No offense was really meant to you Matt, or others in that thread over at Scum, but I did take a bit of a shot at those claiming the Code 3 ships look better than model kits out there.
As nice as the one guy is in the thread, he's just REALLY off-base about plastic ships, and almost sounds scourned by what Hasbro's done by butchering the toys so he thinks all plastic looks unrealistic.
I guess that WAS a little bit of a shot... Not its original intent, but I honestly think that anyone claiming Code 3 as being high quality just doesn't know what they're talking about.
It's like the people that say the prequal's CGI sucks, when anyone with experience in CGI and computer animation in general will tell you it's cutting edge stuff, and the most impressive animation in a film anyone's likely to have seen... Even superior in complexity to LOTR (Which I love, I'm just being honest).
Some people just don't like it though, and are convinced that it's "poor quality" when it's not... Just like I guess a couple folks think the Code 3 sets are somehow superior to the Fine Molds model kits, or even an AMT/Ertl kit from the 1980's. Plastic, by its very nature, takes better detail than most cast metals do even. Some people just aren't willing to accept that though.
I think it's them trying to justify the $300 pricetags in their mind.
Seriously though, those C3 items would be worth $100 or so... They're not even competitively priced against other die-cast metal models out there even. I mean, I got a 1:18 scale Willy's jeep from World War II not that long ago, and it was only $30, has a working steering mechanism, full detailed engine, removable accessories like tools and such.
I just don't get Code 3 then, and their exorbitant pricing, and their desire to push out other product that, by all means isn't even the same TYPE of collectible.
Code 3 then pi$$ed me off in a couple ways.
1) they pushed a superior product in model kits away, and have killed NEW Star Wars model kits (including some obscure EU ones) from being made. This means model kits, which I love building, are now not available readily, and new kits of new vehicles aren't going to be available till Code 3 gives up its license.
2) They offer inferior quality product when compared to other "similar" items, like model kits (even pre-built ones) when it comes to their overall detail, accuracy, and yet claim their product to be "high-end".
3) They eliminate any form of competition, which I'm not wild about ANY Star Wars license for this reason... hasbro b!tched at Lego for offering individual figures (Like who the hell's gonna quit being a die-hard Hasbro figure collector to buy Lego figures?), and so Code 3's sissy behavior over the C&D they MADE Lucasfilm enfoce (Lucasfilm actually had model-makers BUYING the kits from these "garage" kit companies).
4) Their price is just outrageous... Like I said, for all the removable panels and things, I could go with $100 or less, but not $300... That just sucks to me for all the more you get. I mean, the scale of the X-Wing may not even be right, judging by eyeballing it (I could be wrong on that), so how can someone justify $300 for it? I wouldn't pay $300 for a 1:18 scale X-Wing that was done RIGHT, much less Code 3's...
But, when it all boils down, I'm mostly irritated because I can't get a single new damn model kit because of Code 3. The best I can hope for is Fine Molds to make more kits, but I don't even know if they are holding a license at this poiont, an d there's been little heard from them, even though they've made arguably the best model kits for Star Wars ever.
My last bastion of hope was the small garage companies that made limited edition resin kits (mostly of EU ships), and they're now unable to make anything... And it's 100% the fault of Code "whiney b!tch" 3.