DNA Collectibles is digging into Saab’s history with their latest venture, this is the 1970 Saab Sonett III! The model is new and also new is the pop-up headlight feature! A first for DNA Collectibles, and could this be a first for 1:18 scale resin brand? Possibly. Exterior colours include Blue, Green, Red, and Yellow. PRE-ORDER your example today!
About the Saab Sonett III… “The Saab Sonett is a classic two-seat roadster created in the 50s by the Saab’s designers Lars Olov Olsson, Olle Lindkvist, and Gotta Svensson. Fun fact: this beautiful sports car’s name comes from the Swedish expression “Så nätt den är” which means: how neat it is. The Saab Sonett passed by 3 different versions (4 if you consider the Sonett V4 as a full new version instead of just an evolution of the Saab Sonett II)”
Product# DNA000188
This page is actually one of many that could be used as evidence against what was DNA Group SA (DNA Collectibles). Let me explain:
This company went bust with loads of open pre-orders that were never refunded. I was one of those customers, I’m still waiting on a Scarab Green SAAB Sonnett. Other collectors placed far bigger orders and also got nothing. This company instead went to eBay with all their “unsold” models to sell them as someone different in a desperate attempt to recoup losses. The vast majority of these models were already bought by loyal customers (many of them returning customers) and again, never refunded. All the while, they kept their website open, continuing to sell models they clearly hadn’t made or weren’t ever going to. These people owe their once very loyal fanbase a hell of a lot of money. The website has since been closed with absolutely no attempt to respond to or communicate with their customers.
What is also interesting is that they seemed to have removed evidence of their most recent releases which includes the SAAB Sonnett and Dame Edna 9-5 SportCombi. Now if you were like me and actually ordered one of these then you’ll know that they were genuinely sold by DNA Collectibles. Fortunately for us, they advertised in a way that most of their marketing has become embedded within other sources online, including this page. This means that anything they deleted or set as hidden on their own pages isn’t actually lost forever. It is floating about elsewhere, out of their control. It is worrying on a privacy front but incredibly useful for this.
It was the SAAB Owners community (including myself) that propped these guys up early on with recognition of their unique SAAB models. They were persistently and positively reviewed, gaining this company an insane amount of business. They are still effectively giving the middle finger to the lot of us.
It was allegedly the Chinese manufacturer they used that spilled the beans on the malpractice at DNA Collectibles. This manufacturer was also allegedly owed money by DNA Collectibles. So, not only did DNA con everyone out of money, but they may not have even been making their own models themselves. That said, it is unknown the validity of this, as DNA Collectibles is still posing as Chinese sellers on eBay. It could very well be that they have created a fictitious alias so that they could distance themselves from their own image and continue trading.
I have amassed a collection of 14 different DNA Collectibles models, all but one being SAAB. As much as I enjoy my collection, there are gaps in it that shouldn’t exist. Many others may feel as I do, that the total failure of this company has completely undermined the value and beauty of these models. This may go to explain why so many remain unsold on eBay after well over a year of being listed. Such a shame. Such a waste. Only the founders and management of DNA Collectibles are to blame.
DNA Collectibles are still active on YouTube, and are removing my comments as I type this on the 30th of December 2023, instead of taking responsibility. So if you’re reading this weeks, or months from this comment’s post date then they have given up – or I have persisted. They are (or were) a Swiss registered company in Lausanne, so it would be interesting to learn more on how they were allowed to operate like this under Swiss law.
Ideally, I’d like for other DNA Collectibles customers to come forward with their experiences. The manufacture lead time meant that many of us could no longer take legal action to get our money back. Considering that this company actually had a good reputation up until that point, we could all be forgiven for allowing this. If we pull together, we could get what we’re owed whilst backing them into a corner.