[Thugnificent]

Hey all, I'm looking for some opinions. I'm probably beating a dead horse for some folks who have been around for awhile, but I'm just slowly getting back into the hobby. I'm tinkering with a Club Eternia subscription on MattyCollector, but I've been reading some friggin' horror stories on shipping and broken toys. Anyone have some solid experiences? Or more bad? Feedback is welcome!

Also, anyone have an idea on shipping costs, especially to Canada? Their website isn't terribly helpful.

[CMIII]

Now while I have not Subscribed to Club Eternia I am part of the Club Infinite Earths let me start by saying that the Horror Stories are only a Few Experiences but as with anything you always hear the negatives because why complain if things go right? Think about it do you complain when things go Perfectly. I will say of the 7 Figures I have received this Year (Saint Walker, Phantom Stranger, Elongated Man*, Larfleeze, Mallah, Flash, Red Hood, and Captain Marvel Jr) none have arrived broken and aside from Red Hood all arrived in about 8 to 10 Days, Red Hood took 14 because Mothers Day.

Cost vs Promise
The cost of the figures of both clubs is a little higher then an In Store Figure at some Retail Chains (Toys R Us tends to ask a bit more then Walmart, Target, or Kmart) but you are getting the Promise that the figure will get to you going to the store can be a bit of a Coin Toss coming up the tails side more often then not. In addition these figures increase in Price on Day of Sale and you might not even get them.

Shipping & Taxes
While I cannot speak for Canadian Shipping or Taxes the Shipping charges in the USA is around $8.20 with about $2.70 in taxes (Least for me in New York State).

Extra's vs Missing out
By joining you are included in the Extras.
1) Early Access: Allows you to Purchase Other Club Items, Special Items (60's TV Series Utility Belt, PKE Meter, BTTF Hover Boards) and Comic Con Exclusives for the 2014 SDCC including All Access Passes if you Attend and Most Wanted if you don't
2) Club Exclusives: These are Club only Items in Club Infinte Earths Doomsday (not available outside the club {unless you wish to Spend a lot more)
Missing out will mean you get none of the above unless you got to Ebay or Amazon that might make these figures cost over 100% more and no Early Access

If I was you I would go for it. A lot of the people will say don't never have and have no Intentions of joining and would rather Cherry Pick banking on others to join the club so they can get what they want and paying more for it or want a Line in the store with more Articulations (meaning more can Break). You are Also getting High Quality Figures the Masters of Figure making 4 Horsemen Make these are not made in house

Figure announcements will take place as Follows (April - June) at NYCC 2013 in Late October, (July - September) at NJTF 2014 in March, and (October - December) and the 2015 (Jan - March if it happens) at SDCC 2014

* I broke the extended hand of Elongated man I pulled on it too Hard and the Joint connecter Popped off but I did the same to the Scissor Hand on Mercury and the head connecter on Skullok/Nite-Lik

[BAD MOON]

I've had nothing but good experiences subscribing to Club Eternia. If you are a big MOTU fan and can afford the figures, I highly recommend it.

[Dr Kain]

While I don't want to say don't sub, because if you are a big MOTUC, and want everything, it is beneficial. However, I had nothing but poor experience with Digital River over the last 12 months, and it also did not help that my interest in MOTUC dwindled into nothingness. I don't even have a collection anymore.

I do still have a sub to DC though. When everything runs smoothly, all is good. But one screw up and you will be wasting hours on the phone talking to dumbasses who don't know jack **** about their own products they are selling and no one seems to communicate with each other because when you talk to a different person, you have to explain the entire situation to them all over again from scratch.

The other issue are the shipping costs. I paid just over $15 in shipping for ONE DCU figure when BBTS can ship me the same figure using the same shipping method for $8. DR is giving themselves a $7 profit every time I pay for shipping.

[CMIII]

I went with Standard Shipping not express believe me Unless you have the patients of say a 2 year old or Veruca Salt "I don't care How, I want it now."

these are the postal options

Shipping and Delivery:
Please allow 2 business days for processing before your item ships. In some cases, as many as 3 business days are required for processing.

USA Shipping

USPS Ground: 5-7 business days estimated transit time (US Shipments)
Standard Ground: 3-5 business days estimated transit time (US Shipments)
2nd Day: 2 business days transit time (US Shipments)
Next Day: 1 business day transit time (US Shipments)

International Uncertain if Canada and Mexico fall into here

International Postal: 5-10 business days estimated transit time (International Shipments)
International Express: 1-5 business days estimated transit time (International Shipments)

NOTE: if you live outside the United States, custom and tariff fees may apply according to your country's import laws. These fees are not collected by this company, and this company does not have control of these fees.

NOTE: if you chose quarterly you will receive the figures every three months in Bulk shipping

[CMIII]

Dr. Kain what exactly happened that you had to contact Digital River. As for the Shipping costs it might be how Digital River Ships them BBTS may only ship your order Digital River might Ship Regionally (Northeast, Southeast, and etc).

[Thugnificent]

Thanks all for the info, especially CMIII! That's a super detailed breakdown, I appreciate that.

I think I'm gunna go ahead on one, any subscription or service varies from person to person in some way anyways. I'm moving within a few months, so hopefully they don't start losing my stuff in the mail. Also fingers crossed Canadian shipping isn't batshit insane; that's one thing BBTS should get credit for is their loot option.

[CMIII]

I wasn't sure if Canada and Mexico would be more because they border the USA heck I have mailed stuff to Canada for less then Shipping something to New Jersey.

To those on the fence about the DC Sub this is what we know for the rest of the year. There will be at least 2 more Female figures with one likely being a Villain. The Suited buck could be used possibly on Commissioner Gordon or another Civilian Character. There is a Teen Side Kick and 2 additional Villains on Tap.

Now what this could mean...

Female likely:
Vixen, Batwoman, Lady Shiva, Chesire, Indigo-1

Suited Likely:
Commissioner Gordon, Snapper Carr, Maxwell Lord, Professor Magnus, Lex Luthor

Teen Sidekick likely:
Speedy 1 or 2, Damien Robin,

Villains Likely:
Dr. Light, Count Vertigo, Merlyn

One thing I would like to see is a Female Suited sculpt this would open Renee Montoya Question and Amanda Whaller and if Tier 2 is reached these 2 might be possible

[Falconhood]

No! I was a huge fan of MOTUC until this year. Matty is horrible, and I abhor them, now. I live on the East Coast, and it costs $38 for a $25 figure, that would cost $15 in stores if they'd just retail them. I'm done with this line, I've been done with them since January when I paid $38 for a figure I REALLY don't care about.
IF the line continues, I'll just cherry pick next year. Less than HALF of the figures are worthy of my money.

[Dr Kain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CMIII

Dr. Kain what exactly happened that you had to contact Digital River. As for the Shipping costs it might be how Digital River Ships them BBTS may only ship your order Digital River might Ship Regionally (Northeast, Southeast, and etc).

In June of last year, I got an email telling me my Atrocitus order has been canceled. I called them up then and was told they accidentally sold my subscription figure because it was not mailed out ahead of time.

In July, my CC expired and I called them up to update it, they told me to update it on the website. I did so. My July order was denied, so I had to call them up again, and they told me they could not charge my card. I gave them the new card again, but they told me they could only charge my old card. I then had to call them again and they had to cancel my sub and then reinstate it with the new card on file. -_-

In Nov, I moved, so I updated my address on the phone AND the website, but they sent it to my old address. Fortunately, I still had the keys to that place, so I was still able to get it. I called them up again and updated my address and again on the site, but they still shipped Dec's order to my old address. They allowed UPS to update my address and said everything would be fine for Jan's sub. I even called them up again in Jan to update my address (which was good because they still had the previous address), but once again, THEY SHIPPED MY SUB TO THE OLD ADDRESS. This time though, they did not allow UPS to deliver it to my new address so I was told it had to be shipped back to them and they would have to reship it. As such, I did. However, when DR got it back, they canceled my sub. I had to call them yet again and get my sub reinstated and the address updated once again.

It was utter bs because every time I called them, there was nothing left in the system about my previous phone call. Each person I talked to had no idea what was going on and what the other person I spoke to did. All I got was an apology after apology instead of results. I don't care about apologies, just get my ****ing order straight!!

As for the shipping cost, sorry, but even if that were the case, there is no way it would be $7 more for DR to ship it compared to BBTS. $2 at max. In fact, I even checked with my UPS store and to ship DR's box to the same address it was shipped from with the same contents would cost me $7 via Ground.

[ludovicotek]

Whether or not you sub is dependent on how many of the figures you want. I started this line by only buying a few of the characters that I had as a kid. But the more I bought the more into the line I became. I started having to play catch up and buy earlier releases on eBay. Thankfully, at that time, most of the figures were still fairly easy to get for a good price. I began to really appreciate each figure on their own merits and even figures I thought I would hate I actually ended up really liking (like Snout Spout, for example). The only figures I don't really care for are the original characters from the 200X series (Faceless One, Dekker, Count Marzo). I just never cared for the aesthetic from that series.

This will be my third year in a row subbing and, in my opinion, it is completely worth it. Again, I'm interested in having every figure, so subbing really is the only way to do that without having to pay a small fortune for the club exclusive figure. Plus, there has been an increasing amount of monthly released figures that are not even available day-of-sale, so again, subbing is the way to ensure you get them all.

Digital River. I have read countless complaints and rants about them. I personally have had zero issues with them. I had to change shipping address one time so I had to call them up, give them the order number and the new shipping address and it was updated without any hiccup at all. My Procrustus figure arrived with a broken arm. I called them up, explained the situation and they mailed me a brand new one with a return label to send back the broken one. Again, it was really painless. Other than those instances, my figures arrive safe and sound and in perfect condition every month. The shipping cost is high. Digital River is definitely making a nice profit by tacking on a substantial fee.

The figures being released in 2014 are off to a really strong start. I cannot wait to see who else is revealed to come out for the year, but if you are a fan of the vintage MOTU toys, then this is a good year to sub if you can afford it. Again, everything I've written is my personal opinion and my specific experience. At the end of the day, I recommend that you sub.

[CMIII]

I have to say many of you act like And Talk like Retail is the Perfect route. I hate to Tell you I would rather have all my Teeth drilled and suffer a Vietnamese Torture then deal with buying in Retail for 5 reasons.
1- Most of the time the figure I have wanted isn't there.
2- My Zatanna's box looked like it was in the Hospital Joker blew up.
3- My Golden Pharaoh was missing his Staff.
4- I went to 14 different stores looking for Green and Red Arrow only to get them from Amazon.com
5- Why do I nearly need to call the police just to get a Penguin figure?

[DHeezy81]

People REALLY need to let go of the retail thing after the 5th freakin' year. There is not enough demand to carry these at retail. If they made these for retail, sure they would be cheaper, but the line would have died years ago. This is aimed for ADULT collectors. Not children, there's no current toon on tv driving the line like TMNT or the many Marvel lines.

If you're a fan of the line, yes, sub. I've had no issues with Digital River at all. It's the cheapest way to get figures because the after market prices are totally ridiculous!

[CMIII]

I agree the best was when I was looking for Man-Bat and I said that apparently to a Store Clerk Man-Bat and Batman are the same thing when I said "thats not Man-Bat. Thats Batman." He looked at the figure completely confused at that point I realized why the US is so low in education

[Crazy Jetty]

Aside from unreasonable shipping, I have zero complaints about the matty subscriptions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Falconhood

No! I was a huge fan of MOTUC until this year. Matty is horrible, and I abhor them, now. I live on the East Coast, and it costs $38 for a $25 figure, that would cost $15 in stores if they'd just retail them. I'm done with this line, I've been done with them since January when I paid $38 for a figure I REALLY don't care about.
IF the line continues, I'll just cherry pick next year. Less than HALF of the figures are worthy of my money.

None of these figures have cost $15 at retail for several years. That's an extremely unreasonable standard to hold them to. They haven't been less than $20 at big box retailers like Target or Walmart for several years now, unless you find some store that's trying desparately to unload them. Even more at TRU.

In fact, when CIE began, they were CHEAPER THAN RETAIL, at $18. Add shipping for that year that brought them to around $25. In my book, that's an exceptionally great value, instead of driving around from store to store with desparate slim hopes they actually have the latest wave in stock, and waisting extremely expensive gas to do it.

Fast forward to now, the retail lines average $22. So $25 per figure isn't terribly unreasonable.

Digital river is obnoxiously ripping us off with shipping though. That much is solid truth, and I don't dispute that.

[CMIII]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazy Jetty

None of these figures have cost $15 at retail for several years. That's an extremely unreasonable standard to hold them to. They haven't been less than $20 at big box retailers like Target or Walmart for several years now, unless you find some store that's trying desparately to unload them. Even more at TRU.

In fact, when CIE began, they were CHEAPER THAN RETAIL, at $18. Add shipping for that year that brought them to around $25. In my book, that's an exceptionally great value, instead of driving around from store to store with desparate slim hopes they actually have the latest wave in stock, and waisting extremely expensive gas to do it.

Fast forward to now, the retail lines average $22. So $25 per figure isn't terribly unreasonable.

I'll be honest my Local Walmart, Target, and Kmart are about 15.99 with sales tax bumping it up to 17.29 but throw in the cost of Gas 3.79 - 4.10 a gallon Clubs look better and Better especially since I've had to Drive to Newbuurgh, Poughkeepsi, Fishkill, Wappingers Falls, Middletown, and Harriman, New York, Dover and Bear, Delaware, Matamoras, Pennsylvania, and Manassas, Virginia and yes I have bought Figures in stores in those areas

[Falconhood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazy Jetty

That's an extremely unreasonable standard

Wrong.

[CMIII]

Ok Falcon so I should Drive all over lower New York from Newburgh to NYC and Up to Albany. After filling my tank 2 times costing me 60$ then spending 17 - 25$ for a Figure lets see that figure ends up costing me 80$ or more. Falcon everyone knows you aren't going to order but Until you can prove that it's more effective to Drive 75 miles for 1 figure then I will continue to Subscribe to Mattels Club and if that means their Stuff never makes it to the Store then I am saving people a Real headache.

I want to add that those of you who want these figures to go to the store really have to know that most of the figures would never sell in a store. As it has been said these are Collector focused not Casual Fan or for a Kid. Yes it says "Adult Collector" on the DC and Marvel Box but as many kids buy these as adult when they are on the Shelves more often then not the Fringe Characters sold to adults. Find me 5 kids who know who Phantom Stranger or Elongated Man are they wont so putting these figures on the Pegs in a Store would be Pointless they would sit there until the End of the world.

[Dr Kain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CMIII

I realized why the US is so low in education

Our education is low because the education system is broken and teachers are looked upon as scum. I am an elementary school teacher with a master's degree and I make $35,000 a year. Our schools receive little to no funding from the state. We have to constantly ask parents to help us out. There even have been schools that needed parents to help buy photocopier paper because they did not have the budget to get it. You should see the state of schools that are in the poor neighborhoods because those are even worse. They cannot get funding because they cannot meet the state standards because "No Child Left Behind" won't allow them to do so.

However, I am getting too much into politics, so I'll just stop there.

[CMIII]

yes but Basic English Man-Bat how is it hard to mix that up with Batman it says on the Box MAN-BAT.

On a good news the DC Sub is at 33%. 67% more for Tier 1 and 100% more for Tier 2 (Tier 2 is 130%)

[ToyAddict]

The more I keep reading the posts from Matty-people (things written on mattycollector.com, statements from Toy Guru, etc.) I really think 2014 is the last year they're going to bother with subscriptions. Costs are getting higher, interest is getting lower, and they're probably sick of hearing all our whining at them.

There's a lot of posts they've made that basically say "in 2014 we're giving you all A-list, fan-demanded stuff so your collection can be wrapped up." So if you have any interest in subbing, I'm guessing this is the last year.

I subbed 2 years ago to CIE; glad I did. Did not sub this year; glad I didn't. Still on the fence for next year. Excited to get all A-listers, not excited to pay over $26 per figure (that's what I estimate it will be -- $20 per figure, plus tax and shipping -- and that's with the cheaper quarterly shipping -- and MOTU subscribers tack another $5 onto that!)

Digital River is as bad as folks say. First, they charge tax on the shipping cost, which I believe to be wrong (as in, nobody does that). Second, during my subscriptions I changed credit cards. I had two cards/two accounts, I just wanted to switch from one card to the other. I called them to get it changed, and the next month. . .they still charged the old card. A second attempt thankfully got it fixed.

[DHeezy81]

I've never had them charge tax to shipping. Not only is that wrong, it's illegal.

[CMIII]

I think the Tax is charged based on state what ever the state sales tax is they charge it

[aey103]

If you are on the fence about this years Club Eternia Subscribtion and want Two-Bad, it has just been announced that there will be no day of sale for Two-Bad and will only be available to subscribers.

[Crazy Jetty]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Falconhood

Wrong.

Uh, when the basis of your complaint is that in 2013, very low run exclusive figures aren't as cheap as mass retail runs of figures from 5+ years ago, it kind of is an unreasonable standard.
Especially in 2013, those same retail figures don't come close to the prices you cite, from 5+ years ago.