Figureprints (that company that will make a 3D mini-figurine of your character) has posted a notice on their site that they are in fact doing so well... that they're raising their price. Now, if you want a real-life copy of the character you've worked so hard on, it'll cost you $130, a $30 increase over the original price. What will the extra money buy you? They say they're stepping up production, and that they've opened up a brand new production facility on the other side of the country. But even though they say they can make more faster, they're still doing that random drawing thing -- instead of actually buying a figure, you have to enter a drawing to buy one.The other reason they cite for raising the price is that their "material costs" are much higher than they expected. Could that have to do with the fact that we've seen a lot of figure replacements in their run so far? These things can get pretty expensive when you have to make two for every other order.
Is $130 too much for you or are you still interested? From the beginning, Figureprints has been working around the clock making these, so even if they lose a little business over the higher price, maybe it'll help them keep up with demand better. And if the new price doesn't work out, maybe we'll see them cutting back again (or offering deals via Blizzard or someone else).
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
6-20-2008 @ 11:37AM
Arras said...
I can understand additional cost if they're ramping up production or adding something extra to it.
But if they have to redo an order because it didn't come out right...that's their problem, not the customer's and the cost of that shouldn't be passed on to other customers. Why should I have to pay extra because they screwed up your order and I don't even have one yet.
I'm liking this company less and less...I still want a figure print, but I dunno...
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6-20-2008 @ 11:43AM
Charlie Taylor said...
Companies have to recoup the costs somewhere. They're actually doing quite a service by offering to replace a figure if you aren't happy with it, many companies wouldn't even do this.
6-20-2008 @ 11:43AM
Charlie Taylor said...
Companies have to recoup the costs somewhere. They're actually doing quite a service by offering to replace a figure if you aren't happy with it, many companies wouldn't even do this.
6-20-2008 @ 12:06PM
xtole said...
wow, you love WoW waaaay to much to have a 'barbie doll' of your toon. whats next?
6-20-2008 @ 1:11PM
Bob said...
Actually everything that you purchase has a certain amount of "scrap" surcharge built into the price. Depending on the complexity and difficulty of manufacture. In the facility that I work in we determine how many pieces of a given part that we are likely to scrap for the initial quote. Once the part is in production, if we see a different scrap percentage the price can be adjusted. Similarly with material cost. When raw material prices fluctuate so greatly as we are seeing right now a material surcharge is added. But, this is in an industrial setting. The people at figure print are selling directly to their customer. They cannot charge people different prices week to week or charge a more complex figure more than a lesser complex. Therefor they need to make overall pricing changes to recoup the cost.
Now why don't they just make more? Most facilities are manned and supplied to make a certain amount of product. When this is pushed past the capibilities the process becomes inefficient. So why not open another facility. Well they need to look at the long range forcast of their business. Will they continue to have the business to keep more facilities full? If they sink a lot of money into it and the market dries up then they are in trouble. How long does it take to open a new facility and train all of the operators and artisens? Just because the demand seems high now will it be in a year and a half when a new faciltiy is operational. It is a bit more complicated than you think.
Bob
6-20-2008 @ 11:39AM
Mindstrike said...
As for me buying one... not unless the cost goes down. I am sure demand is through the roof, thus they can raise the price. As for Material costs... I am sure this lovely economy is causing headaches... but 30 buck increase. Hmm...
I would still like to see other people's orders. The one pictures in this blog looks nice, but the other one show below looks "weak"
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6-20-2008 @ 11:40AM
Argent said...
$100 was about the sweet spot for me. $130 cools my enthusiasm for this product significantly.
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6-20-2008 @ 11:40AM
TobiasX said...
It's a nice idea, but personally I wouldn't pay over £30 (is that $60?) for one of these. It's a novelty and nothing more; sorry :(
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6-20-2008 @ 11:48AM
Arras said...
I think they could recoup their expenses - redoing some orders, materials, etc - if they allowed more orders each month, I'd gladly buy one now even if I knew it would take a month or two to get to me. I ordered the Blood elf vs draeni diorama from Sideshow collectibles almost a year ago and it's going to arrive next week.
They probably want to limit supply to keep demand high, but eventually people will get tired of waiting and spend their money elsewhere.
And this whole raffle thing bugs me. Most people have probably been waiting to get one since they started offering these, so why should someone who just learned about it today have an equal shot at getting one as someone who's been waiting 6 or more months?
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6-20-2008 @ 11:49AM
Houldlum said...
If they ever work out the quality kinks it might be worth it, but only if I had a toon that I was super attached to and had some great looking gear. At this point I tend to get bored with toons and move on to other ones so 130$ isn't worth it. Perhaps if they were larger... maybe.
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6-20-2008 @ 11:52AM
Dr. Jones said...
and I thought 100$ was high...
I'll take a 15$ wow figurine in tiered gear over this any day.
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6-20-2008 @ 11:52AM
Circ said...
Do they still look like they are dusted with powdered sugar?
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6-20-2008 @ 12:10PM
Krystalle Voecks said...
Yep.
6-20-2008 @ 1:07PM
Circ said...
Well, that sucks, I absolutely want one of these, but not if it costs $130 and looks like it was dipped in a sugar bowl.
6-22-2008 @ 5:45PM
RetPallyJil said...
Gang, it's supposed to look like it's carved from stone.
You know, a statue?
6-20-2008 @ 11:59AM
Hamtax said...
Are they going to raise the quality too?
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6-20-2008 @ 12:04PM
Darr said...
I just received my figureprint and am quite happy with it. Here's a link to see it if you want to see the quality.
http://www.endless-shadow.com/news/show/108089
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6-20-2008 @ 12:12PM
Charlie Taylor said...
hm, well it's good you're happy with it. It looks like they're still struggling with the whole "vibrant color" issue.
6-20-2008 @ 12:14PM
Jack Spicer said...
I want to see some pics of figure prints that are not all decked out in matching gear.
Something like this:
www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/01/02/
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6-20-2008 @ 12:25PM
Lab Monkey said...
My Lock would look soooo badass in a beaver cod-piece.