Mattel’s latest Facebook entry is a little…odd.
Hey DCU fans,
It is no secret that their has been a delay in getting new JLU figures into Target stores. This is entirely do to our factor shutting down last December. We have already found a new factory and we have new packs ready to ship, the problem is, while we waited for the new factory to produce the new 2009 figures, we had to continue and ship 2008 product to Target to hold the place in the toy aisle.
So right now Target is full of 2008 packs. We need to get all of these sold before Target will take orders for new 2009 packs. So, to help, Mattel is funding a month long price reduction on 3 packs. So tell your friends and allies, swing by a Target and grab some JLU packs this month on sale. Once we move all of the older product, we have fresh new figures ready to ship and get into your hands!
That is the latest! We are doing everything we can to get to fresh figures. All we have to do now is clear out the 2008 inventory. 🙂
Matty
I know JLU is struggling, but asking your fans to buy product they don’t want or already have (even at a discount) in order to free room for new product seems vaguely like blackmail.
This problem is not the fault of toy collectors. This problem is the result of the factory and/or Mattel itself (or, perhaps, Target’s rather strict toy aisle space requirements).
As one Facebook commenter put it, “just operate like most other companies and issue a vendor return on the 2008 products, clear the space, and ship out the 2009 variety. You could then sell the 08 merch at a discount on mattycollector.com to people that might actually still want it.”
I don’t know enough about the toy business to know whether such a plan is economically sensible, but I’m fairly sure it is what a lot of other companies do in this situation.
At the same time, it’s important to remember that JLU is on thin ice already. It’s possible a vendor return would be used as a reason by Mattel management to axe the line.
So what’s a JLU fan to do? Hard to say. Complain all you want, but keep in mind boycotting the sale entirely will likely result in the end of JLU. Fair? Definitely not. But unfortunately, life isn’t fair.
UPDATE: Mattel just posted this on Facebook:
Since their seems to be a lot of chatter online about the JLU sale at Target, I wanted to clarify for everyone. No where in our original post did we ask fans to re-buy JLU figures. We just want to announce that they will be on sale and if you have friends who have not bought wave 1 JLU figures, now is a good time since they are on sale for a month!
We would never ask fans to rebuy figures just to keep a line going. Our goal is to keep open honest communications with our fans and yes, we do need to sell through the current stock before we can ship new figures, but in no way are we expecting the same fans to rebuy. We just hope fans can help spreads the word that we are having a promotion right now.
Hope that helps!
Matty
OK. The wording of the original post is pretty ambiguous, and I still think it’s odd they’re doing this rather than initiating a vendor return, but again, JLU is already on thin ice. At least they spoke out about the issue.
Jim
I agree Poe. Also, I've been seeing a bit of a downward slope on sales for all DC product lately.
A lot of local shops and sellers believe that its because Mattel is bringing out way too much dc product.
I believe it's a combination of factors: too much product, distribution, poor qc, etc etc. It's funny how they went from a slow trickle of dc product to a HUGE bombardment of dc product. Mattel is funny. lol
I for one LOVE their MOTUC brand so as long as they keep those GREAT MOTUC crankin in their factory, I'm all good!
Valo487
I'm just tired of this sort of thing. I want the toys, I buy the ones I want. That's all I owe them, and frankly I'm sick of Mattel acting like they have no control over anything. They are a multi-million dollar company, their inability to meet customer demand or properly manage a toyline isn't my problem, and as someone who collects line from smaller companies such as Art Asylum it is very disturbing to see a business being run far better b a small company than a titan of the industry. I will buy one 3-pack if I see them on sale, and I'm not especially keen on that but I want the line to continue. But frankly I'm tired of the fans being forced to fellate Mattel just to keep their profits up so we can get the items we want. Give us what we want and we'll buy it. What's next, will they be asking us to manufacture and ship them for them to?
Matty or whoever, learn to do your own damn job. We keep our half of the bargain by giving you our money, when are you going to do yours?
Nicholai
My local stores have been stuffed with the same pegs full of JLU for a long time, but while I think there was oversaturation for that DC product I think DCUC is still under produced as no local store can keep it in stock and Target has had any figures for more than a month (never even touching wave 7).
Thomas
Interesting that you say "too much DC product." Other than the aforementioned JLU peg warmers from last year, there is next to no DC product in any of my local Target or Wal-Mart stores. I WISH there was too much DC product!
I'm just really fed up with Mattel laying everything on their customers…they tell us we need to buy DCUC and JLU exclusives off Matty.com or they will be forced to discontinue offering them…they tell us we need to buy old JLU figures from Target or they will be forced to discontinue offering them…they tell us we need to talk to our local toy aisle managers and request them to carry Mattel products or we won't see Mattel products.
I'm sorry, but where is Mattel in all of this? Where are their marketing and PR and sales departments? Why aren't they out pounding the pavement and asking department stores to carry their product, showing them how these figures don't stay on the pegs (DCUC specifically), how they can sell a lot of toys if they stock their DC toys?
Where are their sales forecasters and analysts? Why aren't they more accurately calculating the supply and demand?
Where are their quality control teams? Why do they keep having to change vendors in China? Why do we keep getting toys that have two right hands or reversed biceps or mini-villains, like Sinestro and Captain Cold?
Mattel has serious issues with all of these things and, to me, appears to be blaming everyone else for all of it.
I really like most of their DC products, but I'm really fed up with all of their whining.
Fengschwing
There's nothing I can add to this which hasn't already been said in the excellent posts above.
I wonder if a petition would do any good? Probably not, I've always been skeptical of petitions but I feel I need to add my voice here in the vain hope someone from Mattel maybe listening.
Jim
@Thomas: I guess it depends on the area. JLU doesn't seem to do well in my area and when the shops/sellers i've spoken to say "too much dc product"…they mean releasing too much dc product that the collectors can keep up with.
DCUC is hard to find and the next wave comes out faster than the people can find them.
Bringing out wave after wave before the fans can find them…overloading fans mentally, physically and financially is what the retailers meant when they said…"too much dc product".
So due to the product search overload and other factors, local sellers have seen their sales go down a bit. Don't get me wrong…dcuc is still a HOT seller though. The Walmart wave is going to piss so many collectors off. And Joker's going to be in that wave? lol I seriously think Mattel does this on purpose. Such madness has to have a method.
Mark
The odd JLU figure comes along over here once in a while but not in any of the major retail shops. Personaly even if they were released over here I doubt I would bauy many probably just Captain Marvel, Superman and Batman if that as I am not overly keen on them, I think DCUC is miles better.
All I care about from Mattel is MOTUC and the very odd DCUC that I think would fit in and display well with the MOTUC.
Also Jim I am on Mattys Facebook page.
Jim
@Mark: lol. I didn't mean you Mark. Not everyone on Matty's facebook but a good portion of them aren't realistic and don't see the long term consequences of their opinions if ever they came into being.
Mark
LOL. I was just letting you know I was on Facebook.
Jim
@ Mark: lol
@ Thomas:"Why do we keep getting toys that have two right hands or reversed biceps??"
Man oh man…do i want to hear Matty's response for that…bs or not…just for sadistic amusement. The reversed body parts are the exact reason why i stopped dcuc…along with stuck joints.
It's like the factory workers were high on crack when they assembled those things. lol lol lol
Valo487
Well I kept myword, I'm now the owner of a three pack. What I don't understand is, at least at the Targets near me, JLU sells and sells fast. Yes we've hd the same three GL Fire Ice packs on shelves forever until I bought one today, but they move and seem to do very well, the only ones that don't are the ones like the set mentioned above which many collectors already had, as Fire and Ice came with GL the first time around. I did my part. I don't want the line to end, but if it does it won't sadden me as much as it would have a few months ago. I'm tired of this. Mattel keeps singing the same song and we keep dancing to it. I'm tired.
Give me the products I want and I'll buy the hell out of them. That's the best you'll get from me, sadly Mattel seems to think that's not enough. Now I'm wondering if I should buy the Batman Beyond and Cheetah packs on ebay before they become the new non-existent Target 6 packs.
Newton Gimmick
The JLU packs moved at first and if you want evidence that the singles moved, just go to your local Target and count the Kilowogs that came 1 or 2 to a case. Chances are the shelf is full of him, which means everyone else sold and sold well.
Mattel shipped a ton of crap product that had already sold through several cycles to Target. It's no different than when Mattel kept shipping Wave 1 DCUC to Target when they were at like Wave 4 of DCUC and nobody wanted Wave 1 anymore.
I really love the JLU line, but Mattel isn't doing a lot to help it's ability to survive. I buy new JLU figures about once every 6 months at best. Mattel has popular product in JLU that would sell, but they can't ever seem to get it to the shelves.
Such is always the problem with Mattel.
AND I would agree that there is too much DC product. Same characters in 14 different scales with little difference in look. You could say Marvel does the same thing, but you could look at all the Ben Grimms that Marvel has released in the last year and no two look alike. Whereas if you compared say the Flash from Mattel, they all almost look identical. Or even lower tier characters like Black Lightning, there's little difference between the DCUC and DCIH versions… Except decent sculpting.
Dead Man Walking
Meh. I hope JLU goes away. I never understand why everyone rags on MOTU 200X and McFarlane products for not having enough articulation, then go out an buy these little turds.
As far as I'm concerned, the money Mattel will save when they axe this line will be better invested in more DCUC and MOTUC product, and better quality and qc.
Valo487
@DMW
Personally speaking I love JLU more for it's variety of characters than anything, you're right that there are multiple lines with better sculpting and articulation, many of which I also collect, but I don't know if I'll ever see some of the characters in those lines that we have in JLU. Should the day come when DCUC surpasses it, you may see some collectors move on, but the JLU design and aesthetic also appeals to a lot of people. But you're right in that they aren't the best overall toys.
(PrfktTear)
Next thing you know they'll be asking for donations…
Maybe they should sign up for welfare and get some food stamps?!
@DMW: Heh… little turds…
nerdbot
Yeah, nobody is buying JLU for the sculpts and articulation. I know in my case, I enjoy them almost because of how pathetic they are; they remind me of the stuff I used to play with as a kid.
As for the Facebook update – I don't know why, but I keep finding myself surprised at how tone-deaf "Matty" can be. Twisting our arms to buy the leftover crap we haven't wanted for the past 6 months? It's just downright tacky.
Just how discounted are they now, anyway? I suppose if they are cheap enough, I'll pick up a Captain Atom three pack (which I have so far avoided as he is the only new character).
Valo487
@ Nerdbot
7.99, down from 12.99 if memory serves me correctly.
Newton Gimmick
HAHAHAHA… You know what's great?!
The guys over at AFI forums have now managed to blame this on Target. That's brilliant.
It's Target's fault that Mattel has been sending them old figures or no figures for the past year. Hilarious.
Valo487
Nothing is ever Mattel's fault at AFI, that's likely due to the cozy relationship they have with Mattel over there. I post there, but I avoid discussions like this one on that forum, you can't win even if Mattel later agrees with you, and yes that has happened, specifically with a user called Maniac Joker regarding the Mer-Man fiasco.
HarmsWay
Jim, you're off the mark with your comments about "too much DC product." The DCUC Waves are being released too rapidly? What?! They're not coming out fast enough for the rest of us! I'd go for a new Wave each week if Mattel could do it. The DC section of any toy aisle at any store is nothing special.
Thomas, you have summed it up well. I agree with you completely. The only thing you didn't mention is this so-callled Toy Guru. This loser's got every fanboy's dream job at Mattel, but he's in way over his head. This has been evident for several years now. This latest JLU fiasco couldn't be more outlandish. If I didn't know better, I would have thought it was a prank.
Poe, I think you're onto something. JLU is definitely on its way out, and it's going to get twisted into the fan's fault. I predict that about this time next year, we're going to hear the Guru say that the fans didn't support the line.
Jim
@harmsway: First of all, that's not my opinion but the opinion of sellers around my area from toy conventions, comic shops, etc etc.
Second, not many people can afford or keep up with one wave per week like you would be able.
Third, if everyone is keeping up with the line why is everyone complaining about distribution?
Fourth, I quit DCUC a long time ago so I can't take any sides on this…just passing on info from local sellers and what I read on boards.
monkey boy
ahem hem…let me just clear my throat before i say this…ahem…
EFF YOU MATTEL!
this is NOT THE FIRST TIME mattel has asked fans to clean up the mess caused by mattel flooding the market with undesirable product.
if you'll kindly wind the clock back to MOTU2k…there was a little debacle known as the smash-blade he-man/spin-blade skeletor fiasco…where for some reason mattel thought fans would really REALLY want subtly repainted versions of the two main characters every fan already owned several of, only this time with poorly executed accessories that don't even work the lame way they're supposed to.
around this time mattel "coincidentally" offered a promotional figure of moss man, basically a flocked repaint of beast-man, just like the old figure. the catch? moss-man required three MOTU upc codes from figure packages….and there was also some sheisty thing about having to send in a receipt showing exactly WHEN you purchased the figure! so if you had happened to save any figure packages from BEFORE the glut of s___ blade figures, you were S-O-L.
basically mattel was saying "buy up all the crappy figures we flooded the market with, otherwise no moss-man" just like now they're saying "buy up all the crappy jlu figures we flooded the market with, or else no JLU". mattel's official policy for causing a glut of figures on shelves is to ask fans to come to the rescue or else.
hey mattel here's a frigging idea…RUN YOUR COMPANY EFFICIENTLY. FIX YOUR DISTRIBUTION. YOU WERE HAVING THESE SAME CRAPPY PROBLEMS ALMOST TEN YEARS AGO. STOP ASKING US TO "FIX" THE PROBLEMS YOU CREATE BY RUNNING YOUR COMPANY IN A CRAPPY MANNER.
Jim
@monkey boy: HA! I like that! lol Oh mattel…oh mattel. lol
Esbat
Well if they're discounted well enough I'll pick up several packs and singles.
Poe
Updated post based on a new note from Mattel.
monkey boy
mattel isn't "asking" you to rebuy figures, they would never do that…they're just really really hoping you do and basically telling you that if you don't they won't make any more JLU figs.
maybe i could take their words at face value, but since they're hanging that "no new figures til the old ones are gone" over their fans' heads, it's basically saying that either you better be damn good at selling mattel's products to your friends, or else buy them yourself damnit!
the thing is, vendors buy back stock from retailers all the time. it's a thing. mattel was just plain stupid to drop a load of figures that fans largely already owned on toy shelves…it's their mistake, not ours.
PrfktTear
I don't even collect JLU, but if someone was going to buy these, wouldn't they have already done so? I suppose the discount might encourage a few who have been on the fence about it, but wouldn't the majority have already picked theirs up?
How about everyone buy all the JLU figures up, wait for the new ones to come out, then return the old ones! 😉
monkey boy
@PrfktTear: exactly! just like requiring that you send in your receipts to redeem for a mossman in the MOTU2k days, mattel is basically appealing to fans who would already have the figures they want to buy more so the line can keep going.
Jim
"How about everyone buy all the JLU figures up, wait for the new ones to come out, then return the old ones!"
LOL Hell Ya!
PrfktTear
@monkey: heh… I remember that… at least you get something out of it though… I wish I had done that, but I wasn't collecting the entire line at that point.
edc
the funny thing is, here in australia the jlu figures have completely disappeared, we never got the question etc, we got as far as the green lantern three pack and they just stopped shipping.
so I, and other collectors from here would probably buy these, I know I'd like to get some figures for customs.
dayraven
it's funny to me that they "aren't asking fans to re-buy figures" i re-read their press release, and they do indeed. you see, in english, there's this thing called punctuation. amongst other things, it can serve to alter the subject of a sentence… or to maintain a subject.
"So tell your friends and allies, swing by a Target and grab some JLU packs this month on sale."
see, i put that in quotes. that's a type of punctuation. now, in the above sentence, the subject is, you, the reader… the guy reading these words on the screen. if they intended to change subjects during the clause, they should have used quotations to imply you the reader would now be speaking to your friends and telling them to "swing by a Target and grab some JLU packs on sale this month." kind of like i just did.
but they didn't. so that clause there… it's still addressing you, the reader. so the above quote is a list of actions they intend for you the reader to carry out, you, yourself, not someone else. funny that the largest toy company in the world can't hire someone who passed 5th grade english to type up their press releases. i hope that guy's well paid!!