Operation Monster Force

I don't think that's how Fletch (or BW) meant it, but I also do understand that's how it can read. I'd argue a lot of collectors, whether anyone agrees with this level of financial irresponsibility or not, have more pre-orders at any given time than they could reasonably afford should all those pre-orders decide to ship together.

So if you're not expecting it, sudden drops can hit with a shock, even if you technically knew those things were coming. It's really not all that different from people going 'oh shit, all my Marvel Legends pre-orders just shipped!? Those said 'November' on them!' You knew you ordered them. You knew what the total cost was. You just weren't expecting it all today. I get that.

Yeah, finances are finances. There's plenty of stuff that I've had to pass on because I just can't swing it at the time. My car ate shit a couple years ago and I had to cancel a ton of stuff over the course of a few months. It sucked.

What kills me is just the overwhelming negativity of folks. FMF gets so much crap for the long gaps in between releasing things and then when they do they still get crap for putting out a couple waves at the same time. There's literally no winning for them. They're a small company likely eating shit on tariffs, who are as transparent about progress as a company can be. It's not like these BBTS emails are coming out of nowhere, we were told these figures were on a boat over a month ago and would be arriving at BBTS late September.

Boy Wonder said:

Yeah, finances are finances. There's plenty of stuff that I've had to pass on because I just can't swing it at the time. My car ate shit a couple years ago and I had to cancel a ton of stuff over the course of a few months. It sucked.

What kills me is just the overwhelming negativity of folks. FMF gets so much crap for the long gaps in between releasing things and then when they do they still get crap for putting out a couple waves at the same time. There's literally no winning for them. They're a small company likely eating shit on tariffs, who are as transparent about progress as a company can be. It's not like these BBTS emails are coming out of nowhere, we were told these figures were on a boat over a month ago and would be arriving at BBTS late September.

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And?

If anyone else here is like me, in that time, my wife's car needed a whole new exhaust, we had a cat that had an UTI so she needed to go to the emergency vet, groceries aren't getting cheaper, and Mondo decided to release the pre-orders for MOTU, and NECA put out the 2012 TMNT figures.

Things happen. And I'm sorry, are you upset and lamenting how we aren't being fair to the *company*?

...but screw us, right?

Boy Wonder said:

Yeah, finances are finances. There's plenty of stuff that I've had to pass on because I just can't swing it at the time. My car ate shit a couple years ago and I had to cancel a ton of stuff over the course of a few months. It sucked.

What kills me is just the overwhelming negativity of folks. FMF gets so much crap for the long gaps in between releasing things and then when they do they still get crap for putting out a couple waves at the same time. There's literally no winning for them. They're a small company likely eating shit on tariffs, who are as transparent about progress as a company can be. It's not like these BBTS emails are coming out of nowhere, we were told these figures were on a boat over a month ago and would be arriving at BBTS late September.

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It's almost certainly not FAIR, but I think what a lot of people are complaining about, at its core, is that they want consistency.
People don't want to have 300 open pre-orders from a company that hasn't delivered product. But they also don't want 300 pre-orders to ship at once and nail them with either a thousand dollar bill or a 'well, I guess I have to pick my two favorites.' Again, it might not be a fair thing to ask as some of those elements are probably outside FMF's control. But I get why people would want it this way.
Hell, -I- want it that way, as an ideal. I think G.I. Joe is really good at that right now. Consistently releasing new stuff, but not so much stuff at once that I can't afford anything.

RicksNerdLife said:

And?

If anyone else here is like me, in that time, my wife's car needed a whole new exhaust, we had a cat that had an UTI so she needed to go to the emergency vet, groceries aren't getting cheaper, and Mondo decided to release the pre-orders for MOTU, and NECA put out the 2012 TMNT figures.

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That stuff sucks. But if these things had hit back in spring when they originally were scheduled, what would that have changed?

Boy Wonder said:

That stuff sucks. But if these things had hit back in spring when they originally were scheduled, what would that have changed?

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I think the kind of flippant, but honest, answer to that is 'well, I wouldn't have bought X.'

Collectors are notorious for the 'it's in my account now and there's nothing else coming out that I want' kind of purchase. I know for a fact there's Joes I wouldn't buy right now at EB if I know Desert Scorpion is dropping, but I MIGHT buy right now if I know Scorp isn't dropping for 3 more months.

RicksNerdLife said:

The actual fuck...

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Dude. I'm only calling BS on anybody who claims these weren't spread out. Having all of them show up after a two year pre-order is exactly the same as them all being spread out over two years.

I'm sorry you had troubles, but I'm glad you were together enough to recognize your priorities. It's just crazy to me that anyone's mad that an entire wave showed up at once.

Damien said:

It's almost certainly not FAIR, but I think what a lot of people are complaining about, at its core, is that they want consistency.
People don't want to have 300 open pre-orders from a company that hasn't delivered product. But they also don't want 300 pre-orders to ship at once and nail them with either a thousand dollar bill or a 'well, I guess I have to pick my two favorites.' Again, it might not be a fair thing to ask as some of those elements are probably outside FMF's control. But I get why people would want it this way.
Hell, -I- want it that way, as an ideal. I think G.I. Joe is really good at that right now. Consistently releasing new stuff, but not so much stuff at once that I can't afford anything.

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Something that GI Joe has that helps that consistency is a giant corporation behind it that has thousands of employees to micromanage stages of production and ensure things are flowing smoothly. As well as decades of experience with their partners in China. Unfortunately with that huge staff comes the trade off of higher prices to feed all those mouths.

Boy Wonder said:

That stuff sucks. But if these things had hit back in spring when they originally were scheduled, what would that have changed?

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...

...my wife's car wouldn't have needed a new exhaust, my cat didn't have an UTI, and I didn't have preorders due upfront for MOTU and TMNT?

Because that was Spring. And not now. When all those things happened.

What is the point you think you're making? Either way, all of that is besides the point--they happened. And I'm sure things have happened for others.

But what *doesn't* need to happen is having you giving people shit for not being able to go all in on these.

I'm sorry, how is this even a discussion? Why do I, as an adult, need to tell you, also as an adult, that some people aren't in the same tax bracket, and some people have other things that tie up their money? You're a moderator here, telling people they're complainers. Complainers for not being able to afford something, and being upset about the way a company is choosing to bombard their customers.

Do you own stock in FMF? Do you have stake in the company? What does it matter to you if people aren't happy with the way this has gone about? I'm trying to understand the angle here.

Boy Wonder said:

Something that GI Joe has that helps that consistency is a giant corporation behind it that has thousands of employees to micromanage stages of production and ensure things are flowing smoothly. As well as decades of experience with their partners in China. Unfortunately with that huge staff comes the trade off of higher prices to feed all those mouths.

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I don't disagree that Hasbro has the kind of power that FMF does not have. I was only using them as an example of the kind of consistency people seem to like and probably where that mentality comes from of 'this is how I'd like it to be' - even if that's not a fair ask all the time.

Not sure about higher prices, though. Aren't FMF figures more expensive than Joes? Although, I suppose, they also have way more stuff than Joes?

Damien said:

I don't disagree that Hasbro has the kind of power that FMF does not have. I was only using them as an example of the kind of consistency people seem to like and probably where that mentality comes from of 'this is how I'd like it to be' - even if that's not a fair ask all the time.

Not sure about higher prices, though. Aren't FMF figures more expensive than Joes? Although, I suppose, they also have way more stuff than Joes?

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Considerably.

37-39 bucks for the regular figures.

RicksNerdLife said:

...

...my wife's car wouldn't have needed a new exhaust, my cat didn't have an UTI, and I didn't have preorders due upfront for MOTU and TMNT?

Because that was Spring. And not now. When all those things happened.

What is the point you think you're making? Either way, all of that is besides the point--they happened. And I'm sure things have happened for others.

But what *doesn't* need to happen is having you giving people shit for not being able to go all in on these.

I'm sorry, how is this even a discussion?

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If you think I'm giving people shit for not affording toys then you're reading this all wrong.

What I'm saying is that if you'd spent this money back in spring, what's the total net difference when crap hits the fan on a car, or a vet bill? At least now you have the capability to cancel what you want and you haven't just dropped a couple hundred bucks on figures right before unexpected costs pop up.

Boy Wonder said:

That stuff sucks. But if these things had hit back in spring when they originally were scheduled, what would that have changed?

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Actually would have been great, because Joe doesn’t release a lot of stuff in spring. This stuff is hitting at the same time Joe and most of the other hasbro lines are getting in their Christmas stock essentially which is a lot.

Operation Monster Force is a secondary line for most collectors so releasing when they just got hammered is not a great idea. I get it you gotta get it out when you can, but we also know hasbro releases ton of stuff at this time and BBTS definitely knows when this stuff is hitting


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Damien said:

I don't disagree that Hasbro has the kind of power that FMF does not have. I was only using them as an example of the kind of consistency people seem to like and probably where that mentality comes from of 'this is how I'd like it to be' - even if that's not a fair ask all the time.

Not sure about higher prices, though. Aren't FMF figures more expensive than Joes? Although, I suppose, they also have way more stuff than Joes?

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There's definitely a bell curve of figure prices with how big the company making them is. Small indie companies don't produce the volume of bigger companies and make less return per figure, whereas giant companies have way more employees to pay, both of which end up with higher prices.

Those middle companies like Jazwares, Jakks, even MacFarlane always feels like you can get the most bang for your buck.

I think it’s worth noting Monster Force isn’t exactly little ol Fresh Monkey Fiction anymore. It’s essentially BBTS which while a small player still should understand how toy customers make purchases and when product is coming in.


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