Answers to WTFWTK 2.22!

[anti-hero]

As far as the production numbers...since he mentioned the limit remaining at 10 I think it was a "wink wink, hint hint the numbers will be the same" kind of thing. Just a hunch.

[Arthur]

The numbers are going to be lower. That's obvious. He wouldn't have replied with a "no comment" if they were going to be the same. They also mentioned in another site's faq that they might offer a 2011 subscription for bonuses as well. And among the reasons provided for not doing it in 2010 he said that they have no clue how well the bonuses will sell compared to the regular releases. Which does not just mean that the numbers are going to be lower, but probably also MUCH lower to begin with.

[Midwinter]

They also mentioned in another site's faq that they might offer a 2011 subscription for bonuses as well. And among the reasons provided for not doing it in 2010 he said that they have no clue how well the bonuses will sell compared to the regular releases.

Not sure where you pulled this information from, but I hope this is bogus.

Wouldn't a subscription service help them to regulate their production numbers knowing that a certain amount of people want the figures? I don't understand how they are running the subscription service. The only reason behind this kind of service is to help them (obviously it is not providing any extra benefit to the customer since no $$$ was taken off the price of the figures). Why can't they provide a subscription sevice on the bonus figures? Have they already had to put in their budget and production numbers for next year's production? Is this a limitation since the products are being produced in Hong Kong?

Coming from the soft drink industry (and it may just be easier since we are dealing with cheaper products and production being done locally) if we need extra product and we have customers that are guaranteeing purchases we secure the resources we need, we make people work over time and we get the product out no matter what the obstacle. We take product orders as late as 48 hour notice and air ship materials if we have to so we can satisfy our customers. It seems like if people are willing to sign up for a subscription service you could secure the resources, labor and production lines needed especially with months of advance notice.

[Arthur]

Q: Why isn’t Battle Cat and the "bonus" figures included in the Club Eternia Subscription?

A: At this point, we don’ know now well a second figure as well as a larger beast figure will do yet. Once we can gauge sales we can look at including these in a 2011 subscription. We also don’t know how many bonus figures and larger beasts we will be doing in 2010. Again, we can make a better call once we see how Goddess, Zodak and Battle Cat do. The only thing we know we are doing for sure in 2010 are the 12 monthly figures. This is why they are part of Club Eternia and other figures are not.

If the bonus figures and larger scale beasts do well and we can lock in how may we will do per year, then we can look at including them in 2011. Additionally, many times figures run late for one reason or another. (such as the case of Mer-Man). The bonus figures are our insurance police to make sure at least one new figure goes on sale each month.

http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/m...or-august-2009
--> 4th question in second batch

http://www.actionfigurepics.com/2009...nd-up-for-8159
--> Question 8

..and many many more around.

[King Kahn]

the.overlord & King Kahn:

Tallstar hit the nail on the head.

It wasn't about specific numbers, it was to see the relation to existing production, which relates to answers we've received before on similar questions.
In the past, we got responses that the numbers were increased or the same. So, take a non-answer to mean what you will.

Also, these questions aren't always just about numbers. Sometimes people ask that in conjunction with another part of their question, which is the real subject of interest. Doesn't hurt to leave it in the question, especially since they have answered production related questions before.

As long as we aren't asking specific production runs, which they won't answer,
and DO ask about comparative productions so people have an idea what to expect, which are questions they have answered, I don't see what the fuss is about.
Let's not make a mountain out of a mole hill.

true. however it DOES seem to hurt at times to leave that part of the question in. here is an example(a bad one but it will illustrate my point)

Q: why can't you do a pre-order system that way you'd have a better idea on how to increase production or better yet how close are we to retail production line numbers.


A: sorry we do not give out information about the qty of items.


see, they usually dodge the REAL part of the question since they have a "backdoor" out of the question because there is an easy out.

if the question would just have been edited or altered slightly then they'd have at least had to focus more on the subject of the question which is about "pre-orders"

this is what i was talking about when i said keeping all the qty talk out of questions.

we can assume they will produce more on each sell out figure until they say otherwise since that is the answer they will give when we ask about making more of XXXXX character. they always say "there is a chance sold out characters will be offered again in slightly tweaked packaging".

SKU (stockkeeping unit, sometimes spelled "Sku") is an identification, usually alphanumeric, of a particular product that allows it to be tracked for inventory purposes. Typically, a SKU is associated with any purchasable item in a store or catalog. For example, a shirt of a particular style and size might have an SKU of "3726-8," meaning "Style 3726, size 8." The SKU identification for a product may or may not be made visible to a customer. SKU numbers can sometimes be seen in online e-commerce sites.

An SKU is not the same as a product model number from a manufacturer, although the model number could form all or part of the SKU. The SKU is established by the merchant.

from:

http://searchcio-midmarket.techtarge...213590,00.html

yeah i was gonna answer this inquiry as well. he shouldn't have used the term SKU since not everyone is familiar with it.

basically he is stating all the beasts/perhaps vehicles in that size range are classified as the same TYPE of item. for example:
single figures
deluxe figures
two packs
beast(battlecat)

these are all dif SKUs in the way he was referring to it