Might be good if the bubble pops and then reboots itself. Might be able to get these prices down perhaps. Some of these 3rd parties are getting away with highway robbery. We have yet to show we won't pay up the ass for things we think we need.

 

Not surprised, the 3rd party companies lack something that is needed in a high product cost arena and that is CUSTOMER SERVICE. Doesn't matter if that customer is the retailer or the end user, these 3rd party companies from what I've heard about some of them are a ROYAL pain in the ass. Partially why I buy so few 3rd party items now. I'm fed up with the lack of communication, the multiple versions and overall lack of care for the end consumer. Maybe if more stores started putting their foot down these ass holes running things will get their acts together and act like a proper company.

 

Sad news for 3p collectors here in the British Isles.

I've beeen buying from Kapow for going on at least six years and they've been a joy to buy from. They have my support in this decision. Heres hoping PE make the cut.

if this means they can dedicate more resources to the official stuff, I hope that means they can start stocking botcon/TFCC stuff.

 

you sure MakeToys is one for the chopping block? I mean, Kapow is listed on their site as their main UK distributor. Lends me to believe their relationship is a good one, just like with PE and MMC. Though i could be wrong

 

Yep, Andy's mentioned before how uncommunicative (is that a word?) they are, and despite being their supposed European supplier, he doesn't actually have any exclusivity (is that a word???) of their products.

 

Yeah but with different companies releasing the same characters that bubble burst is coming sooner rather than later, I mean really 3 Predakings and a rumored 4th

 

This is very very interesting. I think the whole Warbotron debacle really highlights the issues here. Warbotron screwed over every small retailer (and subsequently many customers) by not communicating adequately. There is no way anyone should put up with that kind of treatment when we are discussing a 500 dollar purchase.

I feel for the Uk guys but I hope this is the start of some major changes to the 3P game. A few talented people can now make some amazing figures but they need to start adding people to the team that handle things like PR and business relations.

 

I recall Kapow! first mentioning this particular problem with companies on their facebook page some time ago. I´m not a hundred percent sure, but I seem to remember that Maketoys, MMC and PE at least are OK. I would assume FP and FansToys as well. But I guess we´ll find out soon enough.

 

As long as there's money to be made, someone will sell it.
If hasbro were to kill every retailer they could it would just push sales to Asia, where theyre untouchable.
Bubble doesn't pop until oversupply hits a critical.
Not saying it wouldn't be harder or more annoying to obtain them in that situation, and that more etailers wont get fed up, its just not the definition of a bubble pop. a pop also coincides with a drastic drop in price of the commodity (see real estate bubble/housing prices, where they just kept building shit because the value of land just cant go down), so we would theoretically see things go on super sale from companies who overproduced.

but the fact that they may have literally cut the continent of europe out of sales could shrink demand, so this could be a contributing factor. theres no place else to order from in Europe without ridiculous shipping?

 

Supposedly if you want to know something from a 3rd party you need to ask Peaugh  

 

or one of Joels other boys- optibotimus or emo517 (or whatever his name is). BBTS has shit on lock.

 

Is comic toys a etailer? They posted also on Facebook that they are a small company and same as kapow, will no longer carry most third party items. If so then that makes 2

 

Took the words right out of my mouth. Thank you good sir.

 

also worth noting that this is not a monolithic "third party company" it's a bunch of smaller companies of varying size and financial stability and with different goals as to what constitutes being successful.

 

Whatever happens, I'm damn near happy with what I've got. I try to get while the getting good, and it's been pretty good since city commander.

 

This is the exact opposite of the bubble bursting. It's the end market dictating that the product isn't just the toy, it's the service behind it. In doing so, I think we'll see fewer companies (some through mergers and acquisitions, some through smaller bullshit operations getting squeezed out) and lower prices all around. (the M&A bit is assuming that in order to conduct business better, these guys will need more squeeze at the factories... And the only way to do that is with $, which inherently comes from size)

Why lower prices? BBTS and TFSource are "the big guys" and they price by how much they need to make to cover labor+overhead+returns+profit. I've seen the markup on at least one of these figures... It's ridiculous. As the risk decreases (the risk between 3P and retailer, not retailer and Hasbro legal), the required return on investment decreases. As back-end service improves, the returns stop being "how many of our inventory do we have to destroy to fix these" and ends up being "Hey, we need some parts". That translates into $ off the cost to consumers that was previously being paid in as "what if this is broken" insurance built into the price. So instead of "I need to buy 11 to sell 10" it's "If I buy 10 I can sell 10".

Lower prices, more consumers, more competition, greater rewards for those that do things right.

This is but an entryway the golden age of third party figures. I look forward to the day where I don't have to keep track of every "I made a show accurate gun for X" company. That shit will go off to Shapeways or something similar (someone like Renderform casting on a much larger scale with inherently large variety that pays out a royalty on the designs used- If someone takes this idea I want to partner on the business end, please and thank you) under 1 roof, which lets the bigger boys play with their bigger toys.

 

could see this coming think a few online tf retailers on here have complained on how these third party companies treat them don't they know you lot sell shit loads of third party items to this side of the globe it's gonna hit them financially!!!

but they are making their own beds so should just lie in them and go bankrupt innit!!
its all about greed and ignorance and being up them selves ...hope the uk retailers keep the easy to deal with company's going especial you andy and morgan  

sad its had to come to this but whats being asked £/$ wise upfront is a complete and utter piss take of a joke

 

So we'll be seeing kapow shutting down soon.

Sorry UK peeps.

 

Very good move if more and more stores do this we can expect less releases and make third party ítems lower it's costs

 

Or the handful of stores left that sell now hard to find products will mark them up even more. Like WAY more, due to the fact that they are now the only game in town to find that item. It cuts both ways.