These mid day drops are tough for me.  Missed Power Girl as expected.

As for Todd changing his stance on female figures, I don't think his ego will allow it.

Yep. Got interrupted at work for an hour. Missed out on everyone. 

@yojoebro82 heh, indeed. I don’t see a guy like Todd ever admitting he was wrong.

They really need to start making more units available of new release figures for PO. These sold out just about everywhere faster than any wave I can remember. They were all sold out on MTS within a couple of minutes, followed quickly by BBTS. It seems they're leaving a lot of money on the table by not offering enough product for the people who want them.

I know they like to create buzz, but I thought they were in the business of making money first. At least make enough figures available to last 15 minutes before they all sell out.

I managed to snag a set on BBTS, but it seems a lot of people missed out on being able to pre-order them. That all could have been money in the bank for McFarlane Toys.

@ninjak maybe the demand really exceeded their allotted manufacturing order. They have no way to anticipate a sudden massive demand. Factory orders are consistent for every batch & these were already done in 10-11/24. Suspect it's many buying multiples.

Posted by: @kryptonian

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Suspect it's many buying multiples.

I absolutely agree with this.   In fact,  I think this is exactly Todd's plan with the limited Platinum figure release strategy.    And it's working.

Because there are enough people that want the limited Platinum version of at least some of the characters -  there are people who are preordering multiples of each character to ensure they get a platinum.     Because Todd has cut the production numbers from where they were several years ago, along with this Platinum figure strategy -  this creates faster sell outs at the pre-order drop.

This actually makes demand increase for the figure as people who missed the pre-order get antsy about getting the figure.    This then allows those people who pre-ordered multiples to ensure a Platinum have a secondary market for the extra figures they end up with.     And, if at any point that secondary market flattens, those people simply return the pre-ordered figures to the retail outlets for a refund, and then there is a second wave of availability.

I think Todd is leaning into this method... it makes it seem like there is tremendous demand for his figures,  it keeps the secondary market stronger -  and Todd is a firm believer in a strong secondary market as a good thing -  and makes people antsier about future releases and less likely to sit and wait.

I don't see the approach to figure releases changing any time soon.   This is working exactly the way McFarlane wants it to.

@panthercult I did buy 2 from Gamestop...but really to get the free shipping. Even tried to apply the $5 monthly coupon that dipped the price below the free shipping threshold. 🤭

He could maybe try a different strategy, such as making better figures and stop flooding the market with bad ones that just end up sitting on shelves.

That being said, I did manage to finally get the Damian Wayne figure. It is a superb figure. Crazy this wasn't paired with the Batman Reborn figure and given a proper release.

@panthercult All that works until it doesn't. Stepping over of all the comic book store corpses from the 90s

Entertainment Earth had the 2 guys at least.

Oh, trust me, I get it.    I'm not saying it's a strategy I like or appreciate.  But I think it's a strategy Todd likes and remembers fondly from his glory days.   

And here's the thing... he did it "our way" with lower priced, readily available at retail assortments and the bottom fell out of that market a little bit - such that retailers were rejecting waves.   So now he pivoted to something he was comfortable with from his comic days.   Deliberate scarcity driving demand, creating more speculators, creating more initial frenzy, creating more speculators buying to take advantage...

But you are right,  that's a a cycle that perpetuates for awhile until the bottom drops out,  and the speculators or, more likely, the retailers are left holding the bag on product they can't get rid of (again) and ultimately it kills the line.     It burns hot for awhile and then burns out.

Posted by: @panthercult

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 I think it's a strategy Todd likes and remembers fondly from his glory days.   

"Ahhh ... the time we nearly collapsed the industry. Good times; good times"

Tells us all we really need to know about this dude.

In a way I get why he does it. It made him a lot of money in comics, and I really only got into this line (I didn't like the scale when it launched and had been burned by shoddy McF figures in other lines for years) because the bottom fell out and I could take a flyer on a bunch of figures for cheap. I must've picked up a couple dozen figures on a whim for like 10 bucks. Pivoting to something that keeps folks buying at full price, and multiples, has got to be better for his bottom line. Getting collectors to buy cases on spec makes sense if you just want to part a man from his money. 

I'm annoyed about the race to find the figures today because I nearly didn't get a character I really wanted, still won't know til she ships if I get the "laser eyes, no alt face place, and alt costume" chase instead of a vanilla basic figure I want, and I was JUST feeling better about the line with how much I liked the last few I picked up. Earth-2 Robin, Wildcat, Reeves Superman and a couple of others really had me regretting feeling so negative about it and today I'm back to daydreaming about someone else getting a 1/12 license. 

I too got into the line b/c I got 1 or 2 that looked cool on eBay for $9.99. Still very selective. Each release I tetter on selling them off and bailing.

Guy just looks very barrel-chested.  He reminds me of the 90's flip-head Power Rangers.

[img] [/img]

Todd did say on social media that around the time these start showing up in stores that more would be made available online again.  So, hopefully in March anyone who missed them today can order them on McFarlanes site,BBTS, EE, etc.