Are We Witnessing the Death of 3A Toys?
Ashley Wood’s 3A Toys continues its love/hate relationship with me. At the start of this year I posted my plan to stop buying the World War Robot* toys because of issues with the company and their approach to producing/selling toys (post here). Discussion in the comments of that thread, and private messages with fans of the line, led me to renew my membership and stick with the series. Unfortunately, the delay in shipping toys is starting to drive me back to the question of: “Do I stay with this line?”
How bad are the delays? Let me run through the toys I have sitting on pre-order and post the purchase date for each one. I think that, combined with the fact that the Armstrongs took five months from 3A taking my money until I had toys in-hand, will clearly demonstrate that the company is sitting on fans’ money for far too long. (And I’m listing my purchase price for each order.)
- 3AA NW DW DIY Set; ordered February 19. That’s more than seven months. $110.50.
- 3AA Exclusive Little Shadow in Shadow Mode; ordered March 19th. Six months and counting. $68.
- Cherry Shadow and Sanakhte Bodyguard Zombot 2 Pack; ordered the same day as Shadow Mode. $127.50.
- Reimi Kawaii; ordered April 30. $85.
- Ankou blind box; ordered two on July 12. $136.
- Ankou Two Way Pack; ordered the same day as the blind boxes. $127.50.
That’s currently $654.50 sitting with 3A and waiting for delivery. So the Armstrong delivery earlier this week dropped the total significantly (the 8-pack was $238), but $654.50 is a lot of money for a company to keep for seven to two months.
And I’m not alone. Assuming at least 100 people are in roughly the same situation as I am means that 3A currently has $65,450 of fans’ money for operating costs. And this also assumes no one ordered the releases I skipped (which we know is wrong) and that 3A didn’t earn a profit on earlier releases (doubtful). These constant pre-orders — taking money faster than product is delivered — is starting to add up, and if 3A needs this pre-order model to manufacture toys then what happens if there’s a major problem with the company?
At what point does the entire system collapse and fans are left without any money and without the toys that they ordered?
It’s Not All Bad
The Armstrongs are in my hands now. The books I ordered from 3A came in very fast. And other toy releases from earlier in the year have arrived. In the interest of fairness, I’m also going to list the orders I’ve placed with 3A in 2010 that have reached me.
- 3AA Membership; ordered January 9. I started enjoying the membership discount immediately and the exclusive toy arrived the end of June.
- 3AA EMGY SET; ordered January 29 and arrived early June.
- WWRp Armstrong 8pak; ordered April 23, arrived this week.
- 3A Publishing threepack; ordered June 23 and arrived . . . don’t remember the exact date, but late July feels right.
So out of ten orders placed in 2010 I’ve had four of them reach me.
Making it Better
There’s no real signs that 3A is dying on us, but the potential for a catastrophic and painful death exists. I think that 3A needs to make some serious changes to their operations, and soon, to make the entire process more enjoyable for fans. After all, how many of us want to pay for something today and not see it for seven months (or maybe even more)?
I think the first step is to completely slow — or maybe even halt — putting new toys up for pre-orders. Every new pre-order taken when toys are undelivered just creates a deeper, more dangerous mess. And I know I am not alone in waiting for toys to be delivered before placing more orders.
The second step is better communication. 3A has the e-mail addresses for everyone who has placed pre-orders, so send us monthly updates. I know the forums get news, but it’s random and scattered and if not for the work of Gimbat I wouldn’t know what was going on. A monthly e-mail — perfect for those who don’t have the time to examine the forums — would be appreciated.
Finally, change the pre-order process to either not take money until toys are ready to ship or maybe only take 50%. Or set these up as recurring payments with Paypal so that a customer pays X% of the purchase price once each month until the toy ships. And just say up front that toys will take five months for delivery; I guarantee more fans would be jumping into this line if they could pay 20% each month for five months and then see the toy delivered shortly after the final payment.
I Want 3A to Succeed
I post this because I want to see the company stick around and continue to create toys. Their quality continues to improve — the Armstrongs are incredible pieces — and I absolutely love the designs. But success is not guaranteed, and pissing off hardcore and dedicated customers is never a good thing.
Good luck to Ashley Wood and 3A. I hope we see delivery times improve, and I look forward to buying more World War Robot* toys. But I need to see more of my orders delivered before I’m comfortable dumping more money into the line.
NOTE: I am not without sin when it comes to shipping. I still owe a handful of people some toys; I trickle them out, and my week off next week will allow me to get completely caught up and get the last three shipments in the mail. I understand being behind, but being forced to refund some money for three orders is not crippling at all.
Couldn’t agree more. I am now waiting for a Popbot/Badbot and an Ankou, roughly $200. I hate to wait, but two months out would be much better than as you say, up to seven and more. Holding on to our funds while we hold onto nothing is not a fair business model. I for one am ordering no more product until after I secure my Badbot and Ankou. I wish them well as you do, and I thank you for all that you do. LOVE your site sir!
I couldn’t agree more. I love 3A, however I think the shipping time is inexcusable. KAWS waits till his product is ready before it’s put up for sale, why not 3A? Something you didn’t mention was the 3×3 pack ordered in Feb – going to be (at least) October before it’s shipped. I don’t get it.
@zach – Thanks for the support and encouragement. I love working on the site, and it just gets to be more fun when I hear that people are enjoying the site. I had forgotten Popbot because I skipped him; that gets to be a lot more money just sitting out there as people wait for toys.
@zombieKid – The products listed here are just what I ordered and not a complete list of all 3A releases this year. But yeah, I recognize that some of you guys are waiting on a lot more stuff than I am. Here’s to hoping our toys arrive soon.
I totally agree, the wait for the Armstrongs has been rediculous, and then to find out the 3 and 4 packs didnt even ship with the 8 packs, so im STILL waiting on my 4 pack..
One order Destroyator Buildman yellow, placed 28th december… hahaha, you said it yourself!
Back to topic: I’m quite happy i haven’t jumped on the 3A bandwagon cause my interest in the little shadow figure in late may, and 1/6 scale stuff in common, has already died on me and i see how i can get these figs out of my shelfs.
When i remember right it was in East Germany once like this: If you wanted to have a car, then you place an order, paying all the cash upfront and then recieving it 18 years later. Yup, so 5 months is pretty decent with toys coming out a socialistic country…
@Ralph – Oh, I was thinking of you. I’ve got a special goodie for you. And thanks for being so patient.
Phil, should you be at NYCC, then save the shipping costs! I’ll be there!
Just did my totals:
297.50 LM 3×3
144.50 Frosty Choad 5 Pack
68.00 Little Shadow (Damn I wish I’d bought a Cherry too… dammit)
110.50 3AA Armstrong 3 pack
306.00 Popbot/Badbot/Popbot Ascended 3 Pack
100.00 Day 1 Popbot (split with a friend, I paid 100)
59.50 Kitty 10 Pack
68.00 Ankou 68.00
49.00 WWRP Noir DePlume
3AA Baka (Kyuuuuuuuu something something that means Vampire in Japanese)
153.00 Fuck it 1.1 (Baka and Fuck it)
$1356.50 holy mother of fuck… SERIOUSLY?! WHAT THE FUCK?! I am really pissed now that I know this.
Now here’s how it should be! Ordered a fantastic “Rig” from our good friends at Onell Design (Glyos Toys baby!)last week, and it shipped today. Onell is my favorite toy producer hands down. Can’t wait for the Outer Space Men, and here’s hoping the Horsemen get their ordering-shipping right!
I am in agreement that these are certainly unfair practices and would add that in my email contacts with Ashley, I came away with an impression of arrogance and indifference. Suckcess gone to the head perhaps? If so it will bite one in the ass eventually.
I’m in total agreement here. I ordered some Berties and while yes, I think they’re all 5 star figures… I waited a ridiculous long time for them. Enough so that, I’m not that interested in tracking down more 3A stuff unless it just blows my mind.
I love the stuff, I do, but I don’t like the idea of ordering something and getting it half a year later.
@Ralph – I won’t be at NYCC, but I have to get a package out to Matt next week so I could toss your stuff in there for personal delivery at the show.
I’d love to go, but I have a work trip that weekend.
@Alan – Sorry, but I think if we can get more people to look at how much money they’ve got sitting with 3A then maybe we’ll see the company make some changes to their practices. I dislike how the 3A forums are not a place for this sort of discussion.
Wonder how long ’til the 3A boogieman comes around to play PR cleanup and basically call you a liar again…
…fun times!
Do it, Phil! Also paying Matt a visit next weekend! Woopey! – – – Sad, sad, you’re not coming though.
I can see where you are coming from, but in all honesty this is not something new. You’ve mentioned it before, the usual turn around time is 4 – 6 months for delivery. But for fans of 3a that are not wanting to wait I’d suggest retail or eBay.frankly there are other options. Many companies have similar wait times. The WWRp Large Martin has been known as the longest wait it was the most abituous drop from 3A with over 20 different characters / paint designs. As you’ve mentioned you yourself are not without having problems getting some stuff out it’s part of the process when you hand make items. I notice you mentioned a few dates but if you look at this point with the drops not counting the Large Martin 3A is now caught up to the popbot drop of May 28 if these ship out in late Oct – Nov then it will have been a 5 month wait time. Much better and more in line with the shipping dates from many other companies. Hot Toys and Sideshow both have the same practices as do many other designers. Also using a shocking title such as “is this the death of 3A toys” then flatly coming out a few paragraphs later saying clearly it’s not, is at best disingenuous and at worst sounds more like your trying to use your blog as a soap box or as a perturbed customer. That would be fine if you were someone who didn’t know the score when it comes to high end toys and wait times but we’ve talked before and I know you are aware of just what goes I to these toys as I am.
I still enjoy reading your reviews but I like to know when I do that it’s going to be backed up by fact rather than some rant with a shocker title. As someone who people tend to look to for their toy news and reviews I feel you owe it to your readers to have a little more respect than that. Imagine if someone who has a order with 3A like the large martins see’s your blog title and panics. They might ask for a refund and then after waiting all this time missout by a week or two. Other than that I always enjoy your pieces and I hope you continue on. I look forward to seeing what you have for toys coming up soon.
@anubis2night – Thank you for the detailed comment. I’ll be getting a response online in the next day, but I’m too tired this evening to give this the thought it deserves.