Queen Of Vampires... Are You Serious?

[The13thWarlock]

There is nothing worse than waiting for something forever and then when it comes in you are totally disappointed with it... That's what I'm dealing with now.

Just got the Queen of Vampires in today... So I'm putting the base all together... Fitting the pieces in and the bats... It's coming along well and I'm saving the best part for last... The Queen herself. Something told me I was making a mistake, but I figured if something was wrong with her, I could just send that part back and wouldn't need to pack the whole thing back up...

I pull out the Queen and her chest pieces are attached, as in part of the sculpt... Are you serious? ARH's hallmark is magnetic pasties. I go to look at the model on the site because I'm almost certain I saw her without the metal pasties... No, just some side shots that look like she didn't have them on from the angle it was at. Why Arahom? Why make the first in the series with a removable top, the third in the series with a removable top and a fully displayed vagina... But the second has nothing. This is utterly disappointing.

And on top of that, there is no post to secure the figure on the base... Not that she is unstable, but I'm used to the pieces being posted to the base. Though not a big deal in itself, added to the other issue it just agrivates my opinion of this statue and the short cuts that were taken with it.

It's really a shame because the statue has an awesome face... Much better in person than on the website and the over-all design of the pose and the base is well done. But honestly, that makes it even worse... Like it could have been an awesome statue, instead of just crap.

Now, I have some choices... Live with the statue I think is crap, return it to ARH and lose $50 in shipping and probably another $50 to ship it back, or try to dump it on eBay or something. The last two requiring that I now take this thing all apart, rewrap it and stuff it back in its box for shipping.

I don't know if I am more mad with ARH for producing this disappointment or more mad at myself for not asking more questions when I ordered. I think right now that's leaning toward ARH...

[bananafarmer]

stopped buying from ARH long ago after almost every piece had something about it that utterly pissed me off to the where i could barely stand owning anything from them. dont care how good the proto's look or how much i love it .. will not buy from them ever again.

[dao2]

While I agree that it's surprising (cause I didn't look into it at all as I wasn't interested) that they decided not to make the nipples on this one able to be shown I can't believe that you're pissed at them for it. Really you should be angry at yourself :|

[FriendlySamurai]

Assumption is the mother of all 'you know what'. Not ARH's fault. I don't see how covered nipples and her not being pegged to the base are considered 'shortcuts'. And how is sitting on a base rather than being pegged to it considered an issue? Feels like you're really reaching for reasons to slam the company. Not getting to see a statue's naughty parts is hardly something that reduces it to crap, especially when you talk about how awesome the face and overall statue look in person. :rolleyes2

Enjoy it for what you like about it or chalk it up to a $100 lesson learned. Gotta know what you're buying.

[apellica]

To be honest Warlock, not seeing her nipples does not make it it a crap statue. Crappy paint jobs and bad sculpts is what makes bad statues.

I can see not being pegged to the base being a little bit of an issue, but not really a deal-breaker.

IMO....those issues you mentioned are very minor. Otherwise, it sounds like the statue turned out really nice.

Too each his own I guess.....

PS: Wouldn't mine seeing some pics of her.

[dao2]

I think the issue is that the pasties look like crap and he was assuming that they were removable. But yea not ARH's fault :<

[The13thWarlock]

While I agree that it's surprising (cause I didn't look into it at all as I wasn't interested) that they decided not to make the nipples on this one able to be shown I can't believe that you're pissed at them for it. Really you should be angry at yourself :|

I am angry with myself. At the end of the day, the responsibility for this is mine. ARH listed like 15 pictures or something and wrote a full description that never mentioned anything about her being topless or having removable bits. Plus, they agreed to take the thing back, minus the cost of shipping.

My problem with ARH and this statue isn't that I was deceived or tricked. The problem is that it doesn't meet my expectations. They didn't deliver on what the statue should have been.

This statue is all about sex and tits, let's be real. She's a tall vamp girl with a totally exposed chest, covered only by some small pasties. She isn't like the Valkyrie, whose armor top shape prohibits magnetic clothes... The Vampire Queen is wearing pasties... The first statue had a removable top, this one should have been made with one too. Her chest is a major part of the statue, feature it.

By not doing this, it's a short cut. It's something that should have been a part of the design and it wasn't.

By way of a new discovery, there is a small slot under one of the rocks in the base that some of her dress fits under. Though not a post, it does allow you to "fit" the model into the base the way it was designed to fit. It still should have been posted.

I'll post some pics later today maybe. I was so disgusted with this statue last night I couldn't be asked to take pics. I'll post one of her face, which is well done, IMO. One of her chest, so you can see the crap I'm so pissed about and maybe one of the wand/scepter, which is so badly done by her hand (80% sculpt issue/20% paint issue) that it's unusable... It depends if I feel like digging it out of the box. I'll try and get an overall picture up as well.

[-Ace-]

Anyone have a video review yet? I am waiting to see one before I decide. I too thought the pasties were magnetic.

[The13thWarlock]

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/1200x/8f/4b/e9/8f4be9244c087c89f4b223fdb751d69a.jpg

Here is an up close pic of her face. What I initially thought was the worse feature of the statue is actually the best feature. She has a very sharp, angular shape to her face and it really carries a lot of "character". You can't really tell by the pictures on the ARH website and even on this close up picture, you still can't tell enough to do the face sculpt justice. The most impressive and cool thing for me about the face was that her eyelashes were actually part of the sculpt. Can't say enough about the face, it's just great work.

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/1200x/0b/2b/57/0b2b572e19429c79db38821656d70a3c.jpg

Here is the base. Once again, the picture doesn't do the statue proper justice. The stones look great and the bats come in three separate sections and are well done. The skulls all fit in separate and it has a nice, realistic presentation... Like the objects are actually sitting on the stones nod floor... Because they are. Aside from the lack of a post to secure the statue in, the only other complaint I have was that the cup is empty... I guess she just drank it up. Would have looked cooler half filled with blood.

So... I'm feeling a little better about the statue after a nights rest, and a lot of people here made a lot of sense with the comments and feedback they left. The statue isn't crap, as I previously said and I'm sure that if the magnetic clothes are not an important part of the statue for a person they will be very happy with this model.

I still am personally very disappointed in it. It's not what I expected. Not ARH's fault... Mine for not asking the right questions or doing the proper research into the piece. So, I think ARH does statue repair. Like if you break your statue, you can send it back to them and they will fix it for a fee. If that is the case, perhaps they can "fix" my issue by sculpting bare breasts on her and making a set of magnetic pasties to replace the ones that were originally sculpted on. I'm actually sure they can do that, the question is if they have the time to do something personalized like this with all the nonsense and problems with Arhian that they have to deal with right now... And the second question is... How much would it cost to have done and will I be willing to pay. I really do like the overall model, and truth be told, if this one issue was corrected, it would probably be one of my favorite pieces.

[dao2]

Send them an email and see what they say ;p it looks pretty good imo.

[The13thWarlock]

I sent then an email just now... Fingers crossed.

[dao2]

If not I think it would be a relatively easy thing for a customizer to do if you could find one ><

[Silas Loki]

The paint job on this is comparable to a 6" McFarlane figure.....just to be clear, on a 1/4 scale, that's not a good thing!

[jmsmith3388]

hmmmm, I really hope the ARH statues I have on Pre-Order come out painted better than this.

[Big Hulk]

There is nothing worse than waiting for something forever and then when it comes in you are totally disappointed with it... That's what I'm dealing with now.

Just got the Queen of Vampires in today... So I'm putting the base all together... Fitting the pieces in and the bats... It's coming along well and I'm saving the best part for last... The Queen herself. Something told me I was making a mistake, but I figured if something was wrong with her, I could just send that part back and wouldn't need to pack the whole thing back up...

I pull out the Queen and her chest pieces are attached, as in part of the sculpt... Are you serious? ARH's hallmark is magnetic pasties. I go to look at the model on the site because I'm almost certain I saw her without the metal pasties... No, just some side shots that look like she didn't have them on from the angle it was at. Why Arahom? Why make the first in the series with a removable top, the third in the series with a removable top and a fully displayed vagina... But the second has nothing. This is utterly disappointing.

And on top of that, there is no post to secure the figure on the base... Not that she is unstable, but I'm used to the pieces being posted to the base. Though not a big deal in itself, added to the other issue it just agrivates my opinion of this statue and the short cuts that were taken with it.

It's really a shame because the statue has an awesome face... Much better in person than on the website and the over-all design of the pose and the base is well done. But honestly, that makes it even worse... Like it could have been an awesome statue, instead of just crap.

Now, I have some choices... Live with the statue I think is crap, return it to ARH and lose $50 in shipping and probably another $50 to ship it back, or try to dump it on eBay or something. The last two requiring that I now take this thing all apart, rewrap it and stuff it back in its box for shipping.

I don't know if I am more mad with ARH for producing this disappointment or more mad at myself for not asking more questions when I ordered. I think right now that's leaning toward ARH...

No offense dude but you lost me at fully displayed vagina. Why would anyone want to display a statue with a vagina showing. That's a little much for me...

[ukshaun]

The statue looks ok to me.

[jmsmith3388]

No offense dude but you lost me at fully displayed vagina. Why would anyone want to display a statue with a vagina showing. That's a little much for me...

:hilarious: I didn't even notice that before, then again I didn't really have an interest in the statue so didn't look at it much. But sure enough, there it is!

[The13thWarlock]

No offense dude but you lost me at fully displayed vagina. Why would anyone want to display a statue with a vagina showing. That's a little much for me...

Yeah, it is a little much. But that's sort of ARH's nitch. They make topless and now bottomless statues. And they do it well and at a scale no one else has them in. The real genius comes in with the magnetic clothes. S you can effect have a nude to semi nude statue but covered up when it's not appropriate to be seen like that. If you don't like the nudity, there are a ton of other companies making fully clothes statues. If you do like nudity, ARH is one of, and probably the best option out there...

[thecollector80]

The paint job on this is comparable to a 6" McFarlane figure.....just to be clear, on a 1/4 scale, that's not a good thing!

yep.

[qz33]

Hope the new 1:3 Arkhalla Seduction is painted better than this.

Ehren's sculpts are so good maybe they should sell unpainted kits.

[dao2]

I think the paint looks pretty good?

[The13thWarlock]

I think the paint looks pretty good?

The paint is ok... The face looks very good... The rest of the body, well, she's a vampire so it's very pale and white and the shading just isn't there... They could of went the other way and shaded the ---- out of it but then she would have been all evacuated and dead looking... Now the jewels and such... That was a lacking. The gems could have had some highlights on them and the metal parts are a bit on the flat side. I was ok with all of this though when I bought it... As I was buying it more for what she wasn't wearing than for what she was wearing.

I'm sure the next one will be amazing, but I'm not buying any 1/3 scale statues.

[dechirico7]

The paint needs a lot of help.
They should just sell kits.

[trav99ss]

Just picked up a Queen of Vampires EX from ARH and I'm am totally confused over the fuss about the paint. I think it looks fantastic. Mine came well packed, double boxed with zero damage, zero paint issues and in hand she is outstanding to my eye.

Maybe since I lack even the slightest bit of artistic talent, I'm always in awe of the sculptures that other folks can create, but I'm not seeing any issues with her. In fact, I'm now really amped up for the 1/3rd scale Arkhalla as I think that sculpt should be even better.

Considering the small edition sizes, relatively bargain price (compared to 1/4 SS prices today) and outstanding base, I'm really happy with my purchase.

In any case, I hadn't really seen many in-hand pictures on the web so thought I'd post a few...

** Ignore any little white specks... still trying to get the last bits of static cling foam off her and the camera seems to pick that stuff up better than I can see it in person...

[loricstone]

stopped buying from ARH long ago after almost every piece had something about it that utterly pissed me off to the where i could barely stand owning anything from them. dont care how good the proto's look or how much i love it .. will not buy from them ever again.

My only problem with ARH was the absolutely most detestable packaging in the business...along with PCS at the time. PCS wisened up...why don't ARH. I still hear their "improved" packaging is still terrible.

Damn shame...cause I really appreciate their sculpts.

[loricstone]

The paint needs a lot of help.
They should just sell kits.

I agree with the paint app on this one.

[gagaliya]

My only problem with ARH was the absolutely most detestable packaging in the business...along with PCS at the time. PCS wisened up...why don't ARH. I still hear their "improved" packaging is still terrible.

Damn shame...cause I really appreciate their sculpts.

i agree, arh package is a complete joke..since day 1.

There is zero improvements, they dont appear to listen for some odd reason.

It's one of the top reasons i stopped ordering their statues (except a few must have pieces). Just the thought of opening up that giant box and make a gigantic mess in my apartment puts me off. (the viking was another reminder, wife very pissed off).

With so much competition nowdays for my dollar, it's not worth it to deal with those headaches especially for non-licenses good to have statues.

[jmsmith3388]

I just went through this nightmare with the Conan Dio, 3 boxes double layered!!! It looks like a snow man took a ---- all over my man cave.

[The13thWarlock]

Conan is an old statue... When I got mine it covered everything in foam beads too. The last two statues I got, Arhian and Queen of Vampires had much better foam and very, very little foam mess.

[zeus]

Always have the vaccum ready when opening ARH boxes after crossing your fingers nothing is broken.

[alkali lake]

Her nipple caps gotta go...

[The13thWarlock]

Hey... Let me ask a personal favor...

I started this thread like half an hour after I opened my Queen... It was more of me venting about how disappointed I was with some stuff on it than a real critique of the statue and in retrospect, I wasn't entirely fair to ARH. This is mostly because the stuff I was mad at they never said or implied was part of the statue. Then I felt even worse when they bent over backwards to try to straighten things out for me.

I regret starting this thread and I'd really like to see it sort of fade down the pages of the forum and drift out of memory. So the favor I'm asking is to please start a new thread to talk about this statue so this one can kind of go away.

Thanks in advance.

[crimsinwing1989]

Hey... Let me ask a personal favor...

I started this thread like half an hour after I opened my Queen... It was more of me venting about how disappointed I was with some stuff on it than a real critique of the statue and in retrospect, I wasn't entirely fair to ARH. This is mostly because the stuff I was mad at they never said or implied was part of the statue. Then I felt even worse when they bent over backwards to try to straighten things out for me.

I regret starting this thread and I'd really like to see it sort of fade down the pages of the forum and drift out of memory. So the favor I'm asking is to please start a new thread to talk about this statue so this one can kind of go away.

Thanks in advance.

I think its no problem, people vent in the SS section all the time lol i'm sure this thread will eventually fade. Btw do you order any statues outside of ARH, i never see you post in any other section?

[DrBoris]

Does anyone read the description?

I was looking for the original EX with the removable top but didn't want to pay the ebay prices. Then ARH re released the statue detailing there was no removable top. This was from the old web site design.

Purchased with full knowledge of what features I wasn't getting.

only minor gripe I have is how the crown fits into the hair line....