Post from Arahom/ARH

[zeus]

Here is a bit more of ARH STUDIOS in case you don’t know us yet!!!

I’ll post this information here in hopes that those who come to our page, re-post this information everywhere else you can, including forums, other Facebook pages, and social media in general.
There is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding about our company out there, and the one thing I see the most is people comparing our company, products, packing, customer service and practices in general to other companies, especially Sideshow Collectibles. We are not Sideshow, and we do not sell nearly as much as they sell, so no matter how badly you think we should give you the same kind of experience Sideshow gives their buyers, we just can’t.

When we see some of you complaining about our packing and the foam we use, and that it crumbles and that it is not as good as Sideshow and other companies, we just ask you if you actually know WHY this happens.

Molded Foam (like what Sideshow uses) can only be produced in CHINA if a company produces more than 500 statues of the same character, so no matter how badly we want to produce packages with a better Styrofoam, unless we sell over 500 pieces in pre-order, we simply CANNOT have it because ARH Studios sells around 100 to 200 pieces of each statue we make, and rarely we produce over 300 pieces of a single character, while these other companies sell thousands of pieces of the same statue. Has anyone ever stopped to consider this?

Now, when buyers get upset with us because they received a damaged piece, and they immediately blame the damage on the “inferior” packing, they also immediately blame ARH Studios as if we were using the “inferior” packing because we don’t care! Again, you couldn’t be more wrong.

We are here working as hard as we can to produce a statue FOR YOU. We do the best job we can to make the best possible statues we are capable of. So why would we deliberately pack our products on an “inferior” packing? Just to see it arrive damaged, and then get our buyers disappointed at us because we are “too stupid” to figure out that our buyers would be upset?

We ship thousands of statues every year, and about 90% of the statues we ship arrive in perfect condition. Sometimes, one particular product has a faulty package due to WRONG DESIGN made by our factory that wind up creating more damages than normal. This is also NOT because of the quality of the foam, but solely because a mistake in the engineering of the packing design. The second biggest reason a product arrives damaged is for bad handling by carriers, which has NOTHING to do with the packing, or companies like Sideshow should have a ZERO percentage of damaged deliveries since they all have the foam packing that we all want, correct?

So no matter how badly you think we are doing something wrong, and that we deserve to be punished on social media for our lack of care with our products, the truth is a little different than what you think. But I’m sure that once we are upset for whatever reason, it is MUCH more satisfying to bash the culprits instead of considering why things are the way they are, agreed!

Right now, we will finally start delivering the Frazetta line we produced in 2014 and 2015, and instead of being happy, I have already seen some of you crucifying us because we are using the same foam again as if we were cheaters, liars and enemies! So no matter how good the news is, and that we are finally getting our statues delivered, all that some of you can think is that we won’t deliver Styrofoam like Sideshow!

Has anyone stopped to think what happens in the background of a
company when they make decisions like that? Have any of you actually stepped out of your personal point of view to try to understand why we make the decisions we make?

In case you have not, here is something to consider. We and any other company out there depend on SALES. Without sales, we cannot have a better customer service, or a better website, or a better packing, or a better anything!

The moment we produce a new line of statues and this line does NOT sell, we are left with a huge problem because we cannot pay for all the investments we have made to produce it. Even when we want to produce our new statues with a better, foam, a better packing, a colored box, and all the bells and whistles you guys care so much, the moment the product goes up for pre-orders, and it does not sell, how can we expect to improve anything? Where will we get the money for all the improvements?

All of you blaming ARH Studios for whatever reason must keep in mind that it is because of the market (and I mean YOU buyers!) and low sales that we can’t improve! Now tell me… How many well established companies in this industry have gone out of business recently? I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about here! Why do you think this is happening?

Unfortunately, every single company in this industry is struggling right now. Basically, every company out there is going through tough times too. And what really impresses me is that YOU ALL, as collectors, who are the ones who benefit the most from what we do, are the first ones to try to bring us down every time something is not the way you expected, instead of helping and supporting us. It amazes me that at the same time, you all demand MORE and MORE from us, you are the first ones to bash, criticize, and villainize us every time something goes wrong.

At the same time that most of you are so vicious to villainize companies for their mistakes, you are also the first ones to be supporting the unlicensed, underground market of statues out there, which is one of the main reasons why sales of legit products are so low in the past few years. Isn’t that interesting?

The last thing I want to say is that at the end of the day, regardless of our slow customer service, poor quality Styrofoam, or even the statues that arrived damaged or delayed, and despite of all our limitations, we, ARH STUDIOS, deliver a great statue, designed and painted to the same top standards of anyone else in this industry. Once all is said and done, all that remains is the statue in your shelf that looks great, and for me that is what matters, and I can sleep well at night knowing that I provide the best service I can provide with my company.

Arahom Radjah
ARH Studios Inc.

[ReTardist]

You guys just have no idea how hard Arahom works. ARH is his company. It's everything he has. So to think he would purposely try to sell a cheap product is ridiculous. On the contrary, he does everything he can to make each statue the best that it can be. Various circumstances often make this a monumental challenge. One thing I can promise all of you, after working one on one with Arahom for a year and a half... I know how hard he works and how passionately he strives to do the best he can.

[The13thWarlock]

I can't wait to see how people twist this all around and make Arahom seem like some type of lunatic. This is why I post what I do and as frequently as I do it. The guy CARES about what he does and he takes it personal when people just slap him across the face for minor stuff.

[Finisher]

Many thanks. I like most ARH statues and I never had any problems or bad paintups on my ARH-statues.

I always wonder why guys blame ARH so much, but praise superexpensive companies (mean those asian companies with lower "asian native" costs, higher pricing , much bigger margins as no employees in america or europe) like gods.
ARH produces 100-200 statues; but those companies produce 1000 and is called "low number, rare , very few statues, high upward pricing in future" - what I doubt, and so on.

So quite some truth in it.

Anyway on the bad side: I often heard Arahom is very impulsive and not good in customer relationship. Also the feedback on forums seems sometimes ignored. So I think only half of it is on buyers side. Also pricing is possibly an issue. I wanted to get the mermaids after first pics. Then I heard about the pricing and that they both look very similar; then I thought who the heck will pay so much money for 2 of nearly the same statues? Seems I was right, and ignored as many others before. Twins sound good, but dont attract many buyers. Just as an example. Sad I say. Anyway I still hope ARH may survive.

[yeek]

My only issue regarding the styrofoam is that it was stated that there would be an upgrade in the next batch of statues starting with the Frazetta ones and continuing on forever. I guess he didn't know about the minimum amount of production required for the better styrofoam before because he did promise the better stuff. And yes, a higher quality styrofoam does make a difference in helping minimize damages. But if he can't do it then he can't do it and he's explained why so it's all good.

There will always be supporters and detractors for every company.

[Wombat]

So why on earth did he state they were getting better foam previously? This isn't rocket surgery.

[JoeyTheHammer]

I posted a few days ago that I received my Ares Gold back without being repaired from ARH Studios. The staute had been fixed but just broke again during shipping. The reason I thought this was because it doesn't look like the paint was fixed where the nose of the armor had been broken. I initially sent ARH a couple of impolite e-mails about the breakage. (Nothing too crazy.) Despite this, I received a positive response from Arahom and they are going to be taking care of the statue for me.

My apologies for jumping to conclusions. Most of us know the pain and disappointment when receiving a broken statue, especially twice. No company is immune to breakages and I have yet to receive a perfect statue from any company. I was, and still am looking forward to Ares, Death Dealer, and Arhian.

I can only comment on my own experience and so far I have only received good customer service from ARH.

[Great Pheidias]

I haven't been on this forum 8 years and it seems nothing has changed! same old drama with ARH Studios!

[Valkyrie]

Originally Posted by yeek

My only issue regarding the styrofoam is that it was stated that there would be an upgrade in the next batch of statues starting with the Frazetta ones and continuing on forever. I guess he didn't know about the minimum amount of production required for the better styrofoam before because he did promise the better stuff. And yes, a higher quality styrofoam does make a difference in helping minimize damages. But if he can't do it then he can't do it and he's explained why so it's all good.

There will always be supporters and detractors for every company.

Exactly this.

I've commented a couple times before that I have the original newsletter from last year that stated ALL 2014 statues (not just Frazetta) would have improved styrofoam. At one point, this was even the excuse given for the delays on the 2014 Frazetta line. I've gone ahead and attached the newsletter this time.

While I'm thrilled that these statues are finally right around the corner, I feel that a follow up newsletter explaining these challenges should have been sent out a while ago.

I can appreciate all the hard work he puts into his company. I got to see some of that when they used to record the "Slaying the Beast" videos leading up to NYCC last year. Just saying that if ARH was more up front about the challenges with the styrofoam, people would be more understanding. Right now, it just looks like customers were being misled in that newsletter even if it was unintentional.

I consider myself a supporter because I have an absurd amount of pending orders with ARH. That being said, I will continue to criticize how this was handled.

[zeus]

Ok so we are at fault if ARH is doing bad or can't provide quality styrofoam.It's our fault if their statues don't sell.Make the statues the fans and collectors want and not what Arahom wants and feels he needs to make.If most are screaming for the greek gods and barbarian/warriors that they built their company with, don't give us bimbos cause you (ARH) likes to make.