Mattel - New for 2023

[Faelrin]

Just because it was shoehorned into a poorly managed crowdfund as a stretch goal for it doesn't mean that people don't want it. Hopefully they take notice of that fact from all the feedback they've been getting for it.

Worst case that there will not be a Hammond Collection one, there is still the fine Kenner one that's aged like a fine wine. Sure it lacks in articulation, and isn't 1:1 screen accurate, but for what it is, it's still the best option out there for the buck to this day.

[CityRaptor]

And it has some of the very flaws people complain about. Unpainted hand claws and enormous feet. Also really off proportions.

[Eatmycar]

And it has some of the very flaws people complain about. Unpainted hand claws and enormous feet. Also really off proportions.

The Kenner Rexes? Yeah, I absolutely don't consider them a consolation prize if we never see a Mattel buck. The Kenner toys look goofy to put it nicely.

7 year old me loved them. 33 year old me wants Mattel's rendition, not the ancient Kenner one.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

To add fuel to the fire, it would seem a rumor has started floating around that a standalone Buck rex release is now considered "not viable" by Mattel.* You can imagine the response to the possibility of never seeing the Buck again has caused 

*My subjective response to this is that it's a load meant to guilt trip those holding out to back the project at the 11th hour lest they risk losing out on the Buck indefinitely.

My guess is a Buck " as created for this crowdfund" would not be viable. Either because the tooling/paint apps/glass eyes, or a retailer like Target wouldn't carry it for the price point required. That I would believe.  We might get an HC Buck..eventually. But it wont' be this nice.

[Carnoking]

Yeah I'd believe that. Would definitely undermine the whole crowdfund notion if Mattel turned around and did a stand-alone release for that figure.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Yeah I'd believe that. Would definitely undermine the whole crowdfund notion if Mattel turned around and did a stand-alone release for that figure.

Exactly. Then people would wonder " well why can't the gate as a stand alone" or insert goat, fences, signs, ect..  It becomes a whole can of worms.

[Shane]

Honestly, it seems like the gate campaign did a fine job of undermining itself. I would actually view Mattel more favorably if they found ways to release the stretch goal items in alternate ways (bull, goat, paddock markers, etc.) but that's just me.

[Faelrin]

Worth noting this ended with over 1,630 Backers, at 32% which is better then nothing, but certainly not the amounts they were asking for (5,000 over $1 million +). At its base $250, that would be $407,500, probably more so, factoring in the inflated costs from international folks. Even David's campaign (more niche then Jurassic), ended only with 2,158 backers, raising $598,648 total. Something I just remembered was on kickstarter there are these little graphs the owner can add to show more transparency of where the funds go. With David's initial goal of $185,000 (does not take into account stretch goals though), one can get a breakdown (I've also added some approximate percentages):

Spoiler

Making (67.76%, which includes Tooling Molds, and Manufacturing)
$125,300

Tooling Molds (49.93%)
$92,328

Manufacturing (17.83%)
$32,972

Taxes & Fees (18.19%, which includes Margin of error, Kickstarter fee, and Payment processing fee)
$33,630

Margin of error (8.18%)
$15,130

Kickstarter fee (5%)
$9,250

Payment processing fee (5%)
$9,250

Fulfilling (14.06%, which includes Fulfillment and Sea Freight transit)
$26,000

Fulfillment (7.57%)
$14,000

Sea Freight transit (6.49%)
$12,000

Each of the stretch goals were spread out at needing additional funding of $15,000-$20,000, etc, no doubt helping to cover new tooling, etc, which all stretch goals covered there would be a lot of. I imagine he is also making some nice profit off this as I question how else he could afford to do this full time with the ever increasing costs of housing, other necessities, hobbies, etc? Let alone pay folks contributing to the project as well.

[close]

Mattel obviously didn't have anything like that all, and I doubt the same percentages would even be applicable to a multi billion corporation, compared with a smaller, indie project, let alone considering a lot of the tooling for the full set, including stretch goals, is already done (explorer, much of the kids, and buck T. rex). But just for curiosity's sake, let's see what the above percentages would give with the full revised goal of 8,000 backers (or $2 million).

Spoiler

67.76%= $1,355,200 (Making, which includes Tooling Molds, and Manufacturing)
49.93%= $998,600 (Tooling Molds)
17.83%= $356,600 (Manufacturing)
13.18%= $263,600  (Taxes & Fees, which includes Margin of error, and Payment processing fee, Kickstarter fee obviously not applicable, and not included here)
8.18%= $163,600 (Margin of error)
5%= $100,000 (Payment processing fee, not sure if applicable)
14.06%= $281,200 (Fulfilling, which includes Fulfillment and Sea Freight transit)
7.57%= $151,400 (Fulfillment)
6.49%= $129,800 (Sea Freight transit)

Again that's assuming those percentages would be identical for Mattel. The one (big) aspect here that isn't being taken into account is also obviously profit margins, which could dramatically change up the above amounts, I would think. Again most of the tooling is done for many of the items within the full finished set, so I highly doubt the above percentage is anywhere close to reality.

[close]

Even if this was better handled from the start (better and active spread of word throughout the campaign period, better handled stretch goals, international support open from the start, and possibly more options for those that can't shell out $250 only, like David's campaigns did, which in turn helps bring in more people), I remain skeptical that there was a huge amount of interest or support for something like this to begin with.

I still really don't see why the Buck (even with new tooling) couldn't have happened at retail, when something like the HC Brachiosaurus did, a much larger figure, as well as this year's Mamenchisaurus, with brand new tooling done, etc? Majority of the new figures (aside from their limited SDCC) have new tooling done, like the yearly T. rex they carry. How is this any different from that? The original HC figure had glass eyes (and this year's re-release even improved them), and really the only other new parts are better/smaller feet, and new neck/head parts, and of course the new paint apps. Even without the new head/neck parts, the rest still seems feasible to me, including the paint app, considering Kenner came pretty close back in the day.

[Giganotosaurus]

Dang, the new Triceratops has the right amount of digits? That's awesome!

[andrewsaurus rex]

So, what are the opinions of the Habitat Defender Triceratops?  I have the BOTM adult Triceratops, so not sure what i'd do with the Mattel one, but it's hard to pass up on such a large Triceratops figure for the price (less than 1/3 what i paid for the BOTM).

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Worth noting this ended with over 1,630 Backers, at 32% which is better then nothing, but certainly not the amounts they were asking for (5,000 over $1 million +). At its base $250, that would be $407,500, probably more so, factoring in the inflated costs from international folks. Even David's campaign (more niche then Jurassic), ended only with 2,158 backers, raising $598,648 total. Something I just remembered was on kickstarter there are these little graphs the owner can add to show more transparency of where the funds go. With David's initial goal of $185,000 (does not take into account stretch goals though), one can get a breakdown (I've also added some approximate percentages):

Spoiler

Making (67.76%, which includes Tooling Molds, and Manufacturing)
$125,300

Tooling Molds (49.93%)
$92,328

Manufacturing (17.83%)
$32,972

Taxes & Fees (18.19%, which includes Margin of error, Kickstarter fee, and Payment processing fee)
$33,630

Margin of error (8.18%)
$15,130

Kickstarter fee (5%)
$9,250

Payment processing fee (5%)
$9,250

Fulfilling (14.06%, which includes Fulfillment and Sea Freight transit)
$26,000

Fulfillment (7.57%)
$14,000

Sea Freight transit (6.49%)
$12,000

Each of the stretch goals were spread out at needing additional funding of $15,000-$20,000, etc, no doubt helping to cover new tooling, etc, which all stretch goals covered there would be a lot of. I imagine he is also making some nice profit off this as I question how else he could afford to do this full time with the ever increasing costs of housing, other necessities, hobbies, etc? Let alone pay folks contributing to the project as well.

[close]

Mattel obviously didn't have anything like that all, and I doubt the same percentages would even be applicable to a multi billion corporation, compared with a smaller, indie project, let alone considering a lot of the tooling for the full set, including stretch goals, is already done (explorer, much of the kids, and buck T. rex). But just for curiosity's sake, let's see what the above percentages would give with the full revised goal of 8,000 backers (or $2 million).

Spoiler

67.76%= $1,355,200 (Making, which includes Tooling Molds, and Manufacturing)
49.93%= $998,600 (Tooling Molds)
17.83%= $356,600 (Manufacturing)
13.18%= $263,600  (Taxes & Fees, which includes Margin of error, and Payment processing fee, Kickstarter fee obviously not applicable, and not included here)
8.18%= $163,600 (Margin of error)
5%= $100,000 (Payment processing fee, not sure if applicable)
14.06%= $281,200 (Fulfilling, which includes Fulfillment and Sea Freight transit)
7.57%= $151,400 (Fulfillment)
6.49%= $129,800 (Sea Freight transit)

Again that's assuming those percentages would be identical for Mattel. The one (big) aspect here that isn't being taken into account is also obviously profit margins, which could dramatically change up the above amounts, I would think. Again most of the tooling is done for many of the items within the full finished set, so I highly doubt the above percentage is anywhere close to reality.

[close]

Even if this was better handled from the start (better and active spread of word throughout the campaign period, better handled stretch goals, international support open from the start, and possibly more options for those that can't shell out $250 only, like David's campaigns did, which in turn helps bring in more people), I remain skeptical that there was a huge amount of interest or support for something like this to begin with.

I still really don't see why the Buck (even with new tooling) couldn't have happened at retail, when something like the HC Brachiosaurus did, a much larger figure, as well as this year's Mamenchisaurus, with brand new tooling done, etc? Majority of the new figures (aside from their limited SDCC) have new tooling done, like the yearly T. rex they carry. How is this any different from that? The original HC figure had glass eyes (and this year's re-release even improved them), and really the only other new parts are better/smaller feet, and new neck/head parts, and of course the new paint apps. Even without the new head/neck parts, the rest still seems feasible to me, including the paint app, considering Kenner came pretty close back in the day.

You lost me at the justification for paint apps. Comparing to Kenner back in the day just isn't possible to do anymore. A Kenner Rex like the Bull would run 100.00 or more now. Even the mostly monotone Colossals have gone up to 80.00

If your looking for cost analysis Syrett posted a full breakdown of his projections.

So, what are the opinions of the Habitat Defender Triceratops?  I have the BOTM adult Triceratops, so not sure what i'd do with the Mattel one, but it's hard to pass up on such a large Triceratops figure for the price (less than 1/3 what i paid for the BOTM).

I think it's great. Probably one of if not the best JP Triceratops ever made.

[Prehistory Resurrection]

[Prehistory Resurrection]

[Prehistory Resurrection]

[Prehistory Resurrection]

[Flaffy]

Jurassic Park 30th Anniversary Steven Spielberg Figure SDCC exclusive is now listed as "Sold Out" on the Creations Mattel website.

I'm glad that I secured my copy! But in hindsight I probably should've went for two... One for in package display and the other for out-of-box play. (and also for insurance knowing Mattel's consistently shoddy QC)

[CityRaptor]

That figure sold out a few days ago, just before the site was back to accepting Paypal. So I got none. They still had some of the Hot Wheels Jeeps back then, but those did not interest me. Oh and people who collect stand alone humans can still buy shirtless Malcolm.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Habitat Defender with my other BIG guys..





HC Brachiosaurus came in a day early, very surprised it beats out the HC version for me. It took some tries but it can stand upright.

[Gwangi]

Who makes that giant Trike on top of your Maytag @Blade-of-the-Moon ?

[Faelrin]

@Blade-of-the-Moon Easily two of their best figures this year. Congrats on getting them.