It's tough finding any of the MOTU figures beyond Wave 7 in retail stores

[man-e-faces]

As the topic of this thread suggests, I'm frustrated by the lack of new MOTU figures @ retail stores, specifically any new figures beyond Wave 7. I don't think I've seen a new Origins figure in stores since late last year. I suspect the reason for this is that Wave 7 was over-produced & therefore not selling. So, since stores can't move this stock, it sits there & they won't order Wave 8-on due to still having a lot of the Wave 7 figures in stock. And, even if the Wave 7 figures are put on clearance (which has been happening with some stores) I don't think that will make too much of a difference - especially given that most collectors/fans who want the figures in this wave have already gotten them.

From going on other websites discussing MOTU figures, I know I'm not the only one. A lot of other fans/collectors are having a difficult time finding any of the newer figures in stores.

I typically don't order MOTU figures online (though have done so rarely) because I don't like paying more expensive, after-market prices. However, given that I REALLY want a lot of the Wave 8-on figures, I may end up doing this - with at least some of the figures. We'll see.

[Mathius]

I agree 100%. It's one of the reasons I haven't been active lately on this board. There were so many figure release promos months back and all I can find in stores is Naked Stratos. (who even wanted this figure? I've bought some extras for customs, but that's just because I was hoping they'd sell out and get Wave 8)

Koldar sold out in less than an hour on Mattel Creations, and when I first saw it available I could have bought, but I took the time to think about it, and it was gone, now Wundar sold out in 2 minutes while I was still adding it to my shopping cart. To add insult to injury, a lot of these exclusive figures (Faker, the Grayskull set, Comics Tri-Klops, etc.) were added to the web site, but with a "sold out" tag.

It's like Mattel doesn't want to make any money. The secondary market is flooded with Wun-Dar figures already on ebay for $120-180.

Yet you can find the Masterverse and CGI garbage whenever you want as near as I can tell.

It's really hard to be enthusiastic about this line at this point, and I'm not the only one who feels this way based on Reddit, which btw, had a thread also saying how hard it is to find Wave 8 in actual stores.

I happened to be shopping for lunch meat and got 2 Panthor's for half off and a Stridor for half off, but honestly that's not a good sign for the line if they can't sell vehicles. Of course the vehicle releases have a WAY longer shelf life than the figures apparently given how hard it was to find the earlier Waves.

Oh, which reminds me, EE cancelled my Wave 3 case order when they put it back up for re-order on their site, but now they're selling the figures individually for pre-order. WTF?

[Mechanizor]

Exactly.
I was one of those guys who ordered from the second batch, and a few hours afterwards my ordered got cancelled and refunded. This evening I saw the refund listed on my credit card.

I have a feeling that many who were able to order from the first 2-3 minutes window started selling their Wun-Dars on the secondary market right away…

[Mathius]

Yeah, the whole scenario sucks. I enjoy He-Man, especially classic Filmation/Toys/Mini-Comics he-man, but I hate Mattel.

I was literally sitting in my car at lunch, added Wun-Dar to my cart, and hesitated, because I wanted to buy 3, but I couldn't see any option to order more than 1, so I figured they were going to make you adjust it in your cart. I clicked on my shopping cart icon and it said sold out, your cart is empty.

[Mechanizor]

The first time around I was able to add 2 WDs in my cart, and by the time I was able to check out, I saw only one in there?! I tried to make an adjustment to 2 again but it was all gone!

[man-e-faces]

Thanks for the responses. Yes, it's beyond frustrating not finding new Origins figures in stores, especially given that there are lot of new ones that are either already out, or scheduled to be released. I also never saw the wave(s) with Ninjor, Green Goddess, etc. - so I hope they will be re-released at some point (which may never happen).

Agree that naked Stratos is not that great of a figure; I never got this version.

As I mentioned in my OP, the only way I can see that stores will sell this old product (Wave 7) is via some serious clearance prices. However, even if they move the product this way, stores may still be hesitant to order newer MOTU waves due to Wave 7 selling so poorly.

I do order toys from Amazon sometimes - if they're a good price. But, they typically jack up the MOTU figure prices. Granted - I know there are online stores other than Amazon. But, I've had good luck with Amazon's shipping policy, etc. - and don't feel comfortable ordering from anywhere else.

[Mechanizor]

Aside from Amazon, I'd also recommend BBTS, they're fairly reliable as a small toy business (They've been doing it for a long while now) and you could use their "pile of loot" shipping feature that saves you a lot of money on shipping.

As for Amazon, try to select the Amazon.com seller on the left side when you search for MOTU Origins, this way it will fizzle out the third party sellers, and you get the figures that Amazon actually sells and fulfills...

BTW, I rarely go and shop for toys in physical stores these days, and for the past 7 years or so, I've been doing it mostly online, and I was able to get most of I wanted it without markups to a certain degree and a lot times discounted, unless I shop secondary market like eBay.

With free shipping and you don't have to go through the hassle of commuting and wasting time or paying for extra gas, it's really worth it IMHO.

[Mathius]

Don't order from Amazon unless you're intending to open the figure, because their handling of the figures is not collector grade in the least. I have received a Castle Grayskull shipped directly in the Grayskull box with shipping labels attached, several 2nd sculpt Skeletors that were opened upon arrival, and many vehicles with the back of the boxes card bent over to fit in the box.

[man-e-faces]

Thanks again for the feedback, everyone. I may consider ordering more online, especially since I'm really interested in getting the newer figures. If anything, the newer/forthcoming character selection & sculpts are IMHO superior to what we saw in 2020 & 2021 - nice.

When I've ordered MOTU product from Amazon, I haven't had any issues with the packaging - yet. The problem I have with them is that they really jack up the prices.

[Mechanizor]

Once again Man-e, the true Amazon shop is: >>> Amazon is the seller and Amazon is the shipper! <<< And this shop most of the time advertise the actual manufacturing suggested retail price MSRP or below it when it's on sale.

On rare occasion they jackup the prices if the particular unit is on hi demand and the supply (or the expected future supply) is very low! e.g. the Horde Trooper, where i've seen it sold by Amazon "the seller" sometime for $19.99 and sometimes for $16.99 which is the MSRP.

So make sure the seller is Amazon itself, and not 3rd party seller.

[Mathius]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWGP-F-IFSQ

I finally spotted a terror claw skeletor at one of my targets (the singles still had 1 buzz off and 3 naked stratos), but it looked like someone had punched a random hole in the upper right of the card to hang it on the peg. I decided I didn't want to buy it damaged like that because I didn't think I would open it.

I regretted it later after thinking it over. It would be nice to see if I could swap the torso (I always hated tube top skeletor), but I assume I'll have another chance at it since that was my first sighting.

[Mechanizor]

1) Is that your You-Tube channel by any chance?
2) TC Skeletor has been discounted on Amazon for the past two weeks or so. The same goes for FF He-Man...

[Mathius]

Nah, not my youtube. Just thought it was funny and relevant.

[Mechanizor]

Yeah that video was kinda funny...

Today I got an email from Mattel Creations to fill a survey after me contacting them about the cancellation of my Wun-Dar order on that day.... And there was a box for me to write my thoughts of their services, and of course I've trashed them and compared them to their much smaller former MOTU affiliates who have their own higher end toy lines that are successfully managed and currently growing in popularity, while a giant like Mattel still cannot deal with the MOTU brand efficiently after decades from its inception!

[deano_ue]

It’s near impossible outside of Amazon or specialist store in Ireland and the uk, when Mattel screwed over smyths the line basically died. We never got the deluxe at retail and shelf’s are still bunged with skeletors and he-mans

hell we’re still being asked for £20+ for origins and £30+ for revelations

[Mechanizor]

Mattel is clearly not doing enough with this brand, not even online!

[Mathius]

I swear to god it's like they don't want to make any money. It's like they lucked into Barbie and Hot Wheels which you can barely screw up and that's all they can do.

[man-e-faces]

Just wanted to post an update regarding the OP (which I originally posted): Though I still haven't seen many new MOTU Origins products in stores recently, I have thankfully seen less of Origins Wave 7 figures (Jitsu, light gray Stratos, Sorceress). I.e., though they are still peg-warmers, there aren't as many as there used to be. It's possible they're selling more as time is passing, and more people are collecting MOTU?!

In any case, hopefully this means that stores will be ordering more new Origins waves in the future. But, there's no way to know for sure, of course.

[Mechanizor]

Just wanted to post an update regarding the OP (which I originally posted): Though I still haven't seen many new MOTU Origins products in stores recently, I have thankfully seen less of Origins Wave 7 figures (Jitsu, light gray Stratos, Sorceress). I.e., though they are still peg-warmers, there aren't as many as there used to be. It's possible they're selling more as time is passing, and more people are collecting MOTU?!

In any case, hopefully this means that stores will be ordering more new Origins waves in the future. But, there's no way to know for sure, of course.

I have a feeling that Origins (and many other adult focused brands) could transition to the online market and to the specialty stores.

The whole idea of selling specific toys in big box stores is; to promote a brand and/or to sell in big volumes specifically for kids or for the casual fans, and once that is achieved, cutting cost of the middleman in this market is probably a logistical decision!... Also Mattel has mentioned before, it's up to the retailers to show interest in carrying this stuff, and those retailers happen to rotate merchandise if distribution becomes shady and get new brands on their shelves aside from essentials, and hardcore fans like us cannot do much about those corporate decisions.

[MIDOR]

Just now seeing thread.

For me Jitsu, Nekkid Stratos & sorceress just appeared out of nowhere. And at the moment not really hard to get a hold of.

That's the way with previous waves. Just appear out of nowhere. That's why I do a weekly run. See if anything magically appeared.

But that is because I don't go digging for info or watch or listen to a boatload of podcasts and youtube channels. I like being surprised. Don't like spoilers.

All I need to know is: "ok characters W, X, Y & Z are coming out. Alright. Cool."

Regardless, whether it's the States or Canada in my opinion it comes down to distribution and at a solid second is figure ratio.