Mattel update on SDCC exclusives

Mattel has updated their Facebook page with more information on the exclusives.

Hey toy fans,

With the news of our SDCC figures spreading all over the web, thought I’d take a moment to clarify some questions fans had.

1: Yes, these are our SDCC figures. It was not an April Fool’s joke. (but we did get some of you huh?)

2: Yes, all of the action figure exclusives will be sold online after the show (ideally that Monday, but it is too far off right now to tell) on Mattycollector.com.

3: Yes there are a few other exclusives to reveal for the Hot Wheels brand. These will also be available online after the show on Hotwheelscollector.com. Look for more details soon.

4: Yes, Gleek is only available at the show. He is not in the package with the Twins but rather will be poly bagged as a “gift with purchase”. Why did we do this? Well simply, in years past we did not have online distribution through my awesome website Mattycollector.com. In years past the ONLY way to get any of the exclusives was at the show. Now that we have online sales, we wanted to find a way to still reward fans who come out to the show with an exclusive only at the show, and Gleek will only be a gift with purchase in San Diego. Will everyone be happy with this, maybe not, but at least the main items are online. In years past you couldn’t even get any of them without being at the show, now at least you can get the Twins online even if Gleek is not with them. This is why they are called show exclusives, because they are only at a show.

5: Yes, Hal’s head is removable and swappable. The reason Abin is nor in his animated uniform is to recreate Hal in two iconic uniforms, modern and vintage. Why does he not have his mask? Well because contractually we can not offer Hal this way. Period. But in the original story SOS Green Lantern he does not wear a mask and this set pays homage to that. And really, this was the best way for us to get Hal in the JLU line. It may not be what everyone wants, but we think it is darn cool.

6: He-Ro, like the other exclusives will be available online after the show. And you will learn why he has a star covered Power Sword in his bio…. Also, his package will be the same as a standard MOTUC figure, no electronics, so he can ship world wide.

7: We will have a brand new second booth this year to handle sales which will be run by our Toy Club, the same professional retailers who run our Mattel Toy Stores throughout the US. We will have limits (likely 3-5 per item) which we will announce well before the show as well as additional details. We will take cash and credit cards and we will ideally be selling on Preview Night (we are still working these details out with SDCC as they have lots of rules this year about when and how companies can sell exclusives). But we will be holding back product each day. So even if we sell out on Thursday, we will have more on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to make sure everyone gets a shot to buy. Traditionally the lines are much shorter on Saturday and Sunday, so don’t feel you HAVE to buy early on.

8: Yes we will have other product to sell including just a few He-Man, Beastman and Skeletors as well as a few other hard to find products and other current retail products. We won’t know what these are until closer to the show.

9: The AntiMonitor points will be redeemable at our main product booth. So if you just want your free AntiMonitor for 50 points and your raffle tickets for every 25 points (including the first 50) you don’t need to wait in the retail line. You will have the option of also buying an AntiMonitor (3 ¾” scale) for $10.00 at the retail booth if you don’t have points. You are limited to only one free figure however. Any additional points will get you additional raffle tickets for each 25 points you have. We will raffle off at least one hand made 30″ AntiMonitor each day and you do not need to be present to win. We will post the winning ticket number. If the figure is not claimed by the following day’s auction it will be re-raffled off.

10: Is it possible to change anything now? (like offering Gleek in the Twins pack) All of the exclusives are far enough along in the process that we are going forward as is. Any changes now would mean the product will be delayed and not make the show.

Okay, I think that covers all the main points. Obviously we are very excited for this year’s show. It looks to be our biggest presence ever with tons of surprises in store. We’ll have more updates as we get closer to the show.

See you all in San Diego. I’ll be there to meet and greet in person!

-Matty

I follow their logic on the Gleek situation, but I think it’s based on an outdated understanding of the toy industry. Fifteen or twenty years ago, action figures weren’t the collectors’ market they are now. If there was a bonus figure at a convention, a majority of collectors might not even be aware of the toy’s existence, so a toy company could get away with offering this nice little “bonus” for those who went to the convention.

Now, however, any collector can instantly know everything there is to know about a toy line via the Internet, and many of them are “completists.” So rather than being a nice bonus for the few people who get to the convention, an exclusive figure–even just an accessory, like Gleek–becomes a hole in the collection of countless others.

Mattel’s explanation here still doesn’t get at the real question: why are they rewarding fans who go to a convention? The only answer I can think of that doesn’t seem misguided or cruel is that it’s a sop to the Comic Con folks, a point of prestige and a way to help draw people to the SDCC. (Of course, the SDCC has hardly needed help drumming up attendance in years. )

You could argue convention exclusive figures are just a long-term custom, but as I said, it’s one that’s become outdated. Call me a populist, but I think it would be better not to make any Gleeks at all than to offer them only to convention attendees. (Note that this doesn’t mean I won’t have my SDCC-going buddy get one for me–if it exists and it’s DCUC, I’m probably going to get it.)

Of course, convention exclusives aren’t a problem isolated to Mattel, and they’re probably too entrenched in the industry at this point. Mattel does deserve a lot of credit for offering the exclusives online at all. But I still think there’s no reason to “reward” the fans who go to the convention with anything other than getting the figures first and not having to pay shipping fees.

Finally, there’s this line:

Why does he not have his mask? Well because contractually we can not offer Hal this way. Period.

Seriously, who signs a contract like that? “Let’s sign this long-term contract preventing us from ever mass-producing a particular figure the fans really want. It will cost us thousands, perhaps millions of dollars in potential revenue, not to mention the loss of collectors who drop the line out of anger. Perfect!”

Bizarre, I tell you. Bizarre. And I know this is an old, old controversy, but it just makes no freakin’ sense to me.