No more Art Boxes?

[SONICobra]

Originally Posted by ZenLogikos

Now, I'm not really too swayed either way, but I don't believe PCS' arguments hold much merit. It's simple cost savings to me - and savings that I have no expectation of being passed along.

agreed

[Aussiebot]

Originally Posted by SONICobra

not being argumentative but im curious why?

i consider it a win when i can get the styrofoam out while leaving the art box in the brown shipper so its easier to button up once the statue is out. art boxes are usually the thinnest cardboard they can find and offer no additional protection. i just dont understand how a thin piece of cardboard would make anyone feel more justified in spending as much as we do for these things

It's just that an art box feels more premium to me. It elevates the experience of receiving/opening a statue.
When I got Sideshow's Legendary scale Yoda, it came just in a plain brown box, no art box. I did not enjoy the experience of opening it anywhere near as much as I normally do.

And also when I see the art boxes together in my cupboard, I have to say they look kind of cool.

Forps gets it. There is a reason why we don't see premium watches, apple computers etc come in plain brown boxes. Statues are no different.

[SONICobra]

Thats fair, personally the art box has very little to do with my unboxing experience - as I said I even go out of my way to avoid even having to see it so I may not agree with their perceived importance but I understand your thought process, especially if they are visible where you store them. They would certainly be more visually appealing than a bunch of beat up and dirty brown shippers

[Mammal]

Originally Posted by ZenLogikos

Now, I'm not really too swayed either way, but I don't believe PCS' arguments hold much merit. It's simple cost savings to me - and savings that I have no expectation of being passed along.

Agreed.

I like PCS, and I want them to succeed, but there’s a lot going on with them that really concerns me: this (to me a pretty obvious corner cutting), the mythical
reward points I’m convinced we’ll never see, the prices getting jacked up on the MvC pieces, and the endless solicitations with very little actually coming out. I’m starting to wonder what’s going on.

[Electric Tiki]

This is a thread/ topic that caught my eye as a collector and a manufacturer. There is a page on our website where I explain that after 2010 I went back to the animation industry after producing statues for 10 years. When I started to dabble in the industry again, factory prices had risen so dramatically I wasn’t sure I wanted to dip my toe back in. The first thing I did to reduce cost was to not get into the licensing game. I relied on hand shake deals with creators to produce a statue and give them a small portion to sell themselves. Then I reduced edition sizes further which only caused factory prices to go up even more. When you go from having several products in the pipeline at a time to only one SKU every couple of years, any discount or goodwill from a factory goes by the wayside.

I’ve always loved the packaging aspect of statues and did the package design for probably 90% of ours over the years. I always thought about the cereal boxes when I was a kid. They would often times have lots of eye candy and fun stuff in the packaging elements in addition to a cheap plastic toy. I tried to think that way when doing our packaging. Its also a place to credit the talented folks who created the statue inside. Yes, the statue is what you are after and the decorative boxes often end up packed away in the closet or garage. My closets are full as well. I’ve always deemed the packaging an important part of the statue experience which is why this decision by PCS interests me. On one hand, I understand the move. It saves manufacturing cost in an increasingly expensive business. It saves the hours and money that goes into the package design fee and to be honest, the decorative boxes are kind of a pain at times. Electric Tiki’s statues were rarely large in scale yet when you open thousands of these boxes over the years it can sometimes be annoying in hindsight. I own three PCS statues and they are large pieces. I found the straps an innovative concept and the care of the statue packing in the foam to safely protect the unassembled statues. The decorative box does add a bit of elegance and ‘perceived’ value to the piece, but is it just that? A perceived value? The Jordan piece shown as an example still has that inner piece of artwork attached to the foam, and technically that could replace the box art. It can have the important info. you need and even assembly instructions if needed on the back. I have no ultimate opinion one way or another and if a company produced a statue I was interested in I would probably bite regardless. I have some statues made by European companies that just came in a plain white cardboard box and maybe a certificate. Usually a buying decision is made based on prototype pics and packaging is never seen until you get the product in hand. I am following this thread closely and soaking in the different views.

Sorry to be so long winded and keep on collecting!

best,

Tracy

[qz33]

^ I think that is an accurate summary of this thread and a macrocosm of collectors' views.

[qz33]

So opened a Sideshow Seconds today. It's about a 36"X 18-24" box. Art box was WAY too tight around the Styrofoam.

Fought for 30 minutes to keep from turning the box upside down to pull the artbox off.. Art box was already damaged but only slightly more than most other art boxes of brand new pieces and of course since it "looks pretty" I put in effort to keep from messing it up more. Piece ended up being broken.

Think I feel like my $950 hour long opening experience was very premium? I much prefer an easy opening experience over an art box.

Regardless why don't more companies make the bottom of art boxes open with a large flap like the top? That way at least we could push the Styrofoam out instead of trying to pull it out by nothing or turning it upside down to pull the art box off?
When the bottom is cross folded together there is no way to open the bottom without damaging the art box.

The Bowen days are done, few art boxes credit the sculptors or painters especially on very large pieces.

[dao2]

Originally Posted by qz33

So opened a Sideshow Seconds today. It's about a 36"X 18-24" box. Art box was WAY too tight around the Styrofoam.

Fought for 30 minutes to keep from turning the box upside down to pull the artbox off.. Art box was already damaged but only slightly more than most other art boxes of brand new pieces and of course since it "looks pretty" I put in effort to keep from messing it up more. Piece ended up being broken.

Think I feel like my $950 hour long opening experience was very premium? I much prefer an easy opening experience over an art box.

Regardless why don't more companies make the bottom of art boxes open with a large flap like the top? That way at least we could push the Styrofoam out instead of trying to pull it out by nothing or turning it upside down to pull the art box off?
When the bottom is cross folded together there is no way to open the bottom without damaging the art box.

The Bowen days are done, few art boxes credit the sculptors or painters especially on very large pieces.

I almost always have to flip it over these days, they big so often now that just pulling them ain't easy and then I gotta deal with putting that ---- back in and if there's corners that's a paint in the butt. Haven't seen it yet but yeah all the gripes in the video are my gripes with the boxes.

[MPCanes]

Generally on board with this move; would be more onboard if they upgraded the styrofoam quality to the grey foam many have used that doesn’t break apart as easily (realize that may not be color related, just the easiest way to describe it).

While I do generally like the art on art boxes, the unboxing experience on something like a prime 1 piece is a nightmare. I am genuinely unhappy assembling/unboxing their pieces ��.

[Big Hulk]

I stopped collecting a few years ago but I will say that if I'm spending this much money on a collectible I want to feel like I am getting something special. The art box, while yes, sat in a closet, gave an extra something special for the "collectible" at this price.