quote:

Originally posted by agent_85.2:

quote:

Originally posted by Arkangel:
i want to buy a subscription, will there be various types available? 12monthly, all in etc?

I hope not, Matty can only just manage with a single type of subscription. It looks as though they are pushing for an "all-in" type of subscription ie. all monthly and quarterly figures.

you hope not? mattel can only handle one type?

Just to reiterate what has been said previously...

Here’s what ToyGuru said about pre-orders:

“We know this is something fans ask for and we do hear you. It’s just not logistically possible for a variety of reasons that we unfortunately can’t go into with the public. What they do offer is the Club Eternia subscription program that basically lets you "pre-order" a year's worth of figures, although you are only charged when they actually ship to you. And for 2011 we will include all of the 2011 MOTUC toys (except convention exclusives) in the subscription. While this option doesn’t work for all fans, it’s the only pre-order system we’re offering through MattyCollecotor.com.”

Here’s what ToyGuru said about production numbers:

“The short answer is that we base production off the subscription sales, and we had way more subscribers in 2010 versus 2009. It is hard to know how many non-subscribers will be buying each month and we are working to increase production throughout the year as more and more fans come on board. As always, the best way to guarantee your figures is to join Club Eternia, but most sold out figures will go into a second run down the road so we will try to make sure collections are complete.”

Yes I am all in for the subscription next year,but I came to this line in November of 2009....so how do any of these statements help those of us. We still have 9 more months of 5 minute sell outs to go.

Unless Matty has the patent to a time machine this does not help me.

quote:

“The short answer is that we base production off the subscription sales, and we had way more subscribers in 2010 versus 2009. It is hard to know how many non-subscribers will be buying each month and we are working to increase production throughout the year as more and more fans come on board. As always, the best way to guarantee your figures is to join Club Eternia, but most sold out figures will go into a second run down the road so we will try to make sure collections are complete.”

What I don't get is WHY they only base the production numbers off their subscription sales and their excuse for not having enough product available is because they're unsure how many people will be buying each month...who cares?

Why can't they be like any other normal toy line and always have readily available product? Mattell is a huge toy company, not a small one who have to have preorders for every toy they produce.

But I guess this is the only way the big wigs at Mattell even approved the MOTUC line in the first place. They probably weren't very confident about it at first but decided to give it a shot but maybe they're becoming more and more confident about its future success judging by how many people are buying these figures, even at retail thanks to the 2 packs.

All we can do is hope that they'll increase production for future figures because I guarantee you Mattell is all about making money and the fact is more production = more sales. If they doubled the production numbers of these figures I guarantee they would still sell out, but probably in a couple of days at the MOST. People want these figures.

I just hope they do get to a point where they can always have product readily available. Hasbro still has a bunch of their 25th Joes on hasbrotoyshop readily available all the time, even figures that were once thought to be rare and hard to find and they're all the same price. I love this business model.

Then again they've had success with G.I. Joe for several decades, and the MOTUC line is still cult at best, albeit gaining popularity every month. I'm sure the Toyfare ads help.

So to recap: Make more figures please.

I don't get why Matty cannot offer subscriptions year-round. You know, if you join in April, your subscription should start in May and end the next April. But Matty doesn't care enough to even put a flexible subscription service into place. Are they even trying? Essentially Matty is telling us the answer to all problems is to get a subscription, but we have to wait months and months before it's offered again. It's ridiculous. That's no solution.

quote:

Originally posted by Invisiboy:
I don't get why Matty cannot offer subscriptions year-round. You know, if you join in April, your subscription should start in May and end the next April. But Matty doesn't care enough to even put a flexible subscription service into place. Are they even trying? Essentially Matty is telling us the answer to all problems is to get a subscription, but we have to wait months and months before it's offered again. It's ridiculous. That's no solution.

Figures are made to the set amount of subscribers and then whatever is left goes to the general sale for the non-sub holders which is not that many. That's why they can't offer subs year-round. It's not ridiculous at all. What you're wanting is asking Mattel to turn rocks into gold, it's not going to happen.

quote:

Originally posted by Invisiboy:
I don't get why Matty cannot offer subscriptions year-round. You know, if you join in April, your subscription should start in May and end the next April. But Matty doesn't care enough to even put a flexible subscription service into place. Are they even trying? Essentially Matty is telling us the answer to all problems is to get a subscription, but we have to wait months and months before it's offered again. It's ridiculous. That's no solution.

Hey Invisiboy...let me clear some stuff from a fans point of view

One of the main reasons a year round joining subscription wasnt offered when the idea came up was that the number of fans that were purchasing the figures wasnt that huge then, so logistically they did what they figured was right back then. The idea of a subscription came about after the sellout of both Skeletor(first run) and the true catalyst to make it happen Mer-Man. Back in the spring of of 09 the first subscriptions were released, and one proved more popular then the other so that is why they dont want to create also different type of subscriptions since a handful will take one and the majority another, making it costly to run various types.

Remember, at the time Mattel figured it could handle the sales and distribution with its online partner Digital River. That change sometime before the subscription started with Mattel handing all the responsibilities to DRi and trust me it was one problem after another...even to this day we are still running on them. DRi is still trying to learn and adjust to "how to properly" handle every snafu they run in to and believe me we might not have seen the last of them.

Regarding a subscription on the terms you mention(starting the moment you join the line per say) is something that might be reached if Mattel gets to do inventory increases on a faster pace. You have to realize that it takes them 7 months to bump production for this line and while it a superb success, its no where near the number retail products get. So a subscription on a day by day joining basis would be great if MOTUC was running numbers like DCUC but its not, and the budget for resources is very different and limited.

Lets say for the sake of the argument Toy Guru agrees with the idea, the equalizer for this would be that a subscription period would be every 6 months...so even if you were to jump now in the end of March your next chance wouldn't be until the next bump which would be June/July and the next chance would be November/December. Until this line reaches retail magnitudes where they would have to produce at least a Million figures instead of the theoretical Thousands, this wont happen.

Invisiboy many here even us subscribers would like for fans to join the "sub train" even as bumpy and unreliable as it can be but for the foreseeable future such an option is out of the table, at the very least until DRi gets the game up to date. Its not that Toy Guru or Mattel dont care about you, other fans, or the line for that matter...its the fact that MOTU while successful the majority of the time, has had some huge backlashes for the company and no company wants to have to suffer the same fate repeatedly. A hasty decision can cost TG his job, career, and reputation and I dont think he wants to play such an un-calculated risk. Yes he is a collector like us and feels our pain but you have to also realize that he has to make decision that while we might disagree(convention vs online store different figures) he has to do what delivers results across the board for the company so that such lines can still be produced and maintained. But dont think he doesnt care, he does and who knows..he can pass by and let you know what he thinks once again on this subject(or others you might have) to further clear things for old and new fans ^_^

I always read a lot of words and justifications.
The thing is clear: why the heck MOTUC line selling can't be easy like any other toy line?
Do you think that only Mattel has problem in managing a toy or whatever goods releasing and selling?
I think that all this happening is really silly. There a lot of companies outhere that would be glad of such a success in their products and would be more than happy to satisfy market demand. But no, Motuc looks like a "protect species" that must provided by the droppers. This is the first time in my life I see this king of managing. If a product is limited is always numbered and pre-saled, otherwise it is easy to purchase. That's the normality.
MOTUC means big sales but ridicous stocked quantities, no preorders, no join-when-you-want subscription. Are there still words left to say?

This line was never meant to be mass-market produced. If your missing out then that's your bad. There are others who are getting these figures just fine. Sorry if Mattel can't cater for your needs but others don't find that problem at all.

Was it really never meant to be mass market?

I thought at one time they were supposed to sold in stores, and they just changed their mind and decided to only offer it on mattycollector. Is this not right? Were they always going to offer them only here?

quote:

Originally posted by MintCondition:
Was it really never meant to be mass market?

I thought at one time they were supposed to sold in stores, and they just changed their mind and decided to only offer it on mattycollector. Is this not right? Were they always going to offer them only here?

MintCondition, he(balboabucs1994) means MOTUC not the whole thing(all things MOTUC) on his post. And while at one point it was suppose to be a 6 figure limited line(it was planned until HOrdak) things changed along the way.

This line will hit retail at one point or another, that DCUC Vs MOTUC is just the start of retail testing that Mattel is doing. I dont believe they would leave it as it is. As much as I would like it to be exclusive on Mattycollector, the reality is that at retail they can earn more money then they are with us...its just a matter of time before this whole line goes to retail.

In my opinion this will be something that could go like this, they would release characters that we had for a year. Matty can be 2 years a head in figures while retail starts the distribution and they can release between 6-10 figures per year and they can add the quarterlies to those figures. Now many would say "thats too small of a number" remember that playsets, vehicles, and repaints of figures would be done too. Not to mention that every year the line would grow in numbers and such number(6-10) is not so bad since in wave 2 you could sprinkle it with two or four figures from wave one that proved to be the must popular.

This is just an idea from a fan, I bet TG and his team have come up with much better ones then this. All I have to say is that its just a matter of time before something like this or remotely close happens for MOTUC ^_^

quote:

Originally posted by He-Man27:

quote:

Originally posted by MintCondition:
Was it really never meant to be mass market?

I thought at one time they were supposed to sold in stores, and they just changed their mind and decided to only offer it on mattycollector. Is this not right? Were they always going to offer them only here?

MintCondition, he(balboabucs1994) means MOTUC not the whole thing(all things MOTUC) on his post. And while at one point it was suppose to be a 6 figure limited line(it was planned until HOrdak) things changed along the way.

This line will hit retail at one point or another, that DCUC Vs MOTUC is just the start of retail testing that Mattel is doing. I dont believe they would leave it as it is. As much as I would like it to be exclusive on Mattycollector, the reality is that at retail they can earn more money then they are with us...its just a matter of time before this whole line goes to retail.

In my opinion this will be something that could go like this, they would release characters that we had for a year. Matty can be 2 years a head in figures while retail starts the distribution and they can release between 6-10 figures per year and they can add the quarterlies to those figures. Now many would say "thats too small of a number" remember that playsets, vehicles, and repaints of figures would be done too. Not to mention that every year the line would grow in numbers and such number(6-10) is not so bad since in wave 2 you could sprinkle it with two or four figures from wave one that proved to be the must popular.

This is just an idea from a fan, I bet TG and his team have come up with much better ones then this. All I have to say is that its just a matter of time before something like this or remotely close happens for MOTUC ^_^

Please don't speak for me or anyone else and please just speak for yourself. You're painting yourself to be a wannabe moderator on here. So unless it's coming for toyguru or the others mods then please don't try to explain what I was saying in my responses because you're not intepreting them like how I want them to be stated.

quote:

Originally posted by balboabucs1994:
This line was never meant to be mass-market produced. If your missing out then that's your bad. There are others who are getting these figures just fine. Sorry if Mattel can't cater for your needs but others don't find that problem at all.

you must be living in your own world.

Sorry the world I live in people do something about the problems they have. Complaining needlessly on a message board until your blue in the face isn't going to do anything to change things. I've never had a problem getting these figures and there's many others that don't either, you just don't hear from them because they're quite fine with how things are handled.

The few that complain every month are the ones that complain month after month after month so that's not going to change. Sorry if you miss out on things you want arkangel, unfortunately not everyone can be made happy by mattel.

The way you put it, makes you sound like a submissive ... to mattel.

It's not always complaining, but you know what? The people on these boards made MOTU what it is today, we are all supporters of the new line, we made it happen and going strong, and if some complain is because they want to get the product they support, otherwise why would there be complains?

You never had a problem? Good for you, unfortunately I and loads of other people can't say the same, neither can the ones that wait a whole month or more for a 3 minute sell out window. This is a problem, people discuss it, it is not your problem? Again, good for you, move along rocky.