Castle - when will we know?

[WDWFreak53]

Calm down...you need to realize that they need to count them. Why keep it open while they are counting so that they are just cancelling more orders if it doesn't go through? It'll open back up once they know that it's 100% a go.

- - - Updated - - -

This may be a dumb question... but why would someone want to order one through BBTS and pay more instead of doing it directly through Matty.
I understand how BBTS makes sense for figures, but how does it makes sense for this playset?

People are willing to pay more...to not deal with Digital River.
I'm with you though...I don't get it.

[Replikor]

I'm waiting for the results as well, Reppy. Want to know if my meal will be ready!

http://devilsfoe.com/wp-content/uplo...-animation.gif

Bring it Evil One!!! lol

I got my slayers toolkit ready and waiting.. just for you...

[scott metzger]

People are willing to pay more...to not deal with Digital River.
I'm with you though...I don't get it.

Because Big Bad never tried to charge me hundreds of dollars for merchandise I didn't buy. I'd have to be ten kinds of fool to ever give DR access to a credit card again.

Some folks haven't just had poor customer service with DR, some have had major problems that border on the criminal.

[audman]

This may be a dumb question... but why would someone want to order one through BBTS and pay more instead of doing it directly through Matty.
I understand how BBTS makes sense for figures, but how does it makes sense for this playset?

Wonder if they are better on shipping options? Not sure want to know this myself since you would have to absorb the shipping paid by BBTS and their markup. I don't hate Matty enough to go third party. We pay enough as it is.

edit....

Well Scott just answered it lol. It makes perfect sense that way.

[Kowl]

Because Big Bad never tried to charge me hundreds of dollars for merchandise I didn't buy. I'd have to be ten kinds of fool to ever give DR access to a credit card again.

Some folks haven't just had poor customer service with DR, some have had major problems that border on the criminal.

But the BBTS preorder price is 370... Thats $120 more than Matty ! Thats a huge amount to pay to avoid dealing with DR.
If you are that afraid of DR, just go to Wal Mart and get one of those AMEX Blue Bird pre-paid cards. DR could never overcharge one of those.

[audman]

But the BBTS preorder price is 370... Thats $120 more than Matty ! Thats a huge amount to pay to avoid dealing with DR.
If you are that afraid of DR, just go to Wal Mart and get one of those AMEX Blue Bird pre-paid cards. DR could never overcharge one of those.

Gonna guess they are probably easier to work returns with than matty is too.

[Shadowcat]

This may be a dumb question... but why would someone want to order one through BBTS and pay more instead of doing it directly through Matty.
I understand how BBTS makes sense for figures, but how does it makes sense for this playset?

It may have to do with payment options. Some people may be planning on using their Paypal account. Some may need or want the funds out of their pocket now if they have the money now, so they aren't hit with it next year. People may want to use Bill Me Later through Paypal. And maybe others have gift cards or gift certificates to BBTS that they want to use.

[He-Kal]

This is going to be such a bitter pill to swallow if this doesn't go through due to fraud when it looked so close. Not sure why this was apparently only being looked into when the preorder was almost over and causing a delay in letting us know--but oh well If it doesn't go through--that's an extra $300 ill be holding onto next year.

[Replikor]

This is going to be such a bitter pill to swallow if this doesn't go through due to fraud when it looked so close. Not sure why this was apparently only being looked into when the preorder was almost over and causing a delay in letting us know--but oh well If it doesn't go through--that's an extra $300 ill be holding onto next year.

well regardless of the "fraud bulk orders" the numbers posted here are good. an we hit 770 which put us VERY VERY close to our sub numbers. So I think we are fine regardless.

[He-Kal]

well regardless of the "fraud bulk orders" the numbers posted here are good. an we hit 770 which put us VERY VERY close to our sub numbers. So I think we are fine regardless.

I hope you're right--I think I would not be as upset about losing the castle as much as losing the potential for future preorders (think our only chance for another vehicle is by preorder). But, we'll see This is starting to feel like the 2000 presidential election

[VaultsofGrayskull]

Matty web designer note to self: add an "are you joking?" question to the checkout page.

[Kowl]

well regardless of the "fraud bulk orders" the numbers posted here are good. an we hit 770 which put us VERY VERY close to our sub numbers. So I think we are fine regardless.

Of course only Scott knows, but I'd be VERY surprised in the 2013 subscription # was only around 750/800.
There are probably a lot of non-ORG buyers out there. I'd guess at least 1,500, if not more.

[Daniel Lynch]

well regardless of the "fraud bulk orders" the numbers posted here are good. an we hit 770 which put us VERY VERY close to our sub numbers. So I think we are fine regardless.

I'm glad we contributed our usual 10%, I just hope the non-Org masses out there picked up there usual tab too!

- - - Updated - - -

Of course only Scott knows, but I'd be VERY surprised in the 2013 subscription # was only around 750/800.
There are probably a lot of non-ORG buyers out there. I'd guess at least 1,500, if not more.

If the minimum production quotas for Grayskull & the sub are less than 7500, I'd be amazed.

[He-Kal]

well regardless of the "fraud bulk orders" the numbers posted here are good. an we hit 770 which put us VERY VERY close to our sub numbers. So I think we are fine regardless.

The more time I've had to digest this--the more I think this is a BAD sign. If we were still ok regardless of the possible fraud bulk orders, why wouldn't Mattel just go ahead and give the green light instead of making us sweat this out? I think if it turns out there was fraud,,CG may be doomed Not trying to be negative, just preparing myself for the bad news.

[Replikor]

The more time I've had to digest this--the more I think this is a BAD sign. If we were still ok regardless of the possible fraud bulk orders, why wouldn't Mattel just go ahead and give the green light instead of making us sweat this out? I think if it turns out there was fraud,,CG may be doomed Not trying to be negative, just preparing myself for the bad news.

I hear ya bud.... double bad for me, as I worked so hard trying to advertise for this to go thru for us all. So now I feel like I might have just let everyone down after working everyone up an getting them so excited about it... hoping we will still hear good news tho.

[He-Kal]

I hear ya bud.... double bad for me, as I worked so hard trying to advertise for this to go thru for us all. So now I feel like I might have just let everyone down after working everyone up an getting them so excited about it... hoping we will still hear good news tho.

Not your fault at ALL--you did what you could do and that's ALL that matters --PLEASE don't blame yourself for ANYTHING. You were doing us a BIG favor for what you did and I think everyone here appreciates you for that -You're ANOTHER reason why the He-Man community is the BEST (sorry Transformers ).

[BAKULL]

Hey guys,

Quick update as we head into the final wee hours of the night for the presale.

We re close, but not there yet. So if you are still on the fence or looking to prebuy the castle, I'll hit the ask matty forum tonight for any last min questions that could tip you over! ;-)

Also, we may not know exactly tomorrow AM the results. It looks like a few fans have placed what we would call "bulk" orders for the Castle. Quite a few are from well known existing customers, but a few are folks we don't know. So to ensure our quota is correct, customer service will send out a courtesy email and if needed phone call just to verify some large quota orders. If you do receive a call or email like this, it will help a ton if you can just verify that yes, you did intend to place a large quota order.

It is fantastic to have a few of these as it may mean the difference between going forward and not. But if they are not true, we'd hate for orders like that to push us down into the "can't make it" zone. So please bare with us as we reach out to these customers to ensure these orders are legit and we can know for sure if we are in the "can make it" zone!

We'll have results as soon as we can! I hope we are there, I really do!

Scott

If this is true.....then it would be a real slap in the face to fans to not produce this. Being "real close" from a business standpoint means JUST KEEP IT OPEN UNTIL 1/3/2013...then you will meet your minimums....Come ON!!!!!

[Benedict Judas Hel]

PLEASE don't blame yourself for ANYTHING.

Yeah, Replikator. That's MY job to blame you!

[DJ Force]

I keep reading numbers like 750, 1500 or 7500... Unless someone proves me wrong, these numbers are WAY below where Mattel usualy starts to produce ANY toy.

Back in 200x times they wouldn´t turn on the machines for an item with less than 10.000 units. And to the best of my knowledge this hasn´t changed until today.

So I expect the minimum of figures, weapon paks, castles and subs to be 10.000

To be precise: I assume the amount of 10.000 subs to be the 100% minimum number we had to reach in order for the 2013 sub to move forward. We hit 135%, so my assumption is that 13.500 subs have been sold for 2013. And since we had to meet the same number for Castle Grayskull, I assume the production number here to be 13.500 as well.

By the way: This would result in the CG thermometer ticks to be 500 units of Grayskull/each.

[chuc98]

The 750 number comes from the thread about purchasing the castle. It's assuming hitting the same rough number here, that the overall picture is the same.

[DJ Force]

I know where it´s coming from. I posted and read in that thread, too. But that number is, as I mentioned, ridiculously too low for Mattel to even think about starting the machines.

[SCB]

Yeah 750 is tiny.

[orbles]

I really have no idea how many subs they sell, but I really doubt it was anywhere near 10,000. With the after market prices we see on these things, I think the production amount has to be pretty low. I would be really surprised at this point in the game if the `13 subs sold 5000. Really surprised. My gut tells me more like 2500-3500. I just cant see them selling 5000 or 10000 Grayskulls. I guess we will never know.

[Kowl]

I know where it´s coming from. I posted and read in that thread, too. But that number is, as I mentioned, ridiculously too low for Mattel to even think about starting the machines.

10,000 was the minimum quota for the retail 200x line. Trust me, I would LOVE if they were making 10,000 of each figure. I just don't see it.
750 is way too low though.

[Whiplash7]

The org numbers are just being generalized to the entire motuc customer population. Nothing to take literally. It's just something go on and pass the time while we wait for the verdict. Considering it's close to the org sub numbers, and the fact that there has been little from Mattel lately in terms of promotion, I think it's a good sign.