Mattel's response to me

[ODBJBG]

Matty should do a small subscription run to test the waters, that way we are committed to buy them. Why not? they have club ecto 1 and club eternia? make us club justice league...

Mattel is only going to do a subscription service to a line that will meet enough base subscribers. You guys seem to be missing the point that Mattel specifically said they would not be offering anymore online exclusives either. That's because the sales for the online RA figures have not been deemed a successful venture either. This was not just a retail failure.

If anything, there is a slim hope that Mattel might continue to produce these figures as online exclusives, but they'd have to see evidence that these figures will sell on MattyCollector. The only way for them to come to that conclusion would be for the last two RA Green Lantern figures to sell out and sell out QUICK.

[ODBJBG]

Just to be clear I understand you correctly. When the Matty website states a figure is 'sold out' that may not be necessarily true? I read that in your remarks because the 'popular belief' about the success of Matty exclusives likely comes from that tag we so often see next to these figures after a short period of time on the website.

Yes, just because something is marked "sold out" does not mean it sold out. I know that's crazy. However, it is the truth. Mattel will only leave an item up for a few weeks. Afterwards, it is considered a failure and pulled from the site.

Lots of time this extra stock will be put up at a later date (sometimes at a reduced rate around Christmas) and others will be sent Mattel outlet stores.

Mattel views a successful MattyCollector product as one that sells out (legit) within 2-3 days tops.

A huge portion of the stuff currently marked "sold out" on MattyCollector's site is not necessarily sold out. It has simply been pulled from the site.

Please don't ask me why they do that... I haven't the foggiest clue. However it is what they do.

[MIB41]

Please don't ask me why they do that... I haven't the foggiest clue. However it is what they do.

Thanks for the clarification. My initial thinking on that reasoning was to inflate demand if people believed it were popular. Sometimes WOM helps hype sales. That seem to be the case with the 12 inch Superman and General Zod exclusives since I have seen them sale out more than once. Then again maybe those were true sale outs that simply got restocked.

[Werewolf]

They've said several times they set a certain amount of stock aside for replacements for defect figures. Those are hold for awhile, for replacements, and then the remaining stock is put back on Matty until the supply is exhausted.

[ODBJBG]

Thanks for the clarification. My initial thinking on that reasoning was to inflate demand if people believed it were popular. Sometimes WOM helps hype sales. That seem to be the case with the 12 inch Superman and General Zod exclusives since I have seen them sale out more than once. Then again maybe those were true sale outs that simply got restocked.

I originally thought it was to inflate demand as well, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

However on the subject of the 12 inch Superman figures... This is a perfect example. Mattel has pulled Zod 3 times, each time he's "sold out". However, not once did he actually sell out. In fact, Mattel told me last month that they still have stock of all three figures. They also told me they were canceling all future 12 inch offerings, because the line was deemed a failure.

Supposedly the extra stock of those figures may go back on sale at some point. But none of those figures ever sold out.

A good indication of if something really sells out or not, is when it disappears from the site. If it disappears in a few days or a week, it's probably legit. If it's up until about a week before the next on sale date... It's bogus.

With the RA figures, I believe they both stayed up until the next month. That seems to indicate that they did not truly sell out, as well as the fact that Mattel said they weren't going to do more online offerings. Had those figures sold really well on MattyCollector, it would have been very likely for them to say that the line would continue as a online exclusive.

They've said several times they set a certain amount of stock aside for replacements for defect figures. Those are hold for awhile, for replacements, and then the remaining stock is put back on Matty until the supply is exhausted.

This is true to an extent. However, not all the stock that has been pulled is for replacements. They pull the entire stock after a certain period of time. The replacement stuff seems to be more of a PR answer to that. The difference in numbers is why some lines are canceled and others are still considered viable online. It all depends on how much stock they actually pull.

JLU was pulled from MattyCollector no less than a half dozen times. Each time fans thought that the items were selling out and thus doing good, but Mattel later revealed that they had not sold out and were simply pulled from the site.

This is why I stressed to folks, if you can make Kyle or John sell out in a couple of days... You might have some leverage. But if they sit on the site for weeks, you've lost your one real bargaining chip.

[MIB41]

Wow. Bummer to see the 12 inch movie figures bomb as well. I bought those and thought they were well made. And I have also bought each of the Retro exclusives. Well, I guess the thing to do now is just enjoy what we have and leave the rest to fate. It's been a great run. I never expected this many characters in a two year span anyway. I'll never forget this experience.

[PNGwynne]

Regarding purchasing exclusive GLs to "send" Mattel a message: I just can't justify that.

I've supported RA, despite some small misgivings regarding construction & detailing, by buying multiples of each publicly-released figure and Green Arrow. The GLs, after Hal, hold little interest for me.

I suppose I might consider getting a Stewart as Black Lightning fodder, but otherwise...

Should Mattel choose to eventually solicit the figures left in development through MattyCollector, I'll consider them of course. But I just can't see purchasing characters I don't care about to "goad" Mattel into offering more.

It seems to me Mattel hasn't listened to "us" previously about character selection & distribution; why should we expect a change now?

I suspect if we did buy out their inventory, they'd laugh all the way to the bank & leave us hanging. Just my opinion.

[MegoSteve]

However on the subject of the 12 inch Superman figures... This is a perfect example. Mattel has pulled Zod 3 times, each time he's "sold out". However, not once did he actually sell out. In fact, Mattel told me last month that they still have stock of all three figures. They also told me they were canceling all future 12 inch offerings, because the line was deemed a failure.

That's really interesting. Disappointing to hear that they are lying to try to manipulate the collector market with phony sellouts to try to whip up demand.

[PNGwynne]

^Interesting? I'd call it disgusting. The contempt they have for their market & customers is lamentable.

Just who made the 12-inch figs a failure--not "us," if we couldn't get them. don't even get me started on MOTU.

Venal is the only way to describe all of this--I feel so bad for Emce.

[thunderbolt]

Regarding purchasing exclusive GLs to "send" Mattel a message: I just can't justify that.

I've supported RA, despite some small misgivings regarding construction & detailing, by buying multiples of each publicly-released figure and Green Arrow. The GLs, after Hal, hold little interest for me.

Yeah, its like people that say we should support the GL movie to show we want more DC movies. Make a good non-starring Ryan Reynolds one I might consider it.

[Teemu]

I think those recent Green Lantern retro's are crap! and plus poor character selection...we should of gotten wave 5(Robin,Joker etc),not these BORING figures.If Mattel is stuck with them..Tough!

[jayraytee]

We all realize the fact is that the line is cancelled, but there are several things to consider;

If I remember correctly, Mattel committed to a certain number of figures only, then they would decide if the line would continue after that point. We always knew that was the deal, that after the commitment was fulfilled the line could end. Mattel has both said there were more to come and that the line is cancelled. They said nothing would come out after 2011. Its not a far stretch to wonder if they intend to finish out the year with what has been prototyped and then offer no more in 2012. Since they said 6 more prototypes have been submitted, it is entirely possible that at least some of these are already in some point of production slated for before the end of 2011. It is possible even with the line ending and no more being offered beyond 2011.

Heck, I would take the figures in a brown box through MattyCollector.com without any packaging if the heads and costumes were produced. Back in the day I ordered IronMan and the Lizard and they both came in coffin-ish brown boxes with no packaging.

[PNGwynne]

^That scenario is tantalizing, particularly with the remaining figures rumored to be Robin, Joker, Supergirl, Bizarro, Dr. Fate, & the Spectre.

(Poor Plastic Man & Hawkman, one can dream.)

[Tothiro]

Yeah... I've pitched it a few places, but I doubt any modern large scale manufacturer would go for the head-in-a-box model for online exclusives to support a toy line they're not even making.
A lot of hassle, and I can't imagine the number of angry toy nerds not getting it and caps locking about "it's not even a whole figure, why should I buy your leftover junk? You owe me a Coke and a bed-time story! Wah"

Would really be great though... (wistful Le Sigh)

PS - just one of the many reasons to love Doc, the guys at Cast-A-Way, Zica, CTVT, etc. for servicing the parts builder.

[rlkrefft]

With only 4 figures per wave how were 6 going to come out? Were Mr. Freeze and Hawkman going to be paired with Supergirl and Bizarro? I wish there was a way to get these last 8 figures released even if only on matty.com. Isn't there anything we can do? The figures always sell out on matty.com. I mean Robin,Hawkman,Joker and Supergirl would for sure sell out. If these 4 could be the last 4 I could be very happy. Sure I'd want more...but these 4 would at least complete it a bit more. Having Robin and Joker to go with Batman and finally seeing a Mego style Hawkman would be fantastic.