Introduction to Project/ General Business

[nobs]

Sept 13, 2009 19:19:47 GMT kuni said:

nobs, while I understand your frustration, I think Malcolm would be more than happy to refund them.

(I don't really like your "send them or ELSE" attitude...)

I own two of Malcolm's figures, so he absolutely delivers on his promises, but, well....sometimes life/work get in the way of hobbies.

I didn't have a problem with waiting a bit - as soon as Xiphactinus and Leedsichthys are offered, I'll be buying them. For now I'm content to wait. He'll be ready when he's ready.

OK a few points I would like to respond too if I may

I understand your position, and I agree, I think Malcolm would refund the money if I asked him, from what I can tell of him online he does seem trustworthy and honorable in that extent. Like I said, I know that some of his figures have got into the hands of other customers.

I guess a point of clarification is in order, I was more concerned about the items that I had already paid for, and still waiting on delivery. Like you said if he needs time to perfect the NEW unreleased figures then that's fine, I'm willing to bet that everyone would agree with you there too.

You said that you had no problem waiting a bit for yours to come in. I guess the question to ask was how long did you wait for your order, and what would you consider an unacceptable amount of time to have to wait?

Yes life does happen, but if he cant fulfill his obligations, then he should have made arrangements to either refund moneys or at least send a personalized message explaining the situation, and give people the option to wait it out or not. I mean seriously to keep telling folks "oh I'm gonna get them out THIS WEEK" and then fail to deliver...

As far as my "attitude" goes, all I have to say is if you had paid over $100 for a service, and after a reasonable amount of time went by you were still left in the dark would you not be questioning what was going on, or feel jaded at the least?

The last bit I'll get off my chest is this, to call this venture just a hobby is a tad bit naive, and I say this with the utmost respect. This is at its core a revenue generating venture. I don't know the overhead costs that are associated with this, but I'm sure Malcolm has priced his pieces fairly to cover his costs and garnish a fair profit as well. The adds in PT magazine would be what I would use as a means of support for that argument.

[dinonikes]

I haven't been here in a while- saw the above posts- here goes-bear with me please, it is late right now and I am tired and feel like ****

First i would like to say that I am not tryingto fleece anyone out of money- nobs case was a case of mistaken identity where I thought he was someone else- these forum pseudonyms confuse me sometimes jiving them with actual names, that combined with a screw up on my part in record keeping led to the long wait in his case-when i told him his package was going out it wasn't a case of lying just a case of being mistaken-

I PM'd those that expressed concerns here regarding their orders with me- anyone else can rest assured that they will be getting their stuff from me- it just takes me too long and for that I apologize- I should have been more attentive to communications, I am a lousy business man-

I am not going to go into a lot of details regarding my life and all in this public forum- will not give excuses or explanations- I will give this analogy for what my life has been like the past five years- remember those TV circus acts that used to spin plates on poles trying to keep all of the plates spinning without letting any of them fall- running from plate to plate giving each a little spin to keep it going-thats been me

Kuni was right to describe this project as a hobby- I have been doing all of this project- alone-on the side in my free time when off from my real job-I certainly don't make any money from these figures- the costs of casting materials are covered- but NOT my time- if i were to add up all of the hours spent on these things I probably make only two cents an hour- if that- I covered the molding expenses and any other outside costs from money that came from my real job, my 5 days a week gig- the ads in PT certainly weren't paid for from any profits from these figures-there is no profit-

Why would i make these if I don't make any money on them? Cause I am a nut I guess- I like to do it- I've spent the past 26 years working as a museum exhibit artist, making things in total anonimity(sp?) -I am 45 now and probably only have like 20 years left- I thought that this project would be a sort of legacy I could leave behind- something that would maybe keep my name out there years after I am dead and gone- vanity is a vice i guess-like any other- and i had hoped that I could use a talent I have, and to make some cool figures that others haven't been making-

I kept the prices low because if I charged what it takes to make them, the prices would prohibit all but the most serious collector from buying any- the whole point of this was to get these out into the world- I wanted as many collectors to have them as I could handle making- I have gotten repeated emails from those that have received theirs that they are too cheap for what they are-that i should double my prices- but i haven't-

Now it seems that I have failed in this attempt- I am starting to get people mad- understandably so- my biggest failing is a lack of communication to explain things to those waiting-

I will give this one bit of personal info- I have just been laid off from my real job, so I guess we shall see what that means for the future of this project- I may have to just shelf the whole thing- I don't know at this point-

I want to express my deepest appreciation to those that have been patient with me- and an especially heatfelt thanks to Kuni for jumping in to my defense-

Malcolm

[crazycrowman]

Sorry to hear about things going that way for you. I am pretty sure I can speak for most on here when I say we miss having you around. I do hope life picks up in a more positive way for you soon.

[Ajax]

Im sure all will be forgiving when you finish that cool sea turtle, lol.

[kuni]

Sorry to hear things aren't going well for you, Malcolm. These are tough times

[Tyrannax]

That's sad to hear. I really do hope your situation turns out for the better eventually.

In any case, I strongly urge you continue with your line. You've gone too far and have created too many wonderful pieces to stop at any point soon. These pieces were created out of generosity, and yet the Tyrannosaurus for example, still continues to stray below the price of the Carnegie Spinosaurus. If that isn't thoughtful, I'm not sure what is.

[bucketfoot]

Keep your chin up Malcolm - I'm 48 and got laid off last year as the mortgage banks collapsed one by one. It took me 8 lean (I mean LEAN) months before my solo business started to come in - if I make one-half next year that I did last year with the Bank I will consider it a wild success - I am working more hours for less money (a lot less), but hey - we gotta do what we gotta do.

For the record - and I've said this before on this forum - your Indricotherium is the BEST prehistoric mammal piece I have ever laid eyes on. It inspired my to assemble a 1/40 prehistoric mammal collection (complete with the little Schleich fellow for scale) just to fit in around it.

I know all about labors of love - I spent about 5 years making the huge 1/20 scale dinosaur models that you can see on my website - OK, not 'from scratch' sculpts, but a few of them were so kitbashed - look at the big Spinosaurus I made - that the number of hours it took probably easily matched sculpting it from scratch. When I lost my job I sold them all - at an average of about $100 each they brought me a few cents per hour of my time. But I am happy knowing that they grace shelf space of some serious collectors and I am humbled that they thought my kitbashes were 'worthy'.

Rest assured that all of us who bought one or more of your pieces have the exact same kid of respect for your work - especially given its rarity. If I'm on the street (God forbid) some day, I'll still have your Indricotherium in a bag inside my shopping cart!! *LOL*

Take all the time you need to get back on your feet. Pursue new avenues you might have thought about, consider moving to where they might have more of your type of work. Do not limit yourself is Rule #1 (so long as family considerations permit, of course).

This is still America and you'll still MAKE IT if you have perseverance and patience.

Then you can get back to your hobby. And yes, we will be waiting patiently. I don't care if takes 6 months for you to mail me one of your sculpts - the waiting only makes the heart grow fonder.

I just dry-brushed a little darker grey on your Indrico, and made the base brownish for contrast - painted pupils, a tiny bit of pink around the mouth and a little bit of clearcoat on the eyes and mouth for the 'wet look'.

Man I am looking at it right now and it KICKS A**!!!

So - keep your chin up - we're rooting for you!!!!

Vlad

[dinonikes]

Thanks for all the encouragement- as for this project, I will be keeping it up , probably on a more limited basis for now though- I really wasn't trying to go for sympathy with my post last night, just trying to explain a bit my situation- lord knows there are a lot of people worse off than me- I will tryto visit here more often to keep anyone interested up to speed-I am actually sort of looking forward to being off- I have worked so much over the last year, way too many extra hours right up until a week or so ago- its kind of nice to have some free time now to get caught up with everything- talk about feast or famine as far as work is concerned-

Hey bucketfoot- post a photo of your Indri revision, i would be curious to see it-

[dinonikes]

May 29, 2009 2:44:23 GMT Blade-of-the-Moon said:

Any pics of the Colossal Squid you could share with us ? ;D

Don' t worry about CT...he loves teasing one way then the other....

Here are a few shots of the collosal squid model i was so busy with-



thats Stanley next to it to show scale-

[kuni]

That squid looks like your average American after a lifetime of McDonalds

(it's a fantastic reproduction - was the real animal really that fat? I've never seen a squid like that before)

[dinonikes]

Yes, this is how the squid looks according to latest info from the experts directing me on this- the size was a speculation- based on beaks found in the stomachs of sperm whales-

[[][][]cordylus[][][]]

Very nice job!

[kikimalou]

I was waiting for them for a long time now and finally they came in France last week.

They had a very very long journey but I must say I don't loose my money.

I've got the five critters, I only miss the ophtalmosaurus... They are great. Different from a toy and also from a resin model. Some fine details could seem rough because Malcolm have no injection machine but they are very "alive" IMHO.
I see them more like sculptures and they are cheap if you look at the prices of the new Carnegies. They are not mass products, they are a little serie from a real artist.
They have some imperfections due to the artisanal process like teeth for the Trex for example but it's not a problem. What I mean is they are like my grandmother apple pies, less perfect and shiny than industrial ones but they have much much better taste and even less perfect they is more human soul in them.Like these old pies, one can really feel the man behind them.
Thank you very much Malcolm.
Last but not least, I will buy more Fauna cast with great pleasure if Malcolm makes new ones despite his problems.

[dinonikes]

Kiki-

Thanks for the kind words- I appreciate especially the apple pie analogy- I understand exactly what you mean to say

[bucketfoot]

Malcolm - The size of that critter is not speculation anymore. They caught one in the Antarctic Ocean a few years ago that was AT LEAST that size and wasn't a full grown specimen. Has nasty hooks on each one of its suckers. Like a Squid from 'Hellraiser' movies!

Here is a picture of it being pulled aboard ship:

[bucketfoot]

Malcolm - I'll be posting photos of my 'Mammals' collection threads later on, so if you want to see the slight touch up I did on the Indricotherium, make sure you keep an eye out for the threads....

[dinonikes]

Yeah, the suckers on the arms (I don't know why the experts call them arms, I would call them legs) of the collosal squid have stationary hooks embedded in them, the suckers on the tentacles have rotating hooks set in them- I had to put those on my model-

I will look for the post that shows your tweaking of the Indri- looking forward to it- so far I have only seen Kevin repainting any of my figures-the Dilo-

[dinonikes]

I did this 16"x 20" painting a while ago for one of my collectors from my ebay days- it was a commisioned piece- done in a simple style to keep it affordable for him- shows a Pterygotus patrolling over a Silurian reef- I also did a Devonian reef for him with a Dunkleostus and other placoderms swimming in and over the reef-didn't get a photo ofthat one though-

[Ajax]

Oct 10, 2009 5:34:21 GMT @bucketfoot said:

Malcolm - The size of that critter is not speculation anymore. They caught one in the Antarctic Ocean a few years ago that was AT LEAST that size and wasn't a full grown specimen. Has nasty hooks on each one of its suckers. Like a Squid from 'Hellraiser' movies!

Here is a picture of it being pulled aboard ship:

WOW, Can you imagine the size of the Calamari rings that would make.

[stoneage]

Oct 26, 2009 1:17:41 GMT dinonikes said:

I did this 16"x 20" painting a while ago for one of my collectors from my ebay days- it was a commisioned piece- done in a simple style to keep it affordable for him- shows a Pterygotus patrolling over a Silurian reef- I also did a Devonian reef for him with a Dunkleostus and other placoderms swimming in and over the reef-didn't get a photo ofthat one though-

So what does something like this cost?