April 1, 2002 - In an effort to promote goodwill among Canadian collectors, the 17 member companies of the Action Figure and Doll Manufacturers Association (AFDMA) have agreed to ship their new action figures to Canada several weeks ahead of their US shipping dates.
"In the past, Canadian collectors have had to wait weeks and months for new action figures to reach their markets," said AFDMA Spokesperson Janice Bickle. "Under this new agreement, they are no longer at the mercy of eBay and the three online toy stores which ship to Canada."
American collectors are thrilled with this development: "Finally, no more Canadians posting to the online forums and newsgroups, asking for trades. No one wants your curling team bobbleheads in trade for Spawn figures," said usenet poster OnE_TuFf_ToY_BoY.
Not all toys fall under this agreement, however: fashion dolls, plush toys, and video games will still be shipped at their usual times, if at all.
"Canadians love Babsie enough to wait, and wait they shall. They can make do with baby dolls until Babsie makes her way North," commented MaiTai president Jack Barnett, when asked about the fashion doll exception.
RTM would like to wish everyone a very happy April Fool's Day - we wish that we could actually report something that was good news for our Canadian friends.
