New MattyCollector Video About 2013 Subscriptions

I totally understand his point, but it really sounds like scare tactics.
I am not into buying subscriptions, more like a casual buyer, so it really sucks that there is a chance of not getting the figure/s I want (at least for a fairly decent price)
I wonder if subscriptions really sell well on their side, given the abundance of bad comments for subscriptions I have read. Any thoughts?

I can tell you that is not a scare tactic. His body language and eyes are showing that he is serious. He is speaking to us in that video as a fan of the series. Yes, Mattel is about the money. Yes, Scott's job is to push the subscriptions. However, it is clear that the profits are not what they used to be for Mattel, and they are not happy about it. They don't care what fans think, they only care about the money. Scott, on the other hand, is not only an employee but a fan, and that is the only reason he has the job he has. To Mattel's executives, that is a bonus, but they really could care less if he is a MOTU fan if sales are not what they want them to be.

If you are worried about not getting a figure, get the sub. If you are worried about the line getting cancelled, get the sub. If you cannot afford it, then don't get the sub. No one is forcing you to get the sub, but you will have to live with the consequences no matter what. Nothing more, nothing less.

That is kind of my point here, for example it is not that I cannot afford a subscription but more of if I am interested in getting all the figures in a wave. As I mentioned, I am more of a casual buyer (1 or 2 figures I might be interested in), so I wonder how big is the volume on customers in my same situation vs customers wanting every single released item.
Also, yes, no one is forcing me to get the sub, but have you read the description on the sub on their website? The part that states that non subscription products will be made available first for subscribers and if those products sell out there, well, that´s it... to me, at least, sounds a bit "forced".

Lol fuck, passing. International shipping is going up? Fuck it, a figure is not worth 40$ or some shit.

Well at least shipment for you is not as expensive. In my case, I have to ship to Miami and then pay shipment to a third party to send packages to my country, otherwise it is nearly impossible to get something. So I´ve always ended up paying something like that per figure

I watched this video and thought wait wait...so the figure costs 25$ to produce and their selling it for 25$? Thats either a flat out LIE, or Mattel wants to go bankrupt...

Exactly! Flat out lying to our faces. You don't need to be an economics major to understand you can't sell something at cost and stay in business. He also says they've been taking a loss on international shipping. Another lie. No business as big as Mattel is going to do anything that loses money intentionally.

Matty has stubbornly & arrogantly dismissed all feedback from their consumers. QC, Dig River, etc. They did this to themselves, most fans want the original characters from the 80's. Not fan made BS & concept figs.

These things are made in China, & thanks to NAFTA Matty gets to have them made over there and shipped back here w/out paying any duties on the import. I can see these costing so much if they were being made in the US. But that's not the case. Hasbro can make quality figures such as ML, and they're still only $15 and that's AFTER the retail outlet mark up. Matty has no retail mark up. So to sit here and lie to our faces saying they cost soooo much to make, is insulting.

^ Well, you do have to consider that they are producing significantly less figures than Hasbro does for Marvel Legends. Plus, these figures are superior to ML, IMO. They are bigger, bulkier, use more plastic, better paint apps. I can definitely see where their profits are not as significant as they used to be. But yeah, there's not way they're selling these at cost. I think what he actually means by saying that is that after determining what their cost is plus what they need to profit, it comes to $25. Matty is definitely making money off these figures, otherwise they wouldn't be making them in the first place.


Concerning the concept figures, some of them have been pretty great. I love Vikor and Demo-Man. And the Fighting Foe Men look pretty cool to me. Especially that blue hooded guy. He looks awesome. But they definitely need to stop stretching the characters out and just release the remaining characters that are still missing. Two-Bad, Modulok, Mantanna MUST be made, and soon!


That being said, I just bought my sub for 2013. So far, I want everything they've revealed except Netossa. Everything else looks excellent so I'm def looking forward to the coming year with this line.

Well, I did my part...and subscribed for a 2013 DCIE sub. Hope it goes through, next years figures look amazing!

He is speaking off the cuff. At the 00:43 mark he does indeed state that it "costs" them $25 to make the figure, but at 01:48 he confirms that there is a profit margin built in. He goes on to say even with the increase, Mattel's profit margin is smaller than ever.

Splitting hairs, but NAFTA applies only to relaxed mutual tariffs in "North America" and has nothing to do with this. Every major toy manufacturer has outsourced their productions lines to SE Asia for years.

These cost more because they are smaller production runs. The factories have to be re-set, molds traded out, assembly lines changes, for each run of figures. When you are producing product for every store in North America, the runs are in far greater quantity and duration than a sole-source online-sales-only subscription. More changes to the production line, and fewer economies of scale for the size of the line diminish the return on investment in the production process.

At small runs, the farther left-of-Q (higher) the costs will be:



This is the same sentiment. When production runs are small, costs are high. When you have a popular line or a popular subset of figures (Justice League A-listers, for example), you can put figures in every store and the figures can be made more cheaply (at Q).

Put simply, the subscription model is the only way we will ever see C-, D-, and E- list characters or obscure alternate versions of our beloved characters. If it won't garner enough support, the model won't work and we won't get them. I for one hope that we do, but it isn't looking especially good right now for many of the subs.

Good points everyone. I have to continue with my MOTUC Sub. Stuck with it so far & cherry picking is a thing of the past. I was disapointed with how the 30th Ann line was handled and the 30th Anniversary in general. What great MOTU item did we get this year besides Fan/ Mattel created characters. I thought they were going to do something special for the 30th, party hats and noise makers at SDCC doesn't cut it. I expected obscure characters from Filmation.

I hope they iron out all the problems the sub had at the start of this year. I'm looking forward to getting my sub figures that much sooner than if I had purchased them day of.

Honestly, it should have been that way from the beginning. Subscribers should not have had to go out of their way on day of sale to get Battlecat, the Wind Raider, and then the upcoming Granamyr. It is an inconvenience when not one of the reasons a lot of subscriber subscribe (like myslef) is because they cannot be on the computer at the exact moment the items go on sale.

I was fortunately enough to be able to do so in 2010 because I worked at Best Buy. However, I am now a teacher, and as such, I will not be able to do that. It is already bad enough that I have to hope Granamyr lasts a few hours.

Sony did it with the PS3. In fact, they are just starting to make a profit on the console now.

Um okay, since you know exactly what Mattel is paying to have these made, show us all of the numbers!

What stores are you shopping at? My Target and TRU sell the Marvel stuff for $17.99.

^ Sony & Mattel is apples & oranges. Sony could buy Mattel, swallow it whole and not even think twice about it.

What stores? Meijer, Walmart, Target. I've never seen a ML for over $14.99, $15.99 @ TRU. Even at 17.99, that's AFTER Target & TRU mark up the item to make their profit. MOTUC doesn't get sold in retail, so there's no retail mark up. Bottom line is they ARE making a profit, and I believe they're exaggerating quite a bit.

I see your points, but Matty is still 100% at fault for their current problems. They could have a much better marketing scheme form the jump. They also should have gotten MOTU back on the air in anticipation to the line coming out. The HUB would have been an excellent place to introduce this amazing show & line to a whole new generation as well as reminding the original fans. MOTUC commercials during eps of MOTU on The HUB? No brainer. Maybe there's more to it, usually is. But I don't see why this couldn't have been done.


I don't mind the obscure figures really. But to force subscribers into purchasing the higher priced figures of stuff most fans don't care about seems silly. Sub holders, being the major supporters of the line should get what they want to a certain extent. Star Sisters 3pk should not be forced on those who support you most. Also, wasting time & money making over sized figures like Granamyr for $80 instead of say, making a bunch more Ram Man's or a Modulok, Mantenna, Two-Bad, etc. Is quit foolish on their part. If this line ends before all the original characters are made it will be an epic fail on Matty's part. Again, I don't mind the obscure figures, but not at the expense of staples of the original line.

2013 will be my first sub, which I purchased before all this BS came out. I have to admit I'm a bit nervous after reading people's complaints about DR.

You know, it is a damn shame that 2 of my favorite toy lines are owned by Mattel. Like do they think we are stupid? As much as I want the figures from the 2013 DCIE sub, I don't think I can pull the trigger, after this video and all. I shouldn't get pissed off about toys but seriously, stupid fucking company..

My above comments regarding reasons for pricing aside, I completely agree with you that Mattel has really dropped the ball with their respective subscription lines in the past, but the 2013 plan seems to address many of these prior issues:

• Subscribers will be given a subscription/management profile page to post updates regarding shipping & billing info tied to their accounts.
• All subs will be on the same 12-month schedule so that monthly shipments can be combined.
• International shipping will be via DHL with delivery confirmation.
• Subscribers will receive "Early Access" to the Matty Store for quantities of up to 10 figures per person before figures go on sale to the public. If figures sell out during "Early Access", there will not be any available for public sale.

Digital River Customer Service has been terrible. The address change process has been a disaster. Problems with International Orders have been a real sore point. I think they are trying to fix these things with the above measures. Of course, the proof will be in the pudding but they seem to be addressing these issues head-on for the 2013 subs.

Dude, I've read countless complaints about people's problems with DR as well. It is scary sounding. But honestly, I've never had an issue beyond the figures taking up to 2 weeks to arrive at my house. I've changed address and credit card info directly on the Matty Collector site and never had a single issue. I think people have problems when they actually try to call in and talk directly with somebody. If you need to update any of your info, do it directly on Matty's site using the My Profile, Address Information and My Payment Information links.

I find his nasal tone of voice effeminate and bothersome. Also, he shouldn't be playing with stuff because he's nervous about price hikes.


No way those MOTU cost 25 to make. The little kid who works in the factory might make that in a year.

What's funny is, why doesn't the "Toy Guru" have an office? He's always in front of that same table, same Castle Grayskull box with a single MOTU poster placed above.. Nothing on the walls, doesn't look "lived-in" Like it's some dingy corner no one else there is using. I kind of expect to at least see a cubicle full of stuff on the walls, figures on his desk by his pc, you know, like the guy has actually worked there and belongs. lol.

Just seems odd.

The reality of it, is that this guy is a liar. Has always been a liar. And continues to lie about everything regarding this line.

He spins the same tune every year about how he's a fan too and wants this stuff produced just as much as everyone else does.

And let me tell you, if Mattel is taking a hit on International shipping, then that right there tells you that they are a bunch of morons and have hired an inadequate shipping service to handle logistics.

I should not have to buy $455 worth of figures when in reality I may only want 3-4 of them. Who does he thinks he's kidding?? The purpose of the sub is a way for people to preorder for the year which helps Mattel figure out how many they should make. The reward for those that preo-rder is the extra 13th figure. No more. No less.

Why this tool continues to try and spin it any other way is beyond me.

I would love to go to SDCC and just slap him in the balls.

Let's also not forget that logistics wise that the figures go from CA to Sparks, NV BACK to CA before shipping out

Great strategy there Matty! I am sure that has nothing to do with your idiotic and failed business model.

This made me laugh for a good 5 minutes.

Thank you sir!

I think this guy is also a liar, been seeing videos about him definately thinking to maybe possibly address all the subs.

I had a horrible experience my first purchase from the site,and these things are not high quality, if these were to the expectations he makes them out to be they would be great but there are tons of customer issues with certain characters.

I agree this is some scare tactics from Mattel. Sure the economy sucks, but hopefully we can get through it in a few years. Now on to Mattel, time and time they have shown that they dropped the ball way to many times and pretend they are not responsible for it. They need to make products that appeal to buyers, simple as that at a reasonable price.

I can only afford to pick and choose the figures I really want. Being a non-American, having the pain of waiting on many figures isn't appealing. Especially when the shipping options are either: cheap but slow (and matty isn't liable for losses) or too expensive for one figure