Quote:
Originally Posted by KiDD
You do understand that the one's suffering for less competition are the collectors, right? -.-
One company KO'ing the competition, be it SS or whoever, would honestly be a dystopic scenario - but luckily that isn't going to happen.
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Nope. You are wrong and this is why.
This hobby is a strange "market" where INCREASED competition leads to SOARING prices for customers.
The opposite of what is expected.
The downfall of the hobby started with the emergence of XM.
Here is why.
The factories producing this stuff are rather few and the painters painting this stuff are a "niche" themselves.
With Sideshow or old PCS on the market, Sideshow could produce eg 5000 Batmans and place an order with one or two factories. The factory would give a logical price to Sideshow (her input cost) and then Sideshow would price the end product wisely.
With the emergence of XM (quiz. HOW MANY GUYS know the true origins of XM? And why Sideshow NEVER cooperated with XM and never will?) apart from all the shady things it brought into our hobby (creating an online army of pushers, sending free statues for a "review" or "photos" to anyone speaking english, getting a REGIONAL license but then creating an
"underground grey market" selling its products, numerous shady practices that Sideshow left unanswered due to her fear of Tubers and what would Tubers would say or how much they would cry
"Bad Sideshow, bad Sideshow", "Sideshow is a monopoly not allowing XM to sell its products even in grey markets" etc), caused also something else.
In its rush to make stuff and then push it and push it and push it via its online army, via Tubers and via a "grey" market, XM started paying factories more and also was the first one
showing to the whole market and also POTENTIAL newcomers/new competitors that
"Look, guys, these idiots are paying 1.5k (with shipping and middlemen fees) for that Bowen-looking Thor in order to get him from the grey market"
"Look, potential new competitors, these sheep are shelling 1k (with shipping and middlemen fees) for that Kraven. You can make LOTS of money in this hobby".
Factories "smelled" this development and started increasing their prices asked to produce stuff. A whole "arms race" started with new companies or custom producers entering the market and paying higher prices to factories in order to get priority.
Then they raised the prices to customers leading to a process feeding on itself.
Factories raised their prices, new companies payed more to get first on the line and they then increased prices to customers.
Having eg 50 companies and custom producers in this hobby, drove prices THROUGH THE ROOF.
But it all started from XM.
Well, we are here to reverse time, it is time for Sideshow to clean the mess, to KO competition in the comic-statues realm, ONCE AND FOR ALL.
Time for her also to HUNT DOWN newcomers trying to copy XM tactics (eg getting regional license but then selling through "grey markets" in US/Europe etc, creating an online army of pushers, getting Tubers as cheerleaders etc).
HUNT DOWN any individual/company/retailer not abiding the law. Enough is enough.
I bet that if Sideshow KOs competition in this field by having a total dominance on 1/4 comic scale and then entering 1/3 scale to "collect" all available money like a "vaccuum",
you can easily see prices going down.. Yes, im not kidding.
Sideshow will have enhanced power when negotiating prices with factories with the latter having few alternatives.
She would also price her products wisely as to not allow again new competitors entering the hobby.
It sounds odd but this hobby is an odd hobby where LESS competition means LOWER prices.
ECC or PCS have already found their "niche" (although im a bit worried about ECC, i don't like that Dino-mania, i hate these new Dino lines, they look like stuff in paleontological museums and i also dont believe that the market for such staff is deep. ECC should go back to what it does best. CREATURES). PCS has also found her "niche" (some horror stuff and basically hot females in 1/3).
Sideshow must then go after Prime1, her only true competitor. It would be a battle for the ages. Forps would get his pop-corn and watch this epic battle.
If you read some old comments of mine, i said that Sideshow should be afraid of Prime1, not XM with the junk it produced, when EVERYONE thought that XM was Sideshow's main competitor. Even Sideshow thought the same (that XM is her main competitor) and even signed some XM sculptors (for God's sake!!!!) and so she made crucial mistakes. Check what that "crazy bast..d" Forps wrote years ago and how he predicted even Chronicle's default!!!!
I was reading it yesterday and i was amazed by how the f..k i predicted everything.
Forps, the LEGEND 
