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Gaming Heads ordered by Sony to destroy *all* PlayStation merchandise (including paid-for orders)

Undrey

Undrey

Member
Oct 29, 2017
2,656
So I'm not a collector or anything, but Gaming Heads has been the creator of some great (officially licensed) action figures for some otherwise forgotten series like Jak & Daxter, Sly Cooper and Legacy of Kain. Their products all seem to be of great quality:

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View: https://twitter.com/GamingHeads/status/1706536444326817985
F67OjDuakAADBta

They have apparently been told by Sony to destroy all PlayStation merch, including orders that have been paid for and are ready to be shipped. That's not all though, apparently this is after Sony's received their royalties from the sales.

I don't expect this to blow up but this seems like some seriously scummy behaviour and thought it deserved some more attention.
 
ratprophet

ratprophet

Member
Jun 24, 2021
1,263
Undrey said:
So I'm not a collector or anything, but Gaming Heads has been the creator of some great (officially licensed) action figures for some otherwise forgotten series like Jak & Daxter, Sly Cooper and Legacy of Kain. Their products all seem to be of great quality:




View: https://twitter.com/GamingHeads/status/1706536444326817985
F67OjDuakAADBta

They have apparently been told by Sony to destroy all PlayStation merch, including orders that have been paid for and are ready to be shipped. That's not all though, apparently this is after Sony's received their royalties from the sales.

I don't expect this to blow up but this seems like some seriously scummy behaviour and thought it deserved some more attention.
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This is really pretty gross
 
Kyrios

Kyrios

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,929
So is there a reason for this? Completely shitty thing to do randomly like that otherwise.
 
Wonky Mump

Wonky Mump

Member
Oct 30, 2017
3,774
There has to be more to this, wonder how this will develop.

Sucks for the people who made orders expecting stuff.
 
Zurch

Zurch

Member
Sep 23, 2023
123
Wonky Mump said:
There has to be more to this, wonder how this will develop.

Sucks for the people who made orders expecting stuff.
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Yeah I don't want to pass judgment on this until I hear the full story because with the info we have now this just a purely awful move from Sony with no apparent benefit for them.
 
Alpheus

Alpheus

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,697
That's...pretty blatantly scummy on the surface of it. Sucks because if this went before a court it'd probably rule in Sony's favor as it's their IP, their rules.

Really gross given that they already got their royalties for these products. I wonder what else is going on though. You'd think they'd let this last batch go out since they already got their money.
 
KezayJS1

KezayJS1

Member
Apr 25, 2021
1,841
Definitely gotta be more to it, but the scumminess of it all is still in when there isn't even a concession in play for items already paid for and being shipped.
 
Triggerhappytel

Triggerhappytel

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,155
Sounds like the terms of the contract have been broken, or their license to use these characters has maybe expired or something?
 
Juraash

Juraash

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,467
Seems like there's a reason and the company just isn't going to share. Also seems kind of gross to direct people to a very specific Sony person for refunds? Like, if this company or other vendors took pre-orders, they should be responsible for any applicable refunds first and foremost I would think.
 
The Lord of Cereal

The Lord of Cereal

#REFANTAZIO SWEEP
Member
Jan 9, 2020
9,879
Damn, I wonder what this company did for Sony to sever ties so quickly and violently…

Can't wait to hear how this story unfolds
 
Dest

Dest

Has seen more 10s than EA ever will
Coward
Jun 4, 2018
14,190
Work
Gotta be something we don't know about going on here but I also have a really hard time giving Sony the benefit of the doubt lately.
 
liquidtmd

liquidtmd

Avenger
Oct 28, 2017
6,153
It doesn't look great, but I'm gonna need more info / context before I flat out condemn Sony here

It wouldn't surprise me in terms of fuckery, sure.
 
Lukar

Lukar

Unshakable Resolve - Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 27, 2017
23,655
Sony wouldn't do this unless something happened between them. There's more to this.
 
chrominance

chrominance

Sky Van Gogh
Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,886
Juraash said:
Also seems kind gross to direct people to a very specific Sony person for refunds?
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Independent of everything else, this definitely struck me as a "burn all the bridges" move. Though I assume they think Sony already burned the bridge to a crisp so what's the harm.

From their perspective, they're probably thinking that they have no money to refund because Sony already took their cut and the products have already been made, so everything's on Sony since they're basically re-asserting ownership of the manufactured figures by asking for their destruction. That's all fine as far as it goes, but they have to know they're sending a mob after that one person at Sony now.
 
IDreamOfHime

IDreamOfHime

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,586
Ordering them to destroy unused stock is standard, but being ordered to destroy stock that's already paid for and awaiting shipping seems kinda...illegal?

Who's responsible for compensation?
 

DrDarkStryfe

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,530
Pittsburgh, PA
If they are asking them to destroy stock that was already created and sold, then it was probably against terms of whatever deal to make and sell that merchandise.
 
Crayolan

Crayolan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,822
I assume there's some unstated reason for this because as presented this doesn't sound like it benefits Sony at all, it's just bad PR and a potential legal battle between Sony and this company for the merch they paid for wholesale and can no longer retail.
 
Kemiko

Kemiko

Member
Oct 5, 2018
634
1. There HAS to be more to this story. These kind of things don't just get pulled for no reason, at the least just due to the bad press.

2. Unrealistic Conspiracy hat time - it was sent maliciously and is a part of the hack of sony's systems.
 
Mad

Mad

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,618
Just reading some of the replies from people on that, some of the people from (Supposed) customers don't sound that surprised with some of them waiting (Ten? wtf lol) years for a Tomb Raider 20th Anniversary Statue and coming up upon the 30th

I doubt the entirety of everything will ever be known but ehh
 
monketron

monketron

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,927
I don't see how it would be legally possible for Sony to keep royalties and force the destruction of items already sold? like contracts exist for a reason like this, surely?
 
Praedyth

Praedyth

Member
Feb 25, 2020
6,701
Brazil
Why destroy? What could possible warrant destroying those products? It's not like they're radioactive or something. So weird.
 
CountCorvinus

CountCorvinus

Member
Mar 10, 2023
1,768
Whoever made this decision over at Sony can kick rocks.

If I was Gaming Heads, I'd be like "Sure, whatever you say Sony" and just send out any existing orders anyway, then instead of destroying any excess stock, I'd donate them to something like Toys for Tots or whatever.
 
GlowingBovine

GlowingBovine

Prophet of Truth
Member
Nov 27, 2017
791
What the hell. I can't even imagine the context behind this. Sucks for Gaming Heads as that's a massive blow to their reputation and trustworthiness that you can just be screwed out of a paid order like that.
There's gotta be something more going on, right?
 

sujay

Member
Oct 27, 2017
378
Mad said:
Just reading some of the replies from people on that, some of the people from (Supposed) customers don't sound that surprised with some of them waiting (Ten? wtf lol) years for a Tomb Raider 20th Anniversary Statue and coming up upon the 30th

I doubt the entirety of everything will ever be known but ehh
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Lots of comments on Reddit saying they're very shady too: https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/16snnqw/collectible_toy_and_statue_manufacturer_gaming/
 
OGlol

OGlol

Member
Jun 4, 2018
1,461
pretty shitty situation for the company and customers, however, this seems a little too one sided? The way the letter directs people to one of the commercial partnerships employee is pretty odd, including name and email and all that seems a bit personal.
 
Paquete_PT

Paquete_PT

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
5,431
I wouldn't be surprised by a corporation doing a scummy move not thinking about a smaller company and its clients.
But I don't like the tone of that message, trying to drive their fans to go for the torches and clearly not giving the full picture (even if the full picture is that Sony wanted more money). And It's definitely not okay to give a direct email to someone at Sony. Like others said, there's definitely more to this story
 
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