Clarification about XM Studio's PO process and status

[shorudan]

Dear Friends and Fellow Collectors,

There have been many unhappy folks writing to us about Magneto selling out and our PO process. Both myself and Ben have been kept busy trying to explain and pacify the angry peeps (again we are so so sorry!) I thought it would also be good to explain how it works here.



Firstly, I would like to apologize for our sudden opening of PO for Magneto on Thursday. Many of you are right, we should be giving fair notice instead of opening Mags up for PO so suddenly. We have underestimated the demand to be very honest and we thought it was cool to suddenly announce it for that "excitement" and "surprise!" factor. Epic Back fired so yeah its our bad. We will learn from this and improve! From now on, ALL pre orders will only happen AFTER we have provided at least 2 weeks in advance notice! In fact, we are going to plan and let all of you know our PO dates for all upcoming statues right now! They are (all in 2014);

1. Hawkeye – 5th Sept
2. Wolverine (Yellow) – 19th Sept
3. Antman – 3rd Oct
4. Thanos – 17th Oct
5. Ms Marvel – 31th Oct
6. Thor – 14 Nov
7. Mark 7 – 28th Nov
   There, now no more sudden surprises!

Secondly, there is a misconception of "SOLD OUT". Many peeps think we are saying its SOLD OUT everywhere but we are only referring to the stocks on our online store being sold out (it was written on http://www.xm-studios.com/magneto-so...ord-time!.aspx) Hmmm... I'm not sure why but folks don't seem to read our web pages (I need to put more sexy pics of Ben on it perhaps) - I still get large volumes or purchase from countries we aren't allowed to sell... but I digress.

There are also concerns that "friends" of XM Studios get first dibs on ordering so it's not fair to other collectors. That's not true. Here's what actually happens before we announce SOLD OUT on our web store www.xm-studios.com. Let's take Mags as an example;

1. From the ES of 800 for Mags, we will first allocate stocks for our online store, reserve some for our members (Prestige and Standard), then release the rest to our approved Distributors.
2. Prior to opening PO publicly, we would first inform our prestige members (http://www.xm-studios.com/members/register.asp) so they have first dibs. Now, please note that some prestige members are in Singapore so they do walk in to our studios to look at ongoing paint work and progress so some of them actually KNOW they want Mags before it goes for official PO and as prestige members, we do accept their advance PO but they only make up a small group so they shouldn't affect other collectors or distributors that much really. We do NOT accept early POs from normal email requests or walk-ins to keep it fair for everyone else. We also restrict members to 1 piece per purchase as best as we can.
3. Once we have opened POs officially on our Website, within a week, our other distributors will follow suit, give and take a day or two.
4. When we say SOLD OUT on our website, it means the allocated numbers on our website is SOLD OUT so we aren't accepting any more direct online purchases. However, our distributors are holding on to stocks too and how they choose to sell or open for PO is out of our control. We don't even know if they have actually "sold out" on their end because from a business invoicing perspective, we only see large orders from them - we don't actually know who they are selling it to on an individual level.
5. Therefore SOLD OUT on our website isn't as bad as you think... please continue to check with your local Distributors who may have stocks (or cancellations) But to be honest, seeing from the demands and emails so far, this piece looks like it is going to be truly sold out soon (if it hasn't already).

Last but not least, I'm truly sorry if some of you can't get a Mags... we do rely a lot on our distributors rather than direct sale so it's hard for us to control how our distributors allocate or sell our stock. We are really grateful and thankful for the support and will continue to see how we can improve our PO process so please keep sending us your feedback. Customer service wise, it's really just myself and Ben but he is usually busy at painting, QCing and prototyping so if I have been slow at responding, its my bad. (I've been replying 200 emails over the last 2 days)

We are still a lean team with lots to learn - hopefully with our first couple of products out, we will be able to hire a Pepper Potts to help us with Customer service and admin LOL. Who wants to apply for this job? (Please send photo in an sexy outfit!)

[Eltjar]

Thanks a lot shorudan for clearing that up

I was able to place a PO with Simply Toys by pulling an allnighter, but a lot of fellow collectors weren't this lucky.
So giving us a heads up for the upcoming statue PO dates is greatly appreciated!

You guys rock and hopefully keep rocking the years to come! Keep up the stellar work and you'll have at least one
customer more, throwing money at you

[nexus]

Thanks for the breakdown. I figure this hit you guys like a ton of bricks, and has been sort of a good news/bad news situation. It's also great to see you getting out in front of this and being proactive in the explanation, setting policy, and giving a release schedule (although where's Phoenix). I'm sure things are going to settle down in the coming weeks and months and the buying experience is going to improve.

It looks like I'm going to need to start adding an XM column to my collectibles budget planning. I'm planning on getting at least three pieces on your list, possibly four (five if Phoenix shows up). Yikes. I'm looking for more great announcements from XM in the coming months. 1:4 Fantastic Four is loooooong overdue.

[actionjackson83]

Thanks for clearing that up, and as a collector for many years know I know what your business can and control as far as sales. Relying on the middle man distributor is the only way you're going to get your statues out, and honestly as a US collector without those middlemen we would not be able to have even a smidgen of a chance to purchase these statues. I wish you more success in the future. I was hoping that you guys would put up a pre-order once every month though... good god my poor wallet lol.

P.S. SOMEONE STICKY THOSE PRE-ORDER DATES!

[Viper245]

Many thanks shorudan for listing the PO dates for your remaining pieces that have been announced so far and for explaining your PO process. Now interested collectors can plan accordingly for the pieces they want without surprises.

Please add Phoenix to the PO list.

[eaglea1208]

Originally Posted by shorudan

Dear Friends and Fellow Collectors,

There have been many unhappy folks writing to us about Magneto selling out and our PO process. Both myself and Ben have been kept busy trying to explain and pacify the angry peeps (again we are so so sorry!) I thought it would also be good to explain how it works here.



Firstly, I would like to apologize for our sudden opening of PO for Magneto on Thursday. Many of you are right, we should be giving fair notice instead of opening Mags up for PO so suddenly. We have underestimated the demand to be very honest and we thought it was cool to suddenly announce it for that "excitement" and "surprise!" factor. Epic Back fired so yeah its our bad. We will learn from this and improve! From now on, ALL pre orders will only happen AFTER we have provided at least 2 weeks in advance notice! In fact, we are going to plan and let all of you know our PO dates for all upcoming statues right now! They are (all in 2014);

1. Hawkeye – 5th Sept
2. Wolverine (Yellow) – 19th Sept
3. Antman – 3rd Oct
4. Thanos – 17th Oct
5. Ms Marvel – 31th Oct
6. Thor – 14 Nov
7. Mark 7 – 28th Nov
   There, now no more sudden surprises!

Secondly, there is a misconception of "SOLD OUT". Many peeps think we are saying its SOLD OUT everywhere but we are only referring to the stocks on our online store being sold out (it was written on http://www.xm-studios.com/magneto-so...ord-time!.aspx) Hmmm... I'm not sure why but folks don't seem to read our web pages (I need to put more sexy pics of Ben on it perhaps) - I still get large volumes or purchase from countries we aren't allowed to sell... but I digress.

There are also concerns that "friends" of XM Studios get first dibs on ordering so it's not fair to other collectors. That's not true. Here's what actually happens before we announce SOLD OUT on our web store www.xm-studios.com. Let's take Mags as an example;

1. From the ES of 800 for Mags, we will first allocate stocks for our online store, reserve some for our members (Prestige and Standard), then release the rest to our approved Distributors.
2. Prior to opening PO publicly, we would first inform our prestige members (http://www.xm-studios.com/members/register.asp) so they have first dibs. Now, please note that some prestige members are in Singapore so they do walk in to our studios to look at ongoing paint work and progress so some of them actually KNOW they want Mags before it goes for official PO and as prestige members, we do accept their advance PO but they only make up a small group so they shouldn't affect other collectors or distributors that much really. We do NOT accept early POs from normal email requests or walk-ins to keep it fair for everyone else. We also restrict members to 1 piece per purchase as best as we can.
3. Once we have opened POs officially on our Website, within a week, our other distributors will follow suit, give and take a day or two.
4. When we say SOLD OUT on our website, it means the allocated numbers on our website is SOLD OUT so we aren't accepting any more direct online purchases. However, our distributors are holding on to stocks too and how they choose to sell or open for PO is out of our control. We don't even know if they have actually "sold out" on their end because from a business invoicing perspective, we only see large orders from them - we don't actually know who they are selling it to on an individual level.
5. Therefore SOLD OUT on our website isn't as bad as you think... please continue to check with your local Distributors who may have stocks (or cancellations) But to be honest, seeing from the demands and emails so far, this piece looks like it is going to be truly sold out soon (if it hasn't already).

Last but not least, I'm truly sorry if some of you can't get a Mags... we do rely a lot on our distributors rather than direct sale so it's hard for us to control how our distributors allocate or sell our stock. We are really grateful and thankful for the support and will continue to see how we can improve our PO process so please keep sending us your feedback. Customer service wise, it's really just myself and Ben but he is usually busy at painting, QCing and prototyping so if I have been slow at responding, its my bad. (I've been replying 200 emails over the last 2 days)

We are still a lean team with lots to learn - hopefully with our first couple of products out, we will be able to hire a Pepper Potts to help us with Customer service and admin LOL. Who wants to apply for this job? (Please send photo in an sexy outfit!)

We US collectors base are wishing that one day XM will acquire license to sell here and possibly increase or double the ES so that it will be fair from all the collectors.Just a thought..

[wolf-brother]

Thanks for the continued interaction with us Bryan. Much appreciated.

+1 on adding the Phoenix PO date. She will be as hot as Mags.

Please don't change you ES policy.

[demonhunter]

Originally Posted by wolf-brother

Thanks for the continued interaction with us Bryan. Much appreciated.

+1 on the Phoenix PO date. She will be as hot as Mags.

Please don't change you ES policy.

Phoenix? Am I missing something? I don't see the Phoenix on the list stated in Shorudan's post.

Ms Marvel is the Kree superpowered Carol Denvers.

[wolf-brother]

MY bad. I should have said +1 to adding Phoenix to the PO date list.

[eaglea1208]

Originally Posted by wolf-brother

We want them to add Phoenix to the PO date list.

Put Phoenix on December list as a Chritmast gift.