UA-100768763-1 Jump to content

The Nightmare Before Christmas


Recommended Posts

It's a sneak preview figure. It was requested by Diamond to encourage participation in ComicFest. Promoting the line with retailers who may or may not already carry Minimates is secondary. 3000 is a lot of figures, and the number of completists who will have trouble getting one and will therefore shun the line is small and hypothetical compared to the potential audience.

Stealth Vorin was similar in offering, but different in scope and purpose. It was a successful promotion, in that it got more Battle Beasts comics in retailer hands, and therefore (presumably) customer hands.

Apologies if I gave any incorrect info.

It's always been my choice & my pleasure to have been a minimate completist .

To actually write the words ".....and the number of completists who will have trouble getting one & will therefore shun the line......." is nonsense......as in.... "it makes no sense" ......your comment Zach is...... at best .....the result of a hard weekend .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 736
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Well, as you can all guess, I'm pretty darn excited by this news. I remember talking with Chuck in New York a few years ago, and he casually dropped that they had designed these once upon a time for Disney, but then Disney decided that they didn't want to do NBC merch anymore, and my knees buckled. It's one of my favorite movies and a Top 5 most wanted dream properties. So, for those of you that aren't all that excited, just be happy for ol' Hellpop. This... THIS makes up for View Askew. :happy:

Anyway, assuming we are getting one box set, I'd think it will be:

Jack

Sally

Oggie Boogie

Santa

With a little Zero pack-in. If we are lucky enough to get a second set, I'd hope for:

Jack as Santa

The Mayor

Dr. Finkelstein

The last spot is a tossup. Obviously, you'd most like Lock, Shock and Barrel, but I wouldn't want one and not the others. And I don't know if I'd want them as little unarticulated Minis (please refer to the Guardians of the Galaxy thread). But I could live with them, I guess. I don't know who else would make sense in the set, though. The werewolf guy? The one with the hatchet in his head? The witch? Look, there's another box set right there?

Aw yeah Nightmare Before Christmas! :buttrock:

Put the werewolf with set two and make set three Lock, Shock and Barrel with the fourth slot filled by their walking bathtub using minimate arms for its legs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To actually write the words ".....and the number of completists who will have trouble getting one & will therefore shun the line......." is nonsense......as in.... "it makes no sense" ......your comment Zach is...... at best .....the result of a hard weekend .

I think the key difference between what he said and what you said is the inclusion of the word " hypothetical "

All Chickenlittling aside, the whole "turning off completionists" argument pops up whenever theres something like this, and I think I agree with Zach in that it never actually makes a difference.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like I said I chose to be a completist & if a Minimate is produced in numbers of 3000 then this completist isn't losing sleep over whether he'll get one for his collection .

Completism isn't easy & if anybody thinks it is all about $$$ is way-off .........it's about perseverance & getting stuff at the right price.

If Zach thinks ....hypothetically or not......that a completist will stop being one because there's one Minimate missing from his collection, then ......as I said.....nonsense . I waited years to get various bits into my collection & very little within it cost me an 'organ donation' or big money ......I keep it that way . The 'point' being that I didn't stop because something was currently 'missing' !!!!!

My beef is that everything 'Minimate' sold by just about every supposed new outlet will end up on ebay at inflated prices anyway , these blind bagged & exclusives will unfortunately be especially so........ or I'll eat your hat Mr.Carter.

By hook or by crook .

Edited by buttheadsmate
Link to comment
Share on other sites

BHM, are you disagreeing with me? Or agreeing with me? Once again, I have absolutely no idea. :D You are obviously an exception to about 57 different rules, BHM, but I'm fairly certain people here have said that completists will be "discouraged" by lots of things in the past, and I have expressed doubt each time.

Now, I don't know where I got the idea that someone here thought completists would not be able to get their hands on Jack. After re-reading Youbastards' comments, I realized that he had said a lot of things, but NOT that. So while I stand by my statement, pretend I never said it. Does that make sense? It WAS a long weekend.

The rest of my response applies. This figure is not being made to get kids into the line, it's to get retailers into doing ComicFest and ALSO carrying the line. Consider it a preview figure for collectors and completists, since they should be able to get it easily. It's like a con exclusive, but one with national distribution.

When the first series comes out, kids can buy as many as they like, although I do wonder what the ratio of kid NBX fans to adult NBX fans is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, can you answer this, Zach: will this exact Jack be available in the main line? Or will there be a variation (face tampo, other detail, etc.) other than packaging?

Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This figure is not being made to get kids into the line, it's to get retailers into doing ComicFest and ALSO carrying the line.

So the retailer who wouldn't normally carry Minimates or participate in Comicfest looks at this free figure (among other incentives, I'm sure) and says, "Sure, I'll give it a try."

The retailer gets the Minimate and a couple things might happen; they open it and fall in love with Minimates or they put it on eBay and make a pretty penny off of it. Either way they see the demand and value of the brand and order these things by the case as soon as they can.

Is that the scenario DST is hoping for?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the audience for NBX (I didn't realize that was the abbreviation we were going with; I like it, though it does sound like shorthand for one of those fly by night Marvel comics. New Bastard X-Men or something) is an interesting question. I wouldn't be surprised if that's why Disney Store moved away from it in the first place. But I think, now that you've got adult fans having children, there's a definite crossover. I know that, once my wife agrees my daughter is old enough (it's not that scary), we'll be watching NBX as an annual tradition.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This figure is not being made to get kids into the line, it's to get retailers into doing ComicFest and ALSO carrying the line.

So the retailer who wouldn't normally carry Minimates or participate in Comicfest looks at this free figure (among other incentives, I'm sure) and says, "Sure, I'll give it a try."

The retailer gets the Minimate and a couple things might happen; they open it and fall in love with Minimates or they put it on eBay and make a pretty penny off of it. Either way they see the demand and value of the brand and order these things by the case as soon as they can.

Is that the scenario DST is hoping for?

DST got an order from their sole distributor and sister company, and they filled it, not seeing a downside. Any scenario that results in Minimates getting purchased from us and given to people who either A. collect Minimates, B. sell Minimates, C. do not collect Minimates, or D. do not sell Minimates, is a win.

If you have a local comic shop that you either A. buy Minimates from, B. buy comics from, or C. buy neither Minimates nor comics from, I would contact them, ask them if they are getting in the Halloween ComicFest Jack Skellington Minimate, and ask them how much they will be selling it for.

If you are not doing that because A. you do not want to alert them to the fact that people want what they are getting, or B. you want to buy it online from someone who knows EXACTLY which people want what they are getting, and how much they would pay for it, then that is your call.

I think the audience for NBX (I didn't realize that was the abbreviation we were going with; I like it, though it does sound like shorthand for one of those fly by night Marvel comics. New Bastard X-Men or something) is an interesting question. I wouldn't be surprised if that's why Disney Store moved away from it in the first place. But I think, now that you've got adult fans having children, there's a definite crossover. I know that, once my wife agrees my daughter is old enough (it's not that scary), we'll be watching NBX as an annual tradition.

New Bastard X-Men is the best title ever. The illegitimate children of Logan, Angel and Gambit team up to take down the Hand, the Thieves' Guild and/or Apocalypse.

I think people have traditionally used NBX instead of NBC because of the network confusion. I hear Another Bad Creation had the same problem.

So, can you answer this, Zach: will this exact Jack be available in the main line? Or will there be a variation (face tampo, other detail, etc.) other than packaging?

Thanks.

This I do not know. I imagine the face will be different, but it may simply be packaging.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

DST selling Minimates to its sister company seems a little incestuous and, in the long run, not much of a sustainable business model. Hey, whatever pays DST's bills! Keep those plastic crack factories humming! MisterPL needs his fix!

I'm all for Minimates getting more marketshare. I just thought the LCS market had already been cornered since Diamond essentially has a monopoly on distribution in North America.

And for what it's worth, I'm not contacting my LCS about this particular Minimate because C. I'm not very interested in it. My curiosity is purely professional. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I still just don't understand why Diamond (not DST) would want to shun the retailers (and thus the customers) that have intentionally supported the brand that Diamond is using to promote ComicFest orders.

It seems backwards to me. Its nice they are using it as a free promo to retailers, but why prevent other retailers from just ordering directly if they aren't part of ComicFest and make everybody happy?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do we know whether NBX will eventually be, say, a couple box sets or a full blown series (not sure if there's enough characters to do multiple waves). I may get them if it's just one or two box sets just because I like Minimates in general, but if it's an entire line of 'mates I may just skip them altogether. I guess it'll depend on how "cool" it looks, otherwise the property itself doesn't excite me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

DST selling Minimates to its sister company seems a little incestuous and, in the long run, not much of a sustainable business model. Hey, whatever pays DST's bills! Keep those plastic crack factories humming! MisterPL needs his fix!

I'm all for Minimates getting more marketshare. I just thought the LCS market had already been cornered since Diamond essentially has a monopoly on distribution in North America.

And for what it's worth, I'm not contacting my LCS about this particular Minimate because C. I'm not very interested in it. My curiosity is purely professional. smile.png

Without Diamond Comics, there would probably not be a DST, especially since they originally founded us. :) We were created to make toys to sell to comic shops, and as you point out they are the biggest distributor to them, so it seems like a pretty good business model, one that has sustained for 15 years. But we also sell through Diamond to the Disney Store, Hastings, Toys "R" Us, Kmart, Sears and a thousand online retailers who are not technically LCS's. We were their number one supplier for toys last year, and the year before. Minimates are a small part of that.

And once again, this was about promoting ComicFest -- signing on a couple new comic shops would be gravy, because as you all know, not all LCS's carry Minimates. The market is far from cornered.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I still just don't understand why Diamond (not DST) would want to shun the retailers (and thus the customers) that have intentionally supported the brand that Diamond is using to promote ComicFest orders.

It seems backwards to me. Its nice they are using it as a free promo to retailers, but why prevent other retailers from just ordering directly if they aren't part of ComicFest and make everybody happy?

While Luke would I'm sure like to carry them as the home of all things Minimate, and a friend to many of his best customers, I don't know if any other retailer could be said to be "unhappy" about this. Maybe there are others who are interested in carrying the full line, but I'm not sure any retailer (besides Luke, and any others who are also MM collectors) is champing at the bit to order a one-off $5.99 SRP figure that isn't part of an assortment, or even an established NBX line. It's not like Diamond is denying them (or themselves) a significant stream of revenue by using this as a promotional item.

By this logic, we're making retailers unhappy every time we do TRU exclusives. And Hulk/Iron Man Heroes United promos. And the free giveaways at SDCC. All of which benefit the brand in some way. Unless you're arguing that the specialty retailers who buy Minimates should have an undeniable right to all new Minimates produced, this is simply another exclusive, albeit one sold to selected specialty stores. We are not locking them out of an entire line, just this one, single figure.

And I'm not even sure anyone IS locked out, they just need to sign on for the event and order a certain number of FCBD comics. I do not know the fees or requirements, or whether the number of figures provided will be allocated based on orders, but I think allocation is a best-case scenario for both consumers and retailers, since it means all 3,000 are entering the marketplace, and the retailers know they are getting the maximum quantity available.

I cant be arsed doing a reading of the ABC bit So all I can say there is a minority of us no matter what cant get this figure because the USA holiday of hallowen isnt done everywhere.

ABC, BBD, the East Coast Family? No? Never mind.

I do not know if Halloween ComicFest materials are not available to UK retailers -- there may be shipping/timing issues in addition to the cultural difference, and if so, that is certainly unfortunate -- but there are as many as 3,000 of these things heading to retailers. Saying that you can't get this figure as a collector is a bit presumptive. Someone, somewhere will be selling this figure, in a retail store or on the secondary market, and I doubt prices will be unreasonable once they stabilize.

Do we know whether NBX will eventually be, say, a couple box sets or a full blown series (not sure if there's enough characters to do multiple waves). I may get them if it's just one or two box sets just because I like Minimates in general, but if it's an entire line of 'mates I may just skip them altogether. I guess it'll depend on how "cool" it looks, otherwise the property itself doesn't excite me.

I believe we have an extensive line planned, in addition to other non-MM product, but I do not know if it will just be 3-4 box sets at specialty, or if our mass partners are interested in doing more. We've got a lot of different designs, including vehicles, but it all depends on orders. Hopefully this promo figure seeds interest on a retail level as well as a consumer one.

Edited by DSTZach
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...