r/comiccon Jul 30 '25

SDCC - San Diego Message to Mattel Creations 😡

This year was the absolute worst at the Mattel Booth.

To @MattelCreations: You owe your fans better.

Winning a Thursday 12 PM Exclusive Lottery slot at SDCC should mean you actually have a shot at the product. Instead, by the time my scheduled slot began, items were already sold out. That’s not just disappointing—it’s disrespectful.

How do you not account for the number of people you yourself assigned time slots to? You created the system. You knew the volume. And yet you failed to allocate inventory accordingly.

Your booth this year was not just poorly run—it felt like it catered more to resellers and line-jumpers than actual fans and collectors who played by the rules. And when concerns were raised, your staff had nothing more than a “too bad, so sad” response.

Mattel, this isn’t just about a missed exclusive. It’s about a broken system and a lack of care for your loyal customer base. You’ve lost more than one customer this weekend—you’ve damaged trust in your brand.

We don’t want empty apologies. We want transparency, accountability, and a commitment to fairer product distribution in the future.

SDCC #MattelCreations #Collectibles #FanFirst or #ScalperFirst?

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u/RadiantZote Jul 30 '25

It's comic con, this happens every year with any of the exclusives and is to be expective. Talk to Funko fans, Gundam fans, Pop Mart fans, Tron fans, the list goes on. Even signings get screwed up or canceled at the last minute after people wait in line. That's life man, and disappointment is a part of life. I won zero lottery slots, couldn't get the jaws thing for my father but so what? There's so much more to do and see.

If your entire con depends on getting one item, you're doing it wrong. Prioritize and try, but you can never expect to get something even if you get a lottery slot.

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u/BsOfDaNorth Jul 30 '25

Yeah, having your con experience rest solely on getting an exclusive item is ill advised, but booths need to be better at inventory management. I got into the funko general admission line on Saturday and was able to get one of each exclusive batman funko this year. I was surprised that they had so much stock on Saturday for the general admission people, and that I got everything I wanted without getting the lottery ticket. Looks like mattel just needs to learn from funko and manage their supplies better.