You can bet your sweet ass I cut back on my 2013 subs. Just 1 MotUC and 2 DCIE for me. I am so sick of Matty thinking we are made of money. They also released those 4 DC figures (52 Superman & Batman, Red Robin & Superboy Prime) so my total this month was nearly $400!!! That is ridiculous. And can’t they announce all the sales maybwe a little more than a few days before the actual sale date???

Toyguru makes me sick. And I will not be buying that Castle Greyskull. $250+s/h only to have Digital River make a mistake and double or triple charge me (as they have done in the past)? NO THANK YOU!

I sent a complaint and received a form letter about how all customers should get the items they want and we’re sorry. Yeah right.

I’m not going to let a company treat me like this and I feel sorry for the people that will continue with them.

I like to console myself that every buzz is a lost dollar in sales to Mattycollector. I’m a DC Universe collector who for budget reasons focuses on the women characters and for sanity reasons (avoids the day-of-sales server crush (I also don’t like being forced to participate in internet rushes–odds are too high I won’t break through, and will have wasted all that time and stress).

That being said, MattyCollector’s fast sellouts force me to turn to scalpers or internet retailers (who look trustworthy–but you never really know, do you?)

The same math tells me it is rational to pay a scalper / e-tailer a $10 premium (I can only hope the premium is just $10) to wade through the system for me.

But…

That’s when I remind myself that I’m dealing with Mattel, a major corporation. If it can’t keep its products stocked and at some level relies on scalpers / informal retailers to be its frontmen…

It should at least work out a system in which it recommends “trusted” retailers so we know who else to buy the product from. On ebay, you’re always taking a chance that your order will come from Chinese factory surplus (or outright low quality knockoff).

At some level, it just doesn’t seem professional that Mattel can’t sort out some system where, if it’s going to sell out in minutes to informal retailers buying quantities of 10, that it just work out a retailing arrangement with one or more “trusted retailers” to stock its products.

I just don’t understand how the scalper system / unknown e-tailer system is good for the MattyCollector brand image.

However, I do think fans have ensured this history will repeat itself next year by paying Matty off on their tactics this year.

Scott has already backtracked on the promise to concentrate exclusively on undone vintage characters in the 2014 MOTUC line because, even at 137%, 2013 sub sales were only a fraction of 2012 levels. Scott says this means the 2014 line may have as few as six slots. You’ll certainly recall part of the 2013 pitch was subscribe and Matty will take care of all the holes in your collection in 2014. That can’t happen with six slots and this information only came out after the 2013 sub push ended. Odd, isn’t it? Odder, it seems only a few on the Matty message boards have realized the bait-and-switch, or the putting the cart before the horse, however you choose to couch it.

Also, it seems Ghostbusters fans aren’t happy their Ecto-Goggles are going to be offered first to people who subscribed to MOTUC and DC. This fear comes, of course, from Scott and Matty promo material suggesting Early Access items would sell out before reaching gen pop, so you better subscribe to make sure you have access. What if you like Ghostbusters, but you don’t like He-Men or DC? Now Scott hints the allotment of Ecto-Goggles may be adjusted, but he doesn’t state that will be the case. I can see why GB fans are nervous and a bit angry, particularly since their club was summarily executed last year without so much as a thermometer or rah-rah video.

So, you can see it as sour grapes on my part, if you like, but it’s actually frustration. Maybe we’ll meet back here next year and see how Matty handles their business then. I think they’ll go with what they know works.

-JJJ

The 2013 line up is a little better & at least I’m finally getting a proper Wally West (MY Flash) figure. However, moving forward Mattel HAS TO sever ties with Digital River & they also need to address QC issues.

Several of the other figures were obviously bumped from the cancelled retail of DCUC, or whatever they were/are changing it to, like Larfleeze and probably Saint Walker, among others.

Most of my interest in DC has cooled since the nu52 went into effect, and Johns bungled Blackest Night finale into whatever is going on now in the untouched GL titles.

Would I like more “unique” characters like August General in Iron or CLASSIC Amanda Waller or QC Clark and Bruce and Diana? or my personal choice: a black/red costume WILL PAYTON STARMAN?? Hell yeah, but things being what they are, I’m glad we’re getting SOMETHING.

Watchmen: Do I think this is a bit of a waste of time/plastic/tooling when the movie figures didn’t move with few exceptions? Yep. Is this getting greenlit while DCIE is still in question? You know it. Most likely because it’s a six figure run and done, like Voltron was five and done. (Yet people are still demanding a second wave???)

That said, I still have yet to open a single DC sub figure besides checking the box inside the mailer. Yes, that includes Jay. and Thom.

MOTUC-
to be honest, i put off this line for the longest time, only finally jumping on board last winter’s massive clearance sale. Even then, I only got the more “barbaric” characters, opting not to pick up the lizards or robots or what have you. Maybe I was influenced by GRRM’s Game of Thrones, maybe not. I just wanted to build a group that wasn’t as fantastical as MOTU was. Heck, I don’t think I even have that doofy looking He-Man, and Orko never came out of his package, but Adam did. I did get the horse, but more to repaint for Marvel’s Black Knight and DC’s Shining Knight; and the Griffin, because it’s ten pounds of awesome.

Out of what is still coming, my wants are few and mostly end this year. I was semi-stoked by Rammy, but if those bubbly legs are the ones he is coming with, and I’ve seen pics of him with more “human”/basic legs, then it’s a pass.

$20 was hard enough to manage on these, and why Matty refuses to allow these distribution at retail is obfuscating, when they keep claiming nearly every figure is a sell out. Now that they want $25 a pop on top of exorbitant shipping, for figures they are beginning to scrape the bottom of the barrel with, it’s a definite pass.

and I still would like to know why they charge you a full week ahead of time, send shipping notices in the wee hours of Sunday morning (even PST), and force you to pay extra shipping if you want to order single extra figure(s) on the day of sale. I’m not sure this “early bird for subs” thing is going to work, esp if they think EVERYTHING is going to sell out early, which will only drive cherry pickers away.

Then again, Nutlich doesn’t seem to even like the cherries. it’s all or nothing subs with him. and I do agree with you on all points concerning his attitude and passive/aggressive reactions to fans who want simple answers, esp when they aren’t buying his FAVORITEST TOY LINE EVAR!!!!

I also love the revisionist history of why the club even exits. Maybe Mattel was playing fans from the start. Matty made the figures hard to get so that people would get behind the idea of a club. Now the club is the only way to get the toys.

If Mattel already has a year’s worth of your money, what incentive do they have to make the toys any good? Why would they listen to fan complaints about a prototype? They already have your money.

What a terrible system.

As for MOTUC, I used to get a lot of the figures. I am a definite cherry-picker on the line. I grew up with it, had tons as a kid and really only care about the vintage figures and even then, not all of them. If that somehow doesn’t make me a real fan, so be it. Sucks that I might not be able to get a few figures that I am interested in, but I am not committing well over $600 for the privilege of being called a “real fan.”

but according to you since i’ve never bought a subscription i’m not a true fan.

I’m a huge fan of the JLU line. When they stopped selling the figures in Canada I started making regular trips to Niagara Falls NY to go by the regular Target stores. When they announced that the remaining six three figure packs were going up on Matty Collector for 50 bucks I realized I wouldn’t be able to get them all. Not because I didn’t want to, but because 60 bucks for 2 or even 1 new figure was too much. Not that I didn’t want to support the line, but because it was an absurd amount of money to pay for an action figure. Thankfully they got it down to 30 (or 40, with shipping), so I’ll be able to get them all and not feel like a goob, or at least like much of one.

Does my refusal to pay 60 bucks for a Mongul or Guy Gardner mean I’m not a true fan? Hell no. All said, I probably have about 300 non-action figure/DVD/comic pieces in my JLU/DCAU collection, including signed stuff, original artwork, cels, etc. But even if I didn’t and were just passionate about the show and figures and all that I’d be every bit a true fan as the next guy.

Anyway, when I saw Lucinda calling out Jason for not subscribing, then saying it was good he wasn’t anyway because he wasn’t a true fan, then “congratulating” folks for letting the line down… meh… it just cheesed me off. I mean, it’s not like the guy needs some random fanboys backing up his fandom, but just because he’s not supporting something he doesn’t dig doesn’t mean he’s not a true fan.

Right then. Feel free to tear me to shreds and all that. Or whatever. For what it’s worth, I do hope the figures see the light of day, regardless of what happens to the line. It’s immensely frustrating to be held over a barrel like that, but these things do have a way of working out in the end.

Have a good day.
John Cage

Is it:

1) Someone who’s been with a property from the beginning? That person might just be old.

2) Someone who’s spent a ton of time and money tracking down every possible piece of merchandise? That person might just be ridiculously wealthy. I’m a Spider-Man fan, but I don’t own every piece of Spider-Man merch that has ever been made! Why? Because I don’t live in a warehouse, that’s why!

3) Someone who sticks with a property through good times and awful times? That person might just have NO STANDARDS.

4) Someone who advocates for the property and discusses it night and day online and forces it into conversations with friends and family? That person might just have no life. Or they might be me.

I’d argue against the use of phrases like “true fan” because it’s ultimately a meaningless and completely subjective term that serves only to create an artificial “us” and “them” among the fan-base. MOTUC has been badly handled and mismanaged for years, and many fans are saying “enough.” Mattel deserves to have the fans turn away at this point, and it should learn from its mistakes.

You are completely correct on your other points, however.

It’s pathetic that people are going to let this line die right as we are getting to some great figures. But, oh well. “IF” MOTU does see the light of day I hope that real fans embrace the line, even with flaws. Sideshow, Hot Toys, NECA, etc. all have their flaws and cost many times over what these figures cost. It’s just pathetic to see the reveals at SDCC and realize that we may never get them.

Good going, fans, good going!

The price increase isn’t that big of a deal. $5 extra a month. Really??!! FIVE whole dollars? If you can’t save more than that a month, something is VERY wrong. I don’t care if you’re the fry cook at Mc Donalds, you can save that. If you can’t, don’t ever trust yourself with money.

Yes, Digital River isn’t the best. It’s all we have at the moment. I’ve never had a problem with them, but I realize other people have.

And the whole thing about not knowing what figures are coming. It’s been that way since the subscriptions began. You already know that you’ll get every vintage figure from MOTU, PoP and NA by the end of 2014, so I don’t see what the big deal is.

I hope the real fans pull through for this line!