Submit questions for Slayer!

[Mandingo Rex]

Hey guys,

In trying to get more front page material for your hungry eyes, Dave from Slayer has been so kind to agree to an interview (TBD, once my lazy ass gets some questions together). If you guys aren't familiar with Slayer Design Studios, you should be. I'm a huge fan of their work, and Dave is an active member not only at his own site, but here and others. Likewise, his sculptors are also members at many of the fan sites, so I may try and reach out to the other talented guys who help Dave out, and other guys like Alyosha, etc., down the road.

I'll be formulating my own questions for him, but I figured I'd reach out and see if there were any burning questions from the Joe fans. If this first "sit down" with Dave pans out, I will try and get more interviews inside the fan and customizers community out there.

I know some of the guys here attended SlayerCon last year, and that there's a SlayerCon 2 coming up this year, so feel free to submit your questions in here. I can't promise that they'll all go into the interview, but I wanted to get a sampling of some questions that you guys may want to know.

*Also, and this is very important as to the goal of our interview: this isn't a "Where's X part from my order?" or "Can you guys make X part?" questionaire, as there is a separate thread for suggestions, and Dave already has numerous outlets for contact about orders.

 

[Fled74]

I know they sold Predator body parts, but do they have any plans for a full CAM kit? We need good 1/18 scale yautja...

 

[Goldbug]

We need some bare female arms.

Oh & what happened to my female X-Men torso that wasn't in my package that I ordered.

 

[bigbawsmcgraw]

hey rex, my question would be, how do you decide to make a specific head. does it take a specific amount of requests? sculptor's choosing? to difficult or complex sculpt?

 

[fogger1138]

We need some bare female arms.

They do female arms, they're just not up right now.

 

[Cloud Strife]

Sweet!! Excellent idea, Rex. Really looking forward to this.

hey rex, my question would be, how do you decide to make a specific head. does it take a specific amount of requests? sculptor's choosing? to difficult or complex sculpt?

^^ I think this is more along the lines of an interview question.

I'll have to think about some questions to ask...

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Yep, I'll need to edit the original post in a few. We've got a Slayer suggestions thread already for parts. This is more production questions about offer picture things. Kinda like the Hasbro Q&As, except I didn't wanna be as prescriptive as those guys have gotten.

Like the question bigbawsmcgraw asked, more or less.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Q. are the materials to cast easy to find locally, or do you find them online?...are there better brands than others, or are the choices pretty similar in quality?

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Both of these contain points many people are probably interested in addressing, if worded properly:

Oh & what happened to my female X-Men torso that wasn't in my package that I ordered.

I know they sold Predator body parts, but do they have any plans for a full CAM kit? We need good 1/18 scale yautja...

Their CAM kits, from whisperings that I've "heard" online, are things that Dave is intent on pursuing. The content, however, may not be existing properties but more leaning towards their own Slayerverse. That's something to inquire about.

Also, the customer service angle, while a touchy subject, may be nice to ask about growing pains. I don't know what questions are too touchy for now, but there's no hurt in asking. Dave seems to realize where he stands and realizes that there are some issues that they are still trying to work out.

Keep in mind the interview is to learn, not criticize.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Also, the customer service angle, while a touchy subject, may be nice to ask about growing pains. I don't know what questions are too touchy for now, but there's no hurt in asking. Dave seems to realize where he stands and realizes that there are some issues that they are still trying to work out.

Keep in mind the interview is to learn, not criticize.

i think it would give him a good oppertunity to clear things up maturly if he so chooses

 

[K-Tiger]

I thought the other guy was a yeast infection sandwich about CS, not Slayer Dave?

 

[Mandingo Rex]

I thought the other guy was a yeast infection sandwich about CS, not Slayer Dave?

Haha. That guy's also a member here, KT. Play nice. But yes, Slayer's had more issues lately, they didn't used to so much. But they've also gotten a lot bigger and taken on a lot more, too. "Growing pains", so to speak.

Dave has admitted to it. They've been trying very hard to make things right, though. But in a fan world like ours (full of man-children still playing with toys at 30+ years of age) you get folks who blow things way out of proportion and bitch and bitch and bitch. I get why folks can get irritated, and they have every right to complain when it's taking a while to get something they have paid for. But some folks get ass-itch if it's not in their hands 2 weeks later, despite the site stating production times will be way more than that.

I'm not skirting the issue, and neither is Dave. But some people, you can never please. I'm not apologizing for him and his crew, but I think customer service is a topic a lot of folks may be interested in knowing more about, and things that can be done in the future to fix it.

And yeah, Eddie, I think Dave will answer it in an adult manner in an interview. He's almost always kept a cool head. I would've closed the store years ago if it was me. He's got way more patience than I'd have with some of the yahoos on these boards.

 

[K-Tiger]

I won't play nice. If you keep someone waiting over a year for a figure you deserve the shit you're gonna catch.

Dunno what it is about 1:18 parts makers and flakiness. That is hither nor thither to Dave and this topic, however.

 

[bigbawsmcgraw]

how long does it take from deciding what head your going to make to having it finished and up on the store?

has there ever been an item you have been surprised didnt sell as much even though there was a lot of requests

and which head, torso and weapon are your biggest sellers

 

[MAJOR BLOOD]

When deciding what gets put up for sale or made, how much feedback from the communities do you take into consideration?

 

[MAJOR BLOOD]

So should we call MR the 118th Barbara Walters?

 

[K-Tiger]

Maybe the 1:18 Martin Bashir.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Thanks for the questions, fellas. Keep 'em coming.

 

[Cloud Strife]

How much time on average do you put into casting and molding each week?

What got you into making molds and casting?

 

[Goldbug]

Sorry just sort of annoyed that my 3 e-mails are still unanswered.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Sorry just sort of annoyed that my 3 e-mails are still unanswered.

I feel you. I have had the same issues, and am still missing some parts from an order in July. I also just placed 2 more smaller orders in the last 2 weeks, though, because I have faith.

Hang in there.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Just bumping this. I'd like to write up something by the weekend to submit to Dave.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

One more bump... Any last requests? I'm going to write up my questions for Dave today sometime (Sunday) and get this out to him. I wanna make sure I get everyone's questions so I can review them and get them worked in somehow.

 

[Monkeywrench]

Exciting! How many questions do you have so far?

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Me? I haven't written all of mine yet. Haha.

Check the thread though, there were some that I'll roll into questions I already had.

Some will be basic "What do you do" questions, but I'll try and get Barbara Wawa on 'em. If this first one goes well, I may see if they'll do a "Part II" or something.

 

[K-Tiger]

Any thoughts about moving into vehicle weapons?

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Any thoughts about moving into vehicle weapons?

I think they're sticking with just figures and accessories, but I'll definitely throw this in there. It's something I'm curious about (in addition to other ways they plan to expand the business.)

Same with their dio items with Ashley Prestor, I'm curious if they'll continue to pump out dio bits like consoles and other larger items, or if they learned from that that it was too much work/cost/material.

 

[Cloud Strife]

What got you into making molds and casting?

How long have you been making molds and casting?

When you get a chance to customize once again, what do you think will be the first custom you work on?

What precautions need to be taking when working with resins and making molds (proper ventilation, safety glasses, gloves, etc...)?

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Update:
I've collected all the questions and e-mailed Dave the rough draft of questions. I took all of the submissions and either rolled them into "meatier" feature questions or just asked them pretty much verbatim, as you guys asked them, in a secondary "Fan Questions" section.

With the main portion of the article, I'm hoping to build up a little bit of story, and then the fan questions are more open Q&A. I'll see how the replies are (he may not answer all of them) and I may roll some of the Q&A into the main article when I write the final draft.

I've never done a real interview like this, so bear with me. I'll keep you guys updated on the progress, and hopefully we'll have a front-page article within a few weeks.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Alright ladies, thanks for submitting your questions. The Slayer Q&A should be live tomorrow morning. Be sure to check out the front page. (You should also see a news post in the sidebar, but keep an eye out!)

Dave answered 25+ questions, and about 10 of them were the ones submitted by you guys. Thanks for all the questions, and the answers should make some of you guys happy.

Dave was actually so forthcoming, that we had to break the interview into 2 parts.