Marvel Universe!

[Paradise Bar]

Granted, but that Mattel online shop is geared for collectors, in a hobby known for scalping and hyping.  It'd still suck for those parents who are helping their kids get a well-rounded MU or DCU by purchasing online exclusives.  But it kinda sucks for everybody.  I'd much rather opt for the $15 or $20 online exclusive, but to some collectors $30 is chump change.

[John Moores]

I'm thinking that the chase - while apparently better than the catch, according to Motorhead - isn't going to be anything too spectacular, and what a kid is going to go apeshit for. Normally they're shit like unmasked Deathstroke.

[Kimmel Prime]

I am not even talking about the Chase figure. Your right John no parent is going to seek out an unmasked Deathstorke. I am simply looking at the talking points. Toy Guru said that the line is expensive to sell and they are looking at ways to cover that cost, thats where the 30 dollar figure comes in, to me that signals they are going to be looking to increase the cost on DCUC at some point in the future, and once it hits 15, 20 dollars a figure, its going to be hard to drop 140 dollars for a 7 figure set. As long as the 3 3/4 figures can stay under 10 bucks it's going to be easier for parents to swallow. Right now for the same price I can either buy a ML Black Spiderman with a Rulk BAF piece, or I can buy a GI Joe vehicle pack with two small vehicles and two figures. If DCUC can stay the same price, around 10 dollars then I don't see the 6 inch DCUC going away. If it hits 15-20 bucks then there might be a problem.

 Marvel Legends? The 6 inch Marvel Legends are toast. Everyone complaining about parts reuse in DCUC? Wait till you see how similar GI Joe and Marvel Universe figures will be, parts are going to be reused everywhere.

[Ronan The Accuser]

Granted, but that Mattel online shop is geared for collectors, in a hobby known for scalping and hyping.

What kills me is that the $30 is more than what the "hot" figures go for from scalpers. I can buy a figure from e-bay for less than what they want to sell it for. Now Mattel wants to out-scalp the scalpers... feh.

I'd much rather opt for the $15 or $20 online exclusive, but to some collectors $30 is chump change.

To me $30 is alot of money for a figure. Any single figure should fall into the $15 - $20 price point you mentioned above. If they can't produce them for a reasonable price then get out of the game. I'm getting tired of the bullshit excuses these manufacturers are coming up with to gouge the people supporting their lines.

THEIR SCALPIN T3H LINES!!!11111

Ha ha, fixed. 

Ronan the angry collector.

[Gardner Grayle]

Having recently come the the financial realization that I'm not able to buy everything I want (dammit  ), I've put aside being a completist in collecting......anything.  I'm only buying figures that I'm genuinely interested in.  And I've gotta' say, it's kinda' liberating.  Having said that, I'm sure many of these $30.00 DCUC exclusives are gonna' be characters I want, like Kamandi, OMAC, GA Ray, GA Vigilante, etc.  This will piss me off to no end.  

Mattel needs to get these fucking figures into the hands of the people who want 'em.  Not worry about jacking up prices in their web store.  Maybe that would help cover their costs.      

[Kimmel Prime]

Now that it looks like they got them all up, I really like all of them except Human Torch. WTF is that? Where did they get the image they are basing that off of? 

[Gardner Grayle]

Truth to tell, I don't like 'em much at all.  Fucking ball jointed hips and ugly sculpts.  OK for a kid.  Not so much for collectors.

[Year6Robin]

I'm sorely tempted to cash in my 6 inch figures and just go with these.  I need space dammit!

Dude, I'm right there with you.  If I knew for a fact that this line was going to last, and they would make every single figure that appeared in the 6" line, I might do it!  At least this line is giving us a Classic BLACK PANTHER.  Next, I guess SUB-MARINER in green trunks will show up.

But I do agree with GARDNER... I don't really care for ball jointed hips as much as I used to.  That's why I like MATTEL's hip articulation.

[measle]

Toy Guru said that the line is expensive to sell and they are looking at ways to cover that cost, thats where the 30 dollar figure comes in, to me that signals they are going to be looking to increase the cost on DCUC at some point in the future, and once it hits 15, 20 dollars a figure, its going to be hard to drop 140 dollars for a 7 figure set.

Where was this said, I'd like to read that article?  Obviously the line is making money, or it already would have been pulled, but it sounds like they might not be making as much profit on the line as they like or feel they should be making.  I must admit to never really understanding the notion of "not profitable enough", either it makes money or it doesn't, and if it's making money, what's the problem?

This is all a part of the equation dealing with mass market companies vs. more collectible based companies.  Fuck, the formula is all there.  A company like DCD but not run by a complete idiot would be the dream scenario.

[John Moores]

I am not even talking about the Chase figure. Your right John no parent is going to seek out an unmasked Deathstorke. I am simply looking at the talking points. Toy Guru said that the line is expensive to sell and they are looking at ways to cover that cost, thats where the 30 dollar figure comes in, to me that signals they are going to be looking to increase the cost on DCUC at some point in the future,

I think this may be what Brewer used to bullshit us about, that a higher pricepoint buys us obscurer characters. I trust these guys more than Brewer, though, and he fucked it up pretty quickly as regards that. I still hold though that 15 quid a figure doesn't personally bother me. It's more or less what I pay anyway for DCD. Even the cheaper DCUCs were £12 ($24). Your mileage may vary, of course, but that's me.

All the indications I've seen is that the line is doing better than they expected, so it might well be the obscure character gambit.

I refuse to accept MORE fuckin doomsaying about this line, to be frank.

[measle]

No, I don't think it's time to start forming lynch mobs and shit.  Mattel might be saying some squirrely shit, but so far they haven't really fucked anyone over.  None of us gave DCD much shit until they dicked us over several times.  However, Mattel, or anyone else that makes DC toys is going to have a shorter hook precisely because DCD fucked everyone over.  Fair or not, that's the way it goes.

[Gardner Grayle]

This is at AFI http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12223.

My guess is they're not meeting their profit margins not not making profits.  Margins are what they need to cover the cost of reinvesting back into the line.  R&D for different packaging configurations, paying the 4H, bonuses for line managers, shipping costs from fucking China etc.  Covering their costs isn't the same as making money.

[Year6Robin]

I'm sure many of these $30.00 DCUC exclusives are gonna' be characters I want, like Kamandi, OMAC, GA Ray, GA Vigilante, etc.  This will piss me off to no end.

Agreed. 

And it's going to suck even more if the figure can be easily done out of existing parts.  For example, the body already exists for a SA CHRONOS.

[John Moores]

See, after reading that, it seems fairly simple:

• Put the chase figures up on Matty.
• If you don't want them, don't fucking buy them and stop bitching. They aren't going to be anything essential, as I said earlier. And on the odd chance that one is, buy it. No-one's putting a gun to anyone's head.

Toyguru didn't say shit about them killin t3h line, he said the chase figures are a problem. Cutting out the chases cuts out the variants, as far as I can see. Half the voters were happy to pay the monumental price of thirty dolla, because they're collectors and whatnot. These guys, by which I mean me, too, can keep this line afloat if the chases are the only problem.

[measle]

This is at AFI http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12223.

My guess is they're not meeting their profit margins not not making profits.  Margins are what they need to cover the cost of reinvesting back into the line.  R&D for different packaging configurations, paying the 4H, bonuses for line managers, shipping costs from fucking China etc.  Covering their costs isn't the same as making money.

I would think that profit is anything left over after overhead, production costs, r&d, payroll etc.  In other words the difference between revenue and costs.  It's this thinking that I do not understand.  Whether the line is making 5 or 7 percent profit, it's still making profit.  Jacking with the formula, let alone cancelling any profitable line doesn't make a lick of sense.  Not that, that is what's happening here, but it's happened elsewhere.

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