|
Post by Triple S on Jan 20, 2019 10:36:55 GMT -5
You forgot "or quit the hobby." Since I'm such a moron what other options would you propose that dont involve a massive corporation conforming to your wants? Consumers drive what companies do, you mouth breather. They really don’t, though. The overall sales do, but person A saying “I want more Flashbacks in the line” or “My local stores need to have more of this line” isn’t the priority. I feel you’ve never worked a day of retail or sales in your entire life. Either that, or have never been in a role where you’ve done ordering and have dealt with sales representatives/vendors in your job. Many factors go into product being scarce in specific areas that aren’t to be blamed on Mattel’s part. This forum is just full of people who are sometimes too demanding of perfection 24/7.
|
|
|
Post by kennyw86v2 on Jan 20, 2019 10:50:59 GMT -5
Consumers drive what companies do, you mouth breather. They really don’t, though. The overall sales do, but person A saying “I want more Flashbacks in the line” or “My local stores need to have more of this line” isn’t the priority. I feel you’ve never worked a day of retail or sales in your entire life. Either that, or have never been in a role where you’ve done ordering and have dealt with sales representatives/vendors in your job. Many factors go into product being scarce in specific areas that aren’t to be blamed on Mattel’s part. This forum is just full of people who are sometimes too demanding of perfection 24/7. This is entirely correct, like it or not. The only thing that speaks to billion dollar companies is sales. If it sells, they don't give a fraction of a crap who it sells to.
|
|
|
Post by fzmadness on Jan 20, 2019 10:52:09 GMT -5
Honestly it sucks so bad lately. I havent found half of the exclusives at all. Does Mattel even give a crap at this point? Ive bee en collecting for 30 years but this is probably the worst it has ever been. Im not saying Bill or any one person can fix it but does he even read this board anymore to get a feel of what is going on?
|
|
|
Post by Triple S on Jan 20, 2019 10:56:44 GMT -5
Honestly it sucks so bad lately. I havent found half of the exclusives at all. Does Mattel even give a crap at this point? Ive bee en collecting for 30 years but this is probably the worst it has ever been. Im not saying Bill or any one person can fix it but does he even read this board anymore to get a feel of what is going on? No, because this forum is flooded with children and adults who do nothing but bitch and complain when something isn’t perfect. “They used the wrong shade of gold on the E57 Seth Rollins. BURN DOWN MATTEL’S CORPORATE OFFICES AND GIVE THE LICENSE TO NECA!!!”
|
|
|
Post by kennyw86v2 on Jan 20, 2019 11:01:57 GMT -5
I completely agree with your scalper comment. The problem lies with the idiots would pay these exorbitant prices they are asking and not with the scalpers themselves. It doesn't matter what they charge, the problem is that there are people out there willing to be these crazy prices which is why they continue to exist. If no one pays $50 or $100 for a $20 mass produced figure then the scalper will be forced to lower their price until they get to a price that someone is willing to pay or they will remove the listing and try again later. So what are people who REALLY want a figure and can't find it at retail meant to do then? What are Canadian/European/Australian collectors meant to do - when the figure (or series) isn't even released in their country - so literally have NO chance of ever finding it? Sometimes the ONLY option is to pay secondary/eBay prices - or not have the figure at all... and if it's a figure you really really want - and you can afford the secondary market price, then I don't see the problem... eg. King Harley was not even released in the UK, so my only option was to pay the secondary market price - or not have him in my collection. I really wanted the figure - and I could afford it - so I paid the secondary market price. Heck, I'd LOVE to have paid retail price for him or walked into a toy store here and bought one, but - newsflash - you don't always get what you want in life. I'm actually pleased he was on eBay though, so at least I had a chance of getting him. And if it turns out that in the coming months, hundreds suddenly start showing up at retail, then so be it... you win some, you lose some. But there is also the very real chance that no more will show up and I bought him before the price increases even further... it's already gone from $50 to $90 to $125 - and shows no sign of leveling off. If all this makes me an "idiot", then whatever... I'm an idiot that's happy to have Harley in my collection. I somewhat agree but I have a good job and don’t mind paying extra for something I want. With that said I will use Harley race as an example. No currently released figure that isn’t marketed as limited edition or 1/ ? Should cost hundreds of dollars on the secondary market and never be able to be found at retail. I visit retail a lot in a heavily populated metropolitan area and I didn’t even come close to finding it. That’s silly and somewhat unforgivable considering like I said it’s a “mass retail” item. I don’t blame eBay. I have to blame the people who make these bad decisions and ruin it for everyone.Bingo... the people paying crazy prices on eBay is due to supply and demand - if Mattel and Walmart supplied a decent amount of figures in the first place, it wouldn't happen. Just look at Harley: it will probably be his only Mattel figure and was released, 1 per-case, in SOME Walmarts... of course, he's going to be sought-after, as a lot of people want him and simply can't find/get him at retail. So again, if the only option is to pay the secondary market price or miss-out completely, then quite a few collectors (especially hardcore Flashback/Legends ones) will pay the secondary market price. The option is, and I know its unpopular as hell, to just not have it. I'm telling you man, if people stop paying those prices, they will come down. It might be 6 months, it might be 2 years. But it'll come down to where you'd pay retail price. But people are too impatient. I used to make that mistake. Preordering off ringside for 10 extra bucks per figure. No more. Plenty of stuff I missed, or have missed so far, because of this. But even more stuff I've gotten for 5 or 6 bucks under retail. Because I'm telling you where this is headed. Elites costing $30 in stores. Because Mattel can lean back and say "what? Y'all bitches were paying it anyway. Daddy gotta get paid too"
|
|
MWFD
Main Eventer
Joined on: Sept 19, 2012 11:48:30 GMT -5
Posts: 1,479
|
Post by MWFD on Jan 20, 2019 11:18:33 GMT -5
I’ve gone from purchasing most Mattel legend releases to spending money on premier customizers that can make me factory quality figures and, in many cases, are better than Mattel since they don’t have the budgets to restrict them on deco, accessories, etc.
It’s a choice that, in my opinion, has only made my collection even more unique, and probably not something I would have done had Mattel’s distribution been better. It also doesn’t help knowing how Mattel has treated legend collectors as second-rate citizens (I mean, who releases the last two 90s main-eventers we still haven’t had figures of -Backlund and Mabel- as these super limited store exclusives; what kind of a middle finger is that to legend collectors).
|
|
|
Post by Triple S on Jan 20, 2019 11:29:38 GMT -5
I’ve gone from purchasing most Mattel legend releases to spending money on premier customizers that can make me factory quality figures and, in many cases, are better than Mattel since they don’t have the budgets to restrict them on deco, accessories, etc. It’s a choice that, in my opinion, has only made my collection even more unique, and probably not something I would have done had Mattel’s distribution been better. It also doesn’t help knowing how Mattel has treated legend collectors as second-rate citizens (I mean, who releases the last two 90s main-eventers we still haven’t had figures of -Backlund and Mabel- as these super limited store exclusives; what kind of a middle finger is that to legend collectors). But you’re also paying much more than $20-30 for said customs. Which isn’t a bad thing. Just something to factor in with the cost. You mind posting some pictures of the collection?
|
|
|
Post by Gorilla on Jan 20, 2019 11:38:22 GMT -5
Consumers drive what companies do, you mouth breather. They really don’t, though. The overall sales do, but person A saying “I want more Flashbacks in the line” or “My local stores need to have more of this line” isn’t the priority. I feel you’ve never worked a day of retail or sales in your entire life. Either that, or have never been in a role where you’ve done ordering and have dealt with sales representatives/vendors in your job. Many factors go into product being scarce in specific areas that aren’t to be blamed on Mattel’s part. This forum is just full of people who are sometimes too demanding of perfection 24/7. You've missed the point and are off base. It's not what I want, or some single consumer. It's what the consumers want as a collective. The majority of us squeaky wheels have been reporting that our stores have very little product, which means there is not enough supply to meet demand. On the flipside, there are reports of stores overstocking of undesirable items, see: Sycho Sid and Mizdow from elite 39, or WrestleMania Beefcake. As for the experience part, I'm one of the top sales people in my industry, logistics/supply chain, and have previously owned a $800k revenue a year musical instrument company selling exclusively to Sears Canada (RIP). I'm confident in my industry knowledge. My former colleague also won the rights to ship all Mattel.com orders in the USA and Canada, so I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest I am more inclined to know what I'm talking about compared to some internet troll.
|
|
|
Post by Gorilla on Jan 20, 2019 11:39:16 GMT -5
I’ve gone from purchasing most Mattel legend releases to spending money on premier customizers that can make me factory quality figures and, in many cases, are better than Mattel since they don’t have the budgets to restrict them on deco, accessories, etc. It’s a choice that, in my opinion, has only made my collection even more unique, and probably not something I would have done had Mattel’s distribution been better. It also doesn’t help knowing how Mattel has treated legend collectors as second-rate citizens (I mean, who releases the last two 90s main-eventers we still haven’t had figures of -Backlund and Mabel- as these super limited store exclusives; what kind of a middle finger is that to legend collectors). But you’re also paying much more than $20-30 for said customs. Which isn’t a bad thing. Just something to factor in with the cost. You mind posting some pictures of the collection? Mwfd has an ongoing thread, probably 1-2 pages back. It's an amazing collection. For me, the top collection on the board.
|
|
|
Post by MKSavage on Jan 20, 2019 11:40:32 GMT -5
I’ve gone from purchasing most Mattel legend releases to spending money on premier customizers that can make me factory quality figures and, in many cases, are better than Mattel since they don’t have the budgets to restrict them on deco, accessories, etc. It’s a choice that, in my opinion, has only made my collection even more unique, and probably not something I would have done had Mattel’s distribution been better. It also doesn’t help knowing how Mattel has treated legend collectors as second-rate citizens (I mean, who releases the last two 90s main-eventers we still haven’t had figures of -Backlund and Mabel- as these super limited store exclusives; what kind of a middle finger is that to legend collectors). But you’re also paying much more than $20-30 for said customs. Which isn’t a bad thing. Just something to factor in with the cost. You mind posting some pictures of the collection? Underneath the picture of his collection it says "My WWF Collection 88-98", it's a link click on that and it will take you to his page with all his photos.
|
|
|
Post by Triple S on Jan 20, 2019 11:46:42 GMT -5
But you’re also paying much more than $20-30 for said customs. Which isn’t a bad thing. Just something to factor in with the cost. You mind posting some pictures of the collection? Underneath the picture of his collection it says "My WWF Collection 88-98", it's a link click on that and it will take you to his page with all his photos. Ah, makes sense. I’m on the app, so it doesn’t show signatures on members’ posts. I’ll have to take a look.
|
|
|
Post by BadGirlRyleigh on Jan 20, 2019 12:10:08 GMT -5
And you know, this whole thing might not be an issue, if we hadn’t been complaining about poor distribution for seven years. And then when Bill finally tried to help out nothing ended up changing. This was not a problem during the Jakks era. TRU, Target, and KB toys always had figures in stock. My Walmart was very hot or miss but the ofher stores made up for it. Then KB Toys went away and Target became unreliable, conveniently at the same time that Mattel took over. Looking back, I got most of my Jakks figures at KB, so maybe Jakks had just as bad distribution but KB was always ordering product. Regardless, this is a years long issue and I’m tired of dealing with it.
|
|
|
Post by Nivro™ on Jan 20, 2019 12:21:55 GMT -5
I've never had a problem getting what I need. They're out there you just have to use your resources. The only figure I've ever "overpaid" for was the Backlund from RSC. My theory on that was since we only get about 5 legends per year, it's not gonna hurt to pay double for one because I wont buy another figure for a couple months.
|
|
|
Post by Triple S on Jan 20, 2019 12:25:56 GMT -5
And you know, this whole thing might not be an issue, if we hadn’t been complaining about poor distribution for seven years. And then when Bill finally tried to help out nothing ended up changing. This was not a problem during the Jakks era. TRU, Target, and KB toys always had figures in stock. My Walmart was very hot or miss but the ofher stores made up for it. Then KB Toys went away and Target became unreliable, conveniently at the same time that Mattel took over. Looking back, I got most of my Jakks figures at KB, so maybe Jakks had just as bad distribution but KB was always ordering product. Regardless, this is a years long issue and I’m tired of dealing with it. On the flip side, I’ve never been able to find “new” series at retail. Even during the Jakks Era. I’ve always resorted to RSC and online retailers to get even the most recent figures. I also live right outside of Philadelphia, a hotbed for pro wrestling. So I’ve always assumed that’s why.
|
|
|
Post by Jeremiah on Jan 20, 2019 12:27:19 GMT -5
For me its because my cancer turned terminal
|
|
|
Post by Gorilla on Jan 20, 2019 12:38:01 GMT -5
For me its because my cancer turned terminal If that's true, I'm very sorry to hear.
|
|
|
Post by LA Times on Jan 20, 2019 12:41:56 GMT -5
I've never had a problem getting what I need. They're out there you just have to use your resources. The only figure I've ever "overpaid" for was the Backlund from RSC. My theory on that was since we only get about 5 legends per year, it's not gonna hurt to pay double for one because I wont buy another figure for a couple months. How much was Backlund on Ringside?
|
|
|
Post by Nivro™ on Jan 20, 2019 12:49:12 GMT -5
I've never had a problem getting what I need. They're out there you just have to use your resources. The only figure I've ever "overpaid" for was the Backlund from RSC. My theory on that was since we only get about 5 legends per year, it's not gonna hurt to pay double for one because I wont buy another figure for a couple months. How much was Backlund on Ringside? i think it was $35. I had some other things I needed to pick up too so i got free shipping on it.
|
|
wormnation
Superstar
Joined on: Sept 8, 2018 9:15:31 GMT -5
Posts: 856
|
Post by wormnation on Jan 20, 2019 12:50:58 GMT -5
Consumers drive what companies do, you mouth breather. They really don’t, though. The overall sales do, but person A saying “I want more Flashbacks in the line” or “My local stores need to have more of this line” isn’t the priority. I feel you’ve never worked a day of retail or sales in your entire life. Either that, or have never been in a role where you’ve done ordering and have dealt with sales representatives/vendors in your job. Many factors go into product being scarce in specific areas that aren’t to be blamed on Mattel’s part. This forum is just full of people who are sometimes too demanding of perfection 24/7. kinda like how it's full of arrogant know-it-alls who really dont know as much as they think they do. Good thing for the "block member"option.
|
|
wormnation
Superstar
Joined on: Sept 8, 2018 9:15:31 GMT -5
Posts: 856
|
Post by wormnation on Jan 20, 2019 12:52:23 GMT -5
They really don’t, though. The overall sales do, but person A saying “I want more Flashbacks in the line” or “My local stores need to have more of this line” isn’t the priority. I feel you’ve never worked a day of retail or sales in your entire life. Either that, or have never been in a role where you’ve done ordering and have dealt with sales representatives/vendors in your job. Many factors go into product being scarce in specific areas that aren’t to be blamed on Mattel’s part. This forum is just full of people who are sometimes too demanding of perfection 24/7. You've missed the point and are off base. It's not what I want, or some single consumer. It's what the consumers want as a collective. The majority of us squeaky wheels have been reporting that our stores have very little product, which means there is not enough supply to meet demand. On the flipside, there are reports of stores overstocking of undesirable items, see: Sycho Sid and Mizdow from elite 39, or WrestleMania Beefcake. As for the experience part, I'm one of the top sales people in my industry, logistics/supply chain, and have previously owned a $800k revenue a year musical instrument company selling exclusively to Sears Canada (RIP). I'm confident in my industry knowledge. My former colleague also won the rights to ship all Mattel.com orders in the USA and Canada, so I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest I am more inclined to know what I'm talking about compared to some internet troll. EXACTLY! I'm glad I'm not the only one. This forum sometimes...my God!
|
|