General Hot Toys Discussion Thread

[creecher]

Just $20-$30. That's money in my pocket, and I'm sick of ramen noodles. It's a pre-order because it's supposed to be cheaper. I'm cheap.

I'm happy with my merchant. I've tried more than a few others and, even though reputable, they've let me down. Stick with what you know.

I don't know where you live, but we never had a Hot Toys distributor here. The Sideshow distributor here has a monopoly. We have to pay for the shipping from Hot Toys to Sideshow and then to us. The prices are exorbitant. Now that these guys are Hot Toys distributors, they choose to charge the same price.

It's cheaper to buy from Hong Kong via pre-order for me. As I said, they're reputable. I don't believe there is a risk, unless some unforeseen catastrophe happened. These guys have a reputation to protect, and with communities such as this board, word gets around quick. I think they are quite aware of that.

Getting the figure in a weeks time isn't an incentive for me, I prefer the slower shipping in any case. I'm used to having to wait four months or more for figures, back when I purchased items from America. Depending on how full the plane is, of priority items, they'll fill the hold with the less priority items. They aren't going to take off half full. So sometimes I luck out and get it quick. I said I was cheap.

 

[uscmhicks]

Anyways, what's up with sellers selling PO stuffs like MJ thriller, wolverine, connor (final battle) etc on ebay be it BIN or NR auctions, and promising 30 days for item arrival? Have anyone actually tried buying it before? What happens after 30 days, and the fig isn't releases yet?

I've done this ever since starting this hobby with abc express and so far ( knocks on wood ) have never had a problem at all.
The good thing with them is that they run their own website and once you order send out cards with the details and order number on and a phone number if you want to contact them.
I usually pre order since I can get each figure cheaper and sure its only 20 or 30 dollars but with all the figures I own thats like $900.00.

 

[mr.thrifty]

I understand that whole part, but it just doesn't make sense. Paying for an item that will take at least 2-3 months, and by then you can't even file a complaint via paypal no more.

Why would people take such risks, when they can just BIN it on ebay when its actually in stock, just a 20-30USD difference, but you get the fig in a weeks time.

FEAR!!! that's why...

 

[Hydeous]

I know where you are coming from, but then sometimes the protos and the final production varies a lot, like the spirit for example. By POing, you have no choice but swallow the loss.

I normally wait and read all the reviews that I can bout the figure, before pulling the trigger, and weigh in the pros and cons. I know when you accumulate $20-30 it can be a lot, but having the option of knowing the final production piece, and getting it on hand in less than a weeks time is worth the money, IMO.

 

[Hydeous]

Btw, I'm craving for ramen noodles man. They don't have any decent ramen shop in jakarta

 

[creecher]

Haha. Send over $30 and I'll send over a sadly foreshortened bowl of noodles to you.

At least now I know where you hail from.

Yes, I can see what you mean. Over the time I've collected, in the beginning, I was able to view the figures I've bought, in the shop. Later when these shops, who btw, sold the figures at, what I would call an inflated price, closed and became difficult to find. I soon turned to internet shopping.

The prices from America, being they were Sideshow figures, were cheaper with shipping than buying them locally. Luckily for me, Sideshow figures had good quality control, overall, and, even though comparing them you could determine the better figure, on the whole they were pretty much the same and of equal quality. These days Hot Toys has taken up that roll, and have done a great job.

These days I have faith that Hot Toys will deliver. I am attracted to a figure for various reasons. It doesn't necessarily have to look exactly like the actor in every case. Sometimes it's the costume, the accessories, or some other feature. In the end, it doesn't matter what the proto to production variations are. What is produced is what you get, regardless, and mostly it is the only version you may get, so I'm happy to purchase the item in advance, knowing the pre-order price is a saving.

I am probably one of the more vocal dissidents of Hot Toys for reasons such as multiples of the one figure, for one such instance. They know in advance what they'll be producing, and it would be a more pleasant collecting experience if they'd inform their clientèle of their intentions with any given line, or divulge the edition size of their products, to make the informed decision, rather than misleading proto's, and later change's and finally the end result. Which is just what I'd happen to prefer. These days that pre-order price advantage is no longer relevant or applicable.

 

[Hydeous]

I get your point, creecher. Like the saying, different stroke for different folk, I guess

Btw, just went to my local dealer and PO ironman battle damage. Can't take chances with this one, as I assume there will be a few defects, so in this case, POing from my local dealer is the safest way to go, as I can inspect the fig, and choose. Its $175USD btw, in case some of you are wondering.

 

[karamazov80]

Last year, I pre-ordered the 2 Jokers from a "reputable" place as far as I could tell. Were on eBay for a while, all positive feedback there, no negative feedback regarding their online store that I saw, etc.

Well, I let 45 days pass and bought into their line about how I should "trust them" and that the items were being delayed by Hot Toys/DC Direct and was beyond their control, etc.

Come March or so, I find out they are filing for bankruptcy, and will not refund my money. Paypal is less than useless. $250--gone.

I learned my lesson the hard way. I'm with Hydeous. $20-30 is a small price to pay for the piece of mind of knowing that I might not get caught in a similar situation again.

 

[creecher]

I get your point, creecher. Like the saying, different stroke for different folk, I guess

You're right. Much depends on your local circumstances. It's great you have a local dealer that you can view figures and not have to worry about the shipping. That's where I loose out. Not able to preview and the shipping is a downer. At least I can be happy there isn't all the custom crap others have to endure.

Sorry to hear of your big loss karamazov. I can see why your against ebay. If I were in the States I probably wouldn't use ebay either. So many great places to get good service, prices and cheap shipping from.

 

[Hydeous]

Don't get me wrong, ebay is good sometimes. Like for new items, you can almost get it instantly, just like the people who buy it from toy hunter! Also, you can get good deals occasionally. Just that in my case, I won't PO on ebay, the thought of paying a lump sum of money and waiting 3-4 months just doesn't do it for me, I'd rather use the money for something else, and just buy it when its out.

 

[Dark_Lord_of_Moria]

Cant wait for the basterds to come out

 

[Hydeous]

Anyways, was doing a bit of cleaning and dusting today, and decided to put all of my all-time favorite figures in one shelf, as I'm just too bored with classifying them into categories... and voila!

Okay, maybe not all is my all-time favorite, as some are just new and I'm always pretty excited with new figures!

Doing this has at least put me back to my initial collecting plan, which is collecting what I like most, instead of just swallowing every fig and be a completist of a line (eg T:S, now I'm having second thoughts of getting a T600 rubber VIP )

I'm looking forward to add mj thriller, basterd pitt, mark 3 bd to this shelf

 

[The Entity]

^^ That's an impressive shelf Hydeous!!! Looks great!!!

I hope to have a shelf like that myself one day

 

[Boba Ben]

Anyways, was doing a bit of cleaning and dusting today, and decided to put all of my all-time favorite figures in one shelf, as I'm just too bored with classifying them into categories... and voila!

Okay, maybe not all is my all-time favorite, as some are just new and I'm always pretty excited with new figures!

Doing this has at least put me back to my initial collecting plan, which is collecting what I like most, instead of just swallowing every fig and be a completist of a line (eg T:S, now I'm having second thoughts of getting a T600 rubber VIP )

I'm looking forward to add mj thriller, basterd pitt, mark 3 bd to this shelf

Awesome display. It's very impressive and I personally like the way you have a mixture from different properties all together.

If you don't mind me asking, where did you get that incredible display case? I've been trying to find something similar to display my Hot Toys collection as the Ikea detolfs just aren't cutting it any longer.

 

[Hydeous]

Thanks guys!

Actually, I had them custom made, as there's no ikea shop, where I live. I've always wanted to get a detolf, talking bout the grass is always greener on the other side, lol!

Yeah, I tried to mix and match em just now, as I tried to put all of my favorites in one single shelf. And to my surprise, I kinda like it, how every fig is sort of different, but they manage to blend in together somehow, I think..

 

[Hydeous]

Great news to MJ fans!

Thriller MJ is out october

AWESOME!!!!

 

[kyrptonite]

 

[tylerdurden]

oh no, poor vader can barely fit in there. he needs a bigger shelf of his own!

nice collection btw.

 

[tylerdurden]

welcome to the freakshow, kryptonite!
looks like you're quite the "salvation" fan.

 

[Cap'n Cook]

I can't wait to display a collection this vast of T1 and T2 figures.

Nice set up man and welcome.