintenance.

Maybe you meant 'obtained'?

I think he meant "maintaining the status quo", rather than maintenance of the statue itself lol

And yea I was rather disappointed not to see a GR proto at STGCC. I still have hopes of ordering it this weekend though!

 

[entrari]

I think he meant "maintaining the status quo", rather than maintenance of the statue itself lol

And yea I was rather disappointed not to see a GR proto at STGCC. I still have hopes of ordering it this weekend though!

What I meant.

 

[windz84]

Hope to see the colored version soon

 

[iwaboi]

Jut noticed the PO date for this one has been changed on the XM website to tbc...