OFFICIAL Winter 88 Photos (3 Viewers)

[Phantom Warrior]

Terry, so what. I too am a collector who occasionally sells something on EBay. That something is usually a piece that I am tired of, need to sell to replace it with a better version, or because I've stop collecting a particular company. So far everything I have from Figarti I have kept and I have quite a bit of Figarti amour and figures. I plan to keep them until something better comes along (and that is going to be quite a while).

But, I do believe that the American way of doing things is also to make a profit. I do not fault anyone who would sell the current and or future Figarti releases on EBay. Perhaps that gives that person the ability to buy more vehicles or figures or to support a family. This is not a cheap hobby. I don't question anyone's reasoning when it comes to money or collecting. I just do my own thing and keep George very busy.

True. If someone has a piece that immediately goes way up in value, they could sell it and buy other pieces they want more. And it does make an scarce item available for those who really want it but didn't get one. And I suspect people are not getting to buy multiples. And other manufacturers may make a popular piece. I guess my concern was people wanting to collect an item, not even getting a chance to buy one from the manufacturer when they come out and immediately needing to pay a large amount on a resale.

It is my feeling that collecting should not be a stampede to get new items as they are just released. I would hate to be out on a Saturday and come home to find out an item I had been waiting years for, had been announced and sold out the same day before I had even heard about it.

Terry

 

[Lurchio]

Hi Guys,
I'm with you on the immediate resale of these goodies that are in short supply but I suspect this is more prevalent when someone comes in and buys multiples.


However,I'd like to share this with you:
I have had an irate conversation with a private customer who wanted to buy 5 sets of the "88" and prime mover whereupon I insisted he could only have 1 of each due to their scarcity.
Following that I confronted him on suspicion of trying to make numerous orders from (presumably) family members (something smelt wrong with the email addresses and surnames).
We then had an interesting dialogue about my lack of business sense, intelligence and even heritage.
(Although not a violent man I'd like to have had those accusations from him face to face)

Now, I'm not one to argue on any of that but to cap it all he'd never bought from me before.
So guess what?
he ain't receiving an 88mm, a prime mover or any other of the goodies he wanted to hoard.
The genuine colector is simple pleased to have been able (where possible) to get his sought after piece.

Apologies for sharing that incident but I feel better for getting that off my chest.
Thanks for the indulgence
and Happy Collecting.

Regards
Clive

 

[aujj65]

Hi Guys,
I'm with you on the immediate resale of these goodies that are in short supply but I suspect this is more prevalent when someone comes in and buys multiples.


However,I'd like to share this with you:
I have had an irate conversation with a private customer who wanted to buy 5 sets of the "88" and prime mover whereupon I insisted he could only have 1 of each due to their scarcity.
Following that I confronted him on suspicion of trying to make numerous orders from (presumably) family members (something smelt wrong with the email addresses and surnames).
We then had an interesting dialogue about my lack of business sense, intelligence and even heritage.
(Although not a violent man I'd like to have had those accusations from him face to face)

Now, I'm not one to argue on any of that but to cap it all he'd never bought from me before.
So guess what?
he ain't receiving an 88mm, a prime mover or any other of the goodies he wanted to hoard.
The genuine colector is simple pleased to have been able (where possible) to get his sought after piece.

Apologies for sharing that incident but I feel better for getting that off my chest.
Thanks for the indulgence
and Happy Collecting.

Regards
Clive

Good for you Clive It's about time that some of these "collectors" got that response from dealers.

Let's hope that the fleas from a thousand camels infest his a@$&%£e!

Jeff

 

[Phantom Warrior]

Hi Guys,
I'm with you on the immediate resale of these goodies that are in short supply but I suspect this is more prevalent when someone comes in and buys multiples.


However,I'd like to share this with you:
I have had an irate conversation with a private customer who wanted to buy 5 sets of the "88" and prime mover whereupon I insisted he could only have 1 of each due to their scarcity.
Following that I confronted him on suspicion of trying to make numerous orders from (presumably) family members (something smelt wrong with the email addresses and surnames).
We then had an interesting dialogue about my lack of business sense, intelligence and even heritage.
(Although not a violent man I'd like to have had those accusations from him face to face)

Now, I'm not one to argue on any of that but to cap it all he'd never bought from me before.
So guess what?
he ain't receiving an 88mm, a prime mover or any other of the goodies he wanted to hoard.
The genuine colector is simple pleased to have been able (where possible) to get his sought after piece.

Apologies for sharing that incident but I feel better for getting that off my chest.
Thanks for the indulgence
and Happy Collecting.

Regards
Clive

Good for you. That is the exact thing I am opposed to. And also putting in an order with every dealer to get multiples to sell off.

It must be difficult enough for Clive and Hobby Bunker as distributors to parcel out oversubscribed items to the dealers and for those dealers to be fair to their regular buyers when they can't get enough to fill their orders. Many people have said how the service from a dealer and their good relationship with that dealer is so valuable to them, and this is a good example of why.

Terry

 

[Warrior]

I just do my own thing and keep George very busy.

Yes you do and I appreciate you keeping me very busy........

 

[Warrior]

Hi Guys,
I'm with you on the immediate resale of these goodies that are in short supply but I suspect this is more prevalent when someone comes in and buys multiples.


However,I'd like to share this with you:
I have had an irate conversation with a private customer who wanted to buy 5 sets of the "88" and prime mover whereupon I insisted he could only have 1 of each due to their scarcity.
Following that I confronted him on suspicion of trying to make numerous orders from (presumably) family members (something smelt wrong with the email addresses and surnames).
We then had an interesting dialogue about my lack of business sense, intelligence and even heritage.
(Although not a violent man I'd like to have had those accusations from him face to face)

Now, I'm not one to argue on any of that but to cap it all he'd never bought from me before.
So guess what?
he ain't receiving an 88mm, a prime mover or any other of the goodies he wanted to hoard.
The genuine colector is simple pleased to have been able (where possible) to get his sought after piece.

Apologies for sharing that incident but I feel better for getting that off my chest.
Thanks for the indulgence
and Happy Collecting.

Regards
Clive

Clive,
Good for you.

The irony here is he said you lack business sense, when it reality, you have great business sense; by not selling 5 to him, you will now make 5 OTHER customers happy.

I find this amusing as several months ago when this "hording to flip on Ebay" subject came up and I too stated I would not sell 5 sets to a guy and was accused of not having any business sense as well.

So if Clive and I both do not have business sense, then I consider myself to be in fine company, thank you very much.................

 

[Louis Badolato]

Clive,
Good for you.

The irony here is he said you lack business sense, when it reality, you have great business sense; by not selling 5 to him, you will now make 5 OTHER customers happy.

I find this amusing as several months ago when this "hording to flip on Ebay" subject came up and I too stated I would not sell 5 sets to a guy and was accused of not having any business sense as well.

So if Clive and I both do not have business sense, then I consider myself to be in fine company, thank you very much.................

I don't know anything about business sense, but I know that I order from Clive and George, because they are good guys, who look out for collectors.

 

[jazzeum]

When something like this is so limited, it should only be one per customer. It also doesn't strike me as particularly difficult but maybe the dealers could get together to compare notes to make sure that one person is not ordering from more than one dealer and cancel any orders that show multiple purchases. I know this is something that has concerned Rick.

 

[Phantom Warrior]

When something like this is so limited, it should only be one per customer. It also doesn't strike me as particularly difficult but maybe the dealers could get together to compare notes to make sure that one person is not ordering from more than one dealer and cancel any orders that show multiple purchases. I know this is something that has concerned Rick.

Some of the people putting in an order to more than one dealer may be ordering a bit late and are trying to ensure getting just one piece and do not know how many each dealer can get. They may not be trying to get multiples. (And no, I have not done that, but a few people who ordered late told me that is what they did.)

And Rick could consider making slightly larger production runs to avoid this problem. 100 is clearly too small a run for the most popular items - especially the ones people have been asking for for years. And with breakage there will be fewer than 100 to sell. There are only 2 distributors and a dozen dealers (approx.) so measuring demand from pre-orders should not be too hard.

Terry

 

[Lurchio]

Guys,
Thanks for the support.
I only posted this as just for once this got under my skin and I lost my temper, it's rare which my wife tells me is just as well.
It was my catharsis to share the experience.
Now the funny thing is as a Banker by training and given the current state of the world economies, maybe the business sense question is valid. Although it was all OK when I was in the City.
As for Intelligence those who know me please don't comment and make it worse. And then my heritage I'm a proud Yorkshireman...God's Country.

George you're right , hopefully I'll get 5 customers coming back for more vs one who'll pick on only the "hot" items.
Happy to join your club, a beer in Chicago is called for. But only 1 I'm teetotal

And Brad, although I'm relatively new at this I think the dealers know their customers pretty well in the main.
It was this guy and his entourage all coming in with almost exact same wording on their messages, none of whom I'd heard of before which rang the alarm bells.

So one down to experience and I can laugh about it now.
Thanks again.

Regards
Clive

 

[jazzeum]

Clive,

Since you're on, can you tell us why you guys have some of these things in stock like the new, new Sherman but they're not in the States yet? I'm scratching my head on that one.

 

[Phantom Warrior]

Clive,

Since you're on, can you tell us why you guys have some of these things in stock like the new, new Sherman but they're not in the States yet? I'm scratching my head on that one.

The Brits pay more for theirs so they get them first.

Feel free to delete this post if it offends - it is meant as a joke for my Brit fiends.

But , yes, why do the Brits get them so far in advance. They had the Firefly in June and I have been told we won't get them here until August?

Terry

 

[jazzeum]

Well, money does talk

I asked Matt this question yesterday and he said they were on the boat (which brings to mind the old jazz standard Slow Boat to China) and might be here in a couple of weeks, but he wouldn't guarantee arrival.

 

[Rob]

Doesn't really matter who get it first does it?.Lots of other stuff is available in the States before we get it,also you guys get a heads up in Chicago,it was a very nice surprise to get the firefly in London,that way we all get a go.

Rob

 

[Lurchio]

Hi All,
In some ways Terry and Brad are right.
It is about money. But don't forget the stock of items we had at the Chicago show last year were not available in Europe for some time, so it kinda balances out.

Both Matt and I place our orders when we know the new items are being released. As shipping is more expensive from Shanghai than Hong Kong for instance we try and get the cheapest method.
As such the normal shipping is via sea freight which can take anything from 5 to 8 weeks dependant upon the timing of the collection from the factory , to filling containers and therefore the ship being full and ready to go. And also (allegedly)the weather conditions. Some of my shipments have been delayed 'cause the ship can't dock. In some cases the good old UK customs add further delays.

So I got frustrated with customers having to wait a long time from launch to actually getting their goods. ( Remember the complaints after the multi launches in Chicago)Therefore for each release I have a small number flown in via air freight (typically 3 to 4 days)which is much more expensive but gives me demo versions and some stock for shows.

Hope that helps explain. I know one of the issues Rick & Peter are looking at is how to improve the launch to availability timeframe and I'm sure Matt as well as I are looking at quicker but cheaper shipping methods.

So no great mystery, just my lack of business nouse coming out again spending too much on the air freight!!

Regards
Clive

 

[Rob]

Hi All,
In some ways Terry and Brad are right.
It is about money. But don't forget the stock of items we had at the Chicago show last year were not available in Europe for some time, so it kinda balances out.

Both Matt and I place our orders when we know the new items are being released. As shipping is more expensive from Shanghai than Hong Kong for instance we try and get the cheapest method.
As such the normal shipping is via sea freight which can take anything from 5 to 8 weeks dependant upon the timing of the collection from the factory , to filling containers and therefore the ship being full and ready to go. And also (allegedly)the weather conditions. Some of my shipments have been delayed 'cause the ship can't dock. In some cases the good old UK customs add further delays.

So I got frustrated with customers having to wait a long time from launch to actually getting their goods. ( Remember the complaints after the multi launches in Chicago)Therefore for each release I have a small number flown in via air freight (typically 3 to 4 days)which is much more expensive but gives me demo versions and some stock for shows.

Hope that helps explain. I know one of the issues Rick & Peter are looking at is how to improve the launch to availability timeframe and I'm sure Matt as well as I are looking at quicker but cheaper shipping methods.

So no great mystery, just my lack of business nouse coming out again spending too much on the air freight!!

Regards
Clive

Nice one Clive,keep that Sherman safe for me mate

Rob

 

[Warrior]

George you're right , hopefully I'll get 5 customers coming back for more vs one who'll pick on only the "hot" items.
Happy to join your club, a beer in Chicago is called for. But only 1 I'm teetotal

Clive; an adult beverage is in order, looking forward to it.

Treat others as you'd like to be treated has always worked for me; been at this ten years, so I must be doing something right.................

 

[Eazy]

Speaking as a satisfied customer Clive - I appreciate that trouble you goto to ship in the product early. It may cost a bit extra but we get to enjoy it that bit quicker. Much appreciated.

 

[Rob]

Second that,Clive gives a superb service and it makes ordering stuff a pleasure.

We have been really spoiled by Figarti lately havn't we.88,Prime Mover,Firefly and now an M7 and another Sherman!.Speaking for myself i can't get me enough Shermans

Rob

 

[jazzeum]

Rob,

It's not really a question of who gets it first; I don't care about that in the slightest. It's not a competition. I'd just like to know when I might be getting it.