Anovos Stormtrooper.... thoughts?

[Qui-Gonzalez]

The big difference is, those companies don't put out a product until it's ready for shipping, and sell for full retail price.

The Anovos/EFX/MR use a "go fund me" scheme, and in some cases they sell low to get money into the pipeline a bit more quickly before the product is finished.

The other difference is, and this is with MR and EFX, the money you were putting down went towards development of the product you were putting money on. Anovos has taken vaporware way above and beyond what any company has done before. If I were investing in their products, I'd be worried. If they fold, all of that Peter to Paul money is gone.

 

[craigjohn]

Anovos still needs to make money (turn a profit) to pay for production, pay the owners (themselves), pay Disney for the licensing fee (unless they put it up front), any business loans, plus sales/use/income taxes, plus put away a little in the piggy bank. 100% of the money can't always go to investing in their next product.

 

[ggriffaw]

How is this not a Ponzi Scheme? Your pre-order money isn't going for the product you are pre-ordering. It's going for some other idea that they may have down the road.

Borrowing from Peter to pay Paul.

In general money generated from sales goes towards developing or creating future products. That is how business works.

A ponzi scheme involves giving money to early investors from money invested by later investors. Generally the last investors simply lose their money. I'm not aware of any early customers getting paid by later customers, so it is not a ponzi scheme.

Anyone not comfortable with waiting or not knowing exactly what the final product will be should not do the pre-orders. That applies to all businesses.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

 

[kman]

In general money generated from sales goes towards developing or creating future products. That is how business works.

A ponzi scheme involves giving money to early investors from money invested by later investors. Generally the last investors simply lose their money. I'm not aware of any early customers getting paid by later customers, so it is not a ponzi scheme.

Anyone not comfortable with waiting or not knowing exactly what the final product will be should not do the pre-orders. That applies to all businesses.

Agreed. This is not a Ponzi scheme, by definition. It's a shaky way to do business, and yes, it would appear that there is an amount of risk to customer money (although credit cards can probably return the money in the event of a real issue). But to date, Anovos HAS delivered... eventually, on their promises. And they've been relatively good (not always fast) about refunds if someone tires of waiting, so there's that.

I won't be purchasing anything else from them in the future that's not in stock, and I won't buy armor from them for other reasons. (I'm very happy with my Anovos OT TK armor, but won't be buying anything further until they get a better system in place to deal with spare parts and extra sheets of color-matched plastic, like any other vendor can do.)

 

[Timmythekid]

The TK was pushing the boundaries of people's patience, but over two years for the first few rounds of products, with no shipping in sight yet and continually blown release dates without comment is simply inexcusable. I think that's really what is making people question Anovos' model; take out time and communication issues and the actual money part functions pretty much the same way any other retail manufacturer does - sales of current product funds future inventory and expansion. It's the communication thing that keeps getting EFX and Anovos crucified - people will put up with a LOT if they know WHY they are putting up with it - liscensor wanted changes? Factory can't get QC to where it needs to be? Just TELL people. To be fair, Anovos has so far done a slightly better job than EFX here, as at least they don't actively run away and hide from their customers.

 

[Lichtbringer]

The TK was pushing the boundaries of people's patience,

Only those who had problems with reading and understanding. They delivered exactly in the from the start mentioned timeframe, closer to the end of the timeframe, but still within.

But it seems there are a lot of "Generation Amazon prime" people out there ..... Hey, i paid yesterday, why hasn´t it arrived yet?

 

[cboath]

The TK was pushing the boundaries of people's patience, but over two years for the first few rounds of products, with no shipping in sight yet and continually blown release dates without comment is simply inexcusable. I think that's really what is making people question Anovos' model; take out time and communication issues and the actual money part functions pretty much the same way any other retail manufacturer does - sales of current product funds future inventory and expansion. It's the communication thing that keeps getting EFX and Anovos crucified - people will put up with a LOT if they know WHY they are putting up with it - liscensor wanted changes? Factory can't get QC to where it needs to be? Just TELL people. To be fair, Anovos has so far done a slightly better job than EFX here, as at least they don't actively run away and hide from their customers.

IIRC the TK was advertised at 1st QTR 2016 and stuff started shipping in March 2016. I think they really wanted to get it in by december, but they said not to expect it by TFA opening. Still, if the original timeframe was QTR 4 2016, i can't imagine 3 months is pushing the boundaries of people's patience when vader is well past that and luke bespin, etc. Now, if you mean it pushed limits because it was the 3rd thing to be delayed....but 3 months max of delays isn't that big a deal in this industry. In fact, it's nearly record timing

That said, i've got a couple helmets that are still being awaited and their original date was last summer, IIRC. So, not overly thrilled there. But we shall see.

It's too bad Got Maul dropped off. I really appreciated his 'behind the curtain' take on what was going on. It may not have had the details people wanted but it let you know things were progressing and in general what the holdups were.

 

[p51]

I won't be purchasing anything else from them in the future that's not in stock

That's the way I feel. I have a few of their BSG items they'd made and I'm very happy with each, but I didn't order any of them based on the crushing level of feedback I was reading darned near anywhere within the hobby online that I looked. It's hard to ignore the massive majority of people responding to questions on their service.
I get a guy working in his basement, cranking out one custom order at a time, but this company isn't set up to appear in this light.

• Supplies late?
• Problems with the licensing?
• Went on a bender last night and you're too hung over to make or ship stuff?
• Dog Pregnant?
• Wife got fleas?

Hey, all that can be stuffed into a big sack marked, "NOT MY [bleep]-ING PROBLEM".
I can be patient for the time it takes, for example, to mail something, but I don't get why so many people defend this kind of business model. You give the money, and eventually, someday, maybe you'll get your stuff. Uh, yeah... I don't roll like that. If you have the stuff to ship, let me know and I'll be happy to pay you then. Until that time, it's a normal business model to accept the risk and the expenses up front in anticipation for the payoff through profit later on. That's how all other people do business, folks!
If you want my money, you need to give me the stuff I paid for. If you can't grasp a simple concept like this, you should seek life elsewhere.

 

[ggriffaw]

The TK was pushing the boundaries of people's patience, but over two years for the first few rounds of products, with no shipping in sight yet and continually blown release dates without comment is simply inexcusable. I think that's really what is making people question Anovos' model; take out time and communication issues and the actual money part functions pretty much the same way any other retail manufacturer does - sales of current product funds future inventory and expansion. It's the communication thing that keeps getting EFX and Anovos crucified - people will put up with a LOT if they know WHY they are putting up with it - liscensor wanted changes? Factory can't get QC to where it needs to be? Just TELL people. To be fair, Anovos has so far done a slightly better job than EFX here, as at least they don't actively run away and hide from their customers.

Anovos has an updates page on their website that they update pretty frequently. It says where each product is in development and an estimated ship quarter. I feel their communication has been pretty good.

 

[ggriffaw]

Which high quality replica prop/costume companies have been successful producing all of their products before putting them up for sale? When they produce too many, they take a big loss liquidating the overstock. That appears to be what happened with the Anovos FO helmet. Large companies like Hasbro can absorb losses on some products, but small prop companies can't for long. Why do you think so many replica prop companies fail? Doing things the same way as failed companies doesn't make much sense.

I'm fine with the preorder model, but the wait for many of the products has been much too long.

 

[kman]

Anovos has an updates page on their website that they update pretty frequently. It says where each product is in development and an estimated ship quarter. I feel their communication has been pretty good.

First off, this is a fairly recent addition, just the past month or two. The first OT TK run didn't have this.

Secondly, the dates they post have yet to stick. Literally not a single on their initial estimates has been accurate. Every one of the pre-order products has been delayed for months after the initial delivery estimate. In many cases the dates have been pushed back 2-3 times before finally shipping.

 

[ggriffaw]

First off, this is a fairly recent addition, just the past month or two. The first OT TK run didn't have this.

Secondly, the dates they post have yet to stick. Literally not a single on their initial estimates has been accurate. Every one of the pre-order products has been delayed for months after the initial delivery estimate. In many cases the dates have been pushed back 2-3 times before finally shipping.

I agree that the updates page didn't exist until fairly recently, but it's been longer than a month or two.

Isn't the fact that the updates page was created a sign that Anovos listens to comments and makes changes? People complained about lack of communication and now we get pretty frequent updates.

I understand the estimated shipping dates have changed on many items. Things don't always go as planned when there are many steps involved with many participants. At least they are letting us know where the item is in development/approval and the revised date. That's better than some companies where the customers have no idea what is going on or if development is even continuing.

 

[Timmythekid]

Only those who had problems with reading and understanding. They delivered exactly in the from the start mentioned timeframe, closer to the end of the timeframe, but still within.

But it seems there are a lot of "Generation Amazon prime" people out there ..... Hey, i paid yesterday, why hasn´t it arrived yet?

Again, it's not about the length of time from start to finish. It's not about the missed dates themselves. It IS however about missing repeated shipping dates dates without comment. Which is exactly what happened. Several times. Between that, the contradictory newsletters regarding changes to the suit, and some silly pedantic jiggery-pokery over "Well, 2015 really means early 2016", there was less than ideal communication on this product. Attempting to write whatever frustration exists over the process off to just stupid impatient darn kids misses the point entirely. A point which Anovos themselves have publicly acknowledged, and, as evidenced by the comprehensive communication update to the site SINCE the TKs were about to ship, addressed.

Look, I am happy with the product I have received so far, and I am happy with how they have addressed their communication issues - no more picked out of the air, hope-for-the-best release dates - "it will be AT LEAST this long, maybe longer". I would be comfortable ordering again from them at this point (although I WILL miss the tiered pricing )because they were able to look objectively at what they were hearing from customers, and make some minor changes and improvements in their communication that satisfies their business model AND their customers. That's GOOD business, and I appreciate it when I see it.

 

[Timmythekid]

I agree that the updates page didn't exist until fairly recently, but it's been longer than a month or two.

Isn't the fact that the updates page was created a sign that Anovos listens to comments and makes changes? People complained about lack of communication and now we get pretty frequent updates.

I understand the estimated shipping dates have changed on many items. Things don't always go as planned when there are many steps involved with many participants. At least they are letting us know where the item is in development/approval and the revised date. That's better than some companies where the customers have no idea what is going on or if development is even continuing.

Yes, exactly. It's actually seeing them do these simple little things right that gives me some confidence that they will continue to be around for a while and so to pre-order from them in the future.

 

[Lukesfather]

Just a thought ......... If Anovos spent half of the shipping price on trimming the pieces along the trim lines ....... The kit would fit in a box half the size..... that probably would cost half the price to ship .............

 

[cyclocrosschris]

waiting on the shadowtrooper already paid for... anyone else notice that the OT TK both white, and hopefully soon, black , are the only income generators for ANOVOS. If it werent for these two suitsz. there would not be enough cash to fund this business model.. Honestly, the OTTK kit was a steal at pre order prices. Fingers crossed for the shaow.... Expect the usual shippping hysteria when they release those shadow kits. looking forward to mine.

 

[ggriffaw]

waiting on the shadowtrooper already paid for... anyone else notice that the OT TK both white, and hopefully soon, black , are the only income generators for ANOVOS. If it werent for these two suitsz. there would not be enough cash to fund this business model.. Honestly, the OTTK kit was a steal at pre order prices. Fingers crossed for the shaow.... Expect the usual shippping hysteria when they release those shadow kits. looking forward to mine.

Don't forget that Anovos also sells products for other franchises.

They have sold plenty of Star Wars items, but just a few have been shipped so far.

The Vader helmets have started to ship.

 

[spacebob]

Look what turned up today....

My relacement shins turned up today in the uk.
I wasn't asked to destroy the originals so if this happens at all, I don't know.
I believe the problem with the numbers and also the advice too use superglue was bad, but here they are so all's good again in stormtrooper land

 

[BardoFett]

I honestly didn't think this day would arrive...but my complete TK ensemble has been DELIVERED!!!


Nicely packaged...I had already pulled off some of the wrapping.


Sweet poster...


Traditional dishwasher rubber gloves...a little warm on the skin, but pretty good


Compression shirt & pants - very good fit


Thermal detonator - a little disappointed that it did not have a removable cap to store stuff, but I can always mod that later.


Everything pre-velcroed and padded insert came pre-installed

 

[BardoFett]

Continuing...


Hand guards


Calves are really well done with velcro along the back seam pre-installed