I economy is hitting everyone these days.

I think there's been a bigger than expected drop in international orders as well. The postage has gone up by about $5(not Mattel's fault) so that makes it a $10 per basic figure increase. And that's the untraceable "if it goes missing we won't replace it" option. If you want the tracked shipping then you're looking at the same price as the figure, maybe more!

Add to that the fact that the price increase has (for the UK at least) pushed the figures into the taxable bracket. They used to be just under the allowance, now they're just over, so that's 20% VAT added on top of every delivery plus a "clearance/admin fee" of £8 on every delivery!

Wow..

That sounds like its time to get some US contacts and have them ship them to you as gifts- plus saving on shipping every way around..

It's so reminiscent of JLU it's not even funny. But MOTUC fans, wow, they can get nasty:) LOL.

TG mentioned they may open up a European distribution center. I think that would help a ton. From the posts I've seen, it looks like the biggest hits to the sub are International buyers, and Online Retailers.

Let's hope it trucks along another couple of years, hate to have a line that got such major holes in it, but is so close to being pretty much complete.

I have to wonder, if the DCUC and MOTU subs both eventually fail, what the heck are they going to offer on Mattycollector from now on? Will the site eventually be just relegated to selling convention exclusives to the rest of the public? That would be disappointing.

The site as it stands now is disappointing. Maybe a massive failure of product on Matty's end will result in a much better online experience for both us and them.

If they learn from their mistakes that is
(of course, they would first have to admit they've made mistakes instead of just blaming the fans/retailers for every complaint but that's just semantics at this point ...)

I really want to do the DCIE sub this time around, but then I look at the DCIE 2012 thread on the Matty forum and it is just full of complaints and grievances and horror stories. Not the expected complaints and requests but actual problems and issues. Has Digital River and QC been that bad?!?! Is anyone out there enjoying their DCIE 2012 sub?

I don't have any complaints about the DCIE subscription figures. They have all arrived in good shape, so far.

I did receive a MOTU Teela with a bad paint job once, but Digital River replaced it promptly and even paid for return shipping of the faulty figure.

The credit card I used for the 2012 DCIE subscription expired this month, and I was able to call and get it updated quickly without any interruption in delivery of the monthly figures. The person I dealt with on the phone was pleasant and professional.

I've found that being calm and polite on the phone gets me what I want much faster than being demanding. There's little point in getting angry with a complete stranger.

The first 2 months of the sub was atrocious for me dealing with DR.

The figures themselves have been great and I enjoy having them.

Any and all problems I have had have been with Digital River.
Didn't matter if I called the CS line, the American CS line, the Escalation department, Managament, whomever, they were just incompetent and unprepared to deal with the magnitude of problems they (and Mattel) had created.

Again, I love the figures and I am so glad I have them. And now that every thing is sorted out between DR, my credit card company, and myself, I haven't had any reason to complain about them either.

But, yeah, they were awful when this thing got started and they left a very sour taste in my mouth for quite a while afterwards.

When people don't subscribe for the '13 line and they cite DR as the primary reason, I understand completely and can't give them any grief. DR was THAT BAD.

But, again, I think the figures themselves have been stellar and I am very happy with my decision to sign up and get them all.

I just wish we didn't have to go through DR to do it.

I've had problems with DR in the past, but no problems with my DC sub at all.

The QC on my DC sub figs has been great. No issues at all. The Metron + chair is probably my favorite item in the whole DCSH/DCUC/DCU-SC/etc line.

There's a ton of potential for what we could get in a DC sub, and there's no other DC line around or on the horizon that's gonna make characters outside bats/supes and/or movie/video games. This is the place to be if you like DCU figs. Buy sub!

The figures have been fine, I agree.

However, I did have a CC renewal issue and missed Atrocitus because of it. So the toys are fine, but Digital River sucks.

Never had a problem with DR and my figures were all fine. I think internet posts skew to the negative because they are the most memorable. This nice post of mine is utterly forgetable... see.

Newest update from Toyguru over on the Matty Forums...

(I'm just going to paraphrase a bit here and put my comments in italicsfor easier separation...)
*I am still begging folks to sign up for MOTUC. Please, please, please. We aren't ready for it to die but we simply refuse to talk about any other options until we know the result of this year's sub (I can't fault him for that stance really, but I just wanted to point out the message he is sending as I interpret it)

*If the DCIE doesn't go through (and it looks like it might not), that's it, DC is done on Matty.

Yup, you read that right. Basically, if MOTUC sub doesn't go through, we will find a way to get the already in production figures out to you folks, we will offer up remainders via cons or some odd one-off offerings 3 or so times a year as we are able. BUT, if DC sub fails, "too bad, so sad. Go check retail and hope for the best."

Make of it what you will. I'm already signed up, and I know that there are still a number of people who intend to but are waiting for payday. Hopefully we get enough to go through.

Hopefully.

I'm still waiting to sign up this year so I can get my new address settled and not have to change it later but I feel like it's the same as voting for the president, my vote does not matter.

Did Mattel raise the amount of subscribers necessary to move on? Or are people simply not renewing their subscriptions?