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Post by dynamitekido on Aug 14, 2023 14:10:13 GMT -5
That's a big no for me, they've done enough of them up to this point. Plus, he has plenty of other looks they haven't done yet.
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Post by dynamitekido on Aug 7, 2023 6:56:43 GMT -5
Yeah, and it's basically caused me to buy significantly less through the years. Now I still buy stuff in stores when I find it, but I rarely go figure hunting anymore as its generally a huge waste of time and gasoline.
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Post by dynamitekido on Aug 4, 2023 8:16:48 GMT -5
I'll pick it up for like $9.79 when it eventually ends up on clearance That's literally what I'm waiting for myself. They can keep it for $80.
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Post by dynamitekido on Aug 4, 2023 8:15:31 GMT -5
I like Dakota but I don't collect her figs at all. But it should be said, how the hell did that monstrosity make it to shelves? The scan is terrible, and I had no idea the legs were painted like that. It looks like someone made a custom and took a picture before they were done completing the paint job. JEEZE.
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Post by dynamitekido on Aug 3, 2023 12:22:33 GMT -5
So, after reading here about "Paul" on eBay I think I know what is happening now. If any of you are sneakerheads or are into sneakers in general, you may be familiar with a term called "backdooring". This is something that happens at shoe stores around the country, where they get in a stock of limited release shoes only to already be sold out by the release date. Usually what happens is a manager or store owner is literally selling them for above retail and letting all of the pairs go to a single buyer or a few buyers, only for them to put them up for sale on the resale market at a huge markup. Make me wonder if the same thing is happening with this guy. I've never heard it mentioned before but I've seen and heard enough of this and it's always from Walmart. Sadly, nothing will change unless Mattel actually does something about it, if this is the case. Not saying this is definitely happening here but it certainly sounds like it to me. I don’t think that’s what’s happening here. Apparently he orders his wares directly from Mattel Asia. He basically said as much when he posted some MotU Origins minicomic Man-E-Faces that had a melted bubble. You can also see Mattel cases in some of his listings that have his store’s name printed on them (similar to EE, who I believe also orders direct). And because he’s ordering straight from the manufacturer, he gets domestic exclusives and products way earlier than other retailers. You could be right on this, but correct me if I’m wrong here. Isn’t that RSC deal with Mattel? As in an exclusive deal?
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Post by dynamitekido on Aug 3, 2023 10:04:46 GMT -5
So, after reading here about "Paul" on eBay I think I know what is happening now. If any of you are sneakerheads or are into sneakers in general, you may be familiar with a term called "backdooring". This is something that happens at shoe stores around the country, where they get in a stock of limited release shoes only to already be sold out by the release date. Usually what happens is a manager or store owner is literally selling them for above retail and letting all of the pairs go to a single buyer or a few buyers, only for them to put them up for sale on the resale market at a huge markup. Make me wonder if the same thing is happening with this guy. I've never heard it mentioned before but I've seen and heard enough of this and it's always from Walmart. Sadly, nothing will change unless Mattel actually does something about it, if this is the case. Not saying this is definitely happening here but it certainly sounds like it to me. I still remember when I first started going to toysrus in 1995 for the potf star wars figures and after witnessing a backdoor deal and then learning that manager was fired for selling the short prints (treasure hunts/princess leia/etc) well that caused me to start buying straight from the star wars insider instead or at toy shows. I really thought in this day of technology and security that these kinds of things were a thing of the past. Like you and most of us here, we can't say for sure that is going on but man if it smells like a skunk it usually is just that. I mean I noticed that guy has had s4/s5 superstars sporatically since at least February and the obvious bell that rings for me is: How is he continuously ordering these if the preorder window has past. If he has a stock of 12 of each is one person buying them all because those figure pages are nuked/removed afterwards. Why does it not just show sold out or none in stock. If he is legit than why is he removing those figure pages there and on ebay (they don't self delete once they are up on ebay if someone just buys one or two. He had at least a quantity of 12 listed and anyone can clearly see that 12 did not sell looking at sold/completed listings). I took a screenshot of his quantity if I remember correctly, will look for it now) Edit: mattel and walmart have to know about this guy by now. This could all be simply (partially) resolved by placing limits on preorder quantities. This way one guy can't corner the market. I would think walmart would prefer 100 regular buyers than one because once the exclusives go to target (wishful thinking) than Paul goes with them. Walmart is better off keeping 100 customers who will buy from them exclusive or not. Plus wouldn't they rather have one pissed off guy instead of 100 or 1000s? It does not however resolve the inventory problems as figures are not in stock when they are supposed to be (insert reasons here) at retail or for preorders. I always felt this was a compound problem and it will take time to sort out but walmart has to start caring and paying attention to this trend that has been going on for a while). Personally I don't think they have anyone designated to do that online. Their theft/loss control program is most likely in store only and everything online is automated and supplemented with ai. This is most likely why we are not seeing changes. Even limiting preorders most likely wouldn't work. Especially if they're not tracking actual addresses (which I doubt they will do) but it can also be skirted with using bots while ordering online, VPN's (so that they can't limit you based on your IP address), or just having friends and family with additional addresses and such. I'm not exactly sure what is happening here, but it wouldn't surprise me if he has an in to his local stores and just buys out the stock there dealing with a manager. Maybe he's even an employee of Walmart as well, which would explain his access to the stuff in the first place. I know the word is out there about what I mentioned with sneakers, but I'm not sure how many people are aware of the wrestling figure market out there where they would pick up on something like this in the first place, or even care if they did. Especially if they see constant shelf warming or just live in an area where nobody is really into wrestling. I've seen stores put limits on things like Hot Wheels because they're collectors are notoriously known for being fairly rabid, same thing with pops (at least they were a couple of years ago, I have no idea if it's still that way).
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Post by dynamitekido on Aug 3, 2023 8:27:02 GMT -5
So, after reading here about "Paul" on eBay I think I know what is happening now. If any of you are sneakerheads or are into sneakers in general, you may be familiar with a term called "backdooring". This is something that happens at shoe stores around the country, where they get in a stock of limited release shoes only to already be sold out by the release date. Usually what happens is a manager or store owner is literally selling them for above retail and letting all of the pairs go to a single buyer or a few buyers, only for them to put them up for sale on the resale market at a huge markup. Make me wonder if the same thing is happening with this guy. I've never heard it mentioned before but I've seen and heard enough of this and it's always from Walmart. Sadly, nothing will change unless Mattel actually does something about it, if this is the case. Not saying this is definitely happening here but it certainly sounds like it to me.
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Post by dynamitekido on Jul 25, 2023 12:53:12 GMT -5
Most likely nobody. I'm finding myself caring less and less about the line everyday. Plus, I don't think there's anyone on the roster that I'm a fan of that I either don't have a figure of already or would want if it was presented this way. Also, the price point.
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Post by dynamitekido on Jul 25, 2023 12:14:14 GMT -5
I never want to see triple h again. In real life or in figure form. I don’t see how he doesn’t get the same hate as Warrior and Hogan. Every single one of his figures feel the exact same. I don’t get angry when figures I don’t want get revealed but seeing HHH is the closest I come to having that reaction. He feels like the most useless character we need in any line right now. Every version of him has been done unless they wanna give us Terra Ryzing or Jean-Paul Levesque. Agreed. It doesn't make sense. Considering there were looks Hogan had that people wanted and the Warriors are generally different. HHH figures are pretty much all the same. Long tights or trunks with a different shirt, maybe a slightly different headscan. Rinse, Wash, Repeat.
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Post by dynamitekido on Jul 25, 2023 12:12:20 GMT -5
Perfect looks good in the packaging or with the belt on ONLY. I'm so annoyed with how they make Perfect's figures that I'm done buying them until they figure it out.
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Post by dynamitekido on Jul 24, 2023 7:36:46 GMT -5
Maybe it's just me, but my interest in this line has REALLY cooled off. I think they make cool figures, but I'm really over the lousy distribution, continually releasing the same people over and over, and now with the ROH stuff the limited numbers. Jaswares does a terrible job building anticipation for things and there are things we've seen rendered since the line started that never even materialized. I'm not complaining though because them being this way generally just keeps money in my pocket for other things. Just kind of a shame that this is what the line has been reduced to.
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Post by dynamitekido on Jul 21, 2023 7:24:36 GMT -5
Not gonna lie, I wasn’t expecting a lot going in, but overall I thought it was a good showing.
Sure there’s a lot of good looking stuff I won’t buy, but there’s definitely enough in there to keep me collecting for the next year. Would’ve been nice to get Steiners or more Macho’s but they had a lot of other stuff I wasnt expecting.
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Post by dynamitekido on Jul 20, 2023 8:10:52 GMT -5
Some thoughts: Was surprised to see the Hogan 3 pack. I like it. The 4 pack with Becky is kind of a headscratcher. It's also funny because I've seen comments here with people only wanting one figure out of the set. Funny part being that everyone picked a different one that they need but not one person picked Becky. I really only want the Hogan from the set. The Piper UE is pretty amazing outside of the kilt being some weird thing from a fever dream, because he never wore it in WCW to my recollection. The Monday Night Wars figures are cool and I'm interested, although I'll most likely never see them at Walmart. The mishandling and oversaturation of the Ultimate Edition is really dragging the line down. Here's to hoping they sell otherwise this could be the demise of the line. The series has gone through ebbs and flows through the years. At first it was an okay seller, to the figures not selling to them barely being available at retail, to them being plentiful at retail, to eventually being oversaturated and clearanced out quickly. Weird. The Bret Hart headscans still remain frustrating. The Kurt Angle UE is pretty terrible and disappointing. Really feels like the flashbacks are being scaled back. Outside of the usual suspects, there doens't seem to be many new faces appearing. Nice to see the redesign on basics, it might even result in me buying them occasionally again as opposed to NEVER doing so. Looking forward to seeing what else they reveal this weekend. I want the Becky more than the others, 😉 Hey I'm no hater, I'm happy to see that there are actually people that want the Becky. I just wasn't seeing it a whole lot throughout the thread.
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Post by dynamitekido on Jul 20, 2023 8:10:10 GMT -5
Some thoughts: Was surprised to see the Hogan 3 pack. I like it. The 4 pack with Becky is kind of a headscratcher. It's also funny because I've seen comments here with people only wanting one figure out of the set. Funny part being that everyone picked a different one that they need but not one person picked Becky. I really only want the Hogan from the set. The Piper UE is pretty amazing outside of the kilt being some weird thing from a fever dream, because he never wore it in WCW to my recollection. The Monday Night Wars figures are cool and I'm interested, although I'll most likely never see them at Walmart. The mishandling and oversaturation of the Ultimate Edition is really dragging the line down. Here's to hoping they sell otherwise this could be the demise of the line. The series has gone through ebbs and flows through the years. At first it was an okay seller, to the figures not selling to them barely being available at retail, to them being plentiful at retail, to eventually being oversaturated and clearanced out quickly. Weird. The Bret Hart headscans still remain frustrating. The Kurt Angle UE is pretty terrible and disappointing. Really feels like the flashbacks are being scaled back. Outside of the usual suspects, there doens't seem to be many new faces appearing. Nice to see the redesign on basics, it might even result in me buying them occasionally again as opposed to NEVER doing so. Looking forward to seeing what else they reveal this weekend. Becky's the only one I need out of that set, honestly. I assumed those four were going to be this year's Mania quarterly wave. Not thrilled that it's a set, but it might not be hard to get the Becky solo online after people get their sets. Despite missteps with individual figures, the Ultimate line is filling such a niche for people that it doesn't seem likely to be harmed by anything. If we get a bad figure of someone, there's a reasonable assumption they'll get another try in the future, so I don't think a bad Angle or Eddie is going to hurt future sales or anything. My feelings about the Ultimate line are solely from retail. They're all over the place with the line. They've expanded from 2 figures per wave to 3, with the figures not being as sought after as they once were. Almost similar to what would eventually happen with the defining moments line.
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Post by dynamitekido on Jul 20, 2023 7:05:06 GMT -5
Some thoughts:
Was surprised to see the Hogan 3 pack. I like it.
The 4 pack with Becky is kind of a headscratcher. It's also funny because I've seen comments here with people only wanting one figure out of the set. Funny part being that everyone picked a different one that they need but not one person picked Becky. I really only want the Hogan from the set.
The Piper UE is pretty amazing outside of the kilt being some weird thing from a fever dream, because he never wore it in WCW to my recollection.
The Monday Night Wars figures are cool and I'm interested, although I'll most likely never see them at Walmart.
The mishandling and oversaturation of the Ultimate Edition is really dragging the line down. Here's to hoping they sell otherwise this could be the demise of the line. The series has gone through ebbs and flows through the years. At first it was an okay seller, to the figures not selling to them barely being available at retail, to them being plentiful at retail, to eventually being oversaturated and clearanced out quickly. Weird.
The Bret Hart headscans still remain frustrating.
The Kurt Angle UE is pretty terrible and disappointing.
Really feels like the flashbacks are being scaled back. Outside of the usual suspects, there doens't seem to be many new faces appearing.
Nice to see the redesign on basics, it might even result in me buying them occasionally again as opposed to NEVER doing so.
Looking forward to seeing what else they reveal this weekend.
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Post by dynamitekido on Jul 19, 2023 12:14:13 GMT -5
This nonsense is exactly why I don't even bother preordering anything anymore. The saddest part is there's literally no downside to preordering on Walmart as they don't charge you and it's still not worth it. It's not worth your time to do something that doesn't cost you a dime. That kinda says all you need to know about the state of Walmart exclusives right now. I couldn't have said that better myself and you're 100% correct.
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Post by dynamitekido on Jul 19, 2023 10:44:43 GMT -5
This nonsense is exactly why I don't even bother preordering anything anymore.
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Post by dynamitekido on Jul 19, 2023 7:09:33 GMT -5
Now, I'm not trying to start another "Cody's tights" situation... but does Razor's waistcoat look kind of green to anyone else (not gold)? 😬 I thought the same thing. Because of that, the weird headscan, and the HBK I already have, this one is a pass for me.
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Post by dynamitekido on Jul 18, 2023 10:24:57 GMT -5
WOW, ZST making a Macho Man tells me that he's willing to get a C&D from the Poffo estate (if they even care or notice), but definitely does not want to fight the copyright giant that is WWE. Cease and desist on the behalf of an estate just means "please don't sell that" but WWE legal can get really involved, I've seen "bootleg" merch designers get really tangled up with WWE legal over unlicensed merchandise. Tells me that WWE did indeed lose the licensing rights to Macho Man. But in all honesty this is just odd. Edit: Also, if ZST was ready to drop that like the next morning, I wonder if this Macho Man news has been quietly making the rounds that the license was coming up and negotiations were tough. Its quite suspect that ZST had this thing ready to post the next day after finding out that the UE Mach' was canceled. My understanding is that Savage is similar to Andre and Eddie Guerrero in that no single company owns the rights. They can be licensed out to several companies at once.
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Post by dynamitekido on Jul 18, 2023 10:18:20 GMT -5
Pretty sure this is Hogan politicking. At the moment he has the most UE figures at 4. He woulda been at 5 but the Nitro set wasn’t funded. Macho currently has 3 and the WM7 fig woulda put him in a tie with Hogan. Had the WCW Hogan figure been put into production I don’t think there would be an issue and we’d still get this Macho. But there’s no way Hulk is allowing Savage to have the same amount of UE figs as him. Especially when you take into consideration that Savage as the early bird was the main factor of getting that project funded and Hogan’s early bird couldn’t even get em halfway there. Clearly Hogan called up Mattel to say "That doesn't work for me, brother."
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