JMS on CompuServe (Oct 06, 1997) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS* (2/2)
bbarrett at speedlink.com
bbarrett at speedlink.com
Mon Oct 6 16:14:02 EDT 1997
[ Continued from previous section -- BB ]
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The following posts may contain SPOILERS for
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Continue at your own risk.
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[ Summary of subjects in this section: ]
Sb: #707391-1998 Calander
Sb: #707430-1998 Calander
Sb: #707413-#CC Situation
Sb: #707395-Babylon 5 Great songs
Sb: #707424-from jms: merchandise
#: 707391 S5/Babylon 5: General
05-Oct-97 17:28:54
Sb: #707214-#1998 Calander
Fm: CARL CANTARELLA
>>This kills me...and I've heard it before...because when we went on the air,
some places didn't want to carry our stuff (like the micromachines) because it
wasn't (or wasn't like) like Star Trek and only Star Trek sells...and now they
are reluctant to carry us because they think we're like Star Trek and Star Trek
DOESN'T sell anymore....
Some days you just can't win.<<
Yeah, I know what you mean, Joe. The killer for me with respect to this
was when I had to order the Micro Machines from Galoob(spelling?) via
telephone, and they were out of complete sets and were only allowing two sets
per customer of whatever they had in stock. Get this: the first time I called
they were all out of Set number 3(the one with the StarFuries), which annoyed
the hell out of me, but I ordered what I could from them. On that occasion the
woman told me that when they ran out of what they had in stock, that would be
it, there were no more B5 Micro Machines on order, that no more were being
manufactured. About five or six weeks later I called again after having
received my first order a few weeks prior. I forget exactly what I called them
about, but while I had one of their reps on the phone I figured I would ask if
they had anymore B5 Micro Machine sets left in stock(remember, only two per
order). The woman informed me that they did, and that they were "a hot item,"
and that B5 stuff was really selling. I thought, "Huh?" Like I said, they
weren't going to manufacture anymore. Right, lo and behold, when I asked her
what sets they had in stock, it turned out they were running very low indeed,
but to my surprise the woman's computer showed Set #3, the StarFury set, so I
ordered two, considered myself lucky and was grateful(still don't know where
they had come from all of a sudden). Of course, I hung up the phone scratching
my head.
Which brings me back to the beginning sort of: what prompted me to call
Galoob about the B5 Micro Machines? Well, I went to Toys R Us after finding out
about the B5 sets here in this forum, but they were loaded to the rafters with
Star Wars sets(the Special Edition movies were about to be released) and had
some Trek sets, but of course, No B5. I'm still baffled with Galoob having such
a shortage of B5 sets that they were hard to come by even by direct telephone
order, were considered "a hot property" by their reps, yet no additional sets
were produced and distributed to stores. The only conclusion I can come to
about their having been a "hot item" according to their rep is that they were
because so few of them were left in stock.
Dummies. If they had only produced more and distributed them they may
have actually been surprised to see them sell.
#: 707449 S5/Babylon 5: General
05-Oct-97 23:37:41
Sb: #707391-1998 Calander
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
The problem, as I heard it, was that the stores simply wouldn't put them
out. They'd sit in the back room because the owner didn't know what B5 was,
and didn't want to take up the shelf space. The nets are full of tales of
people who were told there were no B5 micros, then after having the back room
checked, found 'em...bought 'em...but the rest never hit the shelves, just sat
back there until they could be sent back.
Meanwhile, Galoob was being deluged with phone orders for the things.
They ran out fast, then as the store sets started to come back, were able to
fill orders of stuff that had been out of stock before.
On the other hand...these are the sorts of stories you tell years later
at conventions...like when Mark Hammil sat for 3 hours at a comics convention
and nobody talked to him because no one had yet heard anything about this "Star
Wars" movie....
jms
#: 707430 S5/Babylon 5: General
05-Oct-97 20:44:12
Sb: #707214-#1998 Calander
Fm: REBECCA ESCHLIMAN
jms,
<< Some days you just can't win. >>
Ain't it da truth...
But...
At least as far as our business goes, the consolidation of the
bookstore market means that, where once you could rely on a whole
patchwork quilt nationwide of individual retailers weighing in on what
sells, based on their individual knowledge of their customers, now
those who sell to the bookstore market have to please a few individuals
at various HQ who may (and more likely may not) keep a weather on on
such baselines as number of Websites, sf-media mag references, etc.
Such all-powerful HQ individuals will need to be hit over the head by
the TNT publicity blitz before they pay attention, like the mule with
the 2x4.
The fact that you've made it to season 5, and have even made it a
transition to a better-publicized venue, means that they probably will
finally pay attention. Without the high-profile blitzkrieg of a
studio-backed Mcdonald's-Happy-Meal promotional approach, something as
special as B5 has to depend on word-of-mouth to get the attention of
TPTB in retail industries, which is a slow process, even with the Net
acceleration. But just as *your people* have forced cons to allot
maximum space for B5 presentations, *your people* will weigh in at the
marketplace. They already have -- I've gotten e-mail indicating that
the B&N stores have more requests on their Special Order computers for
the B5 calendars than HQ thought to allot them. Chains like Crown and
Books-A-Million, who were willing to gamble on a few B5 bookmarks, are
reordering them after a few months and are often adding new items.
You can win -- it just takes an aggravating amount of time and the
dedication of *your people* to act as the 2x4 to the corporate mule.
-rje-
#: 707450 S5/Babylon 5: General
05-Oct-97 23:37:44
Sb: #707430-1998 Calander
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
I guess you're right...we've done all we can at this end, from here on
out it depends on the fans.
jms
#: 707413 S5/Babylon 5: General
05-Oct-97 19:03:49
Sb: #707377-#CC Situation
Fm: TOM KNUDSEN
Joe,
<Now can we please, finally, drop this>
Thanks for expressing how I feel on this subject so well. It's past
history. It can't be changed. Change happens. Sometimes it's good, sometimes
not. We (the fans) still don't know how this change will affect the show.
The following is not directed at you Joe, but at everyone else (on both
sides of the story) wasting bandwidth.
For cryin' out loud, I pray that everyone will stop hounding you about
this and just let it lie. I'm TIRED of hearing about it. I've probably spent
more time reading messages about this in the last two months than I've spent
eating. Enough already!!!!!!!!
#: 707451 S5/Babylon 5: General
05-Oct-97 23:37:46
Sb: #707413-#CC Situation
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
"Change happens. Sometimes it's good, sometimes not. We (the fans) still
don't know how this change will affect the show."
Lemme tell you a true thing.
And I'll bank my rep on this one.
The Lochley character has added so much to season 5, I can't even begin
to describe it. Everyone who's seen her, has responded very well, and likes
the character enormously. Where Ivanova's character was sometimes a hammer to
the head, Lochley is a stiletto blade between the eyes.
jms
[ Summary: "What about the song in the bar [on] mars when Sheridan was
[attacked]?" ]
#: 707452 S5/Babylon 5: General
05-Oct-97 23:37:49
Sb: #707395-Babylon 5 Great songs
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
That's something that Chris came up with.
jms
#: 707424 S5/Babylon 5: General
05-Oct-97 19:54:52
Sb: #707217-#from jms: merchandise
Fm: ASHA DEVELDER
Joe,
One of the reasons I joined the fan club was to purchase merchandise through
the site. Unfortunately, I cannot seem to access the site on my system (Amiga
-- no Netscape nor IE, although we have rather nice browsers of our own). Is
there some other way to order some of these items?
asha at mindless.com
@}-`---,---
#: 707453 S5/Babylon 5: General
05-Oct-97 23:37:51
Sb: #707424-from jms: merchandise
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Yes, there's a full-scale order form coming in the next newsletter, and
there's a text file here that details prices, mailing address, and the like;
just check library #5.
jms
[END]
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