[dedguy]

Reposting what I posted in the Luke thread as it seems better suited to this discussion.

I've been defending the Sideshow price increases but... man... I'm starting to wonder. In less than two years the Star Wars figures have gone from a price point of $50 to $70. It's not like we're getting anything extra for the money either. This Luke is no more complex than the earlier figures. Currently, given Luke's price, if they where to make armored figures without even a new body I would think they could very well cost more than Medicom's offerings.

Especially since I have been told that adding leather boots (as opposed to hard plastic or rubber boots) would hike the price of Sideshow figures up to $160 (which seems insane to me but I was told I was an idiot for thinking it was anything more than reasonable).

I don't mind paying for quality but if Sideshow is going to continue to up their prices they really need to up their game as well. I'm not going to keep paying these prices when I have to spend an additional $20-40 on their figures to get them up to snuff with my other 1/6 stuff.

 

[dedguy]

There's companies that make money to make products and companies that make products to make money.

I'm a big fan of a knife manufacturer known as "Spyderco". They make high end folders and fixed blade knives. You average Spyderco knife costs around $50-70 and is just about the best in quality you can get in non-custom knives. Benchmade on the other hand averages more in the range of $70-130. They aren't any nicer than Spyderco's product and they move a lot more product that Spyderco does.

Spyderco's CEO, founder, and lead designer Sal Glesser often posts on not just the official Spyderco forums but other knife forums as well. He's always excited about new products, really listens to the knife community and offers plenty of answers to questions as best he can. Sal Glesser doesn't make knives to make money. Sal Glesser makes money so he can make more knives.

I'm saying all this because increasingly I feel that Sideshow makes collectables to make money. They don't make money to make collectables. I feel less like I'm dealing with a company that's passionate about their product and puts it out there for the best price possible and more like I'm dealing with a company that is just going through the motions to keep the money flowing in.

I could be totally wrong and probably am but that's just the way I feel.

Oh and this may be of interest to some. When Sal was asked about the costs of chinese made products versus other countries he actually answered. I did not expect and answer. The numbers are pretty telling but as he says, not all products are possible to be made in all countries. China for example is just not up to making the sort of products Spyderco normally makes and they don't have access to the same high end steels.

Hi Huugh,

Prices vary as the value of the currency varies.

But "generally" speaking:

USA = 1
Japan = 1
Europe = 1 plus 20 - 25%
Taiwan = 1 less 25 - 30%
China = 1 less 65 - 75%

This is just a rough average all things being equal, at this time.

The level of quality that can be achieved in each country also varies. We can reach a level of fit & finish quality with some Seki makers that is not possible elsewhere at this time.

sal

edit: he also says those numbers are based almost entirey on exchange rates. So it's not like Chinese makers are getting paid less than say, and American maker. It's just that their money isn't worth as much versus US money. Like-wise the Yen is about on par with the US cent as I'm sure many of you know, dealing with HLJ and the like.

 

[dedguy]

The Aragorn prototype was amazing... the final figure was kinda not. Aragorn was also the first I remember thinking "wow that's kinda expensive" and looking at the prototype I also thought "but it's worth it, that looks great". Really happy I canceled my pre-order on that one.