August 7th, 2023
166 comments
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Big Chief Studios in Liquidation
A statement has now been added to their website
According to emails received by consumers that have paid a deposit its been stated that “The Company is insolvent and has ceased to trade”.
If you have paid any monies and have not been contacted you could try www.begbies-traynorgroup.com.
You should also be able to follow liquidator statements over the coming weeks and months at www.gov.uk
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Mark tyree
October 25th, 2023 - 6:48pmGutted for everyone who lost money exactly the same happened to me with WAIMAN
with onesixbruce when they went bust taking my £300 .never pre ordered since.
Jerome
September 23rd, 2023 - 1:56pmWait so does that mean all orders & pre-orders have been cancelled?
English isn’t my first language and there are way too many fancy words to fully understand what has happened
Also reading from the comments; I’m assuming we’re unlikely getting a refund either?
booboo
September 23rd, 2023 - 2:01pmBasically you will not get any items you have paid for or a refund from Big Chief.
You can try the card issuer you paid by
Richard B
September 14th, 2023 - 10:29amHI All,
Paid for a laurel & Hardy set in Oct 2019 via Paypal using Barclaycard £379.99. I provided all emails to Barclaycard stating when item was going into production and hold up caused by covid.
Received full refund back onto my card.
Keep pushing credit card operators, no chance if you used debit card.
CybermanBill
August 23rd, 2023 - 10:07pmThis is horrible!!! I haven’t received ANYTHING from them and I have EVERY Doctor Who figure bought and paid for on order!!! Is there something they sent out to fill out what was purchased?
booboo
August 24th, 2023 - 7:01amyou should have had an email from the administrators with a claim form (but there will be no money anyway looking at the statement of affairs)
When The Doctor Was Me
August 30th, 2023 - 8:57amI’m struggling to understand the statement of affairs. Is the debt both totals together or just the one? Really doubting i’ll see my money again…
booboo
August 30th, 2023 - 9:14amno they take the total debt, then deduct what assets they have (cash in bank etc) and pay “preferential creditors” such as VAT and HMRC and whats left is spread amongst the “unsecured creditors” ie the consumers and trade debts
After that as things stand there will be £2000 to go towards 1.2 million of debt
they do seem seem to have put a value yet on hand stock and prototypes etc at the moment.
These will be early figures though
When The Doctor Was Me
August 30th, 2023 - 9:40amAh ok thanks booboo. So with £2000 no chance of seeing any money back.
booboo
August 30th, 2023 - 9:42amno, well possibly pennies per £1000 owed but wouldn’t even bank on that
Andrew
August 19th, 2023 - 10:36amRead the latest letter. So much customer money held by the company. It makes your heart sink and blood boil.
Rikki Krystal
August 19th, 2023 - 4:05amHad another letter off administrators.
Seems Big Chief owe around three million in debt.
No chance of my £500.00. Or anybody else getting there money back.
such a shame for everybody.
J
August 18th, 2023 - 3:23pm“If the total amount above includes outstanding uncapitalised interest please state the amount”
What does this mean? If the refund amount is £200, should I use the same £200?
Please help.
booboo
August 18th, 2023 - 3:27pmsome companies add interest (and sometimes a late payment fee) if an invoice is not paid by the due date so it will be for that.
This would not apply to customers placing orders so it would just be the exact amount you have paid them.
J
August 18th, 2023 - 3:43pmThanks for replying.
Should I write the same amount in all 4 blanks of the form? (The amount I paid)
I’m not good at English.
John
August 14th, 2023 - 4:59pmWell despite trying I never got my money back with Eaglemoss. Paypal cannot do anything after 90 days (what a con). The bank just says its out of our hands because I paid Paypal. Now I am going to lose another £220 for pre ordering in 2020 for the Delgado figure. Paypal won’t be interested and the bank will shrug it off too. Never pre ordering again.
booboo
August 14th, 2023 - 5:01pmhave you gone to the ombudsman?
john
August 14th, 2023 - 6:13pmI couldn’t understand what you do with Ombudsman. All too complicated. I just gave up.
booboo
August 14th, 2023 - 6:21pmmake a complaint, you have nothing to loose
John
August 14th, 2023 - 6:41pmGoing to try those two pages on the form. Not sure which bits you have to fill in. I’ll just send it with printed details of invoices. Just wondering if you have to send all the pages back or can you just send the two pages filled in ? I assume you send it to Begbies Traynor ,31st Floor , 40 Bank Street, London ?
Sideways
August 12th, 2023 - 1:32pmIs it just the creditor proof of debit form on pages 15 and 16 that need filling in?
booboo
August 14th, 2023 - 10:57amthat’s the one with as much info a possible
Loobop
August 11th, 2023 - 5:40pmif the bbc wanna win back fans trust on expensive dr who items after this there really gonna have to have a money taken only on despatch law to those that they give the dr who liscense to in future.
godlek
August 13th, 2023 - 6:37pmThe BBC have no say in how a company runs its own business – prices, dispatch or production. They certainly cannot dictate policy or make laws. If BCS hadn’t dispatched anything in years and kept promising but not delivering then it was really up to the consumer to decide if it was worth continuing to pay for items which hadn’t (and now won’t) materalise.
Rex F
August 13th, 2023 - 7:52pmThe BBC will have quite a bit of influence, including powers to cancel the licence if they feel it makes them look bad. (Or making them jump through more hoops to get approval for a product.) I suspect they’ll be more selective when awarding licences in future, even if only for PR reasons.
Rory
August 14th, 2023 - 3:49pm@Rex F, will they though?
Licences are issued based on a business pitch. Companies who consistently provide (CO for example) get their licences rubber stamped.
Companies who don’t provide just get their renewal denied. BBC hasn’t lost money in doing that. They probably don’t care if niche companies don’t make enough money to survive. The fan rage is a ripple on niche webpages.
Jeff
August 21st, 2023 - 10:03pmFrom the latest liquidation letter, I see the BBC are owed over 42 thousand pounds……
Anonymous
August 9th, 2023 - 10:13pmWhere is the claim form?
The Quark
August 9th, 2023 - 10:58pmIf you had the email from the Administrator Anon its on the end of that.
Anonymous
August 9th, 2023 - 8:09pmI have learned I will never PreOrder anything on a payment plan ever again. Not with Sideshow. Not with anyone.
Anonymous
August 9th, 2023 - 9:12pmAgreed.
The Quark
August 9th, 2023 - 12:28pmSent off the ‘claim form’ to the liquidators – bit complex when you don’t normally fill in forms on a pc, lots of screen prints attached from my big chief account. Bet the company staff are going to wonder why so many people were foxed into continually buying items on preorder like this. Didn’t even understand some of the questions – aimed more at accountancy / legal types I thought. Just hope the big chief screen prints are sufficient rather than ploughing through 2 year old bank and pay pal statements.
booboo
August 9th, 2023 - 12:37pmThey should still have access to cross reference i would think.
Will be interesting to see if they lump consumers in as one big lot or if people are listed individually on the creditors list.
The Quark
August 9th, 2023 - 12:46pmI spoke to the firm yesterday – sounded as if they were having a party . Got the feeling that ‘Annabelle’ was getting raucous cheers from her colleagues every time Big Chief was mentioned. The receptionist was apparently overloaded with big chief related calls and I was asked to use emails for any further contact.
Anonymous
August 9th, 2023 - 12:53pmYou do know you can filter online banking to specific people. So you could filter it to just showing “big chief” payments or whatever they show up as on a bank payment. Then it will cut out all other bank related payments and just show big chief exclusively, if that helps out in anyway! There are other filters you can use as well which may help narrow it down
The Quark
August 9th, 2023 - 1:03pmHi anonymous my bank shows the installments as pay pal payments with no further breakdown. I only recognized them by checking the amounts and dates. Paypal couldnt even get the way id paid right when i phoned them.
Tom Parsons
August 9th, 2023 - 12:19pmI paid £249.99 for a figure 2 years ago an sadly there is no chance of refund
booboo
August 9th, 2023 - 12:37pmhave you tried? have you filled in the Claim form?
The Quark
August 9th, 2023 - 12:56pmFill in the claim form. Got to be worth a go.
Anon
August 9th, 2023 - 1:02pmThere’s definitely no chance if you don’t even try to claim. Fair enough, you may not get your money back by claiming but at least there is a small chance you might get it back. Fill in the form.
The Quark
August 9th, 2023 - 1:06pmI am forced to wonder if all claims are treated equally or if small amounts get treated preferntially over bigger amounts – or vice versa.
booboo
August 9th, 2023 - 1:11pmIf, and its a big if, there is any money left for “unsecured” creditors then it should be a % across the board, so many pence in the pound so to speak. (although i would imagine a small amount may cost more to pay than its worth possibly if say the payout is 1p in the pound )
All of this process is public record so no one will get preferential treatment once this process has started.
The Administrators, HMRC, The Banks, Debenture holders and any other secured creditors will always get paid first.
Anonymous
August 9th, 2023 - 2:24pmPresumably you didn’t pay with credit card?
Steve
August 9th, 2023 - 7:57pmDid anyone ever see Captain Scarlet, blue or Captain Black the Master or K-9 seen they were showed in 2017….
Steve
August 9th, 2023 - 7:58pmDid anyone ever see Captain Scarlet the Master or K-9 seen they were showed in 2017….
Col
August 14th, 2023 - 10:31amWhere do I get a claim form please 🙂
booboo
August 14th, 2023 - 10:48amdid you get the email from the administrators?
Fill in with all the info you can put together on the CREDITOR PROOF OF DEBT FORM towards the bottom which should have been attached.
Doctor Stu
August 8th, 2023 - 10:24pmI never found them anything special anyway, overpriced quite creepy looking dolls that never really got the likeness right.
Anonymous
August 9th, 2023 - 8:50amThere is no need to bash them
Anonymous
August 9th, 2023 - 8:51amThere is no need to be rude to big chief
Doctor Stu
August 9th, 2023 - 1:44pmJust my opinion, they always looked creepy and were way overpriced
Tom
August 15th, 2023 - 6:34pmGot to admit they got one of their figures bang on and that was pertwee, he’s looks fantastic.
The Quark
August 8th, 2023 - 9:01pmBig Chief kept promising, promising, promising and never liver up to their promises to basically – like myself – gullible fans. It’s just a matter now of waiting to see if any money is forthcoming at the final end. Suppose I’m glad i didn’t order the Daleks and the very much wanted mini Gerry Anderson figures- amazed I stopped myself I really wanted them and the Anderson range promised so much! Id have been another 500 out of pocket.
I am wondering if there is any completed stock for the vultures to dig their claws into like they did with eaglemoss.
The one major disappointment I have is that a Pat Troughton figure was never forthcoming.
Perhaps one day a company will do fans the favour of producing the Doctors in order.
John
August 14th, 2023 - 6:25pmToo much reliance on China. It’s about time all the countries stop using China and focus on their own talents/businesses.
booboo
August 14th, 2023 - 6:38pmAgreed – but at an unaffordable mass market price which people won’t pay.
Tom
August 8th, 2023 - 9:00pmHi there,
Please accept my apologies but I do feel empathy for those who like myself lost out when Big Chief went into liquidation. I have lost out on £300 worth of goods the Definitive Tom Baker Figure which was money I got for my 50th back in 2020 and other items . I am not very well off and all I will say is Big Chief could have us give some advance warning although I had some deep suspicions when they emailed customers like me back in April 2023 that they were having production problems then due to the worldwide economic situation . They should have offered even some compensation or part refund. I would appreciate any advice from any fellow Whovians who might have made purchases like this like I did or any signposting on how to make a claim . Thanks you my fellow Whovians for your kind assistance. Tom.
Rex F
August 8th, 2023 - 10:46pmLook back on the previous page of comments and you’ll find some good advice on what to do.
Anonymous
August 8th, 2023 - 8:59pmVery sad to see them go. Would have loved for a 14 and 15 to join the line up.
I do have a order open with them. I have contacted my bank who have been really helpful. Currently awaiting the response from my claim form. Fingers crossed for everyone who is in a similar position! My item was due July 2023 and not delivered. So I have a claim because it is within 120 days of expected delivery.
TheGravis
August 8th, 2023 - 8:01pmI just want to relate my experience today in case it helps others.
I have 4 preorders
2 Full Payment
2 Deposit.
All paid through Paypal, via a Mastercard. No Paypal balance. All transactions are listed on
credit card statements.
I phoned the bank. The first person I spoke to said 120 days rule, no claim, I disputed this and spoke to someone else. They said that 120 days can be from the date of the transaction or the date of delivery. As non had been given, it was potentially covered. After various items of evidence were provided, the items pre-ordered prior to August 2021 were sent off to a separate department and I should hear back in 7 days. The other (from October 2021) was paid into my account after a few hours. This is on a chargeback basis. If the other claim fails, I can still then submit a Section 75 claim , but this will likely not cover the deposits, as it is only covering items over £100.
Hope this helps.
Fingers crossed.
The Quark
August 8th, 2023 - 9:56pmBanks seem to make up these rules as they go along , one member of staff says one thing another member of staff another let us all know how you go on Gravis. Banks are supposed to look after our money.
BW
August 8th, 2023 - 6:38pmBig Chief never gave the impression of being a particularly viable business, forever promising but not delivering and holding onto pre-order money for literally years without updates. It’s amazing that they lasted a decade but it was only ever going to end this way.
Good luck to people trying to get refunds. What a mess.
Bicky
August 8th, 2023 - 6:17pmI contacted Company House and they were very helpful. They talked me through steps to follow Big Chief Studios on Gov.uk find company information. You have to set up an email/account to follow developments. She said at the moment, the company is still active. Also, when insolvency is filed to close the business, you can object to this and apparently they can’t close it down ( I know it sounds odd)
booboo
August 8th, 2023 - 6:23pmThe link was already in the post for that very reason, and they are talking about final winding up which generally only major creditors can stop.
NickD
August 8th, 2023 - 10:53pmThat’s very true. Usually HMRC do this to prevent a business going insolvent. They transfer the debt to the business owners and could bankrupt them. Either way tax is always potentially recoverable as it’s not statute barred and won’t be written off.
The Quark
August 8th, 2023 - 4:35pmWe’ve certainly seen the deficiencies of trusting in a ‘cheap’ workforce in Asia over the past 24 months.
Ernest
August 9th, 2023 - 8:57amMore like deficienices in trusting a UK company who holds onto money for years without delivering….
The Quark
August 9th, 2023 - 11:36amDont stab at buyers who place their trust in a company.’Credit’ for their demise where its due – with them not its customers and using an overseas work force didnt work for them or eaglemoss .
Ernest
August 12th, 2023 - 7:28pmCO uses an overseas work force that works very succesfully. CO don’t take pre orders for years without delivering…
Nope, the issue is clearly a UK company who took preorders for years without delivering.
The Quark
August 12th, 2023 - 9:52pmCO simply keep repainting the same figures over again. As long as fans keep swallowing it they’ll be ok.
Matt Y
August 8th, 2023 - 3:04pmThe only people at the moment doing well out of this liquidation are the Lawyers. They will be making over 55K! So that’s good news fo run all. : (
Anonymous
August 8th, 2023 - 3:18pmHow do you know btw? Im not a expert at this. Just curious aha!
booboo
August 8th, 2023 - 3:20pmThe sum was mentioned in their email to creditors but it was £15.000+vat where has the £55K come from?
£100+ per hour is not unusual in this industry
Anonymous
August 8th, 2023 - 3:24pmI never got the email, but christ.
Joe 90
August 8th, 2023 - 5:34pm£55,412.50 for 125 hours for the liquidators
Think it’s on page 11 of the Liquidators letter
booboo
August 8th, 2023 - 5:58pmYes can see that now 441.54 an hour (although that’s not just one person but could be several)
Frightening
Matt Y
August 8th, 2023 - 3:02pmI have a respectful request to make. Could we keep all comments focused on Big Chief Studios please. This is a big deal and I am looking at losing £2770. If another strand is needed for Harrops can that be created. There is going to be a lot of information appearing on here about how to get refunds from BCS and it’s liquidation process and as this quite stressful and upsetting it would be great if that information was really clear. Many thanks. Matt
Anonymous
August 8th, 2023 - 3:17pmIm no expert at this but here are a few potential suggestions. Maybe booboo or anyone could elaborate on the validity of these suggestions. A) Contact your Bank eg. Barclays etc and ask if they have any procedures, through their Customer Service. B) Are there any claims companies or experts that deal with businesses collapsing and assisting the customers? Someone may be able to help. C) Could you take legal action? If they have deliberately lied and mislead their customers – ive seen some people getting emails with false information that were sent when they will have been aware of its imminent closure. D) Ensure you have As much proof of purchase, order numbers emails and receipts as you can and store them safe – they may come in handy. E) Theres a link that booboo has put in the page, i dont know if thats to help people with financial issues relating to big chief.
It might be great if BooBoo could provide some sort of reassurance for people like your self, by maybe putting a mini list of solutions on this page. I can only apologise because if i loose £10 – i get irritated. I cant begin to think how everyone who had orders feels. This is why I cancelled a couple orders a few months ago, they kept £40 per order as a non refund deposit.
booboo
August 8th, 2023 - 3:58pmContact your bank ASAP with as much proof as possible.
Link to the BC website as proof they have gone into liquidation (or screenshot it).
(It will not be long before its in the London Gazette and companies house updated with the appointment anyway)
Its vital you say this was a pre-order and that BC kept changing the release date with assurances of delivery and that there was never any suggestion that the order would never be fulfilled.
Then, The Company (BC) went into administration with no warning.t
If they will not pay then go to the ombudsman, that is what they are for.
The Quark
August 8th, 2023 - 4:39pmI dont know about other banks but mine allowed an even longer leeway than the oft quoted 120 days. It still wasn’t enough to reach back to 2021 and certainly not 2020 when my figures were paid for. I initially though people who asked for a retund were throwing their money away . As it happens they were the wisest. I know that this is the latest nail in the coffin of my interest in Doctor Who. 50 years and my enthusiasm for the series has never been at such a low ebb.
Snowman
August 8th, 2023 - 1:27pmHas anyone any concrete news about Robert Harrops?
They’ve been acting strange a lately.
I ordered the Terileptil Leader ages ago and it was well over due when it Finally Shipped.
Harrops claimed they were ready to ship but we’re just waiting for Box’s?
Now the Terileptil Android should be released next, but they havn’t even shown any Finished painted Photos. (Claiming they have met unforseen Circumstances) It should have been on Pre-Order the end of last month but that came and went without any News at all?
Anonymous
August 8th, 2023 - 1:38pmMost have had their Tereptil leaders delivered. Over a month ago Dan posted a picture of Ood Sigma as a future release and said the Android was delayed. We havent been told yet if the Ood wil be the next one that is up for preorder, which is a possibility.
Alvin Amey
August 8th, 2023 - 2:19pmThe Tereleptil Android has been pushed back and their next release will be Ood Sigma
Moodbeam
August 8th, 2023 - 2:20pmHarrop have quite a few releases we don’t know about which are scheduled toward the end of this year.
Matt Y
August 8th, 2023 - 1:21pmIf no refund is coming (which looks very likely) I have lost £2,770 as paid for every figure in full. What a unfunny joke. I don’t have loads of money but put my money into BCS’ now non existent Doctor Who products that they had promised, dating back to 14.12.19! Losing this much money means I have no sympathy for BCS at all. They surely could have seen what was happening. A warning would have been nice. Instead they were happy to take all our money to dig themselves out of their problem. This is not a small amount of money and I can’t just think ‘oh well never mind’. And BCS’ lame apology means nothing. All that about being ‘wounded’ – no one attacked you. BCS were in control of what they were doing as a company and it’s finances ( yes I appreciate the difficulties in recent years) but refunds could have been offered. But BCS didn’t do that. As I have said, BCS kept the money so it would be less in debt. Am very depressed and angry.
beef
August 8th, 2023 - 3:22pmI understand being depressed and angry but… you paid £3000 in advance for the promise of a product? On the trust of a corporation? I trust at least a lesson has been learned
booboo
August 8th, 2023 - 3:31pmMatt Y will be one amongst many, That was BC business model, no one could order anything without paying up front or with payment plans and they also withheld a fixed deposit for anyone who cancelled.
The Quark
August 8th, 2023 - 4:32pmA fairer assessment than the ‘tears’ some are shedding for the company. They were still posting schedules for the figures to be dispatched only a few weeks ago. I’m astounded that some people claim they will still buy figures from Big Chief if they somehow resurrect themselves. My feeling is summed up by the old saying ‘Fool Me Once, Shame on You; Fool Me Twice, Shame on Me’
As for Pay Pal they really need to get some staff who know what they’re doing. I came away this morning feeling at least two members of staff were totally incompetent. Okay for one off transactions maybe but anything more complex no.
My bank weren’t any help either. What a pity we cant safeguard ourselves with the same cast iron armour banks protect themselves.
I’ve filled in the claim form. Not sent it yet want someone more knowlegable in this field than me to check it over first. The blurb is extremely complex for a non legal, non accountant layman. I wondered. looking through the documentation. if I’m expected to pay for the services of the administrators. Sounded like they were having a party when i rang them. I got the feeling anyone who mentioned Big chief or Dr Who was getting rousing cheers from the staff.
Gareth Pugh
August 8th, 2023 - 6:42pmVery sorry to hear about your situation Matt. I lost a bit in the Eaglemoss insolvency a year ago but not this much. Unfortunately what I do know about businesses that are financially struggling is that that last thing they ‘should’ do is let the outside world – including creditors and people with paid up ore orders -know there are problems. If they sent a message out saying ‘might be a problem, so we are offering refunds’ would get out on social media, and this then alerts the big creditors who are owed stuff – suppliers and subcontracted factories etc – who tend to then suddenly protect their exposure to risk by shortening the window on invoice payments, immediately calling in debts etc – and this hastens the collapse of the company’s finances. They tend to need to keep this quiet until they have reached the point of no return – and then file for voluntary liquidation (declare bankruptcy) at which point there are very precise legally required steps they have to take including publishing in the London Gazette etc, appointing a receiver firm. It’s very hard on the individual customer, for sure.
Martino
August 8th, 2023 - 11:51amI don’t know what happened to Big Chief, and was never one of their customers, but the list of reasons why companies like this will fail is long and growing. The worsening economy and production costs will have had an impact, energy costs too, border problems are still unresolved, supply chains are still strained, climate change and even climate protests might soon have to be factored in (diecast and plastic model production will increasingly be looked at as problematic). We could be looking at the end of a golden era for collectors.
Anonymous
August 8th, 2023 - 11:00amNot gonna lie, last five years of the show (as well as the pandemic, cost of living etc) have definitely played their part in the closing of Eaglemoss and Big Chief… both focusing majorly on Doctor Who for various ranges… I know people will be saying RTD is In charge now, but thats the point. He took over around a year ago, not a single one of his episodes has aired yet. This is definitely an aftermath from the seriously poor quality of the last five years, Chibnall crippled the show – and has certainly contributed to businesses having a smaller market for Doctor Who. Sure, core fans will buy pretty much anything – but the most important thing is to appeal to the general public. Statistics show the shows decline during the last five years. It was a continuous, constant downwards trajectory in viewing figures. If a show looses viewers, it looses market. RTD is a professional when it comes to marketing, i mean – just look at what he has already done! I genuinely think if these businesses survived past the 60th, they would have had more customers. I dont know if RTD has a background in marketing also, but he has already said that their is a rotor scheduled with announcements for various dates – so it doesn’t begin to dry up. He has already teamed up with character options on two successful figure releases (before its even aired!) – Chibnall treated these businesses like enemies, when in fact – they help the show. Im gonna refer to this as the “Chibnall Effect”
Obviously the Pandemic and Cost of living contributed, but its a hell of a coincidence that two businesses that heavily relied on Doctor Whos Brand – have gone.
Of course; there will still be people who claim David Tennants Era isnt as good or popular as Whittakers… it’s certainly a statement, just not sure what.
Anomie
August 8th, 2023 - 11:21amGot nothing to do with Whittaker. Eaglemoss chibnall era figures sold well. Davies has no control over what merchandise is made or people will buy. It’s the pandemic and the cost of living crisis that have wiped out these companies. These figures are a luxury not a necessity and in an economy that is tanking luxury is not an option for some people. Why pay £300 plus for a single doll when you have food to buy and bills to pay? Frankly I’ve no interest in the new Davies era, never liked his writing and Tennant is overrated as an actor.
Moodbeam
August 8th, 2023 - 11:24amBCS certainly don’t cater to the casual audience, their items are made for fans and collectors. I don’t deny we’ve had a dry patch with merchandise and whilst I think we can all agree that this started during Chibnalls run it is no reflection on the quality of the Doctor, the whole run itself turned off the general audience.
However, it’s not the general audience spending hundreds on merchandise like this, it’s the hard-core fans.
Anon
August 8th, 2023 - 11:40amHow can you blame Whittaker’s era for this company going under? They did one figure from her era. One out of all of the doctor who figures they did. Blame the dubious commercial choices in their other ranges, ranges that had such a limited audience that they surely could have foreseen they would have trouble with them. The basic fact is BCS catered for the fans of who and provided them with what they wanted, chibnall’s era has had no impact on the range. The pandemic and the financial crisis on the other hand has played a huge role in it. The fact the company kept taking preorders when it knew it was in trouble is despicable.
Anthony (Formerly) @ FP
August 8th, 2023 - 12:00pmFrom the POV of somebody making merchandise during the Thirteenth Doctor’s time (at FP/Titan Merch)…
Merchandise still sold, you just had to be more careful as the mass element had disappeared. So print runs of 10,000 t-shirts weren’t going to happen, but 1,000 might. The product budget had to reflect that.
That’s not to say ambition was lacking – look at the Master 50th range from 2021, or the current Diamond Collection we did. It was just crucial to know your audience, so you could know your numbers. Often this meant marketing around something else – anniversaries, TLV, themed collections, etc.
It’s why Eaglemoss did so well. It wasn’t their DW range (or Star Trek) that tanked the business.
Oh – and Jodie era merch, when done right, sold well. It’s a fan myth it didn’t. However, the show’s general appeal by then had gone from mass market to niche. A process that started, very gradually, from the 2009 specials gap when the action figures dried up – with a brief pause in 2013 for the 50th.
Anonymous
August 8th, 2023 - 1:12pmOk, it “sold well” when reduced to a much smaller production quantity… so if it was the same quantity as say David Tennants run would have gotten, would it still have sold well? These are the kind of stunts used to try and hype up the last five years, creating an illusion of popularity. “Whittaker era merch sold well, when we drastically lowered the production quantities so that thwre wasnt as much to sell in the long run – because we wouldnt be able to sell the quantities we used too”
“The move from Saturday to Sunday reduced viewing figures and thats to blame, although it was done for the exact reason of improving viewing figures. Due to it being a difference between the last few years and her run, people claw onto that as a reason… except Sunday is better for it, with less competition.
Whittaker era merch sold well, when David Tennant was involved… Titan Comics, TLV, Vinyls, Edge of Reality. I honestly cant think of much solo whittaker merch, since series 11.
booboo
August 8th, 2023 - 1:18pmHow about we stop this blame game on eras here which i doubt has anything to do with the Big Chief (or EM for that matter) demise.
Anon
August 8th, 2023 - 2:16pmThe company failed like so many other companies in recent years. Why they failed has nothing to do with anything but commercial inadequacies. As boo boo says what’s the point of blaming eras? It has very little to do with the failures of doctor who related companies. Frankly my sympathy lies with those out of pocket here. BCS does have some questions to answer in terms of their conduct here. But, simply put, the company failed because the product it sells is very expensive, with a niche market and in a time of financial woe for many people. You could blame a virus (which be pointless) or you could blame a government for getting us in financial straits which is difficult on some levels due to external circumstances (pandemic/war) at the end of the day though it’s just a merchandise company. None of it is essential and people across the world have far more to complain about than not getting an expensive display item! As I say, my sympathy is with those who have lost money and those at BCS who have lost their jobs, I doubt whether they were aware of what the owners were up to.
Al
August 8th, 2023 - 2:36pmFor those defending Whitakker, keep in mind that there was a long lead time between figure announcements and release. This is partly from people cancelling orders after Chibnall began. I know people who cancelled Big Chief (not to mention Big Finish) orders after Whitaker was cast and after Timeless Child. It’s all connected. On the retail side I know a local business (I’m in Canada) that used to stock Big Chief figures (Who and otherwise) and they stopped doing so, and Whitaker-era merchandise in the stores is non-existent over here (other Doctors, yes). Chibnall may not be the only reason why Big Chief is going under, but he didn’t help.
Anon
August 8th, 2023 - 3:21pmWhy cancel big finish when they have nothing linked to chibnall? Just let it go… as Antony says the market fell from 2009 onwards a perfectly natural occurrence as the kids watching from 2005 grew up.
Anonymous
August 8th, 2023 - 3:30pmAnon, just incase you think its the same person (i wrote the first paragraph that sparked replies. The user AI Is someone else but they arent wrong. A doctor who focused shop near me (focused on it for well over 10 yesrs) no longer sells that much Doctor Who. Which is kind of ironic, they now sell a variety of stylised products for other shows
booboo
August 8th, 2023 - 3:37pmThe USA market is very different to the UK with it being much more geeky and wanting the latest “in thing”, Wave 2 of the Funkos tanked for that very reason. “classic who” never did will in the states at all.
John
August 8th, 2023 - 10:46ameaglemoss and now Big Chief, both major Who players. sadly people, this is why the industry is scared of putting money into Who.
Count Davros
August 8th, 2023 - 10:22amLike many people have said, I came close to cancelling my orders a few times but couldn’t quite do it. “It won’e be much longer” I kept thinking, especially when they kept sending out updates with photos of the costumes and the figures at various stages of production. For me the worst part, apart from probably losing a ton of money, is the fact that BC kept taking pre-orders. This sort of thing doesn’t just happen over night, they would have known this was coming for months (or longer), and yet they still kept taking people’s money.
Count Davros
August 8th, 2023 - 10:23amSorry – “It won’t be much longer” I kept thinking…
Moodbeam
August 8th, 2023 - 11:26amThey continued to take money to keep the business afloat as long as possible. Unfortunately they haven’t been able to dig themselves out of the hole they were in and no amount of new orders would have fixed that. I agree, it’s shady and immoral but it is also the way that the system works. If they’d have stopped accepting new orders they would have folded a long time ago. I should doubt they knew this was going to happen, more that they expected it but kept going to try and avert it.
Anonymous
August 8th, 2023 - 2:26pm“Its easy to gamble, when its not your money to gamble with…”
– The Big Chief slogan