ANOVOS issues (ANOVOS ONLY discussion)

[ggriffaw]

Man, $600 is a lot for just a helmet. I got my complete OT TK kit back in the day for $650. Couldn't imagine spending $600 for just a helmet...

SB

Finished fiberglass helmets are expensive. The Anovos Vader has a similar price to several fan made fiberglass Vaders. I'm not saying the quality is the same though.

The manufacturing process for a fiberglass helmet is way different than vacuforming and rough cutting some plastic. The TK kit did have a finished helmet, but it is much easier to build than a fiberglass helmet.

 

[Davy Jones]

They added a photo of the Clone Trooper removable faceplate. It is different than the fan made design.

That's a clever design. It means the thin white brow area wont be in danger of sagging like on the fan ones with the full removal face.

 

[Sean Hebein]

Man, $600 is a lot for just a helmet. I got my complete OT TK kit back in the day for $650. Couldn't imagine spending $600 for just a helmet...

SB

The majority of the helmets in my collection are over $600....

 

[StevenBills]

The majority of the helmets in my collection are over $600....

Yep, and all I'm sayin' is that it's a bit too pricey for me.

SB

 

[darthjones]

It’s my belief that, under most normal circumstances, a business actually completing and shipping a product should not warrant ‘celebration’. It should be a regular occurrence.

BIG TIME. HUGE. Wow, did you just sum it up - under any circumstances. Myself, I have a different family life from when I ordered from Anovos. And when my product gets here, if people ask, I am going to say that I made it myself.

Unfair? Go ahead and say it: I will jump down your throat with my pants off.

 

[OCDChad]

See, this is my problem. I think that they (prop business like Anovos and RS, not people doing runs in the JY) ask too much. Maybe they cant sell enough quantity to "mass Produce" and get them cheaper, I don't know, but I think it is more "people are willing to pay'. There is no way that helmet isn't marked up 200%. Licensing, R&D, I get it, but if it costs $300 a helmet to produce then the market for people to buy it is already small at $350 and at that price more than a handful need to be sold to make a viable business (not a hobby). At 600 if you sell 100 thats 30 grand and that is what I think gets us where we are.Larger than needed markups for the sake of making a "premium" product that could be sold cheaper Multiply that kind of markup/profit over all the products and it becomes real money. I am not bashing as I would pay alot for the things I really want, though I enjoy putting things together so completed props arent really my thing, but I honestly think nearly all prop replicas are far overpriced and will continue to be because of a rabid fanbase that shells out the cash for the things we covet. I could be way off base, but I think there is something there, though I realize I am generalizing a bit here.

I think it's because we don't have many options, especially if you are looking to get them Rebel/501st/etc approved. Just think about many people in the world make a trooper/Vader/etc helmet that's ready to wear and meets the standards of those groups. And of those makers, how many are buried in some forum or facebook group that you have to register with to find contact information?

 

[OCDChad]

I've said it many times that I don't know how anyone could make a sustainable, livable profit off of making costumes and props whether they have the license or not. The fact of the matter is, higher costs of materials and a discerning collector's eye are what makes this such a difficult market to be in. Time and money are the major factors that have held this property back because the demand is so high and in order to keep the level of quality up it takes time to deliver. How many companies have had the license and have either lost it or folded altogether?

Icons
Master Replicas
Museum Replicas Limited

I also think a lot of it is due to poor leadership at Lucasfilm. Say what you will about George Lucas as a writer or director, but the man had a vision. He had a unique ability to hand pick innovative people to execute that vision and that meant being able to build companies and market products that the fans wanted. He also knew how to build anticipation with his audience by spreading his products out over longer marketing windows. The man literally released the OT how many times in 20 years before he finally returned to the director's chair? The guy is a genius business man.

I think the hectic release schedule of the new films and Disney's pressure to recoup their initial investment forced companies like Anovos to try and keep up with the demand for new product with each release which meant that they simply couldn't deliver within their projected windows. Though that's not entirely Disney's fault and had Anovos structured their business model better and limited the number of offerings (and delivered them on schedule) they could have slowly built up their product line over time. Rather than rush out the empty promise of new products and fail their customers they could have just followed through with a small number of items.

I think they just bit off more than they can chew. Plain and simple.

I would guess it would have to be a company that primarily makes their money from something else with a screen accurate/high end division.

 

[JOATRASH FX]

Ok, so I had a bit of news the other day when chatting with customer service again. Apparently there's a boat with a shipment of stuff coming in March... due in around a couple weeks. The odd thing is that they couldn't tell me if the item I was asking about (due by the end of the current 'season') was actually in that shipment. (On the one hand it seems odd that they wouldn't demand to notified on the actual goods as they were shipped, on the other... knowing how sketchy communication can sometimes be with low-cost factories, I can't say I'd be completely surprised if that were the case.) We'll know in a couple weeks I guess...

 

[Revvek]

Chinese New Year holds up things around this time of year, so that boat of stuff probably sat around for a month... I hope my helmet is on it!

 

[darthjones]

I was also told there is some kind of boat/ ship out there with everything on it. And it was supposed to arrive before March. Now it is due two weeks into March. It is of course the slowest ship ever built. Maybe 4 knots.

And Chinese New Year - in the U.S. we have at most a week of football and parades. It does not affect business more than a few days. So why does Anovos keep waving the "Chinese holiday" flag as if it accounts for at least a month of national shutdown over there.

Continually frustrating.

Ok, so I had a bit of news the other day when chatting with customer service again. Apparently there's a boat with a shipment of stuff coming in March... due in around a couple weeks. The odd thing is that they couldn't tell me if the item I was asking about (due by the end of the current 'season') was actually in that shipment. (On the one hand it seems odd that they wouldn't demand to notified on the actual goods as they were shipped, on the other... knowing how sketchy communication can sometimes be with low-cost factories, I can't say I'd be completely surprised if that were the case.) We'll know in a couple weeks I guess...

Chinese New Year holds up things around this time of year, so that boat of stuff probably sat around for a month... I hope my helmet is on it!

 

[JOATRASH FX]

I was also told there is some kind of boat/ ship out there with everything on it. And it was supposed to arrive before March. Now it is due two weeks into March. It is of course the slowest ship ever built. Maybe 4 knots.

And Chinese New Year - in the U.S. we have at most a week of football and parades. It does not affect business more than a few days. So why does Anovos keep waving the "Chinese holiday" flag as if it accounts for at least a month of national shutdown over there.

Continually frustrating.

Well, it makes sense. From what I've read, the celebrations (and accompanying vacation time) in China can last at least couple weeks in mid Feb and a container ship can take 3-4 weeks or longer, so mid-March rings true. I'm part of a kickstarter that mentioned a delay due to it as well. (In comparison, here in Sweden a large part of the country- basically anything that isn't 'services', like manufacturing, industry and so on, kind of shuts down for the entire month of July. It used to be called "the industrial vacation" when all the plants shut down simultaneously for practical reasons. So if I've ever needed something machined during that time, I've been screwed and have had to wait!)

But yeah... we'll know in a couple weeks...

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

...The odd thing is that they couldn't tell me if the item I was asking about (due by the end of the current 'season') was actually in that shipment. (On the one hand it seems odd that they wouldn't demand to notified on the actual goods as they were shipped...

Either way, this just an extension of their main problem.

Either they have poor abilities to communicate to their manufacture which is Anovos fault. They chose the manufacture therefore it is up to set up communication of what gets shipped.

They should also have a local rep on the Anovos payroll representing their interest and also keeping confirmation of quality, production, and shipping issues.

So customer service is either ill-informed or lying in order to customers to keep them from cancelling orders. Either way, not good.

 

[Weldon]

Either way, this just an extension of their main problem.

Either they have poor abilities to communicate to their manufacture which is Anovos fault.

Add poor abilities to communicate to thier customers, which is exacerbated by total inability to meet production goals, and deadlines creating inability to believe anything they do say!

 

[KevVader]

Chinese New Year holds up things around this time of year, so that boat of stuff probably sat around for a month... I hope my helmet is on it!

Same with my AT-AT lid....

 

[Star Wars Helmets]

Anovos know very well what’s in that shipment - it’s not like the factory in China says "ummm we're shipping you loads of stuff but we didn’t bother to do an inventory/manifest.

However, It might well be that there’s incomplete runs within the shipment- so they don’t want to reveal anything until they’ve got the stock in hand and know where each item is going to.

I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt here!

Cheers

Jez

 

[JOATRASH FX]

...it’s not like the factory in China says "ummm we're shipping you loads of stuff but we didn’t bother to do an inventory/manifest.

Honestly, after reading about the things Master Replicas had to deal with, being involved with the whole Dredd suit effort (leather+armor made in Pakistan, not China) a few years ago and experiencing some things first-hand myself (having things made in Thailand and Hong Kong)... a situation like that wouldn't surprise me at all. The absolutely mind-boggling incompetence of some manufacturers is hard to believe unless you've actually been subject to it.

I would certainly demand a manifest if I were having things made, but if it wasn't supplied, there's not much to do except change factories as Anovos have apparently done before, which is probably one of several reasons for the current situation. So it could be either way at this point.

 

[darthjones]

Anovos know very well what’s in that shipment - it’s not like the factory in China says "ummm we're shipping you loads of stuff but we didn’t bother to do an inventory/manifest.

However, It might well be that there’s incomplete runs within the shipment- so they don’t want to reveal anything until they’ve got the stock in hand and know where each item is going to.

I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt here!

Cheers

Jez

I was told that there are incomplete runs within the shipment.

 

[Whiskey]

They know exactly what’s arriving, where, and on what day.

It’s all in the BOL. The Chinese manufacturers most likely accepted a % bank transfer deposit for production and expect the remaining payment upon arrival. There’s no way anovos wants a blind shipment. Unless whoever is in charge of their logistics is clueless in business management

China will only build what’s on ANOVOS’ purchase order, that being said, the fact that Anovos is only receiving small portions at a time automatically tells us, they don’t have the funds to order the complete demand from preorders.

 

[darthjones]

They know exactly what’s arriving, where, and on what day.

It’s all in the BOL. The Chinese manufacturers most likely accepted a % bank transfer deposit for production and expect the remaining payment upon arrival. There’s no way anovos wants a blind shipment. Unless whoever is in charge of there logistics is clueless in business management

RIGHT - that is so why it is so totally infuriating that they use language like "we anticipate" for late Feb. JUST SAY THE TIME PERIOD YOU KNOW IS GOING TO HAPPEN. Stupid company. As long as they use "we anticipate" and "estimate" in any sentences I will never order from them again.

Liars - including anyone associated with the company who does not completely open up to customers about what is going on. Silence is lying at this point.

 

[oblagon]

They know exactly what’s arriving, where, and on what day.

It’s all in the BOL. The Chinese manufacturers most likely accepted a % bank transfer deposit for production and expect the remaining payment upon arrival. There’s no way anovos wants a blind shipment. Unless whoever is in charge of their logistics is clueless in business management

Exactly, Chinese manufactures are not going to just put anything in a container to ship overseas. They are shipping only whats been paid for and Anovos knows exactly what they are paying for.

China will only build what’s on ANOVOS’ purchase order, that being said, the fact that Anovos is only receiving small portions at a time automatically tells us, they don’t have the funds to order the complete demand from preorders.

This has been their MO since the beginning. Spotty release of products.