Mattel Retro NEEDS a TV Commercial !

[TrueDave]

I really DON"T have/watch TV, so forgive me if I missed it.

Change Nothing, but market to kids. More kids means more sales. Longer the line, more characters.

Or how about a Commercial aimed at the Toys target audience?
Start out with long haired red Toughskins wearing brown turtlenecked 1970s kids playing MEGO, then WHAM switch up to later. 45 year old men making Green Lantern bust through a stack of papercups. On a misson to track down and interogate the family dog, Playing in the bathtub, meticulosly undressing them and taking pictures, hanging them off your computer, encasing them in 1" thick clear UV proof plastic. . . . . . .

Seriously Line needs a commercial, slap it on Cartoon Network watch sales take off.
GI Joe was once called the "Hottest Comic of the 1980's" Why? First Comic to ever have TV commercials!

What Kind of commercial would YOU make???

[EMCE Hammer]

How about just getting them in stores? Why market something that no one can find?

[jimsmegos]

How about just getting them in stores? Why market something that no one can find?

and Bingo was his Name-O.

Excellent point.

As far as the commercial idea.... grown men playing with toys in the form of a commercial as you put it sounds a wee bit creepy to me. Way too "man child" like.

[TrueDave]

and Bingo was his Name-O.

Excellent point.

As far as the commercial idea.... grown men playing with toys in the form of a commercial as you put it sounds a wee bit creepy to me. Way too "man child" like.

I specialize in Creepy. Didnt set out to just happens so I just roll along with it.

Seriously a kid commercial would be good. More would sell . TRU would order more.
Either theyre being hoarded up or Mattel isnt making enough. ????
How can they make more than one wave if theyre not making/ $elling enough to justify the cost?

Down Side of marketing to kids is you WILL get a Lava Planet Fury Batman.

[HardyGirl]

Well, I think a commercial would be a good idea b/c if the ads were made (using a updated Old School Mego feel), to get both collectors and kids talking, and if the buzz is hot, Toys R Us would sell more, then perhaps they would distribute in more toy stores and department and discount stores. I mean, it needs to be sorta the way it was back in the day, comic ads, commercials...b/c it's hard to get kids excited about this thing, or even collectors for that matter, if they don't know they exist. In a world of video games, Twitter, Ipods and such, kids aren't playing w/ toys the way they used to. Parents like seeing that the old is new again. If a guy who's not really a collector sees an ad on TV, he might say to his kid watching w/ him, "Hey, I had those when I was a kid", and get him started. Or maybe some kid reading a comic book might show the ad to his collector dad, or something like that.

[jasonmego1277]

I like the idea of commercials for these , but I agree with the others they need to fix the distributionn problem first , and while at it..... get other main retailers to buy into carrying them , and then commercials can follow.

[TrueDave]

Is there really a distribution problem or is it hoarders and scalpers?

[Brown Bear]

I would love to see an unexpected commercial on Saturday morning while watching cartoons with my kids. I still remember seeing a Super Powers commercial from Kenner before I knew these guys were being made and I lost it.

[artskull]

No argument with getting a commercial out there. Not being a "collector", I see a big issue being whether or not these are "collector's items" or "toys". If the re-Megos are "toys" then get 'em in stores where more toys are sold (Wal-Mart, Target, etc.) and advertise them accordingly. The same theory applies if they are "collector's items", get them out of ToysRUs and simply market to specialty shops. Any way you slice it, advertising would certainly help.

[EMCE Hammer]

Is there really a distribution problem or is it hoarders and scalpers?

In my neck of the woods, the DC merchandise has been sparse for at least the past three years. I'd estimate that my TRU got three cases of wave 1, none of wave 2 or 3. It's a big, newer TRU. The Batman pegs are virtually empty, and the DC universe stuff gets hot figures picked-out and the rest sit for months.

Show of hands - who has a TRU with a good supply of RAH?

[MIB41]

I had a unique experience this weekend when I was at a local TRU looking to see if Wave 3 had hit Louisville. This fella, probably, in his mid 40's (like myself), had his wife and small son in the 'Boy toy' isle. As his son was looking around, the dad started looking at the Retros. Of course they were all Wave one. These were his words..." Oh cool. I had figures like these when I was a kid. They even had the same kind of packaging like these do." He started looking through the figures on the pegs, then he said, "One thing that is definitely different today is the price. I think they were only like $3.00 when I was a kid. Now look at the price. That's too much." And then they walked off.

So there was one example of a person from our generation that saw the figures, and experienced all the nostalgic feelings Paul had intended. Typically a impulse like that gets you to buy something. When I saw him going through them, that was a great moment. But the price was a deal killer here. It was a frank reminder that price remains a factor in why these don't move at commercial outlets. This line remains alive thanks to collectors. So let's keep supporting this line and as they get deposited into more stores, maybe that price will drop and then we'll see a commercial.

[jasonmego1277]

I had a unique experience this weekend when I was at a local TRU looking to see if Wave 3 had hit Louisville. This fella, probably, in his mid 40's (like myself), had his wife and small son in the 'Boy toy' isle. As his son was looking around, the dad started looking at the Retros. Of course they were all Wave one. These were his words..." Oh cool. I had figures like these when I was a kid. They even had the same kind of packaging like these do." He started looking through the figures on the pegs, then he said, "One thing that is definitely different today is the price. I think they were only like $3.00 when I was a kid. Now look at the price. That's too much." And then they walked off.

So there was one example of a person from our generation that saw the figures, and experienced all the nostalgic feelings Paul had intended. Typically a impulse like that gets you to buy something. When I saw him going through them, that was a great moment. But the price was a deal killer here. It was a frank reminder that price remains a factor in why these don't move at commercial outlets. This line remains alive thanks to collectors. So let's keep supporting this line and as they get deposited into more stores, maybe that price will drop and then we'll see a commercial.

Oh wow that is sooooo cool , well aside from the price affecing the gentleman's decision to buy them. Still a very cool story.

[kennermike]

I had a unique experience this weekend when I was at a local TRU looking to see if Wave 3 had hit Louisville. This fella, probably, in his mid 40's (like myself), had his wife and small son in the 'Boy toy' isle. As his son was looking around, the dad started looking at the Retros. Of course they were all Wave one. These were his words..." Oh cool. I had figures like these when I was a kid. They even had the same kind of packaging like these do." He started looking through the figures on the pegs, then he said, "One thing that is definitely different today is the price. I think they were only like $3.00 when I was a kid. Now look at the price. That's too much." And then they walked off.

So there was one example of a person from our generation that saw the figures, and experienced all the nostalgic feelings Paul had intended. Typically a impulse like that gets you to buy something. When I saw him going through them, that was a great moment. But the price was a deal killer here. It was a frank reminder that price remains a factor in why these don't move at commercial outlets. This line remains alive thanks to collectors. So let's keep supporting this line and as they get deposited into more stores, maybe that price will drop and then we'll see a commercial.

great story but the price is an issue even with me

[BATMAN89]

A commercial with kids palying with new toys!!!
Wow! What a concept!
The only kids that know about these Retro Action Figures is our kids, my kids, your kids.
Other kids have no idea what they are.
They are used to playing with 3-4 inch figures, or GoGos, or something completely different!


Funny, there are Barbie commercials on all day!
Just ask my daughter!

[Audiorij]

About the price.... they were like $3.00 ....40 years ago.

1970 prices:

Cost of a new home: $26,600.00
Median Household Income: $8,734.00
Cost of a new car: $3,900.00
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.06
Cost of a gallon of regular gas: $0.36
Cost of a dozen eggs: $0.62
Cost of a gallon of Milk: $1.15