Answers to WTFWTK 2.19!

[guitargod694]

There are plenty of smaller shows throughout the year, but SDCC, NYCC, and the upcoming Chicago show are supposed to be the 3 major ones. You would think that Mattel, one of the biggest toy companies out there, would WANT to go to a place filled with potential customers who they know are interested in the sort of thing they sell.

I certainly agree with you.
But, that said, it isn't really fair to expect them to be there,
especially with the time and money that goes into having a major presence at these things.
It would be awesome if they were, and I'm disappointed too.
But I certainly understand that they have to do what works for them.

[MossMan710179]

I know that thats been speculated, but where are you getting this confirmation about CCE?

All I am confirming is the dates of the cons... not if Mattel will be at either one of them.

There are tons of comic/toy shows and they can't go to all of them.
We'll just have to wait and see if they end up going somewhere else!

Like I said, who knows.
Both those cons are months to a year away, and they can join the list at any time.
For all we know they may have signed on and don't want to announce.
The big guns (Mattel, Hasbro, Neca, SideShow...) normally go to promote a product and/or sell an exclusive.
If they have nothing to offer... why bother showning up ...

[phantom1592]

Not to single you out personally, but I don't think people should get so angry when the answer to a question is "No." Sure it's disappointing, but I respect them for being honest with us when they could easily, let's say for the mini-comic collection, have said "It's still a possibility." It would still be true because it obviously COULD happen at some point in the future, even if it's 10 years from now, but if they said that it would have gotten fans' hopes up for something very very soon. I think it's cool that instead they're being honest even when they know it's not going to make everyone happy. At least this way we know not to be holding our breath for something, and if we REALLY want it then we've got a heads up to become more vocal about it!

I agree 100%. I actually thought this was one of the most informative rounds yet. He actually dismissed some ideas. Prior to this it was always "we'll see" "Depends on sales" "Outlook cloudy, ask again later"

I'll take a straight up NO we have no intention of bringing in bravestar or Thundercats or whatever than "wait and see" or "I can't comment"

As for the comment "we're focusing on 2009" I don't see that as meaning that the line is in trouble.... I took it as "we are trying to combine all the era's of MOTU and no we have no intention of seperating them so we can do a celebration of any one single era" If the question was will there be any kind of anniversarty for MOTU as a whole... I think the answer would have been different. However they know they are fighting a battle with the 200x fans by focusing more on Vintage stuff and they don't want to alienate them farther by just saying NO nothing special for 2012.

The nature of the answer "we're focusing on 2009" had a political "spin control" feel to it.

[Super He-Man]

The nature of the answer "we're focusing on 2009" had a political "spin control" feel to it.

Funny, I took it as a polite way of saying "How the he!! should I know what we're going to do 3 years from now. Go away!"

[Lay Ze-Man]

They should give us the Faker/Khan Staction 2-pack for the 10th anniversary.

[King Kahn]

Yeah, someone needs to re-ask the 4 month subscription question WITHOUT any canceling part attached to it.

indeed. i don't see why they can't do this? i don't think i will do the year sub.

i feel they will have a large drop off of the people that did the 4 month to the peopl that will do the 12 month for a few reasons but the main one is this:

*the time the 12 month sub goes live we will still have yet to see how the FIRST sub program has been going.

i did the 4 month but i dont think i am gonna do the 12. no real reason i just don't feel like it.

i bet that when they see the drop off from the quarterly sub program to the year one they will let people sub quarterly.

i think the BEST thing would have a pre-order for each figure i.e december's figure has a preorder in aug. they can leave it open for 1-2 weeks and then they have the bulk of the orders and can make a certain % more. but that would make sense...and that is just crazy talk!! lol

Cheaper price may not be a factor, but convenience is; not having to log-on the 15th of every month and just knowing my figure will show up a few days later is very much a convenience.

And I would hope that the 15th rush is lessened by people signing up for subscriptions... if even 20% of the buyers signed up, there's that much less volume on the "hot date".

don't forget the cost benefit of saving money on shipping if you picked getting them all at once in dec. if people look at it like that then it IS like a magazine sub program and you save by opting into the program.

and like you mentioned, not being tethered to the comp at 11am central time is a bonus for some people. i am usually working in my office around that time so i am not worried but i still tried the 4 month sub program.

[Super He-Man]

don't forget the cost benefit of saving money on shipping if you picked getting them all at once in dec. if people look at it like that then it IS like a magazine sub program and you save by opting into the program.

and like you mentioned, not being tethered to the comp at 11am central time is a bonus for some people. i am usually working in my office around that time so i am not worried but i still tried the 4 month sub program.

The point I was trying to make is that it shouldn't be either subscribe or be online at the right moment. To use my earlier example, you don't have to worry that if you're not in the store at noon you won't get your PEOPLE magazine.

Also, the cost benefit analysis you stated is negated by the fact that you can't combine shipping with their DC or Ghostbusters offerings. (This is not something you can compare to magazine subs since magazines ship loose -- so there's no such thing as combining shipping.)

[Eric]

The point I was trying to make is that it shouldn't be either subscribe or be online at the right moment. To use my earlier example, you don't have to worry that if you're not in the store at noon you won't get your PEOPLE magazine.

True, but what about something that's more comparable to MOTUC, such as DCUC?

If you're not in the store when they put out a case of DCUC, chances are you're going to miss out.

I'd venture a guess that there's less of a window to get DCUC and some other lines in stores than there is to get MOTUC on MattyCollector.

[MegaGearMax]

As for the comment "we're focusing on 2009" I don't see that as meaning that the line is in trouble.... I took it as "we are trying to combine all the era's of MOTU and no we have no intention of seperating them so we can do a celebration of any one single era" If the question was will there be any kind of anniversarty for MOTU as a whole... I think the answer would have been different. However they know they are fighting a battle with the 200x fans by focusing more on Vintage stuff and they don't want to alienate them farther by just saying NO nothing special for 2012.

The nature of the answer "we're focusing on 2009" had a political "spin control" feel to it.

I took it as Toyguru being careful not to spill any beans when it comes to 200X in MOTUC, like he always has. The reason I asked that question was to see if by 2012, 200X might be more accepted in MOTUC instead of being seen as happening too recently.

However, I did think it was a weak answer, since he can tell us who is coming out in May 2011. Now if he said "We're only up to 2011 and haven't reached or decided on 2012 yet", it would be different.

Funny, I took it as a polite way of saying "How the he!! should I know what we're going to do 3 years from now. Go away!"

He knows the The Faceless One is coming out in 2011.

[King Kahn]

The point I was trying to make is that it shouldn't be either subscribe or be online at the right moment. To use my earlier example, you don't have to worry that if you're not in the store at noon you won't get your PEOPLE magazine.

Also, the cost benefit analysis you stated is negated by the fact that you can't combine shipping with their DC or Ghostbusters offerings. (This is not something you can compare to magazine subs since magazines ship loose -- so there's no such thing as combining shipping.)

magazine analogy stands. playboy, wizard, xbox magazine etc ship "moc" if you will since they are poly-bagged and sometimes in an envelope.

you are still saving money by having all the figures ship to you at the end of the year so that is exactly like getting a cheaper cover price to a magazine. not the BEST thing but it is better than nothing.

being able to combine GB and other lines shouldnt factor in. what you are saying there is that if you have a subscription to PEOPLE(MOTUC) and in aug you also want a copy of vanity fair(GB) that they should ship that to you as well even though they are completely dif magazine(toylines) and were not a part of the subscription.

i would love to be able to add other toys to each month but i understand it isnt in the cards. we wanted a MOTUC sub from the start and now that we have one we are mad we can't have everything included in a MOTUC sub.

[nato]

You know, as a reader of comic books, and married to a reader of magazines, I find all of the complaining about not know what figures are coming in the subscription a little "funny".

When you sign up for a subscription to a comic book or magazine, the only thing you know up-front is what the general type of content will be. You do not know the specifics of what will be in each issue ahead of time. For example, you don't know what the story in the next 12 issues of a comic book are going to be, in a magazine (especially news-focused) you don't know what the exact content of articles will be.

For the MOTUC, the general "type of content" is that you will get a MOTUC action figure (non-bonus or repaint, as Mattel has said numerous times). The exact content is which figure will come each month. Luckily, the model Mattel is using is similar to what we have with comics; the exact content for a specific month is "advanced solicited" a few months in advance.

The only reason subscribing blindly should be a problem is if you know there are figures you may not want. The subscription service is really for people (like me) who enjoy all things MOTUC & want to get all of the standard figures (and probably many of the bonus figures).

My only "complaint" about the subscription is that if we want the "extra" figure on months that there are extras, we have to pay separate shipping and handling fees. Unless subscription figs ship prior to "go live" time, it would be nice (maybe for next year's subscription) if we could order the extra figure and put in like a subscription number or something to have the figures bundled for shipment to save Mattel and us a little bit of money.

As for Cringer... what I would LOVE to see is a "package", maybe at SDCC NEXT year, with Adam and Cringer together. But I am so stoked about getting Battle Cat in the near future... YAY!

The main difference when comparing to a magazine subscription though.......if you aren't happy with the magazine.........you can cancel the subscription.

[Scare Glow]

With the current economic climate, overall commitment of expense, and complete lack of disclosure as to what is actually being purchased, a twelve month subscription is, IMHO, a bit unreasonable. When weighed against the no tolerance absolutely no cancellations policy, it becomes even more undesirable (like to see how well this pans out when some people fall on hard times and the credit card on file gets frozen/cancelled).

Quarterly subscriptions should be an option, and considering that this in fact the formula they’re starting out with, it certainly is not unreasonable to assume they could implement it. It’s a better option for customers and probably better for Mattel, as the smaller commitment/lower risk entailed will attract more people.

[PrinceAdam101]

Yeah, the answers were "short". However, I believe some of these questions have been answered before in other forms. And, some of the selected questions dealved into "off base" subject matter which can be answered simply by a "no".
We have to remember that if we all want the new toyline to continue & make all these characters we dream of having, then we need to not ask questions suggesting financial bailouts and "cut me a deal on shipping". I imagine that it's hard for a project like this to get off the ground and then keep going. Not to sound negative: interest is WAY UP and Hordak sells were through the roof! I'm betting that those Teela and Man-at-Arms figures are going to do remarkably well!