In the aftermath of the packaged Hordak who popped up on eBay and some JLU reveals, Mattel posted a response to the leaks on their Facebook page.
Mattel fans,
A lot of fans have asked this week about unannounced figures from different lines as well as packaged images of figures showing up first on Ebay or other sites as well as why some fan sites have figures for “review” before they are in stores. Allow me to shed some light.
First off, the figures for review are sent out by me or Toyguru to different fan sites for PR. We get a very small sample of early figure for our review and I try to send them out to key fan sites so that all of our fans can enjoy final product images as a sneak before they hit stores.
As for unannounced figures or packaged images showing up on Ebay, well all I can say is 1: sometimes these are custom figures we have nothing to do with, and 2: sometimes these are figures removed from our vendors without permission and Mattel vigilantly will go after anyone involved in these auctions from the seller to the buyer. Our best advise; stay as uninvolved in these auctions as you can. Everyone at Mattel is very proud of our product and the hard working people who work on it. Auctions of non final product hurts everyone. It hurts our sales, it hurts our licensors and it hurts our fans as many times this product is not final (both toy and package) and gives the wrong impression of what product will be like leading to false conclusion.
Until product is revealed officially either here or on a fan site (and by officially on a fan site we mean as in when we send a sample out for review like we did with a few JLU figures and Mer-Man last week).
Mattel will continue to legally defend its property and have it returned to us. Bootleg and prototype theft has always been a problem with highly collectable lines for every manufacture in the business and I highly recommend fans not getting involved in it. It is not something you want to poke around with as this is Mattel property and we will go after it and involve resources needed to do so.
We will continue to use this forum and the fan sites to get the most up to date OFFICIAL images to our fans. We have many figures “in the cooker” for all of our lines, some will see the light of day sooner than others, some may not come out anytime soon for multiple reasons (legal, logistic, otherwise) which is why we try to hold back any images or announcements until we know the figure is officially coming out and final.
And on a cheerier note, look for some big announcement later this week of all new official product that IS coming out later this summer right here on my Facebook page!
Matty
I think we all knew what was going on with these leaks–some production samples got swiped from a factory and sold on the ‘Net. I do find it interesting that the post so aggressively discourages collectors who might try to buy prototypes, test shots and early production figures.
However, I certainly understand Mattel’s desire to control PR by keeping unannounced figures from popping up in prototype or packaged form on eBay, and that production samples often do not reflect the final product and can potentially damage sales.
monkeyboy
i understand what mattel's saying, but they get enough smoke blown up their ass on their own facebook page that someone needs to play devil's advocate and respresent the other side. (seriously, some of those people who comment on matty's facebook posts have GOT to be studio plants). thanks so much mattel for making such great figures and making sure to prosecute those no-goodniks to the full extent of the law! and so on…
so i'm gonna go ahead and say this to mattel. don't friggin' try to tell me that you aren't making a tidy profit off MOTUC, when you've so far got like two bodies you're re-using over and over, and your figures sell out the entire stock in hours, and you charge $30 per figure once you factor in "shipping" and "mystery fun tax". i doubt tracking down the one or two prototypes or samples that get leaked is worth mattel's time and money. if anything seeing the product like that generates more interest. look how many people were gabbing about hordak being named "hector kerr" or "johnny america smith" or whatever. people were annoyed, but first of all that gives mattel an early, free chance to gauge fan reaction, and second of all, not one of those people whining about hordak's name said "because of this i am not buying hordak". it's pretty much just free press for mattel, and i'm sure they made a few extra figures anyway, to send out to sycophantic review sites or to sit in a warehouse. so i have trouble sympathizing with mattel. once again, as one of the largest toy companies in the world…deal with it.
Valo487
It's apparently not a big concern, as by their own admission a factory in China shut down and took all their product with them, hence the delay in new JLU product. I'd bet anything that where these samples came from, and yet they had the attitude then of "oh well, sh!t happens." They didn't seem too orried about that, why would they think that product wouldn't eventually show up for sale somewhere? Do they think a whole bunch of chinese factory workers are reenacting Infinite Crisis? Duh.
I'm not saying it's right, and I had no interest in buying those figures whatsoever, I'm simply saying a few figures getting released early, which by their own admission "has always been a problem" is not worth the earth shaking problem people are making it out to be. My point was that their statement of taking action against the buyer was not a good way to handle the issue as they seem to be losing fans and alienating people enough with their actions and inability to make products available to anyone who wants it that they should have bigger and better things to worry about.
Geez.
Scott
“As you may have heard, some early samples of JLU and MOTUC slipped through the cracks and ended up on ebay. While we’d rather these things be released properly sometimes these things happen, we would like to advise fans to not buy these items, for the simple reason that you’ll pay far more now for the same thing which will be available soon for a much more reasonable price.”
They wouldn't say that because how much we pay for an item from somebody else is not their concern. Somebody stealing from them is.
Valo487
Umm, yeah ok. One Hourman that retails for 6 dollars snuck out the back door and you actually think it's going to affect Mattel? They sell thousands of figures, one that according to them isn't even a final piece is insignificant, especially as they claim these aren't even the sale samples. There have been prototypes and whatnot on ebay since I can remember, and every single Infinite Heroes figure from Mattel has had prototypes on sale on ebay and they never said word one until these came out, most likely due to the fact they got scooped by their appearance.
I'm not bashing, I'm not dissing. But NON-FINAL products cannot be sold. So how does this hurt them? And how is Mattel suffering exactly? To hear them tell it they only suffer because we don't "Vote with our dollars" often enough to suit them. The people who would buy these are the fans that want to have a unique item, and will buy them at retail, they aren't just turning to ebay because Hourman isn't coming out fast enough to suit them. Why would somebody pay the ridiculous price these are going for instead of just waiting a few months and paying six dollars for one? It's the same principle as the Holiday Hal figure, fans paid a LOIT of money just to own one because they're rare and unique, and those weren't ever supposed to be for sale either, but Mattel seemed not to care then, so what's the problem now? They can't control security for their own items, their problem.
Andrew
That's ignoring the fact that when you buy these things, you're buying stolen goods that Mattel sees no profit from, and can actually suffer from because our hobby is filled with people just ready for any excuse to bash and diss.
Valo487
While on the one hand I clearly see where they're coming from, not wanting their product out before they actually release it and all, I feel like Mattel really needs to learn how to do PR properly. They just can't seem to make a point without being somewhat heavy-handed with their delivery. Plus, you'd think they could use all the positive buzz they can get right now, considering since the beginning of the year people have been upset about the lack of availability of MOTUC (whether they actually have a valid point is another story,) inability to find DCUC in stores, the JLU 6-pack debacle, their pseudo-blackmail threats about the Matty JLU 4-pack, and the list goes on. Do they really need to aggravate more people by threatening their FANS who buy a JLU figure early on ebay? I can't help but think it would have been much better for all involved had they said something to the effect of:
"As you may have heard, some early samples of JLU and MOTUC slipped through the cracks and ended up on ebay. While we'd rather these things be released properly sometimes these things happen, we would like to advise fans to not buy these items, for the simple reason that you'll pay far more now for the same thing which will be available soon for a much more reasonable price."
See? No one gets mad. And I've got news for Matty, these things are coming out of China, I'll be amazed if they get anywhere with their "Resources" as far as dealing with this problem, and once it's on ebay they can't do anything about the seller or buyer unless they can prove the items were stolen, and that doesn't just mean "Well we haven't released them yet." That means concrete proof that the seller himself stole them, which brings us back to the China problem.
And lets not forget their legal resources are the same ones who can't clear the way for them to post updates about their toy lines on their own website.