JediJohnson Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 List them on Amazon or eBay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigvis497 Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Deadly Foes has been sold through other outlets. This might need it's own thread, but what sets have performed well and what exactly defines performing well? As Mister PL mentioned, a third of the inventory in six months sounds like it did ok. But I don't know what exactly defines ok. We've already gone over the Alpha Flight situation. Everyone says the Deadpool Assemble set was a knockout, however after initially selling out, there were tons of these on Amazon and WalMart.com. There still may be I haven't checked in a while. Is that performing well? Seems like the general consensus is that Deadpool and Movies do well and everything else under performs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSTZach Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 (edited) Deadpool did very well. We actually made more of that set, it is back in stock. We do not usually do that, DP may be the first Marvel box set like that. (Best of waves, I Love This Town and I think the Jay Bob two-pack are the only others.) But we may order more of the primary run if orders are strong. Luke has done an admirable job with the set, in spite of not having a hundred brick-and-mortar outlets like Hastings. I will try to plug it more often. Not sure if it has been included in any inserts, but I am not 100% sure of that. Some get made without me seeing them. Edited March 4, 2015 by DSTZach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elmeaux Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Deadly Foes has been sold through other outlets. This might need it's own thread, but what sets have performed well and what exactly defines performing well? As Mister PL mentioned, a third of the inventory in six months sounds like it did ok. But I don't know what exactly defines ok. I'd guess Luke covering his costs would define "ok" and making a profit would cover "performing well." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSTZach Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 And I would not say that non-movie, non-DP sets underperform, but some sets move faster than others. The zombie sets sold quick, but we still have some Hulk TTAs left. Some of the event-based ones slowed down after a while. But I would have to request data on what our initial factory orders were. At least 3K for each, but some may have been higher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mnemosis Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Zach, I just want to say thanks. It's always interesting getting a glimpse behind the curtain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttheadsmate Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 3000 sets is a lot of sets to sell when you consider the production runs of several recent box sets , I'm thinking of the Skybound licence in particular . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toy showdown Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 It's a great box set, but that's also the problem. It's a planned purchase, not an impulse buy item. Even though $20 is great for a low-run 4-pack. It would probably be $30 at TRU or $65 at one of their bump-up stores. And they would have replaced your favorite figure with yet another Spider-Man. The single sells alleviate the planning somewhat, but breaking up inventory unfortunately always leads to some sort of inventory issue. The set will sell through eventually. It's doing well for an item with a realistic investment term of three to five years. With all my circles complaining about the costs of printed material, I'm surprised the Marvel insert still exists. One hit for the printing, and another hit for postage if somebody actually mails it in. Seems like diminishing returns at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellpop Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Thank you for posting that, PL. I was thinking of doing that as well after reading Luke's post in the Wave 60 thread, but you beat me to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luke314pi Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Thanks for the post PL - I appreciate it. At this point, I believe that most Minimate collectors have heard of this set, and have purchased it if it is something that interests them. So now it is a matter of reaching out to the casual collectors and impulse buyers. Traditionally, banner and print ads do very poorly for us. The only advertising that works is word of mouth and google ads. However google ads only show up for people looking for something similar, so this set might not show up for a lot of potential buyers at all. And even though we are not first in google for "minimates", we are usually first for "buy minimates" and other similar searches, but once again someone has to actually be searching for Minimates. One way that we will be reaching out to other collectors this year is to have a booth at two Minnesota comic cons. If that works well, we might consider expanding to other midwest comic cons. We have contacted other retailers and offered wholesale pricing, but they are not interested at this time. We had our own expectations for this set based on the better-performing AFX exclusives, so we had expected to at least break even by now. But it is true that selling 1100 in 6 months is nothing to sneeze at, especially for an online-only niche store like ours. And we definitely have a lot of people here to thank for those 1100 moving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterPL Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 I went from being a jaded Minimates veteran who looked at this set and thought, "Pass, I got 'em all" to a nostalgia-ridden consumer who couldn't wait to play with these things. This is literally the most exciting Marvel set I can recall even though it's loaded with characters I already own and one I don't even like. And even that Minimate is now my definitive version! When I was a kid, I wanted figures of the classic version of each hero (whether it was Batman or Spider-Man or whoever) but I wanted a shitload of villains for them to battle. This box set helps to address that craving, especially for newbies who might have just picked up the classic Spider-Man in one of the "Best of" sets and wants more bad guys. Zach, if this 4-pack could be included in the cross-sell insert for the "Best of" series, that would be awesome not only for Luke's sake but from a new collector point of view. I can't help thinking that those impulse buyers just need to know this set exists and they'd be gone. Luke, I hope setting up at cons helps. I don't know if you're planning on printed inserts for shopping bags to tout the store but it should definitely mention this exclusive set. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karamazov80 Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Damn Luke. Sorry the sales didn't meet expectations thus far. I guess this is why DST is so anxious to keep pumping out more Spideys, Iron Men, and Wolverines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onyx_6 Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 I bought four sets. I also tried to convince a library patron of mine to pick a set up for his son who is a huge Carnage fan. I don't think that happened, but I tried! On a related note, this coming summer, American Libraries will have a summer reading theme of Superheroes. Maybe you can see about working with your local library, Luke, and see about offering Minimates, or coupons, as summer incentives? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja Mate Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 Thanks for the post PL - I appreciate it. One way that we will be reaching out to other collectors this year is to have a booth at two Minnesota comic cons. If that works well, we might consider expanding to other midwest comic cons. for future referance....over here in Indiana, a few years ago, we didnt have a single comic-con. it was a sad state. And in the last two years we have a lot (it seems like). We just had our first Wizard World a few weeks ago and up coming in the next few weeks to months we have indiana Comic-Con, Indy Pop Con, and the Indiana Toy and Comic Expo. The last three being their second year and they are getting a lot of people going to them. Probably Indy Pop Con being the biggest so far and expanding. Its great becuase it's put on by local Indianapolis natives. just an fyi, its a relatively close place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mnemosis Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 There's also Awesome Con in the fall and I think AT LEAST one other. It's insane. For my part, I never DID jump on one of those sets, but as soon as I have some disposable cash, I will try to get on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waggamemnon Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 Is there a way for your site to come up on Google under broader word searches. Like "marvel action figures" "best marvel toys" etc @luke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thereasonsy Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Luke - have you thought of Facebook or Twitter ads? That's what I do for a living so let me know if you want/need help with them. YOu can find me on the FB group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polarboy Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 (edited) I went to luke site today with the intent of buying one of these and ended up having my head turned by another set of wave sixty and another few days of future past boxsets (guess im just more of an x guy) so sorry about that Edited March 7, 2015 by Polarboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zak Katz Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 I'm sure he's cool with you buying anything,especially multiples! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mnemosis Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luke314pi Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Luke - have you thought of Facebook or Twitter ads? That's what I do for a living so let me know if you want/need help with them. YOu can find me on the FB group. We have tried Facebook ads, and did not get a good return on our investment. But we have not tried Twitter ads yet. I will have to look into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mystery Man Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Very sorry to hear that you haven't done well with these. They seemed like a wonderful, easy seller for casual and completists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnim zola Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 on the one hand its only been a few months, on the other hand, a wrecking crew box set would definitely look to this to see how it did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stack32 Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 I think sales of this set have zero impact on the chances of getting a Wrecking Crew boxset, though only because the chances are already zero. If we ever get them we're going to have to buy a bunch of the major heroes over again to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnim zola Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Also that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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