I have not been collecting figurines for very long, and started only some time less than a year ago. Yet, I have faced one problem which many fellow collectors often face.
Put yourself in this scenario:
You walk into a figurine shop for a purchase. After paying for your figurine, you carefully look through all the stock of that figurine that the shops has, and one by one, squint your eyes through the details, searching for any flaws that the figurine might contain. You then pick the one which seems to be the most perfect one to you. When you get back home and open up the box, you are shocked. Your figurine is not as perfect as it looked back at the shop. An unpainted patch, a chipped off bit, a black patch over a light coloured portion, so on and so forth. You get pissed off, but only have your poor luck to blame.
I am sure everyone who buys figurines over a long period of time has faced this issue at least once. Well, I have, and more than once. Each time I purchase a figurine, the fear of such a thing happening overcomes the excitement of opening up a figurine. A lot of “what ifs” go through my mind as I make my way home from the shop.
I have a few rather crappy figurines, no thanks to the crappy QC, which were supposed to be awesome. Each time I look at these figurines, I am reminded of the “wonderful” experience of purchase. I most probably unable to sell these figurines anyway, which probably means that they would stick with me for as long as I keep them in my room. To reduce the chances of these horrible memories coming back, I try to display them at a shelf/area which I would probably not look at often. It helps, a little. Still, when I look at them, I get pissed off at my own poor luck.
I still buy figurines, and each time, I check them throughly to reduce the chances of getting subpar quality figurines. Still, there is never a way to minimize this chance until it becomes zero. This is simply because the figurine is boxed up and the plastic wrappings around the figurine has the tendency to play pranks on your eyes.
The crappy quality of some figurines might be due to them originating directly from China, hence the lousy QC and product quality. Sigh, if only figurines could be made in Japan instead. I would rather pay slightly more for assured quality.
But then again, when it comes to quality, I guess it’s all the way one sees it. Maybe my expectations are too high, but I believe everyone expects the PVC which they spend their savings from cutting down on other expenses to be perfect. Don’t you agree?
Your Chinaphobia is interesting… while I’m not a fan of the country, it is true that they make most of our products. Barely anything is made in Japan anymore. Just because the nationality of the sweatshop workers is Chinese doesn’t mean the stuff they make is crap. After all, the QC and SOPs are still set by Japanese.
This is a good example of how Japanese soft culture has brainwashed people worldwide into thinking Japan is the number 1 alpha race.
tj_han > interesting… I’ve always thought that QC was done in China.
I know exactly what you mean. A collector’s bane indeed. Just a queston though, are the figures you mention from the big 4 manufacturers? (ie Alter, GSC, MaxFac or Kotobukiya?) Were the figures China direct imports (legit of course) or routed from Japan? Your experience will vary according to your answers.
It’s a bit like getting married. Go into it with both eyes open and once you’re in it, keep one eye closed.
Stripey > yea the big 4. I’m not sure where they come from though. Seem like getting some figurines from certain shops result in frequent crap quality, while getting from others result in better quality. Maybe it’s just me.
Zyl > Keeping one eye close eh? I’ll try that LOL