CTVT members?

[Mod Style]

I was just wondering, are the CTVT guys members here? Does anyone know them?

Joe

[GaryPlaysWithDolls]

Ya'know, I've always kinda wondered about that myself.

[Hulk]

No, they were not exactly welcomed when they first tried to participate, and a lack of tolerance for abundant criticism made for a bad mix. They mostly allowed dealers to act as their spokesmen, and to their credit, actually listened to a lot of our suggestions.

[Mod Style]

That's a shame.I'm thrilled when anyone makes the kind of 8 inch/ cloth outfit action figures that were such a huge part of my childhood. I don't feel the need to criticize.If there is something I don't like about them, I don't buy them.I don't feel like those people owe me anything.Investing a lot of money in something that was popular 30 years ago is risky, and I'm just glad that there are people willing to do it.The bottom line is, we're talking about toys here, so I try not to let the little things bother me.This is my escape, and the world is full of too many real things to worry about.

[Dinah's Myte]

I'm not so sure I agree. Criticism helps people and companies grow,change, and progress. Negative feedback is just as important as positive whether the subject is toys or learning about English literature. That seems to be the trouble today that fragile egos always prevail. If at first you don't succeed try try again is seen as a negative. Sometimes we don't hit a home run the first time out. We need to be open to change, grow, and learn. I am a huge fan of CTV toys and what they have done. However, the figures are typically broken. That is unfair to the consumer. If they created new bodies that were sturdier they would increase their business ten fold. I wish I could contact them to work with them on this line and offer new ideas to grow their business. In the real world consumers who spend extra money on toys don't want them to arrive broken or be brittle. Toys should be sturdy to withstand play from collectors or children. I love the vision CTVtoys had and wish they would continue with some new ideas and direction!

[spamn]

Negative criticism is definitely both hard to take and the most valuable learning tool there is in any endeavor. It's a shame that the internet is an unfiltered medium for delivering it. It's hard enough to take when given gently and with one's feelings taken into account; receiving it anonymously through complaints must be awful.

[ddgaff1132]

For the money they charge per figure and or items. I can live with possible damage. to give you an idea. A usual order from them cost me $100+. I buy in bulk. When One or several items arrive damaged. I mend or use it for parts. For customizing. It would take the joy out of doing it if you worried about figure cost when you want to carve up a torso for something. I'd feel worse if during customizing if I messed up and ended up destroying the figure in the process. With CTVT's I just grab another figure and start over. Ya know.

[renegade]

I also drop at least 100.00 an order 180.00 this week and they ship fast and fix any complaints the very next order. As for contacting them just call, I call to place my orders not the internet and we talk for some time about what coming up soon and what I would like and send them a list of things ETC ETC . I also start my conversation praising them for what they do for the custom community so they dont just hear all the negatives that are so often heard from customers at a business. I'll go into a Big Lots ask for the manager and tell him how great his store looks if it really does. I feel it's important to let people know the positives of what they do and let them address the negatives.

[CrimsonGhost]

I hate to say that I often FORGET about them. I was just checking out their site again, (for the first time in probably 2 years or so) and was surprised to fid they have a lot of cool things for really cheap!
Are they making new bodies or are they still selling the same ones they still have left over? Are the bodies any better? I remember being disappointed that they were kind of rough at first with the Mad Monsters.

[Nostalgiabuff]

I have purchased a lot from them but stay away from the bodies. I usually only buy accessories and costumes and heads

[Dinah's Myte]

The bodies are practically useless on the earlier figures such as the pirates/Robin hood/Knights. Some of the later bodies don't have the usual early brittle breakage. For the most part, I think the heads are fantastic and so are all the accessories/ costumes. I hear the custumer service is great but is it plain ridiculous that the bodies are not that functional. The body is 80 percent the toy! They should have run off new or upgraded the bodies to sell the figures. It seems that they are still using the same old bodies for the most part. However, it seems as if they are getting much more traffic these daze. I guess Doc Mego prices are really high for the average customizer and the CTVT stuff is just as good if not better for some accessories. I usually buy the figures and swap the bodies for Doc Mego or Castaways to create new or playable figures. If CTVT swapped bodies they could charge as much as Emcee...A plain Emcee bodies is like 7 and the CTVT figure is like 5-8....essentially it works out decently cheap. They should hire some new creatives to design new lines/products to capitalize on the 8 inch resurgence!

[Captain]

They do have good prices now, but remember when these first came out, they were 15 bucks a piece. The initial quality was horrific, and some folks were really offended that they were re-issuing classic Mego lines like Pirates and Robin Hood pretty much dead on to the originals. A lot of folks here at the time thought this would create a massive devaluation of their collections....when the quality problems showed up it gave them a hitching point to tie their arguments against the company too. As Hulk said, the CTVT guys didnt take it well, nor did a lot of members.
In hind sight, the Mego market didnt crash, and we all ended up with a cheap source for parts. I dont know if they hit guys like Doc Mego hard or not at the time, but today Doc is beyond thriving --(I bet Paul has a group of bikini wearing models driving him to work in his custom Viper limousine on his own private roadway these days )--and CTVT is taken their place on the lower rungs (no slight meant by that term) of the Mego "new figures" market...All is well.

[Dinah's Myte]

I didn't know they were that expensive back in the day. I think they just should have worked on the bodies and kept churning out their product. I really really really love the Skeletons they made and their series 2 monsters! The original stuff that CTVT did was cool! I love that they put out remakes of classic stuff too! Isn't that exactly what Emcee does with their Star Trek figures...I guess times have certainly changed! It is just too bad that the CTVT guys got grief and forgot about their foray into MEGOS! I wonder if they still pop by here from time to time! I'd love to thank them for their incredible vision and urge them to keep their pioneering vision alive! I bet if they ran off new bodies in different factories they could change the face of mego collecting!

[Nostalgiabuff]

while I agree they are a great source for customizing and parts, I do not think most of it is of the same quality as Doc Mego's. the heads are much softer and as a result the paint comes off too easily. the clothes do not fit their own bodies correctly so forget about original mego or doc mego bodies. the weapons, belts, boots etc are close though. not trying to slam CTVT just stating my opinion. I have purchased much from them and will do so in the future as well, just knowing what I am getting

[toiletmonkey]

I just made my first purchase with them on monday...lets hope im happy when it shows up. im pretty excited about it right now though. seems like they should add a military guy to the line up however.

TM