[AJ Quick]

I'm not as fired up about it as you are either.

Yeah man. I can't sleep at night because of this.



I guess writing coherently, and laying out everything thoughtfully and concise equates to some kind of massive nerd rage. We're just putting 2 years of expirences, facts, opinions and reflections into one single space...

[VenomSymbiote]

This all makes Matty sound like the Capcom of toy companies, which is quite sad. Let's hope something like NECA does pick up the license. I wouldn't mind having some better quality figures or replicas to pick up.

I can also see why you wouldn't want to release this sort of article before, back when it could have potentially hindered the quality of the products even further. I thank Matty for trying to give us GB figures, but I agree they handed several things really poorly.

[Cosmic-Riptide]

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

Stay-Puft is the only figure I didn't buy from the entire 6" line. As soon as I read that he'd have a soft texture I decided, from past toy collecting experience, to avoid him like the plague. Hopefully discoloration is the only problem that figure will suffer from as it ages.

[ProtonDefender]

AJ,

Out of curiosity, I'd like to ask, in a respectful/non-sarcastic manner, what prompted you to write this? You mentioned now is the time to write something (paraphrasing)--has something specific occurred recently that we're unaware of? Everything you said, whether any of us agree or not, has been brought up before in some fashion....

When I saw the page last night and your piece posted front & center, it made me wonder if there was a proverbial straw on some poor camel's back....

[btnkdrms]

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.

http://www.la.bbb.org/business-reviews/ ... A-92001694

In big bold text it is stated that "THIS BUSINESS IS NOT BBB ACCREDITED". Which only means that Mattel doesn't pay a fee for accreditation review/monitoring and for support of BBB services to the public.

[AJ Quick]

This post may contain an affiliate link that helps support GBFans.com when you make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

Out of curiosity, I'd like to ask, in a respectful/non-sarcastic manner, what prompted you to write this? You mentioned now is the time to write something (paraphrasing)--has something specific occurred recently that we're unaware of? Everything you said, whether any of us agree or not, has been brought up before in some fashion....

When I saw the page last night and your piece posted front & center, it made me wonder if there was a proverbial straw on some poor camel's back....

This has been a long time in the making actually. I had been writing this story for weeks, and had it in the back of my mind for a while. If anything the "free" Slimers and overages on shipping lead up to this. I had been fighting with Digital River's customer support over the shipping problem since November of last year.

Now. I would like to add to this whole thing.

One thing I did not mention or make obvious is that many / most of the problems stems from Digital River. The shipping, customer service.. etc is all handled by them and is their fault. However, as Mattel / MattyCollector pay them, they are the ones that are ultimately responsible for the treatment. It would be no different than if you had purchased the item from Target, and opened the box and the item had a flaw. You deal with Target to handle the problem, but ultimately it would be Mattel's fault. The difference there is that Target would handle it quickly and courteously with good customer relations. Digital River does whatever it can to not have to handle it, as that cuts into their tiny profit margin.

If Digital River hadn't been involved the whole time. I'm guessing I wouldn't have to write any of this. Imagine for a second if these items were sold and fufilled by Amazon.com instead of Digital River. We would all have gotten free shipping on orders over $25, Amazon prime people could have gotten Free 2-Day Shipping or $3.99 overnight shipping. We probably wouldn't have had to pay the taxes we had to pay... and any problems would have been handled by Amazon's wonderful customer service department. Orders wouldn't have taken 5 days to ship, and then a week to be delivered by Newgistics. They would have been out UPS and delivered quickly all over the country. The items would have been in stock until sold out, and it wouldn't have been a mystery. If Amazon cost more than Digital River, and I don't think it really would have... we certainly could have all paid $25 per figure (with free shipping) instead of $20 (plus $10 shipping)... there wouldn't have been many complaints.



In addition to all of this. I went and looked at the photo listing of Mattel's action figures that Ghostbusters Mania put together. I am in the end, impressed with what we did manage to get. I just think the Digital River problems, coupled with cut corners and high pricing have really put a damper in the whole thing. The whole MattyCollector concept is poorly managed... and while I did mention that Mattel made 700+ million dollars profit, I did neglect to mention that individual figures, and portions of Mattel's business can be losing money in comparison to the work put in. It isn't business smart to keep putting money into a system that isn't working, or a line, or a figure.. etc.

I get that.

I just find it hard to believe four characters, using the same heads, bodies, and accessories over and over could possibly lose money compared to MOTU, He-Man.. whatever... that has newly sculpted figures and accessories every other month. There is a lot they could have done, but didn't... and I think that boils down to poor management.



And one last thing. In regard to those Early Access things for subscribers. Matty posted on their Facebook page today that one of the figures has sold out, prior to being available at the regular sale at all. I'm sure there will be more subscribers next year... if they don't piss off all the people they lost this year. Is this really that hard to figure out?

[Some_Guy]

Also, before anyone goes on a tangent where they message NECA about Ghostbusters, I'm one step ahead of you.

[darthvader_22uk]

Nail and coffin comes to mind

Although surely we have more fans then some of the other lines they are doing? Lone Ranger Anyone? I know they are going to be riding on the back of the movie but even so, I can't see it being one collectors go mad for?

That being said they have probably been burnt on the ghostbusters merch they released previously.

[AJ Quick]

I think we all understand that Mattel grabbed the license because they assumed a new movie would be out by now.

NECA would require the same thing in order to do anything about it.

[Troy]

I guess writing coherently, and laying out everything thoughtfully and concise equates to some kind of massive nerd rage.

Well, I mean... now that you mention it.

But kidding aside, I'd be curious if all the positives from the Mattel experience over the past couple years were compiled, how that would stack up to the complaints and issues?

[dtblack]

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.

This is something that really grinds my gears. I live about 40 miles from the shipping facility, and yet I pay the same as someone 3000 miles away. How do they get away with that? Why the hell should I or anyone else have to pay more money than what it actually costs them to ship? That's robbery.

[Cory Levy]

The article was a good, in-depth read that makes it easy to see why the community has become so frustrated with MattyCollector. The only time I personally dealt with the company was when I purchased a PKE Meter during the second run and I didn't really have a problem other than the higher-than-it-should-be shipping costs. So I can't relate on a personal level about any disdain to the company. The only other MattyCollector items I have are the basic Ego and Ray figures which I bought through Amazon and the trap which I bought at a convention. I'm going to buy Venkman and Zeddemore but it won't be through them.

The article has down more than enough to turn me off of purchasing the Goggles. They're too inaccurate and the company simply doesn't deserve my money.

It's a shame NECA wouldn't be able to grab the license because I love their style and their work on the Terror Dogs, Staypuft, Gozer and Slimer figures they did way back when were absolutely astounding in my eyes. But with the MattyCollector stuff in the market place, I can see why other companies would be less willing to take a chance on the license. It's possible that new figures of the same figures that Matty has already done won't sell as well just because there's the alternative.

In the end, I think the best path is for the license to just go silent either for a good few years or until a third film is released. Either the desire for a new collection of figures will form or a third film will bring in attention in droves. Regardless, I hope another company does eventually obtain the license.

[69428scj]

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.

This is something that really grinds my gears. I live about 40 miles from the shipping facility, and yet I pay the same as someone 3000 miles away. How do they get away with that? Why the hell should I or anyone else have to pay more money than what it actually costs them to ship? That's robbery.

Car manufacturers do the same thing. Think of it from the person's perspective who lives 3000 miles away, "Why should they be charged less just because they're closer to the manufacturing/shipping facility?" It's a flat tax in essence...

[Cory Levy]

Car manufacturers do the same thing. Think of it from the person's perspective who lives 3000 miles away, "Why should they be charged less just because they're closer to the manufacturing/shipping facility?" It's a flat tax in essence...

... Because it costs less to ship something to someone closer than it does to someone further away...

And you can't really compare a car manufacturer to a toy maker. Such high overpricing on shipping and handling is ridiculous.

[devilmanozzy]

Also, before anyone goes on a tangent where they message NECA about Ghostbusters, I'm one step ahead of you.

That sums it up pretty much as far as future aspects. Nostalgia isn't easy to sell on a online toy store. Impulse buys are the key to sales. I never bought a single Matty toy, but bought Gozer, Slimer, and Zuul in the Neca line. Many fans don't spend all day online waiting for a "toy" to go on sale. The price of these things is another thing. $7.99-12.99 for many of the Neca line. Matty is above $20. Someone argues that the quality is better on the matty toys.... wont matter if they never see them in person. Neca's line was sold at places like Sam Goody, Spencers, and knock off stores, The real issue will continue to be, can enough sell to warrant a License and print run. Neca would know if there was something good there, and there isn't.

[ThrowingChicken]

Car manufacturers do the same thing. Think of it from the person's perspective who lives 3000 miles away, "Why should they be charged less just because they're closer to the manufacturing/shipping facility?" It's a flat tax in essence...

Personally I don't think the problem is necessarily a flat shipping rate, it's that it's a flat, unreasonable shipping rate.

[AJ Quick]

MattyCollector doesn't have flat shipping rates. Many companies out there do have flat shipping rates, and they are typically companies that sell to businesses. If it ends up being more, they pay the difference. It usually always ends up being more too.

One company I often order from is CPO Tools: http://www.cpotools.com/

They sell power tools. Shipping is $6.99 (down from a previous $9.99) flat rate. Over $199 and it's free. One time I bought 50 or so power tools from that place in one order and paid the $9.99 to ship 250lbs. They shipped a pallet via truck freight, and included residential delivery and a lift gate in for that price. It easily cost $250-$300.

[dtblack]

Also, before anyone goes on a tangent where they message NECA about Ghostbusters, I'm one step ahead of you.

This I just don't get. How is Ghostbusters not big enough worldwide, but something like Gremlins is? I feel like a lot of Neca's licenses are a lot more niche than Ghostbusters.

Which brings me to a similar question, why did Matty think RGB megos could sell at retail, yet the 6 inch line couldn't? You sell a dated style of figures at retail that appeals to a limited amount of people, based on a less popular version of the property, rather than selling the modern figures that most people want which are based on the most popular version of the property? Are they specifically trying NOT to make money? RGB mego's should have been on mattycollector and the 6 inch line should have been at retail, how do you mess something like that up?

Knock off $5 for doing a bigger run, and eliminate the need for matty's overpriced shipping, and the figures start to look a lot better. For $15 Labcoat Ray and a cool ghost doesn't seem so terrible. For $30 after shipping even some of the biggest fans are gonna have trouble justifying that expense. It also would have helped to be able to sell them in themed waves. Have all three labcoat guys available in the same wave. Have the three courtroom guys available in another wave. Have Slime Blower Ray and Winston available at the same time as Vigo. It was hard to get excited about these things when they were released in such a random order and it took forever to complete a set. There was a freakin 22 month gap between Nunzio and Tony Scoleri, and even then it only gave us two of the three courtroom busters. If the line had continued how many more months would it have been before they finally made Egon?

I'm gonna end my rant though and just reiterate that this line needed to be at retail, and considering how many niche properties you find hanging on the pegs there's no reason it couldn't have been.

[joeghostbuster]

out of curiosity I just added up the amounts from my Mattycollector "order history", which includes buying 1 ghost trap, 2 pke meters, and doubles (sometimes triple) of every figure they made, between august 2009 and november 2012 I spent $1,355.95 on their website, and that doesnt include what Ive spent buying Matty GB figures on ebay or other places online (so they still got money because someone bought from them and sold to me) also when I try to click some of the order numbers, instead of showing me what I bought for that purchase, it says "Server Error: We are currently unable to perform the selected action. Please accept our apologies for this inconvenience. We have been notified and are already working to correct this issue as quickly as possible. Please click your browser's back button and try this action at a later time, or take a different action." which is very annoying. $1,355.95 might not seem like alot to some of you, but it does to me. of course that amount was spent over three years but still. it's been a love/hate relationship at times, I'm glad we finally got figures and props based on the movies, but the journey has been a long struggle, and I think we'd all be singing a very different tune if someone like NECA had obtained the license several years ago instead of Mattel. Matty is telling us the fans didnt support the line enough? f*ck you Matty. I did what I could, and then some.

[ecto88mph]

My only real experience with matty collector has been getting one of there PKE meters as a gift, and buying there hoverboard. I am a huge back to the future fan, and I watched the hoverboard go through the whole process from being announced, to showing off the "prototype" and the whole thing. Mattel was deceptive at every turn of the process. With out getting to much into detail it as in no way screen accurate. and the worst part was it was simple things that could have cost them a few cents or less to make it better. Here is a good example, there is a peg hole in the top of the board where the handlebars would go. on all the props and in the movie this hole is black, well they left it bright pink. In the movie/prop the footstrap is made of a furry neon pink material. Mattel gave us a dull loop side of a Velcro (which as pointed out by others is simple the loop side to the velcro used on other parts of the board) the whole thing was lazy. just from a design standpoint it looked like crap and was made by someone who did not give two f**ks. I got on ebay a "upgrade" kit for the board that makes it look 100 times better. and it was simple things that could have been done from the factory that would have probably cost about the same or slightly more.
the worst part is thru this whole design process fans mostly from therpf.com and bttf.com were very vocal about design flaws and other issues. the whole time they were assured that everything they were seeing was a "looks like model" or a "prototype" and used the PKE and trap as a assurance that "we do good work at mattel look at our PKE and trap, you can trust us"

[Alex Newborn]

My main gripe with the pke is he annoying beep sound instead of the correct movie sound.

At least the sound effects can be turned off, that's some small consolation. Although, I wish there were a way to default it so that every time it got powered up, it was silent instead of needing to be manually muted.

You can slap "Ghostbusters" on anything and some people will buy it.

I was accused during college (1988-1992) of being willing to buy anything with the GB logo on it. One particular guy even exclaimed, "You'd buy a big black [sex toy] if it had that logo on it."

This phrase became my peers' standard fallback utterance for any object for which a person would have no personal use, but was willing to purchase for the sake of 'completism'.

Alex

[AJ Quick]

This I just don't get. How is Ghostbusters not big enough worldwide, but something like Gremlins is? I feel like a lot of Neca's licenses are a lot more niche than Ghostbusters.

It is all about licensing cost.

Ghostbusters is much more expensive than all the others to get the likeness rights.

[Ron Daniels]

I suspect, too, that part of the reason Mattel sold MEGO figures at retail was due, in part, to likeness licensing. While they did sell the holiday GB2 pack at retail, I would imagine certain actors--if not all of them--would charge more for their likeness to be sold in a less limited fashion at retail.

For instance, AJ wants to make a Big D figure. It's my character. It's my, albeit former, likeness. For him to sell ten of them in the shop, I'd only charge him forty dollars. I know where my likeness will be, the volume of it being produced, and that it will ultimately protect my rights.

In contrast, AJ wants to make a Big D figure and sell them at Walmart. And rather than one Big D figure, he wants to sell a line of them. "Above-Ground Spelunking Big D," "Dog Catcher Big D," "Long Haulin' Big D the Truck Driver," and the ever popular "Small Country Lawyer Big D." My likeness would be watered down and, presumably, worth less. Thus, I'm going to charge him 4,000% more for my likeness.

But what do I know, I'm just a simple country lawyer . . .

[ThrowingChicken]

Well, I think we all know what line of action figures we want to see next.

[AJ Quick]

But I'd only pay $15 for an Above-Ground Spelunking Big D... and the likenesses better be good!

We'll have Digital River handle the whole thing.

[Mr.Spider]

If he doesn't come with 2 proton packs for for duel wielding I'm out

[Troy]

If the Big D figure doesn't come with an adjustable bolo tie, expect me to contact the BBB.

[Vee]

Briefcase-fetching Jairus sold separately.

[ItalianNinja86]

Briefcase-fetching Jairus sold separately.

Damn it >_< theres always a catch.

[AJ Quick]

The rights aren't available for Jairus... so he'll end up looking like Beyonce.