There are days that the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club surprises me– and today is one of those days.  It’s no secret that the 2012 Operation: Bear Trap convention sets sold out in near-record time.  Whether this was due to a smaller production run or the popularity of the Oktober Guard or both remains to be seen yet the Club sent out a surprising email over the weekend to its membership:

Hello all!

Just as a CHECK and we are NOT saying we are going to do this…..

We are curious as to how many of you did not get the Oktober Guard set and would still like to order one (boxed only)?  We don’t know if there is enough demand left to meet the MOQ (minimum order quantity) with the manufacturer.

In addition, we have NOT cleared any potential additional manufacturing quantities with Hasbro.  So that we have an idea and can better serve you with future sets, if you would be interested in a set (IF it were possible to make more and it was approved), please fill out the attached spreadsheet with ALL of the information requested by Monday, July 2nd and return it to this email’s return address (oktoberguard@gijoecon.com).  We will only analyze spreadsheets that are returned and will not count/look at information in the email as this is a huge task.

We will analyze the data and see how much demand is still pending and we will let you know soon after July second if there is enough demand to warrant a second run. There should be no variation in the two runs.

I don’t want anyone to get false hopes but we don’t know what the potential demand is unless we ask.  So, at this point assume that we will not be making any additional sets.

Thanks for helping us gauge your desires!

Brian

For years, the comment directed back at those who complained about the inaccessibility of convention sets (in terms of both price and production run) was that the sets were meant to be for those who attended the actual convention.  Now, with the release of this email the Collector’s Club seems to be indicating a real shift in their thinking– that maybe convention sets could be offered as “club sets” instead.   (Let’s face it, there is NO WAY IN HADES that these would be ready by the con which means that the number of Homefront Hero packages will increase if this goes through.)  There is no doubt in my mind that a second production run would see any sort of decreased cost– meaning that instead this will generate more revenue for the Club at a time when the economy and infrastructure needs have most likely tapped the coffers a bit.

So, is this a good idea or a bad one?