datguy86 wrote:This would have to be a factory issue. It would take a lot of stupidity to reassemble X number of figures after being shipped overseas.
Now as for lateness - yeah, that's a FunPub scheduling issue.
Actually, there's a very good chance that FunPub has passed the buck on a few issues of their own, but the factory will do what the factory will do. FunPub is a very small operation, and there's only so muvh a factory can do at o ne time. If Hasbro owns theoir own factory, then that plant is Handling not only FunPub's stuff, but the mainline TF, the Marvel Line(s), TMNT, heck, half the toy aisle. And there's a very good chance that like the model railroad factories, Hasbro may actually be renting out the production along with Mattel or TakTom or whomever. And if that's the case, then not only is Funpub trying to squeak out a measely five thousand figures between the production runs of ONE major toy maker, but they may well be trying to do it between TWO or THREE. Your all quick to say its FUnPub's fault, and things like website issues, ordering problems, yeah. Those are, but anyone who's ever worked anywhere, an office building, construction, restaurant, they'll tell you when a big project comes down the line, its gonna take more resources, more manpower, more burners, and little projects tend to fall bythe wayside.
One more case in point: My other hobby is Model Railroading. One company, who is incredibly good about talking to their customers regularly through facebook, newsletters, etc. commisioned from their factory a complete twelce car train with three engines on it. Full detailing, this is not your father's Christmas train but lightx, interiors painted, all the plumbing you'd expect to see o n a real car, everything. It was a fully working train that could easily be a collector's piece. That project was two years behind schedule, because of delays in Tooling (Inciental issues, sometimes afactory goof, sometimes its just like trying to sight a new gun, you'll be off a few shots) and then it was delayed again because the factory was running other things. This company was lucky, they had their own factory, ( alot of the big names in trains for a long time didn't, they leased buildings, and when factories started changing focus for other projects, contracts, and clientsd, they were told to pay up more or get out, the model railroad hobby came to a screeching halt for a few years because the big players in the game lost 80% of their manufacturing power. Could you imagine if Hasbro was told b their factory they'd have to find anew place to assemble the TFs? Cast the parts, do the packagingm everything!) but this big collector's train was going to pull every resource they had, and NOTHING else was going to get through.
FunPub could easily turn in an order for 5000 figures, be told six months, and pass someone in the hallway from Hasbro who's going to tell the factory "We need a half a bilion Iron Man figures by the movie in eight months." Guess who's getting the boot on that?