[wedge1968]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JackKnight73

I am 52 this year and I order as much online as possible. I almost can't stand going to a store to specifically search for figures. Now if I happen to go to a store I walk through toys and if I find something interesting, I may pick it up.

All that said, say Hasbro Pulse gave an option to subscribe to get one or two of every Gi JOE Classified released, including any store or con exclusive. I would do it to never have to try and preorder and not have to go on a quest to search.

I get it, some like to search and that is fine. At 52 "the hunt" frustrates me more these days instead of being fun like it used to be. I just want to order the product and receive it.

I do not understand why Pulse or Hasbro does not do this. You enroll and get charged and shipped one of everything. You can go online and opt out of any release you do not want.

Research shows most people would not take that step and would end up receiving (and paying for) several figures they may have been on the fence about.

Collectors would not miss out. Hasbro would have known quantities to produce and added income. The only downside is the infrastructure to set it up, but it seems Pulse could manage this.

[wehrmanm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wedge1968

I do not understand why Pulse or Hasbro does not do this. You enroll and get charged and shipped one of everything. You can go online and opt out of any release you do not want.

1) It's probably a PITA to set up an online buy flow for this.
2) It's an even smaller audience that you think; not just people who want "one of everything," but are willing to do so at MSRP every single time, no exception.
3) It's probably against some law to put consumers on the hook for an unknown dollar amount. You subscribe to a magazine, or Netflix, or Game Pass - those are constant costs, they don't fluctuate except at renewal time. Some consumers might sign up for this and then panic when it crosses $700 into $900 of merch in a year.
3) You have to have some kind of time delineation (let's say a year just to be safe and smart); unless you keep it constant (calendar year only), then it gets *really* messy, and could mean consumers who sign up in good faith in, say, July to ensure SDCC exclusive access - if they don't pay attention, could expire for just a few weeks (or suffer the indignity of an expired credit card) and lose access to the service, preventing them from getting the exact difficult-to-obtain exclusives that motivated them to sign up for this mythical service.

Most of all, it encourages consumers to be more passive. We have to be active and online, ready to buy, sharing our excitement. Remember this: we - us here - are pretty much the entire GI Joe Classified marketing team. Our conversation, our talk of finding (or not) Tiger Paws in store, of seeing preorder links up on Amazon, asking where we can get Doc in stock right now. They'd be willingly giving up on a significant portion of that (in my estimate) if they made it so consumers could sign up and kick back, passively receiving every GI Joe Classified ever.

So, look - I'm (still, JFC) a MIB Classified Completist. I'm the ideal person for this service. Would love it personally, would sign up personally. But economically on a macro level it doesn't make sense for them to execute.

[SpottedEagleSvn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wedge1968

I do not understand why Pulse or Hasbro does not do this. You enroll and get charged and shipped one of everything. You can go online and opt out of any release you do not want.

The Columbia House model is interesting. Can we get 12 XMLR-3As for a penny when we sign up? Maybe they don't get the marketing hype from slapping "sold out" on something hot, but I wonder if they would sell more units anyway.

[theNAMmagazine]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpottedEagleSvn

The Columbia House model is interesting. Can we get 12 XMLR-3As for a penny when we sign up? Maybe they don't get the marketing hype from slapping "sold out" on something hot, but I wonder if they would sell more units anyway.

I often wonder how many poor saps didn't read the fine print, or forgot it, and ended up on a collection agency's list because of Columbia House.

[JeepJedi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JackKnight73

I get it, some like to search and that is fine. At 52 "the hunt" frustrates me more these days instead of being fun like it used to be. I just want to order the product and receive it.

I'm 51 and I hear you. If I had to hunt for Classified in brick and mortar stores I would not be collecting Classified. On top of the terrible traffic in DFW, my "me time" is too limited to spend it driving around endlessly looking for toys.

In the old days the hunt was part of the fun.. I'll admit I loved that then.. but I'm too spoiled/old now. So I can understand the people that find that part of it fun still. Just not for me now.

*** Edit *** Let me amend the "would not be collecting" statement with.. I'd likely only collect stuff I happened to see when I was in the store for a different reason.

[GoodGuy9]

I'd be interested in the subscription concept, kind of like DTC where you bought each case on release with two of the eight figures being troop builders.

[Cobra Agent 66]

lol I remember my mom freaking out because I got Whitesnake, Guns n' Roses, Expose, Public Enemy, Taylor Dayne and a few other 80's tapes from Colombia House without asking them. She thought I was gonna go to jail or something, I was like 14.

[sevreed]

Let me give you a little scenario of my life. I am 52 years old, I am thrice divorced, I live on a steady diet of government cheese and I display my Classified figures IN A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER!!!

[BlackCross5]

So...if I remember correctly (and I very much may not be doing so), but last year at SDCC we saw a number of figures we were expecting and got a look at the HISS tank... and then, out of nowhere, "Hey everybody, here's Mutt and Junkyard!"

Do you think Hasbro has a "surprise" figure or two that they haven't mentioned AT ALL that we may see revealed in all of its glory on Thursday? If so...who would you want that to be?

For me...Hit & Run, Sci-Fi, Law & Order and Lifeline would be at the top of the list for me.

[wehrmanm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackCross5

So...if I remember correctly (and I very much may not be doing so), but last year at SDCC we saw a number of figures we were expecting and got a look at the HISS tank... and then, out of nowhere, "Hey everybody, here's Mutt and Junkyard!"

Do you think Hasbro has a "surprise" figure or two that they haven't mentioned AT ALL that we may see revealed in all of its glory on Thursday? If so...who would you want that to be?

For me...Hit & Run, Sci-Fi, Law & Order and Lifeline would be at the top of the list for me.

Starduster and 2 more 60th would be my guess...