NEW PRODUCT: VERYCOOL: 1/6 Miss Spetsnaz: Russian Special Combat Russian special combat female action figure (#VCF-2052)

It also allows him to maintain direct accounts with distributors and get discount pricing.

Xavion2004 wrote:It also allows him to maintain direct accounts with distributors and get discount pricing.

And valuable “inside information”.

Yeah, I've never understood this practice. I know he sometimes jokes that one day he would start selling them at ridiculous prices when they are nowhere to be found, but as far as I know he has never done that. It is not exactly an ethical practice, but it would be a rational thing to do. I would understand it if he were army-building, but many of these (not so much Miss Spetsnaz) don't lend themselves to this either. I would also understand it if he got two of each set, one to "play" with, one to keep boxed and mint. But a case full? Oh well, it is his money. I was never gung ho for this set, although I liked it at first, then a bit less when they started popping up, but when I came across the parted out head I picked up one and it's quite nice.

I don't have an issue with the "ethics" of buying multiples, particularly if this person (whom I do not know) has gone to the trouble to set up a vendor account with the manufacturers or wholesalers. It's no different than any vendor buying case quantities at wholesale to sell at retail... or at higher than retail, if eBay sellers are an accurate representation of the market. The only difference is, this guy isn't selling them, at least not right away. Which means he's operating at a short-term loss, and likely a long-term loss if you factor in inflation, storage costs, future shipping costs, and possible changes in the assessment and collection of taxes on online sellers.

He sounds more like a "hoarder" than anything else. Being, unfortunately, a bit of a hoarder myself, I can easily imagine what trouble I could get in to if I had the resources to invest in case quantities of every figure I found intriguing.

Also, every time we... myself included... purchase even one piece of a "parted out" figure, we are supporting the driving up of figure prices, as resellers and regular retail buyers learn that figures are worth more parted out, and certain parts command premiums (you could pay for half your Spetznaz purchase by selling just the head). Anyone who keeps up with the comments on the New Release topics on forums can get a pretty good idea of which parts will be in demand on the secondary market, and which figures might be worth purchasing to part out for a profit.

What I don't understand is the reticence of the manufacturers to produce greater quantities of popular figures. They must be aware of "pre-sale buzz" online. It seems like they would revise production targets accordingly. Unfortunately, the figure (and doll) market seems to be making an extreme shift to the "everything is a Limited Edition" marketing model, which is serving to drive up the prices of new releases. Apparently charging higher prices for fewer figures in a smaller marketplace is proving more profitable than catering to a larger market base with more reasonable prices. Or so it seems to me at the present time.

Fortunately for me, I suppose, I was never in the market for this particular figure; however, I have certainly found this discussion fascinating to follow, from pre-release until now, while watching the secondary market prices fluctuate. There are surely some economic lessons, and possibly some sociological and psychological lessons, to be learned here.

I think you make plenty of good points, David. And I'm with you on companies making more (and at lower prices) -- it's bound to attract more buyers, although I'm sure there is a cost-benefit equation that will kick in at some point. Perhaps, especially in the current troubled economy, they are hedging their bets, willing to avoid some potential profits as long as they don't incur some possible losses.

David, from what he’s told me: He has indeed been called a hoarder, and he’s also been called an a-hole. He doesn’t buy for long or short term, he just buys/collects. He sells every now and then quietly, but not immediately. Selling is not what it’s cracked up to be, as we all know, as there are problematic sellers, and problematic buyers — and his stuff does indeed attract problematic buyers. He rarely buys much after the pre-order window since it costs more, as he has the means to do so, and often gets irked when he hears people complaining about the jacked up prices after the fact; or, when people complain about not saving up the money to buy the stuff after it’s released, and the cost has gone up.

Monkey Depot parted out the set again.

Parting out is such sweet sorrow…

I love the disclaimer on the AK 105 assault rifle.  “Top cover may not stay connected.”  Yes, I have a good deal of experience with things not staying connected on Very Cool assault rifles.   I’ve come to appreciate how well done just about everything else is on these figures, though.

I got the 25$ Knock-off head today. My first impression is positive. Don't have much time today, will post pictures on sunday.

Chinese knock-offs of Made in China products? They're counterfeiting themselves now!

Which leaves the buyers – us – largely in the dark about what we're likely to receive when we purchase a product online, especially with what is becoming a preponderance of misleading product images on sales websites.

Doesn't look that bad to me for the price.

She looks great to me. I honestly wouldn’t have known if you hadn’t told me, and I’d probably have to see them side by side to know the difference. Usually knockoffs look kind of “dead” compared to the original. The sculpt loses a lot of personality. That doesn’t seem to be an issue here.

whoa, it looks pretty good. I sat trying to compare to the original I have and it's hard to tell. There are some subtle reds on the original, but i don't know if it's just not coming through in the pictures. The eyebrow lines seem to be more prominent on yours.

Thanks a bunch for the pics, suo76. I was really curious to see how this HS would turn out, hoping for a good quality level. I'm glad my expectations were achieved. Even surpassed, I dare say. Is she more to suntan or pale TBL?

Welp, time to get me a couple of those.

In the pictures she is on a suntan body and still a little darker, so definitely go for suntan.

I'm really impressed by the hair. Couldn't tell the hair apart, but the face, although close, isn't as good. I am literally sitting next to my Spetsnaz head right now though, so I have a direct comparison. It's a decent head, especially at half the price I paid, but the eyes let it down a little. Just a little though. I'd say a good result for that price.

I think it looks excellent for a knockoff.

I might have to get one of those knock-offs. I have the original, but I’d like another so I can undo the braid and have one with her hair “down” for casual sequences. I was originally planning to use the head for a Lara Croft figure, but I honestly think she looks too “young & innocent” for Lara, and may instead use her for my Western era.

I'm still willing to use this on Lara Croft, even though she does look a bit too young, cuz it's hard to find a good HS with little makeup, nice eyebrows, long brown hair AND thick lips - a trademark of oldschool Lara.

There was one thing that kinda bothers me, even on the original HS of this figure, which is the eyelashes. I think they give a Barbie vibe, instead of a more realistic look. How hard is it to get rid of them, or at least shorten them? Would it be better to try to paint over it or another technique to not make them not pop up that much?

FreakinLobster -- Regarding the eyelashes, I have painted over some of the lashes on certain factory-painted heads before, and while I haven't necessarily made the lashes shorter, I have use the tip of a toothpick dipped into brown paint and have gone over the existing lashes. It makes the lashes thicker, but then I go back quickly before the paint dries with a plain toothpick tip and scrape some of the the excess paint off. It might not make sense from a description, but I do this to make the eyelashes look less 'exact'. The 'barbie' look is because you can see every single individual eyelash all in a row, and it looks fake. Making some of the lashes a bit less...defined, and at a slightly different angle seems to give a slightly more realistic impression. Don't know if that helps at all, but it's what I do if I don't want to do an entire repaint but just want to touch up the factory paint a bit.

I guess you could try this same technique, but using a paint that matches the skintone instead to cover up the lashes a bit. If it were me, I'd get one of the knock off heads and try it on that one first before trying it on the original!

I also recently got a knock-off version of this head (on ebay: nuoya2012). For those interested in a direct comparison of original and this version, here are some snapshots. Unfortunately, my macro lense isn't that great.

CJ3A2756_1 by Randam Hajile, auf Flickr

original:
CJ3A2786 by Randam Hajile, auf Flickr

knock-off:
CJ3A2785 by Randam Hajile, auf Flickr

The knock-off head is a little smaller and has slightly lighter skin color. The shading is good but less pronounced around the eyes.

Overall, it's really good quality for 25 bucks.

Can definitely see the difference. I guess I should have been like He Who Shall Remain Nameless and bought two of the original figures if I wanted a second head…

I wonder what the reaction would have been if there had been no Miss Spetsnaz and the knockoff head was solicited as a new offering? I think the reaction would have been overwhelmingly positive.

I guess what I’m saying is put the knockoff up against the original and she’s naturally going to suffer a bit in comparison, but put her up against the rest of the field, and she’s a beauty. If I had only wanted the head sculpt and opted to go with the knockoff, I’d be very satisfied.

The difference is palpable side by side (or one after another), but on its own the knockoff is perfectly fine, especially at this price. I own the original, but I never realized how fine it actually was until I saw Randam's macro photo and the contrast.

The knock-off looks kinda like the original's younger sister. It may not be exact, but I could definitely find a use for it.

Curious, do you notice any difference in the size? I know sometimes KO's are somewhat smaller than the originals. Wondering if that is the case here... it's quite hard to tell just from the photo.

skywalkersaga wrote:Curious, do you notice any difference in the size? I know sometimes KO's are somewhat smaller than the originals. Wondering if that is the case here... it's quite hard to tell just from the photo.

Randam states the knockoff head is indeed a little bit smaller.

GubernatorFan wrote:

skywalkersaga wrote:Curious, do you notice any difference in the size? I know sometimes KO's are somewhat smaller than the originals. Wondering if that is the case here... it's quite hard to tell just from the photo.

Randam states the knockoff head is indeed a little bit smaller.

Oops, my bad, missed that. Thanks.

Now the eyelashes bother me even more on the KO. The eye painting is way better on the original. Still, I'm gonna try the toothpick method that skywalkersaga said on a KO, cuz the original is way overpriced for me to grab one.

Thanks for the direct comparison Randam. This is definitely useful for the future as well for people to determine if they are getting an authentic head or not online. I think overall for a knockoff and price, it's pretty good if that's what you were looking for. You can tell side by side that the painting on the original is more saturated. The face sculpture is a bit sharper/chiseled on the original. If you had some skill with painting, I'm sure a repaint could make the KO look pretty good. I agree with freakinglobster, the eyelashes do stand out more in the KO, but I'm sure a bit of eyeshadow can push it back a bit.