I have a question about the DST radical program this year. It says a “free gift” under $75 or store credit for something over $75 (?) so if I sign up, is it anything in the store, for example, LOTR wave 7 as soon as it’s in stock, for free with my membership?
The wording on the website is not quite clear, because that seems like an amazing deal?
sorry I would have posted the link first but I was in the car.
I see hands, axes, pipe, new headsculpt, and the Lorien cloak!
This looks awesome. Some really great offerings at SDCC from a bunch of companies. Wish I could go.
Not seeing the Lorien cloak but I’d be happy to be wrong. A rerelease of the first few figures in the line (Legolas, Aragorn) in similar fashion would be killer and instant buy from me
Thanks! I don't wanna buy it, but I might have to just for the Lorien cloak... hmmm...
Nice! Hopefully he is not too hard to get. I appreciate that the release is not a necessarily a most have but I definitely want to get it especially if he has the cloak.
SDCC Gimli is limited to 1500 pieces. It seems like it might be hard to get. But I will give it a go.
@greywizard look in the 3/4 shot from the left of the figure in the package. you can see the cloak draped over his left shoulder.
I have a question about the DST radical program this year. It says a “free gift” under $75 or store credit for something over $75 (?) so if I sign up, is it anything in the store, for example, LOTR wave 7 as soon as it’s in stock, for free with my membership?
The wording on the website is not quite clear, because that seems like an amazing deal?
It is both true and an amazing deal. Pay $50 cash for free shipping on select in-stock items (I don't believe EVERYTHING gets free shipping) and you get $75 credit to spend on in-stock items. They may correct it at some point, but for now it is 100% accurate.
Hey, does anybody know if the earlier sets are going to be re-released? Would love to pick up a Ringwraith!
We are re-issuing all the earlier waves. 1-6.
With improved face paint apps (Legolas' pink eyes and Gandalf's eyes) or exactly as they were?
The Gimli packaging is lovely. I want it almost just to put that behind Frodo and the eventual ladies!
Yeah... I've got a lot to say about this and I'm sure some people don't want to read it so .. don't. I guess? But I've gotta get it off my chest for my own sake. I want to say that none of this is personal, as I've said before. It's an issue with how a company is doing things and not necessarily a problem with any one person in that company. However, I also recognize that it IS a little personal because I'm going after specific things that a specific person has said.
So the best I can really promise here is that there's no malice. I don't hate DST or anyone that works for DST. At the same time, I have a big problem with some of the things msword has had to say here. I don't want to be that guy that drives a dude away by being 'too rude' or anything, so I'm going to try to be fair and as non-aggressive as possible here. I remember people calling Jesse Falcon names and being so horrible to him that he left Fwoosh forever. I don't want to be that guy at all.
BUT, I also really love Fwoosh and don't want to see people spouting some absolute bullshit unchallenged just because it might be unpopular to ruffle their feathers.
That being said...
msword is saying things that are contradictions to the point that I can ONLY, if I'm being honest, call it absolute fucking horseshit. You can't say 'we won't prototype our figures like everyone else does because we don't know if we're going to make them until pre-orders are in' And then IMMEDIATELY follow that up by humble-bragging and trying to defray criticism of the action figures by pointing out that they keep selling out. In the same post.
Some posts later we find that Gandalf the White is slated for wave 10, and work has begun on wave 11. So DST has at the -very- least invested some amount of money (design, oversight, etc) up into a tenth and eleventh wave of product. There's also a weird statement that army builders don't sell as well as named figures and multiple-buyers 'almost' make up for that. I'm not sure how you -almost- make up for figures 100% 'selling out.' I'm assuming this is just a less-complicated way of saying the army builders sell slower. But still.. it all sells out, right?
And we have the 'keep going as long as sales remain strong' - implying sales are strong. Which corroborates the earlier statement of every figure selling out.
THEN, and this is my favorite part, msword directly states that DST is re-issuing the first SIX WAVES of figures. So the line has been so successful, that DST has decided to actually run 12 figures all over again, presumably with whatever their standard MOQ is at the factory, but maybe not if they're getting a deal of some kind. Still - the figures are selling well enough to justify re-releasing everything that came out up until now-ish, if I'm not mistaken.
So the question I'm coming to from all this: Which is it? Do you not know if you will even make the next figures, or is this line so popular that every figure has sold out and you need to re-issue them all again? It CAN'T be both. At some point a company operated by grown-ups knows whether or not the product they are making can sell or not. You have all the data you could possibly need to plan the next wave. That's literally how every toy company operates. And how many non-toy companies operate.
Is Diamond Select Lord of the Rings a highly successful line with 100% sell-through, or a line with a constantly uncertain future? You have to pick one. You can't just claim it's both depending on which thing serves the point you want to make at that moment.
To put a finer point on it - I don't know why msword is being dishonest, but I do think he's being dishonest. Or DST really is the worst-run company of all time that doesn't know how to interpret data for production quantities. And I say that not having a single clue was msword does at DST. I don't put any blame on him. I don't even necessarily blame him for what I'm interpreting as blatant dishonesty because if he's just a spokesman, he's gotta say what the company wants him to say. Fair enough. But what he's saying doesn't make any sense. And it feels like purpose-built excuses as to why DST refuses to do things better because someone at DST just doesn't -want- to.
And hey, credit where due; if successive figures are better and start solving the problems of previous figures - that's wonderful. That's great. It's excellent. Good for DST and good for all the customers. But it doesn't change the fact that many problems with the figures so far are something any competent person in the toy industry should have noticed a mile away prior to production. So either every problem was noticed and ignored, or wasn't noticed. And that's an issue either way. There's no good answer.
None of this stuff was complicated or freeze-frame movie minutiae. Just basic functionality and design. And if it takes half-a-dozen waves of your own customers pointing out problems with how you make the figures before they get better.. that's an issue too.
I guarantee you that there's a dozen people even just right here on the Fwoosh that could have looked at a resin copy and pointed out at least 90% of the problems, or asked the right questions, for the various issues the line has had up until this point.
I've never once gone and demanded my money back for the various DST figures I bought. Hell, I made a point of specifically NOT coming here and complaining about any post-wave 1 figures. I made my points about the Ringwraith and Aragorn and I didn't see any notable improvements with later waves. Different problems on different figures, but all the same crop of 'this was SO easy to notice and no one did or no one cared.' It bugged me, but I knew the possibility was there after the first wave.
So it's not like I'm out here finding every excuse to tear DST down. But come on. Don't make excuses. Just do better. Not 'we'll try if everyone tells us what we're doing wrong.' Look at the fucking toy and you tell ME what you did wrong and then fix it before it's in a store. It's not as hard as it's being made out.
Also, the whole 'these are childrens' playthings' argument is fucking dumb. These are 30-dollar action figures absolutely being marketed to adults, as was already mentioned. And if these were actually childrens' playthings then I'd have a whole different crop of complaints because they're not really good for that either - in part for the reasons that tend to make them good as adult collectibles. Which is what they are. Trying to say 'they're just toys!' as some reductive bullshit argument for why they don't need to be made with care is idiotic. Not to mention another example of people acting against their own interests. 'No sir, please DON'T make the product that I buy better, see what a good little consumer I am? Notice me, Notice Me!'
Please.
Again, fellas; I want this line to be the best it can possibly be. This is one of my favorite properties of all time, and I, as you may know, really like action figures. I hope the next wave is fucking phenomenal. I hope I'm in here extolling the virtues of DST's long-game to making good figures. Hey, turns out this 'try to do it entirely wrong first so you learn what not to do' approach is the best thing ever because this Eowyn is the best action figure I've ever owned. I WANT to be here saying that. I'm not saying any of this because I want DST to fail, or because I revel in what they do badly. I say it because I want them to succeed and do better. For them and for us. And again, if you don't like it - this is a super fucking long post so why are you still reading it if it twisted your panties up so bad? Go do something else. Jeez.
Also, if Eowyn turns out well, I'll be waiting for Eomer and Black Gates Aragorn. I'll also second the deep, nasally whine that we HAVE to have Prologue Elves and Gondorians (modern and prologue). Like I said, I want these figures to be awesome, and I've got a wishlist as long as my arm when they are.
With improved face paint apps (Legolas' pink eyes and Gandalf's eyes) or exactly as they were
I am not aware of any updates besides trying to attach some scabbards, but we'll see. I believe Legolas is back in stock already.
To put a finer point on it - I don't know why msword is being dishonest, but I do think he's being dishonest. Or DST really is the worst-run company of all time that doesn't know how to interpret data for production quantities. And I say that not having a single clue was msword does at DST. I don't put any blame on him. I don't even necessarily blame him for what I'm interpreting as blatant dishonesty because if he's just a spokesman, he's gotta say what the company wants him to say. Fair enough. But what he's saying doesn't make any sense. And it feels like purpose-built excuses as to why DST refuses to do things better because someone at DST just doesn't -want- to.
In case anyone else doesn't know, I'm Zach Oat, Marketing Supervisor for Diamond Select Toys. (I chose MSWord because I thought it sounded cool, NOT to hide my true identity. In hindsight, I'd probably just use DSTZach everywhere.)
That means I promote DST in a variety of different channels, including forums, interviews, advertising and more. Does that mean I will always defend the company from unprovoked attacks? Yes. Does that mean I think we always do things perfect? No.
For the most part, I think DST does a great job with their figures, within the parameters we set for ourselves. If they're not super-poseable, they're not meant to be. If they're missing something you think is essential, that thing made the figure cost too much. I am not in design or production, but I am privy to certain things that others are not, and I try to share as much insight here as I can without getting fired.
Is LOTR perfect? No. Is it "entirely wrong"? No. We had some miscommunications with the factory that led to scabbards not being attached to bodies. I do not know why these were not caught earlier -- they should have been. We are working to correct that in future waves and future production runs. The Gandalf figure had a slight eye-roll, but I think that was just a minute variation that was not present in early production samples, or the prototype.
Otherwise, I think the figures are great: solid likenesses, great sculpts on non-likeness, buy six figures get a free Sauron. And sales are great! Each wave does better and better. We are making more of earlier figures so people can still get involved in the line without having to hunt down the old figures at a markup.
But the previous wave doing well and re-orders for old figures being strong doesn't mean we're going to create steel tools for the next wave, at an extremely high cost, until we know how well it sells. It could tank. Maybe the characters won't resonate, who knows what could happen. I'm not lying to anyone, it's not "horseshit", this is simply how we operate. If you don't like the way we operate, that's fine, but we aren't changing it.
So we work with the delicate resin prototypes we have and try to make them look as nice as possible to sell them to consumers and retailers. (We sell very small quantities direct-to-consumer, most of our sales are to independent and online retailers, so their orders are key, which is why you should always pre-order.) Then we try to make the production piece look just like that prototype, but better.
And while I'm not sure I ever said they were children's playthings (others may have), they ARE toys. Adult playthings, if you will. This is not the economy or politics or nuclear war, these are toys to open and pose and put on a shelf, or open and pose and take pictures of, or open and put in a bag in a bin, or not open and put on your wall or in a box or in a storage unit. But they should bring you joy. If you are not getting joy from a toy line, then maybe it's simply not for you.
Long story short (too late), we listen to feedback -- writing to the company is completely acceptable, the president reads everything sent to Ask DST -- we're constantly improving the figures, and we hope everyone sticks around to see what is coming up.
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