Another Price Hike: Sideshow Luke X-Wing

[Hedji]

Wow. Just wow.

http://www.sideshowtoy.com/collectib...iate=CD1426%7C

$240 for one figure with modest accessories. No blaster. No lightsaber. At $60, the monthly payment is what the figures from Sideshow used to cost.

How anyone can stay in the high end market, I can't understand. I get that they're more than dollies, but at what point will the hobby implode upon itself?

[kerowack]

The Luke looks good, but man....now that I won a couple of hot toys, I realize that they aren't anything I'd be willing to drop the money on. Neca planet of the apes and diamonds universal monsters are 20 bucks a pop and look fantastic on a shelf. I'd also rather have 24 funko reaction figures than one Luke.....but that's just me.

These should come in at half of what they are charging......

[Earth 2 Chris]

The price gouging on these things is eventually going to kill the market. Add in the overly fragile materials, and these bubble is soon to burst, me thinks.

Chris

[Gorn Captain]

Sideshow and Hot Toys seem to be in a bidding match: just how high can you push the prices before collectors jump off a bridge in despair...
This is a relatively simple figure (no armor, no elaborate body sculpts), so there's no justification for the price except "It's Star Wars"...

They look great, but I won't be buying any.

[Werewolf]

Anyone else miss Hasbro's 12 inch dolls?

Yes, they were a little goofy and muscly when they started but for the most part they really made some great looking figures. They really hit their stride with the 12 inch Original Trilogy Collection in 2004. Boba Fett being the star of the line. Highly articulated body with a beautifully detailed suit. No, they weren't Hot Toys level of detail. But they were also only $29.99, sturdy enough for a kid to play with and came in a deluxe double box with a replica Kenner package inside.



I was hoping we would have gotten at least Han Solo and Princess Leia next. But, sadly, they stopped making 12 inch dolls soon after.

[starsky]

yeah, it's gettin outta control!!

[torgospizza]

I really wanted this until they released the pricing info. Isn't the Hot Toys Han Solo cheaper and comes with more accessories? Maybe Disney stuff has a crazy licensing rate. I just got a better figure for about half that price.

[SeattleEd]

I was going to the get the Stormtroopers as well until I saw the price.

I am not avid collector of 1/6 scale figures ala Hot Toys, SS et al. I know some folks here are die hard collectors and have been entrenched in that arena and will swear by it. As an 8" enthusiast and uber casual 1/6 collector, I will state that they are overpriced and certainly not worth the plastic, paint and cardboard they come in. The prototype photos are not the same as the final product, as is standard in the industry which means they pay factory "line assembly" workers that are abroad a low to moderate wage(*purely speculative) and the company reaps the reward. To reinvest back into licensing and mold manufacture. Makes sense.
Or maybe the workers are unionizing and wages have gone up for these type of artists and passing the cost onto consumers.

Whatever it is, in the overall scheme, I would say the cost is too high for overseas made product but I would pay if the product were made domestically with great customer service support. (I can only dream)

Back to super selective picking for my 1/6 collection.

[MIB41]

I really like that head sculpt, but I agree. That price is way too high.

[Hedji]

Everything about the figure is beautifully done. Really, it is a gorgeous… er.. toy. But I honestly would have a hard time looking anyone in my family in the eye and admitting how much I'd spent on it. I've spent silly money before, but this is really reaching a new level of crazy.

[enyawd72]

This is exactly what Sideshow did to their Universal Monster license. They started with 8" figures that cost $10, then canceled them in favor of 12" that cost $30. Then the $30 price jumped to $40, then $50, and eventually $80, before they jumped to 1/4 premium format scale figures priced at $200, then $300, then it was lifesize busts, and finally, when collectors couldn't afford it anymore, they said that collector interest just "wasn't there" anymore.

They are nothing but greedy and clueless. They will eventually price themselves right out of business.

[rche]

These are definitely looking better and better, and I always have thought that Sideshow had some fun Star Wars items in the 1/6 scale. I have a stack of brown mailer boxes from the first few years of this license, but they lost me after the first Vader. I love Star Wars and I love well made figures, but I am no where near having the disposable income to keep bringing these things home.

[Gorn Captain]

You know what?
I still like my Hasbro 12" figures from 15 years back. They started out poorly (with Luke and Han), but the bounty hunters, Gamorrean Guard, etc are well done and I enjoy them. I also paid something like $25 a piece for them. This kind of "price vs quality" brings balance to my Force.
The Biker Scout (on bike) is still a favorite piece, he looks great, and I paid $40 for an eye-catching collectible.

I like what Dwayne said. I love the Sideshow 8" monsters, then started struggling to get the 12" ones, and completey stopped once they got to 1/4 scale. I'm still trying to get some 12" ones!

Don't get me wrong, these new figures look great, but so does a Ferrari. I'm still riding my bicycle, though....

[torgospizza]

I really like that head sculpt, but I agree. That price is way too high.

I'd be surprised if some enterprising recaster from Hong Kong doesn't start offering it down the road. Pick up one, grab the clothes and gear off a Hasbro 12"er, stick it all on a ACI body, and you have one of similar quality for half the price.

[MIB41]

I'd be surprised if some enterprising recaster from Hong Kong doesn't start offering it down the road. Pick up one, grab the clothes and gear off a Hasbro 12"er, stick it all on a ACI body, and you have one of similar quality for half the price.

BANK on that happening.