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Post by dpd1967 on Jan 2, 2024 13:31:08 GMT -5
The future is hazy 🌫️
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Post by Back to the Codyverse on Jan 2, 2024 13:44:39 GMT -5
Numerous fan reports from all across the country have reported that there was one merch stand with very little merch at the shows.
I went to one Dynamite and it had one merch stand with very little.
Even AEW wrestlers have complained about it.
Does that mean every show has basically nonexistent merch? No. But let's not let facts get in the way...
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arossi417
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Post by arossi417 on Jan 2, 2024 22:39:50 GMT -5
I have no idea if shaking up whoever is in charge of AEW merch is going to make a difference, but how Jazwares goes about its business is strange compared to what we see here with Mattel. Everything for this line feels like it happens behind closed doors, we have no idea when figures are coming, and the announced lineups end up being wrong, or even worse, unannounced chase figures.
AEW has got a good contingent of collectors that they could easily utilize to market and generate interest in the line, which I wish they would lean into in 2024. The other half of that is we have to get more figures out to market in a reasonable time and avoid this becoming a line of chases and exclusives, while they only offer repaints of top talent as exclusives at Target and Walmart. If it gets to that point, it's probably time to find a new partner for the line.
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captncharisma19
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Post by captncharisma19 on Jan 3, 2024 7:26:24 GMT -5
I have no idea if shaking up whoever is in charge of AEW merch is going to make a difference, but how Jazwares goes about its business is strange compared to what we see here with Mattel. Everything for this line feels like it happens behind closed doors, we have no idea when figures are coming, and the announced lineups end up being wrong, or even worse, unannounced chase figures. AEW has got a good contingent of collectors that they could easily utilize to market and generate interest in the line, which I wish they would lean into in 2024. The other half of that is we have to get more figures out to market in a reasonable time and avoid this becoming a line of chases and exclusives, while they only offer repaints of top talent as exclusives at Target and Walmart. If it gets to that point, it's probably time to find a new partner for the line. A friend of mine collects the Jazwares Pokemon line and they feel the same way, but they're not all doom and gloom like this lot. My friend cant tell you what the next few premium Pokemon figures coming out are because Jazwares sucks like that. Should they tell us more? Yes. Does their lack on communication mean the death of a line? Absolutely not.
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heelturn
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Post by heelturn on Jan 3, 2024 7:30:40 GMT -5
The AEW merch stands have a small amount of autographed figures for $100 (!) each. World's End had Kingston & Danhausen.
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WrestleWeebRyan
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Post by WrestleWeebRyan on Jan 3, 2024 9:25:50 GMT -5
It's the same for us Jazwares Fortnite 1/18 line fans, as well. If you aren't on instagram or twitter and following the superfans...You would know absolutely nothing about the line until you walked up on new products on the shelf.
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crush
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Post by crush on Jan 3, 2024 11:49:24 GMT -5
Went through my pics from various AEW shows to see if I had snapped any merch stand shots. mainly from my experience, shows have had 3-4 individual wrestler shirts, 2-3 AEW/event branded shirts/hoodies, signed/unsigned figures, 3-4 Brawlers, a hat, a mask (either Sting or Danahusen), and knickknacks like the PWCrate keychains, and the replica belt. This is from the 9/15/21 Dynamite at the Prudential Center in Jersey. They had two full size ones on the opposite ends of the main concourse, and smaller ones upstairs with selections of the same merch. Not a great pic as I think I was really taking a pic of the line, but I zoomed in on the merch stand here: This is from the 11/18/22 Rampage taping at the Prudential Center. Same setup as the 2021 show, with the two big merch stands on the main concourse. They also had the same setup for Collision this past July, though I don't have any pics from that night. I was in the lower bowl for both of these shows, so I'm not sure what the set up was like upstairs. Finally, here's. a picture from Grand Slam 2023. I also went to Grand Slam in 2021 and 2022, and both had the same setups from what I remember. The main merch stand was in the Tennis Center pro shop, and then there were I think 4 inside the stadium, mainly with the same selection (though this past year one of the upstairs stands had shirts for Max and the BCC that weren't available at the main stand): Again, I am NOT saying that people are "lying" or etc. Rather, that it seems AEW live event merch issues aren't across the board as much as they're regional, which is arguably just as a big a problem, but also a different one.
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ajay182
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Post by ajay182 on Jan 3, 2024 18:30:24 GMT -5
I feel like there's just a base level of professionalism missing.
Their approach to merch is very much still stuck in "startup" mode, where they'll just spin a bunch of plates and fix things as they break. Ultimately, they need to get greater control of it now and really focus on consistent, reliable experiences in the same way professional sports teams, WWE and music acts do. At the moment, it's completely unpredictable as opposed to reliable with a handful of surprises.
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Post by PJ on Jan 4, 2024 6:01:22 GMT -5
Hey maybe this weekends PPV will help move the Walmart Kingston and Target Samoa Joe figures. People were saying MJF didn’t have a figure out during his whole title reign (although I thought he had the Walmart exclusive out during that time) anyway with them both winning titles Saturday there’s plenty of both figures on the pegs right now. Seriously though I have stated this before and I firmly believe it to be true. AEW’s biggest mistake was letting Cody walk. Since his departure everything about AEW has gone down hill including their figures. When he and his wife were there you could still find AEW figures in stores. With the exception of the store exclusives very rarely do I see new waves on the pegs.
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xtremebadass
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Post by xtremebadass on Jan 4, 2024 12:15:48 GMT -5
Seriously though I have stated this before and I firmly believe it to be true. AEW’s biggest mistake was letting Cody walk. Since his departure everything about AEW has gone down hill including their figures. When he and his waive were there you could still find AEW figures in stores. With the exception of the store exclusives very rarely do I see new waves on the pegs. I often go back and forth in my mind regarding what THE moment was when AEW started to get cold. Cody leaving? Tony buying ROH? The Hangman/Punk promo? Brawl Out? Or maybe it is just the overarching Tony Khan/Elite management style. All I know is, aside from Brawl Out (shifting around lineups), none of those could or should be used as an excuse for Jazwares' fumbles. Jazwares' issues lie solely with Jazwares. Why do we get so infrequent product updates/reveals? Why is distribution still abysmal? Why are lineups always announced and then changed 3-5 times after? Remember Jeremy's Unrivaled/Unmatched every other month retail plan? We're in 2024 now and still have zero update about Vault. It took a rogue Jazwares employee to come to this forum and tell us more about this line than the company or Jeremy has told us for over a year (then he vanished). AEW hasn't been giving mainstream wrestling audiences much to be excited about but that shouldn't stop Jazwares from a proper schedule and being timely. We're not in supply chain COVID mode anymore.
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Post by PJ on Jan 4, 2024 12:32:21 GMT -5
Seriously though I have stated this before and I firmly believe it to be true. AEW’s biggest mistake was letting Cody walk. Since his departure everything about AEW has gone down hill including their figures. When he and his waive were there you could still find AEW figures in stores. With the exception of the store exclusives very rarely do I see new waves on the pegs. I often go back and forth in my mind regarding what THE moment was when AEW started to get cold. Cody leaving? Tony buying ROH? The Hangman/Punk promo? Brawl Out? Or maybe it is just the overarching Tony Khan/Elite management style. All I know is, aside from Brawl Out (shifting around lineups), none of those could or should be used as an excuse for Jazwares' fumbles. Jazwares' issues lie solely with Jazwares. Why do we get so infrequent product updates/reveals? Why is distribution still abysmal? Why are lineups always announced and then changed 3-5 times after? Remember Jeremy's Unrivaled/Unmatched every other month retail plan? We're in 2024 now and still have zero update about Vault. It took a rogue Jazwares employee to come to this forum and tell us more about this line than the company or Jeremy has told us for over a year (then he vanished). AEW hasn't been giving mainstream wrestling audiences much to be excited about but that shouldn't stop Jazwares from a proper schedule and being timely. We're not in supply chain COVID mode anymore. Who’s in charge of merchandising for AEW? Wasn’t it Brandi when they were still there? So who is in charge of making sure Jeremy/Jazwares handles the licensing properly? As far as Jazwares go I said from the beginning Jeremy being in charge was a mistake because his main focus has always been what the product will cost on the secondary market. So he was focused on limited runs and chases instead of actually getting the product on she shelves in force. That might have been a good plan for the first wave or two, but he should have been pushing for more product to be put out at mass retail.
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destino
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Post by destino on Jan 5, 2024 6:58:32 GMT -5
Since his departure everything about AEW has gone down hill including their figures. When he and his wife were there you could still find AEW figures in stores. With the exception of the store exclusives very rarely do I see new waves on the pegs. I’m sorry, but that’s not only wrong, but also ridiculous. I almost never saw AEW figures on shelves until just before he left with the Nyla, Archer & FTR series. Before that, finding any AEW figures in the wild was damn near impossible. I was hitting up 8-12 stores in my area multiple times a week and constantly coming home empty handed (I do not miss those days). That was also back when you could get a whole wave on Ringside for about $112. The only input Cody had on the line was making sure he was in every other wave and always had a chase lol. Hell, it was probably his dumb idea to do the LJN’s if we’re just going to heap these decisions on him and Brandi and not the team at Jazwares.
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destino
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Post by destino on Jan 5, 2024 7:01:06 GMT -5
I don’t know why some people are shocked that the larger markets that AEW does well in has more merch available and these Midwest shows that only bring in like 4k people get the bare minimum. No offense to those in the Midwest. I’m sure it’s incredibly frustrating.
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Post by PJ on Jan 5, 2024 7:49:49 GMT -5
Since his departure everything about AEW has gone down hill including their figures. When he and his wife were there you could still find AEW figures in stores. With the exception of the store exclusives very rarely do I see new waves on the pegs. I’m sorry, but that’s not only wrong, but also ridiculous. I almost never saw AEW figures on shelves until just before he left with the Nyla, Archer & FTR series. Before that, finding any AEW figures in the wild was damn near impossible. I was hitting up 8-12 stores in my area multiple times a week and constantly coming home empty handed (I do not miss those days). That was also back when you could get a whole wave on Ringside for about $112. The only input Cody had on the line was making sure he was in every other wave and always had a chase lol. Hell, it was probably his dumb idea to do the LJN’s if we’re just going to heap these decisions on him and Brandi and not the team at Jazwares. After Jeremy’s “Let’s underproduce series 1 to draw a buzz” crap I had no trouble finding these figures on the shelves of Target or Walmart around here. (that’s 7 Targets and 5 Walmarts that I regularly hit) Since Cody left I have seen one full case of the wave that Black was in and one case of the set with Danhausen. Other than that all I see are the store exclusives or Nyla, Archer, Trent and Chuck. I have never seen a Supreme other than series 1 or the WalMart Cody at mass retail. Just look at my purchases thread the last time I have seen more than a lone case of figures at retail was the wave with the Luminaries Jericho in it. Finding them now around here is like pulling teeth. So tell me who from AEW is making sure their partnership with Jazwares is running correctly? I honestly don’t think anyone at AEW has any business sense since Cody left and it shows.
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Post by slappy on Jan 5, 2024 8:02:00 GMT -5
As opposed to the future going backwards?
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mikew
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Post by mikew on Jan 5, 2024 8:27:36 GMT -5
Not sure how wrestlers contracts work but I'm pretty sure they get a percentage of their merch sales. If they are scheduled for a figure and it keeps getting pushed back, that’s causing them to lose income. I know I would be pissed, it's like a figure of them proves they made it. Especially when the wrestler sees it for the first time they are so excited just to see it never see the light of day. I don't think that is fair to the talent themselves. I really think it is shopaew just bit off more than they can chew. Considering all the independent wrestlers and youtubers with merch through them, a lot to handle with 1 store like mentioned in a past post. They will always be PWT to me and never change. In my experience they always wait 10 days for payment to clear then another 10 to ship and a week to get it. They will never change.
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destino
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Post by destino on Jan 5, 2024 8:56:22 GMT -5
I’m sorry, but that’s not only wrong, but also ridiculous. I almost never saw AEW figures on shelves until just before he left with the Nyla, Archer & FTR series. Before that, finding any AEW figures in the wild was damn near impossible. I was hitting up 8-12 stores in my area multiple times a week and constantly coming home empty handed (I do not miss those days). That was also back when you could get a whole wave on Ringside for about $112. The only input Cody had on the line was making sure he was in every other wave and always had a chase lol. Hell, it was probably his dumb idea to do the LJN’s if we’re just going to heap these decisions on him and Brandi and not the team at Jazwares. After Jeremy’s “Let’s underproduce series 1 to draw a buzz” crap I had no trouble finding these figures on the shelves of Target or Walmart around here. (that’s 7 Targets and 5 Walmarts that I regularly hit) Since Cody left I have seen one full case of the wave that Black was in and one case of the set with Danhausen. Other than that all I see are the store exclusives or Nyla, Archer, Trent and Chuck. I have never seen a Supreme other than series 1 or the WalMart Cody at mass retail. Just look at my purchases thread the last time I have seen more than a lone case of figures at retail was the wave with the Luminaries Jericho in it. Finding them now around here is like pulling teeth. So tell me who from AEW is making sure their partnership with Jazwares is running correctly? I honestly don’t think anyone at AEW has any business sense since Cody left and it shows. I don’t think there’s been a single Unmatched figure that was too hard to find, and those all came out after he left. I’ve seen Supreme Kenny, Cody, Britt & Punk a few times (pretty sure we’re not far from one another). The GameStop Street Fighter figures took a while; but by July I could find the whole set in a few different stores. The figures dried up when Jazwares was bought out and they even said they paused production for several months afterwards. None of that had anything to do with AEW. As for who would be their liaison? How should I know? I don’t work there. None of us do. It’s silly to guess at who does what. It’s not like we know who from WWE gives the thumbs up or thumbs down on figures. It’s not like they’re the ones telling Mattel “hey, for this Legends Greatest Hits line, you should only make one batch, put them in a shipper and that’s it”. I get being frustrated with this line. We’re all frustrated here. But saying “Everything at AEW fell apart the minute Cody left” is just silly. Tranquillo
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crush
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Post by crush on Jan 5, 2024 17:18:50 GMT -5
I like Cody, but I think it's kind of absurd to think his departure has anything to with any of Jazwares issues.
Frankly, I think it's just that, issues with Jazwares. Look what they were able to do with CM Punk:
He was in the company for 2 years, 9 months of which he spent injured/suspended. His first Jazwares figure hit RSC in June of 22, and his final figure is scheduled to hit in January of 24, so a 19 month window for figures, and yet the company turned out:
Mainline: 1. Unmatched 4 2. Unmatched 4 CHASE 3. Unmatched 7 (LJN Style) 4. Unmatched 8 (ROH Luminaire) 5. Unmatched 8 CHASE (ROH Luminarie)
Exclusives: 1. First Dance/Ice Cream Bar (RSC) 2. Unrivaled Hoodie (Walmart) 3. Blood & Guts W/MJF (RSC) 4. Supreme (Walmart)
What that tells me is that when Jazwares wants to and sees massive potential profit, they are capable of turning out product.
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Post by POOR-ly Cuyler on Jan 6, 2024 2:53:32 GMT -5
I don’t know why some people are shocked that the larger markets that AEW does well in has more merch available and these Midwest shows that only bring in like 4k people get the bare minimum. No offense to those in the Midwest. I’m sure it’s incredibly frustrating. Still, PWT is Midwest based, so it seems weird they wouldn’t at least have two merch stands instead of one that’s pretty barren. The Punk injury/drama seemed to hurt attendance over time. The arena’s capacity here is probably around 3500-4000, and the first two shows I went to in late 2021 and mid 2022 were pretty packed. The second two I went to in early 2023 and back in October were like 2/3 full maybe. They’re supposed to come to Springfield, MO and that should be interesting because that’s a small college town. Can’t see it doing better than KC, but we’ll see.
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destino
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Post by destino on Jan 6, 2024 4:40:55 GMT -5
I don’t know why some people are shocked that the larger markets that AEW does well in has more merch available and these Midwest shows that only bring in like 4k people get the bare minimum. No offense to those in the Midwest. I’m sure it’s incredibly frustrating. Still, PWT is Midwest based, so it seems weird they wouldn’t at least have two merch stands instead of one that’s pretty barren. The Punk injury/drama seemed to hurt attendance over time. The arena’s capacity here is probably around 3500-4000, and the first two shows I went to in late 2021 and mid 2022 were pretty packed. The second two I went to in early 2023 and back in October were like 2/3 full maybe. They’re supposed to come to Springfield, MO and that should be interesting because that’s a small college town. Can’t see it doing better than KC, but we’ll see. There were roughly 11,000 people at Grand Slam last year on Long Island. The amount of merch brought to the show reflected that. There was even event exclusive shirts for MJF & the Acclaimed. I do think they need to bring more than what they have for these smaller shows. Personally, I think they outgrew PWT two years ago but either don’t want to mess with that partnership or don’t see it as a problem. You should be able to go to a show this year and be able to get BCC, Danhausen, Acclaimed, HOB, FTR, Orange Cassidy & Elite merch at any show. Someone mentioned that they still have this start up mentality and it’s something I hope get corrected this year. You can still have that “punk rock” vibe but still be more efficient when it comes to marketing and selling merch. And to bring it back to figures: while I don’t think Dana Massi leaving will make any significant changes to what Jazwares offers, I really wish AEW/Jazwares interacted with their fan bases more. I’ve said it time and again, the Mattel board is spoiled for having that kind of access to Steve and I wish there was an equivalent here. But that’s not how Jazwares operates sadly.
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