Take two toy companies.
The first company produces a figure. They ship it out to collectors. The artist decides he doesn't like the way the final piece turned out. They ship out a replacement figure (all free of charge) that's more along the lines of the artist's vision.
The second company produces a figure. They realize the paint work is super sloppy and not up to their standards. They decide to still sell the piece (all sales final), but mark it down 31% off of the original asking price.
Both companies addressed what they felt was an inferior product in a different way. Thoughts? Which scenario would you prefer?
I like the idea of the last one. Then the plastic/material used doesn’t go to waste. Potentially they could do a mix of both.
Hmmmm. Sounds like 3a vs KR. I think what kr did with those labbits is a joke. What that says about them is they dont care if something that looks bad has their name on it. 3A however doesnt want their named tarnished.
I didn’t even see the tags before posting my first comment (since I was posting from my phone). glad to see I was right.
What did kr and 3a do?
@2k3 – 3A has recently sent out a couple of figures (Zombs and TQs) that had QC issues and decided to send out replacement figures for free.
KR had the issue with the Kronk Labbits where the QC was terrible, but they decided to sell them anyways at a discount.
That being said, I don’t think you can really compare the two companies. 3A sells all there stuff via pre-order and people have to wait months, sometimes up to a year, for the finished product. If the wait is that long, I think they should make sure the QC is up to par before they ship them out.
KR sells all there stuff after it is made. So, if they’re stuck with a bunch of crappy toys, why not give the people the option of buying them at a discount? It’s not like they didn’t make sure that people were aware of the QC issues before the sale.
I think both situations were handled fine, but, if I had to choose I would rather have the option to buy at a discount instead of waiting months for a defective figure and then having to wait another couple months for the replacements.
I can see and understand everyone’s side to this, but it seems to me to come down to having pride in your product vs. making a fast buck.
As a collector, I wouldn’t want to buy something produced under par (I value my paycheck too much for that), nor would I want to display a piece that isn’t up to snuff.
As an artist, I wouldn’t want my work to be represented by a manufacturer/store that is below my artistic standards. Even if there is a big disclaimer put to it, that only lasts until you take it home — then anyone else who sees it only sees a piece of crap put out by me.
Even if you’re really anxious to get the piece home, do you really want to take home a (sometimes expensive even after a discount) piece of crap?
I think it all just says a lot about the individual artists, stores, and manufacturers at the end of the day.
So…the thing with the 3A Zombie. I have one and didn’t think there were any quality issues with it. I guess it just didn’t live up to Ashley’s standards. So I appreciated getting a free Zombie in the mail – hey, I have two Zombies now.
I like that Kidrobot offered up these subpar Labbits for a reduced price, but it’s still WELL above the cost of production.
And I agree…if I was the artist, I’d be upset that my artwork is being portrayed as a sloppy mess.