From experience, that's hardly ever the case... well, once in awhile it is. Some suggestions, from my experience with kit swaps:
Move the due date back... having it in the middle of Dec may be scaring people off of joining... too much going on at that time for most. Kit swaps are just SOOO complicated, it's not even funny. I've hostessed three of these things, and I have a real love/hate relationship with them.
Find out what combination of groups would be good for people.. personally, I'd take anything back... I can use any character eventually. Of course, I've got tons of Mickey/Minnie/Pooh/TIgger/Cinderella/Aurora, etc, so characters "off the beaten path" are definitely more welcome...
I have an "extras" category in my current kit swap... the idea being that if someone flakes on the spot, the person in the extras group with that character will get that spot. Otherwise, they get what I've got extras of back... it's a pot luck kind of thing, makes it interesting!
Not too many people responded to my offer to make The Incredibles... I guess there was one reply, so if you don't want to go with six for that group, then I will just wait for another opportunity. I'm a TOUCH burnt out right now anyway, and we MAY be moving to Mexico in Jan, so I'm hesitant to sign up for ANYTHING right now.
Sarah