Your FTC Horror stories

[kept back]

I apologize if it comes across as bagging on FTC, but I would like to know some of your horror stories. Figures that disintegrated, parts that didn't work, etc...

Just kind of looking for an overview. Pictures are greatly appreciated!

[PNGwynne]

This is a potential minefield, are you suggesting a new sub-forum or starting a class-action lawsuit?

(Joking folks, joking. Buy what you like and cross your fingers. I have several fun customs with FTC parts and some horror stories, too.)

[kept back]

I've made the mistake of allowing myself to get cornered into a discussion on Facebook. One person seems to think that FTC can do no wrong but insists any items from Nu Mego or Paul Clarke are absolute trash.

I'm curious if I'm the only one that has some bad stories involving FTC. I swore someone had posted a broken leg on a Type S figure not long ago.

[PNGwynne]

OK, first--FB is the devil (joke again). FB is not about discussions or argumentation.

As for QC, many here have expressed concerns about FTC scale, sculpts, clothing size, disintegration/breakage of bodies/accessories/clothes, pricepoint, warehousing. But FTC has released a lot of stuff and some of it great. Customer service varies--I cannot speak well of FTC's customer service.

Many FTC items are well-detailed, but Paul (Emce/DST/BBP) has produced some lines that surpass FTC. NuMego is apples to oranges, those are much less expensive mass-market figures with necessarily simpler clothes. Said clothes are still nicely done in a Mego style IMO. And IMO most NuMego sculpts surpass FTC--though both companies have had glitches in paint application. Both companies have had problems with bodies over the years.

One area where NuMego easily outshines FTC is female heads--almost any of those Target gals looked better than FTC's offerings. And I don't think Paul has allowed flawed figures like FTC's Batgirl '66 and both '60s Catwomen to come to market.

Opinions here are sometimes polarized, too about the companies. I doubt you'll change any minds, but you might at least point out DST Marvel sets, Trek & POTA repros, Universal Monsters, Twilight Zone, Venture Bros. Those lines have appreciated. whereas FTC has (sensibly) repackaged and redressed quite a bit of overstock.

Most collectors find good and bad in both companies, which is accurate.

[kept back]

That's been my experience. Both have flaws, yet this group seems to spend a majority of it's time trashing Nu Mego while praising FTC. I've almost been gaslit into thinking I'm the only person in the world who has bad FTC/CTVT experiences. If anything, I may be here to confirm that THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!(for you Next Generation fans)

And you're totally right about FB being evil incarnate.

[dr_cyclops]

It was a dark and foggy evening, when something came out of the mail, more trash than treasure...

[CrimsonGhost]

I’ll say this, I bought the Hot Toys Alice Cooper figure and the first thing I did was notice all the things I needed to fix on it. It’s a $250 figure and I still needed to tweak it.

At this point, my expectation levels are in check and I’m rarely disappointed by dolls. I just know I’m going to want to do some work on them when I get them. It’s that way with all companies.

As far as customer service goes, I’ve never complained about a $3.00 item, it’s just not a big deal. However, I recently had an order from FTC that was shipped out with a wrong figure and when I emailed them about it, they told me to keep the wrong one and they would mail out the correct one. Me and their customer service are square.

[palitoy]

As somebody who, for 20+ years has hoped for a day when we'd have 3 different companies competing for our dollar with licensed 8" treats, it is really disheartening to see the divisions and weird "Sports team Rivalry" BS on Facebook.

There are pro-FTC, Anti-Mego groups, there is Pro-Mego, Anti-FTC groups, there is anti-repro groups, each one of them wants one or all companies to fail. Hell, I even watched one group switch sides because their feelings got hurt.

Most of the backlash I have witnessed seems to be the expectations of the collectors themselves because you know FTC or Mego didn't recognize their great ideas.

It's such a pointless waste of energy and time.

Vote with your dollar, buy what you like, leave what you don't and enough with the pointless weird nerd rage, angry live videos, and dumb conspiracy after conspiracy.

Do your hobby right, just focus on what you like.

This above comment doesn't encapsulate people who share negative experiences with product and/or service, that is just something that happens and is something that needs to be shared.

[ToyTalk]

I have no real complaints at this stage. They are producing a large quantity of figures that until now were available as customs only. No they don't pose well but for the variety, I'm happy to purchase their lines.

[thunderbolt]

I've made the mistake of allowing myself to get cornered into a discussion on Facebook. One person seems to think that FTC can do no wrong but insists any items from Nu Mego or Paul Clarke are absolute trash.

I'm curious if I'm the only one that has some bad stories involving FTC. I swore someone had posted a broken leg on a Type S figure not long ago.

unfortunately I think I just joined that FB group, going to quit it next time I log in.

[PNGwynne]

Agree with expectation and tweaking. Once I learned to accept and manage those aspects, I became much happier.

[ToyTalk]

What is NuMego?

[Makernaut]

I like message boards, like The Museum, because I remember the old Bulletin Board Systems where you organized a community around a shared interest. The factions were there. Factions have ALWAYS been there. FB is nothing but an algorithm designed to push you into a corner so that your view becomes as narrow as the others in that particular corner. The disagreements were always there from the beginning (but more civil). One should get concerned if they look around and every one suddenly agrees with them.

[PNGwynne]

What is NuMego?

It's one of a few various informal names for the recent relaunch of Mego Corp., to differentiate the company from the original one in conversation.

[TrekStar]

Well as far as FTC goes, I’ve never really had a major issue. I remember way back my very first order, I got items I ordered, and items I didn’t, I told them about it and they sent me the correct items.

Most of what I order from them are clothes and accessories for customs, about 90% of my customs are on original mego bodies, I got a couple of those horrific India made bodies with brittle elastic bands that of course broke as soon as I handled them and had to restringe them, but no problem since.

I do think FTC is getting better, the China made bodies are fine, maybe a bit tight but certainly better than those India bodies, and now the type S bodies and don’t forget FTC gave us the 66 Batman series which was a major hit, the bodies weren’t great but a restringing can easily fix the issue.

We’re getting more and more great items from FTC, and wether your interested or not, like someone has already said, buy what interest you and enjoy it. Doc Mego has some great items on his sight as well, and I think the quality of the items are better, FTC just has more to choose from.