Basic 13 setting a bad tone for 2012?

[Lorenzo Alcazar]

Mattel has talked a lot about how newer characters and Divas get short packed due to retailers ordering less WWE product because of certain figures shelf warming the last few years.

But do you think Basic 13 is setting a bad tone for 2012? I mean, except for Vickie Guerrero, you've got 5 of the biggest shelf warmers in WWE figure history!

- Undertaker: Every figure of his is almost identical. Major shelf warmer.
- John Morrison: Major shelf warmer, and he's been fired.
- Rey Mysterio: Gets way too many figures. Tons of different ones on shelves currently. What's special about this one?
- R-Truth: All of his figures are very similar as well. Not a popular character.
- Ezekiel Jackson: A great figure, but not a popular character by any means.

Now, I've been to tons of stores in the last week or so. Seen the Kmart Cubes, opened up fresh cases on Basic 13 myself (all WITHOUT Vickie) and I've seen over 100 figures from Basic 13 all go untouched day after day after day after day after day.

Do you guys think Basic 13 not moving is going to cause stores to not want to order as much WWE product when they get stuck with Basic 13 for the foreseeable future?

Between Elite 9 Orton's, Best of 2011 Orton's, and Elite 12 Orton's clogging up shelves, and nobody wanting anything from Basic 13 except Vickie (arguably Jackson as well, but I can go to 3 stores and get 20 of them right now if I want).......are stores going to get fed up with WWE Mattel figures just sitting there?

Because remember.....until the shelves EMPTY, stores don't restock. So any new stuff they get in will go straight to the end of the line. So in my opinion, Basic 13 is getting the year off on the wrong foot because stores are going to see WWE product not moving, and it's going to sit around forever causing a major slowdown in new stuff being put out.

[Matty]

I agree on all but one. I know Zeke isn't the most popular, but it's a sought after figure and is a major improvement from the 2-packs series 6 one. It's also a great figure; I love the new mold.

[Chip]

completely agree. while putting morrison in the set because he's done, i can't fault them for (they decide lineups without knowing who's going to be fired)

putting Morrison in the set when they JUST had him in Basic 12...however is stupid
and not to mention that it's a straight re-release of the Wrestlemania 27 one.

I'm getting tired of seeing the same people in basic sets (Cena, Rey, Orton, Undertaker)
Yet guys like Miz only get figures in 2 packs....or CM Punk hasn't had a Basic series figure since series 2 (not counting PPVs or 2 packs)

[Iron Bison]

Jan 3, 2012 14:18:53 GMT -5 Matty said:

I agree on all but one. I know Zeke isn't the most popular, but it's a sought after figure and is a major improvement from the 2-packs series 6 one. It's also a great figure; I love the new mold.

Zeke is only sought after by us collectors. No little 6 year old tommy is going to see B13 Zeke and say "OMG, new Ezekial with newly molded torso and arms!"
I don't think any kid thinks that way.

[Chewdeezy]

R-Truth is turning face again and he will sell and I never see his figures sit for that long. Zeke will sell, he's the second to being shortpacked after Vickie. Rey always sell. I think Morrison and Undertaker will clog the shelves the longest.

You have to remember that line-ups are created at least 6 months in advance. Nobody knew John Morrison was leaving and he was getting a good push until after Wrestlemania. Sometimes line-ups hit it out of the park and sell right away while some series will sit.

I'm just grateful there isn't a Cena or Orton in this series.

[m0nst3r42]

so far i've seen 2 cubes at 2 different k-marts... both had about 3-4 zeke and about 5 each of the rest besides vickie. i'm assuming she's one per cube or something... but i can see these figures sitting on the shelves for awhile... maybe the cube is still new or something but i doubt that b13 will be hard to find besides vickie.

[PJ]

I think Basic 13 is slow to move right now because Christmas just came last week. Parents aren't going out buying their kids toys a week after Christmas.

But in the end Take and Rey will move because they are Taker & Rey and their Basics always move. The rest of the set including Vickie I see sitting on the pegs in the long run. Maybe R-Truth will move if his push continues.

I'm in Rockland County and I can tell you for a fact you can't find any of the older Basic lines at TRU/Target/WalMart. TRU has the Best of & WM, Targets have nothing right now and last time I was at WalMart (2 weeks ago) all they had left was their exclusive ring and a few Elite 11 Barretts.

[Y3RP: LA MARAVILLA!!!]

agreed! vickie is the only one i want really! i mean i would gotten myself a new zeke......but honestly thats a waste of money. being i got the 2pk zeke, & it still would do!

[Calcifer Boheme]

The kmart cube here was nearly sold out of the series, so I can't really say how they'll do over all. There were one or two of each of them, minus Vickie, but that was it.

I'm sure they'll all get sold eventually though.

[jfinnomore]

As PJ said its right after Christmas so they'll sit for a while, most retailers do resets around this time so they won't be in any hurry to order anytime soon anyways.

[LaParka]

I got Vickie and Ezekiel. The Rey and Undertaker will sell over time, Morrison is cool mthat its more of a mass release of his updated attire. R-truth sells pretty fair but the Heeel extreme rules is slightly better.

my kmart has about 10 Morrisons a few takers,Rey, and R Truths.

Miz was in basic 6 but most times is put in 2 packs.

If they went by the Jakks philosophy the newer characters sold pretty well at first or if it was there only figure.

[JC Motors]

I got Vickie and Ezekiel also. I ordered Vickie online before Christmas because I didn't want to take any chances with not finding her in a cube which turns out I didn't. However I got the last Ezekiel Jackson from the cube. Morrison, will be a shelfwarmer for a while, Truth sells quickly while Rey and Undertaker are also slow movers. So I wouldn't say B13 is setting a bad tone. I think Mattel has the problem of producing the same figures over and over again which gives the other guys and divas the back seat.

[Deleted]

Only the collectors want that Zeke toy. Kids don't pay attention to what series Undertaker or Rey is. They just want an Undertaker or Rey. Collectors never seem to understand that.

[mrhoss]

Mattel over thinks. Mattel has to realize every toyline has pegwarmers.
I have never seen Basics pegwarm at an alarming rate. The only time they do is when one store over orders a series. Case in point, Wrestlemania Heritage at Walmart when Melina seemed to be the only seller. I think that series screwed Walmart up for the rest of the year.

I keep seeing shortages. Does it ever get so bad a store puts Basics on clearance (besides WMH at Walmart)? But what about their movie toylines (Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, all failures).

Phooey to the non collectors who buy 10 figures a year.

And I hear it more and more, parents in the toy aisle questioning the need for "another ____?" They are starting to steer the kids to other figures.

[jfinnomore]

Jan 3, 2012 16:26:26 GMT -5 @junkfooddog said:

Only the collectors want that Zeke toy. Kids don't pay attention to what series Undertaker or Rey is. They just want an Undertaker or Rey. Collectors never seem to understand that.

is that why my Kmart had 2 pegs of Elite 8 Taker and no one else?

[hitman1072]

I disagree with everything you say. These are your opinions, and Mattel knows more than you do.

[Lorenzo Alcazar]

Jan 3, 2012 17:10:30 GMT -5 hitman1072 said:

I disagree with everything you say. These are your opinions, and Mattel knows more than you do.

That's totally cool. You have the right to your opinions. This is true, I have no background in marketing or toy making,

However, in my opinion it was a bad move by Mattel to put Rey Mysterio AND John Morrison in Basic Series 12 AND Basic Series 13.

I don't think anybody should be in back to back series', regardless of their level of popularity, or lack of popularity.

The problem Mattel ran into is that Myerstio and Morrison from Basic Series 12 were shelfwarmers and are still on the shelf and now Basic 13 and 12 are railroading into one another and you've got Mysterio and Morrison from two different series' on the pegs at one time.

So really....nobody should be in two series' in a row.

["Original Broski" jonjon535353]

I've only seen R-Truth once in stores. The Truth figure I have was from the OTL set which I ordered from WWE Shop. Clearly, he sells. Yes, there's alot of Reys out there, but from what I can see, they sell fairly quickly. Vickie is obviously the gem of this set. Big Zeke may be a shelf-warmer in some areas due to the fact that most kids won't want him, but collectors will scoop him up real quick. Morrison sits around here, so I think he's gonna be a shelf warmer from this set, and don't even get me started on Takers constant re-releases with a slight color change.

[mrhoss]

Jan 3, 2012 17:23:06 GMT -5 Lorenzo Alcazar said:

So really....nobody should be in two series' in a row.

Hopefully, mixing some older Wrestlers like Brett, Shawn, Eddie, etc into the Basic line will help. It should take some of the burden off the current roster. If there isn't any first timers or noticeable attire changes, Mattel won't be forced to pad a line up.

I wish Mattel would tell us their plans regarding the new numbering system. Technically there is no B13 or any other series number, right? If Vickie continues to sell out, it is possible to slip her into another assortment later in the year. Hasbro seems to have had success with the numbering of MU figures. Each wave has a mix of new figures and sought after older figures.

[theperfectmountie]

I think everyone is jumping to conclusions. These figures overall sell faulty quickly compared to other toy lines. Have you seen how long some of this other sh*t stays there. My local toys r us has macfarlane sports figures from 4-5 years ago sitting there.