McFarlane DC Multiverse

I am a big fan (and staunch defender) of McFarlane's DC figures, but $34.99 for Dr. Midnight is ridiculous. He's a regular sized figure that comes with 4 extra hands and an owl. While Silver-Age Batman came with 4 extra hands, a bat-a-rang and Ace The Bat-Hound for $22.99 just a few months ago. Remember when we all used to crow about how Todd was keeping his figure prices down to $19.99 while Marvel Legends was raising their price to $24.99? Well, we're not crowing so loud now, because those days are long gone.

The absolute randomness of which figures are put into the overpriced "Collector's Edition" line and which ones aren't is really starting to feel like price gouging just for the sake of it.

That said I still pre-ordered Dr. Midnight on Amazon… but I wan't happy about it. (I'm part of the problem aren't I?)
 
Mid-Night looks to be a completely new sculpt, or slight reuse (can't place those arms and legs anywhere). The higher price sucks donkey ass but at the very least it's not straight up 100% reuse with just a new head.
 
Dr. Mid-Nite has completely sold out at MTS. Cases, bundles, and singles. Not bad for a Golden Age second stringer. Todd, more JSA please.
 
Ninjak said:
I am a big fan (and staunch defender) of McFarlane's DC figures, but $34.99 for Dr. Midnight is ridiculous.
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There was never a defense for the "Collector's Edition" price even before Dr. Midnight. There was nothing in them to warrant the $30 price. The box is bigger. That's it. Then they go and HIKE the price $5 more! That's brazen.

But people are still paying. Paying without batting an eyelash, in fact. I know I'm part of the problem because my plan is to buy all the Batman Returns stuff tomorrow and I'm honestly not expecting anything mind blowing as far as accessories. In fact I wouldn't count on getting much more than what's shown in the promos. "Value for dollar" is nowhere in sight for these releases.

But please, can we please stop saying, "brand new sculpt" whenever someone points out outrageously priced adult collectibles. To me the implication there is that we should accept that adult collectibles are now a cookie-cutter brand like Funko Pops and if it's not some buck that we've been sold 100 times before then we should expect to pay more. I think what we should expect is for companies to invest back into the line for the occasional new sculpt, new tooling, without hitting the consumer with a price hike and without sending them into bankruptcy because companies used to be able to do that the vast majority of the time. Now "brand new sculpt" is a scape goat for upping the price anywhere from $5 to $25. No, no way.

(I'm telling you right now that last paragraph will get a copy/paste into a ML thread someday. It's an evergreen statement for McFarlane and Hasbro. You know there was a year or so there when I put Todd way above Hasbro in terms of value for dollar, now the two companies are just about indistinguishable from each other in that regard.)
 
yojoebro82 said:
There was never a defense for the "Collector's Edition" price even before Dr. Midnight. There was nothing in them to warrant the $30 price. The box is bigger. That's it. Then they go and HIKE the price $5 more! That's brazen.

But people are still paying. Paying without batting an eyelash, in fact. I know I'm part of the problem because my plan is to buy all the Batman Returns stuff tomorrow and I'm honestly not expecting anything mind blowing as far as accessories. In fact I wouldn't count on getting much more than what's shown in the promos. "Value for dollar" is nowhere in sight for these releases.

But please, can we please stop saying, "brand new sculpt" whenever someone points out outrageously priced adult collectibles. To me the implication there is that we should accept that adult collectibles are now a cookie-cutter brand like Funko Pops and if it's not some buck that we've been sold 100 times before then we should expect to pay more. I think what we should expect is for companies to invest back into the line for the occasional new sculpt, new tooling, without hitting the consumer with a price hike and without sending them into bankruptcy because companies used to be able to do that the vast majority of the time. Now "brand new sculpt" is a scape goat for upping the price anywhere from $5 to $25. No, no way.

(I'm telling you right now that last paragraph will get a copy/paste into a ML thread someday. It's an evergreen statement for McFarlane and Hasbro. You know there was a year or so there when I put Todd way above Hasbro in terms of value for dollar, now the two companies are just about indistinguishable from each other in that regard.)
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Kinda feels targeted at my last post so I'm gonna reply.

Once this line turned away from new sculpts into, most of the time, the shittiest, worst kind of reuse, I dropped it almost completely. I assume that I'm buying maybe 10% of what Todd's making at the moment - I was grabbing figures left and right in the past. Never as a completist, but there were times when I double or triple dipped on the same release for custom purposes.

So yeah, while the price hike for the CE figures is pure, undiluted crap, I don't mind it as much when I'm spending so much less on McF in general, and when the figure in question is much more than pure Hasbro/Todd style reuse.
 
Shinigami Customs said:
Kinda feels targeted at my last post so I'm gonna reply.
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Your post brought it to mind but I've heard "it's an all new sculpt" many times before in defense of high prices. See ML Maximum Series.

All new sculpt and BIG mega fig type characters? Sure, of course raise the price. All new sculpt and standard size characters? Invest back into the line, big-name toy company.
 
I grabbed Scarecrow and Batgirl just now from BBTS. Thankfully they aren't scheduled to arrive until November. This is an expensive week already. Can't wait for Scarecrow, though. Batgirl is "meh", might cancel her, we'll see. But damn, that Scarecrow......

EDIT: Man, 6 minutes in and Scarecrow is gone from BBTS. I only got one because I have a break at 11am on Thursdays. Tomorrow I won't be so lucky. Don't know what Scarecrow's status is at other retailers. Good luck, all.
 
I also grabbed Batgirl and Scarecrow @ BBTS. I would have grabbed a Batman Inc, too, but I really don't like that yellow on the chest. And Batgirl I only got for the head sculpt.

It's going to be tough to get everything tomorrow, but here's hoping.
 
Got the five I wanted at MTS. Still world building since we’re on the clock with the license.

Failsafe
Riddler
Scarecrow
Black Mask
New 52 E-2 Batman

Plus Dr. Mid-Nite yesterday.

A JSA member. Four villains and a Multiverse Batman. Not bad. Don’t need another black/gray Batman and blue/gray Batgirl does nothing for me.

Tomorrow is a non issue for me. Live action just isn’t in my wheelhouse.

And remember, today is a one/two punch. 3:00 PM eastern is the next episode of McFarlane Toys YouTube show. Supposedly some reveals ahead of NYCC.
 
I ordered Batgirl, Riddler & Scarecrow from Gamestop. I don't care for the glow on the chest on the Batman Inc figure. I might pick it up if I see it at retail. Besides, it is similar to the Three Jokers Batman. I didn't want the rest.
 
I ended up doing the 7-figure bundle including the megafig from McFarlane Toy Store. It ended up being $176 after the MTS10 code and shipping, so I thought that was a decent deal even if I probably would have passed on Batman Inc Bats and Hush Riddler otherwise. I wanted all the rest and Scarecrow was otherwise sold out everywhere it seemed. The Failsafe megafigure is the one that I'm most looking forward to.

I ordered Dr Mid-Nite from Amazon yesterday, but skipped Mobius Chair Bats. Mid-Nite was also sold out most places by the time I got around to ordering.

For tomorrow I only want the oddball stuff: the Duckmobile, Max Schreck and the Commando Penguins. I couldn't care less about the figures that I expect most people to chase (Batman, Catwoman, regular Penguin). So I'm going to try to hit Gamestop.com first when those pre-orders go live.
 
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Did today's drops really sell out that quickly? Tried Amazon and BBTS like 5 minutes ago, and they seem to be sold out everywhere. Not that I expect they'll be impossible to find in store, but I like the assurance I won't have to worry about finding them. Gotta have me that Scarecrow!

Glad to see they gave him an accessory- the little scythe is cool! The skull would've been nice too, but that shouldn't be too hard to parse.
 
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