Star Trek Discovery Phaser by Anovos
- Thread starter Sc0tty
- Start date
Wow, buddy! An explaination is a tall order. I suggest you do a search here or even Google for the answers you seek.
Short answer is Icons went out of business after taking a ton of orders that they never delivered on. That is not to say they didn't deliver products, I have the Luke and Obi Sabers, but towards the end they knew they were going under and still took money in for products they never delivered or refunded the money. There are still a lot of people who are out of pocket and will never see a penny of their money back.
There have been a couple of people selling them on ebay over they last couple of weeks since they actually started receiving them. I'm not sure if it is the same seller but there are 2 different auctions selling them for $599 and one of them had a least 8 of them. I've been tempted but haven't pulled the trigger even though people appear to be receiving them.
PicasoX
Sr Member
Today I was in contact with someone who was in Wave one for the discovery phasers, he JUST got his phaser a few days ago. They supposedly had these in the warehouse in March 2019 and they are still working on the first wave! We are talking about 50 items per wave here and they only got less than 50 shipped out in the past 4 months? Not to mention no one will be getting a stand that was supposed to be included, for months or years in this case probably never.
I decided to contact my bank and see what my options were, they said they can go back 540 days to initiate a dispute and only under special circumstances like this can it be done, I'm on day 561 so I just missed the deadline. They cannot file a dispute for me.
If you are under 540 days, depending on your bank, you still may be able to initiate a dispute and get your money back.
I decided to contact my bank and see what my options were, they said they can go back 540 days to initiate a dispute and only under special circumstances like this can it be done, I'm on day 561 so I just missed the deadline. They cannot file a dispute for me.
If you are under 540 days, depending on your bank, you still may be able to initiate a dispute and get your money back.
Last edited:
What are they doing with all the money?I think they produce this stuff for cheap in china...are the chinese guys so bad now that they only ship bad made props back these days that they are not good for sale here?Or are they driving expensives cars and making big travels around the world with the cash?Are the fees for disney too high?Its a big joke that all Star Wars-propcompanys going this way. 
"What are they doing with all the money? "
It's expensive to run as prop company, and if you are not based in China or have a representative there to oversee production, usually quite a bit more expensive due to poor quality controls. Cost of packaging is expensive and shipping cost has dramatically risen, which does not help any long term budgeting. add in current tariffs and other bureaucratic issues and you can find working in China sucks at times, currently for certain. Design of product shipment containers / boxing and packaging is expensive, R&D for such is beyond what most people imagine. Unless you really understand what goes into creating a product from start to finish, you can find yourself very behind in budget quickly. Licensing and legal representation is a bear to deal with and product R&D is costly, basic molds are incredibly costly to make. By the time you adding marketing and a continuous business workplace, just the normal overhead depending on where your based you can find yourself underwater quickly. Properly starting a company takes a huge cash infusion and many who in vest for such want their money working for them with good returns. Prop company startups have an incredible hurdle to overcome to bring such items to market.
It's expensive to run as prop company, and if you are not based in China or have a representative there to oversee production, usually quite a bit more expensive due to poor quality controls. Cost of packaging is expensive and shipping cost has dramatically risen, which does not help any long term budgeting. add in current tariffs and other bureaucratic issues and you can find working in China sucks at times, currently for certain. Design of product shipment containers / boxing and packaging is expensive, R&D for such is beyond what most people imagine. Unless you really understand what goes into creating a product from start to finish, you can find yourself very behind in budget quickly. Licensing and legal representation is a bear to deal with and product R&D is costly, basic molds are incredibly costly to make. By the time you adding marketing and a continuous business workplace, just the normal overhead depending on where your based you can find yourself underwater quickly. Properly starting a company takes a huge cash infusion and many who in vest for such want their money working for them with good returns. Prop company startups have an incredible hurdle to overcome to bring such items to market.
That still doesn't justify what they are doing. If you need to charge more for products because of the costs then be upfront and tell people that. If you are having problems delivering product because of production problems in China then be upfront about it but be prepared to offer proof as by now no one will believe a word they say. Don't go silent and then blame your problems on people cancelling orders that they haven't received after multiple years waiting for them.
PicasoX
Sr Member
I think they rob Peter to Pay Paul, when you do a pre order you are not paying for your prop run but they use that money to fill current production items, then they will take the money from someone else to pay for your prop run in small batche as it is being produced. They are still receiving shipments of Discovery phases no doubt they are paying a batch at a time, my concern is that they will run out of money before they get to wave 5 because who is going to give them any money now?
PicasoX
Sr Member
Since I don't believe I will ever receive my Discovery phaser from Avovos, going on 2 years waiting, I decided to purchase another one from a third party seller who happened to have several in stock. I received it with in 2 business days but when I opened the box I noticed the phaser 1 rising hood was sticking up.
I rolled the release knob and it popped up the rest of the way, I closed it and it was still sticking half way up. So I initiated a return and ordered another one from the same seller. Opened the box and the same thing. This whole batch must be defective! Though the second one is better, it still doesn't look like the promo pictures.
Part of the problem is the spring inside is too long and it pushes too hard on the hood not letting it lay flat when closed, the second problem is that the release is not formed so it can grab the hood deep enough and hold it down flat in the closed position. Being that the 2nd one I got is much better than the 1st one I think I can modify the mechanism inside so it will hold the hood down flush.
Now I'm not only concerned about whether or not I will receive my $500 phaser, but now quality issues are a major concern as well.
Everything else about the phaser is great! I am pleased with the quality, fit and finish. I expected it to be lightweight since I read that it was made from 3D printing like the Screen used ones, but it is a hollowed up resin shell so it has a really nice weighty feel to it.
I did have a little trouble getting the battery meter to work because I didn't realize it required a 3rd battery. Its obvious that it takes two batteries on the top of the magazine, but not very obvious that another one goes in the bottom as well. Reading the directions might have saved me a few minuets of grief there, but who reads directions anyways?
This is the first one with the hood in fully closed position.
I rolled the release knob and it popped up the rest of the way, I closed it and it was still sticking half way up. So I initiated a return and ordered another one from the same seller. Opened the box and the same thing. This whole batch must be defective! Though the second one is better, it still doesn't look like the promo pictures.
Part of the problem is the spring inside is too long and it pushes too hard on the hood not letting it lay flat when closed, the second problem is that the release is not formed so it can grab the hood deep enough and hold it down flat in the closed position. Being that the 2nd one I got is much better than the 1st one I think I can modify the mechanism inside so it will hold the hood down flush.
Now I'm not only concerned about whether or not I will receive my $500 phaser, but now quality issues are a major concern as well.
Everything else about the phaser is great! I am pleased with the quality, fit and finish. I expected it to be lightweight since I read that it was made from 3D printing like the Screen used ones, but it is a hollowed up resin shell so it has a really nice weighty feel to it.
I did have a little trouble getting the battery meter to work because I didn't realize it required a 3rd battery. Its obvious that it takes two batteries on the top of the magazine, but not very obvious that another one goes in the bottom as well. Reading the directions might have saved me a few minuets of grief there, but who reads directions anyways?
This is the first one with the hood in fully closed position.
That is such a shame about their QC. I was very tempted to order from the seller on ebay and it did appear that he was getting good reviews on the phasers so I'm guessing not all of them were messed up like yours or people just don't realize that it is supposed to close all the way.
