XM Studios Upcoming & Future Releases

[Y4NK33 PL4N3T]

F'reals. A lot of companies are probably pooping themselves right now. XM is probably about 6 little letters away from leading the market.

g l o b a l distribution?

 

[rjszar]

In many ways they are already leading the market. When it comes to design, fan involvement, and quality control there is no one else who can touch them right now. How that all holds up over time will be the true measuring stick. With 40% of their currently releases having massive QC issues that required 11th hour recalls I can only assume that they have taken a pretty big financial hit. I hope beyond hope that they don't suffer to much for it because they are an amazing group of guys.

What sort of quality control issues? That would definitely be hard to keep absorbing if true.

 

[El Mule]

They had to recall the Mark 42 to fix the weak arm and re-make Black Widow's long haired heads because the factory screwed them up, hence the statistic (2 out of 5 releases heavily flawed and corrected last minute -> 40%).
Hard to say if/how much this will affect their profit margin honestly, I'm under the impression that they didn't expect this kind of success (so they're working with much more profit than expected) and correcting these issues shouln't be a linear loss on their side. The one on BW was a bad screwup, but the MK42 arm is much more easier to manage, I think.

 

[dan350zr]

In many ways they are already leading the market. When it comes to design, fan involvement, and quality control there is no one else who can touch them right now. How that all holds up over time will be the true measuring stick. With 40% of their currently releases having massive QC issues that required 11th hour recalls I can only assume that they have taken a pretty big financial hit. I hope beyond hope that they don't suffer to much for it because they are an amazing group of guys.

If you consider that massive QC issues, then I can't imagine what you think SS QC issues are, maybe World Ending QC issues?

Both BW and IM statues were only 500 ES, plus it was only 1/2 of BW heads that had to be replaced. I hardly call that Massive QC issues... QC issues IMO would be after then sent them out to customers and then had to recall them, then that would really hurt their bottom line, but since both issues were caught before going out to customers (with the exception of a few IM statues) I doubt they took much of a hit at all.

 

[El Mule]

Fact is that Sideshow doesn't correct the issues, that's why it doesn't impact on their profit

I don't know enough to give a more in depth opinion, I mean, I don't know XM's profit margin on these statues and their various costs.
I've seen companies like ARH going on with tiny edition sizes, often less than expected. I remember they planned to sell 500 of their Exclusive Conan diorama, ended up selling 50 or 100, don't remember. They don't even reach 500 between regular+exclusive. Yet, they're still alive.
Same for Chronicle, they're sticking to low ES/high price and they seem to be going on without problems. Reduced Cain's ES from 1000 to 500 and they seem fine with it, grabbing new props/licenses right now.
Considering how XM's been selling out and delivering, I can see them just absorbing these extra costs without too much hassle.

 

[traylorc]

If you consider that massive QC issues, then I can't imagine what you think SS QC issues are, maybe World Ending QC issues?

Both BW and IM statues were only 500 ES, plus it was only 1/2 of BW heads that had to be replaced. I hardly call that Massive QC issues... QC issues IMO would be after then sent them out to customers and then had to recall them, then that would really hurt their bottom line, but since both issues were caught before going out to customers (with the exception of a few IM statues) I doubt they took much of a hit at all.

IMHO...fixing the issues associated with BW and IM had to cause some negative impact to the bottom line. The additional costs associated with labor alone could easily reduce margins by a couple of percentage points. Throw in the the costs of securing additional materials and supplies to re-do and/or fix sculpts, and profits can vanish quickly. Additionally there may be costs associated with re-packaging some of their BWs and IMs pieces. There were probably some additional shipping costs that also had to be covered for those pieces that did leave the factory. When you are a small business a minor percentage change in operating and profit margins can substantially impact the bottom line. A change of 1% in margins could be the difference between generating profits vs losses.

 

[dan350zr]

From what I read about the BW issue they caught it at the factory, plus given it was a factory issue I'm not sure who picks up the tab for that.... The fact is we don't know all the details of what goes on behind the scenes and it's just pure speculation. I'm not even sure why Spidey even brought this issue up other then to try and hurt XM image with his whole " XM has Massive QC Issues "

It's no different then Spidey's "Don't talk bad about sideshow statues or sideshow will beat up XM"

If your such a big fan of XM why don't you have one of their statues?

Bottom line is it doesn't matter what happens behind the scenes as long as the customer gets a kick ass statue....

 

[Takaboi]

Fact is, SS has too many products and can't offer the same QC fix that XM can. Wait until XM starts doing SW, DC, and etc, I hope when they grow as big as SS they can continue to put customers as their number 1 priority

 

[Y4NK33 PL4N3T]

Dan you know I am a fan of XMs, but we are talking about a company that hasn't even finished the production run on 5 statues yet having to recall 40% of them.

40% my ass. Barely any of the IM's made it out the door before the weak shoulder was reported and XM took action immediately. How bored are you that you actually want to stir this crap bowl over and over again? Wow.

 

[Spidey976]

From what I read about the BW issue they caught it at the factory, plus given it was a factory issue I'm not sure who picks up the tab for that.... The fact is we don't know all the details of what goes on behind the scenes and it's just pure speculation. I'm not even sure why Spidey even brought this issue up other then to try and hurt XM image with his whole " XM has Massive QC Issues "

It's no different then Spidey's "Don't talk bad about sideshow statues or sideshow will beat up XM"

If your such a big fan of XM why don't you have one of their statues?

Bottom line is it doesn't matter what happens behind the scenes as long as the customer gets a kick ass statue....

40% my ass. Barely any of the IM's made it out the door before the weak shoulder was reported and XM took action immediately. How bored are you that you actually want to stir this crap bowl over and over again? Wow.

You know what gents you are completely correct I was tired had a thought and then just kept going with it. Post deleted. As for your question about why I don't own a XM piece Dan... well it is pretty simple. They haven't done a single character that I have to have in my collection. Their designs are top notch, but I don't need MOST of the characters they have had to offer so far. At least not if I am going to spend about $1000 to get the piece, and that is about what I would have to pay to get there bigger pieces. Actually, only Thor is really tempting me right now. Hulk would be the one character that they have made that I am really super anxious to get into my collection, but neither XMs of SSCs filled the bill.

 

[keewan]

40% my ass. Barely any of the IM's made it out the door before the weak shoulder was reported and XM took action immediately. How bored are you that you actually want to stir this crap bowl over and over again? Wow.

haha first time I hear that, don't like that image.

I doubt it was that major an issue because only few of us got it. XM was busy with Magneto. Those early IM that were sent oversea were by re-seller who did they own QC... and since FedEx was so fast, it was discovered after 3 business day after 1st ones were shipped.

 

[BDoggWhite]

Issues caught at the 11th hour and corrected are not quality control issues. They are quality control at it's best.

 

[Spidey976]

Issues caught at the 11th hour and corrected are not quality control issues. They are quality control at it's best.

The BW issue got caught in part by the communities here, at SF, and on FB who noticed the facial distortion and to my knowledge that prompted the guys who had already checked all of the BW to go back and have another look, and the Mark 42 arm issues were not caught before it shipped, but following a handful of broken arms XM recalled the rest to fix the issues. I didn't mean to stir a **** pot guys. I was just tired and wasnt thinking before i posted. XM has proven that they are all about the customer service and the quality control. That is why they have so much love.

 

[Y4NK33 PL4N3T]

So, is there any news of new XM releases that have been teased?

 

[Spidey976]

So, is there any news of new XM releases that have been teased?

Other than the updates on the XMen Alliance I don't think so.

 

[Prevail604]

I think they are busy playing catch up for all there current items.

 

[Spidey976]

I think they are busy playing catch up for all there current items.

These are the only teased statue that we haven't heard or seen anything for

6) Elektra
7) Ultron
8) Nick Fury
9) Winter Soldier

However, I agree I think all the redesigns and the fixes have caused some push backs, and we haven't heard much lately because of that.

 

[Asdf]

I want see final version of Thor. When is he. Up for po

 

[El Mule]

As far as I know, Chinese New Year affects more or less the entire month of February, even if it started on 19th

 

[Asdf]

As far as I know, Chinese New Year affects more or less the entire month of February, even if it started on 19th

Yes, they have at least one full week off days