I KNOW that it's not a Sub, but I needed a conversation starter as a title... Seeing that I did many Matty Sub Rallies, I thought I would keep the tradition! Well, since they started on Friday... Spike, don't put Rebecca Black! I want to address some issues... I've seen some people complaining... I'll try to address some points:
Delays:
YES, they suck ass! But we must remember one thing: I'm going to quote Loot Crate's Thin Skinned man, yes, my hero, my arch enemy,
Scott...
Yes, Super 7 and some others may be picking up a few of the pieces, but it will never be the powerhouse with the resources and ability of the world’s biggest toy maker to put out more product aimed at the adult collector.
Super7 IS NOT Mattel... They don't have the same kind of resources... They're like a 4-8 person team or something. We have to remember that Mattel pretty much abandoned the Matty division and it was being managed by no one... That's why Mattel had to dump the Horde Troopers a few days ago on their main website. All those delays and lack of contact with the factory (Recent QC issues are a grim reminder of that.) Recently, we learned from s7's Brian Flynn that many MOTUC Molds were unusable or MIA. Then we have that this is Super7's first REAL FORAY into Action Figure Making... No, I'm not counting those Kitschy items as real training... I'm talking about making REAL ACTION FIGURES LIKE THE BIG BOYS! With that said, Even the BIG BAD MATTEL had a bumpy start. He-Man was Delayed, so was MerMan... If these things happen to Mattycollector who, had the $7 Billion Powerhouse of Mattel behind them, then if it happens to a small company, is not a horrible thing...
They're too Expensive:
They are a bit expensive, I can't lie about that, but let's look back to last decade... Marvel Legends ruled the era and they were UNDER $10... Nowadays, in some places they're closer to $30... and these are a MASS RETAIL TOYLINE MADE BY ONE OF THE BIG TWO TOYMAKERS. Super7 is a "Boutique" and their price is $7 more than when Matty went with their highest price tag on MOTUC ($28) The only reason it hurts, is because we have to pay upfront for all in one fell swoop (There's the payment plan option that makes it sting a little, but this wasn't available on Friday, when I wrote this rant. It came out on Sunday to not ruin the Sailor Moon Week.)
IN MY CASE, here's how it breaks down:
Ordering 1 MOTUC Set (Lodar, Fangor, Quakke, Hawke), 1 Filmation Set (I know what I've said about Filmation subpar line, but it's Duncan, Teela, Tri-Klops and a True Filmation Hordak!!) AND an Extra Hawke to have Delora. The Total for this is: $314.97 + S&H which is $51.53 for all 9 figures to Puerto Rico via USPS Priority Mail (Tracking 3-5 days) totaling at $366.50 OUCH!
I could use some fancy Mathematics to muddy the issue and I'm not in the mood for that. While yes, the figures are a bit more expensive than I would; I need to remind people that:
a)Mattel is NOT Making these figures, it's a THIRD PARTY COMPANY (in this case Super7) that is making them and they HAVE TO PAY ROYALTIES TO THE OWNERS OF MOTU, in this case, Mattel... (Part of the reason why Hasbro bumped up the price on Marvel Legends after Toy Biz stopped making Marvel Legends. Toy Biz was Marvel's Toy division, so they didn't have to pay any licensing royalties to Marvel, unlike Hasbro.)
b)as I mentioned earlier, Super7 is a tiny company compared to Mattel, so they have to cover a bit more of some expenses that for Mattel it might be chump change, but for a small company it's a lot.
You know what, screw it I'm gonna do the Fancy Mathematics:
So A Filmation figure (day of Sale price in 2016) was like $24 and a MOTUC was like $27
Shipping to the US PER FIGURE is in the 12-15 ballpark using USPS Ground (In my case, when Matty treats me as a US Customer it's 12.29 for one figure and 17.82 for 2 figures)
$96 for the filmation set and $135 for the MOTUC set + 1 Extra Hawke
That totals into $231 for all 9 figures and when we add the $103.85 in shipping (7 single figure months and 1 month with 2 figures) we get: $334.85 which would have made Matty be $31.65 cheaper... I used the day of sale price, because there was a rumor that prices would've gone up if Matty had gone another year
Now take that $31.65 and divide it by 9 and the grand total is: $3.52... What does that mean? Well, it means that ONCE SHIPPED, super7 ends up being $3.52 more expensive than Matty IF Matty kept the 2016 prices... DESPITE having to pay for licensing and all the other issues stemming from them not being Mattel. While the figures via Matty WERE Cheaper, the Shipping was where Digital River hurt us. With all that, the price difference isn't THAT huge if you look at it PER FIGURE. The payment plan can make this moderately bitter pill easier to swallow.
I understand the anxiety, this is the second preorder and we still are waiting on the first one to show up... (they will begin to show up in 50-something days, or so we were told.) I understand the apprehension about ordering, with the whole paying upfront thing. Thing is that Unlike Mattel, Super7 can't afford being stuck with peg-warmers... and let's face it: we're in obscureville with MOTUC and that puts Super7 at more risk. Right now EVERYONE is a potential peg warmer. All the key characters were made by Mattel, we only have NA stragglers and a few Other source material folks. We're in bottom of the barrel and going further beneath levels. Now is where we HAVE TO Team up. I don't want the Masks of Power Demons, but if I can get Melaktha, and Kayo, then I'll take a Masks of Power Demons bullet.
This one stings a lot more since we got 2 orders at the same time... The idea was meant to be 1 quarter MOTUC, 1 filmation, and so forth, but Year One mishaps put us on this pickle. Theoretically speaking 2018 would be a smooth sailing year, but we need 2017 to happen first. Whether ordering the "waves" via Super 7 or preordering individual figures via BBTS, if you can go for it... If MOTUC dies, Neitlich wins... and we need to prove to him that HE IS NOT THE SAVIOR OF MOTU, BUT WE, THE FANDOM ARE THE TRUE HEROES... We kept that awful Mattycollector site alive when DC Fans couldn't and their fandom is Gargantuan compared to MOTU Fans... Ghostbusters fans flatlined... ONLY MOTU fans saw the birth and death
of Matty. We need to go BEYOND Matty, mostly for the toys... Though proving Neitlich wrong is a great added bonus, we need to do it for the toys. The other main reason is to show Mattel that there is still love for MOTU. Here's the thing: Super7 is trying HARD to please us... No really, they are.
Look at the pic from the post they made on Friday... They care more than Mattel did. Let's help them shine and we get more toys...
Well, I also got an email today and here is what it stated:
Hey Masters of the Universe Fans!
Thank you everyone who has pre-ordered the new waves of MOTU Classics and Club Grayskull! We are very excited to be continuing this line and appreciate your support and enthusiasm.
As many fans have noted, the dimensional weight of these sets has triggered some unexpectedly high costs from the algorithm the USPS uses to generate shipping fees. We have worked within the limitations of this system to find a better way to approach the size and weight that we think will work better for everyone, and allows us to offer a better rate. As of now, we have updated the shipping costs accordingly for everybody who has yet to place their orders. For those who have already ordered, we will adjust the shipping cost for your orders as well and process partial refunds over the next several days.
Thank you all again for your support!
Super7
Apparently, they now have a "Standard shipping" Option, which costs $18 to Puerto Rico for all 9 figures... Made a dummy order to see if there was any difference. 3-Day Priority is still $51.53... IF there is a partial refund, so be it... I'd be paying EVEN LESS than Matty in shipping
WITH TRACKING and the Figures
would be in my hands in 3-5 days unlike Matty that at BEST it was 8 days but at worst, well. over a month and a half. So, I can fancy mathematics my brain into accepting those charges... (Personally, I'd stick with Priority this time, since it's a big order)
But now that I have the Standard Shipping Charges let's do some more Fancy Mathematics and compare those to Digital River's Standard Shipping, shall we?
Remember:
So A Filmation figure (day of Sale price in 2016) was like $24 and a MOTUC was like $27
Shipping to the US PER FIGURE is in the 12-15 ballpark using USPS Ground (In my case, when Matty treats me as a US Customer it's 12.29 for one figure and 17.82 for 2 figures)
$96 for the filmation set and $135 for the MOTUC set + 1 Extra Hawke
That totals into $231 for all 9 figures and when we add the $103.85 in shipping (7 single figure months and 1 month with 2 figures) we get: $334.85
That's Matty's price IF they had retained the 2016 Figure Prices for all 9 figures...
Now I also stated that all 9 figures cost $314.97 from Super7. We now add the $18 for Standard shipping and the total is:
$332.97 wait, what!? DESPITE Super7 having the more expensive figures, it SOMEHOW ENDED UP BEING CHEAPER THAN MATTY!? WHAT KIND OF SORCERY IS THIS!?
Finally I saw the first two episodes of Riverdale, aka Archie's Creek.
But when Ms. Grundy looks like she does on the TV show, then I can see statutory rape apologists defending the relationship...
