I don't know if I am the only one wondering this or not but how do 3rd party companies mass-produce their figures they distribute? I mean do they have corperate factories they use? they can't make them all by hand...can they? This is just something I have been wondering a long time now.
Molds cost a lot. I always just thought with their tendency to show off cad models they just have access to rapid prototyping cad cam facilities.
That might get them a prototype. But it's not up to snuff for mass-producing figures. They'll still need to invest in the steel dies for that.
From what I understand they spend the majority of their time making the molds then have a factory in china to produce X number of bots. Usually a good few thousand if not more. The more they make the cheaper it is for them overall so the bigger the better. My question though is quality. How much are these people paying for QC. We've seen FP and TFC come out with stupidly insane good quality (I know there are hic ups but the fixes usually come out fast). While on the other hand we have seen some third party companys come out with crap quality items.
Do you think their using steel dies or those plastic injectors that spin super fast to get rid of bubbles? Noob question I know but I remember games workshop did something similar and their quality and detail capture has really improved over the past 5 years.
Most of what people label as "QC" is simply shoddy design work, not true QC. I'm pretty sure they're using steel dies. Centrifuges are only good for small-scale production, like the aforementioned Games Workshop miniatures. You're not going to be able to get good enough quality at a larger scale, nor be able to produce the 100+ pieces for each of the ~2000 figures that you're trying to get out within a reasonable timeframe. FansProject definitely contracts out a factory that has the equipment for full-on plastic injection molding. From what I've heard, the factory mainly produces plastic kitchenware.
That makes perfect sense about the QC now that I am thinking on those lines. Great tidbit of info on FP btw, never would of guessed it lol.
Well first off, I would use the term "mass-produce" loosely. Twenty-five hundred or so figures isn't exactly meant for the general public to buy. And secondly, they do it the same way Hasbro does. Just on a smaller scale. Hasbro and Takara have contracts with factories in China (and now Vietnam) where the toys are cast, painted, and packaged. "Third Party" "companies" (groups would be the more appropriate term) do the same. Make the prototype, make the dye, contract out the labor.
Some of these groups are better thought of as very hardcore fanclubs, really. However, it is not unheard of for such clubs to eventually lead to a "real" company. See Gainax and Studio Nue, for example.
