What is WeLoveFine doing with the MLP Vinyl line?

[Snapdragon]

I've had a lot of positive dealings with WLF, but I have had one negative experience that stuck out in my mind. I purchased a shirt from them with the design peeling off after I tried to remove the size sticker from Hot Topic, and they very graciously agreed to replace the shirt with a new one. (Not the bad part!) But then they accidentally sent me someone else's order entirely! Three Marvel shirts, which I then had to give to the UPS guy, slap on a new sticker and send it to the new owner!

In my mind, a mistake like that would usually be rectified by simply saying 'hey, keep that shirt, we'll resend it to the other person, keep it for your trouble.' But WLF isn't a huge company like Target or Walmart, so I can understand why it's not cost-effective for them to do that. My biggest frustration was that what they said to me was 'we'll send you a prepaid label to return the shirts to us,' not 'the USPS guy will be standing at your door with the label waiting impatiently for you to hastily tape up the box you didn't think would need to be ready today.' If I had been at work, or not home, it would have been an even bigger hassle than it already was! All I wanted was a replacement shirt, and instead I got a headache.

So hearing about more of their issues isn't ... surprising, in a way? WLF seems to get a lot of praise, when I find some of their actions (including the continual changing commentary, like "it's only for sale at a con! okay, now you can get them with $150 of shirts! okay, now you can just buy them, but they're limited edition! Okay, now they're getting 300 new re-releases!") unprofessional. I wish they had more official designs too, I'm not very fond of the overemphasis that fanart seems to have taken in their line. There's nothing wrong with fanart, I just prefer to have an equal mix of fanart and official art, you know? If I wanted a fanart shirt, I'd go to Redbubble or something like that.

[Galactica]

They are most definitely not professional.  I suspect you will be seeing more fan based stuff not less, because then they don't have to pay an artist they can get the designs for free.

Honestly their practices make me think that a bunch of 17 year olds are running the place. 

[MilkyTaroMochi]

I realize the pony artists really are pleased that their designs are being turned into merch-  but why deal with a company that you know is completely dishonest?

Maybe because of exposure and potentially getting new fans/customers, should your art actually be selected to win (or get into the " Vote for your favorite design now!" stage)? I can imagine that even if someone's design didn't ultimately win the chance to be a T-shirt design, if people know who drew the design, it would possible bring them people going "Oh, I remember seeing one of your designs in the contest! I love your art style! Can I commission you to draw one of my pony OCs like that?". Which can lead them to get commissions (and/or increased popularity), so entering the contest could be a "win-win" situation. 

If that made any sense - curse my wording sometimes. xD

Sorry, I wanted to say that figures/toys with fully moulded hair seem to be perceived as "show accurate" even though they are obviously not

I've noticed that some of the designs which previously had "fan made" sign now don't...

No worries! I had understood what you meant with what you said earlier.

Wow, really? I wonder why they dont have the signs anymore. I guess WLF decided to take full ownership of the image?

[Ice Crystal]

They are most definitely not professional.  I suspect you will be seeing more fan based stuff not less, because then they don't have to pay an artist they can get the designs for free.

Honestly their practices make me think that a bunch of 17 year olds are running the place. 

In fairness, I do think think they pay the artists. I'm not sure if it's a one-time deal ("We'll pay you $X to use this design for as long as we like") or commission per shirt sold though. Some of the artists I know of who have several designs up on WLF would not give up their work for free/"exposure", so I do believe there is monetary compensation, I just don't know how much or how often.

I'm not much for geeky t-shirts these days but in my late teens I would have been all over WLF had it existed like it does now. They sell some really neat products and I love how artistic the designs can get. Far better than the "clip art and meme phrase irrelevant to the franchise" shirts I was used to seeing. But some of their practices are just beyond me. I've ordered from them before and have mixed reviews, but most of my issues come down to shipping. I once ordered a pair of pajama bottoms for a friend for Christmas and it took them an entire month to ship. A week after I ordered them I saw the same pair at Hot Topic, so I knew it wasn't one of those items they have to print individually at their warehouse or w/e they say they do; it's mass produced. If I had known I could just get them at HT I wouldn't have bothered.

And then of course there's this mess. Even if they made a figure I really liked the look of, I don't think I could bring myself to order from them at this point.

[Sprinklecupcake]

Well EQD posted something today-  no mention of the misrepresentations, no mention of an "explanation" from WLF.   Not terribly surprising I suppose.

I saw that too, As I read through it I was waiting for them to mention something about WLF lying but I feel like they sugarcoated and made it sound awesome they released another DJ. I think WLF gives EQD promo discount codes for their website from time-to-time so they didnt want to start something to potentionaly get on bad terms with them. Oh well. Stupid WLF lol.

Post Merge: April 04, 2014, 02:55:37 AM

I was just poking adound at their vinyls and read the description of the Trixie and FT figure. In red caps it says: " THERE WILL BE NO VARIANTS MADE FOR watch Awe Trixie/Future Twilight". Calling BS right now, took screenshots LOL!  Watch they will make like 4 variants for these two in the later future.

[Dashy77]

It's so interesting seeing the hate for WLF here and the acceptance of WLF on EQD and other sites. Surprised none are mixed somewhere.

I sport some of the WLF MLP shirts for my workout shirts tbh. lol. I have 3? 4 maybe? I wear only when dropping kid off at school or working out. That's just me though.

As far as the whole "show accurate" term, I think it's lazy to consider the coloring and potential pose to fit the "show accurate" phrase. I do however think they their vinyls offer more personality than any of vinyl figures yet.

Just my .02

[Marigold]

Maybe it's because most of us are collectors.  We are fans too, but we would likely be collecting ponies with or without the show. So we have a certain standard we expect collectors items to have.  Maybe over there they are mostly just fans who happen to collect stuff that has to do with their fandom.  There is a difference. 

Like how I collect dolls including Frozen dolls.  But a fan of Frozen might collect everything Frozen and not really see the dolls specifically as collectables.   

[Galactica]

Maybe it's because most of us are collectors.  We are fans too, but we would likely be collecting ponies with or without the show. So we have a certain standard we expect collectors items to have.  Maybe over there they are mostly just fans who happen to collect stuff that has to do with their fandom.  There is a difference. 

Like how I collect dolls including Frozen dolls.  But a fan of Frozen might collect everything Frozen and not really see the dolls specifically as collectables.

I think that is a very good theory.

[KarentheUnicorn]

I don't know if I'd qualify the opinions here as hate...maybe some people hate WLF - it's more like ethics in a business. Especially in the collecting market (and this isn't just MLP). Even if a customer doesn't care, it's still unfair to everyone to change your mind about a limited production product.

They should have been upfront about it, but instead saying it was limited and then going back on that...that's a bit shady IMO. So my opinion has nothing to do with hate. It has everything to do with can I trust you, as a company when you tell me something about your product.

[Dashy77]

Maybe it's because most of us are collectors.  We are fans too, but we would likely be collecting ponies with or without the show. So we have a certain standard we expect collectors items to have.  Maybe over there they are mostly just fans who happen to collect stuff that has to do with their fandom.  There is a difference. 

Like how I collect dolls including Frozen dolls.  But a fan of Frozen might collect everything Frozen and not really see the dolls specifically as collectables.

Very good observation.

I don't know if I'd qualify the opinions here as hate...maybe some people hate WLF - it's more like ethics in a business. Especially in the collecting market (and this isn't just MLP). Even if a customer doesn't care, it's still unfair to everyone to change your mind about a limited production product.

They should have been upfront about it, but instead saying it was limited and then going back on that...that's a bit shady IMO. So my opinion has nothing to do with hate. It has everything to do with can I trust you, as a company when you tell me something about your product.

I take it whatever people say on the forums is only at best,half of what they truly feel. 
Well people hate not being able to trust a business so they sways the emotions. I can see what you mean though. Maybe hatred wasn't the most accurate description.

[MilkyTaroMochi]

They should have been upfront about it, but instead saying it was limited and then going back on that...that's a bit shady IMO. So my opinion has nothing to do with hate. It has everything to do with can I trust you, as a company when you tell me something about your product.

This is basically how I feel about WLF. I don't completely hate them or anything - I think they have some neat products on their site, and I love the LED Princess Twilight Sparkle shirt I got. And I do like that they are willing to give fans what they want. I just personally don't like how they are handling their figures and telling us/fans one thing, then lying/changing their mind on it afterwards.
I do feel if they had never stated that "We wont be making _____ anymore, so buy it now!!" in the first place when selling the figures, people wouldn't be so upset at them. Especially when for Muffin Pony's figure, I remember people paying high amounts of money to buy one, be it on eBay (since IIRC she was con-exclusive when she first came out) or WLF's " Spend $______ and you'll eligible to buy the figure for $25" promo/offer. 

[Snapdragon]

Maybe it's because most of us are collectors.  We are fans too, but we would likely be collecting ponies with or without the show. So we have a certain standard we expect collectors items to have.  Maybe over there they are mostly just fans who happen to collect stuff that has to do with their fandom.  There is a difference. 

Like how I collect dolls including Frozen dolls.  But a fan of Frozen might collect everything Frozen and not really see the dolls specifically as collectables.   

That exactly explains how I feel, LOL! Well said!

For myself, I've bought several of their shirts over the years, I bought several of the plush 'hug me' backpacks as well; I like a lot of their products, and I like their sales. But for a lot of their non-shirt items, I think they are very overpriced, especially for what you get. (Fanart, essentially, since they're not Hasbro.) So I wait for sales, and I keep an eye out for stuff that looks like it might sell out or be 'exclusive.' So when they trumpet 'exclusive! rare! never gonna be sold again!', it draws my attention; but then when it later turns into 'just kidding, now you can buy 30 variants and it's not rare!', it looks very dishonest, and very money-grubbing. And for a company that I already consider expensive, being money-grubbing on top of that rubs me the wrong way.

Basically, if I'm dropping $50 on an item, I want to have some assurance that in three months, it won't be worth $10.