# Question for Retailers



## Rattrap (Feb 23, 1999)

I won't ask Frank, because that would require him to divulge confidential corporate information, but:

After at least a decade and a half that I know of of begging, pleading, whining and cajoling for it in any forum that would tolerate it, how did Big Frankie actually sell?


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## Zathros (Dec 21, 2000)

*Thats a really good question, in my opinion..even though I wasnt asked, as I had absolutely nothing to do at all with the production or sale of that kit...one can make an educated guess seeing the trends now...
looks like just about everyone that wanted that kit bought it...and right now, theres quite a few of them on E-bay for sale, and culttvman has them at something like 50% off, and the boys at mega have discounted it as well..Id bet that the first run was a success, and perhaps part of the second run..and now whats left...is being sold off at said discounts 
to move em out...

Just my 2 cents...
Z
*


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Well, it's an interesting question, and really, only the good folk at Moebius can say, because what flies off the shelves of one store might be dogging out bigtime at another, due to any number of reasons (overbought stock, overpriced above MSRP, etc).

What the question is, how many were bought by people who wanted it to build and have fun with, and how many were bought by speculators expecting to make a killing on this 'rare collectible' item? That's something eBay might be showing.


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## Tim Nolan (Jul 9, 2008)

I'd hazard to guess it paid for itself, and will continue to do so. There are TONS of Frankenstein fans, even if they are not just model builders! I've got 3 plus a resin cast from a few years back, and I'd buy more I think to paint and resell. Yeh, we are seeing some discounted prices, but retailers have to keep the market excited, which means new products on the shelves or webpages all the time to keep the masses stirred up! THATS retail folks. 

In the meantime, those of us still buying quantities of these guys can enjoy some relaxed pricing. I got a great deal on a glow Frankie, right from Moebius, in a damaged box. (Well worth signing up for Club Moebius!)

The Big Frankie was on my Grail List for years, and even at the early higher price, was one hell of a deal in my opinion!


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

I never sold any in my shop. Granted I did not order any to start with. I had a couple lookie loo collector types ask about it, but they were not going to pay $100 for it. No one seriously asked about it or showed any interest in it. Most monster/horror kits are somewhat slow sellers compared to things like cars, ships, planes, etc., anyway.

But there are other similarly priced kits that are pokey movers. I still have one of the PL C57D reissues sitting around too.


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## xsavoie (Jun 29, 1999)

If they officially announce that they will stop producing Big Frankie,that might slightly boost sales up one last time.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Well, that's sort of the thing.

See, I never really understood the fanatic desire for the Big Frankie kit, even as a kid. Sure it's big, but it's...it's not a good representation of the Monster, right? It's almost what we anime fans know as 'Super Deformed', and when I want a Monster, I want it to look like what's on the screen. Not that I want even that, the whole Universal Monsters catalog scared the willies out of me as a kid! 

So I would think that the nostalgia base for this would be shrinking, with most of the product ending up in the hands of people who buy all manner of 'collectable' stuff in hopes of flipping it for larger money, sometimes even selling it under false pretenses. Oh, tell me nobody may have put this kit in a vintage box (or even a repro vintage box!) and tried to pass it off as the original kit. We know people were doing that with the various PL reissues of Aurora kits. I've seen a few at flea markets. I laugh at the seller. They get unhappy with me. 

So, anyway, I hope it sold well for Moebius, and those that bought it for the nostalgia are very happy people.


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## Tim Casey (Dec 4, 2004)

I actually bought one because I wanted it. I didn't buy it as a kid ($5? No way!), but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to grab the Moebius reissue. I also built, painted, and displayed it! (and the box is way cool...)


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## Tim Nolan (Jul 9, 2008)

I never had the kit as a kid. I was born in 61', so it had already gone by the wayside by the time I was building models, about 68'. But, I saw the first one probably in the 80's in pictures, saw more in the 90's on the web, and a decade later added the resin cast to my collection, and now these kits, which I am very happy to have. You see, I love ANYTHING Frankenstein, and deformed or not, he's not only HUGE, he's just damned cool when he's assembled! Hey, I have two LIFESIZE Frankenstein heads sitting in my closet right now! LOL! I know the timing is probably bad, money is tight for all of us these past few years, especially hard on hobby shop owners I would hazard to guess. The internet, and large companies have been hard on my business as well. It's an expensive kit, but I'm sure the tooling was an arm & leg for this guy, lotsa plastic, big box too. (love the artwork) I hope we don't see him disappear again, and I hope a lot more folks continue to buy him.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

AAGGGHHH!

That's a nice bust of ol' bolt neck.

but see, Tim N, You're the target demographic. I'd figure you as a 'soft touch' for the kit anyway, because of the Rat Fink thing you got pinned up there. 

That's right, I generalize! Our generation was built on Aurora kits and Hot Wheel cars and Mattel's Agent Zero-M transforming spy guns!


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## Tim Nolan (Jul 9, 2008)

God yes, I'm an admitted FINK!!!! Soft touch? Only with the airbrush and striping brush! LOL. Problem is, I have too many interests. BUT, it keeps life from being too dull and my high metabolism busy all the time! 

Hot Wheels? I started with Matchbox way back, but at the height of my collecting up until the early 90's, I had almost 7500 Hot Wheels in my possesion! I saw the writing on the wall with the collectors crap early on, and how it was ruining a the fun, so I bailed and never looked back. Funny, I still can't walk down the toy isle without stopping to look at them, and accasionally buying a hotrod or showrod of interest! I still have about 3000 of them behind my bar!









I do still love movie creatures though.......


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## Moebius (Mar 15, 2007)

I won't give actual numbers, but it was a pretty good seller. I know a lot of places have closed them out, but it's hard to say the true cause of it. The price was high, but as I've explained in the past, it has nothing to do with what's in the box. Tooling, licensing, and everything on the backend has more to do with it than actual product cost. Now on Frankie, the box was expensive. We could have lowered the price by cheaping out on the box. But the box was part of the nostalgia of it. The paperwrap style cost quite a bit more.

For those that want to know more: The kit is not discontinued, but it will not be run again. We have an idea for maybe a limited run of 100 pieces in something a little different plastic wise. Halloween 2011 maybe? As you have heard, some retailers have overstock on it. But the larger distributors have continually ordered it. I don't think this will give out any trade secrets for them, but even Sideshow ordered more this week. Someone is still buying them out there!


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Well I bought 10 kits all together
The Originals 4
Frightening Lightning glow editions numbered Wonderfest?
and the Halloween editions
Gave a few away as gifts...built up 2 of them
and stashed a few away for my Grandsons
when they get a little older:thumbsup:
Mcdee


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Moebius said:


> I won't give actual numbers, but it was a pretty good seller. I know a lot of places have closed them out, but it's hard to say the true cause of it. The price was high, but as I've explained in the past, it has nothing to do with what's in the box. Tooling, licensing, and everything on the backend has more to do with it than actual product cost. Now on Frankie, the box was expensive. We could have lowered the price by cheaping out on the box. But the box was part of the nostalgia of it. The paperwrap style cost quite a bit more.
> 
> For those that want to know more: The kit is not discontinued, but it will not be run again. We have an idea for maybe a limited run of 100 pieces in something a little different plastic wise. Halloween 2011 maybe? As you have heard, some retailers have overstock on it. But the larger distributors have continually ordered it. I don't think this will give out any trade secrets for them, but even Sideshow ordered more this week. Someone is still buying them out there!


And I for one greatly appreciate the insight, thank you!

I've heard from friends overseas that Japan likes Big Frankie!

So that's a follow-on question that is probably only of interest to me. 

Platz handles the Moebius distro in Japan, from what I see, do you send them product or when the kit gets solicited is there a separate production run for them?

Of course it's crazy to buy a Moebius kit from Japan because not only does it cost more in terms of MSRP, the Yen/Dollar exchange rate is so in the toilet it adds at least another 20% to the price! aqnd THEN the shipping! OY! Still, it's always good to have options... 

Hey, suddenly I have a bizarre idea but I'll put it in the 'wish list' thread just to keep things sane.


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## Moebius (Mar 15, 2007)

Platz orders come from the same run as what hits the US. Some things they do good with, others are slow. I don't think Frankie was a great seller for them though. The prices tend to get high over there due to importation costs and exchange rate.


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## Tim Nolan (Jul 9, 2008)

Well, I for one plan on continuing to buy more of them. I waited too long to get one to watch them disappear without increasing my stash. As an artist, I have LOTS of ideas for them in the future!


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## woof359 (Apr 27, 2003)

*storage*

So when you stop making a certain kit the molds are kept though ? put away for maybe future runs ? So can you use the same equipmet for make other new kits ?


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

I'd imagine the factory in China keeps the molds. So as soon as we go to war with them after they finally invade Taiwan, we'll have a problem getting getting another run made.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

John P said:


> I'd imagine the factory in China keeps the molds. So as soon as we go to war with them after they finally invade Taiwan, we'll have a problem getting getting another run made.


Or the balloon goes up with North Korea..

Yeah, we joke but it's a serious thing to consider. What happens to EVERYTHING if China cuts us off?

it could happen.


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## Dracula (Jun 5, 2005)

Steve H said:


> Or the balloon goes up with North Korea..
> 
> Yeah, we joke but it's a serious thing to consider. What happens to EVERYTHING if China cuts us off?
> 
> it could happen.


Then we could build models out of balsa. Oops I forgot every thing is made in China.:wave:


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

Or, we could learn to produce things here in the U.S. again. Novel idea, but just crazy enough to work!!


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Costs too much here. We've priced ourselves out of the market.


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

John P said:


> Costs too much here. We've priced ourselves out of the market.


Then that needs to change!


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

If we could get people to work for $4 a day here in the US then I think we could pull it off.


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## Zorro (Jun 22, 1999)

Paulbo said:


> If we could get people to work for $4 a day here in the US then I think we could pull it off.


The way things are trending, I expect to be working for $4 a day when I'm 87 years old.


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

"Pride goeth before the fall", that's all I'm saying!


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

John P said:


> Costs too much here. We've priced ourselves out of the market.


Atlantis is making their kits right here in the USA. So does Lindberg.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

RSN said:


> Then that needs to change!


Good luck convincing people they to work for less!
You can always lead by example. Go tell your boss you think he pays you too much.


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

John P said:


> Good luck convincing people they to work for less!
> You can always lead by example. Go tell your boss you think he pays you too much.


Thanks John, but I don't work due to illness. And I don't collect unemployment or disability, I have no debt but a mortgage! I have a child in college and my family gets by on one income and we do juuuuuust fine! Nice to know we have no problem exploiting the world to produce goods cheep, but God forbid we expect people to work for money here instead of taking what they have not earned. If I get kicked of the site for these comments, FINE, but I didn't start this conversation, and I didn't personally attack anyone!! Oh, and just so you know, I do lead by example. When I was unemployed years ago, just after my first child was born, I delivered pizza for Domino's, did customer service at the Warner Brothers Store, took tickets at a movie theater, and worked at Blockbuster, so I could provide for my family. ALL these jobs were minimum wage, in the early '90's, a far cry from my Graphic Artist salary!


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## chasd25 (Feb 14, 2002)

djnick66 said:


> Atlantis is making their kits right here in the USA. So does Lindberg.



They shoot the parts here but all tooling is done overseas


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

chasd25 said:


> They shoot the parts here but all tooling is done overseas


Good to know it CAN be done here, with "exploiting" workers!!


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