For all you Spawn fans…
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I don’t understand when people or companies who already have millions (or just a crap ton of money already) need to use Kickstarter to kickstart their projects? It kind of takes away of the whole purpose or kickstarting if you ask me… but that’s just my take on the real purpose of crowd funding projects, the little guys who have no existing capital to use for their projects.
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@agentpoyo…it appears to me that McFarlane is doing this simply for the fans. He’s offering some pretty cool shit at a fairly Reasonable cost, for the fans. The Kickstarter approach allows Todd to manufacture exactly what is ordered. So, Todd doesn’t waste money promoting and over producing, while the true fans have an opportunity for some truly exclusive stuff. I think it’s a great idea, and is a win/win for everybody involved. M2c.
Why not just create a pre-order option on McFarlane toys? Kickstarting is for raising capital on projects you necessarily can’t fund yourself… I don’t know… just seems silly coming from a guy who’s net worth is close to 300 million dollars…
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Just so people know, when you fund a Kickstarter Project, if it fails to reach it’s funding goal, you don’t have to pay, you’ll get refunded. If it reaches it’s fundage but the Kickstarter creator never delivers, Kickstarter doesn’t issue refunds and you can actually lose whatever money you put in. Once funding is reached, Kickstarter stays out of it or any disputes upon whatever was promised from the creator to the backer.
Now, will McFarlane screw a bunch of backers? Highly doubtful but the risk is there. That’s how kickstarter works, you’re like a mini investor who may never see your product delivered nor your money returned if the project fails for any reason after it’s reached it’s funding goal.
Basically, McFarlane Toys pretty much got everyone to pay for everything so he (or the company) doesn’t have to put the money up himself.
IDK… the kickstarters I’ve contributed to were the smaller projects and creators without any money and need help to get their idea or creation funded. It’s a risk but the stuff I’ve gotten was well worth it.
This isn’t just a knock on McFarlane, I"m just baffled why businesses or people with the money or capital already go this route to get regular folks to invest in their project which is ultimately a product they can likely create and sell. Well, I do, I just don’t think it’s necessary. Just my two cents…
I watched the video that is on the Kickstarter page, and in the first minute or so Todd explains why he is doing a Kickstarter. Todd claims that it is hard for shops to make money off of action figures these days, such that stores can’t order single toys (they are typically forced to buy a ‘box’ of 6/8 figures). Todd is trying a Kickstarter such that he can bring his individual figures/toys directly to the consumer. It’s also nice that Todd has now added a few ‘bonuses’ for each and every ‘order’ because the Kickstarter campaign has been wildly successful. I’m not sure if he will use the Kickstarter platform for his future toy endeavors, but, for this first launch he decided to go the Kickstarter route. Perhaps it was the easiest option, given the logistical problems of today’s covid19 society. I’m seriously considering ‘pledging’. It’s $40 + shipping for 1 figure. The figure is 7", pretty detailed and cool looking, and it comes with an exclusive Spawn #1 comic with new, original McFarlane cover art. Now, I don’t do store variants, but those shops can charge close to $30 for their stupid store variants, so, $40 for an exclusive Spawn #1 comic and a really neat toy is not a bad asking price, imo. (*Note; I have not been to McFarlane Toys website, and I do not know if they provide a shopping cart for individual toys on that site. Which, if they are, would make my whole comment pretty much obsolete, lol)
When you click shop off their site, it just redirects to Amazon where they’ve setup shop. Amazon has shopping carts… 
He now has over 10k backers… the toy isn’t really that exclusive anymore.
I wasn’t expecting for this figure to be that exclusive since Spawn has a huge fan base. I just want it so that I can add it to my already signed 1995 one.
If I remember correctly, the 1995 figure was also highly manufactured and it still sold well back then.
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Well, there is 3 different figures {(10000/3=3333.3), then again there is a 3 pack option too, so, 10000x3=30000😂} and you don’t have to ‘buy’ anything but can still ‘back’ it. Where did you read ‘exclusive toy’, @agentpoyo? Exclusive. Limited Edition…that’s just semantics.
The Kickstarter, regardless of the Amazon store, is still a cool idea, imo, as it allows the creator a lot of freedom to add extras/free giveaways with the different tiers et al.
You must also understand that just because you have a defined reason in your mind, Poyo, as to who the Kickstarter platform should be used by, that doesn’t necessarily mean that some people can not think outside the box, and find an alternative use for the platform. I see no harm.
I think ‘limited edition’ would better suit this offer as a descriptor, rather than ‘exclusive’. The Toddfather is not holding back at all on the quality of this toy, from figure to box to bonus giveaways. All of it is top notch quality for the toy industry. And it is only available for a ‘limited’ time.
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Couldn’t agree with you more…
I’m generalizing, but one thing I’ve found about Kickstarter items from popular genres, is that they do well over time regardless of how many were produced.
There are always some people just “not in the know”, and an entirely separate batch that procrastinate and ultimately miss out. Given the current economic situation, there are also those that simply can’t afford it.
Spawn is incredibly popular. Aside from comic fans, there is a just a very big following also amongst Horror/Goth fans, Tattoo artists, etc. I’ve mentioned before that it is one property that I see consistently and varied conventions versus just comic cons.
It’s a pretty easy buy multiples for me.
I had the same thought about the Hasbro Jabba’s Barge. Was a much bigger up front investment, but it def paid off.
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And bypass Diamonds piece of the action … gee, thanks Todd, more things a shop can’t sell to make a few shekels on … and, to boot, you don’t have to put up any money …
Win Win for Mr Todd …
His campaign is not in the spirit of what Kickstarter was designed for, anyway you want to look at it …
Have you yourself not claimed that the profit margins on action figures is minimal, at best, @Uncle_Willie?
And there are still a lot of McFarlane toys, including Spawn figures, that are available for retail at your shop. I don’t think Todd has to include a 3rd party for every project that he does.
And if you want to sell these toys in your shop, there is a link at the top of this page that will direct you to where you can buy them. I’m fairly certain there is no rule against resale. I’m buying some for resale.
And Todd’s campaign may not be, iyo, within the ‘spirit’ of the initial Kickstarter philosophy, but it isn’t preventing anyone from using the platform for, iyo, it’s intended ‘spirited’ use.
Figure profits are less than comics, sure … and the box sizes jack up the cost of shipping …
But, a profit is a profit …
I guess you don’t see the correlation with Mr Todd doing his crowd funded “Direct to Consumer” bit and the current Diamond shut down … seems coincidental, IMO
Also, most don’t realize that the money they’ve put in for the Kickstart doesn’t include shipping costs.
I mean, all power to someone to start a project where they have to put zero money up front and get it funded. I mean, he set the initial goal of only 100k, which is the likely cost of what it would have taken to make the action figures. Yes, he’s thrown in more perks but he’s certainly banking the profit margins now… and he funded the entire thing by collectors wanting a piece. It’s both smart and well, not in the spirit of what Kickstarter is for… that’s why I frown a bit. He could have just easily done this with pre-orders on his own website. That’s all I was saying, it truly is not the spirit of what Kickstarter is for in my opinion…
The cause and effect are fairly evident. But, as a man of business, Todd is simply using some of the resources that are available to him, in a time where the regular distributor is not operational. That seems prudent to me.
As soon as you ‘pledge’, the shipping costs are completely upfront. You would have to be one of the warmer beers in the fridge not to notice it, once you agreed to ‘pledge’. You also are paying for shipping upfront, from my understanding.
I’m actually curious now how much it costs to produce a decent size action figure… If Wal-Mart and toy stores can sell the 5" figures (not as sophisticated, less moving parts, less details) for what, $5 - $8 each, I’d imagine what they’re buying wholesale is likely a 20-40% markup to profit from. Whoever is distributing them probably bought them for $1-$2 each on average I’d assume. I don’t think Wal-Mart and other larger chain stores are going to buy action figures to make pennies off of… I’m willing to bet the basic action figures without the complex sophistication to them and less details can cost pennies on the dollar to mass produce nowadays, especially if they’re being made in China and other countries where the hourly wages are far less. If Dollar Tree can sell cheap action figures for a dollar, you know they can’t cost that much to produce, at least by materials used.
So I can’t buy the fact that action figures have a smaller profit margin. Most of the work has to be into the initial work and design. Once you get the molds and process down in manufacturing, I can only see the profit margins being fairly bigger, particularly for the figures that fetch into the hundreds of dollars.
I’m sure there are many factors but I’m willing to bet action figure profits are not that far from comics and possibly bank the creators more profits in the end.
SHIPPING COSTS
Figures will be shipped anywhere in the world, but ALL backers are responsible for shipping. All shipping costs are ESTIMATED.
Your SHIPPING DESTINATION COST does NOT any include additional charges i.e. any regional taxes or customs add-ons. Those will be additional charges depending on where you live in the world.
Yeah, a lot of kickstarts include shipping. Some people might be pledging and not read the fine print. That’s all I’m saying. Yes, I usually read the fine print with everything but we all know that’s not the case with everyone throwing their money at something. Hell, we’ve all likely encountered that poor soul on eBay who failed to read the description…
Reading the kickstart perks… sounds like they put just as much money into the packaging as the figure itself.
$40 for a 7" Spawn? Meh… make him 10" and maybe I’d be interested at that price.