A
few days ago the following message was posted on MattyCollector.com.
This was following the release of the above ominous image on Matty’s
Facebook page.
This
post does not specifically describe 2015 as the final year of Masters
of the Universe Classics. It does, however, outline some interesting
things about the 2015 Club Eternia subscription, which goes on sale
starting today. My reactions are notated in purple.
I
don’t know who Tara is, but her announcements are even more
disappointing and bullshitty than Scott Nietlich’s.
MOTUC fans… it’s that
time of year! We’re gearing up to open subscriptions for the 2015
Masters of the Universe® Classics Club Eternia®. We’ve got all
the important dates and info, so if you haven’t subscribed before
or just want a refresher on the basics, here’s what you’ll need
to know.
This
post does not present any
important info other than the fact that when subs open there will be
no
info. It does provide dates, though.
2015 Club Eternia®
When subscriptions become
available on 6/27, we’ll have all the details except the
name of the club-exclusive figure; we always reveal it along with the
first quarter figures at our Mattypalooza Fan Panel at San Diego
Comic-Con. Remember, club subscribers receive Early Access to
non-subscription products during our monthly sales, a choice of
monthly or quarterly shipping options, and other great benefits.
“All
the details”? It says right
there
that on 6/27 no figures will be revealed. I understand that they will
reveal the number and prices of the figures, but nobody gives a shit
about that. There’s not one year where the number of figures being
offered would have changed my decision on whether or not to order.
What I want to know is what figures are being offered. I also
understand that once the sub Exclusive and the first four or five
figures are revealed we still won’t have any indication as to how
exciting the rest of the year is going to be, but Mattel needs to
light that fire at the beginning and rope us in.
I
will give Matty credit for the Early Access benefit. It has been
especially useful this year with the DC Universe figures and the Mini
Masters. So I can’t even argue about this one. As far as “other
great benefits”… I guess maybe they’re talking about that
crappy Skeletor baby?
You’ll want to make sure
you subscribe early this year for a couple of reasons… first, not
only will subscribers receive all Club benefits, including the
monthly figures and variants, choice of shipping options and Early
Access, but subscribers who sign up
before Friday, 7/25 at 11:59 a.m. will get a free display stand
set! And second, this year subscriptions
are limited to a set number, and once we hit
that amount, that’s it… no more subscriptions will be sold.
A
FREE DISPLAY STAND SET! And all I have to do is commit to spending
hundreds of dollars, sight unseen, on a bunch of action figures that
I may not even want? SIGN ME UP!
I
do not believe for one
second
that Matty will limit the number of subscriptions. That statement
goes against everything that Scott Nietlich has ever said to us.
There is no profitable business model where it would make sense to
limit the number of figures being produced. Now, if they were selling
as many subs as they possibly could but not producing any figures
beyond the sub numbers I would understand. It still wouldn’t
totally make sense, but I suppose it would at least free up costly
warehouse space.
The all-knowing,
all-seeing Kowl™ will track the progress as we head toward the
subscription limit. We’ll update the Kowlometer twice a week when
Early Availability opens on 6/27 but why risk it? Subscribe early and
make sure you get a subscription!
So
this time around Matty is willing specify when and how they will be
updating their sale thermometer, simply because it suits their new
scare tactic. Nice.
- Early Availability Opens: Friday, 6/27 at 9 a.m. PT. No figures will be revealed, but everyone who orders by Friday, 7/25 at 11:59 a.m. PT gets a free display stand set!
- Club-Exclusive Figures Announced: Friday, 7/25 at 12:00 p.m. PT. Figures revealed at Mattypalooza Fan Panel at SDCC and here immediately after.
- Subscription Period Closes: Availability continues until subscription quota is met or Monday, 8/18 at 11:59 p.m. PT, whichever comes first.
What
do you want to bet the Kowlometer stops just
shy
of topping out?
Goat Man at SDCC
Mattel won’t be
attending NYCC this year so we’ll have extra Goat Man™ figures
for sale at SDCC! Beast Man® commands you to stop by the Mattel
booth and pick up his obedient servant Klacky, this year’s
traveling convention figure.
I’m
thrilled that I was able to order a Goat-Man when me, Monkey, and
Evil put in our SDCC order. I also ordered the Arkham Knights
Batmobile because I have no self-control and the DC Cyborg figure for
Lil’ Troublemaker. Mrs. Troublemaker wanted the Ever After High
doll (she collects the Monster High stuff), but it sold out in about
four seconds.
There’s plenty more to
come so check back often. Want an email reminder when sales are about
to start? Click
here to
register. Or, join me on Facebook, Twitter and
in our Fan
Forums and you’ll get
reminders there, too.
Here
endeth the purple notes.
I
do want to make it clear that I am not arguing against Matty starting
sub sales early or against them waiting until SDCC to make their
first figure reveals. There are people that are going to subscribe
right away for various reasons. But I think there are other, more
effective approaches Matty could have taken to hype up the beginning
of sub sales.
I
am not one of those people that is going to subscribe right away. I
might be dumb enough to have bought one of their $85 Batmobiles (more
later on why that was so stupid), but I do have enough self-awareness
to know that I don’t want to just jump into the final year of their
Masters of the Universe Classics line. Matty had already kind of lost
me with this line. I talk about it a little more in the Blade review
I’m working on now - I think I’m just burned out. A lot of the
figures are still great, but I think I’m less tolerant of the
characters that I don’t really care about than I used to be. You
probably haven’t noticed this, but Masters of the Universe Classics
reviews have been few and far between this year. I haven’t been all
that excited about reviewing that same buck over and over again;
regardless of what head is on it.
My
point here is that Matty is really going to have to have some
blockbuster reveals at San Diego Comic Con to convince me to
subscribe next year. And they probably will. I know that there’s a
good chance that Matty will have nothing but cool figures that I want
for the first quarter of 2015. And if they’re appealing enough I
will subscribe again despite the fact that I might end up with a
bunch of less desirable figures towards the end of the year. I’ve
even lost faith in the once-reliable sub Exclusive figure after this
year’s disappointing release. I know some folks liked the Unnamed
One; I didn’t. I would have preferred another He-Man variation like
Oo-Larr.
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