XM Studios Venom 1/4 Statue

[Gollum]

Originally Posted by outlikealight

I love XM but that Hulk is just god awful!

Have you seen him in person?

Or just pictures and videos?

[KELPIE]

There are a lot of cranky North Americans in this thread...

Originally Posted by loricstone

So I'm not disagreeing with the popularity of characters mattering, I'm just saying that's not the ONLY reason why...it's also equally about the impressiveness of the sculpt. BMutha made a comment that he was surprised that Electro only had an ES of 500 because from the high praise, it probably could have an ES of 600 - 750 because of the impressiveness of the sculpt. I agree with that.

I hope XM or Bryan reads this because IMO, there should be a set standard for the ES of characters made for each license done. This is my wishful thinking as to how a couple of the license should be adjusted for ES.

I have to agree there is a fair amount in the quality of the sculpt over the character. There are a lot of "C list" characters that I believe would sell out and be highly sought after if they were set an ES of 300 and we know that 300 is an ES that is still profitable enough for XM to pursue.

Originally Posted by loricstone

Marvel / DC

A+ characters (Superman, Batman, Venom, Spiderman, Wolverine) = ES of 800 - 999 MAX

A characters (Black Panther, Magneto, Joker, etc.) = ES of 700 - 799 MAX

B characters (Black Bolt, Medusa, Shazam / Captain Marvel, etc.) = ES of 600 - 699 MAX

C characters (Lady Sif, Mr. Freeze, etc.) = ES of 400 - 599 MAX

Transformers

A characters (Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Megatron, Starscream, etc.) = ES of 600 - 750 MAX

B characters (Kup, Mirage, Blaster, Shockwave, etc.) = ES of 400 - 599 MAX

C characters (Beachcomber...sorry Kelpie he is, Cosmos, Sixshot, Blitzwing, etc.) = ES of 300 - 399 MAX

Everyone's tier of character varies and is heavily influenced by time and media, so while the "A+" characters may be mainstays, all the other tiers are pretty much in flux.

I will say though, my concern for the Transformers ES is it's going to be too high. I think they should look at 750 for Prime, Megatron, Starscream and maaaybe Bumblebee. The rest should be a max of 350.

(P.S. Loric knows not of what he speaks. Beachcomber is clearly an A++++ character).

[Eky]

Originally Posted by FJC

I don't know what you think I'm wrong about. I live in the US and can't buy any of their merch directly from their website or their authorized dealers. Their licencing agreement with Marvel doesn't allow XM to sell to collectors on my side of the pond. That includes the website you have listed for me.

You are wrong when you write international and think USA.

And see the official prices they do in € and maybe you 'll see a problem, compare to SGD$ and imagine what could be the prices in US$ if they had a license to sell in the US.

[Spidey976]

Originally Posted by built2shred

To be fair they're are people who live in the licensed area who are members on these forums. So XM does have a legit reason to be here.

I do get what your saying though, it was people outside the licensed area that made XM such a big success and why they increase their edition sizes from 500 to 999. And even then the 999 is not enough to satisfy the demand of their popular pieces. So I gave them credit for saying they would never go over 999 and they have kept their word.

I think right now XM is experimenting on how to sale their statues. I also have a feeling they maybe had a lucrative agreement with the conventions to sell their statues there in order to increase attendance and sell tickets.

I also think XM is learning that making less popular characters can bite you in the butt as they seem to be having difficulties selling off some of their statues.

They're still a young company learning so it is what it is.... Again I don't blame XM for what they're doing business wise as it is their call, but that won't stop me from venting a little bit when their decisions make it more difficult to get one of their popular statues...

I actually don't blame XM for wanting to get a bigger share of the profits by cutting out other distributors, and going this Con Exclusive route. The only part I am not sure of is they themselves selling already "sold out" statues as part of a bundle with Venom. It feels off to me. However, it is their business. I do feel though like I am starting to read more and more fan disillusionment when it comes to their pieces. Some guys who were fully in the XM hype train seem to have fallen off as of late..... except Grumpy and Loric... those boys are going to be riding that train all the way to the end or the line...lol

[FJC]

Originally Posted by Eky

You are wrong when you write international and think USA.

And see the official prices they do in € and maybe you 'll see a problem, compare to SGD$ and imagine what could be the prices in US$ if they had a license to sell in the US.

Buddy, you've lost me. The US is international for XM. They are located in Singapore. I'm located in North America. Their license prohibits XM to sell their Marvel merchandise to me. So somehow I'm missing something.

As for XM's prices. XM's retail prices are a tad higher than I'd like but for what they offer (hefty casts, great paint apps, tons of switch out parts, and low edition sizes) I can live with it. As you said, if I pick up XM merch at Singapore retail prices, it's not so bad when they are converted to USD. My biggest issue is shipping costs. They are quite high and a bitter pill to swallow. That's the main issue keeping me on the sidelines when it comes to XM. That and the hoops collectors have to jump through to secure XM pieces. Other than that, I love XM's products. I think they are very innovative and take chances most other companies won't even consider.

[Black_Sunrise]

I just got email from XM that I'm on the wait list. Damn. Really wanted Venom. Looks like I can forget about it now.

[batman87]

I received an email from XM stating that I'm on the waitlist too.. very disappointed as I kept refreshing the page on that day and am sure I submit my order within 10seconds of it opening.

[welmer]

Me too im on waiting list received the email . I think everyone who pre-order online is on waiting list. I did my pre-order in exactly 7 sec (i put the timer lol ) . There is no way to do it faster than that. I guess VIP first served and in all conventions. Congrats to the lucky guys ; )

[Black_Sunrise]

I noticed something was not right coz after I clicked submit, there was a long lag then it went through. Really disappointing. If they do Carnage at the Malaysia expo in Dec, I'm forgetting about collecting XM

[Remember Me?]

Just got the email that I am on the waiting list. And yes, I submitted my order within 10 seconds when POing opened.