It truly is a scare tactic. It's basically "their way or the highway". And I for one refuse to do things there way. I too am a big MOTU fan, but the only MOTUC figures I've gotten are from the MOTUC vs DCUC 2 packs because I don't want to subscribe and pay their price and do things Mattels way.

And like you said, these figures (except for the club exclusive) will go on sale at there site, but it won't even take 15 minutes for those figures to get sold out. Once again, like you said, it's "Subscribe, or you won't get what you want." In my opinion, Mattel is probably the most frustrating toy company ever... Just my opinion of course, so please, no one reply saying "OH NOW YOU'RE JUST BITCHING" or whatever lol.

You're just bitching.

But seriously, just do what I used to do and wait for the reissues of the MotUC figures. Those usually last several hours on the site (sometimes even a few days) and are rarely any trouble at all to get. Heck, the "All Star" sale they had running had He-Man, Skeletor and Battle Cat available for several days, as well.

Basically, there are ways to get the MotUC figures, you've just got to be patient. After seeing their character selections for the past couple years, this year I decided to get a subscription, since I was still buying most of the figures anyway, the few that I don't care for weren't enough to dissuade me from dealing with Matty's WSOD. I wasn't "scared" into anything. Just like I wasn't "scared" into a DCUC subscription. I bought in on day one because there are very few DCUC figures they could make that I would genuinely be disappointed in, and many times figures I thought I wouldn't like I ended up greatly enjoying when they were made in the line.

If people are worried about "Super Powers and Super Friends" you really shouldn't be...almost all of those figures have already been made and released at retail. Mattel isn't completely stupid...they're not likely to make Wendy and Marvin as Subscription figures...at least not until WAY down the line. Not that it's going to matter, as it looks like the DCUC fans have mostly decided they'll be just fine with whatever Mattel wants to "rebrand" their line into, "New" DC Universe or not.

You can include shipping in the total cost of the subscription, but including it in the price of the figure and then claiming you're not getting a good value for a $20 figure is a false argument (and the one you've been consistently making). That shipping cost is for shipping, it's a separate service that has its' own costs. You're paying for a $15 figure and a separate $5 (or whatever) shipping cost. Ergo, you can argue you're not getting a good value for a $15 figure (even if from a basic business perspective you are), but arguing about "$20 figures" is false because part of that money is not and never was actually part of the figure.

And then you sell all the Superfriends figures in the 2012 subscription line-up to a fan like me at a 25% mark-up plus shipping. How is this not winning?

I still stand behind what I say. I understand that the product itself costs 15$, and shipping is of course a different service, but it's a service that HAS to be paid. And Idk about the US, but shipping here is close to $9. And EVEN if you want to say "Count it as a subscription cost" doesn't help the issue. You just changed it to another issue, expensive subscription. The issue is still there, we're paying too much for a mediocre figure. Either way, we're paying too much for the figure itself, or we're paying too much for the subscription. You can't twist this around and pretty everything up dude. So just to make YOU happy, I'm going to say that "we're paying too much for a figure" instead of "we're paying $20 plus for a figure". Either way, my point gets across.

Mattel issued the following statement:

"First off, yes, we are no longer going to be doing a second run of figures. This will start with Queen Marlena and move into Man-E-Faces and the other fall figures. We still have some older figures already slotted for line time and a second run that will be offered monthly(ish) in 2012. But starting with the July/August figures there will no longer be second runs of newer figures."


So, no more waiting for re-issues. :(

just got my 2 subscriptions! I sure hope more people decide to buy in

So you guys know, the deadline for the club has been extended till the 14th!

Huh, interesting. Well, I guess I picked a good time to get a subscription and am now glad I snagged a second "Captain Glenn" for trade-bait.

As long as King Randor, Tri-Klops, and Beast Man pop up in those "between now and July/August of next year" reissues, that'll pretty much catch me up with any figures I wanted. (Unless I find a good deal on them at Baltimore comic con in a couple weeks).

^ Beast Man is being re-issued this month, August 15th.

Yeah I saw that after I posted. That's one. :)

That made me spill my drink. At first they sounded pushy, now they sound desperate. I wonder if it will be extended another week after the 14th? Why not let it go on till Christmas, that would get them 100% no problem.

Mattel extended the subscription time for all their subs last year, too. It's not that unusual or unexpected.

First of all, I'm Canadian. I do a lot of complaining about price discrepancies between North Americans, oh yes I do. Get ready for an essay...

I've got to say, though, I think this whole Subscription thing is a reasonable idea. I didn't bother reading every post here because quite frankly, I feel like everyone has just kind of been blinded by their own personal agendas and will no longer listen to reason on either side.

I understand that not everyone wants to commit to buying something that they aren't entirely sold on. You've got to understand, though, that this is Mattel's way of working out a compromise. They're trying to do something for us, the hardcore collectors.

They can stop producing figures of less popular characters altogether. We'll end up with a garbage line like Hasbro's Spider-Man. A line like that will always hit retail because the distributors know that Walmarts and TRUs will be happy to stock a well-known character like Spider-Man. We're going to end up with additional Batman lines with arctic armours and camo gear. Meanwhile, I find DCUC warming up pegs until they hit the local Winners stores.

I mean quite honestly, why should they cater to us without a commitment? I mean seriously, if you're already "on the fence" about which figures you want and don't want at the retail level, they have every right to be concerned. This way, they know that if they create a Terra, a Black Condor or a Sgt. Rock, that it won't be sitting on the shelves. Let's face it. There's a much better chance for them to sell a Batman or a Joker figure than they are to sell a Steve Trevor. In fact, I'd be willing to wager that if they put out 5 unknowns and a single Batman figure, that they'll sell more Batmans worldwide than they will of the 5 unknowns combined.

It's unreasonable to expect them to continue selling a line that is tanking at the retail level without a security blanket. Seriously, sometimes I see what people say on here and it makes me cringe. Sometimes I think about what I say and I feel like I might be acting a bit childish, too, with some of my unrealistic expectations. I mean everyone has a right to say what they think, but I know I regret some of it sometimes but I feel like I'm right in what I'm saying here even though I know as a collector, this is somewhat going against the grain.

It's smart business and it's fair. I don't know the total subscriptions that are required but I do know how business works when it comes to manucturing products and it's very much the same in most walks. Here's the reality of it. They can do limited runs of figures that will otherwise peg warm. For example, one of the Metal Men. They only produce 500 of him because they feel like not many of them will sell world wide. Well, in order to make it worth their time and money to pay someone to machine or sculpt the piece and have it produced in small quantity, they'll have to charge us an arm and a leg for it.

This is common in the kaiju market for vinyl figures. That's why you see these rubber monsters sell at $50 to several hundred dollars. They have to balance it out so they can make it worth their time and resources. We can bitch and moan to say Hasbro for a Squirrel Girl figure but if they put it in the regular line and only 50 of them get sold world wide, is avengersfan29 going to buy the rest because he felt entitled to get what he wanted? No, he's going to buy ONE figure, maybe TWO.

Now I can't say that Mattel is going to have a fan vote with every release on who's getting made with every wave, I just don't know. What I'm pretty sure about, though, is that if we subscribe to this, we will get figures other than 50 varieties of Batman and Superman. Mattel will know that no matter what figure is made, it is accounted for. This means that we get far more character diversity, and that characters that we may not necessarily see made, will be made.

The main reasons why I feel that this subscription service will have something beneficial for everybody is quite logical...

Mattel will feel more confident with releasing obscure characters.

We, the fans, will see greater figure diversity in a toyline that we want to continue.

There's possibility of added collector interaction and input on which figures will be made.

Subscriptions are optional, if you don't want to subscribe, don't. If you do, do.

Let's address some fears and questions...

1. I love DCUC, but I can't afford to subscribe and buy every single toy.
That's fine, I'm pretty sure that a lot of resellers will purchase multiple figures and if you have a friend who HAS a membership, he/she can buy one for you. The purchase limit is 10 per account! If you miss out, you pay the scalper's price. No different from how it is now, anyway.

2. I'm a Canadian buyer and this is expensive.
Wait, hold on now. I can tell you this much. DCUC costs around $20 Canadian at most stores here in Canada. If you've actually bought from Matty, you'll see that the shipping rates are among the most reasonable I've ever seen. 5 figures is only $15 USD to ship. Match that up with the $15.00 per figure price tag and you're only paying $17.50 USD per figure, shipping included. And considering the Canadian dollar is stronger at the moment, you're saving even more. You'd only be paying around $16.50 Canadian. That's nearly $3.50 off retail. Let's see. Around 17% in additional savings, no HST, no scalper prices, no line-ups, no driving around, factory fresh. MattyCollector's prices are MORE than reasonable. $20 for MOTUC? The lowest I've seen on most stores are around $30 and people are still buying them up.

3. I don't want yadda-yadda figure and I don't want to go through the trouble of having to sell it. However, I do want, blah blah figure.
Refer to #1. Ask a buddy to buy it for you who has a subscription or pay the price of a reseller. It's the way the world works, my friend. If you buy more, it usually costs less, if you buy one, you pay more. What do you expect? For Mattel to make one specific figure, just for special little ol' you, wrap it up real nice and turn THAT SUMBITCH SIDEWAYS STICK IT UP YOUR CANDY ASS? Yeah, you'll have to do a little leg work for that and considering most of us collectors are fat, we can probably use the exercise, anyway. Ah-haha, sorry. I'm starting to stray from topic.

Let's face it, the main reason why a lot of people are angry is because they can no longer cherry pick the ones they want at retail and then wait it out until it doesn't sell and goes on clearance and buy it for $2 bucks. Sorry, but I'm happy just to GET retail AT ALL with most of the stuff I collect. I'm fortunate enough that Mattel ships to Canada at reasonable prices. Half the crap that comes out doesn't even get to our stores in Canada. This evens the playing field and I'm getting it straight from the source at rock bottom prices.

You've got no idea how happy I am that WWE Legends will now be sold exclusively through MattyCollector.com. In Canada, we only have WAVE 2 of the line and the US already has WAVE 5. I'm getting offered Macho Man and Bam Bam at $20 to $30 and charged $25 shipping on a figure that originally costed $13.99 at retail. I'll finally be able to bypass all that bullshit with future waves.

I can already see scalpers shitting in their pants because unless they create 20 accounts and milk all 10 figures, they're not going to be able to lean on me for $50 for a $15 figure anymore just because I didn't get to the TRU before they did or it didn't or will never hit Canada.

With every great "deal" I find at retail, I get ripped off 10 times online by some "got there first" clown and yeah, the sentiment is "If you don't want to pay it, don't." Well, then the same sentiment is "If you don't want to subscribe, don't." If it's online, I know it's there, I don't have to visit the store "just in case", no anxiety, no wild goose chases. I don't find that shit fun. Once in a while, okay, but I don't like driving all over the place looking for one toy every week. I just do not get my jollies this way. It's bad for the environment. It's a waste of time. It's just bad. The price is cheap, at times cheaper than retail, really.

Seriously, everyone. Just calm down. Everyone will still get the toys they want. Subscribers will get them first. It'll have to be shipped. You won't get it the same day you buy it. Might cost a little more for non-subscribers. Not a big deal, guys. It's like the Groupon effect, guys. RELAX!

I HOPE that the DCUC subscription is a success because this just means great things for everyone. Everyone will benefit from this, I can see it.

Oh snap! I guess I better be around on Monday because I'm not missing out on Man-E.

^ I'm going for Megator. I wish you luck.

I do too... And I gave multiple essays so that's okay lol.

I think it would be reasonable with some tweaks in my opinion.

I'm listening...

Listened. And agreed. With the subscription I'm sure we would stop getting countless versions of Batman. P.S I <3 Winners.

Valid.

Agreed.

Around 1000 I think, don't quote me on that. Good point about the 500 Metal Men part (I personally love the Metal Men though).

Very valid.

I like character diversity, I know a lot of people aren't excited for Starman (Thom Kallor) and Jay Garrick, but personally I am. Now I'm sure we would have seen Jay Garrick on retail eventually, but I think it's safe to say that Starman (Thom Kallor) would probably never happen at retail.

Valid. (Usually when I say Valid, it means I agree and nothing to really add to your statement)

Only thing that I have to add is that it WILL be cheaper to a point if you order multiple figures, but if you get just the one (like me) it's not cheaper (I think, I'm starting to question myself a bit now). And I wouldn't want to get 5 figures just to get one for a decent price.

I'm just happy to see it at retail. Clearance, sale, or not.

I don't collect WWE figures, so I don't really have anything to add.

Death to Scalpers. So I will admit, that is a high positive to the subscription.

Valid.

Like I said earlier, if they just tweaked some things, I think subscription would be a pretty damn good idea.

I hope it succeeds if they make improvements. If they don't make improvements then I personally don't care what the outcome is, but that's just my opinion of course.

Yep, they extended it again! Sale now going until 8/22.

Want to get more people to sign before the deadline? Show the next two figures and the first large figure, if they are good I'll sign up. But only knowing a third of them dosen't sway me.

My reaction: Mark Hamill Laughing - YouTube

You've got to wonder what the subscription goal number is. It must be pretty high because I can see online resellers like ToyWiz, BigBadToyStore and ToyGlobe buying up a few subscriptions all on their own. At the very least, BBTS doesn't seem to mind making only pennies on the dollar just to create buzz and I'm sure ToyWiz and ToyGlobe will be doing their usual double what every other reasonable human being charges. LOL. This could be a case of good idea gone wrong. Someone may have pitched this subscription idea and some suit says "Great idea, but multiply the end goal by 10.". :p

How many figures did Mattel reveal when the MOTUC Club Eternia sub. was first on sale?

I just got the Movie Masters Kilowog, and he stands on par with the C&C Kilowog, Stel, and Arkillo.
So, if he's an example of what the club has in store for the Oversized figures, then we're not going to miss the C&C figures very much.

With the MOTUC line, Mattel basically revealed the rest of this year's line, and next year's offerings through March along with the incentive figure due to ship around March. First figure of the next sub will be released in January.

With DCUC, the sub doesn't even START until next April, and is slated to run through the end of the year. Even so, you DCUC guys have had just under half your line revealed. And again, the sub won't even kick in for another 7/8 months.

Personally, I'm rather shocked and a little disappointed in the VASTLY overblown sense of entitlement fans of DCUC seem to have. You guys are not being treated any worse than fans of GI Joe or MOTU, if anything, I applaud Mattel for taking a chance in offering the sub to begin with given the, frankly, pitiful performance of prior DCUC products on Matty collector.

^ I think KshatriyaNZ666 meant when MOTUC FIRST went on sale, two years ago. Did Mattel announce the full year's lineup or only the first 3-4 figures?