Guys, I emailed this to ToyGuru, but I want to post it here as well. A little bit of a success story:
Alot of us on the site have decided to email Wal-Mart about DCU Classics. Well, I talked to the Asst. Manager over toys at my local Wal-Mart, and he wants to talk to their Mattel Rep about getting the line.
Now, my wife is a department manager at a different Wal-Mart and she said even though Wal-Mart as a Whole isn't carring the line, single Wal-Marts can. So I don't know if there is anyhting you can do to help? I live in Richmond, Indiana, so maybe you could fins out who the rep is and talk to her also?
I only wish I could do more, but getting this line at Wal-Mart is imporant to me, mainly because we don't have a Target anymore, and TRU is an hour away. I've not check Kmart to be honest, but ours usally never carries anything new.
I want to use this thread to hear from the rest of you that have emailed them...
I’m going to play the devils advocate on this one. I honestly don’t care that Wal-Mart decided to not carry DCU at this time. Granted I live in a major metropolitan area with several Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart and Toys R Us stores within a few miles of each other. I know that hurts people like Chris in smaller more rural markets, but I want some diversity.
I would rather Wal-Mart carry more of The Batman or JLU and leave DCU to Target and Toys R Us. Why you ask? Well the simple answer is to make lines more store exclusive. While every store has had small exclusive lines in the past (Wal-Mart had World Of Batman and Batman Comic Style figures with a Comic Book) if every store carries the same exact figures they ultimately kill off the line and their own business as they compete against each other.
This is what happened with the original Mattel Comic Style line which only had the first three waves released in the U.S.. The last three waves went overseas. Then Mattel did it again with DCSH with too many Batman and Superman waves that had too few new figures and too many peg warmers. Honestly, can you blame Wal-Mart for not picking up this line based on past performance?
Do we really want to see DCU so over distributed in the U.S. that the same thing happens? I don’t, I want to see the DCU line flourish and if it is over distributed then it will die like the Comic Style and DCSH figures did.
I can see your point, and, I can see Wal-Marts. Mattel has done a very bad job at handling this, but, to be real honest, there are more smaller towns with just a Wal-Mart then there is with a Target or TRU.
My city can handle a Target, they left a few years back because they wanted to expand and the city wouldn't give them the variances they needed. So they packed up, and now the city is trying to get them back.
We have a Kmart, Wal-Mart, and a Meijer. Meijer will be carring them I just found out, but I'm looking at it like this.. If Wal-Mart carried the line, then more people will have a chance to pick it up. Bottom line.
Since I am traveling all the time, I'm stopping at every Target and TRU I see, but they have all sold out, but I know I will find them. Problem is, when I stop traveling.. then what? Back to Ebay....
FlaBat wrote:
Do we really want to see DCU so over distributed in the U.S. that the same thing happens? I don’t, I want to see the DCU line flourish and if it is over distributed then it will die like the Comic Style and DCSH figures did.
So basically what you're saying is that the line will last longer if nobody can buy it? I mean, yeah people in major metropolitan areas and such can, but people like me in small towns don't stand a snowballs chance in hell unless we pay far to much on eBay. I'd much rather have three series of figures I can actually get than 17 series of figures I can't.
Never start with the head; the victim gets all fuzzy!
Chris wrote:
I can see your point, and, I can see Wal-Marts. Mattel has done a very bad job at handling this, but, to be real honest, there are more smaller towns with just a Wal-Mart then there is with a Target or TRU.
I think you hit the nail on the head there with that second phrase there. I would love to see Wal-Mart carrying the line, as like you I have no Targets or TRUs nearby. But, I can't in good conscience go to bat for Mattel until they can prove that they will actually distribute the toys in a timely manner and with reasonable case ratios.
I'm sure WM would be happy to stock toys that sell, but if Mattel only provides 15 of a single figure or nothing at all (leaving the store with vacant space that could be used to generate sales), I can see their reluctance.
For me, Wal-Mart doesnt sell anything Batman related (action figures I mean) except the secret, new, rare 1966 Batmobile hot wheel. No The Batman, and I dont even think the Justice League is there either.
So basically what you're saying is that the line will last longer if nobody can buy it? I mean, yeah people in major metropolitan areas and such can, but people like me in small towns don't stand a snowballs chance in hell unless we pay far to much on eBay. I'd much rather have three series of figures I can actually get than 17 series of figures I can't.
No I am not saying the line will last longer if nobody can buy it. I am saying that if everybody has it the line it gets diluted and does not sell. You only have to look back a few years to see that.
Do you recall 2003/2004? Do you recall how many Batman lines there were on the pegs? There were four different lines all with Batman in them. Mattel got the license that year and released the Batman Comics Style, Batman Animated Style and Justice League lines of figures everywhere just after Hasbro flooded the market in 2002/2003 with the last of their figures like the Gatekeepers of Gotham City 2 Packs at Wal-Mart and Batman (BTAS/TNBA theme) 4 packs at Toys R Us. Then Mattel added The Batman to the mix later. Not to mention DC Direct that could now produce their own Batman figures, something Kenner and Hasbro did not have to contend with. So Batman was everywhere.
By the end of 2004 the wave 2 and 3 Comic Style Batman variants were peg warmers everywhere. So much so that U.S. Retail Buyers gave up and the last three waves of the line, which had some of the best figures all went to the Overseas market (I got most of mine from a collector in Australia and an Online store in Italy).
The Animated Style figures moved from 2 Packs, some of which still clung to pegs, to the occasional TRU exclusive 4 Packs and a few single carded repaint figures going to Kay Bee exclusively before the line faded out.
The Justice League line expanded from the Batman/Superman heavy assortments to Justice League Unlimited and introduced new DC characters, some of which never had a figure made for them before. This was the only thing that saved this line, even though Mattel adding only one new figure and two old ones to the 3 Packs was slowing it down.
The Batman, supported by a TV show was doing great. Even though the dreaded Batman variants filled the line, they also included a lot of new villains to keep everybody happy and the line as done well over the last four years.
Mattel learned some the lessons from the past, but still they screw things up. In 2005 Mattel retuned to the Comic Style figures with the DC Super Heroes line. They used repaints from the waves of figure that were sold Overseas as well as a few new ones and the line started off great. A Batman wave, then a Superman wave then another Batman wave, what could go wrong? Well three consecutive Superman waves made up mostly of re-releases, not even repaints, killed the line. Then there were all those Superman Returns figures out there at the same time too. The last two waves of figures were Batman, but Mattel had done it to themselves again with bad case ratios and lousy distribution.
Now Mattel has DC Universe. They now have more than just the Batman/Superman license, now they can do just about any DC character they want. The first three waves of this line look fairly well balanced, but by now Mattel has lost the trust of most of the retail buyers who have been burned a few times before.
My guess is that Wal-Mart will eventually pick up the line, but maybe not until the fourth wave. If I’m a Wal-Mart buyer I want to see what the line does first at retail and what Mattel shows for the next three waves before I would commit to the line. JLU has faded and The Batman will too soon, so DCU would take up that space at Wal-Mart.
Look, I see what you're saying but you need to understand the subtext of what you are saying. If the line doesn't make it to Wal-mart, then I can't get one in my town, then I'll have to go online and look there; but then other people like me will be looking online to, the figures will be sold out from sites so quickly they'll become hard to find, and finally I'll have to bay $25-30 for a $15 action figure.
The best way to sell the figure is better distriubtion and case ratios, you said it yourself that DCSH failed because they kept making rereleases, if they get better about it and find good distribution, then it will succeed. However, they will never be able to find their way into Wal-mart because they're only in small stores like Target that are only in a few towns. They'll just go on being rare expensive instead of being esy to find and well priced like they should be.
The line not being in Wal-mart has nothing good about it IMO.
Never start with the head; the victim gets all fuzzy!
Wal-Mart is by far, a(and sadly) the largest retailer in the world. I beleive Target is second... When Wal-Mart does not pick up a line, that, right there can kill it. I know from experince, I've worked there, and my wife stil does. I am not a Wal-Mart fan, but I do want it there.
Now, here's the thing with Wal-Mart. Not all of them HAVE to carry the line. Each store can pick and choose. Thats why I'm rtying to get the line into my local one. My wife is going to talk to the Toys Mamnager at the one she works at as well, see if he can talk to the Mattel Rep.
I can understand your point Flabat, Mattel has dropped the ball way to many times. I mean, the first three waves look good, but then what? how many more waves before we get another Batman? Or a Superman (Classic style)
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