# monsters in motion



## glusnifr (Jan 1, 2011)

does anyone have experience in ordering from them? ( monsters in motion ) i ask because i preordered a kit back in april . it became available in june , last week i still hadnt recieved it,so i contacted them through their website,they got back to me and said they were waiting to hear from me,cause the price had gone up,which i didnt know because they never contacted me to say it went up, all i had was my original order conformation. so i told them the new price was ok with me ,now its been more than a week and still no kit . is this normal for them or a fluke im thinking about cancelling my order and never dealing with them again,any help in this area would be greatly appreciated

thanks

 jim


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## Solium (Apr 24, 2005)

That's normal for them.


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Yep...That sounds about right for MIM...
Mcdee


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## ERVysther (May 2, 2009)

What they said. Quite accurate.


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## Zeus (Aug 2, 2008)

Greetings glusnifir. I don't normally post but have actually been around on the board since the Polar lights days. I just enjoy reading them and keeping up on our wonderful hobby. However, I felt compelled to throw in my two cents here. I've been dealing with MIM since they started with only a xeroxed, printed catalog (which as you can imagine has been many years ago). I've probably ordered 20 or 30 kits from them over the years and have not had one bad experience yet. That's not to say no one else hasn't, but I haven't. I'd be interested to see just how many of the people who state they've had a bad experience with MIM have actually dealt with them and are not just jumping on the bandwagon for the sake of it or because of what they heard from so and so. Anyway, the only issues* I* have seen are with availabilty dates for kits which MIM really has no control over. Case in point is Monarch's Ghost. Three years was it? A date which was continually updated on the MIM site. As for shipping, I know from past inquiry that they only ship on certain days. I've not had a problem there either but of course I only live roughly three hours away. Hope this helps.


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## rkoenn (Dec 18, 2007)

I just got the Wild, Wild West resin kit from them. It took about a month and was ordered by my wife as a father's day present but didn't arrive until about two weeks after that. I knew that it could take a little while as they were going to make a run of them when they released the notice about the kit. I have ordered from them four times over the last 3-4 years and have always gotten everything within a reasonable time frame, not fast, reasonable. I even talked to one of the guys a couple of years ago when I ordered the box art Dracula and Phantom about when I would get it and he also told me something about the operation. But as Zeus said, others have some major complaints with them. I wouldn't call them dishonest but maybe they can talk around the exact truth a bit. The WWW kit is very good and I will be building it soon. I think maybe with kits they just buy and resell they might give better service than the ones they make themselves. I also was not charged until my orders were shipped. I have heard they recast other companies old kits but have no personal knowledge of that. I would gladly order from them again although the only things I do order from them are things I can't get elsewhere like their own line of resin kits.

Bob K.


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## wolfman66 (Feb 18, 2006)

I never had any issues with MIM when ordering from them.Plus just ordered one of their kits that they reissued this past Monday and got it today:dude:


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## Facto2 (Nov 16, 2010)

Hey, Zeus, you wouldn’t happen to work for MIM would you? Just curious. Because it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen a post like this supporting MIM (from any number of boards) where it was actually posted by an employee.

Their most recent email news letter clearly hawked recasts of the Billiken 1962 Kong (from King Kong v. Godzilla) and the Billiken Mecha Kong. Resin recasts. Now if you’re okay with supporting a store/dealer who is okay with supporting recasts then you’re gonna do what you wanna do. Personally, I wouldn’t.

I recently watched a fellow collector have to sell a MIB Mecha Kong for about $125.00 less than it’s actually worth. Did that have anything to do with the recasts being sold on the MIM site? Maybe, maybe not. The fact that MIM doesn’t bother to mention on their website that these are recasts doesn’t help their argument very much.

I won’t even go into the longs history of customer service complaints. I’ll leave that to others who have lived through it.


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## Seaview (Feb 18, 2004)

Personally speaking, I've never had a problem with MIM orders, except when they take longer than originally announced, but those always prove to be a supplier problem, not one that they made themselves, and they have always delivered.
They carry kits that Cult doesn't carry, otherwise I'd just order from him exclusively.
And no, I don't work for either of them, either. I'm just speaking as a satisfied customer.


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## bert model maker (Feb 19, 2002)

glusnifr said:


> does anyone have experience in ordering from them? ( monsters in motion ) i ask because i preordered a kit back in april . it became available in june , last week i still hadnt recieved it,so i contacted them through their website,they got back to me and said they were waiting to hear from me,cause the price had gone up,which i didnt know because they never contacted me to say it went up, all i had was my original order conformation. so i told them the new price was ok with me ,now its been more than a week and still no kit . is this normal for them or a fluke im thinking about cancelling my order and never dealing with them again,any help in this area would be greatly appreciated
> 
> thanks
> 
> jim


When you preordered your kit, did you pay for it at that time ? If so, then the new price should NOT affect you since you already paid for it when you pre ordered it.


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## Facto2 (Nov 16, 2010)

... Never mind. Will keep my opinion to myself.


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## glusnifr (Jan 1, 2011)

no i didnt prepay,and i didnt really mind all that much that the price increased,i just want the kit and was wondering if this is normal business practice for them,
i want to thank everyone for their input..

jim


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## IanWilkinson (Apr 23, 2010)

MIM!... let me tell you my tale!! - 
i had ordered quite a few kits from them ove rthe years... infact as i live in the UK they cost around $55 postage then an extra $40 import tax bafore i get my hands on them!!... bu that aside.. i ordered the Jekyll tribute kit from them.. total cost inc shiping/import $245.. but when the kit arrived there was three part missing from it!!... i contacted MIM and they said all the parts were present in the box??... so they practicaly called me a liar and i had to scratch build the missing parts!!!... NEXT i pre-ordered a Ghost castle mare back when first anounced.... but due to the shoddy way i was treat by MIM i cancelled the order... but low and behold!!!... an invoice and a ghost still dropped in the mail box!!... and an apologie and asking if i want any other kits at a discount... i can!!...mmmmm


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## derric1968 (Jun 13, 2003)

I don't order from MIM often, but I've never had a problem with them. However, I only order "regular" plastic model kits released by companies we all know and love, such as Pegasus. I have noticed that there is sometimes a delay between when I get a ship notification e-mail and when the package actually ships. As others have said, it seems like they only ship on certain days, and it also seems like they can get busy at times. Other than that, no problems here. (and no, I'm not an employee)

On the other hand, I've never tried to order a garage kit from them. I'm just not into garage kits. Perhaps they do have "questionable" practices when it comes to what garage kits they sell, but another issue is the unpredictable nature of garage kits in general. Most of the people making the garage kits are themselves just one man operations, pouring resin in their spare time. Those kits come into and out of production all the time, sometimes with no warning or advanced notice. Delays are the norm, and release dates are, well, the phrase "moving target" comes to mind. Also, it sounds like a lot of those who have had problems with them are people who have ordered garage kits. So, perhaps a _buyer beware_ approach is necessary when it come to MIM and garage kits.

I would suggest that they stop taking pre-orders for garage kits, and stop taking orders for kits they don't actually have in stock, but that's never going to happen. The garage kit guys rely on pre-order numbers to gage how many kits to actually make. I'm not even going to touch the issue of recasts because that topic is nothing but a big bag of hurt.


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## glusnifr (Jan 1, 2011)

the kit i preordered was the snap batmobile


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## Solium (Apr 24, 2005)

Keep in mind they just don't sell recasts. They also sell bootleg music. I ordered a CD only to find out it was not an official release. Looking back at their CD stock at the time I discovered they sold many bootlegs. The short time I was their customer I experienced misrepresentation of products, poor customer service, and six month wait for items to be shipped, if at all.


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

Two personal examples of stupid or bad business ethics on MiM's part:

1) When they released the box art Forgotten Prisoner kit by Jeff Yagher in 2008, I drove to their shop to pick one up; admittedly, this was a few months after it's release date because I couldn't afford it at the time it was released. I was told by the sales associate that the limited run had sold out and no more were, or would be, available. About a year later I was able to get one through evilBay. Care to guess who the seller was? You guessed it, MiM. BTW, they _still_ have the kit listed on their website. 

2) A couple of years ago I saw a particular resin figure kit that I had been looking for listed on their website for $50 so, rather than dealing with shipping costs and potential delays, I once again drove to their shop. They had the kit on their shelves but it was priced at $100, so I drove home and ordered the kit through their website. A week later I received an e-mail from them saying the kit was no longer available. Knowing they had realized their mistake and lied to me so that they wouldn't lose money on the sale (it's state law in California that a retail item must be sold at it's advertised price) I drove back to their shop and, sure enough, the kit was still sitting on the shelf at $100. When I explained all of this to the clerk, I was told the $50 kit in question was never listed on their website, and that the kit on the shelf was not the same kit (it was). Interestingly, the clerk told me all of this _on the spot_ without researching the discrepancy in any way, which means he was already aware of the "problem" and was prepared for the possibility that I might contact the shop to discuss the situation. And, sure enough, by the time I got home the kit had been removed from their website.

Monsters In Motion will never get another penny from me.


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## bizzarobrian (Oct 4, 2009)

You`d think with their high prices that they`d at least ship on time.


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## IanWilkinson (Apr 23, 2010)

Im with Zombie-61 on the forgotten prisoner kit!.. i also pre-ordered the kit at $150.00.. there was only 50 castings on the site... that rose to 70 then i remember it going to 75!!.. i see its still for sale on there site... by now the 75 mark must have been met??


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## Zeus (Aug 2, 2008)

Facto2 said:


> Hey, Zeus, you wouldn’t happen to work for MIM would you? Just curious. Because it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen a post like this supporting MIM (from any number of boards) where it was actually posted by an employee.
> 
> Their most recent email news letter clearly hawked recasts of the Billiken 1962 Kong (from King Kong v. Godzilla) and the Billiken Mecha Kong. Resin recasts. Now if you’re okay with supporting a store/dealer who is okay with supporting recasts then you’re gonna do what you wanna do. Personally, I wouldn’t.
> 
> ...


How the hell is it that what I wrote warranted this kind of response? This is exactly why I choose not to post. I'm not an employee of MIM. I'm a retired civil servant and model builder/collector. I was simply passing on *my* experience with MIM which is what the gentleman asked for. I also clearly stated that just because I had a good experience did not mean others had. So are you now going to take it upon yourself to question everyone else on the board who has had a good experience (of which there seems to be a few) as to whether or not they're employees too? You've got an awful big set to allude that because I've passed on my experience with MIM that it might in some way mean that I support recasters. That is offensive to me. As far as keeping your opinion to yourself...you should have thought of that before you posted your reply. Its pretty damn irresponsible to post as you did, offending people, accusing people and then coming in at the end after the damage is done as if it were nothing. I apologize to fellow board members for indulging in this drama but felt it necessary to defend myself for what I saw as an unwarranted attack on me from someone who does not even know me. Have a great day and keep building.


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## Mitchellmania (Feb 14, 2002)

I've dealt with MIM since 1992, and They've been good to me. I ALWAYS call first and make sure they have the model in stock, and keep calling until I get my kit, but it's like that for a lot of kit makers.


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## Tim Casey (Dec 4, 2004)

I've ordered a few things from them online. Usually I get an "out of stock" email from them shortly afterwards. At that point one of two things happens:

a) I never hear from them again.

b) Suddenly after a period of time it shows up on my doorstep.

Years ago, when this first happened to me, I had mailed them a check, which they cashed. When the kit never arrived, they were very rude on the phone. It was like I was an unreasonable person ordering something and then actually expecting to get it. They grudgingly gave me a credit (not a refund), and when I tried to use the credit a year later, they really gave me a hard time about it.

Since then I've always tried to hunt down the original garage kit producer and buy it directly from them. It's usually quicker, friendlier, and cheaper.

The last thing I bought from them was a few weeks ago - an Anthony Quinn Aurora Hunchback repro box. Sure enough, it was out of stock. Then my card got charged about two weeks later and the package showed up a few days after that. Go figure.

And as far as their recasts go, well.... let's just say "grrrrrr..."


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

I wasn't 'Jumping on a bandwagon' when I posted earlier, Zeus.... I've posted my experiences with MIM on this forum in the past and didn't feel I had to qualify my statement again...But rest assured MY dissatisfaction with MIM was from first hand experience...:wave:
Cheers!
Mcdee


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## kenlee (Feb 11, 2010)

A few years ago when Polar Lights initially released the 1/350th refit enterprise I ordered it through MiM because the woman who ran the local hobby shop said they would not be stocking it. Of course I got an e-mail indicating it had been back-ordered. About a week after this I stopped by the local hobby shop and they had the kit on the shelf, about $20. cheaper than through MiM. I had them hold it for me until I could verify that I could cancel the order from MiM. I e-mailed them to cancel the order and received a verification the next morning that the order had been cancelled. On the way home I picked up the kit from the lhs, using the debit card that I had used when I ordered the kit from MiM. This debit card account I use mainly to pay bills with and for the occasional on-line order (I now use paypal now for that). I only kept enough money in that account to cover the things that I knew was coming up so I knew it would cover the hobby shop purchase and leave about $20. extra in the account. A week later I got 3 overdraft notices from the bank, they had paid the overdrafts and charged me $20. for each one. I went to the bank to get a statement to see where I screwed up, it was very obvious. MiM had billed my debit card for the kit that I had cancelled. When I got home I e-mailed them with a copy of the cancellation e-mail that they sent me. They responded and apologized for the error and said they would gladly take the kit back, but I would have to pay return shipping. When I e-mailed them and asked who was going to pay the over-draft charges that they caused they informed me that they were not responsible for my banking errors. I have not dealt with these people since.


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

Tim Casey said:


> Years ago, when this first happened to me, I had mailed them a check, which they cashed. When the kit never arrived, they were very rude on the phone. It was like I was an unreasonable person ordering something and then actually expecting to get it. They grudgingly gave me a credit (not a refund), and when I tried to use the credit a year later, they really gave me a hard time about it.


I've heard this same story far too often. Apparently, this is standard operating procedure at MiM: Get the customer's money (whether they deliver product or not), and don't give it back under any circumstances.


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## Tim Casey (Dec 4, 2004)

Zombie_61 said:


> I've heard this same story far too often. Apparently, this is standard operating procedure at MiM: Get the customer's money (whether they deliver product or not), and don't give it back under any circumstances.


I should stress that they did eventually credit me my money. I was just shocked at how much bitching it took.


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

I realize that. But they gave you a hard time because you forced them to do the responsible thing; another story I've heard too often about MiM.


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## gruffydd (Feb 22, 1999)

Hey everybody, just chiming in here, about 10-15 orders over the last 10 years, no horror stories, a couple of never-turned-ups, 1 price increase with grudging phone conversation, one kit didn't look as represented on website w/grudging conversation, a couple of missed parts which were shipped (note: search your box right away, don't wait) basically I do get a warm feeling about their existence, in the same way that I get the fuzzies over the existence of each and every one of you, all part of the same magical hobby that I am thrilled to be part of and to observe activity related to it. Dearest Zeus, I feel your pain but don't be hurt or outraged, the query was somewhat sharp but I don't think any real harm was meant, I know you are a good person and so's the other guy. Bless you all.


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## deadmanincfan (Mar 11, 2008)

Wow...two subjects seem to be very polarizing on this board...Monsters in Motion and recasting. I won't restate my opinions on both subjects as they've been stated more than once here.


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## Buc (Jan 20, 1999)

there IS a search function on this site... would be nice
not to regurgitate this issue every few months.


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## deadmanincfan (Mar 11, 2008)

Hey, Buc...is the maintenance done on your website?


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## Buc (Jan 20, 1999)

what maintenance, he said quizzically.
www.bucwheat.com


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