[DeltaForceChung]

See subject.

Over the years we’ve seen instances of where a “new” 1:6 brand/manufacturer announces a very enticing offering that appears and resounds with us for a variety of reasons and in the end, disappoints us for a variety of reasons where the “new” brand earns a less than stellar reputation. Furthermore, we’ve seen the same brand continue in offering enticing offerings, but only to fail miserably and/or in varying nuances. The preceding applies to established 1:6 brands/manufacturers as well with occasional or periodic “misfires”.

Why do we as collectors still willfully buy such offerings from new/unproven 1:6 brands/manufacturers with anticipation considering what we have witnessed over the years?

The reason I’m bringing this discussion to light is because of a new recently announce iconic character being given the 1:6 treatment by two “new” unproven 1:6 brands/manufacturers. One of them is offering the character in two versions with two price points. Another is offering the character as a standard version, but priced much less than the other. One of appears to be using a PhotoShop mock up. The other appears to be using the actual prototype and their production partner is an established and known 1:6 brand where the design and quality of their 1:6 bodies is respected. The other brand appears to be an OEM and based on research I’ve done the OEM brand is not known for design and quality (i.e. floppy and loose joints) and their bodies can be found cheaply on eBay.

You would think many of us would have learned over the years to be skeptical and weary, but from what I see from time to time we are not. It’s as if some of us are disposed to throwing our $ carelessly and willfully on inferior products and still not learn.

I learned much over the years the hard way in terms of money and time. Though I can be excited as the next collector, I’m weary of excitement and hype for the most part and tend to wait and see until it’s in hand unless it is a 1:6 brand I’m familiar with and they have a proven track record.

Why are so we eager to buy such 1:6 garbage from unproven brands especially when an offering is very pricey? Are some of us that willing to simply throw our hard earned $ towards such offerings regardless of past instances over the years?

Yes. I know it’s our $ and we can do whatever we want with it.

 

[Comicsrcoll78]

That's a hard question to answer because when "a “new” (or established) 1:6 brand/manufacturer announces a very enticing offering that appears and resounds with us for a variety of reasons" everything about it that 'excites and resounds us' makes us turn a blind eye (or both) to the realities of the product. When I really want a figure, it becomes convenient to forget lessons learned. Not proud to admit that, but it happens.

 

[Comicsrcoll78]

Desires overcome logic.

 

[Tank Mechanic]

Like a second marriage. The triumph of hope over experience.

 

[AdamC]

See subject.
Why are so we eager to buy such 1:6 garbage from unproven brands especially when an offering is very pricey? Are some of us that willing to simply throw our hard earned $ towards such offerings regardless of past instances over the years?

Yes. I know it's our $ and we can do whatever we want with it.

Other than irrational exuberance I would suggest it is down to people not wanting to miss out on buying a figure at MSRP and having to pay aftermarket prices, or in the really rare case not getting one at all. The root cause is the marketing of figures is far more concerned with marketing the preorder itself rather than the product itself, and it's respective merits. As to why the cycle repeats? Stockholm syndrome.

 

[AdamC]

See subject.
Why are so we eager to buy such 1:6 garbage from unproven brands especially when an offering is very pricey? Are some of us that willing to simply throw our hard earned $ towards such offerings regardless of past instances over the years?

Yes. I know it's our $ and we can do whatever we want with it.

Other than irrational exuberance I would suggest it is down to people not wanting to miss out on buying a figure at MSRP and having to pay aftermarket prices, or in the really rare case not getting one at all. The root cause is the marketing of figures is far more concerned with marketing the preorder itself rather than the product itself, on it's merits. As to why the cycle repeats? Stockholm syndrome.

Personally I prefer to stick to known quantities. If I want surprises I'll buy a kinder egg.

 

[apotheosis]

Like a second marriage. The triumph of hope over experience.

Or a third marriage where one just doesn't seem to learn.

I won't hesitate to admit that I'm guilty of that on occasion (the buying of crap part)..at times i do it because it'll be cheaper buying the whole boxset then buying the parts i need loose which most of the time end up costing more than or close to the price of an actual boxset..must be why my parts bin doesn't seem to stop growing - not good, but not all too bad (is what I tell myself).

"Fool me once shame on you..fool me twice, shame on me.."

 

[scalawag]

Emotion trumps rational thought almost always.
So if something engages us emotionally (which a new figure of a character we have been waiting for may do because of our passion for this hobby), then our ability to think rationally about it is likely to be diminished.

Read Daniel Goleman's "Emotional Intelligence" it explains this in more depth including the biological aspects and how they developed in human beings.

If you don't read it, it's no big deal, but rest assured somebody at the marketing company promoting the product will have read it, and will know how to use that knowledge to leverage you to buy it.

 

[rogerbee]

It's hype, you either fall for it or you don't. I don't.

CHEERS!

 

[onesixthpolice]

Plastic crack is addictive......

 

[-=LoneWolf=-]

Plastic crack is addictive......

Flesh too... but I digress.

 

[shazzdan]

Every single manufacturer has to start somewhere and every one of them would fall into the OP's definition of "unproven". How does a company become "proven" without putting things on the market and convincing us to buy their products?

Having the market controlled by a handful of established manufactures who use their market dominance to squeeze out newcomers is not good for us. It is only good for the established oligarchy who become, for all intents and purposes, a cartel.

 

[DeltaForceChung]

every single manufacturer has to start somewhere and every one of them would fall into your definition of "unproven". How does a company become "proven" without putting things on the market and convincing us to buy their products?

Having a market dominated by a handful of established manufactures who squeeze out newcomers is not good for us. it is only good for the established oligarchy who can manipulate the market like a cartel.

--

LOOKS AT HOT TOYS

Golly!

 

[shazzdan]

Do you have a magic crystal ball telling you which newcomers will produce crap and which ones will produce quality items? Or do you think that all "unproven" manufacturers produce crap? Tell me why new manufacturers should not be allowed to carve out a niche for themselves in this industry?

 

[DeltaForceChung]

Do you have a magic crystal ball telling you which newcomers will produce crap and which ones will produce quality items? Or do you think that all "unproven" manufacturers produce crap? Tell me why new manufacturers should not be allowed to carve out a niche for themselves in this industry?

--

Nope.

I just do my homework and ask a few reliable (in the know) source(s) for intel.

The information is always out there and always be careful look at the marketing/prototype pictures (i.e. Photoshop).

Just because a "new" brand is "new" does not mean it's "new". It could be an existing brand operating under a sub-brand name, etc.

There were a couple recent releases inspired by "Logan" where the final design and quality were utter $%^& and collectors who either paid a pre-deposit or pre-ordered paid in full are very disappointed.

Again . . . many learn the hard way . . . repeatedly.

 

[Moonbase Alpha Male]

Do you have a magic crystal ball telling you which newcomers will produce crap and which ones will produce quality items? Or do you think that all "unproven" manufacturers produce crap? Tell me why new manufacturers should not be allowed to carve out a niche for themselves in this industry?

-- Nope.

I just do my homework and ask a few reliable (in the know) source(s) for intel.

The information is always out there and always be careful look at the marketing/prototype pictures (i.e. Photoshop).

Just because a "new" brand is "new" does not mean it's "new". It could be an existing brand operating under a sub-brand name, etc.

There were a couple recent releases inspired by "Logan" where the final design and quality were utter $%^& and collectors who either paid a pre-deposit or pre-ordered paid in full are very disappointed.

Again . . . many learn the hard way . . . repeatedly.

"WHY do we continue to spend on CRAP offerings from UNPROVEN brands?"

"We"? My half of "we" doesn't do that. Your half does? :wink

Seriously, I think Shazzdan makes a perfectly valid point that "newcomers" should be given a chance to enter the industry, both for their sake and for our ultimate benefit as consumers. But the question has to be broken down into three different cases:

1) buying something from a new company, hoping that it's good enough and that it won't be disappointing -- yeah, sure do it -- if it's a normal purchase, where you know for sure you're getting something in hand not vapourware, and if it's not just disappointing but actually defective you can maybe get your money back. Give the UNPROVEN Brand a chance.
2) Situation 2 is where you've got to lay down a pre-order deposit on the first item of an UNPROVEN Brand. I probably wouldn't do it but I can understand some people might. Or I might risk it, if the required deposit isn't huge.
3) Situation 3 is where you pay for the item in full to the UNPROVEN Brand and then eventually you ask everybody on OSW what's going on with them, and they shut down the thread, and you're not allowed to name the company that maybe just took everybody's $. My advice in Situation 3 is don't do it, don't do it, never, don't. It would be different of course if it was a Kickstarter situation and the risks were specifically spelled out.

 

[shazzdan]

FWIW I would never do #3, not even with Kickstarter. I'd only do #2 with a reputable manufacturer. IMO newcomers need to be financially stable enough for #1. If they have a product ready to go and it looks good then I'll risk some money on it. It tells me that they have confidence in their product and confidence in their ability to run a business. I would never preorder from someone without a track record.

 

[Moonbase Alpha Male]

FWIW I would never do #3, not even with Kickstarter. I'd only do #2 with a reputable manufacturer. IMO newcomers need to be financially stable enough for #1. If they have a product ready to go and it looks good then I'll risk some money on it. It tells me that they have confidence in their product and confidence in their ability to run a business. I would never preorder from someone without a track record.

I totally agree with you and I commend you for a healthy balanced view -- above, you expressed sympathy for giving an UNPROVEN Brand a chance, which I agree with, but I also agree with your reluctance to ever pre-order from someone without a track record.

I probably have more optimism about Kickstarter than you do. I've never bought into a Kickstarter myself, but that's probably just because I'm lazy and I like things simple, and I probably wouldn't even be into 1/6 if I didn't have a great local store where I buy mostly on impulse or off the shelf. I'm not aware of any real Kickstarter success story for 1/6 figures, but here's a wonderful one for action figures 3.75" scale. I think the Vitruvian Hacks have raised the game for action figures of that scale, starting out on Kickstarter and now I believe they're onto regular distributors so I got their Series 2 figures. Just a great story of possibly the best 3.75" action figures ever that wouldn't have happened without Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/813878470/boss-fight-studios-vitruvian-hacks-action-figures

 

[CobraTrooper11]

i think it's impossible to tell when a company is going to be good or not. you take chances and hope for the best.

 

[edwick]

Coming in late but the two things I'd throw into the pot are the following:

1. Brands change and improve. My first Kimi Toyz head was disappointing. I avoided them after until I started seeing other in-hand photos that looked really good. They're now one of my favorite headsculpt vendors. Not every unproven brand making crap offerings stays that way.

2. There are brands that I'd lump into the down-market side like ZY or POP Toys or Very Hot. But even those brands put out stuff that is either unique or of good enough quality for whatever I want to do with it. If I'm getting something from them, I know what I'm in for and willing to accept the quality I might get (and the risk that I might get a piece of junk, which factors into how much I'm willing to pay for it). If you'd rather not take that risk, that's a totally valid choice. But there's a lot of nice stuff I use regularly from brands that I'm perpetually wary of. Caveat emptor.