I signed in on site at about 9:37AM PST and yes, I had to resign in to try to make an order. So unless SST timed me out, I'm pretty sure everyone had to sign in again. If you are using Mozilla Firefox, you can copy your user name, then use Ctrl + V to get it into the login area, your password should fill in automatically if you have that feature set with Firefox.
The waitlist is still useful to us even after the sell out because SST can then approach HT and use it to show potential demand for the item. Honestly I wished they would leave it up for 3 days to wait list because the more people they can show on the waitlist, the more SST can convince HT to increase the size of the run, if that's still an option.
I'm not worried about it. The three new components ( the bio, breathing mask and trophy skull) will ALL be recast by someone at some point. It's not perfect, but eventually if you want the parts, you'll at least have the option. If my wait list converts, then it does, if it doesn't, it doesn't. If the waiters don't get anything, HT and SST had a chance at my money and everyone else's money and now don't get it, how did any of us collectors lose really? I never had the Guardian to start, so if I end up with what I have now, that's a wash to me. HT and SST however could have had more sales, look at how many SST and HT figures that warm shelves, kind of silly to think they might turn away people who actually want to spend money with them.
People got really upset about the V1 Joker, some reaching out to high prices and arcane methods to acquire it and using questionable dealers and, in the end, since demand was high enough, HT made some more. Now the V1 probably can't be sold for over 100 bucks anymore. You could probably buy the head loose for 15 bucks now. If there is enough demand, HT will find a way to fill it. If they don't, they lost sales, maybe lots of them, and possibly turn people off to their exclusives.
I don't blame SST for whatever amount they had to sell today ( They probably set some aside for contests, VIPs, employees, marketing, etc, etc. Most businesses do that, so no harm no foul)
I do have one criticism and one suggestion. My criticism is, while SST has no control over the quantity of HT exclusives they get to sell, they do have control over setting up their site and systems to accommodate a heavy traffic load. It's not great PR when consumers might be able to blame the site functionality itself as a cause. If people are going to get it, not get it, waitlisted or whatever, the resources should be in place to enable to have the site get hammered and have people know right away. In the modern age, technical difficulties are not well received by consumers.
My suggestion is when SST runs into this situation again, just have a rough preorder and then do a lottery. If you only have a couple of hundred pieces, people are going to feel better walking away empty and feeling like they had a shot, even if they didn't, than to see a product sell out in 4 seconds and feel like they never had a chance absolutely. If you are going to disappoint a customer or potential customer, then you "frame" the issue in question to your advantage or to least amount of negative PR possible.
Not wanting to take money that people are literally trying to throw at you is a double edged sword when it comes to marketing. I hope HT realizes this. You want to keep people on edge, not drain them of hope.
Congratulations to those who got an order through successfully. Best of luck to everyone who is wait listed. And sorry to hear it for the SST phone reps, I'm sure they got hammered for a situation that probably wasn't in their control. I feel worse for them than for folks who didn't get a Guardian to be honest. There are elements of some angry collectors ( like some of the Hot Wheels hardcore folks ) who take the term POS to a whole new level. Who wants to go to work and spend a day, call after call, feeling like you are in the middle of the bombing of Dresden?
I have enough loose HT Predator parts and custom items to build a composite Gort at this point, but my personal hunch is wait listers will get converted eventually. Good luck all.
i'm gonna search for other ways of getting this though... maybe it'll pop up in some online japanese stores after the events.
