We have had quite a few PM's asking us if we were planning on having some BIG SALE on our shark products or were going to do something cool or special to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of Jaws.
The answer is YES & No. The honest answer we can provide is that every single day of our lives since 2009 has been stuffed to the brim with Shark City Ozark Bruce-Sharks galore. And every price we have listed is our absolute best price needed to survive providing the awesomeness that we do. Indeed if the big name companies provided what we do now then the prices would be a full 1/3 more, and they would be mass produced in brittle polystone overseas. And not 1/10th as detailed either. If our prices were over-inflated like so many malls & stores do these days then we would have some wiggle-room to come down for special occasions, but we already do the best we can on every shark for every customer already. It's not just an every decade event for us but an everyday way of life is all. And in the past when we have found ways to lower prices we have done so. Not as glamorous as some fancy store sale, but it has worked for us and our customers all decade☺. So Viva`La Jaws, and Happy 40th Anniversary! If you want the best, and biggest, and most historically-screen accurate, and longest selling and most collected Bruce Sharks for the best quality, made from the best resins in our active FX studio with 3 film credits to our name then come on over to Shark City Ozark. Home of the Ultimate Bruce Sharks!
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After coming back to him and adding in details a few times a day over the last few weeks I believe that I can now release that I am quite pleased with everything about our All New 1/12 scale, 25-inch long Ultimate Bruce Collector's Set Shark. He's done.
He's another >original< masterpiece, in my eyes. I won't take the time to mold him this week having the heart surgery but once recovered he's the next thing in line since we are entirely caught up with all paid in full June sharks! Having so many PM's everyday pressuring for the release of our New Upgraded Ultimate Bruce Sharks I am sure that this will make lots of folks happy. All four are about everything that fans have been requesting they want to see in our 25-inch sharks for the last 4 or 5 years. A most stunning complete set of film sharks in every way. As usual we'll release everything as far as information, photos and the new lower pricing when we are able to and when it is wise for us to. Thank you friends, Mike I wanted to take a moment and brag a bit about how far my family’s Shark City Ozark business has come. Everyone knows that before SCO we supplied full-sized sharks and dinosaur displays for museums and private collectors. Heck, we’ve even been on dino-digs! And everyone knows the 3 film credits that we have to our name. And most everyone knows of the over one dozen different film-shark and Reel Life Shark collectibles that we have supplied collectors during this decade alone.
What I want to brag on most though is the range of people that providing sharks has introduced us to and allowed us to work with. Back in 2007 to 2008 it was none other than Joe Alves Himself kindly guiding us via emails and phone calls in developing our very first 3 foot Bruce NTT Shark. I don’t remember how many photos we traded back and forth but he was most kind in helping us get our first shark’s features correct. After this the floodgates opened wide for us meeting new friends. Since those early days we have been repeatedly THRILLED to have supplied customized film sharks and private commissions to writers, stars, producers, directors and some of the crew behind such titles as: The Deep Blue Sea, Terminator, Star Wars, The Grunge, Jurassic Park, Jaws, Back to the Future and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. And the same for many well known TV works including the TV Terminator Series, Shark week and even Two and a half Men. Our sharks are proudly displayed on some desks and in some conference rooms at SyFy, Dreamworks, Universal Studious and Amblin Entertainment. And in 2013 non other than Cal Acord Himself helped us very patiently get the details on the Jaws 1 Tow sled Shark just right for our 3 foot collector’s version. Again just this year Joe Alves aided Romain Neophyte and I with never before released Jaws 3D Bruce Shark Photos. These helped us immensely in getting our All New soon to re-release for Pre-Order 25 inch long Ultimate Bruce 3D Collector’s Set shark just right in every possible detail and contour. In fact these are the 2 photos that I chose for this posting, that of Joe Alves holding our All New Ultimate Bruce 3D Shark, and Cal Acord holding our All New Tow Sled Shark, which we customized just for him in return for his helping us developed it. I brag today because this has sure been a brag-worthy adventure. I know that we have had our share of lumps along the way. Nothing of worth comes without sacrifice, struggle, some loss, lots of risk and lots of vision. We have had to ward off busy-body divas costing us many thousand of dollars, and pirate-recasters, and several copy-cat artists, a few con-artists and even an oddball or two. But looking back it has all been one amazing ride worth every bump in the road. It grows you up and toughens you, yaknow? So I end this article by thanking my friends in the Jaws and Shark fan communities for sticking with us as we grew out of a tiny basement workshop into multiple metal buildings in our newer functional FX shops. It has been a great ride but the thing about this article I want to end with so everyone takes it with them is this, and that point is that this is just the beginning! There will be more adventures and more bumps in the road but we look forward to releasing more never been done before Shark Products and working many more films and private commissions. So, thank you my friends, let’s wait and see what the next huge thing is for this shark family! Mike & Cathy Schultz Shark City Ozark Those that have 3-foot sharks due in May and also 1/12 3D Bruce Sharks they are almost completed and they are the priority for next week's completion and shipping!
Those awaiting the shipping for the April/May 1/6 Bruce Busts will be happy to know ALL are on the bench[es] and being built in order of order dates and paid-in-full status. Basically everything is right on schedule as usual. That's over 200-feet of work-tables crammed with sharks and parts! On behalf of my family I thank the Jaws and shark fan communities for their OVERWHELMING support in the last 4 weeks. We have seen people BRAGGING over our quality and workmanship all over social media! Thank you for circulating good words about us. Our family depends on happy customers spreading a good report. Also it was no secret I got pretty sick there for about 3 weeks. It was a domino effect we believe that I caused myself for working too hard all the time. Up to 14 hours a day with no days off in recent memory. Having been perfectly healthy for over 2 ½ years I was really caught off guard to get sick at all. But I am almost back to where I was. And I am back in the shop working 8 to 9 hours a day. As it should be. We decided to not release any photos this week of our All New 2015 1/12 scale, 25-inch long Ultimate Bruce and Ultimate Scarface Brucette Collector's Set Sharks. We were going to yesterday but in light of recent events we want to hold back. We decided to let the amateur-crook that has so poorly copied our products, right down to the wood style display-bases that we created ourselves and have been providing all decade, to run his course like the human Flu-Virus that he is. For those that missed this oddness, a copy-catter from the UK sent Jim Beller the 'Jaws Collector' a free shark several weeks back and they both seemed to spend every waking moment promoting the daylights out of it. There's no accounting for taste or ethics I guess. I believe that they still maintain what Jim posted which I read as - since I don't own sharks and never patented my products/[stands] that his artist is free to express himself creatively on his wall; or some such double-talk. Because copy-catting is so original, and so ethical right? Some people.... So, the last BIG THANK YOU of today goes out to all our customers and friends that have encouraged us and stood up for us all over the place [ 188 so far ]. And from the forwards being sent to us for also proclaiming in all four corners of the Nurn [Facebook] that our sharks & service are truly superior! THANK YOU ALL for such Encouragement! This is why we try so hard to do the right things by you all. My family and I are truly Blessed to know you. Thank you for being such good and solid friends and customers. Mike & Cathy Schultz SCO Hi Everyone!
Just wanted to report that I am in the shop and making sharks to fill orders again today. It has been a very good week! Another priority in between orders is the continued assembly and painting of our prototypes of our All New 1/12 scale 25-Inch long Ultimate Bruce Collector's Set Sharks. I write once again "assembly" as the production sharks are made as kits for us to mold and assemble as such; so I have to assemble them for photos in non-permanent and non-damaging ways that also will truly convey what a finished production shark will look like. As all have learned since 2008, they ALWAYS look even better and more detailed in person! In this effort, although due to recent events we feel some pressure to rush ahead, we are still balancing out our needs as well as filling preexisting orders where needed first and foremost. Those that know us know there's much to look forward too. We are VERY excited to try and get them out rapidly for Pre-Order, and to release the All new LOW prices. Indeed, I spent all winter while snowed in [for maybe 4-5 months!] recreating all of the Ultimate Bruce sharks. There has never before been anything like these in accuracy and richness of detail; especially in this scale. I promise that they'll be more than worth the wait. In other news it looks as though the doctors get some of my time over the next months for this and that. Looks like only a few days here and a few days there. Nothing to write home about. The priority now is getting those Pre-Order busts completed and shipped as well as all the sharks due in May to their patient and rightful owners. As far as the next few months we want you to start preparing yourselves for us to release the 25-inch Ultimate Revenge Bruce to complete the Ultimate series, AND the big ½ scale Bruce Dorsal Fin, AND the All New 1/6 Scar Face Brucette Bust, AND the Entirely New LIFE-SIZED Great White Shark Bust, in full attack pose. We have a few more but are going to hold on to them for now until we are able to make good on all our orders, pre-orders, prototypes, private commissions and getting all healed up and 100% better[er] again. Tomorrow I believe is the best time for us to release the true account of one of the most INCREDIBLE opportunities that my family was ever given a few years back that I have never yet shared publicly. It is an amazing story that will surely hit you like a .50 cal going off! More about this then tomorrow! A good day to all my friends today! Mike Hi Friends!
Dictionary.com defines "Aboveboard" as: "In open sight, without tricks, concealment, or disguise." Recently in the Jaws Community it came to our attention that another artist had made an attempt at producing his own Bruce Shark for sale. Sadly, this individual has attempted to copy-cat everything he could from us ranging from the shark's features right down to our unique wooden-style display stands and our long established photography style. He even directly copied our OLD prices, the funniest part! But the most disturbing part about this whole situation is that this artist freely gave a well-known "Jaws Collector" one of these sharks as a gift and in return this collector decided to whole-heartedly review and endorse this imitator while slighting our family's 8+ years of hard work. When questioned about this completely unethical behavior we were met with hostility and told that we were offensive to the copy-catting artist. Now, everyone is free to have their favorites, however, we've fielded a great amount of email asking us about this questionable display of ethics and so far EVERYONE see's clearly what is a cheap knock off of us and not even an accurate Bruce depiction... except for the aforementioned "Jaws Collector". One old saying captures this incident perfectly. It explains how a bribe can blind the eye of the receiver and pervert justice. We would like to make it clear to our customers and all fellow fin-fans that every single review about every single Shark City Ozark shark has been earned. No "Freebies" have ever exchanged hands in order to receive "Glowing remarks". Our work stands on its own without having someone "in our pocket". We are purposely holding off on posting our All New Low Prices on our 25-inch Collectible Sharks just because we will not be rushed by this "copy-catter". We'll post more photos, descriptions, and reveal the new low prices soon. I am getting stronger every day and recovering well ahead of the curve. Thank you friends for maintaining us as the Professional Industry Standard since 2007! Mike, Cathy, and the Entire Schultz family of Shark City Ozark Mike wanted me to update and thank you all for your kindness and support, and especially your prayers. He is on the mend and getting stronger everyday.
The Dr. said it was a Perfect Storm of "Bad Things" to cause this sort of spiral. Her assessment is that he worked himself into his current state of exhaustion. We tend to agree. He's been burning the candle at both ends and the middle trying to please everyone. Thankfully the lung infection that came out of nowhere during all this while he was so weak is nearly beaten. The antibiotics and breathing treatments did their job last week and he is no longer coughing up blood or struggling for every breath. Being able to breath freely is allowing him to sleep finally. And sleep means healing so he is doing much better every day now. Can you imagine no sleep or food for nearly five days and nights with the agony of 180-237 heartbeats per minute A-fib? He is able to eat simple foods so he has stopped losing weight [he was losing 1.4 pounds a day!]. The funny thing is that every time he slept he told us he'd been dreaming of eating ribs and burgers and buffets of food! He is now finally hydrated and his electrolytes are well balanced. He's even steady on his feet now! So it is apparent that his body wants to be healthy and that all the guesswork of our family Dr. is paying off. He probably won't be back in the shop again this week which is driving him crazy. Thankfully Mike was well ahead on the list of due sharks. Thank you all for caring and checking in and for your effectual Christian prayers. Cathy Schultz I like to play a little multi-player every now and then. I bring this up because I too see things in some of these games that cause me to react in some surprising ways. One of the games I play is known for it's long-term ~bugginess. In fact this is the most commonly discussed point on the forums and social media for this one game in particular. It is loved by many, but the game suffers some bugs that have not been addressed by the developers, many dating back to 2012. Loved but a source of consternation at times. It's made me happy and it's frustrated me depending on those few little things that never get worked out.
Why I bring this up is that I recently tried to relate some of these multi-player experiences to our business with inventing and supplying sharks all over the world. Our sharks can be found ranging from the shelves of fans like you and I to the shelves of the biggest names in Entertainment across many genre's. You know that we not only make these static collectibles as well as having provided animatonic sharks and creatures for 5 films to date. Our collectible sharks can be spied over the shoulder or on a desktop of many a star's interview, some 'Making of's' and even during several Sharkweek's! So you'd think that after over 5 years of supplying thousands of sharks globally that we'd have every conceivable aspect of 'shark-making' down to a science, right? Not yet I think. I feel that we mostly do but we are still constantly finding ways to improve our sharks. At first we used only one kind of resin and in only one way. Since our first sharks back in 2008 we have discovered all new resins and all new ways to improve them, to make them stronger and far longer lasting. Today's SCO sharks use up to 3 forms of resin, and the larger ones are filled and even include internal spines made of wood or metal! But back to the point of the letter being that the plain fact is that if we are still finding ways to make our sharks better and more affordable, and the whole buying experience even better, then this means that we have not quite perfected things yet. So once again I write to ask my friends and customers what sorts of things would you recommend we explore to better our 'Shark-Making' business? Some have suggested attractive boxes as you would see Sideshow art delivered in or Diamond select style packaging as for a Hobby-Store shelves. Some have suggested including even more accessories. Some have suggested that we offer some of the sequel sharks with a more updated style and updated/life-like paintjob. Some of these things we already offer and have been providing hundreds of customers in our open customization offers and especially in private commission works. We can do many of these things and more. But many of the extraneous things have been cut-back in order to provide these sharks at far better prices. Take packaging for example; right now we have to buy boxes in bulk and Bubble wrap in gigantic wheels that barely fit through our 4 foot wide shop's side door! We spent more on shipping materials alone last year than we made in profit our entire first run of NTT Bruce shark's! And we found the same to be true with fancy packaging like the 'Big-Box' collectible businesses ship their art in. It would have to be purchased in bulk to be affordable, and would be much more expensive to offer. An expense that all businesses simply pass on to their customer's in a higher price. Something we have been battling to keep low despite an eroding U.S. economy since 2009. But surely there are some things that you all see that we can improve? Please Private message us your ideas and thoughts as you all have in the past when we have asked your advise. Email us or PM us through our Facebook. Remember that we have explored many things already, and implemented many customer ideas also. Also, with only 3 of us Schultz's left making sharks we do have some constraints to consider, but perhaps your idea might be one of those 'Eureka Moments' that free's us up to be able to provide our sharks better or more affordable or dare we dream to hope that we could produce them even quicker? Any and all advise and suggestions will be not only appreciated but studied and experimented with. Thank you all ahead of time for always being so active and helpful to us! Mike, Cathy and Rachael Schultz Shark City Ozark Hi Everyone!
We wanted to take a minute and talk about some of our plans and ideas for 2015. We are always looking for ways to make the best sharks & collectibles possible, all while maximizing value and saving our customers money! Cathy and I have been strategizing for months now and I think we've come up with some great new ideas and products for 2015, and we’d love to share them with you: Firstly, we have retooled the master prototypes, increased detail levels and streamlined the casting process involved in making all the 25” Ultimate Bruce Collector’s set sharks. We've listened to you and we’re thrilled to announce that all of the shark’s fins are molded onto the body instead of as separate detachable pieces. This alone improves overall quality, lessens our labor/expenses and saves you all money too! You won’t believe your eyes when you see the New Ultimate Bruce & Sequel Shark Line. Yes, the Revenge Bruce is slated for release in mid-2015! Also we are looking at making smaller limited edition runs of each Shark product this year. As most of our kids have moved out and now work and live on their own, the three of us remaining Schultz's are looking at ways to maximize the most out of our work weeks. After all, we three can only make so many sharks per week! Our goal is to once again start selling the Ultimate Bruce Collector's Set Sharks within the next two to four weeks time. The New prototypes must still be assembled, painted and have their days before the camera to be ready for posting online to sell. And as you know we are still keeping our heads above water maintaining the nonstop stream of orders already made as well as finishing other New Shark products for release in Q2 & Q3.☺ Going forward, we are also planning to sell display stands separately for the 25-inch Ultimate shark line. These newly designed Ultimate Bruce Sharks rest perfectly on their bellies balanced by their fins & body pose. Each piece displays beautifully right out of the molds, and eliminating the need for a stand will help us keep prices down as expenses continue to rise throughout the fiscal year. For those wishing to display their shark on a stand, we will still offer several to choose from to purchase separately. Currently, the majority of our transactions are conducted through PayPal. Everyone loves the convenience and confidence we feel shopping with PayPal, and of course we will still be offering PayPal as one of our payment methods. However, steadily rising PayPal fees greatly increase costs for both us and you the customer. Therefore, if our Continental U.S. customers pay by check, cashier’s check or money order then we will pass this savings directly to our U.S. customers in the lower 48 states! This can be well up to $30 or more depending on the items ordered! Something fans have been asking about for years, and we’re happy to make this happen! No wonder these time-tested methods have been used since the 1880's to purchase by mail! So stay tuned to SharkCityOzark.com in 2015 for all of the exciting details! We will be offering new and upgraded sharks at more affordable prices than ever before. We are so excited to show everyone what we’ve been working on, 2015 will be the best year yet for Shark fans! Here's a quick double whammy set of generic answers that we are using for the most common questions that we are answering all day long.
Hang on, here weee gooooo! 1). Why don't you repose the mouth, head,eyes∞, or add a water base-barrel-scuba tank, victim, chum marker, bird, seal, swim-fin, dog, fish, Quint, surfboard, turtle, Chrissy, boat, Spielberg, debris etc ∞ to the All New Bruce Bust? > Answer < A Water base doubles the labor, expenses and final price of the product. Clear resins are approximately $128 per gallon and add almost 4 hours production time to EACH head in this Very large scale. Our goal is to keep things as affordable as they are impressive. This bust is quite unprecedented as-is. >Extra Answer< **The more people want then the more things cost and then the more people might complain about said cost as well as why it didn't also come with X & Y + Z accessories with a BOGO coupon for only $1.99 If we didn't add it then it would have cost either you or us too much * Those who appreciate what we are offering will be very happy fans indeed 2). Please tell me the price/size/photos/shipping info of 'X' shark that you have not released for sale yet? > Answer < We have released and do release ALL information, photos and prices the very second that we can. If we have not advertised the photos yet then they are not taken yet. We are releasing photos and information as fast as we can get things done. We are close to providing more information on the Ultimate Bruce Collector's Set Sharks most likely within the next 2 weeks or less. We are also currently hampered by working on a flood of orders and by severe winter weather, but we are making progress everyday. ***** Please keep checking our SCO Products page and we also update or Facebook when we have releases. We care and we are trying but we are only 3 people filling orders and working to release almost a dozen >-Never been done in 40 years before-< Shark products at insane new prices and levels of perfection |
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