Black Widow Statue

[Viper245]

Originally Posted by Graven Gorasd

That's the real issue. If i were to order directly from GG and I receive a broken of seriously defective statue the offer the only recourse is to send it back to them for full refund. That is not customer satisfaction and I would expect better. While i am quite tolerant of paint issues to a point i am not to breakage. They should have a few to cover that. Like the broken hair for example. If your going to slap a GG name on a product then stand behind it.

Exactly, Graven. It's really unacceptable in my view. I remember getting a replacement for my Sucker Punch Amber statue a few years ago due to a defect so this must be a more recent trend for Gentle Giant. Regardless, I have reevaluated who my money goes to in this hobby and since Gentle Giant has decided to play this game, I will not be buying any of their future statues as long as this policy is in place. I don't have the time or inclination to engage in playing these games with manufactures.

[Graven Gorasd]

Originally Posted by Viper245

Exactly, Graven. It's really unacceptable in my view. I remember getting a replacement for my Sucker Punch Amber statue a few years ago due to a defect so this must be a more recent trend for Gentle Giant. Regardless, I have reevaluated who my money goes to in this hobby and since Gentle Giant has decided to play this game, I will not be buying any of their future statues as long as this policy is in place. I don't have the time or inclination to engage in playing these games with manufactures.

This is one of the major drawbacks to only make what is preordered. In the end its the customer that is left holding their breath with allocations(which is what I'm hearing from some on the forums) I really don't know the edition size of this piece so I can't comment on overages or the economics of it, say the cost of edition size of 600, Mine is scheduled for Wednesday delivery.

[Silas Loki]

Surely what we're seeing here is the inevitable results of a product being a limited edition, mated with poor quality control and / or poor shipping practice's.

On the one hand, you can't expect companies to state an edition size of 100 and to actually build 200.....where would they store those spares? And what happens if those spares are not fully required? On the other hand, if a company is going to announce a low ES (or any ES for that matter) then it is reasonable to expect that the product arrives at the customer robustly and free from issues.

[Spec Fiction]

Originally Posted by Viper245

Exactly, Graven. It's really unacceptable in my view. I remember getting a replacement for my Sucker Punch Amber statue a few years ago due to a defect so this must be a more recent trend for Gentle Giant. Regardless, I have reevaluated who my money goes to in this hobby and since Gentle Giant has decided to play this game, I will not be buying any of their future statues as long as this policy is in place. I don't have the time or inclination to engage in playing these games with manufactures.

It's not a recent trend for Gentle Giant or any other company really. Amber was simply not as popular so they had plenty to go around when you asked for a replacement i'm sure. It all has to due with popularity in the end. By the time Black Widow was released she was pretty much sold out everywhere except for Gentle Giant.

When dealing in limited edition collectibles there is ALWAYS a chance of this, no matter what company you buy from.

Originally Posted by Graven Gorasd

This is one of the major drawbacks to only make what is preordered. In the end its the customer that is left holding their breath with allocations(which is what I'm hearing from some on the forums) I really don't know the edition size of this piece so I can't comment on overages or the economics of it, say the cost of edition size of 600, Mine is scheduled for Wednesday delivery.

GG and every other company DO make replacements. The cases of Black widow were packed 2 per case. all the cases I got said # xx out of 320 I believe, so that means there were around 640 made. So 40 left over for replacements.

Now, GG has stated there are no replacements left so perhaps they have simply run out at this point. Either way, I think that GG could handle the problem pieces in a better way. For example, customers could have the option of sending in their statue to get a repaint or touch up if something is not up to par.

I mean, what are they going to do with the returned piece? Re paint and/or fix and then sell it. so why not just make the customer happy? I guess it all comes down to what is more cost effective and for GG they have chosen to simply give customers their money back instead of repairing/repainting because it may cost them a little bit less than what was suggested above.

I feel bad for those who received a bad piece. Especially those who pre ordered early.

[Viper245]

Originally Posted by Spec Fiction

It's not a recent trend for Gentle Giant or any other company really. Amber was simply not as popular so they had plenty to go around when you asked for a replacement i'm sure. It all has to due with popularity in the end. By the time Black Widow was released she was pretty much sold out everywhere except for Gentle Giant.

When dealing in limited edition collectibles there is ALWAYS a chance of this, no matter what company you buy from.




GG and every other company DO make replacements. The cases of Black widow were packed 2 per case. all the cases I got said # xx out of 320 I believe, so that means there were around 640 made. So 40 left over for replacements.

Now, GG has stated there are no replacements left so perhaps they have simply run out at this point. Either way, I think that GG could handle the problem pieces in a better way. For example, customers could have the option of sending in their statue to get a repaint or touch up if something is not up to par.

I mean, what are they going to do with the returned piece? Re paint and/or fix and then sell it. so why not just make the customer happy? I guess it all comes down to what is more cost effective and for GG they have chosen to simply give customers their money back instead of repairing/repainting because it may cost them a little bit less than what was suggested above.

I feel bad for those who received a bad piece. Especially those who pre ordered early.

I appreciate the insight and your right, it isn't just Gentle Giant. Sideshow is also doing less and less replacements with every new piece they release. I guess it just means I'll be collecting less from fewer companies since I won't support this practice. I expect to get what I paid for and if a refund is my only option if I don't, I may as well just keep my money and move on. The end result is the same with much less hassle.

[Spec Fiction]

Originally Posted by Viper245

I appreciate the insight and your right, it isn't just Gentle Giant. Sideshow is also doing less and less replacements with every new piece they release. I guess it just means I'll be collecting less from fewer companies since I won't support this practice. I expect to get what I paid for and if a refund is my only option if I don't, I may as well just keep my money and move on. The end result is the same with much less hassle.

It really is a shame since collectors like yourself are now discouraged from buying entirely. Since I'm not a manufacturer, I can't speak for these companies but either way, I'd really like to see more of an effort from some of the bigger companies in terms of customer service. Especially when I see smaller companies doing their very best to please their customers.

[SolidLiquidFox]

At least GG has the excuse that their product is limited so there will be less replacements if something happens.

Sideshow edition sizes just keep going up. It tends to reason that more parts or full replacements should be made.

[Graven Gorasd]

Although I really like this piece the scope issue just bugs me to no end. It seems to be at an angle to track. I ended up breaking the scope, aligning it correctly and re-gluing. I needed a challenge. Came out more like the picture on the cover art.

[jedi_don]

Originally Posted by Graven Gorasd

Although I really like this piece the scope issue just bugs me to no end. It seems to be at an angle to track. I ended up breaking the scope, aligning it correctly and re-gluing. I needed a challenge. Came out more like the picture on the cover art.

I hope your fix was sucessful. Did you have to touch up the paint or was the break clean?

I just repainted the hair on mine again. The first drybrushing alone wasn't looking right. So, i repainted the base color and drybrushed again. I still need to fix the slightly wonky eye. Which means i'll have to redo both eyes as there is no way I can get a repair to match. I plan on using a lighter green eye decals from Archer

[Sosudective]

Originally Posted by jedi_don

I hope your fix was sucessful. Did you have to touch up the paint or was the break clean?

I just repainted the hair on mine again. The first drybrushing alone wasn't looking right. So, i repainted the base color and drybrushed again. I still need to fix the slightly wonky eye. Which means i'll have to redo both eyes as there is no way I can get a repair to match. I plan on using a lighter green eye decals from Archer

Keep trying Bro and show us the result