So if one was to subscribe for the 4x figures plus the sub exclusive and had all shipped at the end of the subscription to the UK that adds up to $240 which works out at almost £170. Regardless of it being Thundercats, I honestly don’t know if I personally cannot justify £170 of 5x action figures.
Using those figures, a full 12 month subscription for 13 figures with postage to the UK works out at near £600. There is no way I would spend that much money on 13x figures.
I think if I do buy any I will just get them on day of sale or from EBay.
I would have been fine if it was just the delay in production schedule but with the price bump as well I think that is it for me. I have heard nightmare stories for years from He-Man collectors. I never knew if it was just a vocal minority or if Matty/Digital River were really that unorganized. I’ve already got my answer and they just announced the sub. I don’t need the headache. Especially at that price point.
I don’t know why they had to increase the price. They should have kept it at the original price to see what the interest is in the line and maybe increased the sub in 2017. With the currency being so weak against the $ makes it expensive. I have to really think about this one but like others have said before. At least we have enough time to save some money. Paying so much for a couple of figures. I just don’t know. I was very excited about the line but now have to think twice. It still won’t help waiting and buying from ebay because it will probably end up just being expensive especially overseas.
Mark, I am not sure how you came up with $240. If that’s including taxes and customs, then I understand.
For US Subscription Single shipment, it’s $150 for 5 figures plus $19 shipping. That’s a total of $169.
For International Subscription Single shipment (to UK), it’s $150 for 5 figures plus $62.5 shipping. That’s a total of $212.5 or about £148.
I see the mistake I made. I thought the monthly figures even in the subscription were $35.
I was also going by the
5 figures: International Post (3-4 weeks) = $71.89
DHL (2-3 days) = $62.49
£148 isn’t as bad as £170, but I honestly just do not know if I can justify even that for 5x figures.
I haven’t bought anything over £15 from the states in a couple years but in Ireland for a £50 figure (postage included) coming from the states I had to pay nearly £30 customs on it.
For a combined years worth of figures I have no idea what the customs charge would be if that still applied.
Yeah despite the difference, it’s still a lot.
As much as we want to see ThunderCats figures at $20 in retail stores like NECA or Hasbro toys, that is not going to happen unless the toy company gets the massive marketing push which happens mostly during the promotions for a new movie or TV series. Companies can reduce costs when they are selling in huge numbers all across US and the world.
Companies still release classic movie character toys which don’t get any massive marketing cause the buyers market is always thriving. For example lot of classic horror stuff always sells cause the collectors are huge in numbers. If Mattel makes 6 TCats characters and releases them across all stores, while not being sure of their potential sale chances, they are going to face losses if they undersell by a huge margin. Hence they are going to test the waters by releasing figures one at a time.
If fans don’t buy these figures in good numbers and if subscriptions are really low, this line could be dead even before it takes off. Only Lion-O getting high sales numbers won’t suffice, there needs to be some form of consistence by the loyal fan base with their purchases.
Fans have been anticipating this for so long and Mattel very well could be taking advantage of this opportunity by hiking their prices, but they also need to turn a profit if this line needs to continue especially when it’s a small market of TCats collectors.
If we don’t support this line now, then we have to wait another 5 or 10 years before another company decides to take a chance on ThunderCats toys.
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I understand what you are saying an some what agree.
I think 2011 would have been the perfect time for Mattel to have got the licence to support the 2011 cartoon and release Classics figures.
It is a strange situation. On one hand you have Playmates making Turtles Classics based on the original cartoon series that is out along with the new cartoon yet they totally dropped the ball with their classics line. Then on the other you have the likes of DC Collectibles making Batman the animated series figures that despite a poor start with some fragility and quality control problems has gone from strength to strength in about two years and recently released a 6" scale Batmobile with lights sounds , seatbelts and perfectly fits 2x figures in the seats.
It is really annoying as I grew up with Thundercats and He-man and loved them and would have loved to support both lines.
I recall when I started buying the first MOTUC figures in Decemeber 2008. He-Man and Beastman cost me around £70 with postage from EBay. I could not buy from Matty as they did not accept my card. I then got into contact with another UK fan who had an extra subscription and sold me his extra monthly figure but he was charging £33 postage included each month but it just got to the stage where I couldn’t afford that each month as it left me with less to spend on other items I wanted.
Well it’s listed on the subscriptions page now, but why the Heck have they not announced it anywhere or put it on the news page? Do they expect it to advertise itself?
I got one of the TMNT classic figures and then bought one of the 1990 movie versions, but didn’t get around to buying all of them. And Playmates couldn’t even release Shredder and their Mirage comic version figures were sub-par when compared to NECA. Yet they have the master toy license cause they are doing good with the new line of figures based on the Nickelodeon cartoon. I have 4 figures from that show and they are well done. Thankfully for TMNT collectors there are now many figures/statues that are being released by other companies in different scale and design.
DC Collectibles being more so an in-house production don’t have to face huge licensing fees. Mattel does.
I missed on He-Man and Beast during 2008 and got them during the re-release in early 2009. After that I got selective about the figures but still couldn’t get them regularly on the store, as they would get sold out instantly and I couldn’t afford the eBay prices.
I am going to buy He-Man Filmation figures but didn’t go for the subscription as I again will be selective about the characters.
In the case of ThunderCats I never had any ThunderCats toys growing up as they weren’t sold here, so now I am making sure I buy all the figures. And since I don’t want to lose out on the figures in case of Mattel’s “Sold Out” status, I am going for the subscription.
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Yeah so far they are not doing a good job highlighting this line. But I think we will see a newsletter about this by later today.
They have sent the Newsletter now.
http://www.clubs.mattycollector.com/store/mattycol/DisplayHomeOffersPage#.VpkjXFIqczs
Mattel’s 2016 ThunderCats Club Third Earth Subscription is Now Online. Choose Single or Monthly Shipment Option.
http://www.clubs.mattycollector.com/store/mattycol/en_US/pd/ThemeID.29372800/productID.332597900#.VpkjrVIqczs
Single Shipment
http://www.clubs.mattycollector.com/store/mattycol/en_US/pd/ThemeID.29372800/productID.332598000#.Vpkjr1Iqczs
Monthly Shipment
Got my Single Shipment Subscription completed. Shipping address was to my US parcel forwarding service in NY. Hence I had to pay $30 + $2.66 Tax, Total = $32.66
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Same (minus the forwarding service)! Very excited. [emoji4]
It’s super weird to buy something that I won’t get for almost a year, though.
Just got my monthly sub! Super excited!
Ok. im confused. When I put the single shipment into my cart it says it comes out to $168.79. I thought we were only supposed to get charged the sub fee until it ships.
I don’t know. I would love to get the Thundercats and a few of the MOTUC figures. I used to have all the original thundercats but sold them as the plastic was deteriorating so I would really love to have figures again of one of my favourite childhood cartoons.
I was charged only for the subscription. But something is weird now. I tried to do another subscription and I got the whole list of figures totaling $168.79. With $18.79 shipping and $14.96 tax , grand total $183.75.
So are we supposed to be getting charged now for $30 or actually for $183.75?
Grrrrrrr…what’s going on. They mentioned in the page that each month the credit card will be pre-authorized 5 days before each sale date, but would be charged only when the item ships.
That is just the total your order come up to. They will only charge you for the Mumm-Ra now. This was also confusing for me but then I sub to the he-man classics and that is how it worked.
I see that single shipment to south africa is:
International 3-5 weeks is $221.89 (+/- R3737)
International 1-2 weeks is $262.39 (+/- R4419)
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If I have to pay it all upfront I’m out. I don’t have that kinda cash on me. Was hoping to save up for it over the next few months. Ugh.
Ok phew, that was scaring me. But I still think I’m gonna wait til I get my new credit card instead of using my Debit card. Just to ease my mind about it.
Only 4 figures instead of 6?