Okay.. let me start this off by saying, I love the Mattel DC product lines... I collect many and will continue to do so. That said... I really am pretty upset about the whole Gleek exclusive crap about only being available at SDCC.

Last April when this was announced I was beginning my third month of chemotherapy on a stage 4 cancerous tumor in my esophagus. I had decided last fall that I was going to fight my cancer head on and continue spending money on the DCU Classics and Infinite Heroes line on top of a mountain of medical bills because this hobby has brought me such great pleasure over the years I was determined not to let my health issues hamper my toy collecting, plus quite frankly I needed the distraction of something that brought me joy. I remember seeing a Q & A with Toy Guru where he said the Gleek would be a bonus for people that actually went to a convention.

I was saddened to think this highly anticipated treasure from my childhood would have to be sought out on EBay for more than it is truly worth. My partner, one of the greatest people I've ever known, decided to surprise me by getting tickets to SDCC because he knew how important Gleek was to me and to keep my hopes up. At that time the 4 day passes were already sold out, so we could only get passes for Friday at the Con. We justified it saying that by the time SDCC came around I would either be off the chemotherapy due to its success or I would be off it because of the toxic side effects and we would need a vacation anyway. I'm slightly phobic of both flying and crowds, but after dealing with cancer I was up for braving those minor fears to get my Gleek. After dealing with a horrible year in my life I had a goal to look forward to ... a nice relaxing vacation with the bonus of Gleek in my hands.

Well, I'm amazed and happy to say that I'm in complete remission from the cancer. Although I still suffer some side effects from 7 months of chemotherapy. We got on our plane, which of course I was totally nervous about, and headed out to San Diego. We got our passes on Friday morning and entered the hall as soon as it opened. It took us about 10 minutes to get to the Mattel Exclusives booth where we stood in line for 20 minutes. During that time, we found out there was just as many people in a separate "VIP" line with special tickets they got the day before because they had limited product to sell each day and those people had to come back the next day. Then some guy came up to us in line after only 20 minutes to say they counted out the people in line and they were only offering so much product that day that some lady about 20 people ahead of us was going to be the last person to get Gleek and that we were out of luck.

OUT OF LUCK?

My God.... after every thing I went through, I traveled half way across the country to be told that after being at the con for only 30 minutes that I was S*** out of luck!

Thanks Toy Guru... thanks a lot. A bonus for people who went to the Con? Screw that! It was a slap in my face! I can not for the life of me understand how this was so poorly handled. Who is making these decisions at Mattel? I'm Guessing it is Toy Guru since he is now grand pubah or whatever of the DC lines. Man,,, I love your product! I will continue to buy it. I just can NOT believe the way your exclusives were handled!

So we ended up walking around for a few hours trying to salvage the day, but my fear of crowds and the fact that my skin is very thin because of the chemo and my heals split open and bled for the rest of my vacation weekend because I was walking around at the con too much really made for a terrible trip. I now will have to start the EBay bidding process on Gleek... there are already today 40 different EBay auctions for the Wonder Twins AND GLEEK.

Thankfully I have my health which will continue to improve over the next year. I suppose I have also at least been cured of the need to ever attend another Convention thanks to you... Next time I'll just buy whatever thing you decide to grace us with on Ebay spending 3 to 4 times what it is worth, instead of limping around a city half the country away from me spending money on flights, hotels, and admission and then still having to resort to EBay to get the prize.

Thanks again for a horrible experience

Wow, I am glad to hear that you are in remission, but pissed off that you weren't able to have this "little weekend getaway" live up to its expectations.

I share your anger about the whole Gleek fiasco (as well as the AnitMonitor point redemption idiocy) and have heard countless horror stories about how the exclusives booth eas ran and managed. And all of this was AFTER we were told that Mattel would have a much better booth set up to accomodate more fans and sales and how the exclusives would be arriving every day so that there would be some available each day.

Yet again, Matty drops the ball and looks like an idiot feeding stock answers to questions that don't quite line up right.

I hope that you are able to get the Gleek and Twins you were after. I have decided NOT to go to ebay and without the monkey , I see no need to order the pack from Matty.com either, so I get to save a bit of scratch that way.

Thanks for sharing your tale. Helps put some of the other bitching we all partake in into perspective.

Yeah, I completely agree with everything, I am sorry life can suck so bad sometimes, I hope you continue to feel better though, anyways back to hte main point of this topic...
Now, I love the stuff Mattel creates actually ships out to us, but that doesn't mean I have much respect for Mattel (note: I am sure TG is a stand up guy, so this comment is not directed at him, but to chumps who are responsible for this fiasco,) you knuckle-heads need to get your stinking (yes stinking) act together! ...



Chumps.



D.

Wow. Quite a story.

I just hope that Gleek is not the only reason you went to the Con. There are many reasons to go. As you said in your conclusion, if you are going to buy toys, its cheaper to do that via on-line sources. When I went in 2006, I combined it with a family vacation to San Diego.

I went in 2006 and my ticket was not in the correct range to get a JLU Solomon Grundy. I got him from a friend here at AFi. I wish you luck in finding what you are looking for.

Should we bring up the MOTU Book fiasco too?

Sorry to hear that. Same thing happened to my friend. He missed out on He-Ro, Gleek and the MOTU book. But I guess we have to accept that Mattel does not care about the customer as an individual, it is just sales focused.

The original post really shows the lameness of Mattel's policies on the exclusives for anyone with a one-day pass. I can only imagine the frustration of having a one-day pass and then standing in line (some people for hours), and then being told to come back the next day. What next day?



I haven't heard any complaints about the point redemption at the con. What was wrong with how they did it?

i heard that too. a friend of mine was not able to get me gleek nor he-ro all 5 days he was there-it was sold out. He was given a time to go back each day but they sold out way before that. If anyone wonders if there are good people in this world, you need to meet my friend who i met on this board who helped me out. I can't imagine the hell he had to go through for 5 days to try and get me that.

He was even able to snag a limited edition vinyl piece for me but not able to get a mass market toy, which was not his fault at all but says something about Mattel. From what i understand the stock they got each day was not even. Tons of scalpers and a stupid system made things worse. Last year there were no issues because it was the same offerings at the con and online and items were available for at least a day on some stuff and weeks on others. there was enough left over to sell to retailers. Last year we had some really awesome exclusives. i can't believe gleek and he-ro stamped would out shine last year's exclusives.

I hope Mattel learns from this and just does the same exclusives both online and at the con and make enough of them that the scalpers balk and see it as a loosing proposition. While stuff did sell on ebay, it was better last year. This scalping thing is getting way out of control. Half of the people who attend just attend to scalp. The economy is tough and we all would like to buy our toys at retail price. I saw pictures of people walking through the halls holding up the green lantern figures from dc with hand written signs.They should just call SDCC, SDSC-San Diego Scalper Con were con is not referring to conference but it works both ways. We all know that the only thing Mattel cares about is the money and nothing else. People i.e customers, quality, etc don't matter.

I'm so glad your better and sorry to hear of your troubles. Mattel should be ashamed.

Sorry to hear about your story and I hope you did enjoy the time you had somewhat and I hope you can get your set for a reasonable price. Also, that's great news about your health and I hope things only get better for you.

I can't believe I'm going to defend Mattel here... But DC Direct actually had a worse situation where the ONLY way you could get all the Hal Jordans was to be at the con every day. So at least Mattel tried to spread them out.

As for the AntiMonitor thing, I assume he means the entire fact that the points were only for use at the SDCC. Which means that if Mattel made, I dunno, a MILLION Infinite Heroes figures, only a few thousand people would ever have the shot at redeeming them.

And while I personally have no issues with Dan winning the huge AntiMonitor, I can see how people would be upset. He's a guy who you know is going to be at the SDCC and some schmoe off the street who buys IH may not be so lucky to attend and even have a shot. Usually "points" are redeemed via mail away or something and the whole "you have to be at SDCC to get a figure and a shot at the deluxe one" screamed of not being very in tune with fans.

At the very least, your should be able to mail in the Anti Monitor Points for the 3.75" Anti-Monitor.

Like the guys said, I'm really sorry to hear about your condition and the hell you went through during what was supposed to be an enjoyable experience. Thanks for being so forthright with your problems, as it does put things in perspective for anyone else frustrated with this year's con and the handling of its exclusives.

I worked at retail for some time and scalpers were haunting our stores all the time. It got to the point where customers were complaining about it and we couldn't do anything to stop them. On "new truck day" they would swarm the place like buzzards and try to buy their way into the back room. Your story has brought back memories of those days and how some things (sadly) never seem to change.

Yeah, I thought it was ridiculous that they didn't have a mail-away for the Anti-Monitor. They were like, "Hold on to your points!" Yeah, only if you're going to SDCC.

what do you mean?

{{{{{{Hugs}}}}}}

I hope you feel better soon. I said a little prayer for you if that's okay. If you don't believe in God I can amend one for the Flying Spagetti Monster.

I hope you find a Gleek soon and I hope it doesn't cost too much.

Remember the old days, when you could save points or coupons, then send them in to get a cool figure (not available in stores)?

If you saved up enough coupons, you could get more than one. Sure you might pay shipping and handeling, but it was worth it. You needed no travel. You had no lines to wait in. Just a walk to the mailbox.

Magically, weeks later, long after you had forgotten about the offer, you would find a package. Instantly, your memory returned, and you tore open the package to find this great new treasure.

You weren't concerned about how much money this toy was worth, you just wanted to be the one to have it. Around the country, maybe globe, you knew other fans had this cool figure. Sure, the average person might not know this figure existed, they had never seen it. You, the REAL fan, knew. Knew that you had something special.

I wish we returned to those days.

I don't want exclusives to be about how much they are worth. Or how much they can resell for (in shops and on eBay). I want exclusives to be about giving the fans, who care about your products to get something special, for supporting your company.