Ghostbusters fans were more than a bit surprised to find out at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con that Mattel was planning a Movie Masters 6″ scaled Ecto-1 car to go with their 6″ Movie Masters Ghostbusters action figures. The thing is, Mattel needs a minimum number of pre-orders in order for it to go through, and all fans have to go on right now is a mockup and some promises from Mattel that it will be amazing. That, and the hefty $215 price tag have naturally caused many fans to be hesitant, to the point that the pre-orders are very low right now, especially since the deadline is August 19th. In order to answer fans’ questions and hopefully alleviate fears and encourage people to pre-order, Scott Neitlich, AKA “Toyguru” posted on the Mattycollector Facebook page. In it, they talk about how there is absolutely no charge whatsoever to pre-order, among other things.
Continue after the jump for the full note from Mattel, as well as a preview video!
Ghostbusters Fans,
Anybody seen any ghosts? How about an Ecto-1?
Okay, so it is no secret that the Ecto-1pre-sale is a little low. I reached out to AJ at GBfans and some other big fans of the paranormal and I wanted to take a sec to address any outstanding concerns or questions folks have about the Ecto-1in case there are miscommunications or false info that might be keeping anyone from preordering what is sure to be one of the greatest Ghostbusters collectibles of all time.
First off, the price.
Yes, totally hear you. $215 is a premium item. But let me break down what you are getting and where the value is. The Ecto-1will be a 100% fully tool’d car with lights and sounds and all of the bells and whistles you can imagine (have you seen our Castle Grayskull!). A lot of folks are comparing it to the retail 1966 Batmobile, which is at a lower price. When comparing the two toys, keep in mind that the Batmobile is a two person car with a relatively normal front and back and no roof. The Ecto-1, on the other hand, is more than twice the size! It fits four, has an above average long front and back (per the original car) has a roof (with a whole mess of details and equipment on it) and unlike the 1966 Batmobile, the Ecto-1is rigged with tons of electronics including the trademark siren, engine noises, and a clip from the Ghostbusters theme song. Also, a lot of people bought the awesome Hot Wheels Elite Ecto-1 last year for $180. Although it was diecast, the car is WAYYYYYYY smaller and had no lights and sounds. You really are getting a ton of bang for your buck.
Other folks are asking or are concerned about pre-buying when they don’t see the final product. I really do wish we could just make a prototype car, tool it up and show it to all the fans first. But with the way today’s market is and skyrocketing costs, there is just no way we can move forward on an item this big without a locked-in presale quota.
The good news is that if you preorder and we hit our goal, you will be able to watch as the toy develops as we show new models at NYTF and SDCC next year, leading up to the final product shipping in Q4 2014. And if you do not like what you see as the toy develops you can always cancel.
So if your concern is you are not 100% sure without seeing the final product, I really would urge you to come on board. You will have the chance to cancel if you don’t like how the toy is developing and you don’t have to pay a dime up front! Your credit card will be authorized for zero dollars just to make sure it’s a valid card but you won’t actually be charged until it ships. There’s no risk but the pay off on finally having an Ecto-1in scale to your 6” line is huge!
A few other items to re-clear up if there are remaining obstacles for fans; a few folks have been concerned about older 2009-2011 product showing up at discount retailers and the Mattel Toy Store (which is open to the public at 333 Continental Blvd, 90245). Fans were asking why this product would be sold at discount and not on Matty? The bottom line is we DID offer this older product on Matty first on Cyber Monday last year. After we sold off what we could at this sale, we announced back in Dec 2012 that remaining product would be moved to clearance to both help promote the line to more casual fans and make room for all the new 2013 and 2014 product. It took 6 months but that product is now showing up and I think a few people forgot we announced this back in December.
We can’t afford to just store older product indefinitely. That increases handling fees and we don’t want to pass that on to the customer. So we needed to clear this out. 2012 product and forward had production cut way back (i.e. for MOTU there were no more second runs) and other items like the Ecto-1are built to order. So you WON’T see these items showing up years later at clearance prices. Essentially our first few years were a learning experience and we over-produced some figures beyond what the fan base was. To keep costs down they were first sold at discount on Matty and later moved to clearance retailers. You won’t see this happen again in the future simply because we have reduced production to sell through rates or are now only building to order (like with the Ecto 1). If your concern is product showing up at discount, you won’t see that again. This was a onetime deal to clear out product that is almost 3 years old and was over produced. So I hope this won’t stop you from preordering the Ecto-1!
I’ve even seen some folks say they don’t want to buy this to “punish Mattel” (?). Guys, let’s be real. Mattel does not need to make these collector toys to keep the company going. Mattycollector is a VERY small brand within Mattel run by very passionate folks. In the end, for a company like Mattel it makes more sense to just make more Barbies and Max Steels and Hot Wheels. We make GB toys and MOTU toys (and all Matty items) because we love the brands and we love our fans. Not supporting awesome toys like this is only hurting each other (I count me there as a fan too!). Mattel will move on with or without the Ecto 1. But for GB fans, this is our one chance to make this happen for us. It is about us and the toys we have been waiting for! This has nothing to do with moving the Mattel stock price. I hate to see fans not buy an Ecto-1for the that reason. We are doing this for us, the GB fans.
So in the end, if we can reach the minimum pre-order your Ecto-1is coming! This is the toy you have asked us to make for years, but it simply is not possible to invest in this much tooling without a preorder minimum. The risk is nothing — you aren’t charged to pre-order and can cancel if you don’t like where it is going. It is HUGE and has lights and sounds, we are delivering it at the lowest cost possible in order to maintain scale and quality, and all product 2012 and forward is produced in lower quotas or built to order so you won’t see it discounted in the future. We can’t do this without your help guys. Opportunities like this rarely come around. And this one won’t repeat itself. If you want an Ecto-1 to go with your 6” GB line, now is the time! The preorder minimum must be met by Aug 19th or it may just be the end of the world as we know it.
If anyone has further questions or needs anything cleared up, please head over to the ASK MATTY forums on Mattycollector.com and I will do all I can to clear up and answer all questions.
Scott
As a huge fan of Ghostbusters, I definitely am excited at the prospect of having a fully scaled Ecto-1 to accompany my Mattel Ghostbusters figures, especially since they’re making Peter Venkman and Ray Stantz with removable Proton Packs as well, but I would completely understand anyone’s hesitation because of the price. But for those who want to pre-order the Movie Masters Ghostbusters 6″ scaled Ecto-1, just CLICK HERE.
