Thought

[Envark]

One problem with toylines is that capitalism really doesn't work completely with them. Capitalism usually works well when people "vote with their wallets" and don't buy poor products. However, toy companies don't always count the vote properly. For instance, if we choose to not buy Baxter, then maybe Playmates will realize it was a crappy figure. However, they might take it to mean that we don't appreciate them making weirder figures and churn out more turtle repaints instead. This is why it is essential for people like us to let our voice be heard at Playmates. If you don't like a figure, then don't buy it. But send a letter to Playmates expressing WHY you did not buy the figure. Otherwise, we might end up with another Mattel. :)

[tmntman]

Sadly it is even more complicated than that. To begin with, you forget that there is a third party acting as the middle man there, the store/retailer. While we may be the end consumer, Playmates, as with all toy companies, need to sell their product to stores.

Part of how they do that is with the feedback from consumers like ourselves. But often making the sale means compling with the whims of the retail buyers who may or may not have any first hand interaction with the end consumers. They are likely basing their desicions on sales figures on many things including their own sales figure. Things become even more convoluted when you realize that most retailers treat toys the same way they might treat laundry detergent or motor oil. What I mean by that is that may stores assign a single inventory identifacation number to an entire line of figures. The result is that they don't see 'a figure' that doesn't sell. They see that the demand for the line as a whole has slowed down. You can see this in action with peg warmmers. One figure or part of a wave of figures sells slowly and as a result a store doesn't receive the next wave when it is released until the old figures start to clear out. Some times this just slows the distribution of new figures but at times it can result in entire waves being skipped. And once the new figures are available somewhere else, the sales of the old figures just gets worse and worse.

But the more drastic affect can be seen in the power the largest retailers, especially Walmart, cna have on the toys that are produced. Case in point, Toy Biz had plans for a large Balrog figure for their Lord of the Ring figures but when Walmart wouldn't carry it, those plans were squashed. Then again with the Marvel Legends line, Walmart caused the latest wave to be pushed back because they wanted the accessories for one of the figures changed.