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Oh for crying out loud...
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Here's another update from Ed with CAE.
Looks like ToysRUs isn't picking up the 3 series, so you won't find these at retail.
As you know, we're super-excited about the Wal-Mart Opportunity (did you do your daily voting yet? https://getontheshelf.walmart.com/pr...Captain-Action ).
But on the other hand, we want to let you know that for Wave 3's Captain Action Line we will not be focusing on selling at Mass Retailers. Rather, we'll be selling this wave via our online retailers, comic shops and hobby shops. For Wave 3, Toys R Us has said they want to take a pass, however we are planning to sell them Wave 4, with Batman and Superman outfits, so to paraphrase Arnold "We'll be back."
We thought we'd take a moment to fill in you guys - the faithful- on some of the details. We want to play it straight. We're disappointed, but it's not the end of the world by any means. As you know, Toys R Us has always had a lot of troubles with our brand - they didn't merchandise it consistently across all their stores, the figures were often not placed with the costume sets, the Marvel sets weren't with the Marvel toys and their dot.com division could never list it correctly nor get it up on their site in a timely fashion. And as you may have read, Toys R Us is struggling as a company and has a LOT of internal issues to work out.
But like when you used to tell your friends about that girl you used to date, we don't want to speak badly about this relationship, especially, to continue the analogy --when we plan on dating again next year! And in 2014 we expect to be in some other mass outlets too!
So what does this mean for you guys? Two things :
If you shop only at Toys R Us, make plans and preorder the Wave 3 items at your local comic shop ( http://www.comicshoplocator.com ) or pre-order from one of our online retailers. Comic Shops will be placing their orders soon - so now is the time to tell them that you want to reserve your Wave 3 purchase. We'll also be selling them at our New York Comic Con booth if anyone's going there.
More Collectible - We'll also be producing less quantities of Iron Man, Wolverine and the Codename:Action figure - so this wave will probably be our most collectible yet. Without the Toys R Us Basic quantities, quite frankly, we've dialed back the production run. This should help the collectors' market down the road. Also - we think that many folks will want to get the Iron Man and Wolverine sets to complete their Hawkeye Build-a-Figure/Assemble-an-Avenger parts, so demand might be stronger than anticipated.Comment
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Well, it's not the best news but certainly not the end of the world either. Very glad they're letting us know what's going on. I'll be ordering wave 3 as soon as it's available. Are they going to sell them on the actual CA website?Comment
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How could TRU pass on Iron Man and Wolverine?sigpicSWEAR TO ME!Comment
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The fabulous marketing gurus at Round (what number is it?) once again show their rears. They publicly p*ss on the one retailer that gave them a chance, WHILE simultaneously begging for another to pick them up?
It's with zero hesitation I call this company PA-THE-TIC. Here's a company that has a consistent history of making the SAME mistakes with the SAME product and they have the nerve...THE NERVE...to judge one of the last free standing toy stores that has been in existence since 1948? REALLY?! Round 2... you don't deserve another round. What a tasteless, classless statement to make. They deserve their failure. Oblivion awaits this company.
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I hope I can get the Superman & Batman sets when they come out and that the CA line can continue after that. And finally bring back Action Boy with sets for him.Comment
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speaking of Toys R Us....if they don't get their act together,you're not going to see them hanging around much longer.Business is not so good there and they are approaching having their Debt called in as they owe ALOT of monies.If things don't change,you may not see them in the next 5-10 yearsThe fabulous marketing gurus at Round (what number is it?) once again show their rears. They publicly p*ss on the one retailer that gave them a chance, WHILE simultaneously begging for another to pick them up? It's with zero hesitation I call this company PA-THE-TIC. Here's a company that has a consistent history of making the SAME mistakes with the SAME product and they have the nerve...THE NERVE...to judge one of the last free standing toy stores that has been in existence since 1948? REALLY?! Round 2... you don't deserve another round. What a tasteless, classless statement to make. They deserve their failure. Oblivion awaits this company.Comment
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That may be true. But it's not Round 2's place to put blame on the store for the failure of the line. They stocked tons of figures and costumes together at all of our stores during Christmas. There was a huge push to move this product. The fact that it didn't move is not the store's fault. And for a company to assign blame to the stores is really pretty juvenile and gives you a bad name in the business. You always show professional courtesy to anyone who carries your product. Internal issues are for back room discussions, not a public forum. And for Round 2 to take this jab when TRU may be struggling only underscores the insult. I hope Walmart passes. I'm selling this junk. I won't support anyone who does this to their peers.Comment
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Normally I'd agree with you MIB, but I do have to side a little with Round 2 here. At my TRU, they never had the costumes and figures together...they were actually stocked in different aisles. The costumes were with the other Marvel toys, but the Captain himself was two aisles over. I was able to find them because I knew what I was looking for but a casual buyer would have no idea what they were. I can only imagine how many people picked up the costume sets to check them out and said, "Gee these are neat...too bad they don't have the figure to go with it." and put them back. To make matters worse, TRU employees are not in the least bit knowledgeable about any of the products they carry, and just flat out don't give a crap. I have been asking about the new Star Wars Black Series, and NO ONE at TRU has any idea what I'm talking about. They don't know their product, they don't keep up with new releases or industry news, and they don't know how to market what they do have. When Man of Steel opened, MOS toys were nowhere to be found. They JUST started getting them in, now that the movie is already gone from theaters, and of course now they're not selling, because anyone who wanted them already bought them elsewhere!
Doesn't anyone from TRU attend SDCC or the NY Toy Fair? They should understand and anticipate what will be hot in the collector's toy market and stock accordingly, but they don't. They never have, and I doubt they ever will.Last edited by enyawd72; Aug 10, '13, 2:27 PM.Comment
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During Christmas I actually had a TRU associate come up to me with my grandson and ask me if I knew how the Captain Action figures worked with the costumes. We were looking at them at the time, which I guess prompted him to come over. So at least, from where I stood, there was a conserted effort to push the product. And if everyone recalls TRU even publicized that Captain Action was the top selling collectible the first quarter they came out. So the store even gave them the publicity in print to help push the product. And yes, I did see instances where the product was seperated. But is that the store's fault or Round 2? Why didn't Round 2 have them shipped in boxes that broke down into display cases that kept them together? How is a retailer suppose to know if Round 2 isn't educating them on how they need to be displayed? Once again, poor marketing on the part of Round 2. Had they spent more money on marketing and less time with unrelated comics and a animated feature that now has NO PRODUCT on any retail shelf, they might have had better success. At the end of the day, your product has just as much chance to sell as any others in a toy store. Ultimately it's up to the company to promote it so people know. And what about the online retailers? They're falling away too. Entertainment Earth is a big online retialer and they're not carrying the next wave either. Are they to blame as well? I just think CA is a dated concept that won't sell in the modern age. Not without the proper promotion anyway. Round 2 is finished.Comment
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^Point taken...I hope you're wrong about them being finished though. I really do like the product and want to see it continue.
I don't really think the concept is dated...I mean it's always worked like crazy for girl's figures. As you said, it needs better promotion. TV commercials would help tremendously I think.Comment
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Let me just say this.... Captain Action Enterprises is not Round 2. Joe and Ed of CAE used Round 2(New Playing Mantis) to design/produce the toys. They are more than all of us disappointed that Toy R Us didn't pick up the Iron Man and Wolverine sets. That being said, I think if these had dropped earlier in the year, maybe before or around the time Iron Man 3 hit the theaters, or to coincide with the Wolverine movie that just opened that would have helped a lot with TRU keeping these in the stores. I can't imagine what it takes to bring these sort of things to production, in quantities that makes financial sense and allows the retailer to want to grant space in their stores to sell it. It's a very large investment from both sides.
I went into countless Toys R Us stores and found the product down separate isles. The costume sets were in one isle, the figures in another and very rarely were they ever by the rest of the superhero stuff. Usually you found some of it in the catch-all isle. Joe and Ed were talking with TRU a lot about product placement, and there was issues with finding it on their website as well which I think finally got worked through.
I personally think they may have to move to a figure dressed in the costume to correct some of these issues. Today's dad's and mom's don't follow the oh it's just a costume(I need to buy a figure to go with it) concept in the boy's department like they do in the girls.
The pluses are that the price point is great I think, considering you're getting a 12" articulated figure(pretty decent one) with accessories. They have both Marvel and DC licenses, again, slam dunk... Captain Action also has a built in collector following.
The minuses are mostly tied to getting the product out sooner. It feels like we have been waiting forever for Iron Man. They had a few production issues, missing straps for the Captain America shield(Call Round2 and they will get you the straps), or tight jumpsuits, but for $20, it's hard to nitpick those shortcomings.Comment
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What I'm afraid is going to happen, is that Wolverine and Iron Man are going to come out, but without a retail outlet to move them, they won't sell enough to make the upcoming DC sets happen. I hope I'm wrong.Comment
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