McFarlane Toys has lost me as a customer... again.  The new Matrix toy assortment came in with eight Neos, two Morpheus, one Trinity, and only one of the two Twin figures.  I didn't even get one of each figure.  And apparently this problem is not unique to assortments distributed through comics stores.  I've had customer after customer come in and complain about how Neo figures are all over the place, while Trinity and (especially) the Twins are nearly impossible to find.  The end result is that I'm stuck with eight out of 12 figures that will be impossible to move -- about as impossible as the concept of breaking even on this deal.

This isn't the first time that I've felt 'bitten' by McFarlane toys.  Normally I have a policy of only ordering from McFarlane when I have customers place advance orders.  I started a limited boycott of McFarlane years ago because of the Spawn line.  These toys would show up at the local Wal-Marts a month before my shipment arrived, and were always priced at less than my cost.  I discontinued carrying the line until there was an announcement made in the Diamond Dateline that Diamond Comics Distributors had become the 'Exclusive Distributors of McFarlane toys.'
   

I fell for it, and even ordered an extra case, thinking that McFarlane toys would now be distributed exclusively through comic stores.  Sure enough, they arrived at Wal-Mart a month before I got them -- priced at less than my cost.  When I complained to Diamond, my (now long-gone) representative explained that all the statement had meant to say was that McFarlane would be distributed to comic stores only through Diamond, but that yes -- the wording had been very misleading.