VintageFigs1
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Post by VintageFigs1 on Feb 22, 2021 12:46:35 GMT -5
Hi everyone, The costs are huge, the risk is high, but no one else was doing it...or doing it good for that matter, so here we are. I’ve applauded your effort and announcements so far and will continue to do so, but this part is highly debatable. I’d say others have been doing it well, are still doing it well, and for a cost of $25 for the customer. Again, I wish you the best of luck. Who’s doing it well? |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2021 13:41:17 GMT -5
I’ve applauded your effort and announcements so far and will continue to do so, but this part is highly debatable. I’d say others have been doing it well, are still doing it well, and for a cost of $25 for the customer. Again, I wish you the best of luck. Who’s doing it well? I think he just means figures in general, but I assumed zombie was referring specifically to retro style figures. |
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Grapple Arcade
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Post by Grapple Arcade on Feb 22, 2021 13:53:30 GMT -5
I’ve applauded your effort and announcements so far and will continue to do so, but this part is highly debatable. I’d say others have been doing it well, are still doing it well, and for a cost of $25 for the customer. Again, I wish you the best of luck. Who’s doing it well? Chella |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2021 13:55:41 GMT -5
But they’re not making a Matt Cardona so they can’t be making them well for under $30. Come on man that’s common sense. |
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guster
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Post by guster on Feb 22, 2021 14:02:23 GMT -5
That's debatable. The skintone for the Aldis is way too pink. The head is massive. The feet are comically small especially when you compare it to a Hasbro. Is there room for improvement? Sure. But their first offering could have been better. |
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guster
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Post by guster on Feb 22, 2021 14:03:50 GMT -5
But they’re not making a Matt Cardona so they can’t be making them well for under $30. Come on man that’s common sense. ZTS literally laid out all of the variables of why these will cost what they will cost, but gotta get that snark in. Cool dude. |
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VintageFigs1
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Post by VintageFigs1 on Feb 22, 2021 14:05:56 GMT -5
Listen I love the idea of Chella toys. I’m all for someone taking a chance on themselves. I love that people who haven’t had figures in a while/or never before are getting figures. The packaging is impressive. Have you actually opened the figure though? They are like baby toys. Not hard plastic. The heads and arms pop off. |
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Grapple Arcade
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Post by Grapple Arcade on Feb 22, 2021 14:10:02 GMT -5
That's debatable. The skintone for the Aldis is way too pink. The head is massive. The feet are comically small especially when you compare it to a Hasbro. Is there room for improvement? Sure. But their first offering could have been better. I agree, it’s debatable, but a start up completely independent toy company opening its doors and bringing out an action figure line during Covid, with a physical release during that time and a lot of happy customers, is arguably also seen as ‘good’. People will always have a preference which is fair enough, people can find parts of figures they don’t like (we all do it with main stream figures, including some of the AEW skin tone) we can also look at Hasbro and question skin tone, but again I agree, it’s all debatable as it’s all preference. Based on that, whilst I applaud his honesty about the costs of his production and also the effort Zombie is putting in, I don’t agree that other lines “haven’t been doing it good”. But like I say, I love figures and welcome both lines. |
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onlymoc21
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Post by onlymoc21 on Feb 22, 2021 14:44:46 GMT -5
Hi everyone, Zombie Sailor here, Just wanted to chime in as there seems to be many people here in this message forum that don’t know the process of making action figures and the cost associated with manufacturing them (something new to me as well) The price to make each figure is far more than you could ever possibly imagine: For starters, JUST to make the steel master molds in the factory, EACH mold is between $8-9k. We are using high quality artists in the toy industry to hand sculpt each figure, that is several thousand dollars per figure. To get the initial resin prototypes cast, then painted are several thousand per character If a character has a soft goods coat or something, that’s $1000 to make a few copies plus the pattern copy for the factory to replicate Fees paid to the designer/blueprint layouts which is to Ron Rudat, who happens to be the man responsible for the overwhelming majority of all the WWF Hasbros figures look...coming out of toy designing retirement to continue the Hasbro legacy...Ron is paid very well and deserves every penny Graphic Design for ads, package design, safety testing, shipping containers from overseas to us here in the U.S., import fees, lawyers, etc. several thousand Then, the factory still has to charge us per piece whatever it is they charge us... Finally, royalties are paid out to every wrestler to give you officially licensed merchandise. The talent are getting paid a nice flat fee and a percentage of each figure sold, much more than the WWE would pay out for mass market releases and a much more hands on approach for talent to decide how they want their figure to look. Mattel for example, it might cost them $25k to make a steel master mold for an elite....but that’s being spread out over what, 30-50k figures made ? That cost becomes pennies per figure, though our molds cost less to make compared to a said elite figure, we are probably only making 1-2,000 of each character which factors into the cost per unit. These will definitely be on par with the best retail figures available and in most cases, way better...but these are being made(as of right now) in small batches, something unheard of to make this sort of investment with so few units being made. So we have a high cost to make each figure, then, we would like to make a little bit of profit afterall. The costs are huge, the risk is high, but no one else was doing it...or doing it good for that matter, so here we are. The Brian Myers Figure looks insane and is just about finished, series 1’s lineup has internally been made official with names not even shown yet and already sculpted. Nearly 20 names already signed, and I cannot stress enough...Dino Bravo’s FIRST figure. It’s going to be a fun ride. If you want mainstream figures of “main event” guys, there’s a Target 10 minutes down the road. If you want retro style figures done better than anyone with crazy attention to detail based on the majority of wrestlers who weren’t given their due, who might have very little merchandise out there or haven’t had merch in decades - then Zombie Sailor has got you covered. I appreciate the interest from everyone, thank you anyone who will support this line and I hope this helps clarify as to why these figures won’t be 10 bucks each. Respect man and that’s as transparent as it gets ( I know that’s a buzz word lately but I do mean it). I am in the UK and I know you have stated these will be available if customers are willing to pay shipping which I would be cool with. I think your model of a two week window for orders is fair but if you limit yourself right from the start you will lose a lot of customers so anyone who wants a shot at these provide that opportunity. I look forward to this man, and will be a player in this as long as I am afford the opportunity to be. Wishing you well, you have my backing. |
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onlymoc21
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Post by onlymoc21 on Feb 22, 2021 14:53:12 GMT -5
Listen I love the idea of Chella toys. I’m all for someone taking a chance on themselves. I love that people who haven’t had figures in a while/or never before are getting figures. The packaging is impressive. Have you actually opened the figure though? They are like baby toys. Not hard plastic. The heads and arms pop off. Amazing you literally promoted Chella last week and essentially took a dig at them this week, this is what people mean when they say you talk out of both sides dude, what happened did you not get a influencer sample? Chella is doing just as good a job, a fantastic job in fact. I have opened them, much more value than your pod ones. As it’s been pointed out you have an invested interest here as you have a ZST coming out, so just promote that rather than knock another company. |
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onlymoc21
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Post by onlymoc21 on Feb 22, 2021 14:58:40 GMT -5
I have to give credit to Chella and ZST, we have went from having no retro style figures to now having this being produced by a number of companies. So 2021 is looking awesome for retros. If Mattel brings there’s back it would all just be prefect. I am greatful my collection will continue to grow.
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Post by Deep Figure Value on Feb 22, 2021 15:09:43 GMT -5
LOL @ comparing Chella's actual product with ZST's product that's only in the design/pre-production phase. That's not even a knock on ZST - I'm really eager to see how these come out, and the Rudat designs and the mockups/protos/whatever look very promising, but until both products are in hand, putting them on a equal plane for comparison just reeks of cooperative bias.
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VintageFigs1
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Post by VintageFigs1 on Feb 22, 2021 15:20:31 GMT -5
Listen I love the idea of Chella toys. I’m all for someone taking a chance on themselves. I love that people who haven’t had figures in a while/or never before are getting figures. The packaging is impressive. Have you actually opened the figure though? They are like baby toys. Not hard plastic. The heads and arms pop off. Amazing you literally promoted Chella last week and essentially took a dig at them this week, this is what people mean when they say you talk out of both sides dude, what happened did you not get a influencer sample? Chella is doing just as good a job, a fantastic job in fact. I have opened them, much more value than your pod ones. As it’s been pointed you you have an invested interest here as you have a ZST coming out, so just promote that rather than knock another company. I have promoted and will continue to promote Chella products. The Major Wrestling Figure Podcast covers all figures...all companies. What we say about the figures in our reviews are our OPINIONS. In the post you quoted, you ignored every positive thing I said about Chella and the figures. You chose to only focus on the negative. We will be covering the Aldis figure in full detail on the pod this week. I encourage everyone to purchase whatever Zombie figures and Chella figures that they want for their collection. I will be doing the same. What both companies are doing is incredible for the toy community, especially the retro collectors. |
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onlymoc21
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Post by onlymoc21 on Feb 22, 2021 15:45:36 GMT -5
Amazing you literally promoted Chella last week and essentially took a dig at them this week, this is what people mean when they say you talk out of both sides dude, what happened did you not get a influencer sample? Chella is doing just as good a job, a fantastic job in fact. I have opened them, much more value than your pod ones. As it’s been pointed you you have an invested interest here as you have a ZST coming out, so just promote that rather than knock another company. I have promoted and will continue to promote Chella products. The Major Wrestling Figure Podcast covers all figures...all companies. What we say about the figures in our reviews are our OPINIONS. In the post you quoted, you ignored every positive thing I said about Chella and the figures. You chose to only focus on the negative. We will be covering the Aldis figure in full detail on the pod this week. I encourage everyone to purchase whatever Zombie figures and Chella figures that they want for their collection. I will be doing the same. What both companies are doing is incredible for the toy community, especially the retro collectors. Yup and I have just given my opinion. If you have any experience in creative writing your sign off is what readers take in the most. You ended in a negative manner. You also took aim with the “who’s doing it better”. Now let me make another point, when AEW 1 was released you addressed the skin tones and said “this figures will evolve, and Jazwares will work out the issues etc etc” Now Chella has released ONE figure thus far and your comments are very critical of the product, Do they not deserve the same respect? Especially since Zombie has detailed the process of getting a figure to market independently is long and costly, Chella will be facing a lot of the same process too. You should have some knowledge of this process too, you have figures produced but I would assume Ringside is doing a bulk of the work which is a big benefit. |
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VintageFigs1
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Post by VintageFigs1 on Feb 22, 2021 16:02:24 GMT -5
I have promoted and will continue to promote Chella products. The Major Wrestling Figure Podcast covers all figures...all companies. What we say about the figures in our reviews are our OPINIONS. In the post you quoted, you ignored every positive thing I said about Chella and the figures. You chose to only focus on the negative. We will be covering the Aldis figure in full detail on the pod this week. I encourage everyone to purchase whatever Zombie figures and Chella figures that they want for their collection. I will be doing the same. What both companies are doing is incredible for the toy community, especially the retro collectors. Yup and I have just given my opinion. If you have any experience in creative writing your sign off is what readers take in the most. You ended in a negative manner. You also took aim with the “who’s doing it better”. Now let me make another point, when AEW 1 was released you addressed the skin tones and said “this figures will evolve, and Jazwares will work out the issues etc etc” Now Chella has released ONE figure thus far and your comments are very critical of the product, Do they not deserve the same respect? Especially since Zombie has detailed the process of getting a figure to market independently is long and costly, Chella will be facing a lot of the same process too. You should have some knowledge of this process too, you have figures produced but I would assume Ringside is doing a bulk of the work which is a big benefit. I have zero experience in creative writing. Lol. As I said, we will be discussing the Aldis figure in full detail on the next episode. Our opinions of the pros and cons will be discussed. When I got the figure last week, it was after we had recorded the current episode. I posted pictures of it MOC and loose. Did I take pictures of it with all the body parts easily removed? Yes. Did I post it right away? No. Having critiques and being “very critical” are not the same thing. I definitely have more positive things than negative things to say about Chella as a company and the Aldis figure. I do think Zombie figures will be better. However, I will be collecting from both lines and I encourage everybody to do the same. This isn’t a this or that situation. And you’re absolutely right, Chella has the opportunity to improve. I hope they do. I am rooting for them! |
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Post by Deep Figure Value on Feb 22, 2021 16:10:52 GMT -5
If there are more positives to say about Chella and their offering than negative, then why leap on someone offering them as an example of somebody doing the retro style well and suggesting that they're not?
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Post by stc13 on Feb 22, 2021 16:14:43 GMT -5
That's debatable. The skintone for the Aldis is way too pink. The head is massive. The feet are comically small especially when you compare it to a Hasbro. Is there room for improvement? Sure. But their first offering could have been better. I agree, it’s debatable, but a start up completely independent toy company opening its doors and bringing out an action figure line during Covid, with a physical release during that time and a lot of happy customers, is arguably also seen as ‘good’. People will always have a preference which is fair enough, people can find parts of figures they don’t like (we all do it with main stream figures, including some of the AEW skin tone) we can also look at Hasbro and question skin tone, but again I agree, it’s all debatable as it’s all preference. Based on that, whilst I applaud his honesty about the costs of his production and also the effort Zombie is putting in, I don’t agree that other lines “haven’t been doing it good”. But like I say, I love figures and welcome both lines. It's a reality every business faces - if you want to hit a target price point, the odds are there are going to be strategic decisions and sacrifices that are made. Sometimes they're in things the customer doesn't even notice, other times they are. And when you're trying to start companies from scratch with zero infrastructure and a niche market, it's a tough haul. It's almost always a question of do you go for a lower price point and greater sales volume or sacrifice volume for a higher price point. I give ZST credit for going all in and trying to produce a super premium product that is the best possible figure they can offer. I'm intrigued by the figures and hope the line is successful. But to the outside eye, it also sounds like a huge up front cost for a product that at best is a niche product that further limits its audience at a premium price point. The more companies and lines producing quality product the better. But we'll see how it all shakes out. |
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onlymoc21
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Post by onlymoc21 on Feb 22, 2021 16:22:01 GMT -5
Yup and I have just given my opinion. If you have any experience in creative writing your sign off is what readers take in the most. You ended in a negative manner. You also took aim with the “who’s doing it better”. Now let me make another point, when AEW 1 was released you addressed the skin tones and said “this figures will evolve, and Jazwares will work out the issues etc etc” Now Chella has released ONE figure thus far and your comments are very critical of the product, Do they not deserve the same respect? Especially since Zombie has detailed the process of getting a figure to market independently is long and costly, Chella will be facing a lot of the same process too. You should have some knowledge of this process too, you have figures produced but I would assume Ringside is doing a bulk of the work which is a big benefit. I have zero experience in creative writing. Lol. As I said, we will be discussing the Aldis figure in full detail on the next episode. Our opinions of the pros and cons will be discussed. When I got the figure last week, it was after we had recorded the current episode. I posted pictures of it MOC and loose. Did I take pictures of it with all the body parts easily removed? Yes. Did I post it right away? No. Having critiques and being “very critical” are not the same thing. I definitely have more positive things than negative things to say about Chella as a company and the Aldis figure. I do think Zombie figures will be better. However, I will be collecting from both lines and I encourage everybody to do the same. This isn’t a this or that situation. And you’re absolutely right, Chella has the opportunity to improve. I hope they do. I am rooting for them! Ok, I think it’s important you give companies the same leeway you give the ones you have business relationships and friendships with. You must really take into account how you come across when you really promote the life out of the products you have involvement with. Do you make decisions or have a financial investment? Likely not. But you do have a relationship with companies in that you get insight before hand and I am sure Zombie had used you as an advisor to some extent It’s well documented you have a friendship with Jeremy/Jazwares and Zombie, pro wrestling tees, wretlecrate, Funko, Necca etc etc, and it is apparent you you don’t have that with Chella. That has nothing to do with you being an influencer, that’s personal so you need to keep that in check and humble yourself enough to really take into account that a bias clearly comes across at times. I hope all succeed too, people have called out for retros since Mattel stopped the line. Those same people (myself included) will support any company filling the void and need. |
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Post by hulkjoegan on Feb 22, 2021 16:48:53 GMT -5
Maybe tone of messages gets lost in translation...but calm down fellas!
I’m sure we all agree it’s great to be getting retro style figures from not 1, but 2 companies! (If only Mattel higher ups could pull their heads from their backsides too 😂)
Kudos to Chella and Zombie for having the balls to launch new ventures in what’s been a crazy 12 months or so, and I hope to support both as long as it doesn’t involve more £ than I can afford.
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onlymoc21
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Post by onlymoc21 on Feb 22, 2021 17:04:27 GMT -5
Maybe tone of messages gets lost in translation...but calm down fellas! I’m sure we all agree it’s great to be getting retro style figures from not 1, but 2 companies! (If only Mattel higher ups could pull their heads from their backsides too 😂) Kudos to Chella and Zombie for having the balls to launch new ventures in what’s been a crazy 12 months or so, and I hope to support both as long as it doesn’t involve more £ than I can afford. Agreed dude! Can you imagine how awesome it would be if Mattel was producing retros alongside Chella and ZST products. I am hoping when all is said and done people’s hasbro/retro collections will be looking incredible. |
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I dont know good luck 
