How long do doll fads last?

[bewilderness]

I've got to agree about the lack of product.  All the Wal-Marts here have been out of MH dolls for a month now.  And the one KMart I went to had empty shelves too.

[Wardah]

... i love it when people say they don't trust the store employees ...

I wasn't saying not to trust them so much as corporate often doesn't tell employees anything more than what they need to know to do their jobs so sometimes (not always) people that work there just guess.

stores are very upset about the lack of product and we may very well see a few drop the MH line at least for awhile ... eight feet of emptiness doesn't sell anything, where if you fill it with stuff that IS selling it's a heck of a lot more profitable ...

The thing is a lot of times they are selling stuff in that empty space. From time to time I do see an odd doll or two (but not one that I am after or worse the one I am after when I don't have the funds) that means that they did get a case in. Meanwhile I see a lot of the same exact dolls that were there the time before just sitting there with only maybe one or two less than last time so I have no clue what they would replace Monster High with since I am at least sure they are still selling more Monster High than anything. It is just the damn scalpers are getting them and trying to make themselves be the only source for the dolls so people pay their inflated prices when the reason they are rare and impossible to find is because they keep buying them up.

[JigglesTheCat]

I've got to agree about the lack of product.  All the Wal-Marts here have been out of MH dolls for a month now.  And the one KMart I went to had empty shelves too.

Yeah. I've gone to my local Target several times recently, and I haven't seen anything. There was  a few of Draculaura's Sweet 1600 Cars, and a couple of the ragdolls/plushies but no dolls.

[DoomBunnies]

I've been actively hunting for dolls here in Vegas, and except for the five times I've mentioned I haven't really seen them, though I am finally starting to- two of the three stores I went to this weekend had Skull Shores, so I finally have the draculaura I like!
But by actively hunting I mean searching at 5-7 different walmarts, three kmarts, a toys r us, and two targets on a near weekly basis since December. Even if some people are seeing dolls on occasion? Before December there were always dolls in all my stores. Now there're just wigs, and diaries, and skirts...

[kamakazee82]

a case "here and there" isn't filling the stores' orders for filling eight foot sections that they were promised to be able to keep filled lol
 
and they would fill it with other product they do have, bratz/liv/moxie/other doll and/or girl toys they have on hand in the back instead of having a gaping hole in their shelves. they would shrink the MH area down to maybe the two or three feet they can keep filled "wigs/clothes/journals" and use the rest for things they have in stock, as in actually stock it there, not just have it full of the random crap that collects there by people just setting it there lol
 
the scalping issue is no different than any other scalping thing ... if people didn't buy it at the rediculous prices then there wouldn't be the reason for them to scalp it ... sadly there are always those who are willing to pay exhorbitant prices that shaft the less able of us to spend that kind of money on dolls ... but again 90% of the problem is mattel not getting enough product out there to make it a non-issue in the first place ... you get enough product out that people can find what they want reasonably and the scalping issue goes poof because the 15 pieces of something they're trying to sell at four times face value can be found at face value most places you walk into ...

[Wardah]

a case "here and there" isn't filling the stores' orders for filling eight foot sections that they were promised to be able to keep filled lol
 
and they would fill it with other product they do have, bratz/liv/moxie/other doll and/or girl toys they have on hand in the back instead of having a gaping hole in their shelves. they would shrink the MH area down to maybe the two or three feet they can keep filled "wigs/clothes/journals" and use the rest for things they have in stock, as in actually stock it there, not just have it full of the random crap that collects there by people just setting it there lol

I can defiantly see them getting rid of all the other junk that isn't selling and focusing on the dolls however it just doesn't make sense to replace the Monster High space with something that is not selling as well just to not have empty space. Especially if in the morning they fill both the Monster High section and the Barbie section and in the evening the Monster High section is empty but only maybe one or two Barbies has been sold. I don't see much the store can do about it other than maybe keep extras in the back but I have a feeling they don't keep extras of any toys in the back outside the holiday season. I know once in a while when I am looking for a specific item they don't have (not Monster High) and I ask if they have any others in the back they never do.

[kamakazee82]

depends on the store really. most places do have stock in the back, but it might just not be the stock you are looking for. if you are looking for doll 3 in assortment A, if they don't have assortment A, they don't have the doll you want so they have no stock in back of what you need, but they could have a bunch of boxes of assortment B, C, D, E, and F

stores tend to do their stocking throughout the day now too, trying to keep the shelves full. the stock system will check what is "in inventory" versus what floor capicty is versus what has sold and will usually generate reports for the departments to work out to the floor as the day progresses. but if they have no monster high in stock than it won't be reported because they don't have any in stock to fill with. they may have a "full shelf" in the morning the day of a stock truck, but that doesn't guarantee that they can ALWAYS have a full shelf. and with monster high i highly doubt if ANY store has truely had a "full" shelf of the product since before christmas lol

as for filling the empty space, it may not make sense to a customer why to fill it but from the aspect of the store, empty footage is a "visible sign that the store doesn't have enough stock" and is frowned upon in general by consumers who would rather see a full store than a store with mostly empty shelves that looks like it's going under ... so basically aesthetics.  but as a merchandiser i always knew what was in stock and what was selling so that i could always fill empty spots with what was selling and we had ... liv and moxie? fill the empty monster high section with it cause the monster high section could sit empty for MONTHS with nothing in it, or we could use it to help get our assortment of other stuff out so that people woouldn't have to ask "Do you have more of this in back" instead of staring at eight empty feet we could be using. THAT'S why it should be filled and not sit empty. what i find hysterical is mattel is STILL paying for footage on endcaps and displays in stores without being able to put ANYTHING in that are ... so they are paying to reserve space in stores to fill with product they don't have.

[SuniMoon]

At this point I can't tell if Mattel is worse, or the stores are worse.
Fred Meyers had a sale on Monster High recently. At our Fred Meyers?
They NEVER had the DT, or SS dolls that were on sale in stock.
They now have a note up to apologize and say that they won't be getting them in stock until the 19th, and that they can't offer rain checks, and they're soooo soooorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

They fail to mention in their note that the sale ends on the 17th.
In the entire time the sale ran they never had the dolls in stock.

They had no right to advertise that sale. It may be Mattels fault that they didn't get the dolls, but THEY are the ones who should either extend the sale, or offer rain checks on the items.

Granted this is also a Fred Meyers that seems to think it's a good idea to put the Crystal Lite, Koolaid, and other drink mixes in the aisle with the peanut butter, jelly, and nuts. Infact, all their powder juice mixes are located right inbetween the peanut butter and the nuts. And then they expect you to look there. Because that totally makes sense...

...I may be on a tangent here, but the point in my crystal lite ramble is that this store is run by chimpanzees, so I'm not sure why I expected them to be any better with the MH. x D;;

 But yeah. Mattel needs to keep up with the supply and demand here... But even then, the stores that carry them need work harder here too. Cause seriously. If you don't have it in stock, don't say it's on sale.

It IS this sorta thing that threatens the continued success of MH.

[DoomBunnies]

At this point I can't tell if Mattel is worse, or the stores are worse.
Fred Meyers had a sale on Monster High recently. At our Fred Meyers?
They NEVER had the DT, or SS dolls that were on sale in stock.
They now have a note up to apologize and say that they won't be getting them in stock until the 19th, and that they can't offer rain checks, and they're soooo soooorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

They fail to mention in their note that the sale ends on the 17th.
In the entire time the sale ran they never had the dolls in stock.

Yeah. All the Walmarts out here put Cupid on sale for Valentines. And then they only got 16 dolls. For the ENTIRE Vegas area. So they amended that all the 1600 dolls would be sold for only $20, just like Cupid. Except that, y'know, they didn't have any 1600 dolls. So they had the apology, with the shipment coming on the 17th, and the sale ending the 15th.

[LuvlyMelody]

I swear I thought I posted in this thread already...oh well.

Eventually, MH will run out of ideas if they keep over saturating the market and releasing so many new things so quickly. At some point, making lots of cliche and "not as big as it was when they first started" lines that are "Meh" and eventually people will get tired of it and lose interest, then it dies out because they spend a lot to make the lines but no one wants to buy. (or at least that's how I kinda see it.)

I don't know if its common for doll lines to keep having so many new releases every few months, but I kinda get the feeling MH may be heading towards the path of Guitar Hero. So many things coming out in so little time. At some point they'll run out of the famous monsters to have new ghouls to base off from. (unless they go deep into old stories and folklore from other countries, culture and whatnot but I doubt that may happen but then again who knows.)

That's my opinion about the doll line dying out. As for this little "Mattel or the Store's Fault" Discussion going on:
-Mattel's fault for not producing enough dolls to meet the demands.

-Store's fault for not checking their inventory before having the sale. BUT I kinda see why they shouldn't be blamed, some stores are huge chains across the country. Controlling or even knowing what every store in the country has stock of and if its enough for the nation wide sale may not be possible. Not sure how marketing works, but I'm guessing Corporate is in charge of making the ads and the stores are in charge of following what corporate says? Iono *Shrugs*

-Scalper's faults......that is all. Greedy little piggies that don't know how to share.

Fred Meyers had a sale on Monster High recently. At our Fred Meyers?
They NEVER had the DT, or SS dolls that were on sale in stock.
They now have a note up to apologize and say that they won't be getting them in stock until the 19th, and that they can't offer rain checks, and they're soooo soooorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Hell yeah, I saw that too! saw the letters at both of them! (Renton & Kent) At some point they had the DT but that was before X-mas but now all they had were the Killer Styles and SS Ghoulia.

[mistic_imp]

i hope MH lasts many years to come. But i do feel like they need to be focusing on getting product out to buyers first and then NEW DOLLS later. I love all the new dolls to come, but  i'd rather see a well stocked section than  all sorts of new lines. 
  Seems like the MH section has changed doll lines alot more than other toys to me, but i am pretty new to doll collecting, so maybe it is common place?  it just seems like there are alot of people who don't even have dolls from last season and now they are bringing out all this new stuff for  this year.

 i think it would also be great if they could get a regular full length cartoon going.

 I think there is alot  of  ideas left for the MH line, and  if they can get  there supply up  then  they may be around for a while. I'd love it if they  were the next barbie.

[Taxel]

I hope MH dies, simply because I'm so beyond frustrated with just trying to LOOK at the newer dolls. I can't afford to buy them, but I really want to see them in person and enjoy discussing them with my best friend. However I have seen maybe 3 MH dolls in stock since I moved here in September. I wanted Cupid very badly and had fallen in love with Operetta, but I give up. And with all the complaints I've been seeing about quality I'm not going near a Monster High (lol, as if I could if I wanted to!).

[kamakazee82]

i think most of it falls on mattel for not having the supply to meet the demand ... stores have to plan their advertising several months in advance ... so they ask the manufacturers "hey, will you be able to provide us with such and such quantitites on such and dates for such and such sale?" manufacturer says "sure" and they go ahead with the ad layout and place their orders for the quantities they need ... ad is printed, ad is sent to distribution mailing centers in advance of sale ... manufacturer comes up a motneh before the sale ... "yeah, you know how we promised you this stuff, well we can't get it to you because we don't have it anymore ..." the store is up you know what creek without a paddle because of the manufacturer screwing up and then the customers take it out on the stores who have no control over the whole situation ... and a store can't offer rainchecks on something they most likely will not see in stock for a long time ... i can't count on a hundred sets of hands how many times i was yelled at by people and told "YOU NEED TO MAKE MORE TOYS!" when all the stores do is sell them, not make them, go tell it to santa lol

as for walmart's exclusives, i'm used to getting screwed over by walmarts in that regard and it's no surprise to me they only maybe had a case of cupids per store, IF you were lucky, walmart is PURE profit driven and trying to separate people from their money, i long ago gave up on their exclusives as mere illusions because 99.99999999999999% of the time you won't ever see them in store sadly.

[tuneful87]

Very interesting viewpoints here. Wow!

[hathorcat]

Do you know what I dont get...working as a marketeer - ....I am completely baffled as to the lack of supply...I know in the past short stocking has been used to drive interest and I was involved in a campaign where we did this with a certain type of shoe a couple of years ago...but this only works for a very brief period and it only works if there is an initial but not massive interest...once you get the ground swell then you stock with everything you have. However the MH line is now so popular and so successful short stocking is just silly!! Someone somewhere in Mattels operations is getting shouted at!