Looking 4 Russ customlabs

[GUYx1]

It never starts out as toxic opportunism.
It is just the seller is so overwhelmed that he can't handle all the orders.

Thanks for commending about the head size though. Austin is awesome with the head sizing, but Russ never did a lot of resizing and had a lot of "Teen titan" sized 8" heads.
Be prepared - Austin has a lot on his plate, so he is not exactly Lightning quick. Best to not expect a 2 week turnaround from him.

The more popular the seller, the slower the response time.

[marbkwds]

This is so sad to read as I dealt with Russ extensively the last few years and had nothing but great experiences. What the heck is happening to this board here? Was every screwball and cheat trying to meet a quota or something this past year? Do yourselves a favor and make mental notes of who screwed you. The day will come where you will be face-to-face with these creeps and you can settle the score the old-fashioned way. No one who cheats anyone should get away with it...revenge is a dish best served cold.
I can't believe this is Russ we are talking about though...that is truly shocking as I always got my stuff within a week of paying from him, each and every time. I hope everyone gets what's rightfully theirs, either a refund or the items...and of course I hope there's nothing more serious going on behind the lines with Russ.

I think that you hit the nail on the head everyone keeps saying things like people should ask around before dealing with a person selling goods whether custom or other . It is not like we are talking about someone who just joined ,offered products , took monies and Ran . Instead we are talking about Russ who has been around here for years and everyone knew him and recommended him as well . I bought from Russ before and never had any problems as did most members here , Maybe we should be asking what the hell happened to Russ that it came to doing what he has done . I don't understand , Maybe I am out of the loop here , Has Russ been known to be a bad guy that everyone is kinda pounding him for what he did as if it were expected . Hasn't he gone to MegoMeets even , I am at a loss of words on this topic now ............. Roy

[PNGwynne]

I've been reading this thread with great interest as a newer member.

My experience with Customslab was not entirely positive. I did receive my Nov. '07 order finally in Sept. '08. After many email prompts, which Russ was good about responding to.

I ordered about 15 heads. About half were in-scale and well-cast. Several were so tiny as to be unusable. A few were poorly cast. After all the waiting, I was just relieved to end up with some decent ones.

I did do my homework (Dave Mc warned me of scale problems). I loved the fact that some were cast from DC Direct & busts & blended well with Megos; I hope another vendor will fill this void--Blackknight?

I hate to hear that people have lost money--I'll admit that my experience with Russ made me drag my feet in ordering from Austin, which I'm sure is silly. But y'know, once burned, twice shy...

Still, my other experiences have been very good: Dave Mc, oc Mego, Toyroom, BlackKryptonite, Laurie H, Tray Younger, Brian Leitner. And Jessica & Theressa have been helpful with tailoring info.

It's a damn shame, because this kind of toxic opportunism really hurts our hobby. If he was having trouble, he should be up-front about it and quit taking orders. Even if he meant well, the road to Hades is paved with good intentions...

[GUYx1]

Yes, I know what you mean. There certainly seemed to be a lot of exclusive items.
A lot were Randy Bowen Mini Busts.
Just looking at them, I can already see new heads Russ should have made..
And it takes a bit of $$$ to buy all those to begin with...
Dunno if anyone else would go to all the trouble.

[thunderbolt]

A LOT of his stuff was from DC Direct and Marvel Legends figures so recasting shouldn't be a problem if someone chooses to go that route...it's not as if he was offering exclusive/all-original head sculpts.

funny, he sure acted like they were.

[GUYx1]

Everyone gets into trouble when they start having Point and click websites or Ebay auctions.
It's like that commercial where the new business gets crazy amounts of orders that they cannot cover.
Then things get behind and it becomes a huge mess.
On custom transactions done purely with emails, usually things aren't so huge and the UNKNOWN elements often aren't so bad.

I am sure this is all some big misunderstanding. The Villagers with torches should not have to be out in droves.
I am sure everyone will be friends in the end once this blows over.

I always figured that was what the Mego Meet was for...
To recoup all the orders you had missing from the year before.
You find the person who sold you the item and they give you resin heads from their table
to make it up to you and everythign ends with happy smiles.

[LOU]

This is so sad to read as I dealt with Russ extensively the last few years and had nothing but great experiences. What the heck is happening to this board here? Was every screwball and cheat trying to meet a quota or something this past year? Do yourselves a favor and make mental notes of who screwed you. The day will come where you will be face-to-face with these creeps and you can settle the score the old-fashioned way. No one who cheats anyone should get away with it...revenge is a dish best served cold.
I can't believe this is Russ we are talking about though...that is truly shocking as I always got my stuff within a week of paying from him, each and every time. I hope everyone gets what's rightfully theirs, either a refund or the items...and of course I hope there's nothing more serious going on behind the lines with Russ.

[The Toyroom]

A LOT of his stuff was from DC Direct and Marvel Legends figures so recasting shouldn't be a problem if someone chooses to go that route...it's not as if he was offering exclusive/all-original head sculpts.

[D-McMEGO]

All I can add to this thread is-
I had gotten some resin parts from Customs lab when it first opened,other than a few of the head-sculpts being out of scale everything went fine.
It\'s really SAD that something like this has happened!
My sympathy to all those who got cheated.
Maybe those that still have some of his casts can offer them up to be RE-cast ?

[YANOULI]

Hi guys,
I never delbt with him before but i'm just wondering ...
If most of yous paid with paypal, you can get your money back, right ?

Same goes for money orders if you claim to the PO you never received your goods.
(hopefully you kept your reciepts)

Chances are, if he's closed everything down ( like his membership here and his custom forum ) then his Paypal account has gone the same way.
Also, you only have 45 days to make a claim, if some of the guys here have been waiting since september ( or longer ) then they won't be able to claim.

The annoying thing is i'm also out on a deal with " Other Dude " too, with no comm's since before christmas.

[GUYx1]

You can only get your money back after so long.
Just like trying to leave feedback on an auction won in October.

I mean I'm used to it, no big deal, but if the person decides to book, then you don't have a lotta options.
Which is why we trust each other...

[Mikey]

Hi guys,
I never delbt with him before but i'm just wondering ...
If most of yous paid with paypal, you can get your money back, right ?

Same goes for money orders if you claim to the PO you never received your goods.
(hopefully you kept your reciepts)

[Cosmicman]

Cat shouldn't really view you guys all the same just because there is one or two undependable sellers out there.

Once again. I was just saying what I do personally. Not saying that no one else is to be trusted. I am sure there are other great people out there.
In fact, I have gotten from a lot of people on here for little things like heads and stuff like Dave MC, Starbuk and I forget who but I bought a elf head for my Namor awhile back.

[GUYx1]

Yes, Black knight has been good for me as well. -

[fallensaviour]

I can vouch for blackKnight.I have ordered from him before and let me tell you his professionalism would rival the docs any day.His communication was excellent,shipping was fast and quality was top notch.I would not hesitate to order from him again.