Repaint Limit

[frogboy4]

The Muppet figures are in a limited release. That's why Palisades can't drop the price; otherwise they would make zero profit on figure sales. And the company is in the business to make money. Simpsons products saturate the market and people can't seem to get enough, while the Muppets are more of a niche market. I have no doubt that the UK distributers - whether through ignorance or greed, are the cause of this issue. It's sad really. Most specialty comic shops in the city double the price of the figures to 17+ and they seem to sell. I believe that consumers haven't been speaking with their wallets and middlemen have prevented stores from picking up the lines in Europe. The profit margin on these isn't nearly as wide as other lines.

 

[Luke]

Originally posted by frogboy4
I believe that consumers haven't been speaking with their wallets and middlemen have prevented stores from picking up the lines in Europe.

The Muppets have sold out over here, besides Kermit, but i think you're right about the middlemen. Fans have certainly spoken with their wallets - $19 for $7.99 figures. They need a better middleman - one who can persuade the stores to increase their orders after they see one wave selling out, and also one who goes out and tries to get big retailers onboard rather than just catering to two bit comic shops. It's never gonna get better otherwise.

As for the states, i think the consumers have been buying into the line, most places have sold out - more consumers can't buy the figures if they aren't on the shelves - maybe if they were, they would !

 

[frogboy4]

I don't see doom for the Muppet line as you have suggested. It is critically popular successful with the niche market. I know they are picking up more stores over here too. I think your statement goes to an extreme.

However, there's a TRU mentality in the US - if it's not a hot property (a project that came out 5 minutes ago) then many stores won't carry it. It's the same way that many albums get pushed out of music stores.

They can't slash the price as has been done with the Simpsons stuff. The articulation and detail makes these figures cost more. I have seen some high-priced Simpsons stuff in my figure search. All of it was under whelming. You should have seen this $400 statue of Lisa. I could have made something better out of Play dough. I don't think Palisades should skimp on quality to make these figures cheaper. If you have noticed, they have gone up in price by a buck.

I also don't think European markets predict the success of the line. But it would be good to see more of them on board. I am sure Palisades reps are trying to find the best "middlemen" to work with, but from what I've heard - they have all been rather slimy. Maybe they just don't realize that if the figures were marked down any lower that there would be no profit on Palisades' end.

 

[ResidentLilly]

Originally posted by Luke
It's the distributors view that Palisades are the greedy ones - apparently Playmates drops the case price on the Simpsons to allow them to be imported in at a decent price, and then they make up the money because the stores then sell more and place larger orders.

We have offered to drop price for bigger volume...but then when the distributor realizes that they will actually have to TAKE a bigger volume at the lower price they always back out. They want the lower price AND the low volume. That and the distributors take WAY too high a margin than they should for being just a distributor.

 

[Luke]

Jamie

I didn't 'predict' doom for the line - i said that if they don't sort out their distribution problems (meaning the USA too) i feared for the line - obviously they have got this new retailer onboard. Yes, it has been popular as a niche product but obviously they need to sell as many as they can to keep the prices down and continue to keep up the quality. The loss of TRU was obviously a big blow to them as they placed very large orders, they need this other large retailer, and as i implied, one that this time sticks with the line to make things really take off. There would be no point in them continuing to make this line if all they had were a few comic stores who ordered a case or two per store, and if they did they'd probably have to raise the prices and they'd price themselves out of the market.

I also didn't imply that they should drop their prices or decrease quality - i just mentioned that Playmates were dropping their case prices to get these into Europe at a decent price and selling more. I knew more or less the reasons why Palisades can't really do this, although i do think they need to sort out the European market and maybe get somebody bigger to distribute them. I've met their distributor and he's the type who just deals with speciality stores. There are better here - huge companies like 'Vivid Imaginations' who do non-interactive versions of Simpsons and also WWE - and get them into the big retail stores. You are right that maybe it's the distributor who should take the smaller cut rather than expecting Palisades to do it - I guess 'Gear-4-Games' the current one is too small to do that, and maybe these figures don't sell in large enough numbers for one of the bigger distributors.

I agree with you that the European markets don't predict the success of the line - i was kinda commenting on the state of things in the states. However when they've got their problems over there getting dropped by TRU and having some other retailers just placing small orders i'm pretty sure it'd make things a lot easier for them if they had a succesful European market to fall back on and support the stateside one too. I remember Mike Horn saying he hoped Europe would fill 20% of orders - that would have the same effect on the success of the line as having TRU back on board again !

 

[WiGgY]

I think the repaint variant is cuasing problems for places that sell sets of figures. For every case there are only 2 full sets of four. That is if you consider that the repaint is usually bought by someone who wants a set a 4 as well. So then you get stuck with an incomplete set per case. I'm sure retailers see this and it kind of deters them. Maybe if every figure had an incase repaint variant they would sell better to stores. That way you can sell the repaint variants as a set and the regular sets get left alone.

Seems logical plus all those collector's would go nuts for them!!!

 

[Luke]

Originally posted by WiGgY
Maybe if every figure had an incase repaint variant they would sell better to stores. That way you can sell the repaint variants as a set and the regular sets get left alone.

It would never work - Palisades would end up paying the factory 3 times more to repaint 3 other sets of figures, yet sell them onto the retailers at the regular price. Just having one repaint per wave means that the factory only has to do one more paint run on a large scale. Although impractical, if they were to do it, the basic unit cost of the regular figures would probably have to go up to pay for all the extra paint runs.

 

[Zack the Dog]

What if they just didn't do repaints anymore? would that help or hurt? not saying i don't want repaints, but i didn't think of them causing such a big deal. I mean I want to buy them too but if they are a problem then just have that repainted figure a reg figure.

just saying...i don't know what i'm saying? i'm not sure





zack)Rowlf the, I guess i really only care for Band repaints, and rizzo too because he has worn that repinted suit, i wouldn't really be up for a Jonny repaint ( if that happened, because i would want a Sal repaint as well.) Dog.

 

[frogboy4]

I don't think there's a big problem with the repaints, just that some people have been taking advantage of it. Hard core collectors will be able to find these jems while the rest of us might go withoug. The point is - anyone can order a repaint from EB, but you can only order one. That means each person will have to make the decision whether to open it or not. I'll open mine and if I find another repaind down the line, I'll keep it MOC.

It's just unfortunate the lengths people will go through - not for the love of their collection, but for greed and profit. I say keep the repaints coming. I have been able to find at least one of each so far.

 

[WiGgY]

I like the repaints too. Especially for Rizzo since there are two version of the puppet and both are represented in the same series without taking up a new figures space. The thing is with one repaint per case that 1 incomplete set per case since a collector who walks in will buy 1 regular and the repaint. I did something similar. I got a case of figures. I opened 1 regular and the repaint. I knew one set would go to my friend who chipped in and that I would be left with an incomplete set missing the Zoot of course. So I bought a single Zoot. I added to the problem by doing that.

Repaints aren't bad, but if you look at it on the larger scale they can cause a problem, heck even on a small scale. My local Sun Coast gets 1 case per series, after that series one Kermit and Piggy over run. So, there are 2 sets, one repaint, and 3 figures that will never sell all at once. Eventually you get a shortage of Zoots and a surplus of everything else. There will never be enough Zoots to complete the set since many buy one regular Zoot and one Repaint. The only ways this can be avoided is to:

1. not do repaints which is a shame cause they are cool.

2. Do a repaint of every figure in the series thus having a repaint set and 2 regular ones, which looks like a no no

3. Some one who goes into the store buys a 2 whole sets, one with a repaint, one with a regular. I doubt that happens each time a repaint is bought.

of course this is all worst case senerio.