Lauren Becker of WARP 9 in Clawson/Auburn Hills, MI offers his opinion of the recent Diamond Select Toys and Toys R Us discussion (“John Miller of Lost Realms Comics on DST/TRU Team-up”):
I read last November on Diamond Select Toys's (DST) website this little piece of info:
Diamond Select Toys & Toys R Us Team Up!
Diamond Select Toys and Toys R Us are excited to announce a new partnership that will bring the latest DST products to Toys R Us stores nationwide! That's right, now you can find all your favorite collector toys by visiting the greatest toy store there is!
Reading it further, it alluded to the fact that Toys R Us (TRU) would be carrying select Star Trek items and EXCLUSIVE Marvel Minimates. Ok... fine... it gives us time to plan ahead... maybe cut orders a bit on Star Trek stuff, even though a (surprisingly) strong seller at our stores... but with the new movie coming out next summer, more people are apt to go to TRU than a comic shop. But as my father always said, never assume. Why?
Because what I did NOT expect, however, was the inclusion of the new 1/4 scale Star Wars line, something that we had ordered many months prior. There was no mention that this line of figures would be "available at other retail locations," like what is normally posted on many of Diamond's solicitations. And the best part? TRU received them ONE WEEK (at least) AHEAD OF
Here are a couple of the answers I received from Diamond (and keep in mind, that many of the quotes are paraphrased because I obviously didn’t record my conversation with Diamond):
1) WHY DID TRU RECEIVE THEM BEFORE US? "TRU had them airshipped directly from the source while Diamond Dist. had them shipped in on regular boat." So does this mean if I want to get the jump on my competitors, I can have our products airshipped in from "the source" too? Great! Hey Diamond, can you please airship me my cases of DC Universe Wave 7 from "the source" so that I can have my product early? And just for the heck of it, toss me my copies of Dark Avengers #1 too. I’m sure my competition won't mind me having those in two weeks ahead of everyone else...
2) WHY IS TRU CARRYING THIS PRODUCT AT ALL? "The licensing with Lucasfilms is expensive, and because the orders were not on par with the costs of carrying the license, DST needed to venture out"... OK... I understand this... the economy is tight, and because the orders were light for this item, in order not to go out of business, you needed to align yourself with bigger fish. Here is the problem however...
We (meaning ALL comic shops) were NOT told. Pure and simple.
If I was told that this product was going to be offered at TRU... yes... I would have cut my orders... I am not saying this is illegal (DST/Diamond has the right to sell to whomever they chose), just saying that we (meaning the direct market) were kept in the dark as to whom would be able to sell this piece.
The one thing that almost helps with this TRU/DST predicament, is that TRU is actually selling the 1/4 scale figure at FULL RETAIL ($79.99). Using guerrilla tactics, we are actually able to discount these to our customers by $10.00 (hey... I’d rather get some money back with a small profit than sitting on these and hopefully getting full retail at SOME point). Would I rather sell these at full retail? Well, yeah, but lets face it... the economy will NOT let us do that.
So now TRU has comic shop "exclusives". Great. But I bet you that unlike the direct market, if TRU doesn’t sell these in the allotted time allowed, TRU has the ability to send these back. No harm, no foul for TRU, but a huge blow to the direct market.
Just my two cents.
The opinions expressed in this Talk Back article are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of IC.2.com.
