MisterPL Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 If that retailer has enough buying power, Chuck will give them what they want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karamazov80 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 (edited) The other is something that's not necessarily going to be received with open arms by people around here, so I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to announce it. It's good for the brand, since it's good for sales to retailers and to draw in new fans, but some existing collectors may not appreciate it. And I really don't feel like shifting into super-defensive mode right now. I've been traveling since 4:30 a.m., and I'm almost home."Good for sales to retailers" suggests to me it isn't a new retailer. That, plus the fact that I don't think it would put hardcore collectors off (assuming it didn't mean more hard to find exclusives). We already knew some new retailers were coming anyway, based on Zach's previous comments. Would blind boxes "bring in new fans" is a big question I have. And would it really be good for sales to retailers, considering the mixed U.S. response to blind boxes/bags in the past--LEGO aside, but LEGO is totally its own entity? I'm not sure about that. Maybe expanding the Minimates license to cover stuff that typical geek collectors would find abhorrent? Like, I don't know, sports? Edited May 21, 2014 by karamazov80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TENIME_art Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 (edited) Blind bags/boxes prevent an affordable completion. I have wasted $20 on Simpsons Legos duplicates, and am still missing 5 figures. I bought an entire case of Funko Game of Thrones, and did not get the 3 most expensive on the 2nd market figures (luckily, a super kind board member hooked me up for the most expensive at a fraction of the cost - but I'm still missing the other two). I'll buy a case if I'm guaranteed a complete set. In that case, doubles aren't a big deal, I can trade or sell or donate. But I can't afford to keep buying the same figure over and over again (LEGO KRUSTY!!!! ). Edited May 21, 2014 by TENIME_art Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellpop Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Poor Tenime and his family of Lego Krustys. I'm not sure what the appropriate emoticon is for expressing "I sympathize, but it's still kind of funny". Blind bags make some kind of sense to me for figures that are normally sold as part of larger sets, like Legos, Kreons and Mega Blocks. I don't quite mind so much getting doubles when the alternative is spending more money for a bigger set when I just want the figures (this should be known as "the Transformers Kreons Theorem"). But Minimates already come in convenient two- and four- packs. Blind bags seem like a loosing situation in that case. But if that's what it takes to get them to more retailers, okay. I hope they are either complete rehashes of existing figures, or completely new. If we get an assortment that includes, say, Captain America, Iron Man, Wolverine, Squirrel Girl, and Gideon, that's going to be a big pain in the ass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karamazov80 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 I'm not sure what the appropriate emoticon is for expressing "I sympathize, but it's still kind of funny".I'm afraid it's one or the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TENIME_art Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 If they do blind whatever, I hope at least they give some kind of notifier on the packaging as to what's inside, even if we're the only ones who get the cheat sheet up front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tetton517 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Without a "cheat sheet," I'm afraid I'd have to give up on Marvel mates if they go the blind bag route. It's stressful enough as it is tracking down TRU exclusives. I don't even want to think about tracking down short packed figures or having to pay the inevitably high secondary market prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whywing Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Theoretically blind bags would get rid of TRU exclusivity so they would be in more stores. In my mind this means they would be easier to access and the secondary prices wouldn't be to bad, as long as the short packed figures aren't extremely rare that is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterPL Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Theoretically blind bags would get rid of TRU exclusivity so they would be in more stores. I'm not sure how you'd come to that conclusion. The whole reason exclusives exist is to drive traffic to specific stores. If more retailers enjoy success with Minimates, exclusives are more likely for even more stores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elmeaux Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Yeah, and I don't see why retailers would have said "What we really want is direct rereleases of past figures that are outdated and which will drive down collectability/after market prices" I mean, if that's what it is, fine. I've got some mates I'd be glad for a second pass at. I'm just saying it seems an unlikely request to me More than likely it was along the lines of "Blind bag mini figures is a growth category for us. Can you give us something like that?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whywing Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 I was thinking that Minimates could become more widespread (like Ninja Turtles, SW Black Series, Marvel Mashers) and have blind bags at more retailers instead of being restricted to a few retailers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mnemosis Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Yeah, and I don't see why retailers would have said "What we really want is direct rereleases of past figures that are outdated and which will drive down collectability/after market prices" I mean, if that's what it is, fine. I've got some mates I'd be glad for a second pass at. I'm just saying it seems an unlikely request to me More than likely it was along the lines of "Blind bag mini figures is a growth category for us. Can you give us something like that?" You misunderstand. My quoted post was referencing someone's suggestion that we might be seeing rereleases INSTEAD of blind bags. I GET why retailers would ask for blind bags Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elmeaux Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 I was not disagreeing with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mnemosis Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 You know what would work for Blind Bags? Troop builders. Give me a blind bag wave where buying a case of 24 means I get: 2x Havok 2x Polaris 2x Wolfsbane 2x Strong Guy 2x Quicksilver 1x Random 1x Val Cooper 6x Multiple Man in costume 6x Multiple Man in civvies I'd buy a case in a heartbeat and offer up a few of my extras for sale or trade, but I'd be perfectly happy with my mini army. 2x Superior Spider-Man 2x Superior Venom 2x Green Goblin 2x Hobgoblin 1x Goblin Knight 1x Old Doc Ock 1x Wraith 1x Monster 6x Spider Slayers 6x Spider Soldiers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrClean Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 It's TRU exclusive blind bag figures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zexion_Armando Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 It's TRU exclusive blind bag figures. Which means only half the stores get them, and most of the bags are of Wolverine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nessex Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 But if that's what it takes to get them to more retailers, okay. I hope they are either complete rehashes of existing figures, or completely new. If we get an assortment that includes, say, Captain America, Iron Man, Wolverine, Squirrel Girl, and Gideon, that's going to be a big pain in the ass. If it meant getting Gideon & Squirrel Girl, i'd probably learn to live with it. My biggest fear is the likelyhood of damaged in those cheap little blind bags. Perhaps is they did something more like the Army Dump case, but with no windows on the boxes? It's TRU exclusive blind bag figures. You, sir, are a monster! You know what would work for Blind Bags? Troop builders. Give me a blind bag wave where buying a case of 24 means I get: 2x Havok 2x Polaris 2x Wolfsbane 2x Strong Guy 2x Quicksilver 1x Random 1x Val Cooper 6x Multiple Man in costume 6x Multiple Man in civvies This would be a way that i could get behind it. Still - are any of those characters going to be big enough to sell at K-Mart/Target/etc... ? I love your lay-out, but to attract new retailers, you're going to have to give them Wolverines, IronMen, & Hulks (oh my!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mnemosis Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 True, true... I was just spitballing what COULD work from a collector standpoint. How about... 2x Captain America 2x Classic Falcon 1x AIM Scientist Supreme 1x Spider MODOK 3x Female SHIELD Agent 3x Male SHIELD Agent 6x Mandroids 6x AIM Soldier With troop builders like that, they could even forego multiple looks in a single bag in favor of three "different" figures. Agents a,b, and c could all be rocking different faces/hair pieces meaning that true completists would need a whole case worth of troop builders to be 100% but casual troop builders/shoppers would be perfectly happy with their random look agents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pappymojo Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 True, true... I was just spitballing what COULD work from a collector standpoint. How about... 2x Captain America 2x Classic Falcon 1x AIM Scientist Supreme 1x Spider MODOK 3x Female SHIELD Agent 3x Male SHIELD Agent 6x Mandroids 6x AIM Soldier With troop builders like that, they could even forego multiple looks in a single bag in favor of three "different" figures. Agents a,b, and c could all be rocking different faces/hair pieces meaning that true completists would need a whole case worth of troop builders to be 100% but casual troop builders/shoppers would be perfectly happy with their random look agents I could get behind this type of roll-out, they could even throw in a lesser character that might not sell well in a two-pack, like Henry Gyrich or Sharon Carter or comic Dum Dum Duggan or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mnemosis Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Absolutely! You could drop it down to four each of the Mandroids and AIM soldiers, and work in one each of Sharon, Henry, Dum Dum and... Dr. Faustus? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mnemosis Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 (edited) Uncanny 275 4x Blue and Yellow Wolverine/Blue and Yellow Gambit 2x Blue and Yellow Storm/Blue and Yellow Psylocke 1x Blue and Yellow Forge 1x Blue and Yellow Banshee 1x Blue and Yellow Jubilee 1x Xavier in weird getup 2x Savage Land Magneto 1x Savage Land Rogue 1x Kazar 2x Gladiator 1x Lilandra 1x Deathbird 6x Shi'ar warriors With Wolverine/Gambit and Storm/Psylocke, the basic bodies are the same so a second head and accessories for each would work fine Agents of SHIELD 2x Coulson 2x Skye 2x Fitz 2x Simmons 2x May 2x Trip 1x Ward 1x Deathlok 1x Garrett 1x Fury 1x Maria Hill 1x Koenig 6x Cybertek Augmented soldiers Edited May 22, 2014 by Mnemosis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roccothegreat Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 we need another gambit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mnemosis Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 I'll stop now. Y'all get the idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttheadsmate Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Nessex mentioned the packaging ,the glory [for manufacturers] of blind-packaging is that each item is generally* identical which ultimately saves the manufacturer packaging costs . Kubricks & palZ were blind-boxed whereas the Lego stuff for example is blind-bagged ......you knew that but have the 'non-openers' here realised that they would probably have to become openers? * Medicom ultimately got fed up with all their Star Wars kubrick blind-box packaging being identical.......in the later waves the common figures each had their own individual identifying box ,the trick was that the chase/secret figures were randomly occasionally packed in a common figures box replacing the common figure . Once collectors knew which common box held a possible chase they devoured them ......which created further havoc. Another thing with kubrick blind-boxing is that it almost becomes de rigueur to keep the empty boxes .....it's generally regarded as rude not to trade these on with figures in any sale..............I didn't set the trend I just follow it Ludicrous. Non-openers might just as well pack in now. Pun intended. This may work well with Minimates.....if indeed it is actually the way it is going.......let's see! In the meantime buy the most accurate set of weighing equipment you can afford . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prowlar Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 While a troop builder BB is ideal for collectors and troop builders it isn't very realistic. A BB layout for say Avengers would likely look something like: 4 Captain America 4 Iron Man 4 Thor 4 Hulk 2 Hawkeye 2 Ultron 1 Black Widow 1 Quicksilver 1 Scarlet Witch 1 Ant Man Maybe drop Ant Man and add another Black Widow. Lets face facts here a BB isn't really for us it is more of an impulse buy type item. If a kid begs for one and gets a Troop builder, oh well, but if they don't end up getting a big name hero the second time around the store just lost out on selling any more BBs to that parent and any others she complains to about her kid being so upset about getting a generic no name toy instead of the hero he or she wanted so badly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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