Just Curious, Richies Armor

Hey there, I was just wondering if anyone has purchased anything from Richies Armor and if you have, has your service with him been lack of a better word dissapointing. I ordered a few things almost a year ago before I found this website and still have'nt recieved some things. I blame myself for not joining here first. Well I was just curious.

A year ago?!
wow.... that's a long manufacturing process.

Nah sorry bro, I've looked at his stuff...particulsay the AT-AT lid... but never went ahead.
presumably you have emailed etc...?

I've had a lot of friends and fellow Rebel Legion members order from him...

His X-Wing helmets are amazing, but yes they take time, as he has a lot of orders for just the x-wing helmets and he does custom paint on them as well, so its not unheard of for 8-12 months for stuff from him. But I must admit, a lot of his stuff rebel wise is pretty nice.

I havent seen anything else made by him though...

Originally Posted by Mojo-Fett

A year ago?!
wow.... that's a long manufacturing process.

Nah sorry bro, I've looked at his stuff...particulsay the AT-AT lid... but never went ahead.
presumably you have emailed etc...?

Yeah I've been in constant communication with him but he makes its like I'm a pain in his rear. Hell for the coin I spent he should just be happy I paid for it. I guess to sum things up is I'm not impressed with his service or his products. I'm kicking myself in the rear for not coming here first and thinking I could do it on my own.

I have waited over 5 months for finished esb gauntlets and shin tools, so I just asked him to refund me and cancel my order just last week even though he said he just had them finished last week. Oddly enough, I kept having to remind him about my order every 2 months or so.

If he would keep in touch every 2 weeks, then I would know what is going on. His lack of communication was because he just got married last month, so I guess all the boba fett stuff got pushed back. He hasn't posted a notice on his website to say that he's been really busy with his marriage stuff.

Anyways, I hope to get my money back this week and get Jeff Cochran/wickedbeard to put together a pair of esb boba fett metal gauntlets for me.

Richie's Armor came through.

Now, I have a nicely finished pair of esb gauntlets and a shin tool set.

Happy new year!

i've order from richies armor rebel/x-wing pilot helmet and chest box took awhile but i got it...wasn't to impressed with the quality of his chest box or his service...but i do find his prices to be reasonable...i ordered tie fighter pilot armor also haven't received it yet been 3 months. as the old saying goes you get what you pay for...still waitin for that armor

msg flav (fight the power!)

His quality and communication are lacking, I'm still waiting for a jet pack, getting close to a year and still have not recieved it. Hence I will never do business with him ever again.

I got a set of RA for my first attempt at . It was OK for a first attempt. But after seeing some other veteran s' costumes in person at a con, it went to show there was some better quality armor out there than RA.

The only thing I ever ordered from him was an unfinished gauntlet set, and as even though it came with a cheaper price tag, it took a *LONG* time (several months) and a *LOT* of bugging to finally get what I paid for.

I've always had the impression that the X wing helmets were sort of his bread and butter. I actually just ordered one yesterday. We'll see how long it takes.

Between him and Wilco models, they are really the only 2 readily accessible rebel pilot dealers out there, and both have reps for being slow.

I've had both the Richies and Wilco, waited about 6 months for each of them. I think the Richies is nicer though, so I went that route for helmet #3.

Wilco isn't associated with Dreadnaughts are they? For the Xwing helmets. I got a xwing helm from Dreads and it is great, but yeah, took a little longer to get.

Originally Posted by kaarma33

Richie's Armor came through.

Now, I have a nicely finished pair of esb gauntlets and a shin tool set.

Happy new year!

Why is there a hose attached to the gauntlet missle??

Only one hose on the ESB version...
Right gaunt top section. Hope that helps?

Originally Posted by Satxer

Wilco isn't associated with Dreadnaughts are they? For the Xwing helmets. I got a xwing helm from Dreads and it is great, but yeah, took a little longer to get.

If I remember right, it's the same stuff. When Wakal shipped off to (Turkey?), Bill took over the business.

Great stuff, but sloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow

so totally different experience here... i ordered an x wing helmet kit from richies on january 9, and i have it in hand now!

best. service. ever.

This is a rather late reply to this thread... but as I thought about it, and it's worth an update.

With the negative comments here, sometimes businesses/individuals improve their service... sadly, this is not the case here...

My first use of RA was this year (2011) and involved three separate people... Richie himself, and two other business partners working separately to produce the Alien Environmental Suit. It's a huge project, and expen$ive.

I found his business partners to be a joy to work with, doing very good quality work, and responsive.

Richie on the other hand, seemed to bang out his parts rather quickly and carelessly... He achieves excellent looking work, but the care of construction is lacking.

Parts are often glued together with hot melt glue or super glue on dirty surfaces, so they simply didn't adhere well. Every armor piece I received had parts falling off, including structural parts, making the costume impossible to wear. Other parts were mislocated, forgotten to be glued, or missing altogether... like hoses and buckles.

Of course, talking with him on the phone before the order was placed was reassuring... if there were any problems, he promised to make things right. When there actually WERE problems, his efforts were minimal... he replaced parts with older USED parts that he had, and looked it. He "repaired" things by repeating his original mistakes, and he ignored other problems all together, and in the end, suggested that I fix things myself, and then stopped returning e-mails.

If it were simply cosmetic, that would be one thing... but missing parts, broken parts, structural failures... that's just not workable. It's a good thing I am able to do this work myself... but what about others that buy, but don't have the ability to deal with it?

Because he grossly mislocated a strap/snap that holds the helmet in place, this awesome helmet is not fully secure... he doesn't reply to this problem at all... nothing.

Again, his associates are a joy to work with, and do super high quality work... so the helmet and undersuit are great.

Richie, on the other hand... is less than satisfactory in my experience... and I have still not received every piece 4 months in.

If you are considering ordering from RA, be sure to ask specifically who is doing the work... with Richie, I think you are rolling the dice.

Buyer beware.

SMS

-- Sorry to dig up a dead thread, but this is relevant to me --

I have spent $440 on armour, gauntlets and the tool set from Richies Armor and in terms of communication, he will reply, but every email will be 2 or 3 words long, feeling very unfriendly, (I am glad to have just bought a helmet from Asok to help restore my faith in the human race). I have been told they will take 2 or 3 weeks for everything so I will have to set a reminder to remind me to check up on it! :P

Thanks for talking about this, but unfortunately it seems he hasn't changed.