PropShop announces TFA Props!

[cboath]

'Selling product' does not equat to 'selling ENOUGH product' either.

Yes, people were buying, but we don't know how much had been sold. If they'd sold 2-300 of each item - that's a crapload to produce manually in 4-5 months with the shop/people we were shown in videos.

If they'd only sold 30% of what they needed to to stay afloat - well - they go under.

I doubt they had their license pulled over QC issues. We've heard of one blue KR saber not 10 or 20. Couple here bought the vader helmet with no issues that I can recall.

Seems to be 1 of 2 things.

1. They weren't selling enough to stay afloat
2. items were costing more to produce than they had anticipated.

Can't really see it being anything else. EFX and Anovos have had their issues yet they haven't had licenses pulled and i've not heard a single compaint uttered about PS yet (outside of high prices).

 

[Halliwax]

'Selling product' does not equat to 'selling ENOUGH product' either.

Yes, people were buying, but we don't know how much had been sold. If they'd sold 2-300 of each item - that's a crapload to produce manually in 4-5 months with the shop/people we were shown in videos.

If they'd only sold 30% of what they needed to to stay afloat - well - they go under.

I doubt they had their license pulled over QC issues. We've heard of one blue KR saber not 10 or 20. Couple here bought the vader helmet with no issues that I can recall.

Seems to be 1 of 2 things.

1. They weren't selling enough to stay afloat
2. items were costing more to produce than they had anticipated.

Can't really see it being anything else. EFX and Anovos have had their issues yet they haven't had licenses pulled and i've not heard a single compaint uttered about PS yet (outside of high prices).

I second 1 and 2

 

[ThomasBond]

'Selling product' does not equat to 'selling ENOUGH product' either.

Yes, people were buying, but we don't know how much had been sold. If they'd sold 2-300 of each item - that's a crapload to produce manually in 4-5 months with the shop/people we were shown in videos.

If they'd only sold 30% of what they needed to to stay afloat - well - they go under.

I doubt they had their license pulled over QC issues. We've heard of one blue KR saber not 10 or 20. Couple here bought the vader helmet with no issues that I can recall.

Seems to be 1 of 2 things.

1. They weren't selling enough to stay afloat
2. items were costing more to produce than they had anticipated.

Can't really see it being anything else. EFX and Anovos have had their issues yet they haven't had licenses pulled and i've not heard a single compaint uttered about PS yet (outside of high prices).

I have to disagree a bit.

1 yes, 2 no.

If you can not make a substantial profit off of a 3D printed helmet for the insane price they were charging something is very, very wrong with your buisness.

Bottom line is they were charging insane prices for an inferior product. I have yet to see a Kylo, the wopping three of them I have seen posted, that look the same and none look exact to the film prop.

They lied about making all the props for the film.

The mislead saying it will be exactly like the film.

They used questionable materials.

They finished them inconsistently,

and they were charging insane prices. The price for the prop was insane. The price to have the cheap wooden box shipped was beyond insane.

There is nothing in my list that suggests success.

I really can not comprehend what they and Disney were thinking. Then again I may be wrong as I can not comprehend how EFX is still in business and has a license.


I am just glad Disney has left us alone. Remember when they first bought Lucasfilm. We were really concerned the power of the mouse was gonna shut us down.

 

[Halliwax]

I have to disagree a bit.

1 yes, 2 no.

If you can not make a substantial profit off of a 3D printed helmet for the insane price they were charging something is very, very wrong with your buisness.

Bottom line is they were charging insane prices for an inferior product. I have yet to see a Kylo, the wopping three of them I have seen posted, that look the same and none look exact to the film prop.

They lied about making all the props for the film.

The mislead saying it will be exactly like the film.

They used questionable materials.

They finished them inconsistently,

and they were charging insane prices. The price for the prop was insane. The price to have the cheap wooden box shipped was beyond insane.

There is nothing in my list that suggests success.

I really can not comprehend what they and Disney were thinking. Then again I may be wrong as I can not comprehend how EFX is still in business and has a license.


I am just glad Disney has left us alone. Remember when they first bought Lucasfilm. We were really concerned the power of the mouse was gonna shut us down.

I too thought the wooden box was a bad business mistake. Makes it costly to ship, and what's going to be done with the box once you open it? Store it somewhere it's never going to be seen like in your basement or attic... Why pay all that extra for the box when in the long run its useless...

 

[cboath]

I have to disagree a bit.

1 yes, 2 no.

If you can not make a substantial profit off of a 3D printed helmet for the insane price they were charging something is very, very wrong with your buisness.

Bottom line is they were charging insane prices for an inferior product. I have yet to see a Kylo, the wopping three of them I have seen posted, that look the same and none look exact to the film prop.

They lied about making all the props for the film.

The mislead saying it will be exactly like the film.

They used questionable materials.

They finished them inconsistently,

and they were charging insane prices. The price for the prop was insane. The price to have the cheap wooden box shipped was beyond insane.

There is nothing in my list that suggests success.

I really can not comprehend what they and Disney were thinking. Then again I may be wrong as I can not comprehend how EFX is still in business and has a license.


I am just glad Disney has left us alone. Remember when they first bought Lucasfilm. We were really concerned the power of the mouse was gonna shut us down.

How many people do you think they had employed? In the video's i'd say at least 10. More that we didn't see. Factor in materials, time, building the crate, getting the foam fit, etc, etc,...just ask got maul how much time they've invested in packaging alone. It's likely a stunning number. You've gotta recoup all of that, plus some. Additionally, factor in it's being made, in the UK. Not a slight on the UK at all. Point is, in China you gotta pay the guy doing the work maybe 10 bucks a day. The same time in the UK is probably 15 pounds per hour Labor is much higher there vs mass produced in asia. It WILL push the price higher. EFx stuff is 370 for a saber (or was, been a couple year). But that was mass produced in china. Had it been handmade state side the price easily doubles, if not triples. Toss in a hand built wooden crate and you're not far off from 1250. Try shipping a box that big and heavy and you're likely looking at comparable shipping.

How many hours do you think they put in to a single saber? Say the Kylo? It's an open question. Just spending 10 hours of labor on it (which i guarantee you is low), at $20/hr (likely low for the UK/PS people) is $200. But wait, there's more. That's not the final cost of an employee for 10 hours. I don't know about the UK, but once you factor in employee taxes,insurance and what not, that's closer $350. Still, there's more. People doing this professionally have to have those items pay for the facilities they're in, the electricity, tools, water, gas, etc, etc. etc.

Keep in mind, this all that division was doing, so it has to be self sustaining. The places in china spread those costs over many other products so they have MUCH lower overhead.

If the ONLY products that division is making are those 6 props, it has to be a self -sustaining enterprise off just those items or you're losing money on the deal.

Yes, other companies have done it for less. But they used china. No one has done it less direct for the US or UK. That said, i think if you skip the wooden box, your weight drops tremendously and your box can drop in size significanly and your material costs go down to the point that Kylo could have gone out the door for close to $1000-1100 w/shipping. The box itself is likely 200 of the 250 shipping cost. And the necessary packaging upwars of another 100. Minus whatever labor was involved in the additional packaging and assembly which could easily total 1-200 bucks itself.

A lot more goes into pricing than simply 'it takes me 150 (in materials and machine time) to make, so i can make a 30% profit by charging 200.' A lot more.

 

[Birdie]

Propshop going bust has little to do with their on-the-side replica business, and everything to do with overinvesting in 3D Technology as an end in itself as a means of creating movie props for the industry. They completeley failed to realise the short life and durability of 3D Printing, The hand-props in TFA were disintegrating during production. This disaster was recently compounded by a disasterous involvement with an in-production Sci-Fi blockbuster that rhymes with Raid Funner Poo!

All this debate about their decisions involving the replica side of the business is irrelevant - they went under because their business failed, and their business was making props for movies. If anything, they probably hoped their little sideline might help prop them up. The high prices suddenly star to make sense?

 

[the Pawn]

I had posted a few weeks ago that I heard a rumor that their 3D printing process was not going to last and the Darth Vader helmets would turn to dust like you see in the videos in about four years. For those of you who purchased a helmet, keep it out of UV light as that speeds up the disintegration process, or so I heard. Again I am not an expert and I am only repeating what was told to me by an insider in the prop making business.


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[Halliwax]

I had posted a few weeks ago that I heard a rumor that their 3D printing process was not going to last and the Darth Vader helmets would turn to dust like you see in the videos in about four years. For those of you who purchased a helmet, keep it out of UV light as that speeds up the disintegration process, or so I heard. Again I am not an expert and I am only repeating what was told to me by an insider in the prop making business.


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i have heard this as well, even Adam Savage made a comment about not letting it see sunlight.

 

[gizmo]

Good riddance to overpriced,sub par material,misleading advertised stuff that I never really wanted to mortgage my house for anyway props. No simpathy here. Bet they were lucky to sell 10 of each. :rolleyes


Ben

 

[FastballSpecial]

Anyone else besides EFX going to come to the rescue with decent replicas ? *crickets chirp*

Ah well guess I'll keep waiting for that Legend Boba Fett helmet ...:facepalm

 

[jkno]

I had posted a few weeks ago that I heard a rumor that their 3D printing process was not going to last and the Darth Vader helmets would turn to dust like you see in the videos in about four years. For those of you who purchased a helmet, keep it out of UV light as that speeds up the disintegration process, or so I heard. Again I am not an expert and I am only repeating what was told to me by an insider in the prop making business.


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Was not interested in collecting anything from PropShop, but I heard that rumor as well. There were some saying their printing process is better, but to be honest, not sure about that.

 

[tubachris85x]

Anyone else besides EFX going to come to the rescue with decent replicas ? *crickets chirp*

Ah well guess I'll keep waiting for that Legend Boba Fett helmet ...:facepalm

Not as long as Disney is in control. I blame the skyrocketing prices of high end replicas on their contracting because that's what they want- a lot of money.

For now, Anovos is the only thing we've "got" going for anything other than costume store front quality costumes/replicas

 

[FastballSpecial]

Not as long as Disney is in control. I blame the skyrocketing prices of high end replicas on their contracting because that's what they want- a lot of money.

For now, Anovos is the only thing we've "got" going for anything other than costume store front quality costumes/replicas

Yea they definitely noticed the aftermarket prices of Master Replicas and thought "hey lets pump out some around the same price. Cha Ching."

I think that if they had priced the lightsabers around $500 they would have sold three to four times as many and made a bigger profit but what do I know.

 

[Halliwax]

Yea they definitely noticed the aftermarket prices of Master Replicas and thought "hey lets pump out some around the same price. Cha Ching."

I think that if they had priced the lightsabers around $500 they would have sold three to four times as many and made a bigger profit but what do I know.

if they were selling them for 500 i know i would have bought every model they made.

same with vaders helmet. i couldn't see why it was so expensive.... there wasn't as much detail in the paint as the cross-guard saber.

though even if they did produce a cheaper melted vader i don't know if i would invest if they still used that 3d printing process that disintegrates in the sun light...

hell im still hoping for another melted vader helmet on here


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[Kroenen77]

They could make so much money.But clear greed is never a good friend.

 

[NeoRutty]

500 for the Kylo would have been a no-brainer... 1500 I didn't even consider for a second.

 

[Halliwax]

500 for the Kylo would have been a no-brainer... 1500 I didn't even consider for a second.

i was trying to figure out a way for the cross guard... finding some kind of excuse... chickened out. i kind of regret it honestly

i just hated having to pay roughly 300 bucks just to get it to my door..


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[the Pawn]

Just in case this gets into legal territory, if anyone has an outstanding order with Prop Shop, send me a PM with your name, address, order number and item ordered so I can compile a list to send to Disney if and when necessary.


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[craigjohn]

if they were selling them for 500 i know i would have bought every model they made.

same with vaders helmet. i couldn't see why it was so expensive.... there wasn't as much detail in the paint as the cross-guard saber.

though even if they did produce a cheaper melted vader i don't know if i would invest if they still used that 3d printing process that disintegrates in the sun light...

hell im still hoping for another melted vader helmet on here


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...Because it's Vader. There are some pretty die-hard Vader fans out there.

 

[JBReplicas]

Propshop going bust has little to do with their on-the-side replica business, and everything to do with overinvesting in 3D Technology as an end in itself as a means of creating movie props for the industry. They completeley failed to realise the short life and durability of 3D Printing, The hand-props in TFA were disintegrating during production. This disaster was recently compounded by a disasterous involvement with an in-production Sci-Fi blockbuster that rhymes with Raid Funner Poo!

All this debate about their decisions involving the replica side of the business is irrelevant - they went under because their business failed, and their business was making props for movies. If anything, they probably hoped their little sideline might help prop them up. The high prices suddenly star to make sense?

This ^^