ANOVOS CEO interview @ SWCA

[tkrestonva[TK]]

This should help answer any cost/availability questions.

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/star-wars-episode-vii-stormtrooper-uniform-main-attraction/story?id=30414659

[aramis]

I think he may be quoting fully pre-built prices in that video, because in this other live interview he gives a seemingly very different range of numbers. 

 

Go to the 6:55:00 mark of this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brNTpnUR61g

 

he says the words "$400 kit" at one point followed by "...to a $2500 premium version".

Edited April 22, 2015 by aramis

[svache[501st]]

I think he may be quoting fully pre-built prices in that video, because in this other live interview he gives a seemingly very different range of numbers.  

 

Go to the 6:55:00 mark of this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brNTpnUR61g

 

he says the words "$400 kit" at one point followed by "...to a $2500 premium version".

 

He was joking when he said 'most comfortable suit' he has been in, right? Coz I don't believe I have been in a more uncomfortable one lol

 

 

Also... if the cost will indeed be 400 for a kit, there will be 75 extremely angry people out there... 

[Komrk]

There was a half off deal for the standard trooper kit, but you had to order it at Celebration at the Anovos booth. $350 for kit minus boots and gun, completed helmet

 

 

~Komrk, using Tapatalk

[Pickles[TK]]

There was a half off deal for the standard trooper kit, but you had to order it at Celebration at the Anovos booth. $350 for kit minus boots and gun, completed helmet

 

 

~Komrk, using Tapatalk

 

That's a bit of misinformation there, the $350USD ANH TK kit is available for pre-order online until (I believe) May 4th.

[SaturnGypsy[TK]]

That's a bit of misinformation there, the $350USD ANH TK kit is available for pre-order online until (I believe) May 4th.

 

Yep.  I already preordered online.  I think they did have a free shipping perk if you ordered in person at Celebration though. 

[Komrk]

Yep. I already preordered online. I think they did have a free shipping perk if you ordered in person at Celebration though.

Yes, this is correct, sorry for the lack of info, I had forgotten about the online deal

 

 

~Komrk, using Tapatalk

[sylverbard[TK]]

Yeah...if the same kit costs less than 1200 with the helmet I'll be a bit pissed...OK a lot.

[Sly11[Admin]]

Yeah...if the same kit costs less than 1200 with the helmet I'll be a bit pissed...OK a lot.

Let's hope it's not the price you pay for being one of the first, I think you will be ok.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[sylverbard[TK]]

I'm hoping he was quoting time and prices for the new anh suit.

[svache[501st]]

Yeah...if the same kit costs less than 1200 with the helmet I'll be a bit pissed...OK a lot.

 

1800 lol

[Kath[501st]]

Wont lie. I would love if there was a $400 kit

[svache[501st]]

If they would refund me 1400, you won't hear me complain either lol

[Kath[501st]]

Na I think they will keep the higher price point. But yea I would be mad if I bought sonething for almost 2k them watch them sell it for $400. But if the bucket alone is 200 the rest should be more. (And you got the higher teir bucket)

[Evilboy[501st]]

That's a bit of misinformation there, the $350USD ANH TK kit is available for pre-order online until (I believe) May 4th.

Yes, but after Celebration, you have to pay for shipping. All orders placed at Celebration get free shipping and priority.

[svache[501st]]

Na I think they will keep the higher price point. But yea I would be mad if I bought sonething for almost 2k them watch them sell it for $400. But if the bucket alone is 200 the rest should be more. (And you got the higher teir bucket)

They said the fiberglass bucket would be in the 700-800 price range, which fits in which what I heard at the Anovos stand when I picked my helmet up. They said 740 USD when I was there. So let's say they go with the 800 USD, then still, if they sell the kit at 400, that would amount to 1200 USD.. We paid 1800 and were told at first it was 'at cost', and later heard they were losing money on it. All this while there were no boots, blaster or under suit available. 

 

This all does make me wonder about a lot of things to be honest. I can't wait to see finalized prices, but when building this thing, we were thinking a kit would be around 2500 USD or higher for a kit if they wanted to make money on it (if the info we were given was ok). 

[aramis]

I'm completely making this up in regards to this armor, but am speaking in general about manufacturing. If they don't have their production ramped up, and they provided the first 'few' armor sets from prototype or pilot processes, then it's entirely possible that they lost money. Only when you get to certain economies of scale does their internal price come down...and hopefully they can pass that on to us.

 

My work right now is in some inline electrical test process development for a new microelectronics device...and what will sell for $25 a few months from now is actually costing us well over $5k each today...all because we are refining the process and putting tons of extra labor, R&D and redundant tests into each one to make sure we've got it right. Or, as a relevant example, take a vacuum forming machine that cranks out 10 sets of prototype parts a week vs 10 production parts an hour. Given the cost of the machine, each part made has to carry more of the fixed equipment depreciation costs at the slower rate. That makes each proto part much more expensive. I'm hoping that's the case, anyway, and that the price will eventually come down.

[svache[501st]]

Hmm yeah... knowing a bit of the armor, I don't think that is exactly the case hehe

[Kath[501st]]

Economies of scale will work here. Even when bulk ordering the abs it will overall cost less. Theres a lot they can do but they really need to make it a big order that why I think this 350 tk is possible. When your making hundreds if noth thousands of sets price drops sone. And if they did outsource it its even cheaper. But 75 isnt that bulky of a number. I think the kits are closer to at price whole the premade is where the profit is. Get us to advertise it the capitalize on those who dont want or cant build it. I mean its like $900 to have them make it for you. (Numbers may be wrong I dont have them infront of me)

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

I found this post from Got Maul on the RPF that might answer some questions. I hope it's okay to copy/paste it here:

 

 

JJ Griffin said: 

Big question is when do you estimate pre-orders will open to the general public and when do you imagine they will ship to customers?

Because of stipulation of selling, we won't be able to offer The Force Awakens merchandise to the general public until the end of the year, closer to the big movie release. What we did with the 501st was a unique marketing opportunity, where Anovos and the 501st got to represent the next face of the new era in Star Wars with a big bang! While it made my heart sad to turn so many people away from the TFA sales at the booth, it warmed up again to see such an amazing response to the work we all overcame to bring the new Stormtroopers to life in the convention. 
 

 

Lear60man said: 

The original Stormtropers were a blacksuit and various pieces clamped on with the abs/back hung with a suspender rig. Can you give a little insight on how this new suit goes together? Next question, what is the undersuit like (ribbed etc)? Were the gloves off the shelf or custom?

One of the big inspirations for this new suit was uniformity. One of the drawbacks of the old TK suit was that an observer could tell if the person in the armor was thick, thin, or amorphic. Thus, the solution was create a gasket system that actually attached to the armor rather than the person. This gasket gave the trooper thickness uniformity, while the production simply tried to choose those who fit in the 5'10 - 5'11" range for height. The results were staggeringly symmetric. Thus, to answer your question, you can still wear a lycra under suit underneath this suit, but the harnesses will be independent of it and attach directly to the armor. 

Gloves : not found. In fact, they were manufactured for the movie. Another fact : Anovos has reached out to the same company and we are bringing those gloves to the public. 
 

 

Inquisitor Peregrinus said: 

So many questions! I'll echo those wondering just how soon we'll be able to avail ourselves of this or any other version of TFA Stormies. I figure the Q4 projection is based on some sort of Disney and/or LFL not wanting any TFA Stormtroopers "crashing" premiere events? That is, trying to keep it to hired performers and 501st? I'd like to know the options breakdown -- whole thing only, helmet and armor able to be ordered separately, optional pieces that can be ordered separately so one could swap between, say, Stormie and Incinerator Trooper without needing two full suits, and so on like that.

I'm also curious if you can tell us what was used or the original suits that was so expensive, and whether you can recapture the detailing in vac-formed ABS (like the separate belt boxes on the movie suits versus the apparently molded-on boxes on the Anovos display suit). Will the latches be functional (indeed, were they functional or decorative on the movie suits, for that matter)? If not, how much work would an end-user have to put into making them functional?

Sorry if this is a lot, but I love these and can't wait for the opportunity to get started on one. 

--Jonah

First question: for now we will be offering only kits and helmets of The Force Awakens armor. The nice thing is though, you will have some buy options to increase the value of your suit. When we do get to release this at the end of the year, you will have the choice of two helmets - our standard edition (~$200-250) or our Premier edition (~$700) . The difference between the two are really the materials. Standard edition will be injected plastic with mostly plastic parts and adjustable inner lining for proper fit. The Premier edition will feature fiberglass build but with metal detailing such as the aerator and mesh. As for the current kit we have, we are looking at multiple options for completion on it, but we haven't fully committed to which direction we will take. Just know though, you will have some options in the armor as well. 

The originals suits used a flexible poly urethane. This has basically become the standard in hollywood for movie armor. The great thing about it is that the detail is extremely crisp because it originates out of a two part mold, injectable mold. But the problem is, it is very expensive with a high production failure rate. When I ran the numbers, to replicate this procedure would bring the price of the armor well into the $8,000 - $10,000 dollar range which, while cool and totally accurate, would not be feasible for our markets. The real magic was then converting this armor into Vacuform ABS. While admittedly, some of the detail is soft, if you look at the overall balance of accuracy vs pricing accessibility to the masses, you will see that vs a $10,000 dollar suit, this is not bad. 

The latches were not functional. Trust me, we were disappointed to find this out too. I believe they had every intention of making them functional, but alas, it was not to be had. With that being said, should YOU make them functional, give us a jingle ! 
 

 

dday said: 

The biggest question I see thrown around right now is if the helmets/suits were scanned from original suits, why are there some pretty dramatic differences in the parts from the originals vs the ANOVOS castings? Some of the more obvious are shown in this photo. Screen suit on display on the left, ANOVOS on the right.

I get that some of the differences in the suit are due to vacuforming, but the helmet since it is resin/fiberglass should be able to copy the subtle nuances of the original fairly easily, especially with a 3D scan of the helmet.

Attachment 467227

This is a good question. From what we've observed, there were actually different sized helmets used in production. Also, as it turns out, the helmets we received directly from production did in fact vary with TWO other screen used helmets, which varied against themselves ! Therefore, what we did was use the one we received from production for our run which seemed to have the biggest size accommodation for the helmet. 
 

 

Gordon Gekko said: 

The more I stare at the Anovos helm, the more differences pop out at me. It looks nice, but accurate, it ain't. 

Unless they fix some of the glaring differences for actual production, I think I'll take a pass on this one.

Sorry to disappoint. As stated earlier, just like the variances in the original TK's, these helmets weren't immune as well. The helmet we used was provided by production. 
 

 

kristenhenry70 said: 

We may also want to wait and see how some of the other TKs look in the movie. The screen used helmet on display may have been a "hero" version... we may find that some of the background or less prominent TKs have helmets with less refined details as well.

Still... for the speed at which Anovos came up with these I think they are damned good. Perfect...? maybe not. But damned good.

Thank you for that. Yup, 3.5 months for something that typically takes 11-12 months is quite accomplishment . I am still reeling from the effects of such a stressful period. 
 

 

Juscallmeweasel said: 

Do we know when the armour kits will be available and how much it will be?

The full kit, no. The helmets yes. End of the year and look at my earlier answer to the question. 
 

 

Duncan said: 

Do you have any thoughts on how to improve the gaskets, Art? Perhaps the materials used or a different shape? Or do you think this is a necessary evil that troopers will just have to live with in the future?

the originals used a rubber that was thinner. But in the same token, it was extremely challenging for us to find a set that wasn't damaged or torn in some way. This lead us to the conclusion that the thickness used on set just didn't hold up over time. Therefore, the thickness we chose here at least would guarantee a longer half life, which we chose over comfort. 
 

 

gmrhodes13 said: 

ABC interview with Anovos at celebration VII

Crazy huh ?
 

 

Jodo said: 

Is there any official word that a kit form will be offered for that price point? Don't tell me I have to buy an OT and a PT suit this year!!!!

Not yet, still working out the details, but we have time. Looking at the end of the year for the release of this 
 

 

Gordon Gekko said: 

From the interview:

Joe Salcedo from Anovos:

Standard Injected Helmet ~$200 
Premium Fiberglass Helmet ~$7-800
Armor Kit ~$400
Armor Premium Version up to $2500

Dana Gasser: Available "near the end of the year, closer to when the movie comes out."

Helmets are more solid than the kits and built up. Again, working on it !
 

 

Evil Benius said: 

The movie design has actually been growing on me since I originally saw it, but the one main complaint I have with the Anovos kit after the differences started getting pointed out is the boxes actually being a part of the ab plate. I can understand why that change was made from a savings point of view, but it is something I would like to see improved as a premium option. Which leads me to the question of whether someone can mix and match what premium options they want or if you have to be "all in"?

There will be areas where you can choose to go premium or not. This way, you can control the level of accuracy you are trying to attain without going overboard on your expenditures.

 

Link to the Original thread.

[svache[501st]]

Thanks for posting that Germain. While it answered some of my questions, it also raised a few new ones, and added some of concern.

 

Like with the bucket... they said they went with a bigger version... does this mean it will be the FX among the TFA buckets down the road? Or what about the metal parts they spoke of in the premium version? From what i have seen in my bucket, and what I read here, it is almost like we have a combination of the cheap ABS and the premium fiberglass bucket... 

[kev011]

I just heard about the "classic" kit price today online with the $350 price tag. I thought I'd check in here to see if anyone else was talking about this?!

-------------

 

Will this pass the strict 501st guidelines from your guys point of view? I hadn't thought about entering into a TK suit until I saw this price tag. Knowing there is still going to be all the work of assembly and such, if this would pass for 501st events in the end without severe mods, I could be in!

 

Let me know what you all think. I sure could use a nearly complete suit of white armor to go along with my E-11

 

Cheers, Keven

Edited March 11, 2021 by gmrhodes13
link not working, removed gmrhodes13 2021

[tkrestonva[TK]]

On 4/25/2015 at 5:37 AM, kev011 said:

I just heard about the "classic" kit price today online with the $350 price tag. I thought I'd check in here to see if anyone else was talking about this?!

 

----------

 

Will this pass the strict 501st guidelines from your guys point of view? I hadn't thought about entering into a TK suit until I saw this price tag. Knowing there is still going to be all the work of assembly and such, if this would pass for 501st events in the end without severe mods, I could be in!

 

Let me know what you all think. I sure could use a nearly complete suit of white armor to go along with my E-11

 

Cheers, Keven

That is the classic TK. We are discussing the TFA TK. Refer to this thread for what you seek: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/30831-anovos-tk-armor-preorder/page-1

Edited March 11, 2021 by gmrhodes13
link not working, removed gmrhodes13 2021

[kev011]

That is the classic TK. We are discussing the TFA TK. Refer to this thread for what you seek: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/30831-anovos-tk-armor-preorder/page-1

Thank you! I'd typed avonos in the search engine and this was the only thread that popped up, thanks for the specific direction

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

With the OT TK being released, at one price point, and with the TFA armor being released near the same time I think there has been some

confusion on price points!