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08-27-2017, 07:08 AM | #581 |
Cobra Interrogator
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Undisclosed Military Installation in Kentucky
Posts: 1,466
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I quit.
I was excited for this at first, but I cancelled my pledge and quit. I'm not paying $30 apiece for these things. $20 is still pricey, but I'd be willing. $30 is just absurd. I'd pay that much for the one or two figures that I'm really, really interested in. But not every single zombie. But what really breaks it for me is the All-In packages. If you have enough money to go All-In, you get a great deal. If not, you get fucked. I get that they want to create an incentive for people to pledge at the highest levels, but for the rest of us that just means the low pledges are subsidizing the cost of the higher pledges. If somebody has the money to spend hundreds of dollars on toys, they can pay full cost like the rest of us. I'm not going to pledge more money so some other asshole can get more toys. That's just stupid. If you want me to pre-order your product, just set up a website that takes my money. Other manufacturers do it this way and somehow they make it work. Kickstarter is a terrible platform for preorder sales (even for creators who don't need to be taught how to use it), and the whole tiered pledge system is an exploitative scam. If you have hundreds of dollars laying around, go nuts. It's your money. Have fun with it. I'll buy the one or two toys I want at retail, but I'm not participating in this bullshit anymore. |
08-27-2017, 10:46 AM | #582 |
Iron Grenadier
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Viper's pit
Posts: 837
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Quote:
I quit.
I was excited for this at first, but I cancelled my pledge and quit. I'm not paying $30 apiece for these things. $20 is still pricey, but I'd be willing. $30 is just absurd. I'd pay that much for the one or two figures that I'm really, really interested in. But not every single zombie. But what really breaks it for me is the All-In packages. If you have enough money to go All-In, you get a great deal. If not, you get fucked. I get that they want to create an incentive for people to pledge at the highest levels, but for the rest of us that just means the low pledges are subsidizing the cost of the higher pledges. If somebody has the money to spend hundreds of dollars on toys, they can pay full cost like the rest of us. I'm not going to pledge more money so some other asshole can get more toys. That's just stupid. If you want me to pre-order your product, just set up a website that takes my money. Other manufacturers do it this way and somehow they make it work. Kickstarter is a terrible platform for preorder sales (even for creators who don't need to be taught how to use it), and the whole tiered pledge system is an exploitative scam. If you have hundreds of dollars laying around, go nuts. It's your money. Have fun with it. I'll buy the one or two toys I want at retail, but I'm not participating in this bullshit anymore. Also I don't know how far newer toymakers get when soon we will have a new kickstarter in every month or two/months. It will be an interesting future I must say. But there is one thing I'd like to point out. Kickstarter is not a pre-order system, even if now it's the case in many projects. Kickstarter is for collecting money for the first steps. It's a side effect that you can get the actual product, but still this is not the main reason for starting something. It's for trying to find investors who are willing to donate for a project. I bet many big companies do this, but not for people like us, but for people who have lots of money. Again, I understand your gripe because I'm getting to the edge where I just can't really support as many projects I'd like beacuse of my funding limits. |
08-28-2017, 12:56 AM | #583 |
Banned
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Georgia
Posts: 1,698
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I understand some of the reservation regarding Kickstarters. I've seen them go sour.
However, it doesn't take long to fund these with a few dollars here and there. Marauder is reputable and respectable, therefore I've no issue tossing a couple of bucks his way. |
Baron Samedi |
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08-28-2017, 12:38 PM | #584 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Kansas City
Posts: 1,471
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You know I've spent over $5K on over 35 kickstarters over the past three years, and yeah, I got burned and Kickstarter does NOTHING to help you out. They can take your money and run, disappear and you're hosed, and that has happened. I've had two kickstarters go south, one of which two years later finally made good (a CD release from a band that had issues after their KS funded - half the band members left including singer and it took awhile to sort out before they recorded their album), and a cool promised workout shirt idea.
I've been burned by bad sellers in other areas (ebay, local, pre-sales, regular sales, concert tickets), and if I add up everything over 20 years, I've lost probably $2-3K on merchandise never delivered, concert promoter show cancellation and absconding with the money, and no refund, or other issues. Sucks, but does that mean I am walking away and being a hermit. Nope, just try to be smarter in the future and when I see red flags don't buy or wait. So I feel confident in Zombie Labs because of their association and comments by MTF and by Boss Fight, that they're stand up dudes, not having good english translations sometimes just being part of them being in Hong Kong. |
08-28-2017, 03:09 PM | #585 |
Depth Perceptionist
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: NEPA
Posts: 177
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The only thing I have to add is if not for Kickstarter our scale would be well and truly dead. I'm happy to keep jumping into these if the scale stays alive and quality stays high.
I guess to me it just seems clear that no large companies WANT to invest in 1:18, or they'd be doing it.
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08-28-2017, 05:11 PM | #586 |
Bald Master
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Wolverine Lake, MI
Posts: 15,130
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Quote:
You know I've spent over $5K on over 35 kickstarters over the past three years, and yeah, I got burned and Kickstarter does NOTHING to help you out. They can take your money and run, disappear and you're hosed, and that has happened. I've had two kickstarters go south, one of which two years later finally made good (a CD release from a band that had issues after their KS funded - half the band members left including singer and it took awhile to sort out before they recorded their album), and a cool promised workout shirt idea.
I've been burned by bad sellers in other areas (ebay, local, pre-sales, regular sales, concert tickets), and if I add up everything over 20 years, I've lost probably $2-3K on merchandise never delivered, concert promoter show cancellation and absconding with the money, and no refund, or other issues. Sucks, but does that mean I am walking away and being a hermit. Nope, just try to be smarter in the future and when I see red flags don't buy or wait. So I feel confident in Zombie Labs because of their association and comments by MTF and by Boss Fight, that they're stand up dudes, not having good english translations sometimes just being part of them being in Hong Kong.
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08-28-2017, 05:21 PM | #587 |
Cobra Viper
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: WV, US of A
Posts: 256
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i agree, xfamousnicknaro. Star Wars aside, the decline in the 3.75 inch scale from the licensed properties has provided fans the opportunity to fund Kickstarters like MTF and BF.
While such programs bring in fresh genres like fantasy and horror to our scale collection, it's sad that a good portion of them will be used for custom purposes BECAUSE the big companies are falling short in supplying the scaled lines that they had established from the beginning.
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08-28-2017, 06:47 PM | #588 |
Banned
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Georgia
Posts: 1,698
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Quote:
While such programs bring in fresh genres like fantasy and horror to our scale collection, it's sad that a good portion of them will be used for custom purposes BECAUSE the big companies are falling short in supplying the scaled lines that they had established from the beginning.
And I think the 'custom' aspect is great. I kind of hope Hasbro takes a look at what is getting this funding and it might dawn on the- "Holy crap, people like to make their own dudes!" |
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08-28-2017, 09:56 PM | #589 |
Iron Grenadier
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: PA
Posts: 599
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Quote:
I mean, to be fair a good chunk of the GI Joe figures I have are kitbashed and such. It's not like Hasbro made perfect figures by a long shot.
And I think the 'custom' aspect is great. I kind of hope Hasbro takes a look at what is getting this funding and it might dawn on the- "Holy crap, people like to make their own dudes!" |
08-29-2017, 12:58 AM | #590 |
Iron Grenadier
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Statesboro, GA
Posts: 705
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Here is my two cents.
As freelance sculptor for resin garage kit companies for years, I have tried to get my own line of figures made. It is not easy to break into this market if you do not have the connections. Injection mold tooling runs in the $20,000 per figure or more. I always wanted to get a Kickstarter campaign to help fund my line. I hope to one day get there (now that I made some new connections). You defiantly have to have passion for this scale to pursue a line of 4 in figures. Kickstarter and Indgogo are tools for us little guys to help make our dreams come true without taking a second mortgage on our homes for a line that may or may not be successful. Remember, if the audience does not like the product displayed, they voice their opinions with their check book. If I remember correctly most Kickstarters do not state "pre-order" but use the term "rewards" for donating to the campaign. Just think of it like this, if you like what a upcoming company product displayed, donate what you can afford and if they are funded, you get something in return, that is great. You don't get that type of return when you donate to a charity. These small companies are equivalent to the 3rd party Transformer companies for our scale of figures. They can't remake the IP brands we love, but they can come close by making figures that come close with a change here and there (like a different head sculpt). Supporting these companies gives us options again in a market that the big toy makers are abandoning (Hasbro will not have product for 2 years?!) In closing, when you look at these Kickstarter campaigns, and you like one you want to support, remember to think of it this way before you click on the "Pledge" button, look at the money you are pledging as a donation, not a pre-order if the project is funded. If the project is not funded, then you did not lose anything. That's my two cents.
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