aurene statue pricing, really?

[sasya neko.1985]

when they showed the statue i was not so interested but it's nice enough, until i saw what they're asking for it.

this really makes be wonder, what are they thinking.

i will show you a small but important example of why the price is way to high.

 

this is the statue (slab of plastic) Anet is selling:

https://aurenestatue.guildwars2.com/?_ga=2.220453083.2131035548.1627920929-70043454.1541249844

 

this is an actual statue made of high quality material with movie quality detailing:

https://www.wetanz.com/shop/figures/smaug-the-magnificent?ref=brand

 

now please, can you give me one single reason why Anet priced their plastic so ridiculously high while such a high quality statue of smaug is pretty much the same price?

[Dante.1763]

Ones bigger than the other. 4lbs(aurene) vs 2lbs(smaug). Also, the images they show on the page you linked arent the final image. They will come close, but they wont be perfect like that. Hope it doesnt break either, cause its non refundable.

 

Frankly id rather have the plastic, less likelyhood for damage.

 

And someone hasnt been overly paying attention to pricing for collectors stuff, its going up up up. I have 3 models on preorder besides Aurene and only one cost less than 120$

 

[Raknar.4735]

Is the "NPVC" material used for the Aurene statue NBR/Nitrile rubber? First time I've heard it being called NPVC.

(I guess it's a NBR and PVC blend? Never have seen that used for statues)

 

Edited August 2, 2021 by Raknar.4735

[Blocki.4931]

Honestly very cheap as far as statues go.

[kharmin.7683]

Lord of the Rings franchise has a lot more revenue and can probably afford a lower pricing point.

[Gotejjeken.1267]

23 minutes ago, Blocki.4931 said:

Honestly very cheap as far as statues go.

 

This really. 

 

Most statues of this size aren't this cheap, and I can imagine this one is a mold because of the open pre-order window on it--typically a lot of the more expensive ones are limited in quantity, which wouldn't be good when you are promoting an expansion for an MMO.  

 

Do wish we had more shots against a non-blue background or a video outside of the reveal one where it was being held and shown briefly.  

[Veprovina.4876]

I mean, don't buy it then...

 

From the pictures, it looks fine to me.

Definitely not $120 fine but i see it more as a "support developers" thing rather than let's get a work of art for 120 dollars thing.

So the price is less "looks" (which is in the eye of the beholder), and more "support".

 

I've seen better, i've seen a lot worse so... Eh? 🤷‍♂️

[Bristingr.5034]

Could be worse. You could go for a First Four Figure.

 

My favorite one was when they priced the Banjo Kazooie statue at over $400.

Edited August 2, 2021 by Bristingr.5034

[Tic Tac Toe.1482]

This collectible item supports the devs and studio; it's not supposed to be a good financial value to the buyer.

 

Want good financial value?  Buy a good mutual fund as an investment.  Or find a good sale on some groceries.

 

Want a nice piece that represents Guildwars 2, that you can put on a desk or shelf, look at, enjoy, and know you're supporting the game?  Buy the statue.

 

[Zephire.8049]

Honestly $120 is on the low end for a collectable statue nowadays. Usually you're looking at $200+ after taxes. Are they worth that much? Probably not, but that's what people are willing to pay so here we are.

 

As for your comparison, the Aurene one's twice the size of the Smaug one and while Aurene isn't painted, a surface like that will show any flaw so just as much time has to be spent on inspecting and polishing out flaws as painting a similar statue. If anything paint would be a lot easier because the buyer could repaint it or touch up flaws pretty easily—most people don't have the knowledge or tools to do that with something that's clear and reflective and not make it worse.

 

And Weta's figures are also made out of plastic. A slightly different plastic, but still plastic. Only difference is that they're painted so you don't see the base.

 

It's up to you if you want to get the Aurene statue or not (personally I'm not because it's not my thing) but the Aurene statue and Smaug statue are far more similar than they are different and we live in a time where people are willing to drop $500-$1000 on a collectable statue not much bigger or different than either of them and the market uses that as a baseline.

[Sirius.4510]

The size of the production run comes into it as well. The more figures you produce, the lower the per-unit cost can be because you can amortize some of the capital expenses (casts etc). It only goes so far with hand-painted figures but there is still a component of that.

 

I imagine there's still a profit margin on this but it might not be all that huge.

[Bast.7253]

It's funny because I was just thinking the other day how much an Aurene statue made of Opal would be really cool.

But I'd rather have a smaller one made of opal or fake opal I think. 

To be honest I also just don't like the pose. Would think it would be cooler if she was standing with her wings out similar to how she was when she ascended in the cinematic. Being plastic I can't imagine it would be difficult to make this with multiple different poses?

Then again I'm not one for things that don't have a lot of practical application. Like, make it a little jewelry/music box that plays her theme and then put the little statue on top of it or something. Then I would totally understand the price point and I think they'd make a ton more off of it.

[DanAlcedo.3281]

I got 15k game hours for what? 200€ total?

 

I think I can pay them some extra sometimes. 

[Linken.6345]

2 minutes ago, DanAlcedo.3281 said:

I got 15k game hours for what? 200€ total?

 

I think I can pay them some extra sometimes. 

Good for you mate and I am happy you do that.

[radda.8920]

they have to try to make some money with their plastic plate

it is not with fishing that they will bring back a lot of players to earn money 🤭

 

the price is at the level of the content offered in the extension, ridiculous.

 

Edited August 3, 2021 by radda.8920

[asterix.9614]

Its beautiful and worth it.

[Cyninja.2954]

16 hours ago, sorudo.9054 said:

when they showed the statue i was not so interested but it's nice enough, until i saw what they're asking for it.

this really makes be wonder, what are they thinking.

i will show you a small but important example of why the price is way to high.

 

this is the statue (slab of plastic) Anet is selling:

https://aurenestatue.guildwars2.com/?_ga=2.220453083.2131035548.1627920929-70043454.1541249844

 

this is an actual statue made of high quality material with movie quality detailing:

https://www.wetanz.com/shop/figures/smaug-the-magnificent?ref=brand

 

now please, can you give me one single reason why Anet priced their plastic so ridiculously high while such a high quality statue of smaug is pretty much the same price?

 

Only reason that matters:

The studio (or merchandise department) assumes that at the given price point they will sell a set amount of statues.

 

If you are unwilling to pay this price, you are not part of that target customer base (neither am I, but I also do not buy a lot of collectibles).

 

If the studio is correct in their evaluation/assumption will be seen in the revenue. There is no reason to criticize this decision though, given we are not the target audience.

Edited August 3, 2021 by Cyninja.2954

[AgentMoore.9453]

While the plastic bit of this equation does make me squint, I think it'd be a lot more forgivable if the pose was neat. I mean, think about how much people pay for custom basic plastic miniatures that weigh a couple ounces and are an inch or two tall. We see value in those cheap materials because of their presentation, and because they're personalized which holds value for us that can help justify the price.

 

Perfect example of this is the Rytlock statue; I've got one. It's got a cool pose, it's got a cool sword, and being made of the plastic that it's made of doesn't take away from the perceived value of it because those aesthetics make up for it. The other draw? That statue came with a copy of the game. Its packaging is super nice. I can put ridiculous objects in Rytlock's hand or hang 30 bracelets around his neck and arm if I'm in the mood. Cat statue gets mileage.

 

The Aurene statue? Doesn't come with EoD, doesn't come with a copy of the game in any form. It's advertised as being removable from the base so we can have 'dynamic posing' and reenact 'scenes from the game' when the statue itself is, uh, Aurene laying down with her wings melted into the ground. What's the dyanamic angle here? Re-enacting that time Aurene was laying in some grass? Or that time she was laying on something vaguely gold in color? Am I supposed to awkwardly flip her onto her back and pretend it's her death scene?

 

I've been hoping for GW2 statues to start happening again, and I'm thrilled that they put this one out (the materials are fine, the prismatic effect looks okay in the advertisement - jury's out on how it'll look in person), but boy does it feel like a miss. Why not have Aurene sitting up with a paw outstretched to hold objects? Why not have her mounted to the base by her tail with her whole body curled up in flight and a spray of prismatic brand arcing up from the ground beneath her? Why not have her roaring? Emerging from the Scrying Pool? Flipping her wings up proudly like the idle animation of the Shimmerwing Skyscale?

 

Her statue deserved more than an idle animation still.

 

If you can get the look, the pose, or at minimum the extras right when you release a statue, the cost hardly matters. In this case though, I feel like the only real draw is that it's physical merch from a company that doesn't do a lot of physical merch (I don't count the For Fans stuff; that's largely produced by players and manufactured by a third party). I hope things like that get considered if/when they decide to release more statues because there's a market for them, just maybe not like this.

[Konjo.4981]

People in this thread are comparing the price to other statues of the same size and say they this one is cheap. With that logic I can make a giant plastic cube the size of a house and sell it for the price of a house. Are you even reading what kind of materials are used? The materials they used are considerably cheaper than the conventionally used materials in statues such as resin.

 

In my opinion for that price the statue should include at least End of Dragons (Deluxe Edition) with it.

Edited August 3, 2021 by Konjo.4981

[phokus.8934]

If it were made of glass I could see the price but plastic?  Yikes.  P.T. Barnum said it best, "there's a sucker born every minute."

[sasya neko.1985]

for anyone thinking it's worth it, the rytlock statue is bigger, more detailed and actually painted.

it was included with the collectors edition but guess what they also added:

-a making of book explaining every single desision

-a preview of the 4 disk soundtrack that includes a savings for a signed full copy

-the actual game with in-game bonus stuff

-Custom art frame, portfolio en 5 art prints

and all of that for €150,-

 

now we have a boring and low quality statue of €120,-

[Mungo Zen.9364]

It’s fine, the product, the price all fine.  There are people who will buy this and enjoy it for many years, and I am happy for them. 

 

For me, it really doesn’t look to have any long term value like other collectibles. It also doesn’t appear to have any short term value either. As someone who has flipped collectibles for different IP over the years, I wouldn’t buy this because I don’t see resale value. 
 

As someone who is a fan of the game, I would rather sink cash into Gems than this. 
 

I do wish I had been able to get some of the Funko Pop figures when they launched. Those were a hit in my mind. Low price, good model and an in game pet. Pure money. 

Edited August 5, 2021 by Mungo Zen.9364

[eyelogix.1654]

On 8/2/2021 at 6:33 PM, sorudo.9054 said:

when they showed the statue i was not so interested but it's nice enough, until i saw what they're asking for it.

this really makes be wonder, what are they thinking.

i will show you a small but important example of why the price is way to high.

 

this is the statue (slab of plastic) Anet is selling:

https://aurenestatue.guildwars2.com/?_ga=2.220453083.2131035548.1627920929-70043454.1541249844

 

this is an actual statue made of high quality material with movie quality detailing:

https://www.wetanz.com/shop/figures/smaug-the-magnificent?ref=brand

 

now please, can you give me one single reason why Anet priced their plastic so ridiculously high while such a high quality statue of smaug is pretty much the same price?

 

I paid for a PVC statue, and they are not cheap if you want an original, but it was still cheaper to import it from the US than buying it at a store in Sweden. I don't see the problem? 
If you can't afford it, don't buy it. 🤦‍♂️

[eyelogix.1654]

On 8/3/2021 at 1:37 PM, phokus.8934 said:

If it were made of glass I could see the price but plastic?  Yikes.  P.T. Barnum said it best, "there's a sucker born every minute."

It would break easier if it were in glass. 

[sasya neko.1985]

On 8/6/2021 at 9:17 PM, eyelogix.1654 said:

 

I paid for a PVC statue, and they are not cheap if you want an original, but it was still cheaper to import it from the US than buying it at a store in Sweden. I don't see the problem? 
If you can't afford it, don't buy it. 🤦‍♂️

i collect statues for over 9 years now, i kinda know what is and isn't a quick money grab.