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Because fuck you if you're just a regular Joe or Jane into Star Trek.
What is Anovos, you ask? They are a premiere cosplay/costume vendor that specializes in Star Trek uniforms (they've branched out into other Sci-Fi realms in recent years).
"What the fuck is wrong with you, Screaming Eagle?" is your next question. Go ahead. Ask it. I mean, who the fuck doesn't want a nice Star Trek uniform? I'm sure you've seen all of those cheaply made, overpriced Halloween varieties on Amazon and are craving for something you can wear more than once without it snagging on something invisible the second you sneeze.
I live in the Land of the Free and Home of the Ferengi. A "standard line" TOS redshirt starts at a whopping $200.00. Yep. For ONE redshirt. ONE. 200 smackers for a shirt. A shirt. Let that sink in.
200 bucks is nothing to a Trekkie of the upper-middle class variety, and fuck, if I had loads of cash, why the fuck not? But I'm not balling in cash and neither are a lot of awesome Trekkies I know and have befriended over the years.
Say you bought into their marketing tactics (I have to admire their talent at this. I mean they are at all the conventions and featured in all the trek blogs)--"These are real replicas with the correct dye combinations 'n shit!" or had the extra cash and just wanted an Anovos uniform. Say you dropped $550 on their Standard Line Voyager Uniform. Guess how long that shit is going to take to get to you? You could be waiting up to a year. Yes. A year. If I'm going to drop half a grand on an outfit, it better be in my hands within the next 30 days.
I'm a screaming eagle ripping them apart with my talons. Yes, yes. I know. I'm a fucking asshole. But fuck! You can get a decent costume from Chinese cosplay vendors on Ebay, Amazon, and Etsy for a fraction of the price. Sure, shipping takes a month, but you'd have a nice uniform at an affordable price.
Why am I even getting my feathers ruffled over uniforms I'll never waste my money on? It's the entire trend of costly goods and conventions that is sweeping (correction: has already bulldozed) affordable prices out of the game for average Trekkers like myself. Plus, some asshole pigeon got a twig stuck in my wing, and I can't get it out. The fucker got away before I could catch him.
Well, at least most of the action figures are still cheap.
What is Anovos, you ask? They are a premiere cosplay/costume vendor that specializes in Star Trek uniforms (they've branched out into other Sci-Fi realms in recent years).
"What the fuck is wrong with you, Screaming Eagle?" is your next question. Go ahead. Ask it. I mean, who the fuck doesn't want a nice Star Trek uniform? I'm sure you've seen all of those cheaply made, overpriced Halloween varieties on Amazon and are craving for something you can wear more than once without it snagging on something invisible the second you sneeze.
I live in the Land of the Free and Home of the Ferengi. A "standard line" TOS redshirt starts at a whopping $200.00. Yep. For ONE redshirt. ONE. 200 smackers for a shirt. A shirt. Let that sink in.
200 bucks is nothing to a Trekkie of the upper-middle class variety, and fuck, if I had loads of cash, why the fuck not? But I'm not balling in cash and neither are a lot of awesome Trekkies I know and have befriended over the years.
Say you bought into their marketing tactics (I have to admire their talent at this. I mean they are at all the conventions and featured in all the trek blogs)--"These are real replicas with the correct dye combinations 'n shit!" or had the extra cash and just wanted an Anovos uniform. Say you dropped $550 on their Standard Line Voyager Uniform. Guess how long that shit is going to take to get to you? You could be waiting up to a year. Yes. A year. If I'm going to drop half a grand on an outfit, it better be in my hands within the next 30 days.
I'm a screaming eagle ripping them apart with my talons. Yes, yes. I know. I'm a fucking asshole. But fuck! You can get a decent costume from Chinese cosplay vendors on Ebay, Amazon, and Etsy for a fraction of the price. Sure, shipping takes a month, but you'd have a nice uniform at an affordable price.
Why am I even getting my feathers ruffled over uniforms I'll never waste my money on? It's the entire trend of costly goods and conventions that is sweeping (correction: has already bulldozed) affordable prices out of the game for average Trekkers like myself. Plus, some asshole pigeon got a twig stuck in my wing, and I can't get it out. The fucker got away before I could catch him.
Well, at least most of the action figures are still cheap.
no subject
Date: 2015-11-08 05:00 pm (UTC)From:Only rich Trekkies can afford some things these days, and it's ridiculous, especially given how conventions originally started: As small gatherings FROM fans FOR fans that had maybe one background actor from TOS. But then the studio found the potential and BOOM, suddenly conventions were Shatner and Nimoy and then with TNG a whole new cash cow appeared and these days the prices are in the ranks of downright insanity. Sure you can get in at a reasonable price if you buy a ticket for one day, but that's it. You're IN. But you can only walk around and admire the merchandise you can't afford because if you want to have ONE autograph or see ONE panel or get ONE photo with an actor/actress, you have to pay AGAIN. And AGAIN the prices are outragous. There is a limited number of tickets, so these Ferengi can raise the prices all the way they want, they will always sell their tickets. It's fucked up, plain and simple. Only rich upper class fans can afford conventions these days.
It's the same with uniforms. After all, uniforms are made for those who want to go to conventions. And that's why they're so expensive. (Well, good quality ones, anyway.) And yeah, it really took a year for my friend's uniform to arrive. Anovos kept postponing and kept telling him that it wasn't ready and shit. He had basically given up hope of ever getting it when it finally arrived. One might think that "rich target audience = efficiency because rich people complain about the silliest first world problems shit", but nah.
no subject
Date: 2015-11-09 10:17 pm (UTC)From:There are just too many upper class fans who are willing to keep shelling out outrageous amounts of money every single year after year *sigh* The Ferengi see this and respond in kind.
Did you see how much the Creation Entertainment prices were when STLV went on sale last month (I believe it was for STLV...one of the big ones out West). WTF.
I'm glad your friend finally got his uniform. Still...a year is too fucking much! If you are a rich fanboy/fangirl (I don't mean your friend; I'm talking about their base audience), you'll buy any excuse for the wait the vendor gives you "Oh, we cultivate this fabric to give you the most realistic experience possible!" > not a real quote, but you get the idea.
no subject
Date: 2015-11-10 04:39 pm (UTC)From:I DO have to say that conventions over here aren't JUST as expensive as they are in the US. There was apparently an outcry a few years ago when the actors wanted to charge as much for an autograph here as they charge in the US. The convention folks here had to tell them "you can't do that, Europeans won't pay these outrageous amounts". It's a slightly different culture here, BUT conventions are STILL expensive as fuck over here, too - unless it's a REALLY small convention with one or two actors. THOSE are actually decent, they go "back to the roots", so to speak. I appreciate these efforts, but as long as the "big conventions" get all the attention and glory, very few folks bother with the smaller ones.
I don't even look at STLV stuff anymore. It's INSANITY. That shit gets more expensive with each passing year!
Yeah my friend isn't particularly rich. He just wanted a REAL uniform, and Anovos WAS the way to go back then for him. He has said that he would NEVER order ANYTHING again, though. (In fact, he's now SELLING some of his Trek stuff.)
no subject
Date: 2015-11-10 05:54 pm (UTC)From:My morbid curiosity made me look at the STLV prices, and I was just WTF and how the hell do they sell out within hours of posting it online!? Sometimes you just have to pick at your scab!
I don't blame your friend for never getting anything from them ever again. The lure of getting a REAL uniform is very strong, so I completely understand that.