MOTUC Club Eternia 2015: To Subscribe or Not?

If you have any passing interest in Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Classics line then I am sure that you have heard that Mattycollector has reopened subscription sign ups for the weekend. This is because they claim that they have received about 90% of the subscriptions they need to go forward with the 2015 Club Eternia subscription. They believe by opening it up for one more weekend that will push them over the edge and the club will be good to go for one more year. They are also putting the pressure on MOTUC fans to purchase one or more subscriptions to help the line become a reality.

I’m not going to go into whether or not Mattel is being completely truthful about their numbers.  It’s a circular argument nobody has any proof of either way. Much like politics no matter how much one side bangs their chest the other side most likely won’t change their mind.

Instead I want to talk about the realities of whether it is worth it to YOU to subscribe once or add more subscriptions.

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First I’ll let you in on my situation:  I order two subscriptions.  My justification for this is because shipping is substantially cheaper when you have more than one figure, and if I do have a character I want two of (for example a Fisto that has an alternate look or head) I don’t want to have to deal with getting hit with even more shipping charges to order them.  The thought is if something balloons in price I can always unload the carded version, or if a friend ends up needing one I can hook them up as well.

Both of these scenarios have not happened in the past two years.  I currently have a fairly large boxed collection in my storage area.

[h2]Are you thinking of subscribing for the first time?[/h2]

Great!  Getting Masters of the Universe Classics figures on a monthly basis is fantastic.  There are just a few things you should be aware of:

Shipping is expensive – You aren’t just subscribing for the $26 per month; don’t forget to factor shipping and taxes into the equation.  I live all the way across the country from Mattel (they are in California, FYI) and their basic freight service is $10.29.  Opting for FedEx is $14.09.  I use the FedEx option because Mattel’s freight service is SLOW and I’m impatient.  It can take around two weeks for their freight service to get across the country.

The thing to remember with shipping is that the $26 you agreed to pay per month is more like $40 when all is said and done.  This also doesn’t factor in months when more than one figure is released.

It’s worth mentioning that anything you buy during the Early Access period will not ship with your subscription and you will pay additional mail charges for it.

Club Eternia is NOT an all-in subscription – There will be items throughout the year that you will not be shipped with your Club Eternia Subscription.  Again, you will pay additional shipping to get these items.  You will also have to log onto the site timely as sometimes items like SDCC exclusives and special items sell out or are only available for a limited time.

Expect to log into Mattycollector if you plan to get the travelling convention exclusive Skeletor robots 3-pack, the SDCC exclusives, and any other unannounced non subscription items.  There are typically about 3 – 6 MOTUC off-subscription items per year.

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[h2]Are you thinking about adding an additional subscription to “help the line?”[/h2]

This is noble of you, and I am sure you are a huge fan.  But I think we should just put a few things in perspective.

Your monthly payments will get substantially larger – $26 doesn’t seem like a lot to spend per month, but remember we are also paying shipping.  Your $40 commitment per month has now gone up to a minimum of $64 per month, and this will be the minimum every single month in 2015.  There are two multi-packs scheduled for next year and your minimum for that month will now be close to $170 ($52 x 2 for the multipack + $26 x 2 for the monthly figure + shipping) each of those two months.

Adding even one more subscription can add a substantial amount of financial burden on a monthly basis.  It’s not always easy to see when people are wrapped up in speculating if the line is going to end or not.  But it is certainly something to consider.

On the topic of financial burden …

What happens if there is an add-on subscription? – The last three years we have had an add-on subscription announced at Toy Fair.  When all is said and done you want to make sure you are going to be able to afford to add an additional $26 figure to your monthly tab the second half of the year.

I’ll sell my extras! – A lot of people justify another subscription by saying that they plan to sell their extras.  Now I have had two subscriptions the last couple of years, and almost never found it worth the effort to try to sell my extras.  There are going to be a few figures that you can make a sizable profit on, but it’s usually two or three releases a year.  Often times this ends up being a figure like Modulok or Horde Troopers that you may want to keep the extras.

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[h2]So what’s the point here?[/h2]

People get wrapped up in the things they love and can’t always think logically.  On top of this toy collectors aren’t usually the most responsible when it comes to money; I know, I’ve been there!

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I don’t want to persuade people not to subscribe.  I love Masters of the Universe Classics; it got me collecting toys again and pretty much inspired this site’s creation.  I just want people to know that in the grand scheme of things that one subscription you added to “save the line” isn’t going to make or break Club Eternia getting greenlit.  You most likely need that $700 commitment for 2015 a lot more than Mattel does, and it is something to consider when getting caught up in a MattyCollector subscription drive.  Don’t overextend yourself financially because Mattel or somebody on a message board guilted you into buying in some more.

That said, are you looking to subscribe?  Mattycollector has both monthly and quarterly subscription options.  You will save yourself a decent about of shipping money with the quarterly option, but if you are impatient like me then forget it and go monthly.

 

The 2015 lineup looks pretty incredible with a ton of figures people have been looking forward to for ages.  Figures like Ninjor, Lizard Man, Snake Armor He-Man, Saurod, Multi-Bot, and Dragstor will more than likely all be coming this year.  If you are in to Masters of the Universe I don’t see how that can’t be exciting, but just remember to look out for yourself first before sending off money to Mattel!

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5 thoughts on “MOTUC Club Eternia 2015: To Subscribe or Not?”

  1. This is sound advice. I totally concur.

    The first year I subbed was 2012, and I only got one sub. Back then, it was only $20 a figure and the shipping didn’t seem too bad. Living as far off planet as I do, I was used to paying stupid prices for action figures and, after catching up on what I’d missed in the MOTUC line when I started actually collecting them towards the end of 2010, I knew the pain of eBay pricing and postage. (That said, I was paying peanuts for figures on eBay compared to what the same figures are selling for these days. My advice if you are attempting to catch up is find one or two good sellers and buy in bulk if you can – you will save on shipping.)

    In 2011, I mostly bought stuff DOS direct from Matty and had been happy with doing that compared to the extra expense of eBay Catch-up. I had no idea a sub even existed at that stage. Mind you, for my time zone, buying DOS meant I had to either stay up until 2am or 4am (or set an alarm). But, for me, it was worth it. These figures were pure joy. I can still remember the first few figures I ever bought, and I think I literally had tears in my eyes looking at guys like Merman and Trap Jaw.

    Fast forward to 2013, and I was an old He-pro. That year, I decided I should get THREE subs. At that stage I was still keeping EVERYTHING carded (and in those beautiful white mailers) but buying doubles of my favourites to open. With three subs, I had the option of keeping one nice one, and occasionally opening doubles PLUS selling the spare at vaguely inflated eBay prices to offset some of the overall cost.

    Financially, this turned out to be a MASSIVE mistake. With releases like the Fighting Foe Men (figures that I genuinely love and stand by to this day) ending up quite expensive when you multiply them by 3 plus extra dimensional shipping. Then, we have the extra Filmation Sub (which I also got three of) and months like October last year which was literally just monetarily catastrophic (Mantenna, Horde Troopers 2-Pack, Lord Dactus, Nepthu & End of Wars Weapons Pack) which lead into another five figures in November and December (Geldor, Sea Hawk, Strongor, Plundor and Standor), with the cherry on top being a massively expensive (yet amazing) Castle Grayskul (Thank Crom, I only got one of those – even with the $50 pre-order discount that landed at $415 at my house ).

    That’s a lotta dimp.

    This year I only got two Eternia subs and one Etheria Sub. Next year, I’m already down for another two. I’ll probably only get one of the add-on sub. But this year was also a year of MOTU Minifigures (which I have been all in on) plus later on (at $75 a pop plus who knows what kind of shipping) the oversized Vintage Figure releases.

    It’s just…..a lot of money to spend on the one toy line (and some of its offshoots).

    Even at just one of everything, it adds up. So, yeah, don’t do what I did. Pretty much, ever. Last year was amazing but also very stressful with the monies. It’s hard to justify coming up short on rent or food because you have three Plundors sitting in a pile on your desk.

    Listen to Jon everybody! It’s sound advice.

    On a side note, I really hope the 2015 Sub goes through, but I will be letting out a sigh of relief when MOTUC is finally over. Although, I’ll be really surprised if we don’t see more stuff in the years following – just with different packaging.

    1. I’m pretty sure 2012 was the first year I subbed as well, it was kind of the year it went from the sub being a convenience of sorts to a requirement. I used to just do the day of and order the number of figures I wanted, but I believe 2012 had the price increase for day-of so from then on out I was subbing. Kind of glad I did since that was also the Shadow Weaver/Fisto/Sorceress year and we all know how that went. 2012 was a really good year for selling back figures, and ever since then it’s been pretty tough to break even.

      I thought about going down to one sub this year, but the shipping for one figure sucks, so in a way they suckered me into two … which is fine. Once that sweet 200x sub starts the shipping will feel even better, LOL!

      Yeah, it’s an expensive hobby but it’s still fun to me. I don’t think this year is the end either, they wouldn’t keep having years with MORE stuff is the line was truly in trouble. This series seems to be chugging along pretty well and I expect there to probably be a 2016 subscription or line as well, maybe retooled sales strategy but it will be there. Yay, MOTUC! Haha.

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