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Chase Figure Rant!

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  • grayhank
    That Fisher Price Guy
    • Feb 9, 2007
    • 1134

    Chase Figure Rant!

    I had posted this pic in another thread about how I was really looking forward to getting this set from DC Direct. I asked my local Comic Book Shop Owner to please order this for me. She told me she would contact her DC Direct Rep and see if she can get it. I got an email from her today telling me that this is a chase figure and the only way you can get it is if you order a case (or at least an Inner Case of 1 of each figure in the wave). So it's going to cost over $60 just to get this Mxyzptlk. I don't even really care about the Joker that much.

    Why don't Toy companies just call these things what they really are "Scalper Figures" instead of Chase Figures. Because you know just about anybody who finds this is going to be selling it on Ebay at some over inflated price. I don't understand why they have to take the one figure that most collectors are going to want and limit it. It's no wonder that so many people get frustrated by various toy lines and stop collecting them altogether. Do the toy companies actually believe that if they evenly distribute something it won't sell or there won't be any interest in it?

    Scott D Thompson | Facebook
  • MegoSteve
    Superman's Pal
    • Jun 17, 2005
    • 4135

    #2
    Here's the odd thing... I may be misinterpreting, but it's not a "chase" figure in the classic sense because it's evenly distributed in the sets. It sounds like this is more of a case where it's the local comic shop's policy to not sell individual figures.

    I know around here the "chase" Mary Marvel in the white outfit was available as a single figure for purchase. I can't remember if it was the same price or a few bucks more, but you may want to try another comic shop to see if they can sell you the single when it comes out.

    As much as it probably pains you, the best way to put a stop to this kind of stuff is to vote with your dollars and not buy it. C'mon! I'm as big a Superman fan as many folks around here, and I could pass another Mxy figure up easily.

    Comment

    • grayhank
      That Fisher Price Guy
      • Feb 9, 2007
      • 1134

      #3
      It's not that it's her policy. She knows that she will be sitting on the other figures in the wave, so I can't fault her for that. So she will be out the money for the other figures in order to get me the one figure that I want. If she could order it without buying the others she would certainly do it for me. We have an extremely good relationship. I wouldn't go to any other comic shop because of our excellent business relationship. Plus she gives me a hug every time I come into her store!
      Scott D Thompson | Facebook

      Comment

      • BlackKnight
        The DarkSide Customizer
        • Apr 16, 2005
        • 14622

        #4
        It's all a marketing strategy with DC Direct. They only offer certain figures, as chase or low packed in efforts to convince everyone to buy the whole case, or set of figures. They only starting doing this because of Marvel legends, & others ,.. they saw that in the long run, sales do increase. With the comicbook Shops, & DC Direct, After a comicbook shop owner has bought a certain amount of cases of a line, they can then buy up to as many single figures of who they want to. Crap like this limmits them , & some or if not many buy more sets because of the low ball limited figure.

        I do think it is interesting that they chose this figure set to be the "chase".. kinda lame. It would be the most sought out DC Direct chase to date imo, with the Mary Marvel, & the Classic Wondergirl, however those really don't fetch much on ebay, compared to some of the Marvel Legends.
        ... The Original Knight ..., Often Imitated, However Never Duplicated. The 1st Knight in Customs.


        always trading for Hot Toys Figures .

        Comment

        • z3zep
          The Girl Next Door
          • Sep 30, 2006
          • 1725

          #5
          I have never ordered from this site... but they seem to have the 2 pack you are looking for on pre-order.... so I think you should be able to find it at another comic/collector store.

          DC Direct Superman/Batman Series 5: The Joker and Mr. Mxyzptlk 2-Pack Action Figure

          Comment

          • grayhank
            That Fisher Price Guy
            • Feb 9, 2007
            • 1134

            #6
            Thanks Zep, that looks very promising!
            Scott D Thompson | Facebook

            Comment

            • The Sentry
              Persistent Member
              • Jun 3, 2007
              • 1032

              #7
              See? That's why I HATE buying new toys anymore, people all keep them in the packages so now corporate toy businesses have to go with the "Chase figure" another reason I quit collecting Spawn figures, they started it all! Damned Four Horsemen! Unless it's a Hulk variant or something I really really like I get pretty steamed and just don't get it altogether, I really wanted to collect the new He-Man stuff for Adam (I named him after Prince Adam so it's his namesake!) Thanks to the "hard to find" and "One to a case" song and dance they didn't get one red penny from me! Now the Marvel Legends 2 packs with old-school leader and marshmallow head leader was cool, Cap with mask off? SOLD! Daredevil with mask off? SOLD! But for the most part I don't fool around with newer toys anyways, unless it's Marvel Legends or classic Transformers, although I really would like to get my hands on a Mattel DC Demon (but I guess you have to get 1,000,000,000 cases to get one!)
              sigpic
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              Comment

              • PCofmisfittoys
                Banned
                • Oct 17, 2007
                • 0

                #8
                if you just wait a few months you'll find them everywhere on ebay..something about people not wanting to wait to get new figures.

                they know that collectors will talk about the chase figures and have to have them. If people stopped buying them it would slack up. remember nothing is rare anymore ( new stuff) , even if you think so.

                Comment

                • grayhank
                  That Fisher Price Guy
                  • Feb 9, 2007
                  • 1134

                  #9
                  Originally posted by PCofmisfittoys
                  if you just wait a few months you'll find them everywhere on ebay..something about people not wanting to wait to get new figures.

                  they know that collectors will talk about the chase figures and have to have them. If people stopped buying them it would slack up. remember nothing is rare anymore ( new stuff) , even if you think so.

                  That's my point. It seems that these figures are made with Scalpers in mind, not to generate interest in the line itself. "You'll find them everywhere on ebay" to quote you again. Most of the collectors I personally know do NOT buy hot or new action figures with the intent of reselling them on ebay. Yet somehow the scalpers always seem to know which figures to buy AND seem to get them before anybody else solely for the purpose of making money on Ebay.

                  In my area there are about 7 of us collectors who have formed an "Action Figure Alliance" so to speak. We all have each others cell phone numbers and what we do is communicate with each other almost on a daily basis. We meet up regularly and talk about what we're looking for. If I know somebody needs something I call them right from the store. "Do you still need so-and-so? Ok, I'll pick it up for you." Then we make arrangements to meet and they pay the person and get their item. Most of the scalpers in our area have limited opportunity to grab the hot figures for the purpose of reselling. If it wasn't for our alliance I probably wouldn't have figures like the Star Wars McQuarrie figures, which are the hot ones for that line.

                  Unfortunately, not too many stores carry DC Direct in our area. There's my comic shop (which I've already mentioned) but she tends not to order them because she can only sell one figure out of a case. Suncoast carries some DC Direct but our store is in the process of closing.

                  Nothing kills a toyline faster than Chase figures, short packed figures or Exclusives. Hasbro used to evenly distribute their Star Wars figures in each case; 4 figures to a wave, 3 of each per case. Most of the retail stores will only get 1 or 2 cases per warehouse truck. When you start seeing cases full of 1 of each figure, they tend to get harder to find. The demand is still high, but the supply is limited and the scalpers are counting on this to happen.
                  Scott D Thompson | Facebook

                  Comment

                  • Prime316
                    New Member
                    • Jan 10, 2008
                    • 6

                    #10
                    Chase figures are part of the corporate marketing conspiracy theory I've been talking about for years! And I AGREE that A) WE JUST NEED TO STOP BUYING THEM! and B) EXCLUSIVES ARE THE DEATH OF TOYLINES!! It becomes too frustrating to get them now, to many, to hard to find, not enough $$$ to keep up which is a turn off to collecting an OVER PLENTIFUL LINE! (HINT,HINT, HASBRO STAR WARS!) It's just not rewarding enough. It's more stressful and anxiety than fun.

                    Comment

                    • ctc
                      Fear the monkeybat!
                      • Aug 16, 2001
                      • 11183

                      #11
                      Hmmmm....

                      It's the same thing that killed comics; sales gimmicks as opposed to producing items for their intended purpose. The company knows if they pack one to a case they'll sell more 'cos very few shops have the resources to sit on the REST of the figures in the case. So they'll do like your shop; sell them BY the case. So more figures get moved 'cos the collectors are essentially buying 23 more figures than originally intended.

                      ...and eventually they get too fed up, or poor, to care. ZINGO! Collapse!

                      Don C.

                      Comment

                      • Bo8a_Fett
                        Pat Troughton in disguise
                        • Nov 21, 2007
                        • 3738

                        #12
                        I hated theprospect of chase figures or "short packed" figures with the Star Wars figures...you'd usually find them marked up at conventions at extortionist prices...you had 3 options then; buy at extortionist prices, buy a case to ensure you got one or just don't buy it (hard for collectors I know). Sometimes the price would eventually come down ...but not often. What I hate even more now is this prediliction for packing parts of a bonus figure in with waves...I really wanted the Galactus bonus but there were none in that wave of marvel characters that I really wanted except Grey Hulk and dr strange....would have got Deathlok, but could never find him. As far as I knew there was no way to buy a completed Galactus figure...and did not want to spend money on figures I didn't want just to get him.
                        ENGLISH AND DAMN PROUD OF IT British by birth....English by the grace of God. Yes Jamie...it is big isn't it....

                        Comment

                        • grayhank
                          That Fisher Price Guy
                          • Feb 9, 2007
                          • 1134

                          #13
                          I'm not a fan of the "build-a-figure" trend either. While it is a cool concept, it appears quite difficult to acquire all the figures you need in order to complete the figure. Yesterday I was at Target and noticed they put out a whole case of the Marvel Legends Captain America wave.

                          I counted four Captain America figures and one of each of the remaining figures and the Danger figure wasn't there (don't know if somebody else had picked it up before I got there). Upon looking at Ebay that figure is being listed as VHTF and Rare, so somebody knew exactly which figure to buy and left the rest of them. Perhaps somebody did in fact need that 1 figure to complete their set, but that means somebody else had bought that 1 figure from a case somewhere else, so the cycle repeats. It's Scalper action figure sabotage. You need all 8 figures in the wave to complete the build-a-figure and at 9.99 each that's $80.00. It shouldn't be that expensive or that difficult.

                          It would be more reasonable if Hasbro just went back to the "Mail-Away" gimmick instead of the build-a-figure. Send in 6 proof of purchase UPCs plus shipping and we'll send you a bonus figure. At least that way your chances of getting that extra figure would be more obtainable. You wouldn't need to kill yourself looking for all 8 figures, you then have an option to choose which figures you buy if you don't like (or can't find) all of the ones in the wave, and you still get a rare figure.
                          Scott D Thompson | Facebook

                          Comment

                          • Bo8a_Fett
                            Pat Troughton in disguise
                            • Nov 21, 2007
                            • 3738

                            #14
                            Originally posted by grayhank
                            It would be more reasonable if Hasbro just went back to the "Mail-Away" gimmick instead of the build-a-figure. Send in 6 proof of purchase UPCs plus shipping and we'll send you a bonus figure. At least that way your chances of getting that extra figure would be more obtainable. You wouldn't need to kill yourself looking for all 8 figures, you then have an option to choose which figures you buy if you don't like (or can't find) all of the ones in the wave, and you still get a rare figure.
                            A good option, but knowing the trouble I had in the UK getting some of the "exclusives" and mail aways on the Star Wars series this would only be viable if they offered it worldwide. Something needs to be sorted though.....
                            ENGLISH AND DAMN PROUD OF IT British by birth....English by the grace of God. Yes Jamie...it is big isn't it....

                            Comment

                            • ctc
                              Fear the monkeybat!
                              • Aug 16, 2001
                              • 11183

                              #15
                              >It would be more reasonable if Hasbro just went back to the "Mail-Away" gimmick instead of the build-a-figure. Send in 6 proof of purchase UPCs plus shipping and we'll send you a bonus figure. At least that way your chances of getting that extra figure would be more obtainable.

                              Great idea; and it'd help the fans out a lot, but it's not the fans the companies are worried about. Short packed figures used to be the ones with limited appeal. That's why they made fewer of them. Nowadays they're a way to sell more figures overall. Mail aways were a way to sell more figures overall; but with the short pack scam they don't have to worry about it so much.

                              Toy collectors are a weird bunch.

                              Don C.

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