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I never saw the tony stark/stealth iron man and still don't have one. sigh. Hopefully I won't be saying the same for the BE/MS

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The hunt issue is +/-. I mean if your finding it, then there's nothing to complain about. If not, yeah it sucks.

The 'hunt' issue should be 'a level playing field'. I have the Moonstone set & I'm still complaining because I'm a grumpy shit who wants to talk 'variants' & how "great (or not) they are" rather than "I can't F**king find it in the toy aisle".

.....& don't start me on Wave 26 variant set :angry:

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I'd been torn on minimates.com offering site exclusives, because it's probably be like dst's existing online store and again semi-shaft US fans. That and the mentioned retailer guide seems to me more pushing people out to existing retailers too.

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"The Hunt" used to be entertaining back when it was a level playing. With the advent of the internet, the growth of eBay, and the explosion of scalpers, "the Hunt" is no longer that, it's some sort of twisted guerilla war. I don't think the manufacturers have caught on to that yet, because they have connections for their toy hook-ups. Today's fans get screwed by "the Hunt!"

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I'm not too upset by what Chuck said unless these two figures won't show up again. Then I'll be pretty ticked. To comment

Here's hoping(crossing finggers) that they show up again. but I won't hold my breath. One thing's for sure, I'm not wasting any more gas and buying diet pepsi lol :teehee: (well maybe not until the next exclusive Snipe Hunt Minimate)

To tell you the truth no other 2-pack has frustrated me more, got to live with it.

I sent DSTMatt a PM about the Bullseye 2 pack a while back and this is the reponse I got

I know it can be frustrating trying to track some of these down, but the Bullseye/Moonstone pack isn't any more limited than a comic store variant if you look at the total number of pieces produced. If Bullseye proves to be a supremely popular character, you could see him pop up in another set.

I think that people should email Matt and Chuck and DST in general to let them know how you feel. I have the set but the ridiculousness of it all angers me. Many of you, like myself, have been collecting these since the first Marvel wave, and some probably earlier than that, and now when they seem on the brink of going more mainstream than ever it's like we, the ones who have supported the brand for so long, are being left out in the cold. Make your voice heard. [/rant] Sorry about that. Back on topic. Any chance of someone getting at least an audio recording of the Minimate Panel tomorrow?

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I wouldn't be so quick to call for burning at the stake re: the hunt. It's an unfortunate set of circumstances that works doubly against those of us who don't HAVE Minimates at our TRUs [and who just barely have the damn TRUs in name only, in the first place], but stuff happens, no?

Some have already raised the point of having business considerations and retailer profiles addressed first, and that is always going to take precedence over fan convenience when it comes to these things -- nothing against the fans, whom Chuck and Matt seem to be really taken with as a whole [otherwise they wouldn't bother talking to/explaining their end], just stuff that happens when they have to make the difficult decisions. The given reason to prioritize the other characters as far as in-case allotment goes seems to make enough sense to me. Ultimately, if you remove the "fandom/gotta collect everybody/I know who these are goggles", it's just Bullseye and Moonstone against a case full of bigger names for the brand [some even flagship].

The problem with them being released in the same numbers as a comic store variant, though, is that there are way more TRUs to divide that total number by. And their distribution/stocking is way different and far more unpredictable than a comic store's. But it must be noted that these are the things that come with the territory -- if we want want our mates released to the public in a mainstream toy store, we'll have to deal with having to hunt.

Edited by lastmaximal
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Thanks Ivan.

I'm actually stung by Chuck's comments. The Bullseye/Moonstone furore has had me questioning whether I want to continue buying minimates anyway. To learn that they don't appear to be taking our frustrations on board is a bit of a blow.

Yeah, I'm with you on that. If you don't have a TRU nearby or your TRU doesn't order 'em, then it doesn't matter if they manufactured more of that set that the comic shop variants. I don't see anywhere on TRU.com where I can order a set of 'em, like I can on any other comic-based website for comic released series.

Back to the SDCC news - Marvel just announced that they acquired

Marevelman

! I wonder how long before DST makes a minimate.....

Right after Kang, of course!

Edited by Mystery Man
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The case mix for the Bullseye/Moonstone issue is really a no win...

The arguement that the figure pack may be a little too obscure for mom's shopping at TRU, who will instanly recognize Iron Man, Hulk, Wolverine and Spiderman, (by virtue of their popularity) seems reasonable considering that TRU caters to very mainstream tastes at this point in time. As this is early in the propuct cycle for TRU, they may want to see how the market developes before the assortment gets too deep.... otherwise they risk lots of peg warming stock, which benefits no one.

For example: Look at Hasbro and Star Wars - how successful are all the really obscure characters performing? Not well (which is why there are are a $hit load of 6-breasted women, cantina aliens and random background characters clogging the pegs at every Walmart, Target & TRU.

On the other hand, you come in too short and you have the present situation.

Or, alternatively, you tweak the case mix and come up short on a different character set. Ultimately this could lead to case assormtnet that have more packs of a smaller assortment of characters w/ each wave (for example: a case that has 3 different 2-packs @ 4/case versus a case that has 4 different 2-packs @ 3/case) which might mean waiting for additional waves to get the same characters (if at all), considering that TRU is gonna want the mainstream characters to be well represented in each assortment (for non-collectors)

What does surprise me is the observation that this wouldn't have been a good assortment for the LCS channel... If I were DST, I would consider leaving TRU to distribute a much more mainstream assortment, while pushing the more obscure, collectable stuff in the LCS where the more avid collectors are likely to find it and shop. Additionally, I think DST is going to need to have a clear delineation between the mainstream TRU assortments and the deeper, more collector oriented assortments going the the LCS channel - otherwise the LCS distribution is going to dry up and stop buying if they feel that they have to compete w/ TRU in assortment and price and only get an occasional PX exclusive to give them an edge.

BTW: There's nothing wrong with "The hunt", in moderation. A neverending quest for characters that are impossible to find is a morale killer.

Edited by captain_cbecker
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I accept that 'Mom & the Casuals' might not pluck Bullseye/Moonstone from the shelves at TRU in preference to Spidey,Wolverine et al, but what's stopping TRU.com offering them online to the aforesaid 'die hards'?

Do they think we're daft?

All I see is 'smoke & mirrors' at the moment.....

at least you're covered ;)

but I understand your point. if I didn't have such awesome untapped TRU's i'd be more pissed about not getting bullseye >=[

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Here's an open question to those on the board:

Are Minimates the first and only toy line you have collected?

The practice of tiered case lots has been going on forever. The very least it probably kicked off with TRU coming into the game. It has been this way with Marvel Legends forever, dating back to the first toybiz figures. I believe there are three reasons why toy companies pack like this:

1. Characters like Bullseye/Moonstone are definitely considered lesser characters. It was pointed out a few posts earlier. DST/TRU are gambling with on what will sell. It's safe to say a Mom with little knowledge of comics will end up taking home a spidey or wolverine first, because that is what she knows. She may pick up a bullseye and put it back because she has no idea who he is. Same with the kid who is with that mom. Unless he knows comics, he probably doesn't know or care who bullseye is.

2. TRU knows that there are collectors like us out there. They want us to come back in search of the elusive chase set. They are banking that during one of our repeat visits we will end up buying something else while we were there, even though we didn't find what we were looking for. I liken it to Door Crashers/ Loss Leaders at stores. They are pulling you in with a great deal/great hope of finding a chase set and want to see you walk out with more product, preferably those that have higher margins.

3. What you need to know about retail, especially if you sell videogames, is that you try to order product to intentionally sell out of it. Take videogames for instance, the best opportunity to sell a new game is usually within 2 weeks of it's release date. Most of the time it's within 1 week of it's release date. Sure you'll sell 1 here or 2 there after that, but if you go and buy too many, you are forced to sit on that product until you mark it down to get rid of it. I'm sure toys are the exact same as videogames. There are no returns to the suppliers. If I buy 100 boxes of Ghostbusters mates, and I sell 1 box, I'm stuck with those. It's not like other sectors of retail like cd/dvds where the suppliers will let you return what you don't sell. You're stuck with them. There's a good reason why I can walk into my local TRU and still find Marvel Legends Series 1 from a few years ago on the shelves.

I'm sure by now it's obvious I work in retail (a Canadian cd/dvd/games retailer), but that doesn't mean I like this practice. I absolutely hate having someone come into my shop a few days after a release and walking away empty handed. All the buying is done by people at head office, so we have very little control these days of what quantity comes into my store.

Sorry this was long winded, I just wanted to maybe add a little insight into the retail practices. While the buyers at TRU seem to be incompetent, I don't think we can really blame DST either. They are trying to ensure they don't over produce figures as well. I think the best thing we can do is be patient, most times we will eventually get what we want. It just may take a little longer than anticipated.

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*The longest post in board history*

I think that we all fully understand the concept of retail. The reason that we are angry is that it was packed 1 per case. Which in mass market can make it near impossible to obtain something. No one expected them to pack the figure 4 to a case that would be silly but no one expected 1 per case either. Now even when they restock you can miss out because it's only 1 per case and while you are chasing the 1 per case figure the market is being flooded with the other 11 figures that are not leaving the pegs. So eventually there is no reason to restock that case anymore because no one is buying them and because of this you never get that 1 per case figure and have to rely on the kindness on someone on this board or the grim fucking reality of eBay. Our only hope is that DST has been listening. That figure could have been 2 per case with no problem moving them off the pegs.

I hope that this post does not seem as though I am coming down on you personally I am not an asshole I just play one on TV. Oh and the reason that the Marvel Legends series 1 figures are still on the pegs is that for the most part they sucked.

OK I am an asshole but I try not to be.

Edited by minimadman
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I wonder why we haven't seen any displays of...

  • Secret Wars boxed set (Toys R Us.com has a pic of 'em)
  • Packaged mates from Marvel series 27 & 28
  • First appearance X-men (hinted by AFX)

Any news if AFX got their eclusive mates outta customs yet?

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Not a lot to report for day 2.

  • AFX got their sets in, and handed out the blue and green keychains throughout the day (10/12/2/4/6). Same times for today. Slightly modified times for Sunday.
  • The GITD Stay Puft/Venkman sold out at the DST booth, although it is available through other booths.
  • Chuck was on another toy panel, but there was no new Minimate info. Just the usual bit about no need for likeness rights because the are considered parody.

Minimate panel today. :)

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