Any interest in a repro Aquaman vs The Great White Shark set?

[SUP-Ronin]

My suggestion.

Ask the mods to delete this thread

Let the issue cool for a bit

When the sharks are finished and ready to sell post in a new selling thread in Marketplace

Not bad advice.

[Mikey]

My suggestion.

Ask the mods to delete this thread

Let the issue cool for a bit

When the sharks are finished and ready to sell post in a new selling thread in Marketplace

[reevefan78]

There's an old business adage..."never explain, never complain".

It's not unreasonable for people to ask the price...but IMO you gave out too many personal reasons. You should probably not have answered until you had decided on the price and was ready to offer it up for sale.

Well, that is certainly your opinion (and I respect that) and you are more than entitled to it. I'm a teacher and that's what I have to do several times a week....explain, explain, explain.....most time ad nauseum to all of my students. So please forgive me for having done so too much here and I certainly realized that once I had. Next time I'll be sure to gain a copy of the forum handbook or at least ask to be faxed the latest inter-office memo on such matters, LOL.

Really I don't see why the reason matters all that much unless people are just looking for a reason to 'poo-poo' the project because they are upset with the price. I challenge anyone to do what we're doing at the high level of quality and for a better price.....and if someone can do it then all the more power to them.

I did not willingly discuss price and I tried to avoid it many times because this is often what happens when you do. Still yet when I do I am targeted with 'shoulda, coulda, woulda's' by folks looking for any excuse to put this project down because the price has thwarted their expectations. I'm curious to know when was the last time someone on this forum went into say a department store and complained to the manager about the price? It is what it is and people are free to ask what they feel they and the project are worth.....maybe they do well with it and maybe they don't but it's their prerogative. I've never asked anyone to lower their price on anything ever. I figure if I can afford it then great, if not then finances dictate that I wait and save up if I really want it or pass it up altogether.

I didn't realize some folks on here were such 'bean counters' waiting for their prey to make a wrong move. It was a lesson well learned. I've seen this happen to friends of mine on statueforum.com too so I guess this should come as no surprise. Everyone seems happy and supportive but upset them with price and suddenly your the scourge of the earth for wanting (what we deem as) a fair return on our investment.

Oh well....se la vive. There's another adage...."you can't please all of the people all of the time". Honestly I'd rather put my energy into the project rather than feeling I have to constantly defend my position to people who simply may never understand how big this project really is and how much effort, time and personal investment it has taken on many fronts by all involved to get it to this stage so far and that's okay too.

Hopefully this will not incite more backlash but if it does I'll stop the updates altogether and end this thread right here and now before it gets ugly.....life is far too short for that IMHO and I just don't have the time nor the energy to continue defending what we're doing and why....I'd rather save my time and energy for future progress reports and updates.

[The Bat]

There's an old business adage..."never explain, never complain".

It's not unreasonable for people to ask the price...but IMO you gave out too many personal reasons. You should probably not have answered until you had decided on the price and was ready to offer it up for sale.

[geoffdude]

Uggg.

[sauce]

[geoffdude]

[reevefan78]

Nahhh, we can just get rid of the hobbyists around here and still be fine.

http://jonnydward.net/blog/wp-content/themes/UpstartBloggerFuturosityMag/ub_futurositymag/images/confused.png

. . . . uhhhh, what???

And now, I leave you with this private joke to myself:
http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs39/i/20..._by_JMoona.jpg

So you see yourself as a wolf in shark's clothing....is that it??? I've heard of "Sharktopus" but what in Sam Hill do you call this poor creature? It looks like something that would be produced by Roger Corman (the 'king of B-movies') and shown on the SyFy Channel.

[sauce]

Nahhh, we can just get rid of the hobbyists around here and still be fine.



. . . . uhhhh, what???

And now, I leave you with this private joke to myself:

[reevefan78]

Let's see if I can figure this out. . . . you and Geoff laugh at how you both think that other members of this forum think that this forum thread is analogous to a wolf in sheep's clothing, but that's ridiculous, so you just privately laugh about it publicly on that very same forum thread.

That's a pretty cool joke!

Oh man.......you guys are making my brain hurt! Maybe what we need here are more hobbyists and less free time spent trying to 'read between other peoples lines'....yes? LOL.

[geoffdude]

No.

In fact since the initial involvement on my part in this with helping Kris, providing scans from my box, we have talked very little. (We're both rather busy).

The wolf relates to his first email to me and my initial response, which included a reference to the movie "Hangover"... and the fact I very rarely socialize.

Regards,

Geoff

[sauce]

The 'Wolf' is a private joke between Geoff and I......I think it was meant for me mostly and I definitely 'got the joke'. Good one Geoff!

Let's see if I can figure this out. . . . you and Geoff laugh at how you both think that other members of this forum think that this forum thread is analogous to a wolf in sheep's clothing, but that's ridiculous, so you just privately laugh about it publicly on that very same forum thread.

That's a pretty cool joke!

[reevefan78]

Geoff, good post (except for the "ashamed" part, I'd say), but I don't understand how the wolf in sheep's clothing relates.

The 'Wolf' is a private joke between Geoff and I......I think it was meant for me mostly and I definitely 'got the joke'. Good one Geoff!

Thanks buddy for the support and your post. Most folks will never know the time, money and effort that we who are involved in creating this project had to go through to get it to this point and that's okay. No matter what we want to make sure that we do our dead level best to stay faithful to the Mego look while safeguarding collectors (like me, Geoff and others) who own original Mego Great White Sharks. At least no one will ever be able to pass one of ours off as an original Mego product.....we were adamant about removing the Mego logo, adding ours, walling off the back of the throat, making the main body one piece, removing the motor (but the shaft and prop will be present) and thickening the tail fins ever so slightly. All these modifications take time and money to accomplish. We didn't however make major modifications to the overall look or body from the exterior and we are going to match the color by casting it in resin as closely as can be achieved to my original shark. The eyes and teeth as well as the prop will also be very closely duplicated to match the Mego version.

We hope that people will come to understand what we have tried to accomplish here and that my wanting to do this project wasn't in vain....I simply wanted to put this awesome collectible in the hands of others that cannot afford or cannot locate an original Mego Great White Shark. I just love the simplicity and crudeness of this little collectible item.....the one I had as a child was well played with and I still have very fond memories of recreating scenes from JAWS with it. My hope is that those that choose to purchase one will cherish it and that it'll have a special place in their collection as well for years to come.

[sauce]

Geoff, good post (except for the "ashamed" part, I'd say), but I don't understand how the wolf in sheep's clothing relates.

[geoffdude]

Wow.

Many of you should just be ashamed of yourselves. I've purposely stayed out of this thread for the most part because this is Kris's show.

In tracking back, most of the "price" topics in this thread have come from people other than Kris. I know he has mentioned MANY times he didn't know what the price would be... and that's a fair reply which should have taken care of any price issue until the project was done and ready to be offered.

I'm a professional Graphic Designer, Artist, whatever (though I did not do the Design work on this box). The work that went into reproducing the box would basically amount to $2000+ so far if being paid by a client to a skilled Designer, for all that has been done there with creating camera ready artwork. I can't even imagine, or guess, how much it would cost for the mold and sculpting work being done on the Shark. I'm sure that's safely into a couple of grand as well. Plus, all the work the project manager/Kris has put into this (his time is worth something too).. say a Grand. Basically somewhere between 4-5 Grand is where this would be on any given day if this was being done as a client, work-for-hire, situation. That is some serious change to fork out just for the "love" of something.

I don't know what Kris's final price for the set will be, but I know it will be fair, and it will be for a repro of a rare item, and the only one available that even comes close to an original. Add that fact to the AMOUNT of work that has gone into this so far and I can't see how anyone could ever get this set otherwise for what will be I'm sure a reasonable price based on cost and man hours.

I'm not involved in this project other than helping get the box graphics as clean and true as they could be, but during my time assisting there, I've come to know Kris pretty well. A nicer guy, honest and genuine person I've rarely met.

He gives updates because HE is excited, and hopes you will be excited too. He shares the news and the pics because where else would anyone have an appreciation for this project? No where. So, let's not worry about price just yet, or that he's trying to get rich, or being vague, or whatever... given that this project is still in progress, just enjoy the ride and let all see where this goes together, while being supportive of the person taking on this incredible task.



Regards,

Geoff