Sideshow Collectibles craps out lackluster SDCC '10 exclusives

Well, as many suspected after their early tease, Sideshow's plans for this year’s San Diego Comic-con exclusives are nothing short of unimaginative and easy to pass upon.

Yet another repainted 1/6th scale Star Wars Prequel Clone Trooper. Yawn.

A Skrull-Woman. Wow. A very ugly Spider-Woman bust with repainted green face and chin with squiggles. Paying homage to a Marvel Comics event two years old now.

And there are more pieces that can only appeal to the smallest segment of the related license cult following.

No doubt each will sell out on the day the pre-orders start and also like last year in August after the show has come and gone, plenty of units will suddenly be found and available for sale again.

Looks like collectors will have more cash to spend in other booths at the con.

It’s hard to comprehend just why Sideshow has been on cruise control for the past several years. Producing the same characters over and over within the various licenses they currently pay for. This despite the fact they have entire universes of characters to mine. The fact that they have done nothing but piss away opportunity with the Star Wars license alone by releasing nothing but Clones and Anakin Skywalker over and over is worth scorn alone. How long has it been since they started releasing 12” SW product and we still don’t have key heroes and villains? But hey, they made about eight versions of Anakin and nearly as many of Obi-Wan and repainted the hell out of Clone and Stormtrooper molds. These guys couldn’t even produce a Vader anyone was happy with. Same issues with the Marvel Comics brand…how many Iron Man and Emma Frost pieces do we need?

Note to Lucasfilm: Let Hot Toys have the SW brand for awhile. Sideshow is clearly out of ideas.

Sideshow fucks it up again

WTF? Seriously, who the hell at Sideshow or Hasbro approved this?

Who knew Beachhead was a retard?

And yes, I said RETARD!

When I saw this I checked the calendar to see if it was April 1st. Is this a rejected 'Slingblade' figure sculpt? Bet all the Joe collectors can't wait to display this winner on their shelves.

More proof Sideshow Collectible's order process needs an overhaul

Ah Sideshow...what will it take before you realize the way you offer your products up for sale is woefully overdue for review at least and an overhaul at best. I guess getting screwed over by collectors on your site that never intend to follow through on pre-ordered purchases is a good start. Each newsletter that Sideshow ships out weekly is a laugh riot with tales of previously sold out items that are magically available for sale. Even despite the fact that there are potential buyers lined up on an item's wait list.

This week the San Diego Comic-con Star Wars exclusive Luke & Han as Stormtroopers 1/6th scale two pack is once again available for sale. First come, first served. Another "SOLD OUT" Sideshow wonder that is really not sold out after all. And in truth, never was.

This scenario happens again and again with just about everything Sideshow throws up for sale. Especially within the last year as the economy went south. A new offering sells out the day it's released and despite even filling a wait list, these items are almost always available suddenly months later. Not only that but Sideshow practically begs collectors to buy the newly discovered inventory and asks the affiliate websites to continually get the word out for them.

Look Sideshow, you clearly have a problem with too many wannabe collectors ordering on your site whose eyes are bigger than their bank accounts. At the same time, you have a significantly less legitimate collector pool committed to buy your wares. You need to create a new process to weed these deadbeats out of the pre-order process and allow the real paying customer to place an order without all the B.S. Personally, I'd be happy if you just fully charged us out of the gate for any pre-order. I get that purchase done and out of the way and I don't have to worry about getting blind-sided by you in the fourth quarter when you decide to ship a year's worth of pre-orders on top of each other. But I understand the liability issues of charging someone for an item that won't show up for probably two years.

The other answer is just as simple. Create some sort of elite level of membership on your site. Charge a nominal yearly fee but this status allows guaranteed access to pre-order your new products. You charge the fee to weed out deadbeats and pay for the technical tweak to tie an account to the elite status. Charge $40 or $50 but to make everyone feel good about it and reduce online bitching, you could then offer those paid accounts discounts later on. Maybe it's a discount on specific merchandise like only your SDCC exclusives or a refund of sorts at the end of a paid year or even $10 coupons quarterly.

Just do SOMETHING new for god's sake. Honestly, as a business aren't you tired of dealing with that deadbeat run around while also pissing off your best clients that can't be at their computer every hour of the day to place an order before it "Sells Out"?

SDCC09...Oh Sideshow, how you disappoint...

What the hell happened to this company?

On the eve of Comic-con Sideshow released a bunch of announcements and sneak peeks. No doubt we'll see more at the show.


Three count 'em three more Iron Man sculpted pieces in various scales and at various retails. I don't know how many Iron Man pieces SS has come up with to date but besides the X-Men's White Queen, it's clear SS thinks these two are the most popular characters in the Marvel Universe. Oh there's also a new Venom statue despite the fact Venom hasn't been cool since the third Spider-Man film ruined him.

Also new in the SS Marvel lineup is the Scarlet Witch's chest. May or may not be a new Adam Hughes designed Comiquette.


Then we have a new or should I say old Indiana Jones from the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull 1/6th scale figure. Likely coming sometime in 2010...only nearly two years after the fourth Indy film was in theaters. Nice timing SS! Finger on the pulse baby!

We also see more overpriced figure environments listed. Anyone buying these at full price is a class 'A' sucker. Then to round it off, we still have yet more overpriced Lord of the Rings statues and the schlepping for Hot Toys superior products.

Oh Sideshow...you're going to have to work much harder than this during Comic-con to impress anybody. Get your shit together. Look around the con at your competition...everyone else is improving while you hammer out the same old crap or overpriced lameness.

Sideshow 1:6 Darth Vader Shipping Soon

According to Sideshow, these are going to start shipping from CA in 18 days or less.  So look for more surprise billing from Sideshow (unless it gets delayed again).

Sideshow 1:6 Vader Pics Including Size Comparison To Medicom Vader

A lucky Sideshow contest winner scored a production sample Vader figure and has posted some great photos, including a picture with the earlier Medicom Vader figure. Medicom has taken considerable criticism lately for the size of their figures (closer to 11" than 12") and the difference between the 14" Sideshow Vader and the Medicom version is pretty staggering.

That said, the Medicom sculpt still looks more screen accurate to me, making this an okay Sideshow figure, but a fail overall, especially as the Medicom figure had been out for at least a year and Sideshow knew what they had to beat.

Which begs the question, what the hell is going at Sideshow these days? Their prices go up as the quality of their output goes down. Meanwhile Hot Toys is doing amazing work at comparable prices.

I greet new Sideshow figures with the same enthusiasm I have for new naked Britney Spears pictures; sure, I'll look, but I've seen it all before and there's a strong likelihood that what I'll see will really gross me out.

Then I'll reminisce about the pre-Fed days and try to cleanse my pallet with some Megan Fox shots or even a Kelly Clarkson upskirt pic to get those horrible images out of my head!!!