Video Game Object Lessons...

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