[RockthePlank]

HMI, on Feb 20 2009, 01:12 PM, said:

I ordered mine today after reading on Matty's Facebook page that Stratos is almost sold out. It's amazing that Stratos, of all characters, is selling this fast.

I read that also. I can't believe it, I never would have thought Stratos would sell like hotcakes. Guess from now on I will just order two instead of going back later and ordering again, so that I lock it in before he sells out.

[Eric]

I think a lot of it has to do with the hype surrounding this line.

Word has spread to fans about the quality and how cool they are, and word has also spread to re-sellers that these are extremely popular. A lot of people that weren't on board before are getting on board, either because they've seen the light or because they're ordering instead of waiting after seeing what's happened with He-Man, Beast Man, and Skeletor. I also think maybe they didn't produce as many of Stratos just to be safe since he's a lower-tier character to many.

Whatever the reason, it's looking like the five consecutive sell-outs Mattel said they'd need to bump up to two figures some months are going to happen. I was apprehensive about Stratos, but he's selling faster than anyone.

[duke togo]

Make these the same size as the originals and half the price, then I'd care.

They already said they can't do Filmation characters, even the mustached Man at Arms feels like they are trying to skirt around that since it's not what the original was. If the SDCC one is something never done before it won't be from that.

[HMI]

I really hope that Mattel made a lot of Faker figures, since they sold them at the NYCC and he's supposed to be the figure for March. I got hosed on the Faker figure in the 200x line, and finally got my hands on one in 2007 at a cost of $70. I really do not want that to happen again.

I'll agree that there were probably less Stratos figures made than the previous three. I heard about the two-figure-a-month thing, and I really hope Mattel doesn't do that. I'm struggling to justify one $20 figure a month, and I'm not liking the idea of a second figure every month even if it does save on shipping.

[GreenOllie]

and now Stratos is officially sold out...3 days! can't wait to see how fast the next ones sell. here's hoping to two a month!

[Kungfucaptain]

I really wish they still had the quantity limit set to 2 or 3. I have a sneaking suspicion that collectors were not the people that made this figure sell out so fast. Yes, I missed out on this one before I acquired the funds (tonight) to order 3 figures. I was trying to get the whole set for me, my older bro, and a friend of mine.

10 figures, really?! Sorry for complaining and all but that is ridiculous. At least that is 70 or so dollars saved on the brightside....

If they do the two figures per month, I will go insane. I can barely afford 1 figure coming out each month.

[Jackknight92]

Yeah I agree. Two figures every month at $20 a pop is too many. Maybe if they did two 3 or 4 months out of the year it wouldn't be so bad. I'll buy them regardless; but would rather not have to shell out so much cash every single month.

And I agree. The quantity should be set to 4 or 5 at most. Nobody needs 10 Stratos figures.

[CLAM]

HMI, on Feb 20 2009, 10:12 AM, said:

I ordered mine today after reading on Matty's Facebook page that Stratos is almost sold out. It's amazing that Stratos, of all characters, is selling this fast.

they are selling out so fast probably just because of what happened with the others so far.. Heman and Beastman took forever to sell.. and they DIDN'T sell out. I was considering ordering them before Matty pulled the rug out from under us.. They really should have announced that they were going to cut them off.

Skeletor sold out really fast..

and look at the prices on those three...

that's why Stratos is selling so quickly, the speculators/scalpers

[darthfoley]

Limit of 10 + resellers + nostalgia = fast sell outs.

I really think Matty should lower the figure limit on these, but I can't fault them for making a cash grab I guess.

Luckily I didn't want Stratos, but for some of the upcoming figures I'll be ordering as soon as they go on sale.

[penachoy]

Startos sells out in 4 days...wow!
wanted to share this with everyone...just read it.
Matty Mattel's Notes:
"Next up is Faker which we will have less of online since we took a bunch to NYCC. So if you want Faker, based on sales of Stratos, be online quickly on March 16 after 12:00 noon. We imagine since it is too late to produce more for this sale, his remaining stock will go fast."

[SKYWARP]

Yeah I'm not much on that limit of 10. I think it should be 5 at the most. I'm sure a lot of these will be showing up on ebay now. I'm also sure that's why he sold out so fast. I don't think that plays to well for collectors.

It that's going to be the case with Fakor I'm sure he will sell out with in the first few hours. To end on a positive note I'm still happy that they are making the figures.

[DPrime]

Wow, sold out already? Crap.

Well, I know my brother usually gets two of each, so maybe he got his and I can buy one from him. Otherwise... Ebay I guess. Oh well.

[CLAM]

yeah.. I have no idea why they have the limit set at 10.

3 is more than enough for anybody.

[MrBear]

What kills me is that Bigbadtoystore actually has preorders for figures. They are priced at roughly double what Matty wants so guess what they are doing.

[ScubatheDiver]

This whole MOTU thing with the Mattell website just kinda leaves a bad ring in general. I thought I had read somewhere in a Q & A with Mattell that the MOTUC line was meant to be "the flagship of our webiste". Yet hear we are about 2 months into the whole process and 0 figures are left for sale on the website. From the looks of things demand for all 4 is still high but collectors are left in the cold while Ebay re-sellers are doing great with them.

I mean Stratos sells out in 3 to 4 days?!?!? If indeed the rumours are true and there are more He-Man and Beats Man and they were just pulled because they were to be sold for a month only makes zero sense to me. Sell the damn things!!!!

Mattell could learn alot from the Hasrbro website. If you make it, then you sell it through your website. Right now the Mattell website is pretty much an "empty peg" website.


Sorry, rant is over.....

[azrael23]

Personally I don't see how collectors are being left in the cold, by now we should all be hip to
the game, we know when they come out, what comes out and for how much, therefore you should
be there to immediately prance on it. Now the limit to buying them is a bit much, they need to scale
it down to 5 figures tops, but overall, the figures selling out is a good thing, as long as they keep
churning out new characters I could care less about them showing up on ebay or in scalpers hands, just
as long as true collectors/fans get an equal opportunity at getting them.

[CLAM]

azrael23, on Feb 22 2009, 11:32 PM, said:

Personally I don't see how collectors are being left in the cold, by now we should all be hip to
the game, we know when they come out, what comes out and for how much, therefore you should
be there to immediately prance on it. Now the limit to buying them is a bit much, they need to scale
it down to 5 figures tops, but overall, the figures selling out is a good thing, as long as they keep
churning out new characters I could care less about them showing up on ebay or in scalpers hands, just
as long as true collectors/fans get an equal opportunity at getting them.

but they DIDN'T SELL OUT!

Heman and Beastman were pulled by Matty.. with NO NOTICE to collectors.

Hell, I was going to order them altogether when Skeletor came out... but they pulled them just before he goes up for sale??? WTF?

So I said, meh.. I guess I will pass on the entire line

[azrael23]

CLAM, on Feb 23 2009, 02:46 AM, said:

azrael23, on Feb 22 2009, 11:32 PM, said:

Personally I don't see how collectors are being left in the cold, by now we should all be hip to
the game, we know when they come out, what comes out and for how much, therefore you should
be there to immediately prance on it. Now the limit to buying them is a bit much, they need to scale
it down to 5 figures tops, but overall, the figures selling out is a good thing, as long as they keep
churning out new characters I could care less about them showing up on ebay or in scalpers hands, just
as long as true collectors/fans get an equal opportunity at getting them.

but they DIDN'T SELL OUT!

Heman and Beastman were pulled by Matty.. with NO NOTICE to collectors.

Hell, I was going to order them altogether when Skeletor came out... but they pulled them just before he goes up for sale??? WTF?

So I said, meh.. I guess I will pass on the entire line

But I'm not talking about just He-Man and Beastman, I'm talking about the line in general and people that say they're going to wait it out
or they're not sold on the line just yet and then end up missing out because of either waiting to long or procrastinating. Then again He-Man
and Beastman were up for what nearly 2 months? they probably figured that was ample time for anyone to snag one without giving a notice,
especially to collectors, not that its even a big deal as they've stated they were going to re-release them at some point anyways.

[shokker]

this is getting nuts. stratos is allready sold out? damn, i hope mattel reacts to that because what if someone is on vacation or something? for now i was able to be there the first day but what will happen when faker and hordak will go on sale? mattel should produce more or as some say lower there orders maximum. as much as i support this line, if i miss one just because it solds out in 2 days then i am out. sorry but this is nuts. this was the fear i had in the begining of the line. it should take at least one or two weeks before they are sold out.

[Eric]

People need to remember the circumstances surrounding this line.

According to Mattel, their budget for this line was/is very limited. I think in some ways they were fortunate to get a green light from the higher-ups at all, and I would guess the Horsemen's passion and involvement had a lot to do with it happening. These aren't getting produced in the same numbers as DCUC or other figures that go to retail, so it's more expensive in that regard (more figs you produce, cheaper it is). They've repeatedly pointed out the budgetary limits on the line from the beginning.

With all that in mind, they had no idea how popular the line would be. To come out of the gate and produce thousands upon thousands of figures just in case it turned out to be really popular would have been reckless. It's a better strategy and more sensible to make only the number you need to sell to be profitable and achieve that than to make too many and be stuck (which would essentially amount to wasted money on a line with which you have limited funds to begin with).

Fact is, the line is much more popular than anyone anticipated, and that's a good thing. It's only natural it would attract re-sellers/scalpers like any other line (DCUC, G.I. Joe, Transformers, etc.).

But the difference with MOTUC is you know exactly when and where you can find them, as opposed to something like DCUC that's a crapshoot at your local Target or Toys R Us store. And speaking of that, figures last less time at retail than three days, so one could make the argument MattyCollector is better in that regard, too, even at only four days for Stratos. And if you want to point out you can order DCUC online from CornerstoreComics, then you shouldn't have a problem ordering from MattyCollector, which has great shipping prices if you order more than one figure.

[azrael23]

Eric, on Feb 23 2009, 09:45 AM, said:

People need to remember the circumstances surrounding this line.

According to Mattel, their budget for this line was/is very limited. I think in some ways they were fortunate to get a green light from the higher-ups at all, and I would guess the Horsemen's passion and involvement had a lot to do with it happening. These aren't getting produced in the same numbers as DCUC or other figures that go to retail, so it's more expensive in that regard (more figs you produce, cheaper it is). They've repeatedly pointed out the budgetary limits on the line from the beginning.

With all that in mind, they had no idea how popular the line would be. To come out of the gate and produce thousands upon thousands of figures just in case it turned out to be really popular would have been reckless. It's a better strategy and more sensible to make only the number you need to sell to be profitable and achieve that than to make too many and be stuck (which would essentially amount to wasted money on a line with which you have limited funds to begin with).

Fact is, the line is much more popular than anyone anticipated, and that's a good thing. It's only natural it would attract re-sellers/scalpers like any other line (DCUC, G.I. Joe, Transformers, etc.).

But the difference with MOTUC is you know exactly when and where you can find them, as opposed to something like DCUC that's a crapshoot at your local Target or Toys R Us store. And speaking of that, figures last less time at retail than three days, so one could make the argument MattyCollector is better in that regard, too, even at only four days for Stratos. And if you want to point out you can order DCUC online from CornerstoreComics, then you shouldn't have a problem ordering from MattyCollector, which has great shipping prices if you order more than one figure.

Well put Eric. Collectors never stop to consider those things.

[Forcehunter]

Matty just posted on Facebook with some data on the sales. There are only a very few people compared to the number of orders they get ordering more than the three while most are ordering three or less. This means that there seems to be enough of a demand out there to change production quotas Matty has also said that they are now going to increase production on the figures hopefully with Mer-Man.

[Eric]

Forcehunter, on Feb 28 2009, 08:04 PM, said:

Matty just posted on Facebook with some data on the sales. There are only a very few people compared to the number of orders they get ordering more than the three while most are ordering three or less. This means that there seems to be enough of a demand out there to change production quotas Matty has also said that they are now going to increase production on the figures hopefully with Mer-Man.

I figured that was the case as far as larger orders go. I'm sure there are some who order 10, but I'm also sure it's only a fraction of the people who place orders.

These figures are just extremely popular. They're essentially the perfect action figure: great articulation, great paint apps, great overall appearance. It's only natural people would get on board with the MOTUC bandwagon.

And in case anyone's thinking it, of course I'm not biased.

[shigeoj24]

Have you guys received Stratos yet? I placed my order the day he was up for sale, but I haven't received anything yet. I heard that they ship from Canada, so is that why it's taking so long?

[Eric]

I received my Stratos figures about six days after I ordered. I chose UPS Ground shipping.

All the figures are shipped out of Ontario, California. Lots of people have had delays in getting their figures, and it could be for any number of reasons. If you chose economy postal shipping, that generally takes longer than any other method. There's also no way of tracking your order with that method. I'm sure there are other people who haven't received their Stratos figures yet, either, though most of us have.