[AJ Quick]

Everyone there except for The80sdrummer is a complete dick that deserves to be punched in the face repeatedly. Toyguru is a joke, and his minion "mods" are even more pathetic. They know nothing, and lie at every chance they get.

As far as I know. Most of the moderators are basically self appointed community mods. They were most likely the most active members, and the first ones to ask to become moderators. I think none of them actually work for Mattel or are compensated in anyway.

Judging from the girl that banned me, she made it seem like she would do whatever she could to have the connection between Ghostbusters Fans and Mattel severed... but didn't actually have any means to do that.

[Ejgunth87]

Yeah they're quick to judge, and definetly power hungry. I'm banned from posting/commenting on their fb page, and I got suspended from the forums when I made it public knowledge that when I received my shipping email for the 3 packs back in December, it stated the following:

When your order was sent to the warehouse for fulfillment, one or more of the products were no longer available and have been substituted with similar products of equal or greater value.

Ended up being a bunch of crap and nothing had actually been replaced in my order. Either way, they run a really sloppy business over at Matty and DR. They suspended me because of their OWN mistake. I wasn't vulgar about how I went about informing others. I just simply didn't want others to have things replaced if they ordered these too. Mind you, I made my order a few hours after they went on sale, so there was no reason why any of these figures would be out of stock. After the Ecto Goggles, goodbye Matty, and good riddance.

[Dr.D]

It saddens me to see how low things have gotten with Matty. I remember when the figures were first announced, they even had reps on this board asking questions and even taking feedback from us. How quickly they decided to forget that and start churning out variants and raising prices to ridiculous heights.

[ChapterMasterTu'Shan]

They have taken down the Hoverboard subforum a couple of days ago, which makes one wonder their reasons.

[EctoGlow]

I agree for the most part on what was said about matty I had some small issues when it came to the figures too. But I look at it this way. Beggars can't be choosers. There are a ton of things matty could have done way way way better than they did. But at the end of the day even with their flaws, I've got my figures, my meter and my trap things ive wanted to see since I was a kid. Probably will get the goggles dunno yet. Either way I'm just happy that someone did this much with the franchise because since the early 90's it hadn't been touched until this point. Hopefully matty will lose the license and someone else will pick it up. It'd be nice but we'll just have to wait and see.

[joeghostbuster]

when all is said and done, basically they took advantage of us and our desire for new GB merch. what's done is done. and now that it's over (after the goggles) I hope the license goes to another company, because I'd love to see what another company like NECA and DST could produce - the next thing I would love to see is a line of small scale (star wars sized) figures (from the movies and the cartoons) and at that scale we're more likely to see an Ecto-1 for them that the figures could ride in - and many of us would like to see a 1:1 proton pack prop/toy because we have neither the skills, money, time or patience to make our own (that actually look like the ones in the film, anyway)

[Borzou]

Stay Classy, Mattel: http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comm ... k_big_hit/

[sorak]

Luckily I have only had to deal with Mattel on 2 occasions. once for my pke and once for my trap. As much as I have been tempted to buy other figures from their run, I must admit they didn't look that flash to begin with. Though the thought of getting a set of the 6 inch figures was, I couldn't help but notice that the mold quality and articulation was below par compared to other runs of figures they were making. If you look at their He-man run there is better craftsmanship at work there and it lends to better play and posing out of the figures. From what I have seen you cant really shift the legs that well on the ghostbusters due to one leg being stopped by the n-filter getting in the way of the joints articulation. That is just tacky craftsmanship I expect from bootleg ninja turtle figures from the 80s.
Postage costs, I don't bother crying about that any more. I live in Australia, almost anything I buy online these days costs ludicrous amounts to ship to me now. Getting close to the harsh truth that if I tried buying a resin 1 piece shell, I could almost buy a second hand car (VW beetle) for the same amount as combine price and shipping costs.
As for prices, I cant complain or shout foul on that. After all the main reason I bought a Mattel ghost trap was because it costed the same as buying a replica trap pedal on some prop building websites. To me that was a no brainer.

But at the end of the day, if they complain to us for not buying and that's why the run is cancelled.... it just shows that they are ignorant of their target market.

[wardarkfox]

My only ventures with Matty was the pke and the ghost trap. I like the props but wish there was more time spent making them better. My main gripe with the pke is he annoying beep sound instead of the correct movie sound. The trap I was lucky enough to completely work right out of the box and with some gbfans helped make it more accurate to the movies. I hope whoever takes over the ghostbusters line can give it the respect it deserves.

[attygregor6]

I can't complain too much. I didn't order just anything that Mattel threw in front of us. In fact, I waited a long time before buying anything because I was broke, and - for the longest time, the only prop was the PKE Meter. What would I do with just a PKE Meter?

Then I got less broke, and the ghost trap was announced. I bought all four of the 12" figures as a Christmas present for my aunt who got me hooked on Ghostbusters at a very young age. Also bought the trap, because it seemed like they were working their way up to provide a full set (PKE Meter, Ghost Trap, and Proton Pack). That is the only reason I bought props - so I could have a complete costume set. I don't have the time or craftsman ability to make my own proton pack. I was counting on Mattel to make a dream come true for me.

I am not disappointed with anything I bought from Mattel. I think the foot pedal and hose for the ghost trap could have been done better, but overall, I'm thrilled to peaches. What I am disappointed with, however, is the realization that I will probably never see a proton pack.

I hate this idea in the toy universe that they have to sell an action figure for every character, and every costume, and every piece of schmutz he or she is covered in. Look how many figures they made for the RGB line. My nephew collects Cars characters. The number of variations he has for Ligtning McQueen and Mater are ASTOUNDING. McQueen in old paint, McQueen in new paint, McQueen with a smudge of mud on him, McQueen in dream sequence paint... I mean, it's just ridiculous.

I don't mean to insult the people who wanted to collect as many of these items as possible, but dammit, I'm not the only person like this. Mattel is blaming us for not buying every item they shoved in front of our noses. I'm sorry - but I didn't want all of it. Once I had the 12" figures, I didn't need 6" figures, or courtroom figures, or television ad figures, or slimed / marshmallowed figures.

I want my damn proton pack. I know Mattel never promised one, and I took a gamble buying the PKE Meter and Ghost Trap, assuming that a Proton Pack was in the works. But I know I'm not the only person who would rather see a prop proton pack instead of ecto-goggles or a tickle-me-Tully. Mattel kept releasing items that they had to have known weren't going to sell as well as certain other items could have.

Hardly our fault their sales weren't up to par. They didn't sell us what we wanted to buy. But I'm sure there are a number of people who would have shelled out some good money for a proton pack as good as the first two props.

[White Rabbit]

Hey AJ-- do you happen to have the measurements for the PKE outer shipping cartons? I've got an extensive background in logistics, and I know that pretty much all carriers will charge based on either actual weight, or the cubic weight (basically how much space it takes up)-- whichever is higher.

To calculate cubic weight, multiply the package's length x width x height, divide by 1728 and then multiply by 10. Every carrier I've ever dealt with uses that formula for ground shipments.

I did a quick measurement of the white mailer box for the PKE and it came out to 2.65lbs cubed. Maybe the outer box is closer to that 3.5lb number they're getting?

Doesn't excuse or justify anything of course, because at the end of the day you're absolutely correct that there's no way they don't get a massive volume discount from UPS. Probably 70% or more. I'm just throwing something out there that might at least explain the parcel weight they've come up with.

[AJ Quick]

When I measure the dimensions of the shipping box and calculate the cubic weight it's approximately equal the to the actual weight. Which I suspect is normal for boxed shipments from China, if they are being as effecient as possible.

You may actually be correct about that them using pre-determined (large) sized boxes and having to base dimensional weight off of that. Hence the package grouping on the graphs I did in the other thread. Regardless of that, I can still show conclusively that they overcharge on shipping based on the Zone 8 rate, and when adding a large number of items into a cart.

Just my basic UPS calculations show a retail rate of ~$30-35 per 24 PKE Meter shipment (based on dimensions and weight, from Mattel to me). Where as Mattel charges ~$135 anywhere in the 48 US.

[White Rabbit]

Ok, just wondering. Not like "efficiency" is too synonymous with Matty either way. ;P

[rmplstlskin]

Not sure if anyone had mentioned the yellowing of the giant staypuft's arms. That was pretty expensive for something that bad to happen.

[AJ Quick]

Not sure if anyone had mentioned the yellowing of the giant staypuft's arms. That was pretty expensive for something that bad to happen.

That was one thing I completely forgot about.

The Stay Pufts deteriorated and yellowed quickly. At $70, it was also fairly expensive. Diamond Select is going to be coming out with a bank version about the same size from (I assume) hollow rubber, and I suspect it will be cheaper... and much better looking.

[Bloodvayne]

I'm all for NECA. I have the portal gun and pre-ordered the Gravity gun and have some of their action figures. All great and well priced! Problem is...it's just not the time to get such a license. But if they would jump on the opportunity if GB3 would actually go into production *coughs*. I'd be all over their stuff! I mean...the GOW Lancer was big and $100. My portal gun was to scale with lights and sound and was almost $120. If they could make a Proton Pack with lights and sound and not to toyish looking. I'd pay upwards of $400 maybe even $500 for one....only because I know NECA would do a great job with it.

[dtblack]

Not sure if anyone had mentioned the yellowing of the giant staypuft's arms. That was pretty expensive for something that bad to happen.

The Stay Puft debacle and the way they handled the situation is what really sent me over the edge. They said they were looking into the issue not long after everyone started to report the yellowing, but months passed with no word. Someone made sure to ask Scott about it at Toy Fair 2012, to which he said there would be word about it "soon". Another two months pass without a peep from Matty. On April 13th someone posts this in the Ask Matty section of their site.

"Hey TG,
I bought this ($70+SnH) giant box and have it in storage due to the fear of opening it and watching it slowly yellow...Is it too late for returns...can you put a recall on this or something...Did you find a cure in Hong Kong? Any news/help on the matter would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks"

On April 27th Scott replies to it with this.

"No, we are not currently taking returns on Stay Puft. As a collector myself it is extremely disappointing some units had a yellow'ing due to an unexpected chemical reaction between the paint and material. We all worked incredibly hard on Stay Puft and it is heart breaking for him to turn out anything buy perfect."

After half a year of stringing people along THIS is what they do? No formal announcement of any kind. No offer to try to make it right with the consumers somehow. Just essentially a big F you to anyone who gave Matty the benefit of the doubt and believed their flat out lies (ie, they claimed the foam was tested when people expressed concerns about it holding up). I posted in the Ask Matty section the next day asking Scott to confirm that we were indeed SOL, and he eventually replied with this.

"If we ever go back into production we will look into changing this from foam to plastic. But no plans right now for this."

Wow really? I pay $70 for an "adult collectible" that starts to deteriorate within three months, and the only solace you offer is that I might get lucky and be able to buy the toy from you again the way it should have been made in the first place? No. At this point I was fed up and filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I mentioned having done so in the Stay Puft thread on their site, and by the next morning the entire thread was gone, as were my posting privileges. The BBB emailed me that morning at 10:13am to let me know the complaint was filed with Mattel. At 10:47am, just 34 minute later, this post was made by Mattel on their forums.

Hey Everyone,

We know there have been a few figures over the last few years with legitimate production issues (Snout Spout, Stay Puft and even Goddess from a few years back). We are actively working on a way to offer refunds for returned defective product and should have an answer in the next few weeks (give or take). Your complete satisfaction with our product is of utmost concern to us and we are doing everything we can to make these situations right. Please stand by just a little longer while we get our ducks in a row.

Funny how quick they let everyone know that they were working on refunds after the BBB got involved huh? I like how they tried to spin it so that it sounded like they actually cared about the consumers, despite just having said days ago that they weren't gonna do anything about it and that it basically sucked to be us if we bought one. Matty Collector is truly a deplorable company, and I don't know how they're able to stay in business despite continually treating their customers like dogcrap.

[Mike_D]

Well we might have to deal with Matty until GB3 gets made (or...*gasp*...if they remake it). As of right now this is the best we're gonna get. I do see plenty of the Matty products on ebay brand new for sale not associated with Matty, for those of you still wishing to purchase the products. I still want a PKE so perhaps I will go down that route.

Most of you got banned from the facebook page for complaining? I wonder who the mod is over there.

[Troy]

Hi, I'm Troy and I'll be your Devil's Advocate for the evening...

Lot of squeaky wheels, as a paying and satisfied customer, I thought that I'd chime in with my two cents for some food for thought. And here's a third cliche just for good measure. At least, I think good measure is a cliche. Anyway...

The "White Screen of Death" (WSOD)
...Why is it that a fulfillment company of this size is unable to handle a few hundred or thousand customers at one time? (Heck, even Ghostbusters Fans had a record breaking 9,400 users on in one 30 minute period on our rinkydink server. The servers at Digital River should be able to do much better, especially given that there are no doubt hundreds of them in the Digital River cloud. One of Digital River's taglines is after all: "No business is too big or too global for Digital River's premiere commerce solution." The wait screen was self imposed by MattyCollector in an effort to instill fear in the consumer. You saw that screen and thought: 'I better buy one now, heck I should buy two!' No Ghostbusters figures have ever sold out in under 24 hours. In 2010 the Peter Venkman figure sold out in approximately 26 hours, the other figures lasted days even weeks. The PKE Meter and Ghost Trap were also both available for several days to several weeks. This fear was created by MattyCollector in an effort to sell more action figures and props. Since the line began, the WSOD has almost completely gone away due to (no doubt) complaints from MattyCollector's customers, and a decrease in sales.

Not knowing what's behind their white curtain (see what I did there?) here's what I would wager - the "White Screen of Death" is actually a road paved with good intentions put in place to make sure that human customers are getting through and not automated scripts. Take, for example, the recent grief a certain funny book convention in San Diego has been taking for their issues with badge purchases. They're trying to make sure that people (read: bloody damn scalpers) don't create an automated script, buy the whole lot, then turn them all for a 200% profit. The waiting room, as it's been called by people who don't want to get melodramatic about it, is designed to keep order so to speak. But instead, it just becomes infuriating. Do I agree with it? Not really, it's about as maddening as standing in line and not knowing if you're going to walk away with whatever is at the end of it. But, you're collecting - and you're collecting something in high demand - so concessions need to be made.

You also didn't mention that the sales of Ghostbusters items usually coincided with sales of other properties: He-Man, DC, etc. the latter of which probably triples the demand of the former and Ghostbusters combined.

My guess is that the "WSOD" has disappeared because Mattel has listened to the maddened customers and decided they don't give a damn if buyer number three in line buys their entire stock and puts it on eBay the next day. Cynical, but possible.

"Sold Out"
MattyCollector has been manually listing items as "Almost Gone" and "Sold Out" in order to drum up further sales through fear and scarcity. Mattel has said numerous times that an item was completely sold out, only to make the item available at a Halloween or Thanksgiving sale at a price 40% off or higher. Those that purchased early on, were rightfully screwed. Prices and value dropped significantly. Now , I do understand that Mattel must keep extras on hand to handle replacements, but not in the quantity they made available at later dates. The "Sold Out" tag was just added to make sales look better than they actually were.

If you're angry about this, you should be angry about computers. DVDs. Video games. There's a whole slew of items that early adopters pay a premium for at the beginning of a product cycle only to see the price drop dramatically down the lifetime of the item. Halo 4 will be twenty bucks in a couple months for those that didn't buy it on the release date. But it could very well have been sold out the week that it was released. It's a business practice that's been in place since the beginning of commerce. Look at comic books, if you can say a book's first run sold out - that must mean it's in high demand and of high quality. Just in time for a second printing!

To my knowledge, Mattel has never released production reports or numbers that tell you just how limited their runs have been. One crate may have arrived from the manufacturer overseas which will allot the initial sale, but who is to say that the didn't keep the assembly lines running past the first run? The first run may have been almost gone or sold out, but a second or third run down the line which was not expedited to meet release dates (heaven forbid they miss that, or there'd be another bullet point in the article, right?) which would drive costs down.

Which is a good segue to...

Price Increases
Despite Mattel making over $700 million dollars in net income (profit) the first year the Ghostbusters line was active, Mattel cited increasing costs as the reason to make the already high priced $20 action figures, $22 in 2012, with the final figures costing $25 each. Meanwhile other toy manufacturers were making better quality products, at a much lower price. And let's not blame the prices on the fact that they were "limited collectors' items". The Real Ghostbusters MEGO figures from Mattel were $27 each, WITHOUT a pack in Ghost or accessory, AND were sold at retail stores in higher quantity. Once again however, they were figures that were over priced and extremely low quality. They didn't actually sell very well, and now (2 years later) you can still walk into your local Toys R Us and find them on the hooks for under $12. I personally sold dozens of them for $10 each in an online sale, taking a loss of approximately $8 per figure, just to get rid of them.

Let me start this rebuttal with a question for you AJ in regards to your GBFans shop. Your entire shop might be turning a pretty sweet profit, but if those salty flavored Janine reading glasses just aren't selling - you probably are looking at calling a dog a dog. It's a product that only a couple (really sick and twisted) people will pick up and then they'll just sit and you won't know what to do with them.

Let's replace Janine's reading assists with say... a broad shouldered Carpathian action figure. 9,400 people on GBFans' eyebrows just perked up. Yeah, Vigo the Carpathian! The awesomest of awesome action figures known to man! It needs to come with a grey kitten accessory, a vat of pink non-toxic but sweet smelling goo, a demon head to swap out, and a chain to hang him from when John McClane -- wait -- wrong movie. Forgetting all of the crazy deman--- uh--- requests from the fan community, I'm willing to bet that a person that's better at math than I am is crunching numbers thinking that Vigo the Carpathian isn't exactly going to sell the same number as a Bill Murray action figure that belongs on EVERY desk in America! So, you probably won't produce as many Vigos as you will super-awesome Bill Murrays.

Take the awesome run on volleyball elbow pads that you did not too long ago. Manufacturing in bulk = totally sweet discounts. But when you do limited runs, the cost goes up.

Factor in the rising costs of that oily substance that you need to create plastic. The rising cost of shipping (don't worry, I'll get to that soon, Quick... geez, calm down), carry the one and -- wouldn't you know it, cost is going to have to go up a couple bucks. For the items that went to mass production, they probably cut corners, they probably made some concessions and did their best to keep costs down for a general, ordinary consumer (read: not the people that would even know Vigo should have a demon head)...

...and I'll bold the sentence where you say that a lot of what Mattel has produced didn't sell well. We are Legion. I know. I see it on the message boards constantly. But apparently we're not rabid consumers, and apparently non-fans aren't either. Remember that guy that's better at math than I am and knows when to call a dog a dog?

Quality and Repetition
I will be the first one to admit there isn't a lot you can do with 4 main characters, that wore typically the same outfits during the movies. The first figures that came out, I loved, we all loved. They looked very good and were sculpted by the elite "Four Horsemen" team. Once we were presented with the four main characters, we were given a multitude of variations each one using the same bodies, the same heads, and re-used outfits from other lines such as Batman (despite Mattel denying this). It was lazy, the quality of the figures and the collectability of the figures was poor and eventually the line was taken over by Mattel's in house team of designers. The figures, while were still good, suffered. The likenesses (mainly due to rights) suffered on the Louis, Dana, and Vigo figures. Quality and sales went down as prices went up, and yet it was the fans who were blamed.

Experiment: reach out to your buddy from college that lived a couple doors down from you in the dorms. You know, the one who had the calendar of 12 different beers and would watch Dane Cook stand-up at 3am at full volume. Ask him this:

Hey, Jebediah (I can only assume he's gone Amish for the comedic purposes of this hypothetical scenario), who was your favorite character in Ghostbusters?

Chances are he'll say "Bill Murray!" -- he won't even know Peter Venkman by name. If I give him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he says Egon. MAY-be he rattles off the four leads, Louis or Dana. But that's being really generous. But outside of that, we're running out of toyetic characters that resonate with the general population. Properties like He-Man are a rare breed, akin to Transformers, where there's a little more depth on the team's roster where they can get into the Man of Arms and Mer-Mans (that's me reaching for He-Man characters, which I realize counterpoints my own argument but shut it...)

So outside of the above mentioned characters, anything Matty is doing is for the true blood fans.

I can read your mind and know you just read that statement and responded, "Well, if it's for the fans, why not give them what they want?" And, while it's a valid point in a perfect world, you're already telling me that you don't want to pay more money, and you're telling me that if I mass produce it and offer it at a discount later, you'll be upset. Well crap, where else can I cut costs?

You know... that old Ewok Village that we have a mold for looks a WHOLE lot like Robin Hood's domicile. Hmm... get me a dry erase board, I think I have a plan to give the fans what they want and then they'll be totally ---

Overpriced Shipping Costs
I wrote a lengthy topic on the shipping costs from MattyCollector a few weeks ago, that can be read here. To summarize the findings, I found that Mattel (Digital River) shipped all UPS packages regardless of where they were going, as if they were going to the furthest location in the United States away from them. I was able to prove that Mattel not only overcharged by a minimum of 16% but as high as 919%, not factoring in any UPS discounts or surcharges. Everyone should be upset about this. Over the course of the Ghostbusters line, most fans have overpaid by $40 or $50 on shipping alone, that's 2 or more figures you could have gotten for free. It gets even more grim with an item like the PKE Meter, which has the shipment calculated at 3.5lbs per box, when in reality the weight is closer to 1.5 to 2lbs. This overage has resulted in me personally having been overcharged by 500% on two separate shipments. Another shipment pricing disparity can be quickly seen by adding a large number of items into your cart. Mattel's shipping calculator breaks, and starts charging astronomical prices for shipping for no apparent reason, usually with a jump of 80% by just adding 1 more item to your cart. When contacted about this Mattel denied these allegations, even though anyone can go directly to their site and verify this information.

Man, AJ - god bless you. You're measuring boxes, calculating costs, running numbers. Meanwhile, I forget how much I literally just paid for tortillas and a six pack at Ralphs. I hear Mattel might be looking for a good bean counter or two in that amazingly massive 15 story building that I can see from my place in El Segundo even through the terrible LA smog.

Overhead is a bitch.

Amazon keeps costs down by replacing flesh and blood shipping and handling people with automated robots. Pretty cool, right? Except that fifteen story building is filled with people that have names (though, I'm sure the robots have names too) and they all need to be paid. The marketing people, the receptionists, the free coffee that - I hear is only free on Tuesday and Thursday now because they're having to cut costs so they don't increase the price on Ghostbusters action figures from $25 to $25.50.

Anyway, snide remarks aside - there's a building a couple blocks away from that fifteen story headquarters, I won't say where but it's close to a pain in the ass international airport, and it's solely dedicated to the shipping and handling of Mattel products. All Mattel products. Again, I know it sucks but Mattel is flat out telling you that you're paying for shipping and handling which is the exact same reason that I have to pay 15 bucks to ship the Debbie Gibson poster that I bought on eBay to me, even though the shipping labels tell me yosef24 only paid five bucks. He had to drive it to the post office, buy me the titanium tube that I required lest it be damaged, and add some fringe for tax and the therapy that he'll need for the trauma I've caused him.

Unfortunately, this bullet point just needs to be written off to the fact that it's a large shareholder bound corporation with a lot of overhead. Their shipping and handling rate card is probably set in stone across the board and even though the Ghostbusters community is really neat - the guys in charge of those cards all wear really nice suits.

Billing and Shipping Problems
We have seen firsthand a number of problems with MattyCollector (Digital River) in regards to billing and shipping practices. Mainly having to do with subscriptions, and the now dead Club Ecto-1 subscription service. Some fans have reported that MattyCollector would ship orders to old addresses, despite having updated the address on file. Some were charged for subscriptions even after they were cancelled, or after the credit card had expired. We even saw reports of fans having received opened boxes with the action figure completely removed, or used (open) items sold as new. Most spectacularly and recently when Mattel shipped out the green Slimer "rewards" for having subscribed to Club Ecto-1 for 2012. They shipped them to addresses on file from July 2011, when the subscription was created. They didn't as much as contact subscribers to ensure the addresses were correct, nor bother checking their customers' current addresses already on file. When contacted about this, MattyCollector (Digital River's customer service) said it was the buyer's fault for not having the correct address already updated... and that is despite some fans having ALREADY updated their address. And regarding those Slimer rewards that were mailed out at the end of 2012, which had come far later than they had promised, Mattel only shipped one Slimer independent of how many Club Ecto-1 subscriptions were purchased. Mattel stated that they wanted to get the Slimers out before 2012, and would be sending the remainder out at a later date. I believe that this was a complete mistake on Mattel's fault, and they didn't have enough Slimer's to cover all the subscriptions. The replacement Slimers were sent out 1 month later, which is just about exactly the amount of time it would have taken to produce more. Those that had their Slimers shipped to the wrong address are left with nothing, as MattyCollector will not send replacements to the corrected addresses on file.

You've got me on this one since this is the only place that I've been burned by Matty. But it's funny to say that I was burned because they were sending me a freebie as a consolation for having to cancel something I was super excited about.

You hear that Clavet? They wanted to send me a consolation. For having to cancel something. I was super excited about.

Ahem.

Now why people that contacted customer service to change their address well in advance of shipping weren't able to cut that off at the pass, I'm not sure. That, I agree - can probably be chalked up to poor customer service. But it's really hard for me to be too upset about it since it's a freebie that I didn't really want/need/care about in the first place.

Fan Treatment
When the line first started, Mattel was great to engage with the fans and were actually doing some phenomenal work. I was personally involved with some decisions regarding the 6" figures in terms of accuracy, and was contacted to help on the Vigo, and the 6" Slime Blowers a full year before they would be released, and provided input on a Gozer character. Ghostbusters Fans was seen as a resource for Mattel to use to improve their products, and also as a great marketing channel. We were given special information, even figures for review, well before they were released to the public. Once the line was decided to be officially dead in 2011, we were cut off completely. Despite having basically been the go to resource (aside from the archives at Sony). Once the line was on its way out... so was our community as far as Mattel was concerned.

The poor treatment of the fans didn't stop there. I was actually banned from MattyCollector's forum in 2011 for simply participating in a discussion about what Ghostbusters figures I had personally purchased, and for defending our website against the flock of rule breaking former members that migrated to MattyCollector's website. Another fan reports having been banned from MattyCollector's Facebook page for merely pointing out a grammatical error on one of their posts.

Through all of this, Mattel has always blamed the problem on the fans. 'The fans didn't buy enough products. There wasn't enough interest. Not enough fans purchased subscriptions... etc.' All of that was poor planning and marketing on Mattel's' part. They were doing things as cheaply as possible to make a buck as easily as possible, and viewed the Ghostbusters license as something they could do easily, while making a premium amount of money. Ghostbusters fans are more frugal than that.

Man, I'm getting tired... this is the longest I've spent on a GB message board since... since...

(Cue flashback effects and sound)

http://ghostbusters.wikia.com/wiki/ECTO ... on_Figures

Kenner made me feel so loved when I was a kid. I'd send them letters, they'd send me awesome 3x5 catalogs with products coming up. They'd send me (in form letter fashion) thank you notes for my support and throw in a nod to Ghostbusters or two just to make me feel loved.

But then... those middling Turtles. Those awful Starting Lineups... where were the Ecto-Glow Heroes that I had been promised? Surely my friends at Kenner would know and tell me, since after all - that have to have my address on file and know me on a first name basis. They'd been writing to me at least once every couple months. So I wrote them a letter. Honest to god, I did. What's happening with Ghostbusters, are you making any more toys? I'm so close to actually having saved up to finally buy the Ecto-1 (well, the Ecto-1A at that point). But everything has disappeared off the shelves.

They never wrote back. No form letter. No catalog. No "sorry kid, but we've got Batman now and it's making us a fortune so shove off and don't forget that Batman Returns is now in theaters!"

The toys stopped selling and they stopped caring. Valuable life lesson learned as a kid. It's not personal, it's business.

The Hoverboard Fiasco
While not directly related to Ghostbusters, the Hoverboard from Back to the Future is a great example of Mattel's poor business practices and possibly fraud. A year ago, Mattel set out to build a prop replica of the Hoverboard from Back to the Future. They offered them for pre-order early last year and finally shipped in December of last year. The fans were promised a high quality prop replica on par with the PKE Meter and Ghost Trap that Mattel had previously released. What fans got was an inaccurate plastic pink board with stickers, despite being promised so much more. During previews at San Diego Comic Con and New York Comic Con a "prototype" was shown which was promised to be only a prototype, and that the final version would be much better. To ease fans' minds, they allowed orders to be cancelled after NYCC, but still promised that the fans hadn't seen a final version yet. The fans were promised the special holographic lenticular film would be used, and on the final version it was absent. Mattel promised the hoverboard would be as accurate as possible, but neglected to say it would be as accurate as they could afford to make, while still generating a large profit. Once the pre-orders were in, they dropped the ball and coasted with a 'good enough' attitude. Customers are left with the closing opportunity to return their hoverboards for a refund and to be left with nothing.

I love my hoverboard. No, it's not as accurate as the one I pieced together from parts all over the globe. But it came in a rad box from Mattel and it made me happy and made me feel like a kid for one lousy day of the year.

But don't bring Hill Valley into this. No seriously, don't because I've been sitting here for an hour and my fingers hurt from all this typing, gotta feel for whomever answers all of Santa Claus' letters, right?

So I leave you with this.

Popular opinion in this thread seems intent that NECA is the savior. NECA will answer all your prayers and won't write back with form letters. And, while I agree, they make fantastic products and might have changed from the days of Gozer and the Terror Dogs warming pegs at my local Toys R Us (remember that whole thing about a dog being a dog? Turns out Terror Dogs actually were dogs and... didn't sell either). I loved the guys at NECA and they always treated me well with GBHQ when the toys came out. They were open and honest when stuff just wasn't selling and the funds just weren't there for likeness rights.

The grass is always greener on the other side. Let me go rest up for writing another one of these rebuttals defending NECA in about ten years time.

[Mike_D]

ohhhhh SNAP!!!

[btnkdrms]

Love my Lancer - got it when NECA and EPIC Games teamed up for that Amazon deal for Gears of War 2.

Of course I got it at a time where dropping $200 on games didn't phase me; I dropped $300 dollars and the cost of the game just to play Street Fighter IV with two MadCatz Tournament Edition Arcade Sticks. One for me and one for company when they come over -- IT would have been rude NOT to have another one.

The only issue was that the battery plate was installed backwards - and was an easy fix with a folded sliver of aluminum foil. And NECA jumped on that issue real quick with solutions to fix the problem right away.

[ProtonDefender]

After reading this on here and FB, I find myself torn. I, too, have grown increasingly annoyed with Matty Collector--they've left me shaking my head in disappointment. At the same time, I don't want to forget what they've done well...I wonder if some of the issues that are brought up are legitimate, or we're just hyper sensitive to the situation because of our higher expectations/increased excitement over anything GB.

I distinctly remember seeing the first image of Egon and then Ray shortly after the line was announced. My head was filled with the possibilities for figures, accessories, ghosts, and replicas: it was 1986-1990 for me all over again...I was the 5 year old shaking with excitement when walking into a Toys R Us and being dwarfed by a wall of purple-carded RGB product. The excitement grew with the release of GB: TVG and the Bluray (again, with an insert of the upcoming figures....fueling the anticipation). Hot summer days playing as the Rookie, watching the Boys in 1080p, and reading about what the Matty line was promising became routine. It was another time of rejuvenation that we as Ghostheads experience every few years, where all cylinders are firing and there seems to be a new wave of products/interest in GB. It was a good time to be a true fan.

Then the figures were released (Egon first, initially at SDCC). We got our Egon, Ray, Winston, and then finally Peter...a true likeness of Bill Murray! At the time, we were all excited....sure Ray's sculpt was the weakest, and there may have been some minor issues with some of the 12" figures (Peter's head namely, for some folks), but we finally had the GB movie figures we had all been waiting for. We were willing to pay a little more money at the time, because it was new, exciting, and for the most part, looked good.

Then, like all things, time passed. The excitement wore off and we no longer were easily impressed. The excitement returned with the announcement of the PKE meter, then it died down again....we had some minor excitement over the figures here and there, and then the trap video was released...excitement was back!

Then 2013 subscriptions.

I won't summarize from here, but that was my emotional journey in a nutshell....you can guess the rest. But in our discussion of Matty, I think we need to keep some perspective on everything.

What They Did Right
-Initially gave us the 4 GBs we've always wanted. Additional figures came with limited, but cool accessories.

-For a toy line, did a good job on the the PKE meter and trap. We need to remove the prop-maker element (and pretend we don't know the dimensions and plans for any GB equipment like the back of our hand) when looking at a replica and appreciate it for what it is....a functioning toy that is pretty damn close to what we see on screen.

-Good packaging for display (if you so choose). Also, they understand the feel/humor of the GB universe and the packaging represents it; the messy desk on the back of the figure card...the "crate" the props are shipped in....the instruction manuals, etc.

-They acknowledged the major 3 elements that are considered movie canon (GB, GB2, GB:TVG/3).

-Offered "adult collectors" a way to ensure they get all the figures by offering the first 2 subscriptions (even though it was terribly overpriced).

-They did listen to fans on occasion, and I do believe it was a sincere gesture in trying to get things right. The slimeblower is the prime example. They reached out to AJ & co.--for a time they maintained a dialogue. They didn't have to do that. Once they stopped talking/listening to fans, it seemed like an "F.U.", but we were privileged to have that in the first place--Matty is A toy company, not OUR toy company.

With that being said......

What They Did Wrong

-They publicly stated their intentions for the line and made promises they never delivered more than once. We, as fans, understood that things happen, and things may need to change, but this happened more than once. After some quality issues in product, and not being able to deliver product they promised, they should have kept their mouths shut. Instead they attempted to ease our worries by promising even more (which, of course, never panned out). They were like a teenager or the government--spreading themselves too thin and doing many different things well, rather than doing a great job on a few items.

-Accountability. They always have an excuse for everything. Again, things come up....we get that, but STOP with the excuses and take some responsibility.

-Bullshit claims regarding limited stock.

-Pricing AND availability. We all acknowledge that the items were overpriced. But I don't think that Matty truly gets that. In addition, they needed to make the entire line available at major retailers (maybe save 1-2 for online exclusives). It is understood that the majority of the people buying the toys are adults who grew up with the GBs, but my major issue with Matty is their injecting an elitist attitude into something that should be fun. "You can only get x, y, and z if you pay for a subscription and get it online." That is bullshit. It brings me back to my point about being excited as a kid, going to the toy store, begging my parents to get a new $5 figure, tearing into it, the new plastic smell, etc. With many of us being adults, we're introducing our children to GB for the first time and they're going to want their own Peter, Ray, Winston, & Egon.....but at $22 a figure that is more of a display piece?! I have the same issue with the Voltron line....

Matty (or the next company that takes over the line) needs to look at a line like Star Wars or Marvel, where there is definitely a collector's element there, but they are still found in stores and are accessible to kids(!). I recently was able to take a look at the new Ninja Turtles line, and it is being done perfectly. It is updated, but their product line is what we had as kids, is available in stores, and the basic figures are great. They come with a slew of accessories, have unique sculpts for each of the 4 characters, have good articulation, and are half the price. 'Nuff said.


Clearly I have my issues, but I don't want us to forget why we were excited to begin with, and that we did get some great stuff out of the line. Matty suffered from biting off more than it could chew and making promises they could not keep, time and time again. The situation reminds me of 88mph Studios and the hardcover comic in many ways...

We get close to those who are creating merchandise based off of our beloved franchise, which is pretty damn awesome. With that, however, it sets us up to be disappointed because our expectations grow larger than the casual fan's. We need to maintain perspective while expecting accountability from the companies that claim to want to hear from us.

[Ryansss]

So I'm 30 something, prob too much disposable income. I work near a shop where I can go and buy any Neca prop/figure imaginable and mentioned yet I have NO gb merchandise....... I live in the uk and it saddens me there is nothing on these shores unless I pay crazy money because some guy on ebay managed to secure 20 odd of the same thing and wants to charge me x3 what he paid. So I accept I won't be collecting GB Merch despite wanting a trap, pke and maybe even the goggles..... I'd just like the chance.

Toys R US in the uk normally stock the same stuff as US so I've had no trouble picking up transformers and thundercats items. I just don't see why it has to be so hard for a consumer to buy somehting he wants

[JediChris1138]

Hi Matty - thanks for sending my 'Thank You' glow in the dark slimer to an address that I changed a year ago. Oh, I also called you, wrote you, and called again BEFORE IT SHIPPED. You told me it was corrected. It was not.

It was a free figure, sure. Thanks for that. Nice little gesture, but it did show me that your customer service is worse than the rotten, desiccated turd of a company Comcast. If you had as many customers as they do, I imagine you'd be equally, if not more, disliked.

Digital River's fault? Mattel's fault? I don't care. I don't think I've once complained about a company sucking, not even Comcast. But you do, so cheers folks.

[Ron Daniels]

I only purchased two things directly from Matty Collector. A PKE meter and a Courtroom Ray.

They charged my card three times for the Courtroom Ray; which they fixed two weeks later after I kindly informed them repeatedly. I bought my first PKE through a user here because they instilled me with fear with the "waiting room." I was never greatly impressed with their work, but thought many of the things they wee planning on dong would be "neat."

That said, I didn't give them my money. I have limited need for action figures. You can slap "Ghostbusters" on anything and some people will buy it. I'm not one of them.

[ravencrow]

I don't know about the States but in Canada we have the better business bureau, and i think a lot of this type of stuff falls under that.. This is the type of service that takes care of poor business practices.

[darthvader_22uk]

I agree with most of the points raised on here. Personally the only problem I've encountered so far is the problem with my free figure, which I have mentioned on the forums before that Matty inexplicably sent it to an old address despite receiving further orders and alerting them when I received my order confirmation. After kicking up a massive complaint, and receiving response where the customer service team clearly just didn't read the contents of my complaint and sent formulaic responses and basically got told where to get off, i had given up hope.

I posted on the Matty Facebook page about it and whilst I wasn't banned the post was removed pretty sharpish. Instead I went to my old address and found the item hadn't actually arrived anyway and so I contacted them again last week and they have today agreed to send a replacement.

Hell yes its free, but im entitled it, however that fact that they agreed to send it in the first place enters both parties into a contract-one so far they have failed to fulfill. the fact that its free is irrelevant.

however In reference to what troy said the dude made some reasonably fair points however this one got my goat a little:

"If you're angry about this, you should be angry about computers. DVDs. Video games. There's a whole slew of items that early adopters pay a premium for at the beginning of a product cycle only to see the price drop dramatically down the lifetime of the item. Halo 4 will be twenty bucks in a couple months for those that didn't buy it on the release date. But it could very well have been sold out the week that it was released. It's a business practice that's been in place since the beginning of commerce. Look at comic books, if you can say a book's first run sold out - that must mean it's in high demand and of high quality. Just in time for a second printing!

To my knowledge, Mattel has never released production reports or numbers that tell you just how limited their runs have been. One crate may have arrived from the manufacturer overseas which will allot the initial sale, but who is to say that the didn't keep the assembly lines running past the first run? The first run may have been almost gone or sold out, but a second or third run down the line which was not expedited to meet release dates (heaven forbid they miss that, or there'd be another bullet point in the article, right?) which would drive costs down."

Whilst everyone is entitled to an opinion and fair play on that front this is absolute C***

The fundamental difference here is the fact that matty unlike amazon etc is that they are the sole provider of these products and hold a monopoly if you will. it is nothing like buying halo 4 cheaper down the line as every game store or walmart etc is stocking it. if you cant get it one place they sell it in another-problem solved!

Matty were creating a panic on exclusive items to them soon to be permanently sold out, also helped by the fact they only sell the items on particular days. Then claiming it was sold out then reducing them months down the line. This in my opinion is fraudulent to a degree.

The point I'm trying to make here is that there is Choice involved.with Matty there isn't. you buy from them or no one.

Ok for arguments sake say they did receive a batch later and didn't want to miss the release date-wouldn't that be nice?

It would-however whilst we don't know production numbers-Matty do. They know how many are produced and if this was the case, why remove them from sale at all? If they sold the first batch a simple email or notice on the website would suffice to explain the problem, And why the hell would they immediately reduce them instead of reselling at the full price?

In relation to the comic book reference that there are 2nd printings etc - fair point but everyone knows that a 1st edition as with a book is worth substantially more (not that money's the issue) AND these are numbered and clearly marked, not falsely giving the impression that it will never be for sale again.

I fell pray to this tactic and even resorted to paying over inflated prices on eBay but I appreciate this is my choice and the one time I restrained my self with the 12" gb figures was the one time they didn't re release them!

All in all I'm fairly happy with the stuff Matty put out-hell no one else was doing it. Was it perfect no but it was something. Matty themselves however customer service wise are TERRIBLE and something needed to be said. Will it change anything? No but we can at least vent in the Matty support group AJ has kindly created for us here.

[Kieran McFarland]

Something that really annoyed me was back in 2011 when the 2012 subscriptions went on sale for Club Ecto-1, Club Eternia, Club Lion Force and Club DC Universe.

We were told that ALL the subscriptions had met their quota ahead of time and that they were all set for 2012, except for Club DC Universe, which had it's time extended about 3 times until the quota was met for it. They even put a thermometer on the site to show how many more subs they needed.

Then after the time for buying subscriptions expired, we were told that Club Ecto-1 didn't get enough subscribers and therefor wouldn't go ahead.

Why didn't we get told about the lack subs? (if there even was a lack of subs that is)

[AJ Quick]

Troy,

I appreciate you taking the time to write up a counterpoint to this whole issue. I think though, that you are basically the perfect customer for MattyCollector. You no doubt have some form of disposable income, and don't really care how much something costs as long as you can obtain it. There is always time to be frugal, and it never makes sense to spend money without seeing if it is actually a good deal or not. Call me a bean counter... I call it being responsible.

I'll address some of your points here.

You also didn't mention that the sales of Ghostbusters items usually coincided with sales of other properties: He-Man, DC, etc. the latter of which probably triples the demand of the former and Ghostbusters combined.

First sentence.

When we first started buying figures from MattyCollector, we were all faced with a battle with other fans to fight and see who could purchase their figures first.

We being Ghostbusters fans, other fans being MOTU, He-Man.. etc. I probably should have said other 'fandoms' to make it clearer.

My guess is that the "WSOD" has disappeared because Mattel has listened to the maddened customers and decided they don't give a damn if buyer number three in line buys their entire stock and puts it on eBay the next day. Cynical, but possible.

That is somewhat true. When it first began they didn't have limits, then they had limits of 9 or 10. Now if its an item they are trying to get rid of, the limit is 99 or as high as 999. Really what they are trying to force people to do is to buy the subscription, produce that many +10% and then sell those. In 2013 they now have a special subscribers early access page where subscibers can purhcase before regular people can. They gave a warning to Ghostbuster guys. 'If the Ecto Goggles sell out during Early Access for subscribers (of the other lines), there won't be any left for anyone else. Better get a sub to those lines...'. Those that now have subs, don't have to visit the page to buy them and that is one of the main reasons (I think) why the WSOD has gone away... and decreasing sales in general.

If you're angry about this, you should be angry about computers. DVDs. Video games. There's a whole slew of items that early adopters pay a premium for at the beginning of a product cycle only to see the price drop dramatically down the lifetime of the item. Halo 4 will be twenty bucks in a couple months for those that didn't buy it on the release date. But it could very well have been sold out the week that it was released. It's a business practice that's been in place since the beginning of commerce.

I think you are absolutely wrong about this.

I think a Video Game is a perfect example to show you how you are incorrect. A video game is released for $60. Lets say 2 months later it is $50, 4 months after that it is $40, 6 months later it is $30.. etc.

How is the the same as MattyCollector? Lets view it differently.

A videogame is released for $60. A week later it is sold out permanently. People on eBay are clamoring for the item buying it 2nd hand for $100. 4 months later it is available for $20 because they had extras that weren't actually sold out. Now its on eBay for $30.

It is two completely different models of sales. One an item is available all the time from numerous outlets until eventually it is no longer produced. The other, product is sold by one store and is intentionally held back to make demand increase.

In one case with Mattel, I think it was a GB2 Winston Slime Blower figure. They released it in October for $20-$22, then a week later had the Halloween sale. It was 10% off, then 20%, then 30%, then 40% off. All with-in 2-3 weeks of being released. MattyCollector got a lot of flak for that.

To my knowledge, Mattel has never released production reports or numbers that tell you just how limited their runs have been. One crate may have arrived from the manufacturer overseas which will allot the initial sale, but who is to say that the didn't keep the assembly lines running past the first run? The first run may have been almost gone or sold out, but a second or third run down the line which was not expedited to meet release dates (heaven forbid they miss that, or there'd be another bullet point in the article, right?) which would drive costs down.

While you are correct about the production reports, you also don't have the kind of knowledge I have. On some shipments of full cases, they have case / carton / box information that allows you to know approximately how many of each figure was being produced. I have posted numbers from these cases in the past, as well as pretty good estimates.

However, the whole keep the assembly lines running thing is not even close to the real situation. Matty should know exactly how much of each figure are to be sold, and they are done in 1 large lump (for each figure). These aren't Furbies or Etch-a-Sketches sold during Chirstmas. They don't produce them, see how well they are doing and then make more. In many cases Matty got the figures months and months before they were to go on sale.

The only actual 2nd run that occured was for the PKE Meter, and possibly the free Slimer.

You have to understand that Mattel's factorys can produce millions of actions figures each year. To keep churning out Ray Stantz figures while they wait and see how they sell, would be a bigger problem than anything I've mentioned here. If they did that, the line wouldn't have made it past the 1st figure.

Let me start this rebuttal with a question for you AJ in regards to your GBFans shop. Your entire shop might be turning a pretty sweet profit, but if those salty flavored Janine reading glasses just aren't selling - you probably are looking at calling a dog a dog. It's a product that only a couple (really sick and twisted) people will pick up and then they'll just sit and you won't know what to do with them.

Let's replace Janine's reading assists with say... a broad shouldered Carpathian action figure. 9,400 people on GBFans' eyebrows just perked up. Yeah, Vigo the Carpathian! The awesomest of awesome action figures known to man! It needs to come with a grey kitten accessory, a vat of pink non-toxic but sweet smelling goo, a demon head to swap out, and a chain to hang him from when John McClane -- wait -- wrong movie. Forgetting all of the crazy deman--- uh--- requests from the fan community, I'm willing to bet that a person that's better at math than I am is crunching numbers thinking that Vigo the Carpathian isn't exactly going to sell the same number as a Bill Murray action figure that belongs on EVERY desk in America! So, you probably won't produce as many Vigos as you will super-awesome Bill Murrays.

Take the awesome run on volleyball elbow pads that you did not too long ago. Manufacturing in bulk = totally sweet discounts. But when you do limited runs, the cost goes up.

Factor in the rising costs of that oily substance that you need to create plastic. The rising cost of shipping (don't worry, I'll get to that soon, Quick... geez, calm down), carry the one and -- wouldn't you know it, cost is going to have to go up a couple bucks. For the items that went to mass production, they probably cut corners, they probably made some concessions and did their best to keep costs down for a general, ordinary consumer (read: not the people that would even know Vigo should have a demon head)...

...and I'll bold the sentence where you say that a lot of what Mattel has produced didn't sell well. We are Legion. I know. I see it on the message boards constantly. But apparently we're not rabid consumers, and apparently non-fans aren't either. Remember that guy that's better at math than I am and knows when to call a dog a dog?

I don't even know where to being with this incoherent ramble.

Do you honestly think me making a few hundred pairs of Elbow pads equals manufacturing in bulk, and Matty constitutes a limited run?

Do you think people are carving each figure from hand because it is a limited run, but if it had been "mass produced" for stores, they would have corners cut? The figures we got had corners cut.

Lets talk actual manufacturing.

The most expensive part of the figures are going to be: Molds, Licensing, Designing. The least expensive part will be: Production, Packaging, Shipping.

The actual cost of producing, packaging and shipping a Vigo figure might $3. The molds, designing and licensing might account for another $3... but these are affected by quantity and something called roll up costs. If you produce 3000 Vigos, it could cost $6 each (for everything).. if you produce 5000 Vigos, it might cost $5 each. The production costs, packaging and shipping costs do not change very much at all. The molds, design and licensing get divided thinner across a larger quantity driving costs down. You do understand this and know this.

However, there is always a perfect number for production. A number where it makes sense to make this many, so that the cost is X amount. Why produce 1000 Vigos for $6000 when you can produce 2000 for $8000? Compare that with demand, and you will know exactly how much to charge... how many are going to sell, how many you are going to be left with.. etc.

If Mattel did not determine these numbers out before hand, they wouldn't be in business today.

Rather than suck it up and call a dog a dog, they are calling the fans the dog. It's our fault as fans for not buying every last one they had... I guess.

Here's the other thing. If the most expensive part of the process is Molds and Designing. If you can use the same head over and over, the same body for all four characters, the suits from the Batman line... etc... etc. Your costs are going to be able to go down and down. To say making tens of thousands of the same flight suited body in different colors is "limited" and not mass produced... is ridiculous.

Man, AJ - god bless you. You're measuring boxes, calculating costs, running numbers. Meanwhile, I forget how much I literally just paid for tortillas and a six pack at Ralphs. I hear Mattel might be looking for a good bean counter or two in that amazingly massive 15 story building that I can see from my place in El Segundo even through the terrible LA smog.

Overhead is a bitch.

Amazon keeps costs down by replacing flesh and blood shipping and handling people with automated robots. Pretty cool, right? Except that fifteen story building is filled with people that have names (though, I'm sure the robots have names too) and they all need to be paid. The marketing people, the receptionists, the free coffee that - I hear is only free on Tuesday and Thursday now because they're having to cut costs so they don't increase the price on Ghostbusters action figures from $25 to $25.50.

Anyway, snide remarks aside - there's a building a couple blocks away from that fifteen story headquarters, I won't say where but it's close to a pain in the ass international airport, and it's solely dedicated to the shipping and handling of Mattel products. All Mattel products. Again, I know it sucks but Mattel is flat out telling you that you're paying for shipping and handling which is the exact same reason that I have to pay 15 bucks to ship the Debbie Gibson poster that I bought on eBay to me, even though the shipping labels tell me yosef24 only paid five bucks. He had to drive it to the post office, buy me the titanium tube that I required lest it be damaged, and add some fringe for tax and the therapy that he'll need for the trauma I've caused him.

Unfortunately, this bullet point just needs to be written off to the fact that it's a large shareholder bound corporation with a lot of overhead. Their shipping and handling rate card is probably set in stone across the board and even though the Ghostbusters community is really neat - the guys in charge of those cards all wear really nice suits.

Overhead, and shipping costs... likewise go down the more business and shipping you do. It isn't exactly set in stone as things do fluctuate... but where it is is much, much, much lower than what you actually pay. If you can't understand that it costs more to ship an item from California to Maine... vs California to California.. there isn't much I can do for you. The point here is that you are charged as if you are living in Maine, regardless of where you live.

You believe what you do believe, because you have been told that's how things work. Not because that is how things actually work, but because you'd be upset if you knew how they did actually work. I can't fault Mattel for producing so many toys, which allows them to reduce their costs. But do you really think a 50 cent increase on a toy is going to actually drastically affect the bottom line or decide which of the 28,000 employees get to keep their job? Maybe on a toy that sells 1 million units... not on a "limited" action figure.

As Mattel is a publically traded company. All their fincancials are public information. I will do some math for you, because I'm such a bean counter (I call it responsible). If they made 6.2 billion dollars in revenue, and 768 million in profit... that's 12.3% profit. Do you think... that a $25 toy then actually costs $21.90 to make? Do you think that $3.10 is what is left for the employees per action figure? No. Profits are after everyone has been paid. The factories, the workers, the employees, the top execs... (the overhead) etc. That $3.10 is what is left to go after new acquitions, develop new toys.. etc. (Keeping in mind that these costs in previous years are already factored into 87.7% expenses they incurred... so a devleopment cost from one year, won't be there the next, so it is all evened out anyways).

That number would normally be what is left to pay taxes on. You'd think Mattel would be paying some $230 million dollars to the government then. Just like you would have to pay your ~30%. In 2008-2010... they paid no taxes. Why? 'Because they're Mattel. f*** you. That's why.'

I love my hoverboard. No, it's not as accurate as the one I pieced together from parts all over the globe. But it came in a rad box from Mattel and it made me happy and made me feel like a kid for one lousy day of the year.

But don't bring Hill Valley into this. No seriously, don't because I've been sitting here for an hour and my fingers hurt from all this typing, gotta feel for whomever answers all of Santa Claus' letters, right?

You know. When the writer of Back to the Future (and I assume, partial rights holder) Bob Gale has to write letters to fans apologizing for MattyCollector's actions.. that says a lot about the Hoverboard. It's great you were happy with it for a day. I am glad I didn't buy one at all, and that made me feel good for longer than if I had purchased one.

Popular opinion in this thread seems intent that NECA is the savior. NECA will answer all your prayers and won't write back with form letters. And, while I agree, they make fantastic products and might have changed from the days of Gozer and the Terror Dogs warming pegs at my local Toys R Us (remember that whole thing about a dog being a dog? Turns out Terror Dogs actually were dogs and... didn't sell either). I loved the guys at NECA and they always treated me well with GBHQ when the toys came out. They were open and honest when stuff just wasn't selling and the funds just weren't there for likeness rights.

The grass is always greener on the other side. Let me go rest up for writing another one of these rebuttals defending NECA in about ten years time.

NECA is not free from their own problems.

The Portal gun for example, originally sold so well that they released 3 more versions, at an even lower price to keep up for the demand. Lots of people were pissed about the collectability and value going down too. Heck. I have a Portal Gun here... thought I was special, but there is a whole pallet of them sitting down at the Tradesmart right now for anyone to buy.

What sets NECA and Matty apart is how they actually run their business. The Portal gun had high demand and limited (5,000 units) availability. They worked closely with their list of approved distributors to ensure that no one was able to buy more than 1. They cross referenced lists between Amazon, and other retailers to see if you bought one from one store and one from another and cancelled all your orders if that was the case. They worked hard to make sure it was fair for everyone at the time. They at least have the fans' best interested in mind. Mattel really only wants to make a buck. That's the difference.


I really enjoyed reading your rebuttle. While I agree there may be some common ground we could agree upon, I think my old 'bean counter' self can see things a little more clearly and rationally.

[Troy]

But we're Ghostheads! Being incoherent and irrational is what we do best!

Thanks for the counterpoint, AJ. Unfortunately no time to respond in depth right now but, I see your points. Don't agree with many of them but again, I'm not as fired up about it as you are either.