Wednesday September 23, 2009
As the end of 2009 draws nears, I would personally like to thank you for your continued support of our McFarlane Toys product lines, especially the SportsPicks figures. I am well aware that current economic conditions have made it so that both our businesses are constantly striving to keep up with the marketplace and consumer fluctuation. It is because of the current business climate and the feedback we have received from you and our fans over the years, that have lead McFarlane Toys to introduce an exciting new marketing program. The name of it is McFarlane COLLECTOR LEVEL™.

The primary focus of this program is to create a line of collectibles that will excite current collectors and create appeal for new customers like never before. The goal of this new program is to generate more interest in the current product lines you now purchase from us, as well as igniting the secondary market values. Depending your business model, you may be able to take advantage of increased sales of the regular lines and also use these new McFarlane COLLECTOR LEVEL™ figures, you might receive, in the fashion that best suits your own business.

So what is this new McFarlane COLLECTOR LEVEL™ program?

Glad you asked. We will be creating more variants of our standard sports figures and make sure that we pack one of these variant figures in every assortment case you order. That’s right: we will guarantee you at least one variant figure per case of any assortment pack. That variant figure will be either our usual ‘Classic Chase’ figure or one of the new COLLECTOR LEVEL figures.

These new COLLECTOR LEVEL figures will have tiers of production quantities: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Premier, All-Star and MVP. Depending upon the level and the production run, the highest we will produce of any one Collector Level figure is 2000 and this number will go all the way down to our scarcest level (MVP) which we’ll produce somewhere between 1 and 50 of that figure!

In the past, when we have tried some of these kinds of player variations, they have been met with exceptional interest from the fan base. A Babe Ruth figure sold for nearly $15,000 and a Teemu Selanne recently went for $23,000!

On the package back of our upcoming lines will be a chart on every package listing the new COLLECTOR LEVEL figures in each series. This will also include the quantity being produced of each player at the various ‘levels’. This chart will be the ‘treasure map’ for the COLLECTOR LEVEL figures for each series.

Here are the highlights of the McFarlane COLLECTOR LEVEL™ Program:

• COLLECTOR LEVEL™ figures are limited in production, sequentially numbered and may have features that distinguish them from standard figures. These figures will be more limited in production than Classic Chase figures.

• Every SportsPicks assortment case is guaranteed to receive a special COLLECTOR LEVEL™ or Classic Chase figure.

• Special features incorporated in the COLLECTOR LEVEL™ figures may include alternate uniforms, base variations, trophies, awards, accessories, possibly authentic player signatures, original or replica sports memorabilia or even pieces of actual uniforms or equipment.

• All COLLECTOR LEVEL™ figures will be priced at your standard wholesale figure cost.

• COLLECTOR LEVEL™ figures will be randomly packed into assortment cases, so consumers will continually have to check to see if you have received anything new in your latest shipment.

• A COLLECTOR LEVEL™ Chart, the treasure map, highlighting the COLLECTOR LEVEL™ figures and production range, will be prominent on the back packaging.

• Front labels of the packaging will highlight the COLLECTOR LEVEL™ figures available in the series.

• Marketing, public relations and promotional support across all McFarlane Toys marketing channels for the COLLECTOR LEVEL™ program


Also, included in this email, you will find a COLLECTOR LEVEL™ program overview with packaging sample and product images from our upcoming NFL 22 line illustrating the COLLECTOR LEVEL™ Chart.

As we get ready for 2010, We here at McFarlane Toys, are excited to partner with you in this COLLECTOR LEVEL program and hope that it will build momentum generating bigger and stronger sales for your business in the coming months.

Be on the lookout for more details concerning how we will be implementing the COLLECTOR LEVEL program in our Solid Case Packs in the future.


Sincerely,

Todd McFarlane,
McFarlane Toys CEO &
Sports Geek