Underverse Discussion

x43x wrote:Scrutiny of the box says it is a Thank You Set

Ah I see...

Yes, looks like a "Xie xie" set (?) .... or could just be how the first offering is being packaged.
Very cool to see the Underverse materialize!!!
I agree though,... looks like maybe, just maybe, there may be some kind of club or membership type action....??

Undernauts yo.

If say, there was a membership or club, what would people want from it?

gregory wrote:If say, there was a membership or club, what would people want from it?

A membership discount.

Really love the 3AA packs.
I am very fond of them and the 3AA packs are some of my favourite threeA releases, which skews my opinion on the toys.
On their own, the toys offered might not be my favourites, but I think I would have bought all releases, except maybe not at that exact price point.
Nonetheless 3AA packs had an insane high value and, in my case, easily earned themselves back. (except Mort, but that's not threeA's fault)

We had 4 threeA releases, 8 toys and multiple figures teased and announced before threeA offered the 3AA pack.
Which made it easier to buy into the first 2009 pack.
Not sure at this moment what to expect from Underverse, maybe something for 2021.

[edit]
On the other hand: if it was offered I would probably get it, anyway.

Most people I think would want a membership discount for purchases made throughout the length of the membership period.

Aside from that personally I'm a 1/6 figure collector so I'd want a 1/6 membership exclusive figure.

A cool art postcard on actual postcard card stock would also be nice and/or collector card.

Stickers are cool. I think better than patches since you can put stickers on anything thus promoting the company.

A secret decoder ring of sorts and a puzzle with a secret message that the ring would help decipher. Or maybe just the membership figure have a qr code like the Jea Bambaboss with a secret message that you could find out once it was scanned.

A small trinket crackerjack prize/toy or maybe a gumball machine toy?

Personally, I don't think we should have membership cards with members names since they were too much trouble and names were limited to a certain number of letters and if membership packages were sent to the wrong member, they received the wrong member card.

I think the main thing for me is having a cool fun poseable/playable figure that hasn't been done before and represents the company. A figure that people can look to and say that figure is what started it all. Kind of like the Nom de Plume and how when you think of 3A, the Nom de Plume is one of the top 5 figures that will come to mind.

I doubt anybody ever get laid because he/she flashed their 3AA membership card.

The same things we got with 3AA membership!
The 15% discount, a unique 1/6 figure (WWR,TK,AK) in a nice box and a membership card! I personally liked the membership cards as a momento of being part of the club!

I like the membership card, I also really liked the 15% discount, although in later years I spent much less but at one stage I think the 15% actually paid for itself. I also would prefer 1/6 scale figures but having said that I eneded up selling my Lass set straight away because being a mainly WWR guy she didn't really go with any of my stuff. But I'd definitely be in favour of a 3aa/UV kind of thing.

gregory wrote:If say, there was a membership or club, what would people want from it?

My favourite items/perks from the 3AAssociates Membership were:

• 3AA Discount (of course, because it meant I could afford to buy more figures throughout the year)
  
• 1/6 scale figures (Lasstranaut, Future Mort, F-Legion 002449)
  
• 3AA Membership Card
  
• Access to 3AA Exclusives (even if I wasn't always interested in the options, I'd hate to have not had access)
  
• Embroidered Patches
  
• 3AA Messenger Bag
  
• Outstanding Packaging Design
  

I really would have loved the apparel, but the dense cotton materials and boxy sizing were not the most comfortable options for regular wear, which lead to me "collecting" the apparel rather than it having a practical value. If these were a better fitted style and softer material, they would certainly be on this list as well.

Something new beyond what we had would be cool.  I'm sure the creative team would want to stretch their creative legs.  

I would like to see a fan design a figure contest where the winner would get his/her figure produced for perhaps one of the membership packages.  

Underverse socks. Underverse hankerchief.  Underverse beanie.  

An Underverse pen.  

An Underverse keychain.

An Underverse manbag designed to look like a shoulder gunholsters.

I like the membership card as well. I never had any issues, but I know others did. Maybe a membership business card that has the company name obviously on it with some cool artwork and maybe some info like Ashley Wood's name, UV website urls, CS contact info etc. Maybe this card could have a QR code on it with a secret message.

I only stared collecting 3A figures less than a year ago, and I'm kicking myself for not diving in sooner. I did get the 1/12 shogun and the lonely trooper though, so I'll just hunt on ebay and wait till underverse picks up. I'm super happy that I found this forum because it seems like nowhere near enough people appreciate how cool these figs are.

The membership packs were always divisive and always delayed.  Not everyone liked the included figure but bought anyway for the discount.  Clothing is always nice, but there were many problems keeping everyone's sizes in order.  We also have to keep in mind how much the industry has changed since 2008 and making toys isn't cheap.  Here is what I suggest to put less burden on the company and their resources:

$250 entry price
15% discount for 1-year
Embroidered patch instead of card
Underverse Beanie for inaugural members
Digital voucher code for up to $150 off any one-time purchase of your choosing

The 3AA cards were cool but serve little purpose.  Not having to customize a patch for each person will cut down on cost and delivery time.  A one-size-fits-all clothing item will cut down on customizing each order and speed up delivery time.  The voucher should mitigate any issue of not liking an included figure and massively end delay in receiving the pack.

I also think the pack should be available all year long, but only last until the end of year date.  So lets say the packs go on sale in January, but you don't find out about The Underverse until November.  You can still buy a member pack but must use the voucher code before January.

Beslee wrote:I'm super happy that I found this forum because it seems like nowhere near enough people appreciate how cool these figs are.

Welcome! Glad you found us!

Most people don't use the patches because it requires effort to attach them. Maybe a pin would be more versatile. You could easily put it on a cap, a jacket, a backpack, etc.

Oh yeah...enamel pins are all the rage.  Make it a pin, not a patch!

Not to fuel the already raging discussion, I still think the personalised membership card is one of my favourite parts of the membership pack besides the 15% discount.
regarding apparel I have to agree with Cody. T-shirts, hoodies, patches or pins are fun as it is enclosed but I didn't miss it when threeA skipped the T-shirt part after it felt the need to send out extra T-shirts, cards and TK-heads to every 3AA in 2015.

Regarding the 3AA toys I have to agree with most people, however I really liked Mort, Lasstranaut, F-legion and the Tracky Squares and I think it was an essential part of the 3AA pack.

An Underverse Undernaut pack or whatever name Ash will come up with, is more appealing to me with the basic discount, toy and maybe membership card.
It doesn't even have to be a creditcard type of card with embossed name. So the name could be longer, etc.
If it is too hard to enclose the card Underverse can decide to sent them separately.

That being said, by no means a Underverse membership pack does have to be a carbon copy of the 3AA packs of the past.

All good food for thought.

I think what I was more curious about is there anything in particular (aside from the discount) that made the packs special to you guys?

I enjoyed getting the special figure that wasn't a variant of others like the f-legion, Future Mort, Lasstranaut, etc.  But yeah, I think these packs should once in a while be a thank you to the fans or to those you collaborate with or even to yourselves the creative team for putting the effort throughout the year.  A kind of an award, a special figure, the best of the best or something different that hasn't been done before.  Maybe start including a stand with a name plate with just this figure.  Other than that I think some kind of token that we can carry with us throughout the day and remind us, "Hey" I'm a member of this Underverse whether it be a patch, a pin, a key chain trinket, a membership card, etc. or what about an Underverse Key that would open some box in the future that you would make and inside the box a special figure that only Underverse Key holders could open.  A treasure of sorts.  Let me know if my ideas are ridiculous.  I'm just throwing them out there.

That being said, I also think a streamlined pack is better than a pack full of stuff I'm not going to use.  I mean a lanyard was cool, but did anyone ever use it long term?  I think a membership card is cool, but maybe print the names on it and other valuable info like I mentioned earlier.   T shirt are cool if made with wearable breathable fabric as mentioned earlier.  Again hoodies are cool, but if made with the right fabric and are not printed with designs that cover the whole front or the back of the hoodies.  In other words keep things simple.  A nice small logo on the front or light design.  Nothing thick that you are going to feel when you're wearing it and leaning back on a seat or crossing your arms in front of you. Nothing that's going to stick to a chair when your body heat has been pressing against the design and the chair.  

A small format catalog (around 5" X 7" or there about) containing artwork or images of figures or comic would also be cool.

Other than that, it's obviously your guys' call on what to produce.  Surprises are cool if done with the thought of the receivers in mind.

I feel it was the beautiful, well designed and constructed box (and the things that came inside of course) that always made me feel like I was opening something special! A gift I receive for being part of the club each year!

gregory wrote:All good food for thought.

I think what I was more curious about is there anything in particular (aside from the discount) that made the packs special to you guys?

I cherish the first pack since every figure was individually numbered on the back to match the member number.  That was cool.  What did they do for the mods since your numbers were all 0000 or something?

Future Mort was my first 3AA package as I only started collecting 3A seriously mid way through 2017 (too late for the Death Buddies).

However I have picked up a few of the membership packages on the after market & think they’re all awesome (favourite is probably the Von Nom).

I like all of the extra bits, but would be happy to settle for an exclusive figure, nice box & a catalogue of upcoming products & a discount scheme of some kind (almost forgot about that lol!).

In the heyday of ThreeA, the discount alone justified the price of membership. There were so many wonderful figures being produced each year that it paid for itself in no time. The packs were always beautiful and a joy to receive, especially given that it felt like everything beyond the discount was a bonus.

I still use my 3aa messenger bag regularly. And F-Legion remains a classic by any standard.

Aside from product, I think what makes something special is the experience. When I recall the 3A figures I purchased throughout the years, I don't so much recall that anyone in particular as being more special than any other per se.  It was more about the whole 3A experience that was created.  It was Ash interacting with us on the forum, to his drawings and ideas and promises being put forth that drew us in.  So yeah, you want to make these packs special?  Then create an experience that people will remember.  Something that hasn't been done before. I don't think the whole "3A experience" can be recreated at least not among us veteran fans, but I think there are still some untapped ideas out there that can draw fans in to care about a company more that just from a consumer to seller standpoint.  For example, like I mentioned in an earlier post, a chance for a creative fan to have their idea produced into a figure would create an experience for some fans.  If you recall when 3A held those 2D and 3D contests.  It's all about the interaction/experience.  I mean being online is as "real" as it will get for a lot of the fans.  A lot of us fans won't actually go to a con or an event and get to meet Ash or the staff.  So  what we type and how we interact with each other is as real as it gets for some of us.  So how you as a company create an online experience for us fans is really where the magic lies.

I really need to pay more attention to Underverse. Curious to see what 1/6 figures come out

That’s a great post Chico, I absolutely agree.

Whilst I wasn’t around for the old forum discussions, it was a buzz when Ash or someone from Underverse has liked my comments on Instagram.