Deagostini Falcon. Anyone seen this?
- Thread starter Howard
- Start date
TazMan2000
Master Member
Perhaps they are doing away with the billing emails. Obviously they are going to bill us when they ship the parts. Personally, this will unstuff my inbox to a small degree.
TazMan2000
TazMan2000
Same here. I switched to monthly only and ever since I am no longer getting bill and ship emails. The box just shows up. Also for the last two months the boxes are arriving looking real beat up, which they were not before. Fortunately the contents were all good.
I've seen some of the replacement corridor pieces and even thou they fixed the top notches, they have still forgotten the bottom notches. Hope that issue is fixed before they ship them out to the USA!
I have not received any billing or shipping e-mails either. But my wife says that it was charged on our Visa bill. I will have to double check the bill to make sure I guess. She usually pays all the bills because i hate paper work or I sometimes forget to pay them. lol
My last shipment box arrived pretty beat up too. Luckily nothing inside was damaged. I hope this is not going to be the norm from now on.
My last shipment box arrived pretty beat up too. Luckily nothing inside was damaged. I hope this is not going to be the norm from now on.
dtssyst
Sr Member
I am thinking that this kit is being made by the publisher as we go. That the publisher is really not that far ahead of us in the building of this replica. This would explain greatly as to why we have not seen a fully built kit from them. Hence the errors on parts already released and then re-releasing the 'corrected' parts.
This would lead me to think the following to be true... That corrected parts are being put into the hands of the buyer/builder with the publisher hoping that those who received the 'bad' parts already will not know about or notice the corrected parts replacing said 'bad' parts in the new batches being sent out. -sorry, very long run on sentence. lol
By the end, I am hopeful that the publisher rectifies the current errors that are known (and any future errors) and that they provide all of us who have invested our time and money into this kit with all corrected/revised parts. What would be even better is if they would communicate any and or all of this before we even have to ask.
This would lead me to think the following to be true... That corrected parts are being put into the hands of the buyer/builder with the publisher hoping that those who received the 'bad' parts already will not know about or notice the corrected parts replacing said 'bad' parts in the new batches being sent out. -sorry, very long run on sentence. lol
By the end, I am hopeful that the publisher rectifies the current errors that are known (and any future errors) and that they provide all of us who have invested our time and money into this kit with all corrected/revised parts. What would be even better is if they would communicate any and or all of this before we even have to ask.
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Welcome to the party! We already know they haven't made a complete kit yet. The only thing that they have made is a prototype ship that they used for displaying at various conventions (and it really wasn't that complete). However, there are a few facts that maybe you're not aware of... The thing about DeAgostini is the fact that this is the first time they have ever delved into the scifi model world. They did not expect the amount of interest in this kit and are working out kinks as they go along. All of us who have subscribed have come to terms with that. That is also why you cannot buy all the parts at once until the first initial run is completed. It is also why they go back and fix parts that aren't quite up to fan snuff so to speak, however, they do replace those parts free of charge to all those that have subscribed to the kit. This occured early in their initial test run of the kit almost 2 years ago in England, but I'll tell you more about that later.
DeAgostini has been doing model kits since 1901... they normally have been focused on wooden sailing ships and over the years have expanded to highly detailed formula one cars, motorbikes, trains and various other highly detailed and accurate model kits. If you've ever been to a modeling convention and saw those really detailed kits that usually end up winning 1st place in their catagories, they were probably DeAgostini kits. They have pretty much been a secret amoungst the competitive modelers out there, and most of us in the USA haven't even heard of them until they decided to attempt doing a full 1:1 scale Falcon. Here in the states it's a pretty new concept of doing a model kit subscription, but they have been doing it for a long time in the UK.
Now, their first test run of the Falcon was pretty dismal... The detail was completely off, the scale was off, just really a **** poor attempt at the level of detail that not only we as modelers had come to demand, but they as a company that pride themselves on accuracy just couldn't tolerate. Matter of fact many of the people that subscribed complained about the detail and how it was so far off and DeAgostini actually cancelled the entire production and refunded money to those that had already subscribed. However, they had started a fired that was going to be impossible to extiquish. The fans were so excited about finally finding a full size 1:1 scale falcon that many were devistated when they cancelled it. But, not wanting to disappoint the fans, they hired Steve Dymszo... if you don't know who he is, he's one of the very few people who have actually had the chance to touch the original 32" Inch Falcon model with his bare hands. He's the guy that co-founded Master Replicas and released their 32" Inch Falcon replica back in 2001-5 (somewhere around there, not quite sure exactly). What they did was they actually scanned that original studio model with a white light scanner at very high resolution. Steve also took several thousand photos and pan toned all the colors personally. Needless to say, if you don't have access to the original Falcon, Dymszo is the guy you go to to get anything Falcon related.
When DeAgo brought Steve onto the project, everything changed. He showed them the problems and they reissued the first 4 issues with completely retooled parts. Everyone who had subscribed before got the first 4 issues replaced at no charge AND a free 5th issue! Steve is now completely on board with this kit to the end and will even be releasing build and painting guides to make the kit much more accurate to the movie. This is a kit that will require 2 years of dedication and time to invest in. 100 issues... 4 per month, 25 months. Personally I'm excited about this kit... I can't wait to have it all together and sitting on my shelf!
So... in essence your thinking was correct but now you have more facts about the entire kit, it makes alot more sense as to the reasoning behind everything. We all know that this is a learning curve for them. We know that they will probably mess up from time to time... but we also know they will fix the problems and do right by their customers. I would understand everyone being leery if this was some crackpot overnight company that just appeared out of no-where, but this company has been around for a LONG time and they haven't been in business for over a 100 years for nothing! So far there have been a few hiccups... but I don't think that anyone can honestly say they have been disappointed in their service. They have no problem pleasing their customers and are always willing to help out whenever possible. If anyone has had any real problems, I'm sure this will be the place to hear it about it first. Personally the only real problem I've had is the binder when it was delivered came bent on the corner and dinged up on one side. But it was just the binder and I'm not really that worried about it. The magazines sometimes come a little beat up too, but the parts I've received so far have been perfect. I dunno about the rest of you.
I agree with you on this. That is why the only completed photos we get are of Steve D.'s custom Master Replica Falcon. For me their semi finished mock-up was enough to sell me. I think they will get it right with all the money being put into this. I agree that they need to make it right, but some of the questions and suggestions in the "ask the publisher" section of the website are just RIDICULOUS! At some point Deagostini has to draw the line of what is profitable for them.
dtssyst
Sr Member
LrdSatyr8,
Not late to the party, just hanging in the back watching, listening and trying to learn. I fully agree with all that you stated.
kokkari,
I know some are asking the world and fully agree a line must be drawn someplace.
everyone,
I am trying to be realistic in the parts that I think they should fix/replace. Knowing that they have corrected the parts in question should mean that they will replace them to their subscribers automatically. That they should communicate to the buyers as soon as the error was noticed and then a followup on how they will resolve it with their subscribers.
Overall, I am very happy with the kit. I would not have started a page on our website if I was not. Just wish the communication from them was more forthcoming.
Not late to the party, just hanging in the back watching, listening and trying to learn. I fully agree with all that you stated.
kokkari,
I know some are asking the world and fully agree a line must be drawn someplace.
everyone,
I am trying to be realistic in the parts that I think they should fix/replace. Knowing that they have corrected the parts in question should mean that they will replace them to their subscribers automatically. That they should communicate to the buyers as soon as the error was noticed and then a followup on how they will resolve it with their subscribers.
Overall, I am very happy with the kit. I would not have started a page on our website if I was not. Just wish the communication from them was more forthcoming.
Yeah didn't get either billed or shipped email, but the box for this month showed up last week.
FlyingBrickyard
New Member
No billing or shipping email for me last month either (month 2 for me). I just happened to look out the front window and saw it sitting on my doorstep. That was around the 15th, I believe.
I think we should realize that the enormous amount of money in development and the complexity of thus kit we may have to accept that not everything can be fixed.Retooling parts is expensive and to go back and redo parts interrupts the manufacture of the next issue of parts.I think it would be very difficult to produce a falcon that would please everyone.IF production was halted for a while to redo previous parts people would be upset that their next shipment was delayed.
Just to be clear these are my own thoughts.I am not a spokesman for DeAG-just forum support
Necronaut
Active Member
I think the redone cockpit shell is coming around issue 40 (according to the Steve Dyzmo DeAgo video series). Not too long!! :cool
bwize
Sr Member
Woohoo! Just signed up for this beast! Can't wait to get my first shipment. Will have to make some sacrifices, but it's well worth it as I believe that this is a once in a lifetime chance to be able to own something like this. Thank you Deagostini!
I really hope I am able to stay the course (see sacrifices above, lol) and make it to the end. I am a little nervous about the 2 yr commitment, with the way the economy is going, but I'm gonna take the gamble.
I really hope I am able to stay the course (see sacrifices above, lol) and make it to the end. I am a little nervous about the 2 yr commitment, with the way the economy is going, but I'm gonna take the gamble.
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