It's obvious price point is a major factor.

[BATMAN89]

Not this $20 a pop Easter egg hunt BS.

Very well said!
When I was a kid, you went it to any store and bought any Mego that you wanted, and there was no hunting them down.
Also, I could afford to buy them with the few bucks that I got from my allowance.
Once in awhile we replaced the ones we broke, with a new figure, because you could afford it!!!

[Astronut]

Mego-style renaissance not gonna happen?

Dude...it's HAPPENING RIGHT NOW. There are more Mego type figures out now than when Mego was still in business.

Monsters, retro DC, Twilight Zone, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, Venture Brothers, Ghostbusters, Cast-a-way stuff, Star Trek...

...yeah, it's a big flop.

I probably should have worded it differently. When I say that, I mean full comeback as in "we see these on pegs at all sorts of retailers," not just trickles of one assortment at select TRU stores. As in "kids can walk into Walmart and pick one out because their moms and dads can AFFORD them." THAT is a true Mego resurgence. Not this $20 a pop Easter egg hunt BS.

[enyawd72]

When I see threads like this I get a sense of reassurance regarding my position on this subject. I agree with every single word written by the OP. I said the same thing months ago: these figures - while I love 'em and love the people responsible for making them - are priced too steep for high volume sales. Sadly this means no Mego-style renaissance. Not gonna happen, no way, no how.

I'm like that dude who ran for mayor, only my slogan is "The price of ReMegos is too d@mn high!!"

Mego-style renaissance not gonna happen?

Dude...it's HAPPENING RIGHT NOW. There are more Mego type figures out now than when Mego was still in business.

Monsters, retro DC, Twilight Zone, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, Venture Brothers, Ghostbusters, Cast-a-way stuff, Star Trek...

...yeah, it's a big flop.

[trekman101]

This is all speculation but......lets put things in perspective.....retro green arrow didn't have body and costume problems like wave one.....wave one had body issues...wave two had worse body and emblem problems beyond wave one....wave three seems to be much better than its predecessors...green arrow sold out both times...wave one at TRU sold through the heroes quickly,time after time.....wave two at TRU is stocked very briefly at only some TRU's and then disappears only then to turn up at TJ Max.....wave three is going out to regular retailers(hobby).....if you don't like the line and Mattel you say the line is dead...if you like the line, you try and figure out whats going on....so all this being said doesn't it make some sense that Mattel F***** up,put the brakes one the line...is clearing out all the bad product (either directly or through TRU to TJ Max)....getting a revamped wave three out to retailers and moving on with the line(hopefully wave two will be revisited and put out again fully corrected)...if this is really the case,lets hope they also see the line also needs a better price point($14.99) after seeing TJ Max,s success with a discounted price(problems and all)

[jimsmegos]

Perhaps the TJ Maxx move is actually a very brilliant marketing strategy. Sure this particular cache of loosey - goosey figures are the final run of the pre fixed bodies but think about it... what better way to re-jump start the line than to offer these figures as "introductory" ones. Get the kids into 'em and wanting more. From there Mom, Dad, Grandma etc, will have to shell out the full retail to keep filling the need.

Makes since to me in a "lemons to lemonade" scenario.

I too would love to see them stay at a $9.99 price point but odds are really not in our favor for that wishful thinking. Still I am still glowing over my $9.99 Batman and Superman I was able to pick up at TJ Maxx. And even though cash is tight I will most likely pick up a couple more after Christmas if they happen to still be on the shelves.

[MIB41]

The only way you will see these figures reduced down to maybe $14.95 is if Target or Walmart hops on board. That's the only way to generate enough volume to warrant those prices. Their not mass produced on a level that can justify $9.99.

[megocrazy]

Will TJ Maxx continue to sell these after the Christmas holidays?

I guess that's the $64,000 question. I can only hope the fact that we've seen pics of at least a few more figures means Mattel is still behind this as strongly as they were before. If they can keep these running the way they seem to be selling at TJ Maxx maybe other retail outlets will jump on board.

You never see toy lines survive anymore. Even the few quality ones that have come out. I have, even before this, thought price point has been a major factor in that. When was the last time a movie toy line didn't have immeasurable amounts of figures hanging on the pegs. Some never sell squat. and some hit clearance as soon as they hit the shelves.

Say what you want, but the famous Covers figures disappeared overnight when they hit the $9.99 price, and the majority of the 9 inch Sig. Series did too once they came down a bit. The only ones I recall seeing in large quantity was the Cyclops figure which was released after the line had lost popularity. Mr. Fantastic pretty much went straight to Kay Bee's and was gone pretty quickly.

TJ Maxx getting these figures isn't a good sign for the line in my opinion. Maxx purchases items at a discount from retailer which overbought items. Maxx is buying from TRU not Mattel.

Not everything they sell is an overstock. They have a bunch of first run stuff. Especially right now during the holidays. I'm not saying the Retro Heroes are or aren't but it's not 100% guaranteed these didn't come straight from Mattel.

Even at the $10 price I'm sure Mattel is still making profit, the question is, is it enough? They're definitely selling so I would think interest would be there to restock them. If a couple more stores jumped on board maybe there would be enough total pieces moved to make it enough profit on volume alone.

I hardly view TJ Maxx's customers as the cream of the toy buying crop. The majority would strike me as impulse buyers, the way our parents were way back when, that simply viewed them as a toy kids would like at an affordable price point.

[noelani72]

totally agree Chuck. I've said from the beginning if cost came down; these would fly off store shelves.
I haven't done the Twilight Zone figs..Dark Shadows...EMCE monsters...Zica...even Wave 3, all because of $$ right now.
If I could walk into a store, nab em all at $9-$12 each....that's a diff story.
And believe me, I really want some of those figs so it has nothing to do with my desire :-)

[madmarva]

TJ Maxx getting these figures isn't a good sign for the line in my opinion. Maxx purchases items at a discount from retailer which overbought items. Maxx is buying from TRU not Mattel. That means TRU is cutting their losses after over purchasing. This could mean that TRU won't be ordering as many or won't order them at all from Mattel in the future.

Maybe the line will become a specialty store and mattycollector.com exclusive.

[jwyblejr]

Will TJ Maxx continue to sell these after the Christmas holidays? Will they get Wave 3 and so on? Or is this it come January 1? Like Chuck said I had no idea they sold toys.

They've had the 3 3/4" G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary stuff at these stores for quite awhile,so who knows?

[SlipperyLilSuckers]

The price has made a huge difference to my desire for them.

[ScottA]

Will TJ Maxx continue to sell these after the Christmas holidays? Will they get Wave 3 and so on? Or is this it come January 1? Like Chuck said I had no idea they sold toys.

[Doctor Flarb]

The million dollar question then is how much does it cost Mattel to produce a figure. Methinks no one is going to share that number.

[megocrazy]

I won't say that the price point will stop them from being successful, though successful has different levels. You will never see even close to the number of Superman's from Mattel sold as Mego did. Price point will make sure of that. I don't know what Mattel deems as successful.

They have done very well with the MOTU line in limited production numbers. I doubt half of the MOTU figures sold through Matty.com will ever see the light of day outside their plastic packages. The Retro figures will definitely have a higher occurence of being released from captivity.

My total analysis is from two local sources so it's not like I have a wide field to draw from, but those two TJ Maxx stores have sold way more figures in the past three weeks than my local Toys R Us has since the initial release. In fact one of them has probably exceeded TRU by itself. Mind you TJ Maxx is hardly known as a toy seller, in fact until the post about them having retro figures, I had no idea they even sold toys.

I guess the basic idea I'm tossing around is, is it better to make $8 profit on 10,000 figures or $3 on 50,000? If the price point on these figures was $12 how many more would have been sold versus the number that was at $20? We will probably never know for sure but the small sampling I've seen through the TJ Maxx stores definitely raises the subject for question/discussion.

[Audiorij]

What if the price is what it has to be?

The $9.00 ones at TJ Max might be an unloading of the type 1 Mattel body, which could mean they are ok with unloading those for less than what they really need to get.

I think the line is great, I would rather have a more mego-like body, but at this point..they are what they are, take em or leave em. I am fine with the price if that is what it takes to keep the line alive.