While it certainly isn't a substitute for a quality Colan Dracula figure - I suppose for the near future I'll use the FFM Monster Force Count for a more classic Drac on my shelf...
The Jada one is OK but I think maybe a tad small...
While it certainly isn't a substitute for a quality Colan Dracula figure - I suppose for the near future I'll use the FFM Monster Force Count for a more classic Drac on my shelf...
This is my plan as well.
As for the Strange Tales wave itself, just pre-ordered Moon Knight. Was momentarily tempted to get Daimon as well, because I don't want Hasbro to think he's a failure instead of realizing it's the look they gave him that's the failure. But I resisted.
For now.
Yeah... wave pre-ordered at Amazon. As underwhelmed as I am by the wave, I'm a sucker for my Legends and there's a place in my display for most of these. Hellverine is going to ride bitch on the Cosmic Ghost Rider's bike for now.
Technically I only want Dracula, Lilith and Moon Knight from the wave, and Dracula isn't my preferred look. I do want to build Blackheart, of course. Daimon and Voodoo are not my preferred looks. Hellverine would have been fine literally anywhere else, but since he's here I might as well get him. Bloodstorm by far my least wanted of the wave. So basically I'll end up getting everyone anyway to build Blackheart. I'll probably wait for a sale for most of them, because I don't feel like paying full price for some of them. Instead of building Blackheart, It's more like I'm building disappointment. Wompity womp.
I want Moon Knight, Dracula and Blackheart. So I'm going to pre-order Moon Knight and Dracula and hope I can get the rest when I have some spare cash lol.
Is scaling back production to match demand really playing social engineer? Or just being a totally normal business?
Let's not kid ourselves, Hasbro offerings past and present have gone out of their way to make the FOMO needle jump. "Let's see what level of frustration fans/customers will put up with," doesn't seem to be an ideal business model, but we see corporations employing it more and more today. In that regard we're seeing a form of social conditioning taking place. Ultimately the economy is going to dictate things more than the microcosms we're analyzing. But again, we on this message board aren't the "average consumer." Hasbro Pulse itself was an effort to cut out the distribution middle man, for better or worse. Feed the corporation directly, don't go to the store. It's a form of social conditioning. What's that you say? The corporation sold out of it's own product? I guess you'd better be quicker next time!
As for the other commenter's appraisal of the DC Boards, I'd say that's more so to do with the personalities present on that board overall. I among them complain at times, but again, Todd comes out and tries to explain his rationale behind marketing to the general population, and our biggest takeaways are "Todd doesn't like women." I'd agree that I don't get the NFT goofiness, and having to chase down Collectors Edition/Gold/Platinum etc. variants, but I'm also fortunate that there's not that much else I want from his DC line that I think I need until something "cool looking" comes along. I still don't have Blue Knightfall Azrael or Red Energy Superman despite trying to get them. In turn I've more or less just realized I don't need them, and honestly don't know that I'd buy them at this point. My point being that trying to FOMO-bait fans into reenaging only works on a portion of the fans. And once the rest are apathetic, you're actually in a worse situation than you were before. Think endless #1's in Marvel comics. I couldn't collect a cohesive continuous line if I wanted to because they've made the numbering so asinine. So there went 20+ years of collecting that.
The cynic in me thinks that the move the manufacturer makes here - and I'm confident McFarlane is already doing it - is to deliberately under serve demand of the next wave or two and whip up a little FOMO and desperation in the base. Get rid of the mentality people have of "I'll just wait for clearance, thanks" After a wave or two where there is no Clearance - customers start pre-ordering again and stop playing the discount game, or at least enough to push the numbers north again.
They can try to play social-engineer all they want, but Todd I think has a better grasp on a collector's mindset than Hasbro. Hasbro routinely comes across as "what's the most we can screw the plebs out of," while Todd at least partially plays the "advocate" for the community by trying to stick to certain pricing, or doing interviews where he'll address things people are complaining about. We don't always get the answer we want right away but usually he'll come around later on things like side-eye and female figures etc. Granted Todd is doing things like charging more for popular characters that come with less on occasion, but I don't see it as routinely as I do with Hasbro. Hasbro may be throttling production down as you say, but I'd argue that not being able to get Lilith or a 4th release of someone like Voodoo or MoonKnight isn't going to move the needle for most collectors. If they're worried about making money they should be providing those "evergreen" figures that people even on here routinely complain about not being able to get, rather than focusing on characters most folks don't even know exist and then limiting production of them.
There are plenty of folks who genuinely walk away out of frustration rather playing the FOMO game. Even I, as a collector/addict, recognize there's only so much I'll put up with before I'm out, as is the case with Star Wars Black Series for the most part. And no amount of limited release overpriced obscure character choice is going to reverse that. So while they may aim to create frenzy over figures despite waning sales, I'd argue they're really just creating apathy among the collectors they still have for the time being.
Wow. As someone who "walked away" from McFarlane DCM, it's hard to agree with most of your points here. If Todd has a better grasp on the collecting community, then he sure is doing a good job at pissing them off.
None of his interviews have really given much of any interesting or new insight for anyone that's been a collector for decades. He usually just gloss over complaints or double downs on his decisions. Does he actually stick to certain pricings? Since 2020 prices have been $20, $23, $25, $30 & even $40. Most of the upcoming releases are all $30 Collector Editions (for no good reason at all), while the last I checked Hasbro ML are still $25.
Chase figures, trading cards, card stands(?!), poor articulation range & articulation cuts all points to someone who's stuck in the 90's. Hasbro has a lot of problems as well, but McFarlane already made me bow out within 4 years.
Dracula looks good. First thing I thought of was former Fwoosher Huck - he finally got his #1 want! I probably would have preferred the Colan version too, but I honestly don't have much attachment to either. The Marvel Monsters continue to be neglected, though I'm positive that Werewolf By Night branding on Man-Thing is not meaningless.
Thank you for thinking of me. I've had a box full of Mythic Legions vampire soldiers for years waiting for this release.
My point being that trying to FOMO-bait fans into reenaging only works on a portion of the fans. And once the rest are apathetic, you're actually in a worse situation than you were before. Think endless #1's in Marvel comics. I couldn't collect a cohesive continuous line if I wanted to because they've made the numbering so asinine. So there went 20+ years of collecting that.
To be clear - I actually agree with all of this. The only thing I can think of with the scarcity baiting model is that maybe if you under produce a few things, people that are interested ask retailers about it more and more - and if enough of that happens the retailers reengage and order a little more, and sales can start to creep back up and you can grab a few more of those opportunity customers again.
But as you indicate, it could also backfire.
None of his interviews have really given much of any interesting or new insight for anyone that's been a collector for decades. He usually just gloss over complaints or double downs on his decisions. Does he actually stick to certain pricings? Since 2020 prices have been $20, $23, $25, $30 & even $40. Most of the upcoming releases are all $30 Collector Editions (for no good reason at all), while the last I checked Hasbro ML are still $25.
We're comparing $40 megafigs to Hasbro's standard $25 figure now? I'll agree that a $30 Collector's Edition figure should come with alternate hands and accessories and maybe even an extra head. Anecdotally I also just paid $20 for the Tim Drake Robin that's coming out, and $22 for Black and Grey Knightfall Batman figure. So I see Todd as his own animal rather than the corporate entity. I'm sure some of his obstinate behaviors likely come from just having survived as long as he has in the business, and that can be a double edged sword; given his hesitancy to bail on NFTs. But all these foibles and now Marvel is using him too?
Don't get me wrong, the side-eye on figures drove me nuts and the NFT's are out of left field, but realistically we can debate "who drops the ball more," based on our personal tastes all day.
To be clear - I actually agree with all of this. The only thing I can think of with the scarcity baiting model is that maybe if you under produce a few things, people that are interested ask retailers about it more and more - and if enough of that happens the retailers reengage and order a little more, and sales can start to creep back up and you can grab a few more of those opportunity customers again.
But as you indicate, it could also backfire.
That's largely what I was trying to convey with my statements. It's a double edged sword, and that action has lingering consequences. I think we can agree that the public has a "tapping out" point, and collectors such as us may hang in longer, but even that has limits. I'm for not taking the customer for granted and producing a quality product that people want rather than playing games with their mindset to get them to buy something. I think most of us are too old to be fighting on the floor of a Target over Pokemon cards.
I think I'm losing the plot of the conversation here a little bit. Didn't this start as a conversation about Hasbro (allegedly) scaling back production because so many figures hit deep clearance over the last few years? Is it FOMO-baiting or creating artificial scarcity to not want the product to end up on clearance racks?
I don't collect McF so I can't comment knowledgeably on it, but I know that COIE wave was priced at like $40. I'm assuming that's what @onetwelfthghoul was referencing.
For ML my perception is that 90% of releases are pretty readily available (as a US customer, can't speak on the rest). Some exclusives sell out, but it's not like it's difficult to get your hands on most mainline releases. They also don't do chases or variants or any of the other gimmicky things that are meant to drive multiple purchases. No doubt there are some store exclusives that sell out quickly - but even a lot of those end up being collector-driven panic, as they end up readily available on shelves once they're actually released.
As for launching a direct to consumer site being "social conditioning" - I don't buy it. It's pretty standard marketing/commerce, and something that most of the major players do. So if it is a critique, it's one that applies broadly enough to be kinda pointless to level at any one company.
Hasbro *for sure* pushed prices up as much as they thought they could get away with over the last few years - you can definitely see some of the 2021-2023 releases that pushed the envelope. To me, it seems like they've settled down quite a bit. The SHIELD 3-pack would have been $90 set in 2021-2022 when they were losing their minds.
I think I'm losing the plot of the conversation here a little bit. Didn't this start as a conversation about Hasbro (allegedly) scaling back production because so many figures hit deep clearance over the last few years? Is it FOMO-baiting or creating artificial scarcity to not want the product to end up on clearance racks?
So I think it's the first point (no more huge clearance dumps) with maybe a tip toe into the second point (FOMO) for good measure? Obviously Hasbro is in the business of selling as much product as they can push. They are never going to be on board with deliberately underproducing a product for any length of time. But I could see them applying, shall we say, an abundance of caution with production numbers for a wave or two that perhaps engenders a bit more scarcity than their customers are used to - to spur people out of the 'wait and see' camp and into the 'gotta pre-order' camp.
None of his interviews have really given much of any interesting or new insight for anyone that's been a collector for decades. He usually just gloss over complaints or double downs on his decisions. Does he actually stick to certain pricings? Since 2020 prices have been $20, $23, $25, $30 & even $40. Most of the upcoming releases are all $30 Collector Editions (for no good reason at all), while the last I checked Hasbro ML are still $25.
We're comparing $40 megafigs to Hasbro's standard $25 figure now? I'll agree that a $30 Collector's Edition figure should come with alternate hands and accessories and maybe even an extra head. Anecdotally I also just paid $20 for the Tim Drake Robin that's coming out, and $22 for Black and Grey Knightfall Batman figure. So I see Todd as his own animal rather than the corporate entity. I'm sure some of his obstinate behaviors likely come from just having survived as long as he has in the business, and that can be a double edged sword; given his hesitancy to bail on NFTs. But all these foibles and now Marvel is using him too?
Don't get me wrong, the side-eye on figures drove me nuts and the NFT's are out of left field, but realistically we can debate "who drops the ball more," based on our personal tastes all day.
Megafigs? No, I'm talking about the Crisis on Infinite Earths wave. And I understand that there are specific reasons why it's priced at $40, but at the end of the day Todd still decided to put that onto the consumer. I can imagine the backlash if Hasbro suddenly had a wave of normally $25 figures to be $40 each.
It's just that much more frustrating knowing that he has so many years of experience in the business and is able to start a completely new line from scratch in 2020 that ends up being like this.
I think I'm losing the plot of the conversation here a little bit. Didn't this start as a conversation about Hasbro (allegedly) scaling back production because so many figures hit deep clearance over the last few years? Is it FOMO-baiting or creating artificial scarcity to not want the product to end up on clearance racks?
So I think it's the first point (no more huge clearance dumps) with maybe a tip toe into the second point (FOMO) for good measure? Obviously Hasbro is in the business of selling as much product as they can push. They are never going to be on board with deliberately underproducing a product for any length of time. But I could see them applying, shall we say, an abundance of caution with production numbers for a wave or two that perhaps engenders a bit more scarcity than their customers are used to - to spur people out of the 'wait and see' camp and into the 'gotta pre-order' camp.
I see. I guess it's hard to know, really, cause all we can do is read motivations into what we see happening. It seems perfectly reasonable that they'd produce less after a few years of (apparently) producing too much - no need to assume any clever ploys to drive up demand by underselling a year's worth of products. But, marketers are gonna do their thing, and it's not the craziest thing I've ever heard! We'll have to wait for Dan's tell-all book in 20 years' time.
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