Alamo Drafthouse / Rolling Road Show Poster Update

[ddilts399]

i am really getting frustrated with mondo drops, by the time the page loads for me everything is gone.

[guest8]

It's actually quite funny when you see both prints next to each other.  One is from a true artist with great inspiration, the other... is not . And the choice of colors on the Whalen is... not that nice (trying not to say what I really think.)

I think the polite word you may be looking for is "commercial" .. Whalens work reminds me of grade school folder/notebook covers .. Or trapper keepers for you cool 30-somethings While in this instance Moss' does come across as more artistic. commercial isnt bad but when you put it up against "art work" its going to pale in comparison.

[archie leach]

It's actually quite funny when you see both prints next to each other.  One is from a true artist with great inspiration, the other... is not . And the choice of colors on the Whalen is... not that nice (trying not to say what I really think.)

That is a fair bit overboard.  He's clever at times, which is the primary draw for his fanboys, but the cleverness is often seems to be at the expense of the artist merit. Also, in many ways, he is just as much of a one trick pony as Stout...

And Whalen isn't the only partially color blind artist going...

[eatbrie]

...purple poop?

Yeah, it kind of makes you sick, doesn't it?

[holiday]

i am really getting frustrated with mondo drops, by the time the page loads for me everything is gone.

I reached that point 6 months ago, at least.  They refuse to keep their servers up to speed with the demand, and they could give a shit because they sell out every time.   Very frustrating, so I just stay away to avoid that shitty feeling of a missed drop.

[stewart boyle]

I reached that point 6 months ago, at least.  They refuse to keep their servers up to speed with the demand, and they could give a shit because they sell out every time.   Very frustrating, so I just stay away to avoid that shitty feeling of a missed drop score.

With all due respect.

  Stew

[guest8]

I reached that point 6 months ago, at least.  They refuse to keep their servers up to speed with the demand, and they could give a shit because they sell out every time.   Very frustrating, so I just stay away to avoid that shitty feeling of a missed drop.

To be fair, to get them to the level that we want them at they'd have to easily drop 6 figures on equipment alone and house servers across the country. Incurring more monthly overhead per location. Not to mention all of the re-configuring of their current equipment and I doubt they have a full time IT staff in house. Which means labor/project costs, for the kind of business that they run it just doesnt make sense as far as return on investment.  

And even then .. with a run of 200-300 prints with a thousand people all coming in at the same time I dont think it would matter. You would see an instant sell out screen and thats all. Instead of the WSOD or the circles spinning. Either way the demand is just too high that its a frenzy. I dont expect nor do I want Mondo to increase their run sizes to match demand either .. Part of the fun is having something others want and even better if it increases in value along the way too.

[holiday]

With all due respect.

  Stew

No, not at all.  I never bought Mondo's posters for resale, and perhaps that's the point.  There are collectors like me and Dale who would buy for our collections, but we're getting hammered by the people who are buying just to flip them, on top of all of the other collectors, on top of Mondo's shitty servers that cannot handle the load.  Ultimately, I end up making a choice to pay a few $$$ more to someone down the road just to avoid the nastyness of the drop.  But, have no doubt, my feelings are not because I missed a "score."

[holiday]

I get this . . . sorta.  But they could also outsource the web portal so that they are simply leasing someone else's bandwidth.  Also, they should increase the print runs and the prices of the prints so that its more manageable.

To be fair, to get them to the level that we want them at they'd have to easily drop 6 figures on equipment alone and house servers across the country. Incurring more monthly overhead per location. Not to mention all of the re-configuring of their current equipment and I doubt they have a full time IT staff in house. Which means labor/project costs, for the kind of business that they run it just doesnt make sense as far as return on investment.  

And even then .. with a run of 200-300 prints with a thousand people all coming in at the same time I dont think it would matter. You would see an instant sell out screen and thats all. Instead of the WSOD or the circles spinning. Either way the demand is just too high that its a frenzy. I dont expect nor do I want Mondo to increase their run sizes to match demand either .. Part of the fun is having something others want and even better if it increases in value along the way too.

[guest8]

I get this . . . sorta.  But they could also outsource the web portal so that they are simply leasing someone else's bandwidth.  Also, they should increase the print runs and the prices of the prints so that its more manageable.

But if they up the run sizes or prices enough to make a difference they would eventually kill their own market. There would be no after market and all of the "exclusive" "limited" hype factors would be gone and even though we would still buy their posters they would go back to not selling out and then Mondo would not the name credibility to work with studios like they do now. Theyve been pushing their run sizes up over the past couple of years along with the prices just enough so that most people don't notice or care. But if they go too far on either the bubble would burst and ruin it for everyone. Not just those who happen to miss a couple drops here or there.

[holiday]

either the bubble would burst and ruin it for everyone.

... and another good reason that no one should try to "score."  I get what you're saying.  I just don't like them because they treat their customers like a pack of mules.  Notwithstanding the opportunity to respond to criticisms like mine here on the forum, the Mondo crew dodges and leaves defense to good folks like you.  At what point do you say screw off?  I did . . . about 6 months ago.

[guest8]

... and another good reason that no one should try to "score."  I get what you're saying.  I just don't like them because they treat their customers like a pack of mules.  Notwithstanding the opportunity to respond to criticisms like mine here on the forum, the Mondo crew dodges and leaves defense to good folks like you.  At what point do you say screw off?  I did . . . about 6 months ago.

Well I like some of what they put out so I'm going to at least attempt to get it at cost .. if I cant Ill go after market or Ill just do without .. BUT, because of their rise in popularity and the lack of recognition of long time buyers, I no longer buy everything that they put out and in fact have started trimming out the unnecessary prints from my collection. So, they have lost some business but unfortunately for us we are quickly replaced by the money hungry flippers. Each time a print gets a lot of attention and the prices reach amazing highs it brings in a whole new batch that think every Mondo print is gold .. But after a few duds they start to learn their lesson and then another golden ticket item gets released and another batch of entrepreneurs jump on board and the cycles continues.

As for recognizing long time buyers .. I wonder if that has anything to do with management .. Now I want to preface this by saying that I feel that on a business level as well as artistic level I feel that the current Mondo team is great and they are doing a great job. But... I have been buying since Doyle was running things. But Mondo seemed to really get into the limelight when the current team took over .. So maybe they have a harder time recognizing who has been a long time buyer and who hasnt. I mean Im sure to this day after every drop they still get emails from "huge fans" who "Love the art" and "hates flippers" and they "really want this piece to hang on their walls" blah blah blah .. But they cant tell the difference between someone that just started buying or a flipper with a new email address.

I just try to think of what I would do if I were in their place and its hard, i really dont know how I could do it better .. You just cant please everyone so they just level the playing field and and let the strongest survive.

[Bruce]

Well I like some of what they put out so I'm going to at least attempt to get it at cost .. if I cant Ill go after market or Ill just do without .. BUT, because of their rise in popularity and the lack of recognition of long time buyers, I no longer buy everything that they put out and in fact have started trimming out the unnecessary prints from my collection. So, they have lost some business but unfortunately for us we are quickly replaced by the money hungry flippers. Each time a print gets a lot of attention and the prices reach amazing highs it brings in a whole new batch that think every Mondo print is gold .. But after a few duds they start to learn their lesson and then another golden ticket item gets released and another batch of entrepreneurs jump on board and the cycles continues.

This exact same scenario played out in comic books and baseball cards. Eventually, all those who were in it for the love of the items (like you and Holiday) leave, and only the most expensive items retain their value, and the rest becomes incredibly hard to sell.

Time will tell!

Bruce

[brude]

Holiday's last attempt at a Mondo drop...

[mcnail]

I reached that point 6 months ago, at least.  They refuse to keep their servers up to speed with the demand, and they could give a shit because they sell out every time.   Very frustrating, so I just stay away to avoid that shitty feeling of a missed drop.

We are actually always looking into ways to improve the website (we are currently hosted on multiple dedicated servers, costing a stupid amount of money), but the most common answer we get is "I'm really not sure how to handle these acute loads". If anyone knows any great programming companies that can help us out, please contact me.

Also, they should increase the print runs and the prices of the prints so that its more manageable.

The vast majority of our customer base seems to feel differently, and we try to respect that.

I just don't like them because they treat their customers like a pack of mules.  Notwithstanding the opportunity to respond to criticisms like mine here on the forum, the Mondo crew dodges and leaves defense to good folks like you.

Other than sometimes not being able to meet demand (which is always a hard thing to pinpoint. we'd never have thought Gremlins 2 would be up for sale for so long), if folks are unhappy with the customer service they're receiving, they can always feel free to contact me directly.

BUT, because of their rise in popularity and the lack of recognition of long time buyers, I no longer buy everything that they put out and in fact have started trimming out the unnecessary prints from my collection. As for recognizing long time buyers .. I wonder if that has anything to do with management .. Now I want to preface this by saying that I feel that on a business level as well as artistic level I feel that the current Mondo team is great and they are doing a great job. But... I have been buying since Doyle was running things. But Mondo seemed to really get into the limelight when the current team took over .. So maybe they have a harder time recognizing who has been a long time buyer and who hasnt. I mean Im sure to this day after every drop they still get emails from "huge fans" who "Love the art" and "hates flippers" and they "really want this piece to hang on their walls" blah blah blah .. But they cant tell the difference between someone that just started buying or a flipper with a new email address.

It's true, it is very hard to tell. Plus, the reality is that some of the folks that have been buying every print for years put them straight on eBay too, so it's a large ball of yarn to try to untangle. If you guys have any examples of customer loyalty programs in the collectible markets that you've been happy with, I'd be happy to take a look at them.



We are not some huge company that doesn't care about our customers. We value them greatly. We've tried to solve every problem that we're currently having (website issues, rampant flipping, etc), but have not found solutions that are viable. RE the flipper thing, which tends to garner a lot of discussion lately...I've watched poster artists get popular and try to weed out flippers, and most times they end up banging their heads up against the wall. Emek failed miserably at it. Shepard Fairey tried to police eBay for about six months, then gave up. We are lucky enough to work with artists that people will flip no matter what (look at Tyler's lotteries, which are a one-on-one interaction, still plenty of flippers), so it will probably always be an element of our business (which does at times suck). We just try to make posters that anyone will even give enough of a shit about to discuss.

Cheers.

[Bruce]

You may know we handled a couple of Charlie Brown releases.

Here is what I learned after both:

The service provider we use can have 450 people connected to our site at once (if more than that try, those who don't get through get an error message).

So last time, I announced it for "between 10 and 11 AM" and at 9:59 AM 450 people were online, and they kept refreshing the page over and over. That meant that once we enabled ordering, those 450 people had first chance at ordering, and only as they complete ordering do others make it on the site.

It worked fine, but obviously only those who were already on the site at 9:59 got to order.

If we ever do this again, I will start the same way, but I will "kick off" all the 450 people who are on at 9:59 at the exact time I enable ordering, say, 10:11 (my programmers assure me I can do this) so that then everyone will have to re-connect right after 10:11, and it will be truly fair to everyone.

But of course, I will explain the above, and of course, if there are 100 prints and more than 100 people want to order, some number of them will be disappointed!

You might look into doing this (or some variation) with your drops.

Bruce

[eatbrie]

Personally, I've never had a problem getting what I wanted.  I probably missed 2 or 3 drops out of 50.  I understand the frustration of not getting a desired print, but that's the rules of the game.  Increasing the number of prints or the price would most certainly kill Mondo, since most collectors collect for the rarity of the piece (thus the low numbering) and the fact that some pieces increase value (thus the low initial price).

My only complain is that they do not reimburse extra shipping.  Since most drops sell out in 20-30 seconds, I usually buy my most wanted print, and then go back to get my second most wanted print.  Getting them both together would probably mean losing them both.  I have sent 3 or 4 emails to Mondo asking them to combine shipping and reimburse me the difference.  Never got an answer and ended up paying double shipping.  At some point last year, I stopped asking.  $14 doesn't make much difference, but it don't find it very buyer friendly.

T

[mcnail]

Personally, I've never had a problem getting what I wanted.  I probably missed 2 or 3 drops out of 50.  I understand the frustration of not getting a desired print, but that's the rules of the game.  Increasing the number of prints or the price would most certainly kill Mondo, since most collectors collect for the rarity of the piece (thus the low numbering) and the fact that some pieces increase value (thus the low initial price).

My only complain is that they do not reimburse extra shipping.  Since most drops sell out in 20-30 seconds, I usually buy my most wanted print, and then go back to get my second most wanted print.  Getting them both together would probably mean losing them both.  I have sent 3 or 4 emails to Mondo asking them to combine shipping and reimburse me the difference.  Never got an answer and ended up paying double shipping.  At some point last year, I stopped asking.  $14 doesn't make much difference, but it don't find it very buyer friendly.

T

If you ever run into this again, email me directly.

[eatbrie]

I will Mitch.  Thanks for listening.

T

[brude]

If you ever run into this again, email me directly.

Now, that is the mark of a true businessman.  Good for you, Mitch. 

[guest8]

If you ever run into this again, email me directly.

One thing that I think would be great .. Would be if you could build the shipping cost into the cost of the poster and do away with those steps in the check out process!! Now this may be a lot easier said than done, I know it can be hard to alter/customize cart systems. But those steps are pretty redundant given that all US shipping is always the standard $14 and then we have those extra pages to go through. But that's just an annoyance and its all part of the smoke and mirrors hiding the real issue of too many people want your product! If that can be called an issue.

As for the customer appreciation thing .. thats a tough one .. Any edge/bonus/whatever you give could inadvertently be given to a flipper just because they have been long time flippers .. The only thing I could even think of is some kind of contests that you could only enter if youve been buying from Mondo for X years .. ? I would love a contest like "who has the most framed Mondo posters in one room of their house?" .. I like that one just because I think Id be in the running to win that Or any one thats has had a Mondo account for X years and can post photos of their actual collection .. This way you know its a long time buyer and if they have to show proof of their collections you know they arent selling them.. Next what would the reward be? First chance at an upcoming print? Bonus Mondo gift cards? Mondo subscription for a year? Im just "spit balling" here so if my ideas just aren't realistic then just say so.. there will be no hard feelings here.

[guest8]

If we ever do this again, I will start the same way, but I will "kick off" all the 450 people who are on at 9:59 at the exact time I enable ordering, say, 10:11 (my programmers assure me I can do this) so that then everyone will have to re-connect right after 10:11, and it will be truly fair to everyone.
Bruce

As a buyer I would hate that .. That would be like waiting in line all night for a Black Friday special and 5 mins before the doors open they tell everyone that they have to leave and come back and that there is no "line" even though some people have been there for 5, 10 or 15 hours .. Now that sacrifice and dedication is no different than someone that just showed up at the last minute .. I know I spend a lot of time F5'ing for Mondos prints just so that I can have the possibility of having the slightest bit of an edge to beat out the other thousand buyers .. and I put that time in and would hope on some karmic level it means something to someone somewhere. This is kind of like what is being referred to in regards to Mondo recognizing long time customers. Weve been there for years buying and buying and now (for lack of a better method) theyve kicked us all out in an effort to be fair and were mixed in with the guys that just want the next Moss' so that he can sell it for $500..

[archie leach]

If we ever do this again, I will start the same way, but I will "kick off" all the 450 people who are on at 9:59 at the exact time I enable ordering, say, 10:11 (my programmers assure me I can do this) so that then everyone will have to re-connect right after 10:11, and it will be truly fair to everyone.

As a buyer, I would love that.  It eliminaties the entirely wasteful practice of F5'ing for hours on end... just show up at the right time and take your shot...

[Ari]

someone send Loce a screen already.

[guest8]

As a buyer, I would love that.  It eliminaties the entirely wasteful practice of F5'ing for hours on end... just show up at the right time and take your shot...

But you don't have an exact "right time" even with Bruce there's an hour long window .. If you show up at 10 and start refreshing and it goes up at 10:45 then you wasted 45 mins refreshing while someone that may have forgotten about the drop and just jumped on to see what happened and got lucky at 10:45 could then beat you out because everyone got kicked off seconds before.