InIcons.com 12″ Collectible Figure Website

CEO action figures are not an entirely a new phenomenon, but this $99 doll seems to have a Kung-Fu Grip on public’s imagination due to it timing, the eerily realistic depiction of the subject, and the beautiful product photography on the manufacturers website. The site, elegant and respectful of the subject matter, has some parallax scrolling tricks that make it particularly fun to peruse.

Currently InIcons is reporting that the first batch of figures is sold out through preorders, so here is a list of my top five alternatives.

5. eBay purchase from a 3rd party

A few private sellers are advertising the InIcon product on eBay at rapidly rising prices. Some sellers report New York shipping addresses (early pre-orderers?) while others appear to be located in Hong Kong and may have access to purchase more easily. Either way, many of these eBayers are selling more units than they expect to receive (none having shipped to date) and promise a refund on unfulfilled orders. My advice – caveat emptor.

4. On Demand Acton Figure Builder

Vicale Corporation offers a Make Your Own Action Figure configurator through their web site. It is a far less costly approach (around $40) depending on your choice of accessories such as weapons, but the basic model doesn’t exactly reflect Mr. Job’s physique. It is however fun to play with the different parts available and see how close you can come to a CEO doll. The example screen shot shows my feeble attempt.

3. Bobble-head Steve Sculptures

Heading back to eBay and setting our expectations lower on the realism scale, many non-posable Steve sculptures are available. This is a mixed bag (“of hurt”) as the rendition quality of the head varies from “I can see the resemblance” to “are you kidding?” The body sculpture of many are quite impressive, which only goes to demonstrate how difficult it can be to capture the personality of a subject in plastic sculpture, and points up how impressive the InIcon product really is. These figure start at $25 and some apparently come gift-wrapped for last years holiday season.

2. Steve Jobs Plush Doll

iJustine’s Awesome Blog reported, and apparently purchased, a Steve Jobs Plush Doll back in 2009. Podbrix is the originator of this huggable 17″ figure, but unfortunately the Podbrix website is currently inaccessible. It is unclear if this is temporary or if they perhaps succumbed to cease and desist notices years ago due to this or previous products. Those interested should regularly check Craigslist or eBay.

1. DIY it with Pop Sculpture

If the above solutions fail to satisfy, it’s time to take matter into your own hands and become Madame Tussaud in miniature. Pop Sculpture: How to Sculpt Action Figures and Collectible Statues seems to be the definitive volume on the subject. It’s an extensively illustrated, 272-page book about techniques required to sculpt, cast, paint and photograph your own creations. Sculptors Tim Bruckner (DC Direct), Ruben Procopio (Disney) and Zach Oat (ToyFare) walk you through the process. The book sells for about $20 at the usual places as well as the Pop Sculpture blog.

Bargain shoppers can get massive discounts over retail. And with a little extra effort you can get top dollar on your sales, and the best deals on your purchases. Here are a few techniques that have served me well.

1. Don’t bid early.

Why unnecessarily drive the price up. Wait until the last minute – literally.

2. Buy in the final seconds.

Monitor the end of an auction live. Wait for the last 20-30 seconds to place your bid. This gives anyone else watching the auction little time to react if your bid pulls ahead. This is called Bid Sniping.

3. Determine your price and stick to it.

Don’t get caught up in the emotion. Decide how much you will pay and still feel good about the purchase. Bid that amount. Remember, your bid will only increase to just above the next highest bidder, so you will usually pay less than your max. And if you loose, well it was more than you wanted to spend anyway.

4. Do price research on completed auctions.

Know the market value of any item you are buying or selling, online and off, by reviewing completed auctions. Click on Advanced Search (beside the Search button) to go to the advanced search page. Check the box labeled Completed Listings. Now you can see what people are really paying for the gizmo you want.

5. Ask questions.

Don’t hesitate to communicate with the seller through the Ask seller a question button. I usually ask them how many people are monitoring an item, and what is the reserve price.

6. Find odd ending times.

This is a good one. Look for auctions that end late at night or early on weekend mornings. These are less likely to be monitored live by bid snipers like you.

7. Look for seller errors.

Search for common misspellings or typos of your object of desire. Like tip number 6, this one can lead you to low-traffic auctions.

8. Walk on by.

If the price gets too high, if the seller seems suspicious, if the deal seems too good to be true, pass it by. Another one just like it will probably be up for sale soon. Search the completed auctions to get a feel for how often your item becomes available.

9. You don’t always have to get the best deal.

Sometimes it’s too much work to do all this. When you just want to grab your gear and be done with it, bid high or do a Buy It Now option. You can afford it since you regularly save so much money on your other purchases.

10. Watch for gotchas.

Read and re-read the ad carefully. Sometimes a single word can make a huge difference.

Good luck and happy bidding. Next time we will address marketing tips for sellers.