Answers to WTFWTK 2.91!

**JVS3** · December 19, 2012, 08:10am

**sircory-1** · December 19, 2012, 10:10am

The answer to replikor's questions really irks me.

A preorder system would eliminate the problem of knowing if making a vehicle is justifiable, or how many units need to be produced--so "exectations" shouldn't be an issue with preorders.

Exactly how many freakin' wind raiders did Mattel make that sales were "well below expectations"? I thought everybody loved the wind raider, so what gives?!

**Battle Armoured** · December 19, 2012, 10:58am

These answers are such a cop-out. Especially the one regarding the re-issues.

**Wulff** · December 19, 2012, 11:14am

Originally Posted by Battle Armoured

These answers are such a cop-out. Especially the one regarding the re-issues.

In what way? Every single question was very specifically answered.

**Battle Armoured** · December 19, 2012, 11:19am

Originally Posted by Wulff

In what way? Every single question was very specifically answered.

Loads of people have been asking for Teela, Zodac, Randor etc for a long time now, so it shows there's a market for certain re-issues.

**Captain Atkin** · December 19, 2012, 11:23am

I think they really need to make a second run of FISTO, because it doesn't appear that they made enough the first time. I'm a subscription holder, and yet I never received the figure, because they were 'out of stock'. This tells me that they didn't make enough to meet the subscription demand, and for that reason alone deserves a 2nd run.

As for the Wind Raider, I'm guessing there is still a lot in stock, and once they are sold, they will probably switch to a pre-order system for future vehicles. If they want to sell that stock, they should probably throw in a free gift or something to encourage sales. Maybe a repainted weapon or something.

**TITAN** · December 19, 2012, 12:20pm

Highly unlikely because we did offer a vehicle and it sold well below expectations. If fans want more vehicles the best way to support is to buy the current one.

Fans DID buy the Wind Raider!!!I'm so sick of him telling us we haven't supported vehicle purchases!ToyGuru is so full of it!! It's not our fault you overproduced the vehicle to fill your "quota".
Man.... I'm assuming you now want us to buy multiple Wind Raiders because we have unlimited cash or something! Toy Guru has proven time and time again you cannot believe everything he says!(We intentionally reversed Stinkor's arms so he pops more,etc...)

**Wulff** · December 19, 2012, 12:28pm

Originally Posted by Battle Armoured

Loads of people have been asking for Teela, Zodac, Randor etc for a long time now, so it shows there's a market for certain re-issues.

Just because a some people are loud doesn't mean they are numerous.

Mattel said very clearly that no reissue besides He-man did well, so it only makes sense not to do any more.

- - - Updated - - -

Originally Posted by TITAN

Fans DID buy the Wind Raider!!!I'm so sick of him telling us we haven't supported vehicle purchases!ToyGuru is so full of it!! It's not our fault you overproduced the vehicle to fill your "quota". Man.... I'm assuming you now want us to buy multiple Wind Raiders because we have unlimited cash or something! Toy Guru has proven time and time again you cannot believe everything he says!(We intentionally reversed Stinkor's arms so he pops more,etc...)

Mattel doesn't release sales numbers, so there's no reason to think the Wind Raider sold well. Especially when they are straight telling us it did not.

If the Wind Raider was a success, of course they would be doing more vehicles. Why would they leave money on the table?

**shadowfall1976** · December 19, 2012, 12:53pm

Originally Posted by Wulff

Just because a some people are loud doesn't mean they are numerous.

Mattel said very clearly that no reissue besides He-man did well, so it only makes sense not to do any more.

Well to be fair Teela never had a second run to judge anything by, and the original stock of her they sat on instead of selling it out, then trying her re-issue....so it is a bit of a cop out, and non accurate, because many with first run only, they sat on stock instead of leaving them open for sale, selling out, then running a new run....

**Prahvus** · December 19, 2012, 01:32pm

More negative and irritating answers, this month ! Sometimes I wonder if there's still a use for those "what the fans want to know" and "questions and answers"... because we're clearly not told much anymore outside of convention reveals !

**Dynamo of Eternia** · December 19, 2012, 01:37pm

While we don't know what the minimum quotas actually are, I think the problem with reissues is that while there may be a decent amount of people who still want to buy a figure that is no longer available with little to no customer service stock left to speak of, the minimum number of figures that Mattel would need to produce in order for it to be worth while to have the factory do another run of the figure (since there's probably a lot of work involved in getting the factory set up to make that particular figure again... getting the right molds with the right colored plastic... having people set up to paint the figures, etc) likely far exceeds the number of people who would actually buy it, leaving them with tons of leftovers.

So, it's sort of a catch-22. For figures like Teela, or even more so Fisto (with whom some people didn't even get their subs filled), the problem would be Mattel having tons of leftovers that they couldn't sell. And they probably can't do a smaller run than what they already consider to be the minimum because the factory likely charges them a certain amount of money to even get things set to produce more of that figure, regardless of how many are made... and if they did a smaller run, they would likely pay more money to have them produced than what they would sell the figures for (or they would have to mark those figures way up, resulting in people not buying them and possibly just going to ebay).

It does stink, particularly in the case of Fisto since they never even had enough to fill all orders or have any for customer service issues.

I do agree that the answer to the vehicle question is ridiculous. While the Wind Raider is a high profile vehicle, maybe some people just didn't want it as much as another like the Battle Ram. Another factor to consider is that more people might be inclined to preorder if whether or not the item goes into production is based on how many orders they get. In the case of the Wind Raider, those who have been on the fence about it or were put off by the December release date last year held off, and after they put it back on the site a few months later, it's been consistently available. There's less of an 'urgency' to buy it. But if people know that they may not get it at all without preordering, then that may chance people's minds. Plus if they were to handle it at all like the Grayskull preorder is being handled, there would be almost nothing that they have to do to get the ball rolling other than putting up the preorder. Other than showing up old images of the Grayskull prototype and some blue print layouts, there really wasn't much work that went into it. So, if they put a preorder and it doesn't go through, then they aren't really out anything.

**Wulff** · December 19, 2012, 01:37pm

Originally Posted by shadowfall1976

Well to be fair Teela never had a second run to judge anything by, and the original stock of her they sat on instead of selling it out, then trying her re-issue....so it is a bit of a cop out, and non accurate, because many with first run only, they sat on stock instead of leaving them open for sale, selling out, then running a new run....

They've done plenty of reissues of other figures, all of which have apparently failed besides he-man. So they can, and have, calculated that a teela reissue would not sell.

Not sure what you're talking about 'sitting on stock'. Mattel of course hold customer service stock, but they are not holding some secret run of teelas and just not releasing it.

**He-Kal** · December 19, 2012, 02:07pm

Originally Posted by sircory-1

The answer to replikor's questions really irks me.

A preorder system would eliminate the problem of knowing if making a vehicle is justifiable, or how many units need to be produced--so "exectations" shouldn't be an issue with preorders.

Exactly how many freakin' wind raiders did Mattel make that sales were "well below expectations"? I thought everybody loved the wind raider, so what gives?!

Yeah, I REALLY dont get why they can't even try a preorder for Battleram,etc

Have we not proved over and over as a fan base that we could make it happen--these answers are bewildering at best

**shadowfall1976** · December 19, 2012, 02:10pm

Originally Posted by Wulff

They've done plenty of reissues of other figures, all of which have apparently failed besides he-man. So they can, and have, calculated that a teela reissue would not sell.

Not sure what you're talking about 'sitting on stock'. Mattel of course hold customer service stock, but they are not holding some secret run of teelas and just not releasing it.

Can you say for fact, with proof, they have calculated Teela wouldn't sell? Can't gauge or calculate something that never was....And Teela's second run never was. Also If they had stock, never sold her since 2009, and her demand is high....if no one else in the line....how can they say she would not have sold well without numbers from a second run as it was....her original stock sold out, and even if her stock was limited to CS stock the last few sales....she sold within minutes both times. Teela, if no one else is a prime candidate for a second run, or at least a 2.0 version. This was my point.

Basically Teela's remaining stock sold so fast each time she was offered, so how can they say they calculated a second run of her wouldn't sell out....And Teela has been sold a few times since last year, hence the sitting on stock, where did I say anything about a secret stash?

And as you said yourself, "They've done plenty of reissues of other figures, all of which have apparently failed besides he-man." They never ran Teela a second time, they still had original stock left that they never put back up for sale to sell through (sitting on stock), so they couldn't have known how well she could have or would have done as a re-issue. I mean why have a figure and not resell it since her original sale date, then suddenly once re-issues are done, say she wouldn't sell well, and with her remaining stock selling super fast....apparently she can sell fast.

**He-Kal** · December 19, 2012, 02:28pm

Originally Posted by Wulff

- - - Updated - - -

Mattel doesn't release sales numbers, so there's no reason to think the Wind Raider sold well. Especially when they are straight telling us it did not.

If the Wind Raider was a success, of course they would be doing more vehicles. Why would they leave money on the table?

They are leaving money on the table if they don't even try a preorder for vechicles (esp Battleram) that would more than likely easily outsell the Windraider. People get it that the Windraider didn't sell well and were not asking Mattel to blindly produce a new vehicle on the chance it may sit like the Windraider has.If they do a preorder they are giving us the chance to show enough support for other vehicles to be made like Castle Grayskull. If the preorder fails, then oh well Mattel can say they tried at least...

**phantom1592** · December 19, 2012, 02:41pm

Originally Posted by Battle Armoured

Loads of people have been asking for Teela, Zodac, Randor etc for a long time now, so it shows there's a market for certain re-issues.

Teela deserves a second release. That's just a fact. between the bobble head and the year one status and all, she's pretty high on the demand list. Add in the fact taht she has 2 display modes and she really needs to come back out...

But seriously?? Randor??!?!!? Where was THIS demand?? They released a new randor and he took longer to sell then nearly all the others... He's a pegwarmer at best. I've seen demand for EP randor, and 200x Randor.... but a re-release of first Randor??? That I haven't seen.

Zodac HAS been rereleased. We've gotten him offered a couple times on matty and then the MOTU/DC pack... So his time is done.

**bribri4u** · December 19, 2012, 07:47pm

i would presonally prefer they took the tooling dollars that would be needed for the Battle Ram and make as many figures as they can with that money. Gives us some of the more unique sculpts that are remaining Two Bad, Mantenna, Modulok, Sagitar, Mermista, Saurod, Dragstor, Extendar, Madame Razz, Gwildor, Blast Attack, Rio Blast, Rokkon, Stonedar, Granita, Dylamug, Hunga.

**shadowfall1976** · December 19, 2012, 09:53pm

Originally Posted by bribri4u

i would presonally prefer they took the tooling dollars that would be needed for the Battle Ram and make as many figures as they can with that money. Gives us some of the more unique sculpts that are remaining Two Bad, Mantenna, Modulok, Sagitar, Mermista, Saurod, Dragstor, Extendar, Madame Razz, Gwildor, Blast Attack, Rio Blast, Rokkon, Stonedar, Granita, Dylamug, Hunga.

As much as I'd love Attack Trak, I would prefer figures to vehicles and other things except Weapons Packs....so therefore I agree, but if they had a PO for Attack Trak....I'd have to buy it....have to.

Originally Posted by phantom1592

Teela deserves a second release. That's just a fact. between the bobble head and the year one status and all, she's pretty high on the demand list. Add in the fact taht she has 2 display modes and she really needs to come back out...

But seriously?? Randor??!?!!? Where was THIS demand?? They released a new randor and he took longer to sell then nearly all the others... He's a pegwarmer at best. I've seen demand for EP randor, and 200x Randor.... but a re-release of first Randor??? That I haven't seen.

Zodac HAS been rereleased. We've gotten him offered a couple times on matty and then the MOTU/DC pack... So his time is done.

Teela & Zodac yes, they needed another run back when, and would have sold, but they never had the same opportunity to find out, and neither have had the burst. Yet, Buzz Off & Carnivus had bigger or 2nd runs....really who needed reissues of them?

That is what I was saying, CS stock or not, the last 2 times Teela was sold on Matty, her stock was gone in minutes....and Matty sat on her stock for almost 3 years instead of selling it out, and running a re-issue back when they still did that. She would still sell, but maybe it' a good thing....maybe she'll get a 2.0 as a non sub Bonus figure someday like BP She-Ra did.

**MC Modulok** · December 20, 2012, 03:54am

These answers are moronic. The answer to 1. means Mattel can't even be bothered to see - through a thermometer preorder at no cost to them - if a better choice of vehicle would sell sufficiently to produce them a profit. 2. was a potential out to make Toy Guru's own Gary Stu character actually make a modicum of sense and he chose to answer it like a stubborn child. And by now everyone should know that 4 and 5 would be answered that way. There's no point in Mattel having a Q and A if they're just going to be answered like that.

**Tallstar** · December 20, 2012, 05:10am

The answer to #4 is confusing and a little misleading. I'm pretty sure at one point we were told that only core headlining characters (i.e. He-Man, Skeletor etc.) sold well in a second run, so I'm not sure how we went from *that* to the polar opposite with everything underperforming in a second run except for He-Man. Furthermore, when He-Man was initially released, not only were the production numbers lower than later releases but he was not at all a runaway success. Mattel were underwhelmed with the modest number of units sold. So when they later went to do a second run during the period of time when the line was gaining a lot of momentum, and corrected the shoulders and face paint on He-Man for the second release, of course expectations would be met.

**Wulff** · December 20, 2012, 09:00am

Originally Posted by shadowfall1976

Can you say for fact, with proof, they have calculated Teela wouldn't sell? Can't gauge or calculate something that never was....And Teela's second run never was. Also If they had stock, never sold her since 2009, and her demand is high....if no one else in the line....how can they say she would not have sold well without numbers from a second run as it was....her original stock sold out, and even if her stock was limited to CS stock the last few sales....she sold within minutes both times. Teela, if no one else is a prime candidate for a second run, or at least a 2.0 version. This was my point.

Basically Teela's remaining stock sold so fast each time she was offered, so how can they say they calculated a second run of her wouldn't sell out....And Teela has been sold a few times since last year, hence the sitting on stock, where did I say anything about a secret stash?

And as you said yourself, "They've done plenty of reissues of other figures, all of which have apparently failed besides he-man." They never ran Teela a second time, they still had original stock left that they never put back up for sale to sell through (sitting on stock), so they couldn't have known how well she could have or would have done as a re-issue. I mean why have a figure and not resell it since her original sale date, then suddenly once re-issues are done, say she wouldn't sell well, and with her remaining stock selling super fast....apparently she can sell fast.

You don't need to actually do something to know it will fail. No company would ever stay in business if that were the case.

Mattel already has a mountain of data to work with:
- How fast Teela sold out
- How fast Teela re-offers of customer service stock sold
- How well reissues of many other figures have sold, relative to their initial release sellout times.

You can't really make a judgement call without this data, which none of us fans have. But in any event, Mattel has straight up just told us that no other figures warrant re-issues.

Originally Posted by He-Kal

They are leaving money on the table if they don't even try a preorder for vechicles (esp Battleram) that would more than likely easily outsell the Windraider. People get it that the Windraider didn't sell well and were not asking Mattel to blindly produce a new vehicle on the chance it may sit like the Windraider has.If they do a preorder they are giving us the chance to show enough support for other vehicles to be made like Castle Grayskull. If the preorder fails, then oh well Mattel can say they tried at least...

Even if there is no sculpting in advance, pre-orders don't cost zero. There's concept/design art to be done, material costing, legal team approvals, and I'm sure a ton of other things.

There's also a risk of doing a pre-order and having it fail. It would damage the brand if the pre-order didn't succeed, which is not worth it just to prove to fans that it wouldn't work.

**Vearn** · December 20, 2012, 11:02am

For the one that asked to see the Armor of Rattlor, you just havo to write: Rattlor Armor in Google, check Images, and it's the third one. From PixelDan Web.

**shadowfall1976** · December 20, 2012, 12:02pm

Originally Posted by Wulff

You don't need to actually do something to know it will fail. No company would ever stay in business if that were the case.

Mattel already has a mountain of data to work with:
- How fast Teela sold out
- How fast Teela re-offers of customer service stock sold
- How well reissues of many other figures have sold, relative to their initial release sellout times.

You can't really make a judgement call without this data, which none of us fans have. But in any event, Mattel has straight up just told us that no other figures warrant re-issues.

Mattel also tells us other BS, and in that same breath they tell us no re-issues before Man-E-Faces....at the same time telling us no more re-issues at all....so clearly they don't even know, and Mattel wouldn't have all the Teela data before stopping the re-issues, because Teela just recently sold Completely out....they should have sold her off back when they were still doing runs, so she would have gotten a second run, also it has been said before a few times, by Scott....that He-Man was not the only best selling Re-issue....

Problem is they ran off unwanted figures as second runs, instead of the figures that would sell....Carnivus....Really? Buzz Off? Did they really warrant second runs?

Another problem is, Skeletor for one had like 8 re-issue, or re-sale periods....how many runs that translates into would be at least 3 or 4, 3 for sure for Skeletor....1st had the open hand, 2nd had the closed hand, and they did one more after that....was that too many? He's in the Essentials....right? Some figures just had too many run off, not all figures would or have sold badly....regardless as to what Mattel says. Mattel says all re-issues sold badly aside from He-Man, that is just so much crap....MAA sold really well, and until last years Black Friday sale, they sat on tons of his stock for over a year, and it was well more than CS stock. And his Ebay prices at that time also contradict Mattel's statement, as does Teela's current Ebay prices....Mattel can say whatever they like the truth is actually out there, if you look. Look at the sold out figures on BBTS, then look at the ones being clearanced....that is data Mattel should have looked at when offering 2nd runs....if Teela is gone, yet they still have 200 Buzz Off's....that should tell you something.

Teela....would sell fast, but like I also said, maybe it's best, that way we can get a 2.0 somewhere down the road. We Got She-Ra, and somewhat a He-Man with the NA figure coming...he has the "aloft" hands now.

And as I said, I believe nothing Mattel says, because tomorrow, or even in the same breath or a later sentence, they contradict themselves.

Originally Posted by Tallstar

The answer to #4 is confusing and a little misleading. I'm pretty sure at one point we were told that only core headlining characters (i.e. He-Man, Skeletor etc.) sold well in a second run, so I'm not sure how we went from *that* to the polar opposite with everything underperforming in a second run except for He-Man. Furthermore, when He-Man was initially released, not only were the production numbers lower than later releases but he was not at all a runaway success. Mattel were underwhelmed with the modest number of units sold. So when they later went to do a second run during the period of time when the line was gaining a lot of momentum, and corrected the shoulders and face paint on He-Man for the second release, of course expectations would be met.

This is what I was saying as well. It was said before that many of the core characters (except the ones that never had a chance for second runs, Teela, Tri-Klops, Zodac...) sold well as re-issues....Otherwise the data is impossible to calculate for those that never existed as second runs....

Also it's taken away from the fact that even though DR has tons of stock of certain figures like MAA, & Tri-Klops, and limited stock of Teela....they sat on that stock instead of offering it all along....Teela was not resold since her sale date 2009, Ebay was demanding and getting $60+, yet they had stock left, and they knew then there was a demand for her, just as they know for sure now, Ebay at $50+ proves that much. Tri-Klops was going for $60 on Ebay, and all along Matty had tons of his stock....MAA was demanding and getting $80+ again, Matty had tons of his stock left....

Sorry, but real sales on Ebay, speak volumes, and Mattel ****** me off with the "loud Minority". If the Org & the few other He-Man boards represents only a fraction of the collector base....it's well many more than a Loud Minority, you can do nice little estimates of what a community as a whole does, by using a small focus group....and the Org....is just that.

Loud minority my ass, it's funny how a minority turns into a majority when it's something no one or not many want....Star Sisters, so fan demanded....that hardly anyone outside of the POP community cared, and even then, many POP fans wanted real main POP/TGR characters, and are still waiting. Foe Men....Vykron....Gygor....

Mattel, numbers and truth just never add up or mix.

**snakeeyes0217** · December 20, 2012, 12:32pm

Originally Posted by JVS3

He-Man's symbol is not an "Iron Cross" but a Trollan symbol of Power."

Gag! Gag! Cough, cough, gag!

**bcrduke** · December 20, 2012, 01:00pm

Come on, people

All the answers are designed to stir up fear so that you Subscribe and/or buy doubles or triples of existing items.

Scott did this with JLU. See below:

Originally Posted by Wulff

Just because a some people are loud doesn't mean they are numerous.

Mattel said very clearly that no reissue besides He-man did well, so it only makes sense not to do any more.

- - - Updated - - -

Mattel doesn't release sales numbers, so there's no reason to think the Wind Raider sold well. Especially when they are straight telling us it did not.

If the Wind Raider was a success, of course they would be doing more vehicles. Why would they leave money on the table?

With JLU, there were instances where Scott would say, "If these jlu items don't sell out, the line will end, so you should buy more, and/or tell your friends to buy."

So some people did just that - they bought more than they needed. But not that many did this.

And voila: the next round of jlu stuff was released.

The same thing happened. More scare tactics.

But the items were released.

This was WITHOUT a pre-order.

A pre-order WOULD be reasonable. The problem is likely whether Scott can get the extra money for that SKU.

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