Rob over at Raving Toy Maniac has posted what he knows about the MOTUC production numbers. While obviously this hasn’t been verified by anyone at Mattel, it sounds reasonable to me.

The run of the figures was initially set at 10,000. They raised it with Mer-man to a new level. I don’t know what that is right now, but my guess is in the 12-15,000 range and most likely closer to 12,000. Nowhere near mass market levels (40-50,000 plus).

Mattel is being pretty conservative with this line, and rightfully so. They are using a lot of tools over to save on tooling costs and keeping numbers low enough to sell out consistently. They won’t lower their limit simply because they want a sell-out.

Faker was problematic because they sold some at the NYCC and the rest online, so it was harder to get online.

One thing that bothers me a little about the higher production runs they have planned is that even though there will be more figures I suspect they will not lower the price even though their costs go down due to economies of scale (up to a point).

I am okay with the $20 price tag when it is limited and their costs for a smaller run are higher. As they ramp up production it would seem that either you should get more with a figure or the price should lower somewhat. I know they likely won’t do either, but it would be nice if they did.

-Rob

I agree the price should go down if production really gets ramped up, but I’m not sure an added 2,000-3,000 units really counts as “ramped up.”

Regardless, if these numbers are anywhere near accurate, it’s clear Mattel is playing very safe with MOTUC. If 10,000 figures sell out in an hour, it’s hard to be surprised when 12,000 or even 15,000 sell out in nearly the same amount of time.

Over on Facebook, Mattel has an update of their own, along with some official pics of Hordak.

Wow, is it already May! Holy cow this year is flying by. We are already up to Zodac in a few days and Hordak next month.

To get prepped, here is the close to final Hordak carded images. (the actual sticker on the front will be a bit cleaner cut, this one was done by hand for the photo). But Hordak is already produced and likely heading for a boat this week to make his way to our distribution center for sale next month!

We produced Zodac, Hordak and Man-At-Arms in the same quantity as Mer Man (who was produced in higher quanty than previous figures himself). In reaction to the quick sales of Mer Man last month we have increased production again, and the first figure we will be able to increase is Tri-Klops.

We are committed to continuing to work with fans to increase production and hit that sweet spot. In the meantime, here’s Hordak carded! Note the longer “Grayskull” loincloth and increased paint ops on the final version.

-Matty