|
Post by chogokinabdul on Mar 5, 2014 11:33:21 GMT -5
Their more simple figs (go shogon, Sankan-Oh etc) were solid but their transforming figs ( GGGG, Mospeada etc) had various QC issues. Not really! Their brave gokin 24 and 25 ggg are great toys as I heard from every one who had them!
|
|
|
Post by twoducks on Mar 5, 2014 11:44:49 GMT -5
CM was always inconsistent. If they lasted this long it was thanks to the licenses they had. But they will not be remembered as a reference of high quality. Just the guys that did this or that robot that nobody else had done at the time.
It looked like CM was learning something with each release but at a snail pace and they would butch up in the last minute in most cases. Look at the Mospeada line. The bikes had great engineering but the tiny size and bad plastic made them a piece of fiddly sh*t that got worse with each new release. When Rook came out she basically exploded in your hands. Their Legioss and Tread looked nice… but they were really just unfinished toys. Not a single locking point for any of the pieces, weird knee joints on the Legioss legs and basically no locking functions between the two. Unfinished designs just to cut corners and save costs at the expense of the buyer. That is the CM legacy.
Of course there where good products here and there; like I said in the Grendizer thread, the Patlabors were nice… if you got them at the crazy sales CM prodects almost always ended up in. Same thing with the Nadesico mech. Unfinish designs with ugly seam lines that were overpriced.
And that economic model was what slowly killed CM. Only hardcore fans of the license of the moment would jump to the overly expensive release prices. Everybody else just waited for the clearance sale. There never was such a thing as “Brave series” collectors like we see with the SOC. It was the licenses that got them the sales, not the products themselves.
Now compare them with younger companies like Fewture or Sentinel. Each release is better, not a gamble on how bad the costs saving decision will screw up the final toy. And I’m not even comparing CM with 3P TF companies because those don’t pay IP… but the quality of most of their finished products beats the hell out of anything CM ever did, and they’ve only been around for a few years at most.
|
|
|
Post by gravewolf on Mar 5, 2014 13:21:02 GMT -5
Too bad, I actually liked the Patlabor Ingrams. I think the Grendizer fiasco was sign that they weren't doing well so they had qc issues.
|
|
|
Post by B- on Mar 5, 2014 13:29:19 GMT -5
PROS GREAT CMS PRODUCTS I OWN Gyakuten-Oh {anime} Sankan-Oh {metallic} Goshogun Gordian {Anime and Metallic miziwaya} Pegas and Tekkaman {anime and metallic} Jeeg The Big shooter Jeeg parts Tetyukyojin {Anime} Baldios {Anime and Metallic} ALL 3 Time Bokan insects{excuse spelling efforts} Dottabattan Kuwagattan Mechabuton Gakeen {anime and Metallic} Maggie nanbara Bosspalder Queen Himika AstroRobots CMs dynamic heroines gashapons **Dont own but great below:
Patlabor Griffin CONS CMS Products I own which are genrally hated BUT NOT BY ME Barratack I LOVE HIM excellent amount of parts and vehicle trans. FIXED floppy LEGS with earth magnets Grendizer Mine is fine,Spazer is iffy Mekanda Robo {because his plastic is subpar to some} **Dont won but hatedGGG bad hips Mospeada bad engineering plastic
|
|
|
Post by anubis20 on Mar 5, 2014 14:48:17 GMT -5
Well i just bought the BG-37 Big Shooter thanks to these news. Didnt have any plans to buy it now but better safe than sorry. HLJ has both the regular and metallic versions in stock if anyone is interested. This is my farewell purchase to CM's.
|
|
|
Post by Yumcha on Mar 5, 2014 15:50:45 GMT -5
As mentioned in another thread that segued into CM's Corp, this is extremely sad. I generally liked their toys and collected pretty much most of the Brave Gokin releases with the exception of the Grenddy and some of the repaints.
Never want to see this happen.
|
|
|
Post by TheMazingerZ on Mar 5, 2014 17:19:01 GMT -5
When CM's put its mind and effort into a figure, they were awesome (Jeeg). However, more than often, CM's always took a shortcut, or skipped on better quality materials (plastic) which ended up in a bad thing waiting to happen, like: low quality thin plastic used in Gordian's Protecer arms, plastic used for the GGG knees initially, weak magnets in Barattack, Bosspalder's ankle joints popping out, Spacer and various horrible QC issues with Grendizer, ans so on. Add to this that the CM's releases were not cheap - almost all were the over $200 mark - in comparison to Bandai, Aoshima, Yamato, etc, and that was the recipe for their demise. But the thing that got me the worse, was CM's lack of customer service. They TRULY SUCKED at that, even before the Brave Grendizer fiasco. But I hope a good thing will come from this and a new company, with better QC, customer service, and better prices will take CM's place in the near future. }D
|
|
|
Post by Gettershadow on Mar 5, 2014 19:57:45 GMT -5
*Ahem... (whistling to himself)
|
|
|
Post by Gettershadow on Mar 5, 2014 20:48:09 GMT -5
It really sucks when a company goes under but... I saw this going down what?... six months ago? I just kept looking at that huge product line and tried to compute the numbers and it just didn't make sense.. you cant make that many figures in that short of a time without going into serious debt.. the figures would have to be perfect and sellout at full price over and over... bank breathing down your neck.. constantly trying to reduce production costs... they moved too fast.
|
|
|
Post by xiombarg on Mar 5, 2014 21:41:24 GMT -5
It was a lot of ups and downs for the company. The company started off on a bad note with their original Genesic Gaogaigar DX that came out a few years before the Brave Genesic Gaogaigar. It was an epic fail. Basically it just couldn't stay together and almost had a guarantee to break due to bad engineering. Plus it retailed for $600 so the people who dropped the cash were PISSED OFF big time. Their next few figures weren't too bad with the DX Great Baangaan and one other DX figure that I can't remember it's name off hand. People were skeptical at this point, especially being high dollar figures and only sold directly through CM's web site. But at almost the same time they had a couple of hits with the Patlabor Ingrams, except for the Zero which had some problems and wasn't die cast like the others. Goshogun came a little later and did well and got great reviews which were then followed by the Mospeada armor bikes which were terrible. Anyway, it was always kind of like this for CM's... up, down, up, down... people just weren't too willing to pre-buy because they were perceived as being undependable, especially in Japan. This led to them having problems with guessing the production numbers and it sort of pissed off customers who would see figures they pre-paid for suddenly go on clearance for sometimes half as much because CM's had produced so many.
All in all I think they meant well, but needed more hands on management. I love a lot of their figures, but it's clear to me why they ultimately failed as well.
|
|
|
Post by B- on Mar 5, 2014 21:59:14 GMT -5
It really sucks when a company goes under but... I saw this going down what?... six months ago? I just kept looking at that huge product line and tried to compute the numbers and it just didn't make sense.. you cant make that many figures in that short of a time without going into serious debt.. the figures would have to be perfect and sellout at full price over and over... bank breathing down your neck.. constantly trying to reduce production costs... they moved too fast. Just as HLPro moves WAAAY ,WAAAY to slow with their Gokins,and mostly milking the same figure repainted..We only really have 3 figures from them in a looong time,Im not counting that trike thing.`.But now you say they will be releasing quicker?I hope so that would be great,and what they are offering is great too,hopefully they continue making rarer stuff like CMs did and move away from Grendizer a bit {minus the V2 ofcourse}.Which they seem to be with the next few toys.
|
|
|
Post by mpchi on Mar 5, 2014 22:59:59 GMT -5
Sad news indeed. I'll always remember CM's who brought my dream toy to reality, the full Jeeg + Parts + Big Shooter set. While the set is not problem free, it is a very nice set, and something that other companies have yet to try doing a version as extensive and well made as CM's did (even though Evolution Toys tried a budgeted version).
Gakeen (another all-star release) Tekkaman & Pegasus (quite good, though some say its ugly) GGG ver.2 (not perfect sculpt, but much improved) Goshogun (fan favorite, though i don't own this one)
Very sad such company that brought us these cool toys went through so much drama. I was one of their guinea pigs on the $600 GGGG DX. Went through some headaches exchanging for a ver.2 with fixed defects, and definitely not the best $600 I've spent even with the ver.2 (though now I own the best & biggest transforming Gaiger figure thanks to that set). But I didn't blame them, and came back for other releases when they show effort and quality. RIP.
|
|
|
Post by Gettershadow on Mar 6, 2014 0:24:09 GMT -5
Confirmed... CM is out of business.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2014 2:50:35 GMT -5
I do not know about you guys, but I am calling dibs on all their prototypes. Especially the ones for the toys which were never released.
|
|
|
Post by B- on Mar 6, 2014 6:21:07 GMT -5
I do not know about you guys, but I am calling dibs on all their prototypes. Especially the ones for the toys which were never released. Acrobunch is mine !
|
|
|
Post by zankantou on Mar 6, 2014 8:39:22 GMT -5
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2014 12:38:24 GMT -5
I do not know about you guys, but I am calling dibs on all their prototypes. Especially the ones for the toys which were never released. Acrobunch is mine ! Hah, hah ,hah, unfortunately there is no Acrobunch prototype. Just some drawings.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2014 12:50:21 GMT -5
So according to the Japanese article. They were not selling enough units and had to dispose of them or just cancel some toy lines like the Rally Car Collection. The article also attributes that the las Japanese earthquake affected them financially. And it talks about something depending on a Chinese Subcontractor. Darn it Google translator sucks, but I am willing to bet they are referring to Miracle Production.
|
|
|
Post by KingboyD on Mar 6, 2014 13:24:11 GMT -5
^ They were not selling enough because prices were high. Granted, the hardcore collectors probably got it. But I would imagine that the vast majority of fringe collectors passed on the Jeeg products and others. And some of the stuff was not popular among the masses - Gallient/Tekyozin, for example. Now if only Bandai would reduce their prices. And I doubt their older items will surge in prices more than they already have. If an item was not being issued again, who cares if the company that made it goes out? Its irrelevant. If there are tons of the Ippatsuman items out there, why would demand suddenly surge? Current prices will likely match future prices. Please don't try to create a new price hysteria. This hobby is bad enough as is (pricewise)!
|
|
|
Post by zankantou on Mar 6, 2014 13:48:41 GMT -5
KingboyD, I'm not creating 'any' new price hysteria as you put it. Prices do go up for specific items when a company goes out of business. Just look at Yamato's Danguard Ace. (Though the company isn't really out of business) I didn't say every items prices will go up, but certainly some of the older releases like Gordian will do. Especially when there aren't many stocks left out there. Like you said if there are tons of Ippatsuman out there, then prices will not surge because there are still stocks out there. If items that are next to few or even rare, then prices will surge. And for Bandai to reduce their prices is like when money starts falling from the sky
|
|