Discussion on Sideshow Pricing

[Viper245]

I am starting this thread to hopefully contain all the talk on Sideshow's pricing in one thread. It's getting tiresome going into every thread in this section and having to sift through pages and pages of people complaining about Sideshow's rising prices.

I don't discount anyone's right to discuss the issue but I think it will be more benefical to the forum community to contain the discussion in a dedicated thread.

Mods, please sticky this thread.

[COI]

I can stick this to the top, but I have a couple of problems with it.

First, price increases are not exclusive to Sideshow, but people act like SS is the only one upping prices. This is an industry-wide problem at the moment.

And mainly, I think it's inevitable that price complaints will happen in every thread where a price is revealed. It's impossible to contain conversation to 'stuck' threads, and people ignore them after a while and the conversation gets spilled over. You can see this with the QC thread we stuck to the top that people never use.

Thoughts?

[ComicJesus]

I can stick this to the top, but I have a couple of problems with it.

First, price increases are not exclusive to Sideshow, but people act like SS is the only one upping prices. This is an industry-wide problem at the moment.

And mainly, I think it's inevitable that price complaints will happen in every thread where a price is revealed. It's impossible to contain conversation to 'stuck' threads, and people ignore them after a while and the conversation gets spilled over. You can see this with the QC thread we stuck to the top that people never use.

Thoughts?

I think price needs to be discussed on a case to case basis. In some cases, price is great or even less than what you would expect. In other cases a piece is perceived to be overpriced and a conversation can be had about why people think it’s overpriced, or information can be had that would lead to the contrary. There is no way all of that could be contained in a single thread, nor is it helpful, with so many different products and prices.

[Gothamite]

As COI posted, prices are rising across the board except for DC since they don't have to pay themselves licensing fees.

I think ComicJesus makes a better point, tho -- some pieces are worth their prices, whereas other things don't justify their prices.

Either way, it's the nature of the game.

[Nugchompa]

I’m not sure a sticky post would be beneficial.

[Viper245]

I can stick this to the top, but I have a couple of problems with it.

First, price increases are not exclusive to Sideshow, but people act like SS is the only one upping prices. This is an industry-wide problem at the moment.

And mainly, I think it's inevitable that price complaints will happen in every thread where a price is revealed. It's impossible to contain conversation to 'stuck' threads, and people ignore them after a while and the conversation gets spilled over. You can see this with the QC thread we stuck to the top that people never use.

Thoughts?

That's fine with me COI if the community feels this thread isn't beneficial. It just seems that lately the majority of the threads in this section get taken over by complaints about price. I don't see it nearly as much in the other sections including Prime 1, XM Studios, and Chronicle.

[COI]

As long as I've been on these boards and in this hobby, people complained about pricing. Things always seem too expensive and prices will continue to rise. First $300 was the breaking point...then $400, then $500, and on and on and on...

That's not to say there won't be a breaking point, but it's perception more than anything else. Someone starting the hobby today might one day be talking about the "good ol' days" where PFs were $500 and we had to walk to 10 miles to school in the snow.

[Gothamite]

Someone should start a thread complaining that prices are too low. :thinking:

[aa909]

Not a useful thread. Price increases are happening with all manufacturers. And we have zero control, so not sure what this thread would accomplish other than a full on -----ing session LOL!!

[SDguy]

That's not to say there won't be a breaking point, but it's perception more than anything else. Someone starting the hobby today might one day be talking about the "good ol' days" where PFs were $500 and we had to walk up hill 10 miles to school in the snow.
FTFY :)

[COI]

That's fine with me COI if the community feels this thread isn't beneficial. It just seems that lately the majority of the threads in this section get taken over by complaints about price. I don't see it nearly as much in the other sections including Prime 1, XM Studios, and Chronicle.

I agree with you, and it's a great idea if people would actually stick to posting in that one thread. But I have my doubts to say the least.

[craigcliff1]

Yes I remember those days when we were approaching $300.00.
Pieces like Darth Maul Pf and such were in the two hundreds,
was so long ago 2007, 2008

[Viper245]

I'll just add that I totally understand that prices are rising across the board in this hobby but they are what they are. My approach is to pick the pieces that are must haves, deal with the price on said pieces, and move on. Complaining about price increases accomplishes nothing in reality except maybe making the complainer feel better.

[qz33]

It's just frustration venting.

The compulsion to buy this stuff can become taxing and seeing a piece come in $50-$75+ higher than usual after all the anticipation leading up to a PO can put people over the edge.

One of the BST Facebook groups posted that people were tired of numerous shipping quote requests with the tune of "If you have to ask about the shipping for your $1,000 statue then you really can't afford the statue".
Forgoing the obvious qualifications there is truth in that sentiment.

Sideshow had a $35 off promotion a few days ago and one of the eligible items was the lifesize Yoda listed at $2,400. If less than a 1.5% discount convinced anyone to purchase at that time I fully believe they are horrible at (or are fooling themselves of their aptitude for) financial management.

But hey without the conflicts what would we really have to discuss on this forum?

[COI]

The real problem for me isn't when people say something along the lines as "ouch, too expensive for me, pass" or even variants of "I don't think it's worth it at all"; what I think is annoying AND useless is when the armchair economists come in to tell Sideshow how to run its business, or the armchair socialists stop by to scream GREED! as if that's any type of argument. Or when people who have never run a statue business, commissioned a statue, sculpted, painted, dealt with China, etc just somehow know that SS is way over-charging. And those same people sneer when someone in the business offers any sort of explanation, despite the fact that they're the ones demanding answers.

On a personal note, I don't get why people pee in their own Cheerios. This is hobby. Like with anything, there will be positive and negative aspects, but the fixation on the negative and on stuff you have no control over is baffling, because you're ruining your own fun.

[Gyro Zeppeli]

Why do people keep talking about this or making threads about it? Yes we get it these statues are getting more expensive. That is the case from every company. Of course it doesn't feel good to spend that much, but no one is making you. No it isn't hurting Sideshow. No there is no breaking point. If they were actually worried, they wouldn't be increasing the ES and prices for so many of their statues, and pumping out statues constantly. A thread like this isn't going to do anything because how expensive a piece is is relative to when it came out, and what it is. Something like Abbey Chase is going to have a lot of people complaining because she is relatively expensive for her simplicity. If we can't discuss value in a thread dedicated to the statue, what can we discuss? Only blind praise for something not released in hand? Maybe 20 pages of ORDERED or NOT ORDERED and no other information? It's just a part of the culture of collecting. So long as these things have edition sizes and limited runs, why shouldn't we talk about how expensive they are and if we think they are worth the price? If that gets people talking about the economy, even better. That's actual quality discussion. It's better than Red Sonja WOW LOOK AT HER BREASTS conversations.

[VS1976]

Look at Blitzway. They just produce a gorgeous Basic instinct statue for $430 and then you get the Danger Girl Statue at $510. Which one is more detail and which one would you think actually cost more? Both made in China also. So imo, there is a huge price difference.

[Comicbookguy]

Prices are getting ridiculous and this hobby will suffer in due time. Just look at all the statues now going for less than retail and many has free shipping. Best now with these high prices is to buy after a few months of release. Kylo Ren ex was and still is going for 450.00 shipped I see. There’s a lot more I’m sure if you check around you will see. I’m going to po only the hard to get items only and all the rest of the B and C list characters I will wait to buy for a few hundreds less. The prices has gone so high that the aftermarket can’t keep up with the asking prices. Same goes forjust about every single p1 statue.

[BlackestNight]

Look at Blitzway. They just produce a gorgeous Basic instinct statue for $430 and then you get the Danger Girl Statue at $510. Which one is more detail and which one would you think actually cost more? Both made in China also. So imo, there is a huge price difference.

An $80 difference could come down to the difference in licensing agreements between the two properties. Also SSC advertises tremendously. Blitzway ads? I've never.

I agree with so many in this thread that these exact arguments have taken over SO many threads on this board that discussing the actual piece is nearly impossible.

With that said, the quality control talks have also flooded back in, mostly from the same people that -----ed relentlessly about the price, but still order! Now they expect the quality of a "one off" piece by a revered artist, not the assembly line piece they agreed to when ordering.

But this is the internet as a whole, not many happy people are commenting, Making it so hard for the ones who are here for the "The love it" to stick it out.

The statues posted here are beyond my wildest dreams as a kid couldn't be happier.

[aa909]

The real problem for me isn't when people say something along the lines as "ouch, too expensive for me, pass" or even variants of "I don't think it's worth it at all"; what I think is annoying AND useless is when the armchair economists come in to tell Sideshow how to run its business, or the armchair socialists stop by to scream GREED! as if that's any type of argument. Or when people who have never run a statue business, commissioned a statue, sculpted, painted, dealt with China, etc just somehow know that SS is way over-charging. And those same people sneer when someone in the business offers any sort of explanation, despite the fact that they're the ones demanding answers.

On a personal note, I don't get why people pee in their own Cheerios. This is hobby. Like with anything, there will be positive and negative aspects, but the fixation on the negative and on stuff you have no control over is baffling, because you're ruining your own fun.

:goodpost:

it's a hobby, it should be fun and enjoyable... once you start stressing about money in this hobby it's time to step back and reassess... for too many folks here this transitions from being a fun hobby to an obsession / addiction... not healthy folks

[Python]

I suspect this thread will achieve little other than to be yet more discussion regarding pricing. It will still continue in the individual threads, more so as prices break new barriers. We're at a point where prices are rising unbelievably quickly and well beyond inflation we see elsewhere, so it will quite often dominate discussions. Often at the expense of some of the positives that might have been discussed otherwise which is sad, but understandable really. Look at the Wolf Predator LSB, it was almost double the cost of the Predator LSB that came only several months before it (we'll put aside the outcome for the sake of this topic) That kind of increase is going to be talked about, a lot...

Although, in fairness. There was still a tonne of positive talk around that bust... Until it shipped.

[aa909]

I suspect this thread will achieve little other than to be yet more discussion regarding pricing. It will still continue in the individual threads, more so as prices break new barriers. We're at a point where prices are rising unbelievably quickly and well beyond inflation we see elsewhere, so it will quite often dominate discussions. Often at the expense of some of the positives that might have been discussed otherwise which is sad, but understandable really. Look at the Wolf Predator LSB, it was almost double the cost of the Predator LSB that came only several months before it (we'll put aside the outcome for the sake of this topic) That kind of increase is going to be talked about, a lot...

market is saturated and prices are climbing faster than market can absorb = bubble is gonna burst.... prices will drop in secondary market first. just a matter of time.

[nbr3bagshotrow]

The real problem for me isn't when people say something along the lines as "ouch, too expensive for me, pass" or even variants of "I don't think it's worth it at all"; what I think is annoying AND useless is when the armchair economists come in to tell Sideshow how to run its business, or the armchair socialists stop by to scream GREED! as if that's any type of argument. Or when people who have never run a statue business, commissioned a statue, sculpted, painted, dealt with China, etc just somehow know that SS is way over-charging. And those same people sneer when someone in the business offers any sort of explanation, despite the fact that they're the ones demanding answers.

On a personal note, I don't get why people pee in their own Cheerios. This is hobby. Like with anything, there will be positive and negative aspects, but the fixation on the negative and on stuff you have no control over is baffling, because you're ruining your own fun.

:goodpost:

it's a hobby, it should be fun and enjoyable... once you start stressing about money in this hobby it's time to step back and reassess... for too many folks here this transitions from being a fun hobby to an obsession / addiction... not healthy folks

Two great posts here.

I especially like the hypocrisy of those who cry “greed” yet want lower ES to either keep the secondary prices high or to have something others can’t get because of low ES. Talk about greed.

[Eky]

I can stick this to the top, but I have a couple of problems with it.

First, price increases are not exclusive to Sideshow, but people act like SS is the only one upping prices. This is an industry-wide problem at the moment.

And mainly, I think it's inevitable that price complaints will happen in every thread where a price is revealed. It's impossible to contain conversation to 'stuck' threads, and people ignore them after a while and the conversation gets spilled over. You can see this with the QC thread we stuck to the top that people never use.

Thoughts?

I agree.
People, we, will continue to speak of prices in each dedicated thread anyway. Each time a price is reveal.

Here is usefull for general price discussion but won't prevent the other thread from still being flooded by the same reactions.

[Ryanbusts]

market is saturated and prices are climbing faster than market can absorb = bubble is gonna burst.... prices will drop in secondary market first. just a matter of time.

Already has started.

I think if there is a dedicated thread in SS for controversy- it could work. No harm in trying.
I for one obviously have no problem whining about prices, QC, Etc.
so if in a thread such as Huntress for the example. Mid debacle, any forumers can suggest to please take it to the "controversy" thread. Perhaps some would. But how does that help other collectors in the community. Especiqlly newbies.


On the other hand, isn't that the point of Forums and statue threads. I mean, does everyone here want to hear just praising and critique? Pricing is a factor. The more it's brought up, the more we even on a forum can get word spread and hopefully have some good effect on prices or even ES. Yes I believe that an ES of 100 should cost more than an ES of 1000. I also don't think certain characters should cost more because of "popularity". It goes on.

Point is, this is a place to enjoy a hobby, express opinions, and Not be jerks to each other. If you don't like or agree with a post- don't read or respond to it.

[ukshaun]

On the subject of pricing, Sideshow or any company, i'm assuming are upping prices for two reasons, inflation (obviously) and manufacturing costs. While nothing can be done about inflation, manufacturing costs could maybe be addressed by going elsewhere. Quality sacrifice shouldn't enter the solution. Among the impressive statues, there appears to be some lesser quality statues entering the mix.

Assuming the prices will continue to increase, i'm assuming it means collectors with smaller wallets have no option but to buy fewer statues.

If Sideshow and other companies selling statues can sell their stock, then it's business as usual, and prices will continue to rise. If however, shifting stock slows to an unacceptable level, then problems will have to be solved, or it's GAME OVER

Sorry if it sounds like i am stating the obvious.

[Viper245]

The real problem for me isn't when people say something along the lines as "ouch, too expensive for me, pass" or even variants of "I don't think it's worth it at all"; what I think is annoying AND useless is when the armchair economists come in to tell Sideshow how to run its business, or the armchair socialists stop by to scream GREED! as if that's any type of argument. Or when people who have never run a statue business, commissioned a statue, sculpted, painted, dealt with China, etc just somehow know that SS is way over-charging. And those same people sneer when someone in the business offers any sort of explanation, despite the fact that they're the ones demanding answers.

On a personal note, I don't get why people pee in their own Cheerios. This is hobby. Like with anything, there will be positive and negative aspects, but the fixation on the negative and on stuff you have no control over is baffling, because you're ruining your own fun.

Excellent post! The arm chair prognostication from some people that don't have a clue what the cost structure of manufacturing statues is for these companies is annoying to say the least. They bloviate on as if what they are saying is fact when in reality they only have a small sliver of the entire picture.

:goodpost:

it's a hobby, it should be fun and enjoyable... once you start stressing about money in this hobby it's time to step back and reassess... for too many folks here this transitions from being a fun hobby to an obsession / addiction... not healthy folks

Absolutely. That was the reason I started this thread. I was getting tired of reading page after page of price complaints in almost every thread. It's getting to the point for me where it's taking the fun out of coming to this section.

[ComicJesus]

As long as I've been on these boards and in this hobby, people complained about pricing. Things always seem too expensive and prices will continue to rise. First $300 was the breaking point...then $400, then $500, and on and on and on...

That's not to say there won't be a breaking point, but it's perception more than anything else. Someone starting the hobby today might one day be talking about the "good ol' days" where PFs were $500 and we had to walk to 10 miles to school in the snow.

I think part of the issue is as well, we aren’t privy to the actual costs associated with these items. We can think about licensing, and dealing with China, etc etc, but we may never have a numbers rundown. Nike, a publicly traded company, so the rundowns are out there, costs them $30 to make a $200 shoe. I’m not sure SS is in that territory, but I was thinking the other day, what if the NRD is their profit that they make on the statue? Or maybe it’s half that. These would all be interesting things to know.

[BlackestNight]

I think part of the issue is as well, we aren’t privy to the actual costs associated with these items. We can think about licensing, and dealing with China, etc etc, but we may never have a numbers rundown. Nike, a publicly traded company, so the rundowns are out there, costs them $30 to make a $200 shoe. I’m not sure SS is in that territory, but I was thinking the other day, what if the NRD is their profit that they make on the statue? Or maybe it’s half that. These would all be interesting things to know.

In the end, do those numbers matter? It certainly doesn't stop the fans of Nike from lining up on the streets overnight to a buy a pair of sneakers.