With the recent reveal of Keldor (the pre-skullified Skeletor, for those not in the know), many fans have been wondering whether his production numbers will reflect the increased production that’s supposed to start with She-Ra that same month (June).
In answer to that, ToyGuru posted this update on the Mattycollector forums:
Keldor was produced about the same amount as the other 2010 “quarterly” figures such as Battle Armor He-Man (who lasted around a few days).
One of the reason the subscription figs are selling out so fast is because their production was based on the number of subscriptions sold. We were unsure at the start of 2010 just how many non subscribers we would have. Obviously the line is doing better and better and we are selling more non subscription figures then we expected.
We have increased production on the sub figs for non subscribers, but as a non sub fig, hopefully Keldor should stick around for a while. If he does not, we’ll be sure to go into a second run to keep up with demand.
While I suspect Keldor will almost certainly sell out same-day, probably within hours, I do think he’s right that Keldor’s sale might not be as crazy as Battle Cat’s or that of a sub figure. Battle Cat is so iconic as to be a must-have even for many casual fans, while the subscription represents 100% sales to people who may or may not actually want the figure. But not everyone who has a sub will be buying Keldor, and I doubt there are all that many fans who don’t have a sub but do want Keldor. Which is all a roundabout way of me saying I’m not as worried about getting a Keldor as I was initially.
Scott
I think Keldor will sell fast. To some people, he's a different character like Adam/He-Man and Adora/She-Ra.
JediCreeper
let's not forget that she-ra comes out that day too… the scalpers will be out in force… now she's SUPPOSED to have higher numbers… so I really hope I have a chance at getting her. She's too important to me to miss out on.
Zandrews51
I can't wait for optikk and mer man and the sites going to be a mess thanks to the wave5 dcuc set plus tytus on top of that. I'm already dreading it. I hope there's not a lot of people buying optikk that aren't subsribers so I can at least breathe before I add him to my cart along with mer man.
Mysterious Stranger
@clark: He's the bonus figure for June.
clark
I'm definitely in the category of non-subscription holder, but will definitely want Keldor. Out of all the figures coming out over the few months (I'm still undecided on Optikk) I'm looking forward to Keldor the most. Did you say Keldor is coming out in June? I thought we weren't going to see him until next fall.
americanhyena
@Frogster:
I wouldn't be concerned except for that part. My fear is that Scal-Por goes nuts over him based on how hot the SDCC one was.
Frogster
The scalpers errr resellers will ensure Keldor won't last long.
Paddy Fitz
@Poe: Always err on the side of "too much" when it comes to nerd anxiety and Mattycollector.com sale days.
Poe
@Paddy Fitz: I agree with that, but that's not what I'm debating here–I'm just trying to determine how much nerd-anxiety I should be investing into the Keldor sale 🙂
Paddy Fitz
@Poe: I don't know, I always assumed the sub holders who weren't interested in Optikk, et al were just the very vocal minority, but who knows? Those .orgers are a hard bunch to figure out. Either way, the sub is a very poor barometer of overall demand, and not a smart strategy for growing the line.
Mysterious Stranger
I'm one of the non-subscription people that will be getting Keldor (possibly 2).
Poe
@Paddy Fitz: If you follow the discussions on He-Man.org, every time a new sub figure is announced that's not one of the core figures (like Evil-lyn), there's always a contingent of people annoyed that they have to get it as part of the sub and saying they plan to sell the figure. Optikk is a good example.
So my point is that, realistically, there's just no way the thousands of subscribers are ALL going to order Keldor–and they're certainly not all going to be free and able to order him at 12pm on that day. I'm sure that's why many people went with the sub in the first place.
So while I understand your argument about the "diehard" issue, I think you overestimate both the general degree of diehard-ness and the popularity of Keldor.
But who knows? Maybe I'm wrong and Keldor will sell out in five minutes. But if I were a betting man, I'd give him at least an hour, maybe two.
Paddy Fitz
I agree that Keldor likely won't be as insanely popular as Battle Cat, but I don't think I follow your logic (or Neitlich's, but that goes without saying). Anyone who's enough of a die-hard to commit to buying 12 figures sight-unseen, without even knowing which characters they're buying, is certainly enough of a die-hard to want Keldor — if they based his production on the sub numbers, there won't be enough to go around for the rest of us (again).
Why Mattel insists on relying on their short-sighted subscription model to gauge overall demand is beyond me. For 2011 they should go with the "all-in" subscription for those who want it, and do preorders for individual figures for everyone else and manufacture to order. The excuse that preorders aren't viable because figures "slip schedule" is nonsense — every other toy company in the world does it, why can't Mattel?
Crazy
I think he'll definitely sell out faster than Battle Armor Heman. I think Keldor has more significance than what a lot of people was a watered down variant of yet another He-man figure.
I guess I pretty much agree a same day sellout and probably within the hour.
Fengschwing
I bet they produce about seven DCUC Wave 5 sets.
And I'll have to stay up till 3am or something to get my disappointment.