I voted, and I'm in!!!!!

Dang, Red Ricky, that is WAAAAAAAYYY too cynical. Never attribute malice to what can easily be attributed to incompetence. Seriously. I get fed up with Mattel too. But by getting us these last figures they aren't looking for different ways to screw us. They are trying to do us a favor without losing money.

I'm sure Mattel will take any and all people who will jump ship at the high prices into account for their production runs. That's why this poll is so bad. Mattel probably needs an accurate barometer of what JLU fans will do and two of the options are complete jokes which tell them nothing. I hope they have a similar poll on the Matty forums that will tell them more because the AFI one is plain awful. I'm betting the Mattel reps who see all of the people picking the joke choices are pretty unhappy and wanted an accurate barometer of who would buy what. Honestly, they should scrap this poll and start another but the staff have dug in their heels about the poll so much that they can't do that without looking foolish. Plus, so many people have already voted for the serious choices so it seems unfair they they should have to start over again.

Its not so much the poll that will give Mattel an idea of whether or not this will work, its more the discussion that the poll has started.

Here's hoping we get a color corrected Mongul. We know Toyguru is aware of the skin tone issue.

What I would like to know: Why can't they team up with an online retailer like Big Bad Toy Store to place a larger JLU order? They are going to buy up a bunch of sets anyways. Can't they use an e-tailer in conjunction (possibly post Mattycollector sale) to get these sets out?

Maybe the product isn't selling all that well on their sites either, but just a thought. Whatever JLU stock Mattel doesn't sell in the first two weeks, they could sell at a reduced rate to an e-tailer. Has anyone at Mattel reached out to one of these websites?

I think any new poll is going to reflect the same ratio of buyers, about 70 percent. Everyone else will pick and choose or not buy any at all, which is what Red Ricky pointed out. If Mattel is smart about its production of these figures, it will shoot for a number smaller than its baseline for JLU.

What they said before, when the "super" pack of all the remaining 3-packs was being considered, was that the e-tailers don't place a large enough order for them to go into production without also having Target or another store place an order.

Yeah, but that was before the "we know the minimum amount of numbers we can produce at this extortio-Er- enhanced price."

It's a good point. Why not?

So you guys would rather have BBTS place the order for whatever Mattel was going to produce and then charge us even more than $50.00 we would pay on Matty Collector? BBTS isn't going to do the JLU collecting community a favor and just buy the stock because it's easier for us to use their store than to go to MC.com. I love BBTS but I don't see the benefit of them ordering the figures instead of Mattel getting them to us directly.

I'm a fan of characters first, not comics or TV shows. That's how I've always bought the JLU figures, that's how I'll buy these proposed ones. Blue Beetle has been a favorite of mine since the late 80s, so he's worth $50.00. Likewise with Guy Gardner.

But the rest? All characters who don't really do anything for me. Never dug any of the Toyman designs, save for the old Legion of Doom look. Mongul's pretty one-note, regardless of which medium uses him. Vandal Savage's an okay character, but his design doesn't inspire me to shell out any cash. And the future League? Some decent looks, but two were barely defined characters and one of them (Static) never really did anything for me.

So I'm in for two, which is apparently the two that the fewest of you are interested in investing in. Great. Less burden for me.

I'm thinking the reason he wanted BBTS to place a larger order was so that the price would decrease due to a larger production run. Which as already pointed out still isn't a large enough order. Besides BBTS knows there is a limited number of JLU fans. They're not going to buy too many of these when they know there is only a limited number of people going to buy these in the first place regardless of price.

Even if they placed a massive order, Mattel would still be charging them a premium which means they'd have to turn around and charge us even more. I don't think we're getting out of this any cheaper. Now if I could get the packs for 50 from BBTS I'd do that in a heartbeat. The peace of mind I'd get from pre-ordering from them would be worth 50 bucks alone.

I'm thinking the reason he wanted BBTS to place a larger order was so that the price would decrease due to a larger production run. Which as already pointed out still isn't a large enough order. Besides BBTS knows there is a limited number of JLU fans. They're not going to buy too many of these when they know there is only a limited number of people going to buy these in the first place regardless of price.[/quote]

If they do they will buy a small quantity, jack up the price like stripe and let it sit there for months.

My concern is if they release one pack per month, what if sales significantly drop month to month?

I'm not trying to be cynical, just realistic.

When the first Gotham Villains 4-pack came out, a lot of people who were JLU Collectors passed on it; and the reasons they gave for doing so were Price, Execution, and that they were happy with their Kenner versions.

Parallels from that experience can be drawn in the sense that these 3-packs will be pricey, the execution we want might not be there (i.e. Crackhead Toyman & Pink Mongul), and some collectors might be happy with another version (i.e. Young Justice Vandal Savage).

Plus, TG/Mattel mentioned spreading out their release. And six 3-packs could take a long time to get released. So if they pick out the lamest first, and the sales aren't there... bye, bye 3-packs.

That's why I've been saying that Mattel should explore all options. 'Cause to me, charging $50 bucks appears to be the fastest and easiest option for them. But not the best in the long run.


You bring up a very valid point. But it's still worth discussing. I mean... we are all aware of other scenarios where "Unproduced Waves" were given to the International branch of Mattel and found their way to Europe. So why isn't that a possibility? Obviously an International release through some sort of "shared exclusivity agreement" would generate more sales and bring the price down a bit.

Plus... didn't EE just get some sort of exclusive deal to release the last of the MOTUC vs DC two-packs?

Did that come with a price increase?

By the way, I'm not trying to be cute or cynical. I honestly don't know what the deal was with the last MoTUC two-packs. All I know is that some retailers have gotten "exclusives" in the past (like Marvel Selects giving the Red Hulk to BBTS) and I don't remember the price hike being so brutal.

Afterall, those stores are set up to handle large inventories, so storage does not appear to be as big an issue with them as it appears to be with Mattel.

Anyways... not looking to start new arguments. Just want people to feel confortable when suggesting alternatives.