Is the Hobby at an all time low?

[Comicbookguy]

Originally Posted by Zombiez

Maybe they will profit in the short run but they are damaging the brand image and will suffer in the long run. People are already saying Sideshow= Greedshow and their competitors already make expensive products that are superior to what sideshow has to offer. So if the less financially fortunate are priced out Why would the wealthier choose sideshow over P1 or XM???

The only significant advantage sideshow has is their almost Monopoly on certain highly sought after licenses. SIDESHOW is located in america so Their marketing and customer service IS EXCELLENT compared to the other companies.

Originally Posted by Araxel

I'm pretty sure Sideshow is increasing the price to test out what people are willing to pay, while reducing their cost.

Let us look at the new Poison Ivy PF vs. the old Poison Ivy PF.

NEW IVY: 570$/585$
2300 ES 1.323 million dollars

OLD IVY: 350$
4000 ES 1.4 million dollars

So in this example Sideshow makes roughly the same amount of money, statues are comparable in complexity too.
But due to lower ES they save shipping costs (factory -> US/EU/ROW), they save support staff (less complaints/returns/breakages), they need less other staff (shipping & handling, quality control, painting), they need less storage space (warehouse).

Maybe I have forgotten some things here, but you get what I mean.

This is a win/win for Sideshow, they lose or at least alienate ~45% of customers, yes.
But especially since it's likely that the customers with less money get priced out it's not really a loss for them in the long run, if there are enough people willing to pay the new prices.

Wow you both made me think hard about what's really going on. So well said on both counts. Amazing how real this is and yes we are seeing these things play out to perfection. Great post!

[BurningRage]

Need one of those what you have on pre order threads again.

[Araxel]

Originally Posted by Zombiez

Maybe they will profit in the short run but they are damaging the brand image and will suffer in the long run. People are already saying Sideshow= Greedshow and their competitors already make expensive products that are superior to what sideshow has to offer. So if the less financially fortunate are priced out Why would the wealthier choose sideshow over P1 or XM???

The only significant advantage sideshow has is their almost Monopoly on certain highly sought after licenses. SIDESHOW is located in america so Their marketing and customer service IS EXCELLENT compared to the other companies.

It all comes down to the customers, if most statues with lower ES and higher prices are sold through before discounts happen their plan worked out and they don't need to think about their image.

From what I've seen so far this plan is working out pretty well.

And the answer why wealthier collectors still could choose Sideshow was already delivered by yourself:
Sideshow has a lot of exclusive licenses, 1/4 is the most popular scale since it allows pretty dynamic poses and many collectors already have a huge collection, they are emotionally invested with PFs / Quarterscale.

I love Prime 1, but their movie pieces are mostly pretty boring, since 1/3 and 1/2 doesn't allow dynamic poses.
They made some insane 1/4 and 1/3 scale with great bases etc.
But even some wealthier collectors have space issues.

XM is cool, but they are even more expensive and most of their statues are unique, but I personally dislike alot of their stuff, while I absolutely love some...

[Zombiez]

Originally Posted by Araxel

It all comes down to the customers, if most statues with lower ES and higher prices are sold through before discounts happen their plan worked out and they don't need to think about their image.

From what I've seen so far this plan is working out pretty well.

And the answer why wealthier collectors still could choose Sideshow was already delivered by yourself:
Sideshow has a lot of exclusive licenses, 1/4 is the most popular scale since it allows pretty dynamic poses and many collectors already have a huge collection, they are emotionally invested with PFs / Quarterscale.

I love Prime 1, but their movie pieces are mostly pretty boring, since 1/3 and 1/2 doesn't allow dynamic poses.
They made some insane 1/4 and 1/3 scale with great bases etc.
But even some wealthier collectors have space issues.

XM is cool, but they are even more expensive and most of their statues are unique, but I personally dislike alot of their stuff, while I absolutely love some...

Brand image for non essential items is of supreme importance once your brand gets a stink it's hard to make it go away. Just because people have money to waste doesn't mean they will choose inferior crap.

For your assumptions to be correct the higher priced statues that ss has recently released have to sell well i don't think they are. WHICH one of these statues have a low ES??? ivy, batman, magneto all have combined edition sizes ( ex and reg) above two thousand and most likely cable, Juggernaut and hulk will have even higher editions sizes. They won't sell even half of these things without dropping the price

AT the new price level ss is shooting for they are becoming comparable to xm statues at which point many collectors will just pay the extra 200 and get the better xm statue or a custom. People with more money expect superior product wealthier people are not just going to buy SS because they have the 1/4 scale license if ss isn't using it correctly they might as well not have it.

The people that have large collections are the old guys, they don't have the space to buy a lot so catering to them is a dead end they can only flip old statues for new for so long before they stop.

[nbr3bagshotrow]

All I see are suppositions and guesses.

[Zombiez]

Originally Posted by nbr3bagshotrow

All I see are suppositions and guesses.

This is a forum that is mostly all you will ever get But Fan speculation is important because it can change the whole energy behind what people buy, why they buy it and who they buy it from.

[Vracula]

Originally Posted by nbr3bagshotrow

All I see are suppositions and guesses.

Or just a place to vent ?

[Araxel]

Originally Posted by Zombiez

Brand image for non essential items is of supreme importance once your brand gets a stink it's hard to make it go away. Just because people have money to waste doesn't mean they will choose inferior crap.

For your assumptions to be correct the higher priced statues that ss has recently released have to sell well i don't think they are. WHICH one of these statues have a low ES??? ivy, batman, magneto all have combined edition sizes ( ex and reg) above two thousand and most likely cable, Juggernaut and hulk will have even higher editions sizes. They won't sell even half of these things without dropping the price

AT the new price level ss is shooting for they are becoming comparable to xm statues at which point many collectors will just pay the extra 200 and get the better xm statue or a custom. People with more money expect superior product wealthier people are not just going to buy SS because they have the 1/4 scale license if ss isn't using it correctly they might as well not have it.

The people that have large collections are the old guys, they don't have the space to buy a lot so catering to them is a dead end they can only flip old statues for new for so long before they stop.

I have never said that Sideshow will get away with their strategy, but what I've seen recently the lower ES can work, for example the Iron Man Mark 3 Maquette/Spider-Man Miles Morales PF.

But I have to admit that there is no actual confirmation that the complete ES was sold, even waitlisted and "Sold Out" items randomly come back, e.g. Bane PF.

And you are totally right that some of the edition sizes are insane (Wolverine 6,5K combined, Superman 4,5K combined) and some of these will of course end in the bargain bin.

The recent ES after the newest price hike aren't known yet, but I'm actually super curious to see Juggernaut/Gladiator Hulk/Mr. Freeze ES. I actually expect all of them to be pretty low (read: combined max 2K).

And this kinda leads me back to the "wealthy" aspect and I agree with you, I don't see people buying the new SS Gladiator Hulk when XM Studios still has their Planet Hulk in the pipeline.

[Araxel]

Originally Posted by nbr3bagshotrow

All I see are suppositions and guesses.

Of course. This is a forum, but I actually enjoy reading what other collectors think, even if it's speculation.

[nearmint]

Originally Posted by Araxel

And you are totally right that some of the edition sizes are insane (Wolverine 6,5K combined, Superman 4,5K combined) and some of these will of course end in the bargain bin.

Maybe not so insane on the Wolverine. The EX is sold out and WL is full.