Lost but no more RA!!

[ODBJBG]

Same thing that happened with JLU. Except there, Mattel kept purposely cranking out characters that did not sell at retail, claiming that they needed them in the line for it to thrive.

Mattel's higher ups demand a very high success rate. Which is why Mattel constantly has to cost cut and can't match certain things that other companies can do. This is why NECA can make a figure with twice as much sculpting, paint aps and articulation that DCUC, sell half as many at a lower price point... But Mattel can't match it. Because their infrastructure is set up different (IE: The CEOs of Mattel have personal jets, nobody at NECA or BBP do) etc...

[Werewolf]

I'm very happy for the Lost fans but it does kind of seem like an odd alternate reality thing going on when figures like Hurley sold well enough to continue Lost but Batman and Superman didn't sell well enough to continue Retro-Action.

I do understand Mattel has to sell way more than BBP but I still can't quite wrap my mind around how Matty keeps claiming this "The Retro-Action fans are more vocal than numerous" spiel or how Retro-Action can be called a poor seller when no one can actually find the stuff at retail except for a couple of Cold or Sinestro figures here and there. You don't see any Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, etc. figures clogging the pegs.

Weird.

[megoscott]

That's kind of you to say, Ed. BBP did say the campaign wasn't the deciding factor in going forward with Wave 2, but I know it sold a bunch of people on it.

You gotta remember that Lost was troubled from the start. Not enuff Mego fans were Lost fans, and most Lost fans weren't into toys, especially Megos...the protos weren't great, the production was delayed....so I was on it very early on trying to build it up and show what it could be.

In contrast (and despite all the "I told ya so's") Mattell RA seemed like it was in fine shape. Waves were planned for years in advance, there was a ton of buzz here...nobody knew it was in trouble until it was too late.

In retrospect if all of it's fans had been mobilized to evangelize to the rest of the world...who knows. But we didn't know we had to be the marketing department for Mattell. Doh!

[samurainoir]

Btw, Megoscott does deserves huge props for what essentially was a grass roots campaign directed at a very specific collector demographic and fan base. It's actually quite a fascinating case study to have observed how he managed to move the needle like that just through pure passion for the product.

He really kept on message with the notion of "pre-order", which made all the difference in this case whether or not BBP/EE would pull the trigger. The cool custom content was also terrific in driving traffic and attention to the line and scale... Differentiating it from the previous McFarlane statue-figures. The custom culture surrounding this format is at the end of the day a huge argument FOR 8", particularly since 12" is costing themselves away from a merely casual consumer into high end.

Also worth watching is the JLU campaign around STRIPE right now. They are pretty much united on message as well, although it will be interesting to see if that momentum can possibly hold up when it comes time for them to pull the trigger on Amanda Waller en masse.

[palitoy]

Yeah, I'm sorry to say that a "fail" to Mattel is a total win to a company like BifBangPow or a Diamond Select.

[megoscott]

Yeah, Mattell needed to sell at least 20 times what BBP did.

[samurainoir]

Two different companies, two different sets of criteria, and two different retail models (despite EMCE's involvement with both). Bif Bang Pow does not need to sell the numbers that Mattel does to make it worth their while. One is focused on an adult collector specialty market, the other knows their bread and butter is Barbie and Hot Wheels and kids (Matty Collector not withstanding).

I'd make the assumption that they would need to sell much more than 1,000 to make it worth their while even on Matty Collector.

There has been speculation that if a collector focused company with their own distribution channels like DC Direct and/or Diamond picked up Retro Action, that they would be happy with the kind of numbers that Mattel had. Sideshow just announced a partnership with DC Direct as well, but given how high end their stuff is, I don't think 8" is their thing... probably 12" Hot Toys style or the 13" DCD.

[MegoNutt]

Please MegoScott take no offense. i know you've worked hard getting new Lost waves into production. A heck-of-alotta-buz and hard work to get made! kudos. but how in the world is this happening and Retro-Action is over?!! its just crazy.