KAWS Pinocchio

sold out after 6 minutes apparently....

 

i bet, but that kind of hype turns me off.


....but if anybody has good leads on Anraku Ansaku releases PLLLEAAASSSSE let me know!

 

don't worry, the flippers will have you covered shortly.

 

hmmmm- my offer is $68.99 no more, no less.

 

It was faster than that. Probably had very few available.

 

I just received my Pinocchio about a week ago - no such luck at getting one from
kawsone - still yet to find a decent spot to put him...

This is one hell of a photogenic piece - but I've got to say the diminutive size
is a little disappointing in the flesh... hoping I will get used to it in time...

Have to say, if I'd paid retail for it, this would be less of an issue...

they must have had approximately 4 of these on kawsone, as most seem to be in the hands
of other retailers or ebay flippers.

 

Do people still think that Kaws site is the end all be all of these things selling out? Do you (not you per se, but YOU ALL) realize how many of these pieces are made? Do you understand the distribution channel for medicom? How many are held back for collectors, friends, and wholesale accounts.

I remember years ago, I was suprised how fast stuff sold out on KAWSONE, I was like damn, he sold 100 that fast, I have come to realize they probably only put a few on the site to 1) fuel the hype and 2) I just think they do not have that many to sell for the web.

Just my thoughts

 

^Very plausible.

By a pure marketing perspective, I guess that method works. Just blows for most collectors who only have access to KAWSONE / aftermarket to get the pieces they want.

 

Remember all of those KAWS Chums that were accidentally found in some warehouse about a year or so ago?
They all got dumped on eBay...

 

For most of the past releases, he definitely sold a ton online. The Pinocchio release is where things changed. This is the first release that I can recall where so many retailers were offered the chance to order them. Most of the retailers didn't get all that they requested but when you add it up it was still the bulk of the run. Kaws really didn't have much left to put up.

 

yeah... the kawsone site is basically the end all and be all of these selling out at particular price pricepoints it is nice that he was able to release a few at well below the going rate.

 

KAWSONE prices ARE retail. All the secondary market staggered presales w/ incrementally increasing prices was total bullshit.

 

After seeing it in person, I think even the retail price was too high.
For $180 or more, they should at least have gotten rid of the seams on Jimmy. The paint job was not that convincing either.

 

^ I think this is absolutely the case.
I had a Pinocchio on a pre-order with a european retailer - he emailed me to say he'd been let down on the number he had ordered, and that he'd only been sent TWO. Luckily, I had not put down any money.

I appreciate that the medicom order not being fulfilled was not his fault - but I don't trust the retailer any more because of this - so he's lost a customer.

^ I know where you are coming from, it was the Jiminy where the QC was not so great - but my Pinocchio is pretty much up to scratch.

My sense of the scale of the piece was so built up from seeing on-line photos etc, that the reality was 'this thing is really small. Even though I knew the height...

I think it would have been great at 5YL size.

Maybe that's what will come next.

 

If you believe the retailer was not at fault, why do you not trust them any more? They sound like a pretty respectable shop if they're not taking your money early like most do.

 

^ It's their unreliability... I had offers from other places to buy my Pinocchio - but turned them down, as
I wanted to remain true to my reservation of the piece through this particular stockist.

This was financially stupid, as they were still asking about $20 or so more than the other offers I had
(which were from the US - but were more likely to get import tax slapped on them).
So I waited it out - and then both the retailer and myself got let down by Medicom/OriginalFake or
whoever sorts out who get what, order-wise.

Why say to a retailer - yes, you can have ten of these - and then just send two?
Either this is a true reflection of what happened, or the guy is saving them for himself to sell later at
even more inflated prices (which I have to say is unlikely).

True - he didn't take money up front - but that's not enough to make me spend money there again.

 

It's unlikely he is saving them for the future.

The store I bought from ordered 10 and received 6. They also mentioned to me that this was the first time they were shorted an order from OF.

Blaming a retail operation that has no control over inventory sent to them is silly.

 

reminds me when my dad owned a baseball card shop. he heard rumors that they were going to short orders on 1990 leaf baseball cards, so he put in an order for 1,000 cases... it raised some eyebrows so they asked him to put some money down.. not wanting to tie up that much money, he agreed to lower it to 300 cases. when they were released, he got 10 & I think other stores wound up receiving only a few boxes.

 

haven't been photographing toys that much lately, or posting, or collecting, but whatever, i took this pic a while ago:


i don't own but 1 other kaws piece, i mainly picked this guy up because i was a fan of the original book (not disney version) as a child.

 

I also said it was unlikely he was stock-piling these for the future. I also heard that many retailers didn't get as many sets as they
had ordered - and that's pretty hard on the retailers - I guess that's why many people shy away from pre-orders, preferring to wait until items are 'in-hand' etc.

The thing is - the store you ordered from ordered 10 and got 6 - but you were able to fulfill your purchase;
I got the set - but having turned down the opportunity of pre-orders with reliable retailers such at Toy Tokyo - I had to
pay even more purchasing from ebay...

I'm a London-based collector, trying to keep my word with a european retailer. It didn't work out, that's all.
I got the piece, just for $100 more.

 

^ Great photo. Pinocchio is very photogenic for someone with such a big nose.

 

Sosa / Thomas hype, huh.

On the og subject if anyone knows where I can pick up a Kaws Pinocchio at a reasonable price I'm down!

 

I still don't understand why you would be upset with the retailer. Not knocking on you Frass. As a marketing person I'm just always curious to see how the consumers tick.

The store made their order and Medicom or Kaws shorted them. They put the pre-order out there with good intentions. You mention Ed (atease) being able to get one even though his store got shorted too. But in his scenario 4 people didn't get one. The store wasn't trying to screw anyone but in the end someone has to miss out due to circumstances out of their control. I can understand being upset but your angst should be directed towards the supplier not the retailer.

You were honorable in sticking with them but again, they were unable to fulfill your order only because they didn't get their order fulfilled. Not their fault. Now if they were taking money early then that would have been presumptive and then I can see some being upset.

 

^ I know you're not looking for trouble! It's interesting that you're approaching this from a marketing perspective.
I think I was particularly out-of-sorts over this because it's just really a lot trickier (not to mention expensive) to get stuff like this in
London/UK - and - when all is said and done - the buck always stops somewhere. In reality, it's Medicom who I should be annoyed
with!

If I went to a restaurant, and the food wasn't up to scratch, similarly, I wouldn't give them my money again. If a store gives poor service,
I certainly think twice about going back. It's not like 'revenge' - it's just there's always somewhere else to spend the money. I would not
dream of calling out the retailer by name - and maybe (now I've actually got the piece) I'd consider buying stuff there again.