Official Ghostbusters PKE Meter Prop
- Thread starter mtsbspidey
- Start date
for a fair price, of course.
exoray
Master Member
Hardly, just explaining that there isn't (IMO) this magical system that will solve the ordering problems without most likely creating new or additional problems that will likely be just as bad as the current system... I just don't see expanding the websites ability to take orders faster as solving anything, and I see a potential or even more abuse... I'm certainly not happy with it and feel the frustration, like I said I spent 45 minutes trying to place an order a few weeks back, all the while wondering if I they were going to sell out before I got through...
If you have an idea for a better system that doesn't open up other abuse issues, I would love to hear about it, and hell pitch it to Mattel maybe they will act upon it... I personally just see it as a never ending cycle of attempting to fix one issue, but in the process creating potentially worse ones or ones that are more open to abuse... I certainly don't have the answer and I suspect since I have seen this chaos on new releases as long as I can remember, way back to the basic Star Wars toys releases of my childhood that there really isn't a 'better' way to do it...
Vincenzo330
Active Member
I didn't see this posted earlier, here's a video I shot at SDCC of the PKE Meter being demoed by Mattel.
It is more than likely going to be released on December 15th at $60.00
YouTube - SDCC 2010 Mattel Ghostbusters PKE Meter Demo
It is more than likely going to be released on December 15th at $60.00
YouTube - SDCC 2010 Mattel Ghostbusters PKE Meter Demo
Sorry to ask again, but does anybody have a vieo link NOT YOUTUBE? can't access it in China, I'm dying to see this
mike
mike
TomGLFan
Well-Known Member
No, I don't feel insulted, I just have a double-recessive wise-ass chromosome, and sometimes it will out. I also get really testy whenever Matty.com comes up because I dread, dread, dread dealing with them. They are completely oblivious to how horrendous their website and customer service are, and it makes me nuts.
TomGLFan
Well-Known Member
I would only ask Mattel to make one change, namely to reserve the item you are ordering while you are waiting in the queue, which toy collectors like myself have come to refer to as "the white screen of death." There is nothing, and I do mean NOTHING, more frustrating than waiting in this hell for 40 minutes to finally get to the checkout screen and be told that your item has sold out while you were waiting in the queue. I have no problem otherwise with the wait, and agree with you about how it can actually limit abuses, but damn it, if you are going to take 40 or more minutes of my time, at least have a payoff for me at the end. That's what drives me nuts; I get in, place the order, have the bloody things in my shopping cart, and while I am waiting for the final screen...it sells out. So many other e-tailers will at least hold your product for you until you have the chance to pay for it; the software surely exists -- why not implement it when it will make ninety percent of the complaints about your site go away? Mattel makes no sense.
themanwoaname
Sr Member
im a little frustrated i cant join with out having purchased something first and signing upis what is going to make getting my 2 pke's even harder.
exoray
Master Member
And as I said there are reverse consequences you introduce with any change...
Example with the change(s) you suggest... Here is a few possible scenerios I see happening...
For those that pick these toys up at the local Ma & Pa, Brick & Mortar, Toy & Comic shops that are playing by the rules, these shops will no longer be able to meet their local communities demand, resulting in 7 out of 10 of their customers turning to the online pool to purchase or losing out on the opportunity to purchase altogether... Believe it or not, not everyone jumps online to purchase things, there is still a large group of people that prefer (and are devote) brick & mortar buyers... International buyers that pool together orders to reduce large shipping fees or the international stores (be them online or brick and mortar) that order and then distribute and cater to foreign buyers will also lose out... The scalpers are going to do what they do and simply work 3x harder or the better question is do they have to work any harder because with the increased sever speeds they can now breeze through the order process multiple times, time and again without issue and faster then before...
Scalpers will not be deterred from doing their business because of a per customer limit quotas, if anything concert ticket sales should prove that where limits have been in place forever now, while scalpers still thrive... I don't know how well Matty actually verifies customer data, likely not much at all, but an easy and old trick a friend (ticket scalper) of mine used to do is simply morph his house into being a fake apartment or multi-tenant building, he simply added a Units A-Z line to his address, with variations of his name or relatives names... Tactics like that make it so simple to avoid most automated customer limit checks, that it almost makes the item limits useless in the end... It's the scalpers business to secure merchandise at all cost to sell at the maximum price they can milk out of the public, they will do whatever it takes, after all it's their business...
So the vicious circle continues, with the next guy suggesting they make it a 2 item limit, and the next guy suggest a 1 item limit...
It's great to be an idealist but usually it's more realistic to be a realist when dealing with the real world...
And I'm not totally knocking the idea, or your idea that they could make changes that might help get more units into more peoples hands but at the end of the day I just don't see it actually working out in the real world...
exoray
Master Member
You can, just pretend you are purchasing something, enter all your info but cancel before you confirm the order...
If you're saying the limit would affect retailers, there is a process by which retailers buy in bulk directly from the company, so that is out.
You have really set up a great story for why improvement is impossible, but at the end of the day, what is simply better (even only by a little bit) is better.
You have really set up a great story for why improvement is impossible, but at the end of the day, what is simply better (even only by a little bit) is better.
exoray
Master Member
Personally I don't believe it's a true 'queue' more like a page auto-refresh that 'might' garnish you some priority into the site if the server load happens to be low at the moment of refresh... My point was nearly confirmed that it works this way when I ordered last time, I had main house computer in that queue for that 45 minutes, refreshing and refreshing by itself... Figured I would test my theory went to my laptop, tethered to my phone so I wouldn't have the same IP, opened the site on the laptop and was able to get into the site and place my order after just 3 manual refreshes of the page, all the while the "in queue" page on the house computer was still telling me to wait in line... Basically I was able to cut inline to the front of my other computer that 'supposedly' had seniority and was already in line... I'm of the belief that it's not a true queue at all, thus placing holds on the items isn't realistic... If they were going for this approach simply void the "on queue" page instead letting you fill your shopping cart, with your items and then put you in a queue for payment... Constantly kicking you into a generic queue page whether you be a new visitor to the site or someone already on the site trying to navigate and order items is silly yes, but it could very well be to avoid a legit sever crash that would really whack inventory numbers...
I'm sorry I can't help howlingwind.
Its really great that the toy companies pay attention to our market these days. They have the capability to mass produce... a simple toy housing electronics is no more complex than some of our 'grails' when completed. Hopefully this will mark a change in their development process, instead of toy representations, why not just make it as close to the reference as possible?
I'll take 3 please.
Its really great that the toy companies pay attention to our market these days. They have the capability to mass produce... a simple toy housing electronics is no more complex than some of our 'grails' when completed. Hopefully this will mark a change in their development process, instead of toy representations, why not just make it as close to the reference as possible?
I'll take 3 please.
exoray
Master Member
Different degrees of licensing usually... The toy companies have to stick to toys, the prop companies have to stick to props, the costume companies have to stick to costumes and the display companies have to stick to displays etc...
Yeah there is overlapping, but in many cases the studios will require changes or limits to the product to better align with the license they hold so that the other licensee's license isn't infringed upon...
This is why for example we will see a sword permanently mounted on a plaque or display from one company while the other company sells it as real sword... Or will will see a 'bust' mounted to a stand vs a 'helmet'...
And the same reason we don't see Studio Scale kits.
It's inevitable. Eventually we will. I get it though, sell the rights in as many categories as you possibly can. Like Art Asylum they released really good Trek toys, resembling their prop counterparts so well that folks like us can upgrade.
I'll take the bargain. $60 is an amazing price. If you think it's too much then fork over your prop card... right now.
It's inevitable. Eventually we will. I get it though, sell the rights in as many categories as you possibly can. Like Art Asylum they released really good Trek toys, resembling their prop counterparts so well that folks like us can upgrade.
I'll take the bargain. $60 is an amazing price. If you think it's too much then fork over your prop card... right now.
Gosh, I remember that. They had a website devoted to their products and everything. The news about MR enabling their Proton Packs to be wearable even though they were restricted to keep them a display piece was pretty awesome news when I heard about it. It was kind of a shame when the company folded shortly after that.
I just hope this PKE doesn't sell out before I get my hands on one.
ghostryder
Legendary Member
Want..
themanwoaname
Sr Member
i was pretty excited about it too. alot of people werent. i cant even begin to understand why. then again, about 85 percent of the gb fanbase has devolved into whiners unhappy with anything ghostbusters related and more than happy to criticize it.
i remember in 1999 when there was NOTHING and now they're bunching panties over a hotwheels car not being super 100 percent detailed accurate.
a ****ing hotwheels car...common sense says at the scale, IT WONT BE. but there's not alot of that floating around the gb fanbase anyway.
