Hi there,

I am concerned about the amount of incorrect information I see posted about the Galactus sale at Wizard World LA, so I wanted to let everyone know what is going on.

The Galactus is a limited Convention Exclusive. We will never have enough at a show to offer one to every show attendee. You are not guaranteed a Galactus with the purchase of your show badge and the figures are only available as supplies last.

We brought several hundred Galactus figures to this convention and set aside a separate allotment for each day of the show.

This being said, the attendance at this first time show seems to have greatly exceeded projections. Many, many of the attendees were interested in the Galactus figure.

We did allow retailers and exhibitors to purchase about 15 single figures before the show opened on the first day. This is a standard courtesy we offer to our peers, but as the line continued to grow, we quickly capped it and announced that we would not be able to offer any more Galactus figures to retailers or exhibitors at this particular show- as we wanted to sell to the many interested consumers waiting outside.

There was a huge rush of people into the hall both Friday and Saturday - a literal mass of folks running for the booth. We formed a line as quickly as possible, capped it, and let people know who could expect to purchase a figure.

We have already met with the Wizard World staff to address the crowd issues for tomorrow (Sunday) as well as at their other 3 shows this year. I am satisfied that they are going above and beyond to help us find a good solution.

Discussions have already begun internally about increasing the number of Galactus figures we will be bringing to shows, and we will strive to make sure that you are all informed about the best way to acquire a Galactus- through pre-show ads, the WizKids online support database and also these forums.

Thank you,

Dorcas Bean
Convention and Event Manager
WizKids

OK. If this is the official position of the company then I guess we have to accept it whether we like it or not, however this doesn't even come close to rectifying the situation.

I can accept that WizKids underestimated the demand for the exclusives, but I can't believe how astronomically far off you were. I think it's safe to say maybe one out of every ten to twenty people who wanted them actually have them, and that is simply unsatisfactory.

Sir, not to be too harsh but I have these questions.

What was your expected attendance for this new show?

How many Galactii as of now are being planned for the upcoming conventions?

Is there any way possible that more Galactii will come and people can comeback and show up when the show starts and get one?

Who do you personally think is to blame for this "Galactus problem."

I'm sorry; but we have been warning you people about this since it was first announced. We've been discussing the high demand for this figure for months, feverishly. Wizkids made sure to promote this product to the fullest, fanning a fire that was guarenteed based on the demand for this peice; (the most fan requested figure since this game began and you began receiving feedback) encouraging people to attend "the first Convention at which he will be available". Saying that you weren't expecting this demand is not enough at this point. Saying that you will make sure its available in greater numbers in the future? sorry. not good enough either. we received assurances that there would be enough Galactuses to meet demands at an earlier date. frankly, we don't beleive you. we want to know how you will address these issues, not more empty vague promises.

I know you have a tough job dealing with us Dorcas, but please do it. We need you to deal with us. what is the answer to the problem of all these unhappy customers?

Hellboy, I'm curious: Exactly what do you want Dorcas to say that she hasn't?

I'm not trying to shut you up at all. However, it would help if you said exactly what you wanted to know in order to reassure you.

-J

what i am interested in knowing is if their were any events where you could win a galactus like the did with teh dropships, you destroy the dropship you win it type of thing. everyones been focusing on the negative so much their hasnot been any word on the "fun" of the convention. as far as im concerned going tot he convention to play in these sepcial events and meeting all of the people form the realms is the fun of the conventions, stuff like galactus are just coll bonuses.

it seems like they are doing all they can. sorry to attendees that aren't getting what they expected, but WizKids is only so big. i guess if they can only produce X number of Galacti, so they will only have X number of Galacti to sell. seems like bad news for all, so good luck in your Galactus hunting.

Peace

Yo Dorcas,

OK, so I'm a loal customer who has spent thousands on your game. But lately, things have really been going out of control in the wrong direction. So let me make my complaint and suggest how to patch things up.

1. RULES. First, all my friends quit the game because of the Indy rules. The game might be more strategic now, but it doesn't play out like a comic book story anymore. Well I guess you could say it's more like a Bendis comic - slow and drawn out with some action at the end. Now I hear rumors that you are going to severely limit how often wild cards can change teams. Stop changing the friggin rules! The WK rules team has become about as reliable as a bunch of schizos on crack. Having to learn new updates every month is a lot to ask of us.

2. RETIREMENT. So then WK goes along and announces that old figures will be retired from tournament play. All this does to my friends who quit is convince them to put all their figures on ebay. And they already sold most of their clix. Why should we bother buying new figures if we know they will only have a limited shelf life? Sure we can play at home, but the way WK has been handling things lately, so many people are quitting that the only place I can still play IS at tournaments. Rethink this retirement policy.

3. SUPPLY & DEMAND. Time for a basic business lesson. Heroclix has a huge following. Thousands, maybe tens of thousands of active players who love this game. Produce a lot of what is in demand, that being Marvel and DC. Don't go so heavy on your experiments, i.e. Indy and your other games that tanked. Remember the disaster when CJ was released? None of the stores had enough boosters. Now you have made that same mistake with Galactus, your most heavily advertised exclusive. You have to put up or shut up. If you want, show me what you have planned and I'll give you my prediction of whether or not it will be a success and how much product to produce.

4. CUSTOMER TRUST. Stop lying to us dammit! Do you think anyone believed a word of what we were told in the moderated chat? If you are going to milk us for all we've got, just admit it. We enjoy the game enough to spend money on it regardless. At least you would be keeping our trust this way. Just give us the full facts, accurate and in advance. A lot of people flew to LA to find out they got screwed. Some friends who quit were going to return to the game because of Galactus. We were even going to go to Philadelphia just to get him. After the debacle in LA, you are going to have to give us some sort of tangible assurance that this won't happen again. Otherwise you are going to keep losing customers who spent thousands on your game.


So in summary, here's what you should do to take things back in the right direction: stop screwin with the rules all the time, mass produce marvel and DC products while ignoring the rest, and whether the facts be good bad or ugly, just tell your customers the good ol' truth.

Remember, deceit led to the downfall of major corporations like Worldcom, Enron, and others. Do things right and learn from the mistakes of the past.

I think it's great that theyw ill be having more Galacti at teh other cons, it just kind of sucjs for people who went to this con (myself included). I do appreciate wizkids making statements on these boards, thank you dorcas.

VHD

Dorcas:
Thanks for taking the time to address everyone's concerns. It is nice to see some accountability from you guys. Many people here, myself included, have obviously been very put off my the circumstances that have gone on the last few months, and the WWLA Galactus fiasco is just another reason for people to cry foul. We have said many things we did not necessarily mean. Perhaps we are being too harsh, and granted we are upset, but understand that none of this is personal. Everyone is disillusioned with things only because they care SO MUCH about this game, and frankly about Wizkids too. Wizkids is the great company that has brought us great games, free LEs, and hours upon hours of entertainment. We want to like you guys, but as in all things, disagreements and hurt feelings are bound to happen.

Trust me, that accountability like that which you have expressed above goes a long way towards mending the wounds and hurt feelings. Most rational fans just want good communication from you guys, that all. If you're only going to have 100 Galactii per day, let the public know. Then there can be little or no disappointment. Good communication and accountability are extremelty important for a company, as I am sure you understand. Again, thanks for taking so much heat here, understand we are upset because we care, and let us know what we can expect.
SL

P.S. Now go make many more Galactus figures.

I believe that Galactus' numbers were bumped significantly by people who were only interested in selling him on the secondary market. What I mean to say is that not that many people were interested in having Galactus, but many if not half were interested in having Galactus to sell on EBAY for mega narkup bucks, and that in fact is what skewed the projected interest vs how many people actually got in line to buy him.
Everyone who thought they could get $200 for Galactus on EBAY lined up, not just the hardcore clix players who are the only people who really deserved to be in line.
Don't blame WizKids for hyping him. We hyped Galactus, he hyped himself. Blame those people stupid enough to either pre-bid on him on EBAY or pay other people to stand in line for them. We need five Galactus' for people living all over the US? Sure let's get me and 4 buddies to stand in line for him. ... and charge 200 dollars per Galactii... a markup of 125%. That's what is outrageous. It's the prospectors, the get-rich-quick biches, not WizKids or Wizard WOrld who you should blame.

Simply Put... That is unacceptable.

If the popular story is true, 75-150 Galactus per day is a number that WizKids was foolish to believe that it would satisify their veruy demanding public. Do they only issue 75 to 150 Mail away exclusives? I sure hope not. What we have here is a failure on behalf of the company to realize the demand of their product. One can only hope that when other Cons arrive that Wizkids will have fixed this problem as was the problem at Wizard World Texas last year.

Will Wiz Kids not learn from Pervious Misktakes?

Finally, I am somewhat disapointed that WizKids gave Distributors perference on the whole Galactus thing. I understand that the distributors represent the acutal sales for their products... But it seem in hindsight, it's a slap in the face of the little guy who is the one purchacing thier product from the distributors.

Wake up Wizkids. I'm not going to be able to atend a Con... But the level of support you seem to offer your clientel who buy your product and TRY to make it to these conventions to support YOUR product seems rather underwhelming. Why would I want to even if I could attend?

I'm not quitting Heroclix today, nor tomorrow. But soon it must be realized that a product in demand must be treated as such for your best and most loyal customers. The ones who WANT to see you succeed.

If there has been some level of miscommunication between what I have read and what has actuacally happened in LA this weekend, I appologize to all of Wizkids and their staff.

Tham you.

No Offense but we do need our questions awswered where are you Dorcas?

Please refer to us first when making game breaking decisions. There are about 30,000+ people that are registered here or look for new news. They are all comitted Heroclix players.

We understand that not everyone going to a convention will get a galactus. The problem is the number of people who is getting it is far far too low.

We as consumers feel like we aren't being treated with any respect and i a lot of gamers on this realm has quit heroclix all together.

1: How many Galctuses were produced

2: How many were realeased so far, at GAMMA & at WWLA.

3: How many were sold to retailers? we know from multiple sources that dealers were walking out with more than one, and it was more than 15.

4: How many will be available at each of the next cons.

5: why are Wizkids Employees, volenteers and business partners given consideration over paying customers; and how will you make this transgression up to those customers


that'll do for starters