Happy Tri-Klops Day
Unfortunately, today is not the end of the Red Screen of Doom for those of us who subscribed, as there are no doubt bonus figures, Battle Cats and stands in our future. But at least I’ll get September off.
Ask Mattel Roundup for mid-August 2009
Ask Mattel > Mid-August Edition
Before we begin the Tri-Klops Day festivities, here’s my mid-August bout–er, round of Q&As with Mattel. –PG
DC Universe
1.) Emerald asks: Can we now be assured that the remaining Matty JLU 4-packs (Shazam, Doom Patrol, and Justice Guild) will in fact be released, and if so, what are the approximate release dates?
Yes, both Doom Patrol and Justice Guild will be coming out, but we do not have release dates yet. The future of the JLU line on MattyCollector.com will depend on sales of these remaining packs. (more…)
Site updates
Just a couple quick notes about the website this morning. OB1 and I implemented a few changes over the weekend, and I wanted to point them out.
1.) The “Latest Toy News” has now become a “Toy Reviews Feed.” It’s a compromise between trying to put together regular Fanmode-style collections of reviews and not posting links to reviews at all. Using Yahoo Pipes, I took a bunch of websites that post toy reviews and created an RSS feed that lists any post with the word “Review” in the title. So you can either browse the most recent five here on the site, or subscribe to the link to get a constantly-updated list of toy reviews.
2.) I’ve also added a small Google calendar widget. This will list major toy-related events, from Mattycollector sale days to conventions. I’ll be adding to it constantly, so if you see something missing just let me know.
3.) As you may have noticed, comments now have a little arrow at the bottom. By clicking on that arrow, you can reply to that comment. Your reply will contain a link to the comment you’re replying to, plus the Poester’s name.
Pic of the Day
The effect of inflation on action figure prices
He-Man.org member Mermisto has written up an interesting post examining inflation and it’s relation to the action figure industry. It’s something I’ve been meaning to do but never got around to it, and I think Mermisto did a better job anyway because he had access to the old Sears Wish Book catalogs.
I’m not going to blockquote what he wrote (it’ll screw up the page after the “Read More”). His post starts with the quotations.
“When the MOTUC series was first announced, I thought the $20 price tag was a little much for an action figure, but since I have been collecting vintage toys over the past decade, I am used to paying over $20 a piece for dolls and action figures anyways, so it did not bother me too much.
However, I was recently curious as to how expensive the toys I grew up with really were. I know a lot of times nowadays I tend to look at prices at Target and Wal-Mart with vintage goggles on, as I remember back to the 1980’s when I could get She-Ra or Catra for $6.99 at K-Mart back in 1985.
So, using a handy price inflation converter, I looked up all the prices in my vintage Sears Wish Books, and converted them into current prices. (I rounded the current prices to the nearest dollar, or five dollar increments if they were over $20.)
1985
Toy / Original Price / Price If Sold Today
Castle Grayskull / 29.99 / 59.99
Snake Mountain / 44. 99 / 89.99
Night Stalker / 8.99 / 17.99
Spydor / 24.99 / 49.99
Bashasaurus / 13.99 / 29.99
Fright Zone / 28.99 / 59.99
Hordak / 5.49 / 10.99
Thunder Punch He-Man / 6.99 / 13.99
Modulok / 7.99 / 15.99
Land Shark / 11.99 / 24.99
Crystal Castle / 32.99 / 69.99
She-Ra / 6.99 / 13.99
Enchanta Swan / 17.99 / 34.99
She-Ra with Swift Wind / 14.99 / 29.99
(more…)
Mattycollector to refund “tax” on international collectors
I know a number of fans were concerned about the $3 tax that they received with their Mattycollector subscription orders. Mattycollector has posted this on their website:
Oops!
Lots of you have asked and we’ve finally gotten to the bottom of the $3 tax on international customers who purchased the Club Eterniaâ„¢ subscription for 2010. Turns out it was a tax coding error on our part. My team has identified how the error happened and is processing refunds to all customers who were mistakenly charged. You should see it on your statement within the next two to three weeks
Sincere apologies for all the confusion.
—Matty
Paul’s Peg > I Own a Dolly
I never thought I’d say this, but I own a doll just like a little girl. Yeah, I know the whole “action figures” are really dolls business jerks throw at toy collectors, but this time I’ve really gone and done it. I bought a doll and I lay the blame on Tonner Dolls who were at this year’s Chicago Comic Con. If they hadn’t of been there, I’d still be happily doll free.
