Red Sonja She-Devil with a Sword PF - Not so expensive anymore

[prototypy]

Who is Will Harbottle.a new sculptor?

[dao2]

A new sculptor for SS (he's worked for other companies afore), he did this and the voltron for them.

[k-9]

Originally Posted by Silas Loki

I've highlighted what I think is the key point in your post.

In the first instance it kinda proves my point. Why should I (the paying customer) accept anything less than a perfect replica of what the company is advertising? I mean, it's off the back of the prototype that many will be placing a pre-order. Taken to the extreme, your point seems to suggest we should be grateful if the finished item actually turns out to be a Barbie doll armed with a 1980's Hasbro He-Man toy axe.

Of course, I jest, however, it's worth considering, if we are to be content with anything less than that which was advertised, where does one draw the line?

The other point, is one of logic. How is a mass production line in China supposed to produce a product on par with the artists prototype? Given how long it must take to complete the prototype compared to the Tack time on a Chinese production line....well, you do the maths.

Which guides me to the final point. Price. People, and no doubt Sideshow, will be gauging the value of this piece based on the (or reaction towards) the prototype....I would suggest that whatever feverish number tumbles from the excitement should be tempered by the quality of the actual product that will eventually greet us.

So, in the end, I'm not suggesting the end product will necessarily be bad, based on it's own merits, or that it will be good (again, based on it's own merits), I'm definitely suggesting it will be a far cry from what is advertised, and I'm also suggesting the price will be (characteristically) disproportionate based on what is seen today, and what will be offered tomorrow.

this is very good

[built2shred]

Originally Posted by gomur

Sorry, B2S. There's no correlation between raised prices and quality. At least as has been the case with SS. I've clung to your argument in the past and learned through bitter experience.

Yeah I know that, I've seen enough LSF's...

I was just saying if the paint application comes out perfect then I don't mind spending $600 for it. But that's just me... Anything less then near perfect I would hope SS would sell it for like $350 so I can have it repainted... although I know they won't...

[k-9]

[QUOTE=Transient;5133235]The thing is though, Silas, that no one knows what the final products quality will be. If this hobby excites you, you'd think you'd be hopeful about a pieces release. If it really has you so jaded and embittered that you need to somehow vent these frustrations on the forums, then to me I'm left wondering where the fun is in it anymore?

It certainly isn't fun to read, I imagine, for anyone.

I guess I'm just a wrong fit for these forums maybe. I'd prefer clicking a thread thats been bumped to the top and seeing stuff that is really easy to miss - screenshots of a piece from a ZBrush tutorial, for instance. Updates, blog posts, new images from NYCC 2015, new production images, etc. Instead, it is 90% complaining about the final production pieces 'quality' that won't even see the light of day for close to 2 years. You can kind of see why I typed what I did earlier.

I did see the front view picture of RS with the axe from the ZBrush thing that I'd never seen before, so thank you k-9 for that![/QUOTE]

[k-9]

Originally Posted by dechirico7

They charged $600 for Oglaveil and he didn't require any license.
According to Sideshow the amount of polystone has no effect on the price of the piece. It is the number of parts.
LOL.

that makes sense.: I hate your good excuses ssc banghead:

[k-9]

Originally Posted by prototypy

Who is Will Harbottle.a new sculptor?

I think he worked for GG.

sucker punch 1'4 scale line and other stuff with Z brush

[built2shred]

Originally Posted by prototypy

Who is Will Harbottle.a new sculptor?

He worked for Gentle Giant, he did the Sucker Punch statues, 300 statues & Black Widow along with a few others I can't think of atm..

[The Mule]

Originally Posted by Transient

The thing is though, Silas, that no one knows what the final products quality will be. If this hobby excites you, you'd think you'd be hopeful about a pieces release. If it really has you so jaded and embittered that you need to somehow vent these frustrations on the forums, then to me I'm left wondering where the fun is in it anymore?

It certainly isn't fun to read, I imagine, for anyone.

I guess I'm just a wrong fit for these forums maybe. I'd prefer clicking a thread thats been bumped to the top and seeing stuff that is really easy to miss - screenshots of a piece from a ZBrush tutorial, for instance. Updates, blog posts, new images from NYCC 2015, new production images, etc. Instead, it is 90% complaining about the final production pieces 'quality' that won't even see the light of day for close to 2 years. You can kind of see why I typed what I did earlier.

I did see the front view picture of RS with the axe from the ZBrush thing that I'd never seen before, so thank you k-9 for that!

The other point is that people's opinions tend to be highly subjective and people have different standards.
Sorry but I laugh when people talk about Sideshow's recent "improved quality" using pieces like Batgirl, Emma Frost, Jean Grey, Doom PF. Sure, some of their recent pieces are really nice, but most are also as simple as they can be. Most of the time, "improved quality" means they painted inside of the lines, with no glaring issues. I mean, is really this mind boggling for them to nail a paint app? Did people have so low expectations?
Don't know, at the price point these come for, I expect a tad more than that... be it 400$ or 500$ or 1000$.

And this is just in the paint app area, let's not get into engineering (Hulk's heads gap) and packaging/materials, out of the two Conan PF I received, all of them had issues or breakages, now I'm onto the third replacement and let's see if at least that one turns out good.
And, last but not least, art direction. You can pull the most perfect statue in all areas, but if it's just a guy standing there with a bunch of fabric on him, at 500$ delivered (*a-hem* Jason), they can keep it.

So as you can see, all in all, people have TONS of reasons to be skeptical. I love my Conan PF to bits, but be damned, out of the two I've received I can't make ONE single acceptable statue even if I mix pieces. That's nuts and it's something that in some measure kills the excitement.

[Silas Loki]

Originally Posted by Transient

The thing is though, Silas, that no one knows what the final products quality will be. If this hobby excites you, you'd think you'd be hopeful about a pieces release. If it really has you so jaded and embittered that you need to somehow vent these frustrations on the forums, then to me I'm left wondering where the fun is in it anymore?

It certainly isn't fun to read, I imagine, for anyone.

I guess I'm just a wrong fit for these forums maybe. I'd prefer clicking a thread thats been bumped to the top and seeing stuff that is really easy to miss - screenshots of a piece from a ZBrush tutorial, for instance. Updates, blog posts, new images from NYCC 2015, new production images, etc. Instead, it is 90% complaining about the final production pieces 'quality' that won't even see the light of day for close to 2 years. You can kind of see why I typed what I did earlier.

I did see the front view picture of RS with the axe from the ZBrush thing that I'd never seen before, so thank you k-9 for that!

It seems as though you're idea of fun revolves around only considering the possible positives, whilst completely ignoring any possibility of a negative outcome.

While this is certainly your right, I would imagine, many others would like to have a balanced opinion on what's (possibly) coming so that they can make an informed decision on whether to place a pre-order or not.

All of that said, I just want to clarify an important point. I'm not suggesting that the finished piece will be bad (in of itself), I am suggesting it will be something other than what everyone is getting excited about, because it will be next to impossible for the Chinese plant to produce something to this level....I'd be confident in saying that this is a fact!

So, ask yourself this, given that the production plant will never produce something as stunning as the artists prototype, why does Sideshow use the artists prototype for the advertisment? Why don't they wait until they have a first off manufacturing sample and advertise that? I think everyone knows the answer to this, and it has nothing to do with time frames (at least as far as I can see).