Post by bettycooks on Mar 15, 2004 11:31:38 GMT -5
I e-mailed a few online retailers regarding their stock of Willow figures. Alot of them seem to have sold out quickly or moved their ship dates to May. I've asked a few what's going on with their stock and I got a few interesting replies. I've copied 1 below.
*****************************************
Hi Betty,
Thank you for writing.
The situation with the Willow action figures has not been handled well and continues to
be a source of frustration for many retailers.
MAC no longers controls the production, and more importantly, the distribution of the figures. Diamond Select Toys now has complete control of all aspects of the line. DST has decided to release the Willow figures in 2 waves, the first out now and the
second due in May.
This majority of the entire first wave has been shipped to DST larger retail customers like Tower Records and the Musicland group of shops which includes Suncoast, Sam Goody and Media Play stores as well as UK shops.
The balance of the figures are being held by Diamond for their own online store, which will bypass ALL current retail customers. They have decided to try to sell directly to the end user. (Although we hear the store may not open due to the outcry from their retailers)
The vast majority of long time MAC retailers and supporters has been ignored in favor of these large chain stores. Many received just a partial shipment of their original orders, which I might add, were in house with MAC way before Tower Records, etc, came on the scene.
Some of these retailers had ordered the figures years before this retail store release and currently can do nothing but watch their customers turn away from them and get their figures from other sources or even DST directly! This is perfectly understandable as we have all waited years for the figures to released and many people do not want to wait another 2 months for this second shipment.
We think this is a gross mistreatment of many long time MAC supporters. We also believe this would not have happened if MAC still had control of the line. Diamond is a large corporation with an even larger distribution reach, hence the release of the Willow figures overseas weeks before their arrival in the US. Given this I hope you can understand the position many smaller online retailers are in, it is out of our hands at this point.
I can say that several of these stores will be rethinking their future orders of DST Buffy product given these new distribution methods. Long time supporters being treated like second class customers, or direct competition, is not good for business. We cannot spend all this time and effort promoting products that we'll get months after the chain stores and where we may also have to compete with DST itself.
Please don't get me wrong we can certainly understand DST reasons for doing this, as the market gets smaller it is important for manufacturers to try and squeeze every penny that they can from a product. This situation is also reflected in Sideshow Toys decision not to offer their product to DST or Marz Dist and to sell the majority of their products directly to the end-user. They get more money for their invesment. These are all standard signs of a market contraction. The Diamond store, if it does indeed open, will be another strong indicator of this.
We hope that things will improve moving forward, we love the figures and do want to see the line succeed.
Thanks again for taking the time to write,
*****
*******************
This explains alot of what's happening with the figures and why so many sites sold out so quickly. They had to fill the preorders they had in stock and had nothing left over. Or they never got them in the first place like Toydepot.
Oops, the store owner asked that I not use their name so I had to delete it.
*****************************************
Hi Betty,
Thank you for writing.
The situation with the Willow action figures has not been handled well and continues to
be a source of frustration for many retailers.
MAC no longers controls the production, and more importantly, the distribution of the figures. Diamond Select Toys now has complete control of all aspects of the line. DST has decided to release the Willow figures in 2 waves, the first out now and the
second due in May.
This majority of the entire first wave has been shipped to DST larger retail customers like Tower Records and the Musicland group of shops which includes Suncoast, Sam Goody and Media Play stores as well as UK shops.
The balance of the figures are being held by Diamond for their own online store, which will bypass ALL current retail customers. They have decided to try to sell directly to the end user. (Although we hear the store may not open due to the outcry from their retailers)
The vast majority of long time MAC retailers and supporters has been ignored in favor of these large chain stores. Many received just a partial shipment of their original orders, which I might add, were in house with MAC way before Tower Records, etc, came on the scene.
Some of these retailers had ordered the figures years before this retail store release and currently can do nothing but watch their customers turn away from them and get their figures from other sources or even DST directly! This is perfectly understandable as we have all waited years for the figures to released and many people do not want to wait another 2 months for this second shipment.
We think this is a gross mistreatment of many long time MAC supporters. We also believe this would not have happened if MAC still had control of the line. Diamond is a large corporation with an even larger distribution reach, hence the release of the Willow figures overseas weeks before their arrival in the US. Given this I hope you can understand the position many smaller online retailers are in, it is out of our hands at this point.
I can say that several of these stores will be rethinking their future orders of DST Buffy product given these new distribution methods. Long time supporters being treated like second class customers, or direct competition, is not good for business. We cannot spend all this time and effort promoting products that we'll get months after the chain stores and where we may also have to compete with DST itself.
Please don't get me wrong we can certainly understand DST reasons for doing this, as the market gets smaller it is important for manufacturers to try and squeeze every penny that they can from a product. This situation is also reflected in Sideshow Toys decision not to offer their product to DST or Marz Dist and to sell the majority of their products directly to the end-user. They get more money for their invesment. These are all standard signs of a market contraction. The Diamond store, if it does indeed open, will be another strong indicator of this.
We hope that things will improve moving forward, we love the figures and do want to see the line succeed.
Thanks again for taking the time to write,
*****
*******************
This explains alot of what's happening with the figures and why so many sites sold out so quickly. They had to fill the preorders they had in stock and had nothing left over. Or they never got them in the first place like Toydepot.
Oops, the store owner asked that I not use their name so I had to delete it.
Shine on down...