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"Angry attitude"? I don't see an angry attitude. I see a person expressing his frustrations and a manufacturer responding in the most direct way possible and giving him the option to talk directly in person to a human with a real identity.
In fact, Lonnie and I have since communicated via PM in which he detailed a LONG list of specific issues going back for some time and I will have a phone conversation with him this week to discuss this in detail and get a fuller history. You are welcome to do the same.
Anyone else see an angry attitude in what I've posted responding to Lonnie?
That said, now I am angry, and it's not at Lonnie, but at what I perceive as symptomatic activity here of a culture that has its priorities well off balance.
Here's my issue guys, and I've held back on it for some time.
This is an anonymous forum primarily populated by men. Not boys, men. Grown ups. And the arguments are over toys. And the vitriol that is spewed forth from behind the safety of a screen name is incredibly disproportionate to the subject matter is. Have we produced a defective cancer medication? Did our condoms break? Did one of our cranes snap and fall on any construction workers?
No. The elastic in some of our toys seems to prevent some of them from being able to hit certain poses.
Think on that a second and gain some perspective. You can be frustrated and be within your rights to get defective product replaced or repaired. But don't get angry about it, nor skew my response to someone as being angry when I am being persistent about talking directly versus just spewing off in a forum where nothing will get solved.
Now, the root of Lonnie's problem is this, and I hope he will forgive me for letting a little of it out here because, in this economy it is a serious one. It's not life or death at all, but it can affect someone's livelihood. It's well above food and shelter on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, mind you, but it's up there.
All of these figures that we have either manufactured or partnered with someone to get made are in the $15-$20 range. If you want to collect all the MEGO figures in a certain line you may wind up spending upwards of $200. If you want to collect ALL the toys we're doing, it could run you considerably more.
$200 is not a lot of money these days, but it is for some people the margin between poverty and security.
So, if someone chooses to spend that money with us during this economy, we damn well better be making product that works.
Now, I've said before that these toys are not "made to order". That's what customizing is for. So, if one element that we busted our asses on to make improvements on the '70s original isn't quite the way you want it, there are a myriad of ways to make it your own. DIY is how many of us got here to begin with.
And I think we've taken GREAT pains here to address line-wide issues when we are able. There is a thread here where we have opened an unprecedented opportunity to collate the collective feedback from this community in particular which, with all due respect, is a small fraction of the people who are buying these lines. However, Paul and I have worked damn hard to express the importance of this community as the very pulse of the form factor, the high priests of this particular religion.
So, issues are being addressed. They do not happen overnight. There is a great demand for our work across several toy companies, each of whom requires a long orientation in what makes a MEGO work and what doesn't. And in some cases product isn't perfect out of the gate, despite our best efforts. The most frustrating thing that is out of our control is the overseas production, and that entire industry is going through seismic changes.
We've made ourselves accessible. We've been able to put out product that the vast majority of the customers have bought and enjoyed. Many of them are able to work around some of the minor issues we've heard about and many have been clear in their disappointment with the larger issues, and I'm relieved to hear that many others have noticed that we have made changes where we have been able.
What do I ask in return?
Be a grown up. Call us on the phone, tell us who you are and your situation and, if it's something we can handle here, we will. If it's something we can't I think we've demonstrated incredible transparency.
What I will absolutely respond to with terrible force is anonymous sniping about our product on this board for the sake of grandstanding and not giving any of us a fair chance to fix or explain things in the real world.
And guess what? A bunch of scrolling text and graphics by guys with glorified CB handles is not the real world.
My name is Joe Sena. I live in Bayside Queens.
My office is located at 2 Heitz Place, #7 in Hicksville NY 11801.
My phone number is 516.931.1483.
I will not give my home address because I'd prefer the torches and pitchforks not upset my neighbors. Or my children. You know, the ones who would have been orphaned had I taken the advice of one angry poster and shot myself because they didn't like something about the CD Retro Action line we do for DC Comics.
Every consumer has the right to express an opinion, request changes in product to make it better and demand reparation for defective product. And if they don't like what's being done at all, the ultimate power is in the wallet. Don't buy it. If enough people feel the same way, nature takes its course and a line dies.
But what an amazing time we live in! How many times did we face disappointment as children with a toy that broke and just had to deal with a broken toy? Could we have called Mr. Ideal or Mr. Remco?
So, all concerns are being heard, all are being addressed and all reasonable action is being taken to make changes. This is a great time to be a collector because of the access the end consumer has to the manufacturer.
But at the end of the day?
We're men. Collecting toys. Kids don't even do that anymore; they have video games to recreate their fantasies. We have elevated this thing to an art form; in many ways its deserved, but in many ways they are still toys. If the elastic breaks, no one gets hurt and there are people here who are eager to make remedies. It's not like we're making defective air bags or landing gear or roofing tile, where there's no such thing as a simple fix after the fact.
I'm begging you all. There's serious **** going on in the world. Take it down a notch.
In fact, Lonnie and I have since communicated via PM in which he detailed a LONG list of specific issues going back for some time and I will have a phone conversation with him this week to discuss this in detail and get a fuller history. You are welcome to do the same.
Anyone else see an angry attitude in what I've posted responding to Lonnie?
That said, now I am angry, and it's not at Lonnie, but at what I perceive as symptomatic activity here of a culture that has its priorities well off balance.
Here's my issue guys, and I've held back on it for some time.
This is an anonymous forum primarily populated by men. Not boys, men. Grown ups. And the arguments are over toys. And the vitriol that is spewed forth from behind the safety of a screen name is incredibly disproportionate to the subject matter is. Have we produced a defective cancer medication? Did our condoms break? Did one of our cranes snap and fall on any construction workers?
No. The elastic in some of our toys seems to prevent some of them from being able to hit certain poses.
Think on that a second and gain some perspective. You can be frustrated and be within your rights to get defective product replaced or repaired. But don't get angry about it, nor skew my response to someone as being angry when I am being persistent about talking directly versus just spewing off in a forum where nothing will get solved.
Now, the root of Lonnie's problem is this, and I hope he will forgive me for letting a little of it out here because, in this economy it is a serious one. It's not life or death at all, but it can affect someone's livelihood. It's well above food and shelter on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, mind you, but it's up there.
All of these figures that we have either manufactured or partnered with someone to get made are in the $15-$20 range. If you want to collect all the MEGO figures in a certain line you may wind up spending upwards of $200. If you want to collect ALL the toys we're doing, it could run you considerably more.
$200 is not a lot of money these days, but it is for some people the margin between poverty and security.
So, if someone chooses to spend that money with us during this economy, we damn well better be making product that works.
Now, I've said before that these toys are not "made to order". That's what customizing is for. So, if one element that we busted our asses on to make improvements on the '70s original isn't quite the way you want it, there are a myriad of ways to make it your own. DIY is how many of us got here to begin with.
And I think we've taken GREAT pains here to address line-wide issues when we are able. There is a thread here where we have opened an unprecedented opportunity to collate the collective feedback from this community in particular which, with all due respect, is a small fraction of the people who are buying these lines. However, Paul and I have worked damn hard to express the importance of this community as the very pulse of the form factor, the high priests of this particular religion.
So, issues are being addressed. They do not happen overnight. There is a great demand for our work across several toy companies, each of whom requires a long orientation in what makes a MEGO work and what doesn't. And in some cases product isn't perfect out of the gate, despite our best efforts. The most frustrating thing that is out of our control is the overseas production, and that entire industry is going through seismic changes.
We've made ourselves accessible. We've been able to put out product that the vast majority of the customers have bought and enjoyed. Many of them are able to work around some of the minor issues we've heard about and many have been clear in their disappointment with the larger issues, and I'm relieved to hear that many others have noticed that we have made changes where we have been able.
What do I ask in return?
Be a grown up. Call us on the phone, tell us who you are and your situation and, if it's something we can handle here, we will. If it's something we can't I think we've demonstrated incredible transparency.
What I will absolutely respond to with terrible force is anonymous sniping about our product on this board for the sake of grandstanding and not giving any of us a fair chance to fix or explain things in the real world.
And guess what? A bunch of scrolling text and graphics by guys with glorified CB handles is not the real world.
My name is Joe Sena. I live in Bayside Queens.
My office is located at 2 Heitz Place, #7 in Hicksville NY 11801.
My phone number is 516.931.1483.
I will not give my home address because I'd prefer the torches and pitchforks not upset my neighbors. Or my children. You know, the ones who would have been orphaned had I taken the advice of one angry poster and shot myself because they didn't like something about the CD Retro Action line we do for DC Comics.
Every consumer has the right to express an opinion, request changes in product to make it better and demand reparation for defective product. And if they don't like what's being done at all, the ultimate power is in the wallet. Don't buy it. If enough people feel the same way, nature takes its course and a line dies.
But what an amazing time we live in! How many times did we face disappointment as children with a toy that broke and just had to deal with a broken toy? Could we have called Mr. Ideal or Mr. Remco?
So, all concerns are being heard, all are being addressed and all reasonable action is being taken to make changes. This is a great time to be a collector because of the access the end consumer has to the manufacturer.
But at the end of the day?
We're men. Collecting toys. Kids don't even do that anymore; they have video games to recreate their fantasies. We have elevated this thing to an art form; in many ways its deserved, but in many ways they are still toys. If the elastic breaks, no one gets hurt and there are people here who are eager to make remedies. It's not like we're making defective air bags or landing gear or roofing tile, where there's no such thing as a simple fix after the fact.
I'm begging you all. There's serious **** going on in the world. Take it down a notch.
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