I was going to post a pretty long comment about this yesterday then deleted it because it was kind of a meandering philosophical business discussion. In light of Mondo's blog post today about TLOU, maybe it has more relevance than I thought.
I did think the fanbro angst was funny, but it got me wondering. Mondo is a brand that, like it or not, for better or worse, built its reputation as a "one and done" operation. In other words, once they sell out they're gone, whether it be posters, records, doormats or sweaters.
It seemed obvious that things changed for the records when Spencer came over and the label adopted more of a DW model (limited variant with regular retail editions as needed), but it wasn't explicitly communicated until today. And that seems in line with what I assume is a mandate from Tim League to grow the collectibles brand in line with the explosive growth of the theater franchise business.
It must be a difficult balancing act: how do you grow the operation without sacrificing the sacred cow of exclusivity and artificial scarcity? What would happen if Mondo took a few recent "hot" posters like Francavilla's Jurassic Park and made them available again on the website--would Espressobeans lose its collective shit? Would it kill the hype train? How much of the demand is what might be called 'organic demand' versus demand for a perceived scarcity?
It will be fun watching the brand develop over time. Hopefully they still have a green light to do an extravagant thing every now and then, and God knows Spencer and Jay can both dream up crazy shit. I liked the post today, straight up.
The collector in me hopes they leave the back catalog alone though
Sorry for a ponderous ramble!!