Hey gang,

Got a question for fans around the world on the chase figures we are doing in the DCUC line. It is no secret that across the toy industry costs have gone up, manufacturing has risen and the overall cost to bring a 6 inch figure to market has skyrocketed in the the last year.

We are hitting a snag on our chase figures and want to run a possible direction by the fan base to keep the chase figures going.

The chase figures (because of the low quantity) are really making it difficult to keep the line at a low price at retail. We are charged a premium by our vendors for low run figures (which is why SDCC figures cost more to the customer).

One direction we have thought of to keep chase figures in the line is to put the chase figures up on MattyCollector.com about 2-3 months after the wave hits retail at a premium price (about 30.00 a figure).

While we would love to put every figure on MattyCollector.com, this is just not possible due to agreements we have with retail partners. BUT, if we put limited quanities of the chase figures only online at a premium price, this could potentially help cover the premium costs we pay to do chase figures in the line. We would still ship chase figures to stores, but fans would have a second chance to purchase them online a few months down the road.

And before fans suggest "just drop the chase figures and make every figure in the same amount" keep in mind while this is an option as well, if we did this there would only be 7 figures per wave. We would not be able to do all the variants in the same quantity as a standard figure and have 9-10 figures per wave. 7 figures or less per wave is how we maintain costs so unfortunately that won't help us out either.

So any thoughts on this? Would fans be interested in seeing the chase figures in each wave offered on MattyCollector.com at a premium price down the road? Chime in and lets us know your thoughts.

This does not mean BTW that we are just dropping the chase figures from the line. We just want to poll fans to see what they think of this option before exploring other ways to keep the line at a low cost at retail.

Thanks and see you in the toy aisles!

TG

Personally, I think it's a great idea to put the chase figures up on matty for those that would like to purchase them that couldn't find them in the stores. That is awesome! And if it would help Mattel get more money to produce more figures then that is wonderful!

I think that may be a good idea because you may elimintate some of the scalpers especially if people know ahead of time that they can pick these up for a set price at a later date.

Of course the only issue is all the figures feel like chase figures now-- as I barely see any of them on the pegs-- I have seen all of wave 3 once-- but only the chases of Deathstroke and Sinestro-- have yet to see the regular figures.

But Personally I would rather just see the chase figures go entirely (star wars succeeds perfectly fine without "chase figures"--and then you can offer unusual variants on the website (or collector figures that would never even make it to a retail assortment- unless they were the chase figures-- (since guys like Dr. Impossible would never get retailer peg space if they werent chases)

I have a question about the last option before I vote.
'Have single chase figures at each retailer (each major retailer gets an exclusive extra figure per wave)' Does this mean that in a wave like wave 7, for instance, the Barda chase would be the eighth figure in a case at say, Target, while modern Booster would be exclusive to Walmart or TRU? Or does it mean that each store would get a chase in the first case shipped and that would be it? Lemme know so's I can vote.

-R

PS I would be a huge fan of a variant shipped as an eighth figure in each case to a retailer although this does not benefit people that don't have all the major retailers in their area. For instance, if Meijers got an exclusive, I would be s-c-r-double-ooed.

If I'm reading this right, the chase figures will still be in the assortments, at the same ratios that they have been so far, but that there will be more produced to be sold at a later date on the site, but at a higher than retail price. Is that correct?

If so, then I think that is fine, especially if it helps Mattel keep the line on budget and expands the quantity of characters we have the chance to buy.

I also think that once scalpers know that this is happening, they will have only a short window to sell any of the variants they cherry pick for a high price. And the true collectors will know that even if they don't get to pick up a variant figure in store, they can still get it online in a couple of months if they really want it. And probably still cheaper than if they had to buy it off Ebay.

Even though I voted for the "premium price on MattyCollector" option, I would be concerned with competition from Ebay. The current chase figures from waves 3 and 4 are unmasked Deathstroke and WW Artemis, respectively. Both are selling for less than $30 now, and they were recently released. Would a collector buy a $20-25 chase figure on Ebay available today versus waiting 2-3 months and pay $30? I think the former would win, and MattyCollector would be stuck with a lot of unsold figures.

OK after re-reading this thread and the post above, the online price for the exclusives shouldn't be too expensive or they will just sit there. After all, not everyone will want every version. I think if the regular figures retail between $10 -$15, the chase shouldn't be more than $20 on the site. After all, it is still just one figure, and there will also be postage to add to that price.

I voted for Matty to get the chases after awhile. It's good to know that if I REALLY want a chase, and can't find it, I will have a back up way of recieving them.

I personally HATE chase figures and vote to remove them from the line entirely, but if you're gonna have them - yeah put them on Mattycollector for the fans to buy and skip retail altogether.

$30 plus shipping is too high for the vast majority of figures, I can see a lot of people skipping most chases at that price. I'd be more comfortable paying closer to $20.

Maybe they can be sold on Mattycollector as bundles of all the chases from a wave for a reduced price?

Hmmm... let me opine about each new option here...

Put chase figures online at a premium price after retail release: At $30/figure? That's ridiculous. Ebay is one thing, but when a manufacturer sells an item directly for nearly three times their own SRP, something is seriously wrong.

Remove the chase figures from the line completely: This might work, as long as it does not preclude variants from being made across different waves. Personally, I'm pretty much a completist for this line right now, and would love to continue seeing multiple versions of characters if it makes sense. The Aquaman in blue camo coming up doesn't bother me as I'm glad we're getting it at all. Some collectors might take issue with different versions of heroes taking up CnC slots in different waves though.

Have only one chase figure per wave (instead of two or three): As long as you guys don't flood waves with characters that COULD or SHOULD have variants, that's fine by me too.

Have single chase figures at each retailer (each major retailer gets an exclusive extra figure per wave): No, oh nononono. There has been waaaay too much inconsistency as far as what retailers receive what waves by this point to make this viable for most collectors. It's not Mattel's fault, it's just that generally speaking we don't have confidence in multiple retailers to consistently order/stock/shelve/restock the merchandise.

If it manages costs, I'd vote for reducing the number of variants to one per wave, but again, only if we don't get a wave where there are multiple perfect candidates for variants; I do trust in the boys to continue planning well-rounded waves, though.

Put chase figures online at a premium price after retail release but not for $30. That's a bit much. Actually that's to much.

If the choice is up to me ...

Lose the Chase figures entirely. I hate them. Can't say it any more simply than that.

I loved DCUC when it first launched. A full wave on the pegs at one time. Very easy to find and I could walk in to ANY STORE (Target and TRU anyway) and pick them up at will. Since then, however, its been a crap shoot. DCUC 2 was horrible to find. DCUC 3 is hit or miss. I have never found a full wave at one store at one time with either of those. Let alone trying to track down variants. Add chase figures into the mix and I begin to loathe toy hunting. It just makes it more frustrating than fun and as every entertainment industry knows, there are plenty of other outlets for my money.

So, my choice, kill the Chase figure before chase figures stop me from collecting.

You asked, i answered.

What is wrong with making chase figures available to be purchased separetly by on line stores like CSC? I like how they are making the Dr. Impossible, Big Barda, and others available in sets. I would not like to pay Matty or anyone else $30 + shipping for a figure, along with the hassel of trying to get online once the site goes live with the orders (Remember Lobo?). So I wont vote for any of these. My option would be to make the chase available at 6 per case to online e-tailers or other stores and sell them for the same price as regular figures. Mattel could just limit the production to pre-orders by the stores. That way, whatever is ordered pre-production will be all there is of the figure. Otherwise, let the box stores like Wal-mart continue to order their own exclusives.

I vote to REMOVE the Chase Figures.

Don't make it hard to find figures.
Don't charge 3 times the price online.

If a variant can't be done in a 50/50 ratio, then save it for a later wave if fans want it.