HOW BABY FACE WAS BORN... In Europe Magic Diaper Babies were sold as impulse collectibles, sort
of like baseball cards are sold here. They were well under a dollar
each, and if the closed package turned out to contain a "duplicate",
one could trade it with a friend. Magic Diaper Babies appeared
everywhere, including next to cash registers where lottery tickets
were sold. For us it was like winning the lottery! He, then, made two marketing decisions, that would determine the
destiny of the Magic Diaper Babies! : First, he replaced the secret
individual packaging and instead sold them in pre-collected groups,
fully disclosed on blister cards. The mystery of weather they were boys
or girls remained, but the chance element of who they were, was gone.
The thinking was, that, retailers in the US prefer higher ticket items,
and there are less outlets here for low price impulse items. I can't fault
the logic here, perhaps this was a good decision. It is Gary's second decision, that I feel was so Naive, it managed to
"Snatch Defeat from the Very Jaws of Success"! Because Galoob had
invested so much capital in gaining recognition for the name "Baby
Face", Gary decided to use that name on the Magic Diaper Babies
packages! In my opinion the "Obituary Notices" are not a great place to "borrow"
a name for a new product "Introduction"!Think about it! (I wish Galoob
had) ...Even as much as you like Baby Face, you and the other collectors
assumed she "died" because sales slowed down, or there was something
wrong with her, somehow. What is the Retailer supposed to think? Next Page: 34. The Legacy of Baby Face |