Mattel Monkeys Around With Collectors Again

[Wheeljack35]

Not saying you're wrong, but uh, how did Sonic Arm Cyborg and Unmasked Batman Beyond end up at everyone's Target and Wal-Mart? And how do all those convention exclusives (Giganta, Lobo, Invader four pack, Soundwave, etc.) end up on the companies respective Web sites?

 

Again, NOT saying you're wrong, but I am asking you to clarify.

 

when the company you had exclusive contract with no longer exists, and you're sitting on a mountain of unsold product, you find a way to open distribution channels.

 

but Wal-Mart still exists. SDCC still exists.

 

so, your flawed logic is just that.

 

 

Something like that happened a few years ago for the Ralph McQuarrie Star Wars exclusive Starkiller I believe it was rumor was they were going to destroy them and as fans we were like NOOOOOO!!!! But a company took them and sold them

[Wheeljack35]

What would the Federal Trade Commission get Mattel on??? What did they do wrong that would warrant the FTC to investigate??? Well other than piss off their loyal fanbase??

 

 

well, they did promise in their announcements that fans that attended the SDCC would receive the "prize" of GLEEK until it was sold out.

 

Obviously, they didn't sell out, yet still told attendees that he was.

 

Then, instead of attempting to correct their screw-up and fulfill their promise, they gave them away to one of their employee's buddies

 

 

 

first off, they believed they had sold out.

 

second, how are they gonna 'correct their screw up' with 100 Gleeks?, how the hell do they know who did and didn't get one at the con?

 

c'mon, people, THINK.

 

 

That is the major problem here and there is no way to fix it unless you have a receipt showing you bought it or you can show you paid for it with a credit card statement.

[Card]

My two cents on this issue is that Mattel dropped the ball at con, plain and simple. Stacks of books and cases of figs walking away from the booth are not a limit. Mattel went against what they said and now try and cover up that fact. The booth was a feeding frenzy for scalpers and the fans, remember the ones Mattel supposedly did this for, were screwed in the end. Limits were not met, and items were “lost” or “accidentally” stolen, what a royal cluster. When we add in the fact that Mattel has been screwing with collectors for over a year now; I mean come on, MOTUC figs only last a few hours and we immediately see them on eBay, 10 per person my ass, and we see a pretty angry community. Mattel has constantly stated that they want to help collectors; yet again and again they pull stunts like SDCC and just get everyone upset. Look at the art book, MOTU fans have been asking for something like that for years now. Yet we finally get it and not only is it limited to 1000, but it is bought by the stack by scalpers at con. How many fans actually got the book at SDCC? Now I do know ToyGuru over on the .org was helping some fans get the book, but that only went so far. The same goes for gleek, story after story of people getting a ticket to buy the next day only to return and everything was sold out. Mattel did not save items for each day. You guys can defend Mattel all you want, but it was heavily implied that Gleek would be included with all Twins sold at con. Only mattycollector.com buyers would not get a gleek. What this tells me is a lot of gleeks walked away from the booth without being purchased.

 

Now with that said what else could Mattel have done with those Gleeks? True it was sloppy to leave a full case in the back, but what’s done is done. Finding people that bought at con would be almost impossible. Giving them away to the first 100 on mattycollector would have just pissed off more people, I can see it now, people would complain that they were the first, what a mess. I suppose they could have given a few away to the various sites, but really what a pain that would be. They gave them to the Fwoosh to get rid of them Plain and simple (and the guys on the Fwoosh are really all pretty cool) so lets not down those guys. I mean really if we had been given the Gleeks, JayC would be in the same boat and all of the boards would be mad at him. Mattel doesn’t seem to care which sites get something, just so long as they are gone. They found a case and got rid of it, simple as that.

 

The real complaint is that a case should never have been left over to begin with. I feel bad for all of those people that went to con and couldn’t get one, even after standing in long lines for hours on end.

 

The real shame is all of this has overshadowed the awesome new MOTuC figures shown at the con. It has down played all of the great new figures displayed. Heck I haven’t seen it written anywhere who won the giant Antimonitor. Instead all I read is about the cluster that was the Mattel booth. Although I believe the DcDirect Hal was an even bigger debacle then Gleek, it has been overshadowed by this. I hope that next year they learn from this and either offer the items on mattycollector in sufficient numbers or do like they did with he-ro; and make the exclusives have a special sticker or decal, rather than an exclusive book or figure that people get so angry over.

[jjlecaros]

its real easy to see who went to con or not, you have badges you have receipts, now if you got one or not is the hard part, but then again even if someone that went got exra ones its atleasst still fair to peopel that went to con and tried to get one.

 

as for the starkiller that is null and void since previews is now releasing sets with all the figures including exclusives.

[jjlecaros]

Not saying you're wrong, but uh, how did Sonic Arm Cyborg and Unmasked Batman Beyond end up at everyone's Target and Wal-Mart? And how do all those convention exclusives (Giganta, Lobo, Invader four pack, Soundwave, etc.) end up on the companies respective Web sites?

 

Again, NOT saying you're wrong, but I am asking you to clarify.

 

when the company you had exclusive contract with no longer exists, and you're sitting on a mountain of unsold product, you find a way to open distribution channels.

 

but Wal-Mart still exists. SDCC still exists.

 

so, your flawed logic is just that.

 

the comment was directed towards the kbs exclusives not anythign else, and theres no prob if leftovers from con go on the site. this is diffrent. people were told thye sold out when they didnt.

[Wheeljack35]

Also think of all the other sites too I bet they are just as pissed off

 

Fwoosh shouldn't be blamed but I know the people who were there and lost out are very fustrated and are taking it out on that site

 

Hell when I first heard about this a few months ago I was pissed because I wouldn't of had the money to go across country to get one."I thought crap another Botcon

 

Believe me I hate the crap that Botcon pulls with their exclusives but luckily in the past two years there exclusives have been crap anyways

 

We are all pissed not only the ones who lost out on it at the SDCC but the others who couldn't be there to get this in person

[Wheeljack35]

as for the starkiller that is null and void since previews is now releasing sets with all the figures including exclusives.

 

 

True but a couple of years ago who knew they would be released now?

 

I wants me and needs me a Starkiller

[jjlecaros]

yeah and when it came down to it i didint complain about celebration having exclusives. i found soemone to help me and in turn helped them get obi/yoda at sdcc that year.

[Wheeljack35]

yeah and when it came down to it i didint complain about celebration having exclusives. i found soemone to help me and in turn helped them get obi/yoda at sdcc that year.

 

 

I was lucky to grab that too

[MrBlisterfists]

so, someone has a badge and a reciept.

 

how does Mattel know they didn't already get a Gleek?

 

that's the problem. And you KNOW there'd be people who would try to get extras. and Fans would still be complaining. There's no easy solution. No perfect solution.

 

if it hadn't been the Fwoosh thing, it would've been fans who already had one trying to get another.

[asidx]

eh, who cares.....i mean, its a monkey....now if it was the version peter griffen turned into in that one episode of family guy, i would be screaming bloody murder.....hehehehehehe sorry i couldn't resist myself. (i really hope someone else gets that joke besides myself)

 

 

 

but on a side note, very nice article.

[Superpowers1980]

My two cents on this issue is that Mattel dropped the ball at con, plain and simple. Stacks of books and cases of figs walking away from the booth are not a limit. Mattel went against what they said and now try and cover up that fact. The booth was a feeding frenzy for scalpers and the fans, remember the ones Mattel supposedly did this for, were screwed in the end. Limits were not met, and items were "lost" or "accidentally" stolen, what a royal cluster. When we add in the fact that Mattel has been screwing with collectors for over a year now; I mean come on, MOTUC figs only last a few hours and we immediately see them on eBay, 10 per person my ass, and we see a pretty angry community. Mattel has constantly stated that they want to help collectors; yet again and again they pull stunts like SDCC and just get everyone upset. Look at the art book, MOTU fans have been asking for something like that for years now. Yet we finally get it and not only is it limited to 1000, but it is bought by the stack by scalpers at con. How many fans actually got the book at SDCC? Now I do know ToyGuru over on the .org was helping some fans get the book, but that only went so far. The same goes for gleek, story after story of people getting a ticket to buy the next day only to return and everything was sold out. Mattel did not save items for each day. You guys can defend Mattel all you want, but it was heavily implied that Gleek would be included with all Twins sold at con. Only mattycollector.com buyers would not get a gleek. What this tells me is a lot of gleeks walked away from the booth without being purchased.

 

Now with that said what else could Mattel have done with those Gleeks? True it was sloppy to leave a full case in the back, but what's done is done. Finding people that bought at con would be almost impossible. Giving them away to the first 100 on mattycollector would have just pissed off more people, I can see it now, people would complain that they were the first, what a mess. I suppose they could have given a few away to the various sites, but really what a pain that would be. They gave them to the Fwoosh to get rid of them Plain and simple (and the guys on the Fwoosh are really all pretty cool) so lets not down those guys. I mean really if we had been given the Gleeks, JayC would be in the same boat and all of the boards would be mad at him. Mattel doesn't seem to care which sites get something, just so long as they are gone. They found a case and got rid of it, simple as that.

 

The real complaint is that a case should never have been left over to begin with. I feel bad for all of those people that went to con and couldn't get one, even after standing in long lines for hours on end.

 

The real shame is all of this has overshadowed the awesome new MOTuC figures shown at the con. It has down played all of the great new figures displayed. Heck I haven't seen it written anywhere who won the giant Antimonitor. Instead all I read is about the cluster that was the Mattel booth. Although I believe the DcDirect Hal was an even bigger debacle then Gleek, it has been overshadowed by this. I hope that next year they learn from this and either offer the items on mattycollector in sufficient numbers or do like they did with he-ro; and make the exclusives have a special sticker or decal, rather than an exclusive book or figure that people get so angry over.

 

This guy makes sense and everyone will ignore his post, people only seem to respond to the most ridiculous post here

[Wheeljack35]

You know what is so funny

 

I believe some time ago on these forums people put down the Wonder Twins and now are fighting over there pet

[sandman21xxi]

Wow, Gleek has become something like the Helen of Troy of toy collecting.

[jjlecaros]

if people that went to con called in or emailed on got extras of those 100 leftovers that would be fine with me, whether they lied about being short a gleek or not. at least they went thru the trouble of goign to on and calling or emailing and having the proof they were there. at least someone that went to con got thm and hopefully a couple that didnt get it at con are able to get theirs.

[CLAM]

What would the Federal Trade Commission get Mattel on??? What did they do wrong that would warrant the FTC to investigate??? Well other than piss off their loyal fanbase??

 

 

well, they did promise in their announcements that fans that attended the SDCC would receive the "prize" of GLEEK until it was sold out.

 

Obviously, they didn't sell out, yet still told attendees that he was.

 

Then, instead of attempting to correct their screw-up and fulfill their promise, they gave them away to one of their employee's buddies

 

 

 

first off, they believed they had sold out.

 

second, how are they gonna 'correct their screw up' with 100 Gleeks?, how the hell do they know who did and didn't get one at the con?

 

c'mon, people, THINK.

 

 

I have already stated several times how they could fix their screw up, or at least attempt to fix it.

 

why are you asking us to think when you can't even read

[CLAM]

so, someone has a badge and a reciept.

 

how does Mattel know they didn't already get a Gleek?

 

 

simple. As I have stated before (you just don't read for some reason)...

 

 

A receipt would be the most sure fire way to do this. The receipt will give the day and time of your purchase. If Mattel put up the "gleek sold out" sign on Saturday morning, then they know that all purchases made after Saturday morning failed to receive the free gleek.

 

EXAMPLE :

 

"Dear Mattel. Hi, Here is my receipt from Sunday, when you guys said you were sold out of Gleek figures."

 

"Thank you for emailing us. We are sincerely sorry about this mistake. Your gleek figure will be mailed to you soon. thank you for giving us here at Mattel the chance to please our customers."

 

 

 

OMG.. that was sooooo impossible and hard to do. It would probably break the internet!

[sHa_ckwave]

I want to know where these sad excuses for collectors are that took it for granted that their Gleek was in their package and didn't ask or check for it until they got home? And where were they during the actual convention, where the Gleek figure, distribution of said figure, packing of said figure, and shortage of said figure were the hottest topic on the convention floor among toy collectors and comic fans/collectors ? Were they wearing headphones and speaking to no other collectors the whole day? Or somewhere near a sandbox with their heads firmly planted in it? Where were they in the weeks/months leading up to the con when this whole exclusive situation was clearly spelled out in multiple online spaces? I've yet to actually come across people who have had this happen to them, online or otherwise... and I know my first instinct as a collector when I was handed that package would be to verify my Gleek, before ever leaving the booth.

 

There is no question the way the Gleek situation was handled, from start to finish, wasn't done properly. From a 6 per person, per line cycle limit, right on down. But I find myself wondering if these extras were handed out to THIS site to be given away to the members HERE, would this op/ed piece have ever been published? Because it doesn't read like the genesis of this rant came from the mishandling of the Gleek situation, it reads like the rant came from how they rectified the situation of a couple dozen misplaced/found Gleeks, or more specifically, that none of those Gleeks found their way to JayC/ENI.

 

I for one would like to hear JayC respond to some of the points that member Grimace brought up, that would go a long way towards making me believe that this rant truly was about the collectors that got shafted, and not that one site was chosen to give away these extras over another.

[Doom Saber]

And what do you have to say about the other part of the question wise-ass? If companies like Mattel and Hasbro have contracts to not sell convention exclusives outside the convention then why do they pop up on their respective Web sites right after?

 

If you going to be a troll, at least be a thorough one.

 

again, the figures they sell on the site aren't the same as the ones at the con.

 

For instance: The "Andy" Buzz Lightyear is only available at the con.

 

Gleek is only available at the con.

 

The SDCC Stamp He-Ro is only available at the con.

 

anything that was available at both places was negotiated as such BEFORE the con. And the con agreed to it.

 

but the con wanted some items that were ONLY AVAILABLE there. That's how that works. It doesn't take much to figure that out.

 

 

It seems a bit odd that Mattel did deco exclusives for toy story andmotuc yet they did a fig variant for gleek.

[Doom Saber]

I want to know where these sad excuses for collectors are that took it for granted that their Gleek was in their package and didn't ask or check for it until they got home? And where were they during the actual convention, where the Gleek figure, distribution of said figure, packing of said figure, and shortage of said figure were the hottest topic on the convention floor among toy collectors and comic fans/collectors ? Were they wearing headphones and speaking to no other collectors the whole day? Or somewhere near a sandbox with their heads firmly planted in it? Where were they in the weeks/months leading up to the con when this whole exclusive situation was clearly spelled out in multiple online spaces? I've yet to actually come across people who have had this happen to them, online or otherwise... and I know my first instinct as a collector when I was handed that package would be to verify my Gleek, before ever leaving the booth.

 

There is no question the way the Gleek situation was handled, from start to finish, wasn't done properly. From a 6 per person, per line cycle limit, right on down. But I find myself wondering if these extras were handed out to THIS site to be given away to the members HERE, would this op/ed piece have ever been published? Because it doesn't read like the genesis of this rant came from the mishandling of the Gleek situation, it reads like the rant came from how they rectified the situation of a couple dozen misplaced/found Gleeks, or more specifically, that none of those Gleeks found their way to JayC/ENI.

 

I for one would like to hear JayC respond to some of the points that member Grimace brought up, that would go a long way towards making me believe that this rant truly was about the collectors that got shafted, and not that one site was chosen to give away these extras over another.

 

 

 

I too wonder if the article was pubished if TNI gotten the 100+ gleeks instead.

 

 

It feels to me that whoever written the article did it out of frustration for not getting the figure. I understand the frustration if the author was actually deceived by Mattel at the con for thinking the monkey is in the package.

[arowdygator]

My two cents on this issue is that Mattel dropped the ball at con, plain and simple. Stacks of books and cases of figs walking away from the booth are not a limit. Mattel went against what they said and now try and cover up that fact. The booth was a feeding frenzy for scalpers and the fans, remember the ones Mattel supposedly did this for, were screwed in the end. Limits were not met, and items were “lost” or “accidentally” stolen, what a royal cluster. When we add in the fact that Mattel has been screwing with collectors for over a year now; I mean come on, MOTUC figs only last a few hours and we immediately see them on eBay, 10 per person my ass, and we see a pretty angry community. Mattel has constantly stated that they want to help collectors; yet again and again they pull stunts like SDCC and just get everyone upset. Look at the art book, MOTU fans have been asking for something like that for years now. Yet we finally get it and not only is it limited to 1000, but it is bought by the stack by scalpers at con. How many fans actually got the book at SDCC? Now I do know ToyGuru over on the .org was helping some fans get the book, but that only went so far. The same goes for gleek, story after story of people getting a ticket to buy the next day only to return and everything was sold out. Mattel did not save items for each day. You guys can defend Mattel all you want, but it was heavily implied that Gleek would be included with all Twins sold at con. Only mattycollector.com buyers would not get a gleek. What this tells me is a lot of gleeks walked away from the booth without being purchased.

 

Now with that said what else could Mattel have done with those Gleeks? True it was sloppy to leave a full case in the back, but what’s done is done. Finding people that bought at con would be almost impossible. Giving them away to the first 100 on mattycollector would have just pissed off more people, I can see it now, people would complain that they were the first, what a mess. I suppose they could have given a few away to the various sites, but really what a pain that would be. They gave them to the Fwoosh to get rid of them Plain and simple (and the guys on the Fwoosh are really all pretty cool) so lets not down those guys. I mean really if we had been given the Gleeks, JayC would be in the same boat and all of the boards would be mad at him. Mattel doesn’t seem to care which sites get something, just so long as they are gone. They found a case and got rid of it, simple as that.

 

The real complaint is that a case should never have been left over to begin with. I feel bad for all of those people that went to con and couldn’t get one, even after standing in long lines for hours on end.

 

The real shame is all of this has overshadowed the awesome new MOTuC figures shown at the con. It has down played all of the great new figures displayed. Heck I haven’t seen it written anywhere who won the giant Antimonitor. Instead all I read is about the cluster that was the Mattel booth. Although I believe the DcDirect Hal was an even bigger debacle then Gleek, it has been overshadowed by this. I hope that next year they learn from this and either offer the items on mattycollector in sufficient numbers or do like they did with he-ro; and make the exclusives have a special sticker or decal, rather than an exclusive book or figure that people get so angry over.

 

 

i agree with what your saying, i think thier FB page woulda been a better place to give em away but whatever. i mean no malice towards those guys. i just think its uncool to come here say one thing then go to another site and say some of the things that were said.

[grimace404]

this wasnt an issue. someone that doesnt post here all that much came on to defend a site that, even according them, were not being bashed compared to other sites. just wanted to stir the pot.

 

 

What wasn't an issue? Who are you even talking to? No one asked if it was an issue mainly because it clearly is just based on how many pages this thread grew in one day.

 

I never said I came specifically here to defend Fwoosh, I said I heard Fwoosh was getting bashed and started looking at other sites to see what was up. While doing that, I came across Jay's editorial disguised as news and all the inaccuracies in it. That upset me, mainly because I've always used TNI as a good source of toy news. Now I feel slightly betrayed because I've come to find out his news gathering skills don't seem to exist and it makes me mad that there are all these other people out there who, like I used to, trust what's on the front page as gospel. That Gleek story isn't news, it's baseless speculation with a few not-so-subtle digs at both Fwoosh & AFI thrown in for bad measure.

 

And, BTW, what the hell was up with that dig in the story he threw at AFI about the JLU Hal Jordan Mattel sent Julius as a gift? It was a gift, the hell was he supposed to do with it, re-gift it to someone?

 

 

 

never said you were trolling, thats a word i only use in extreme cases, but i dont think your motives for posting here is really for "journalistc intergrity".

 

 

Well, you didn't call it "trolling" by name, but you did say this:

 

Grimace "goes where ever the Fwoosh needs him". those are his exact words. meaning he just wanted to come here and dump. ok thats his progragative. (sic).

 

First off, that was kind of a joke taken out of context from something I posted over on AFI in response to a friend from Fwoosh who noticed me there and welcomed me. Let it be clear that I don't work for or officially represent Fwoosh in any way.

 

But, that doesn't mean I "just wanted to come here and dump" as you put it. I merely consider myself a righteous defender of the truth.

 

Believe it or don't, I really don't care, but the main thing that really bothers me is the inaccuracies in his story and the potential for people to be way more upset than is really needed.

 

And just to show you my true side as best I can, I'll say this:

 

I think it was wrong Fwoosh got as many Gleeks as they did and Mattel could've handled it a lot better.

 

That's always been my position. If it woulda been up to me, (and there really were close to 100 extra), I would've given 10 each to the 10 biggest fansites out there to give away like Fwoosh did. Same system, just not all of them to Fwoosh. 10 to Fwoosh, 10 to AFI, 10 to TNI, etc, etc...til they're all gone. That would be the fairest/quickest way to do it, in my less than humble opinion.

 

 

(and BIG thanks to the couple of people who have been on my side here. You know who you are and I very much appreciate it)

[ARROW]

I for one would like to hear JayC respond to some of the points that member Grimace brought up, that would go a long way towards making me believe that this rant truly was about the collectors that got shafted, and not that one site was chosen to give away these extras over another.

 

Well, feel free to peruse the other toys sites out there and see what they have to say about it.

 

Most of the prominent ones have said that this was badly handled, that collectors got shafted and that the consensus that Fwoosh getting the left-over product was seen as unfair by many. They ALSO tend to add that there really wasn't any other way of going about things in the short term, and that someone made a judgement call ( probably because they had to) and favoured one site over the others. It happened, c'est la vie. The overall consensus is that this sort of thing could have been handled better, and that people en masse want to see it handled better in the future.

 

JayC is stating his opinion, and he's entitled to that, as both a collector and a site owner. He doesn't have to be fair about it, and he doesn't have to take a position that everyone agrees with.

There's nothing stopping you or anyone else from articulating a valid counter-argument.

[grimace404]

i agree with what your saying, i think thier FB page woulda been a better place to give em away but whatever. i mean no malice towards those guys. i just think its uncool to come here say one thing then go to another site and say some of the things that were said.

 

Look, I know you're not a bad guy or whatever and I certainly don't take any of this personally, but this whole story/thread has had the running theme of 'What's going on on other sites' so I think it's unfair to say what I said was "uncool". It got brought up on AFI and I responded to it, because it's getting a lot of attention and I seem to be one of the few who are willing to do something about it. What, specifically, did I say anywhere that you think is "uncool"? I haven't said anything anywhere else that I haven't said here.

 

But, right now, I have to go somewhere, so we'll have to pick this back up later...

[Hagop]

so, someone has a badge and a reciept.

 

how does Mattel know they didn't already get a Gleek?

 

 

simple. As I have stated before (you just don't read for some reason)...

 

 

A receipt would be the most sure fire way to do this. The receipt will give the day and time of your purchase. If Mattel put up the "gleek sold out" sign on Saturday morning, then they know that all purchases made after Saturday morning failed to receive the free gleek.

 

EXAMPLE :

 

"Dear Mattel. Hi, Here is my receipt from Sunday, when you guys said you were sold out of Gleek figures."

 

"Thank you for emailing us. We are sincerely sorry about this mistake. Your gleek figure will be mailed to you soon. thank you for giving us here at Mattel the chance to please our customers."

 

 

OMG.. that was sooooo impossible and hard to do. It would probably break the internet!

 

A lot more people didn't get Gleek at the Con than there were leftover Gleeks. So, your "example" is incomplete. Here's how it continues:

 

"Dear Mattel. Hi, my receipt is from Sunday morning and you were said to be out of Gleeks."

 

"Thank you for emailing us, but all of the leftover Gleeks have been mailed out at this time. We apologize for the disappointment."

 

"Dear Mattel. I am writing to you very upset. As you can see from my receipt, I purchased the Wonder Twins 2 pack on Sunday at 11 am. I am aware of at least five fellow collectors on the message boards who have recieved their Gleek in the mail, and none of their receipts are time stamped before 2:30!! I was in line for more than TWO HOURS before them, but they are getting Gleeks and I am not! What kind of #$@# business are you running?!"

 

It gets worse from there.