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Post by punksnotdead on Dec 15, 2019 22:10:07 GMT -5
why would they discontinue a new wave they just started Because every wave except the main elite/basic line has been discontinued. Hell, BOA only lasted 4 elites. They announced the 5th one (Kurt Angle) with a promo and it was cancelled. Yeah. I’ll be legit shocked if this line makes it to 2021. We’ve seen them struggle with Defining Moments and Entrance Greats around this price point. The collector driven figures are just a tough sell at a place like Target. There is very little appeal to casual consumers for this kind of item. The problem goes beyond price point, though. We have plenty of Bret already, tons of Warrior, way too many of Nakamura, tons of HBK. At least the Triple H is his most iconic attire. But we have all of these guys already. So these appeal to a niche of collectors within the collector community. That almost never lasts. It’s too specific of an audience for long term retail space.
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Post by Old School Collector on Dec 15, 2019 22:56:10 GMT -5
I hated the look of these when they first showed pictures of them, but after getting my Black Friday order and actually seeing them in person ... I kinda like ‘em.
Obviously, I’m only interested in Flashback/Legends from this line, but they’re not going to last at this price point.
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Post by SteveHulk on Dec 16, 2019 2:33:47 GMT -5
...what's the RRP for these in the US?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2019 3:36:26 GMT -5
The problem goes beyond price point, though. We have plenty of Bret already, tons of Warrior, way too many of Nakamura, tons of HBK. At least the Triple H is his most iconic attire. But we have all of these guys already. In fairness, we have tons of everyone likely to get a figure in this line because it's going to be centered around the very top talent. I'm at least in favor of them doing unique attires for Warrior and (to a smaller extent) Bret. So these appeal to a niche of collectors within the collector community. That almost never lasts. It’s too specific of an audience for long term retail space. It almost makes me wonder if maybe this line shouldn't be an online exclusive. Clearly there's a market for them but it's probably not on store shelves at $30 when there's $10/$15 figures right next to them that parents are more likely to buy their kids.
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Post by Fighter Hayabusa on Dec 16, 2019 7:56:07 GMT -5
From what I can tell based on what I see on shelves and online prices it appears that the flashbacks are selling better than the current roster. Maybe they shift their strategy and make it 2 flashbacks per wave with a current roster person thrown in occasionally.
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Post by stc13 on Dec 16, 2019 8:37:41 GMT -5
From what I can tell based on what I see on shelves and online prices it appears that the flashbacks are selling better than the current roster. Maybe they shift their strategy and make it 2 flashbacks per wave with a current roster person thrown in occasionally. I think the 1/1 strategy is ultimately what could undo the line. Adult collectors are willing to pay $25-30 for a premium figure. But kids are the main demo for current roster wrestlers, and it's a really tough sell to get parents to buy a $25-30 figure when there are $10 and $20 options of the same characters right there on the shelf. They keep marketing the figures as geared towards the figure photography community with the added articulation. But how large of a sub segment is that? Maybe a couple hundred people? I love the line and hope it thrives. But I don't see the current strategy heading in that direction, which is a shame since the demand is clearly there with the right characters. I wouldn't be shocked if the 1/1 format is something that WWE insisted on, since they want the spotlight on current talent.
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Post by LA Times on Dec 16, 2019 8:41:58 GMT -5
...what's the RRP for these in the US? $29.99 USD
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Post by Fighter Hayabusa on Dec 16, 2019 9:08:40 GMT -5
From what I can tell based on what I see on shelves and online prices it appears that the flashbacks are selling better than the current roster. Maybe they shift their strategy and make it 2 flashbacks per wave with a current roster person thrown in occasionally. I think the 1/1 strategy is ultimately what could undo the line. Adult collectors are willing to pay $25-30 for a premium figure. But kids are the main demo for current roster wrestlers, and it's a really tough sell to get parents to buy a $25-30 figure when there are $10 and $20 options of the same characters right there on the shelf. They keep marketing the figures as geared towards the figure photography community with the added articulation. But how large of a sub segment is that? Maybe a couple hundred people? I love the line and hope it thrives. But I don't see the current strategy heading in that direction, which is a shame since the demand is clearly there with the right characters. I wouldn't be shocked if the 1/1 format is something that WWE insisted on, since they want the spotlight on current talent. Current roster choices were also kinda questionable. Ronda has been off TV with no plans of coming back anytime soon. Plus I think her drawing power was greatly overestimated. Shinsuke may have just won the IC title when his figure hit but it doesn’t make up for all the bad booking up to that point. He’s not a top tier talent plus there have been several similar looking figures of him already. Finn is a good figure but there are two other demons that are hitting around the same time.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2019 9:42:47 GMT -5
I think the 1/1 strategy is ultimately what could undo the line. Adult collectors are willing to pay $25-30 for a premium figure. But kids are the main demo for current roster wrestlers, and it's a really tough sell to get parents to buy a $25-30 figure when there are $10 and $20 options of the same characters right there on the shelf. They keep marketing the figures as geared towards the figure photography community with the added articulation. But how large of a sub segment is that? Maybe a couple hundred people? I love the line and hope it thrives. But I don't see the current strategy heading in that direction, which is a shame since the demand is clearly there with the right characters. I wouldn't be shocked if the 1/1 format is something that WWE insisted on, since they want the spotlight on current talent. Current roster choices were also kinda questionable. Ronda has been off TV with no plans of coming back anytime soon. Plus I think her drawing power was greatly overestimated. Shinsuke may have just won the IC title when his figure hit but it doesn’t make up for all the bad booking up to that point. He’s not a top tier talent plus there have been several similar looking figures of him already. Finn is a good figure but there are two other demons that are hitting around the same time. Yeah Nakamura was a REALLY bad pick. They did an audible to get Bret into series 2 over Savage, someone should have made the call to switch Nakamura out too.
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Post by stc13 on Dec 16, 2019 11:50:35 GMT -5
Current roster choices were also kinda questionable. Ronda has been off TV with no plans of coming back anytime soon. Plus I think her drawing power was greatly overestimated. Shinsuke may have just won the IC title when his figure hit but it doesn’t make up for all the bad booking up to that point. He’s not a top tier talent plus there have been several similar looking figures of him already. Finn is a good figure but there are two other demons that are hitting around the same time. Yeah Nakamura was a REALLY bad pick. They did an audible to get Bret into series 2 over Savage, someone should have made the call to switch Nakamura out too. Agreed. Who from the main roster would be a must-have figure in this line? What can you add to Roman or Brock that their Elites don't have? Or even Styles or Rollins, where most of their most popular has already been made in the Elite line. Finn is a perfect fit, but it seems like the Demon character is shelved right now and almost every previous look has been made. Beyond that I honestly draw a blank. The appeal of retired stars is that there is a huge back catalog of unmade, colorful, in demand attires. I don't know how you pull that off when main roster top stars have 3-4 figures a year every year, and modern looks are far less toyetic, imo.
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Post by newgenandy on Dec 16, 2019 12:18:11 GMT -5
All of these are a pass for me even though I'm a huge Bret fan
Someone I'd love to see for this line would be lawler in his iconic blue robe (still can't believe we haven't have one) and we could have a separate head with goatee for a younger version and old school (70s) style and flat (90s era) crowns
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Post by punksnotdead on Dec 16, 2019 12:20:29 GMT -5
The problem goes beyond price point, though. We have plenty of Bret already, tons of Warrior, way too many of Nakamura, tons of HBK. At least the Triple H is his most iconic attire. But we have all of these guys already. In fairness, we have tons of everyone likely to get a figure in this line because it's going to be centered around the very top talent. I'm at least in favor of them doing unique attires for Warrior and (to a smaller extent) Bret. So these appeal to a niche of collectors within the collector community. That almost never lasts. It’s too specific of an audience for long term retail space. It almost makes me wonder if maybe this line shouldn't be an online exclusive. Clearly there's a market for them but it's probably not on store shelves at $30 when there's $10/$15 figures right next to them that parents are more likely to buy their kids. Don't get me wrong, as a guy inside the bubble, I want more Warrior/HBK/Macho, but I'm sure plenty of collectors are sick of most of these guys. It's Mattel's problem, in general. They work through the Legends contracts and WWE won't just sign anyone. So we're at the point where we're seeing the same guys over-and-over again in different attires. I get the business side of it, but as a collector, I don't care. I want as many new faces in this line as possible and it's just happening too slowly imo. I'm happy with DM Bret, and I'm not buying the UE figure. That's just an obstacle of the line being 10 years old when you're trying to sell these kind of figures. As far as the online thing goes, AFA said the Best of AE sets didn't do as well as they'd hoped exclusive to Amazon. In general, I'm in massive favor of online exclusive items via Amazon/RSE/WWE Shop. The Matty Collector format was successful for years and they had terrible logistics compared to places like Amazon and Ringside. I think a collector aimed, online exclusive, release format is the way to go at this price point. The key is doing a limited number of units and never putting them on sale. It would be a consistent revenue stream for Mattel, but they would have to be happy with the set revenue. It's Matty Collector or HasLab or however you want to look at it, but it's focus marketing and fills a demand. Mattel won't do it. They don't have that level of business modeling. If you know the story of Matty collector then you know Mattel as a company (not the design team) doesn't get the collector, and they outright don't really care.
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Post by Fighter Hayabusa on Dec 16, 2019 14:07:20 GMT -5
Yeah Nakamura was a REALLY bad pick. They did an audible to get Bret into series 2 over Savage, someone should have made the call to switch Nakamura out too. Agreed. Who from the main roster would be a must-have figure in this line? What can you add to Roman or Brock that their Elites don't have? Or even Styles or Rollins, where most of their most popular has already been made in the Elite line. Finn is a perfect fit, but it seems like the Demon character is shelved right now and almost every previous look has been made. Beyond that I honestly draw a blank. The appeal of retired stars is that there is a huge back catalog of unmade, colorful, in demand attires. I don't know how you pull that off when main roster top stars have 3-4 figures a year every year, and modern looks are far less toyetic, imo. Roman I think would be a good fit for this line. 3 heads (beard, goatee, man bun), couple different vests, cloth t-shirt, extra hands, universal belt.
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buddyboy101
Superstar
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Post by buddyboy101 on Dec 16, 2019 18:44:15 GMT -5
Ultimate line is pretty weak. Likenesses are way off - esp HBK, Bret (that hair...wtf), poor roster selection (too many modern), etc. Just another failed line with poor execution.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2019 20:09:31 GMT -5
They should make the Triangle of Terror 3 in 1
I know the heights of those 3 vary here or there but they could make a figure with khaki cargo pants and a green tanktop or a camo shirt.
A removable khaki shirt with the medals the 3 of them wore.
Slaughter. Mustafa and adnans heads.
A turban and a black beret.
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Post by PJ on Dec 16, 2019 20:41:56 GMT -5
They seem to be moving around here. Nakamura was starting to back up on the pegs, but over the last week or so he’s been moving as well.
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Post by Old School Collector on Dec 17, 2019 1:14:15 GMT -5
The only reason as to why I hope that the UE Line continues is the budget that they have for flashback attires.
A Neon Green Cowboy style “Macho Man” Randy Savage would be epic !
The upcoming “Nature Boy” Ric Flair should outshine the DM ones, if not, then the line is dying a quick death.
The line is geared towards collectors, so the potential is very much there ... however, I do believe that Mattel is trying to make as much money as possible...which is fine [theyre a business after all] by making them slightly better than elites from their manufacturing cost point.
Basically, make the same budget for 2 figures instead of 6, but not use it all and sell those 2 at a higher msrp and make more profit without the cost of making more product.
Not a knock at the line, but that’s just how I see it.
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Post by Gorilla on Dec 17, 2019 1:30:46 GMT -5
They seem to be moving around here. Nakamura was starting to back up on the pegs, but over the last week or so he’s been moving as well. Hey PJ, can you rename this thread? AFA had already said this line is not going away. The title creates unnecessary anxiety everytime I log in to the general board!
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Post by PJ on Dec 17, 2019 5:06:55 GMT -5
They seem to be moving around here. Nakamura was starting to back up on the pegs, but over the last week or so he’s been moving as well. Hey PJ, can you rename this thread? AFA had already said this line is not going away. The title creates unnecessary anxiety everytime I log in to the general board! Nope I don’t have the control. only the mods of the for the Mattel board (Chicago & JCF) or an Admin can. I can only do things like that on the Classic board and the other toys board.
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chrischrome
Superstar
DM COLLECTOR!
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Posts: 859
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Post by chrischrome on Dec 17, 2019 18:16:38 GMT -5
Hey PJ, can you rename this thread? AFA had already said this line is not going away. The title creates unnecessary anxiety everytime I log in to the general board! Nope I don’t have the control. only the mods of the for the Mattel board (Chicago & JCF) or an Admin can. I can only do things like that on the Classic board and the other toys board. I really do apologize for the thread name guys. I genuinely was under the impression at my time of writing that it was canned. If I could change it I would. Im sorry!!
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