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New York Times Article "Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations"

PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 11:23 am
by El Duque
During last month's Hasbro Media Day site owner Ryan Yzquierdo had the pleasure of speaking to The New York Times' Gregory Schmidt for an article that was published yesterday titled, "Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations". The article focuses on Hasbro's continued ability to grow the Transformers brand and expand it into new markets, creating a truly generational franchise. In the excerpt below Ryan explains the appeal of Transformers: Rescue Bots to parents with young children. The full article can be found by clicking here.


That was enough to convince Ryan Yzquierdo, who has been a Transformers fan since he was 7, that Rescue Bots were a good way to introduce Transformers to his 3-year-old daughter.

“Each toy focused on a different motor skill, which was a big selling point for me and my wife,” said Mr. Yzquierdo, who started a Web site, Seibertron.com, devoted to Transformers in 2000.


Image
Ryan diligently taking photos for Seibertron's Toy Fair 2013 Coverage

Re: New York Times Article "Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations"

PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 11:38 am
by Va'al
Decent read, but I'm annoyed at the fact that Transformers seem to be only identified as "boys' toys".

Even after Ryan made a point of saying he was introducing his daughter to the franchise!

Re: New York Times Article "Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations"

PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 11:51 am
by STngAR
Was an interesting read. My girls are a little to old to try the Transformer thing on, but I thought it was pretty obvious what Hasbro is trying to do. I dont know about movie 4 toys, unless they change something about the movie toys they aint getting any of my money for them.

I would love to have that Predaking statue thats behind Ryan.

Bronies???......really????



:MAXIMAL:

Re: New York Times Article "Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations"

PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 12:36 pm
by RhA
I never get why our children need to be 'introduced to the francise'. It's like saying; 'Hey, dad can't control himself over by the toyisle, it's time you did the same so he looks like less of a nutjob.'

Re: New York Times Article "Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations"

PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 12:55 pm
by Manterax Prime
In regards to the MLP and Bronies part.
“They don’t mind having this fan base, but they can’t forget their core market,”

That core market being little girls. Bronies are even causing problems for Hasbro.



In regards to the main focus, the TFs, I'm really interested in what they'll do when movie 4 hits.

Re: New York Times Article "Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations"

PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 2:06 pm
by PrymeStriker
"Hey, Ryan. You're in the newspaper!"

I'll have to concur, the Predaking statue is awesome.

Manterax Prime wrote:In regards to the MLP and Bronies part.
“They don’t mind having this fan base, but they can’t forget their core market,”

That core market being little girls. Bronies are even causing problems for Hasbro.


In regards to digital images and plush toys they say this. You know, Transformers fans do the same damn thing. We make "unauthorized" custom Transformers and art too.

Image
Image

Their core market being little boys. Transfans are even causing problems for Hasbro.

;)

Re: New York Times Article "Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations"

PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 3:29 pm
by Manterax Prime
PrymeStriker wrote:"Hey, Ryan. You're in the newspaper!"

I'll have to concur, the Predaking statue is awesome.

Manterax Prime wrote:In regards to the MLP and Bronies part.
“They don’t mind having this fan base, but they can’t forget their core market,”

That core market being little girls. Bronies are even causing problems for Hasbro.


In regards to digital images and plush toys they say this. You know, Transformers fans do the same damn thing. We make "unauthorized" custom Transformers and art too.

Image
Image

Their core market being little boys. Transfans are even causing problems for Hasbro.

;)


Hmmmmm.....the article mentions that Transformers are aimed at ADULT fans as well. So Transfans aren't causing problems, they're making the franchise even more AWESOME! Also, it's hard to take legal action against 3rd parties if they're not in the US. Most of the plush toys and MLP games that fans make are made in the US, making it easier for Hasbro to stop them. As for fan art, nothing much can be done about that.

And as for Custom figures....well....they're custom, mostly made of bits and pieces of other bots.

Re: New York Times Article "Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations"

PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 3:40 pm
by PrymeStriker
Manterax Prime wrote:Hmmmmm.....the article mentions that Transformers are aimed at ADULT fans as well.


So is MLP. They made the Favorite Collection toys for adult fans. They named an erroneous background pony "Derpy," which is a name the adult fans gave her. They also have T-Shirts and Vinyl Collectibles made for the adult fans. 'Tis no different than us getting Masterpieces, Reissues, or the Classics Line.

But both franchises were initially for little kids. Then when adult fans got on board, they started giving us some attention. But their target audience is still kids.

Also, it's hard to take legal action against 3rd parties if they're not in the US.


I'm talking about individual fans that make custom Transformers, not 3rd party companies.

And as for Custom figures....well....they're custom, mostly made of bits and pieces of other bots.


Not always. I've seen people make custom Transformers out of figures from completely different lines. Then there are those that make transformers from scratch without using bits and pieces of other bots.

Image

Re: New York Times Article "Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations"

PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 3:44 pm
by Manterax Prime
PrymeStriker wrote:
Manterax Prime wrote:Hmmmmm.....the article mentions that Transformers are aimed at ADULT fans as well.


So is MLP. They made the Favorite Collection toys for adult fans. They named an erroneous background pony "Derpy," which is a name the adult fans gave her. They also have T-Shirts and Vinyl Collectibles made for the adult fans. 'Tis no different than us getting Masterpieces, Reissues, or the Classics Line.

But both franchises were initially for little kids. Then when adult fans got on board, they started giving us some attention. But their target audience is still kids.

Also, it's hard to take legal action against 3rd parties if they're not in the US.


I'm talking about individual fans that make custom Transformers, not 3rd party companies.

And as for Custom figures....well....they're custom, mostly made of bits and pieces of other bots.


Not always. I've seen people make custom Transformers out of figures from completely different lines. Then there are those that make transformers from scratch without using bits and pieces of other bots.

Image


Typical brony.....always wanting to argue anytime somebody insults their precious ponies.
I hate them, you like them, Hasbro doesn't care either way, end of discussion.

Re: New York Times Article "Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations"

PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 3:47 pm
by Va'al
I agree with PrymeStriker here.

The article is obviously biased towards Transformers and its fans, depicting the actions of My Little Pony fans as negative and damaging the franchise and company.
Which is exactly the same thing Hasbro says about third party companies producing Transformers inspired toys.

Re: New York Times Article "Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations"

PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 3:50 pm
by Manterax Prime
Va'al wrote:I agree with PrymeStriker here.

The article is obviously biased towards Transformers and its fans, depicting the actions of My Little Pony fans as negative and damaging the franchise and company.
Which is exactly the same thing Hasbro says about third party companies producing Transformers inspired toys.


I understand the 3rd party thing, but once again, harder to take legal action if they aren't located in the US, which is Hasbro's home turf. Those 3rd parties that are, if any, in the US are gonna be much easier targets for Hasbro.

Re: New York Times Article "Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations"

PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 3:54 pm
by Va'al
True. But as I said, there is a definite bias to the article, as it's praising the Transformers franchise and not the My Little Pony one.

I don't know how big the latter is out of the English-speaking world, and I don't follow it and don't get it, personally. So someone can prove us wrong or right here.

Hasbro did ban all third party companies from its officially endorsed Transformers events, including non-US based ones, though.

Re: New York Times Article "Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations"

PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 4:19 pm
by morphobots
On the lighter side, Ryan is in the freakin' New York Times! Admittedly for a soundbite, but who among us original Transfans could have envisioned this long strange trip coming this far for any one of us? :APPLAUSE:

Re: New York Times Article "Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations"

PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 4:21 pm
by PrymeStriker
Manterax Prime wrote:Typical brony.....always wanting to argue anytime somebody insults their precious ponies.


You quoted my whole post just to type this?

Bashing another fanbase for doing something that their own fanbase does is being downright hypocritical. This is common sense, not "typical brony."

morphobots wrote:On the lighter side, Ryan is in the freakin' New York Times!


I've seen other members of other fan sites get mentioned in famous news articles, but had never imagined it would happen to Ryan. Cool for him, right? :APPLAUSE:

Re: New York Times Article "Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations"

PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 5:04 pm
by Manterax Prime
I thought I said "End of discussion". You just proved that most bronies can't control themselves when it comes to MLP.

And I didn't say anything about the fandom until you brought it up. I was just saying that Hasbro was sticking to MLP being aimed towards little girls, with little nods to the adult fanbase, instead of catering to the bronies. And yet you proceed to start an argument about it.

Adult transformers fans have been around since G1, so it's only natural Hasbro caters to the adult transfans as they've been around the longest.

DON'T YOU DARE tell me about common sense. I may be a dedicated Transformers fan, as well as a fan of other things, but at least I can control myself, unlike most bronies, who absolutely flip out over a mere, minor negative comment towards the show.

So, STHU! You wanna reply, go ahead, don't expect me to reply back.

Re: New York Times Article "Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations"

PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 5:21 pm
by morphobots
morphobots wrote:On the lighter side, Ryan is in the freakin' New York Times!


I've seen other members of other fan sites get mentioned in famous news articles, but had never imagined it would happen to Ryan. Cool for him, right? :APPLAUSE:[/quote]

My point precisely. One of the best spokespersons for us in the fandom got a shot to share his passion with a respected (maybe :grin: ) news outlet.

Re: New York Times Article "Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations"

PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 6:22 pm
by Burn
Manterax Prime wrote:I thought I said "End of discussion". You just proved that most bronies can't control themselves when it comes to MLP.

And I didn't say anything about the fandom until you brought it up. I was just saying that Hasbro was sticking to MLP being aimed towards little girls, with little nods to the adult fanbase, instead of catering to the bronies. And yet you proceed to start an argument about it.

Adult transformers fans have been around since G1, so it's only natural Hasbro caters to the adult transfans as they've been around the longest.

DON'T YOU DARE tell me about common sense. I may be a dedicated Transformers fan, as well as a fan of other things, but at least I can control myself, unlike most bronies, who absolutely flip out over a mere, minor negative comment towards the show.

So, STHU! You wanna reply, go ahead, don't expect me to reply back.


Awesome response. Not.

But you are right, "END OF DISCUSSION". If I see this argument continue, or any further posts that drive the thread off topic, warnings will be issued.

Feel free to take it private. For now, thread back on track.

Re: New York Times Article "Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations"

PostPosted: Sun Mar 03, 2013 4:50 am
by Sinnertwin
Sales in its boys business fell 23 percent in the quarter from the same period in 2011, the year the last Transformers movie came out.

I wonder what Hasbro's sales figures were like in the G1 days? What % was attributed to TF's?
We all know the movie didn't detonate the box office, but i'd be curious to see how TFTM affected Hasbro's sales.

Re: New York Times Article "Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations"

PostPosted: Sun Mar 03, 2013 4:59 am
by Va'al
Seibertron.com is in the news!

(Is that back on track enough, Burn? :P )

Re: New York Times Article "Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations"

PostPosted: Sun Mar 03, 2013 5:44 pm
by Spleenzorio
Ew bronies.

Re: New York Times Article "Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations"

PostPosted: Sun Mar 03, 2013 6:15 pm
by Autobot Megatron
Nice to see Transfans being taken seriously. I do feel kinda bad for Bronies after that though, they kinda got crushed in the thing for stuff even we do. (Not trying to restart the argument, just expressing my opinion.)
Hopefully this will show the public we're not crazy toy-obsessed adults. Probably not, but oh well. :HEADHURTS:

Re: New York Times Article "Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations"

PostPosted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 2:34 am
by Va'al
Autobot Megatron wrote:Hopefully this will show the public we're not crazy toy-obsessed adults. Probably not, but oh well. :HEADHURTS:


There is a point to that, yes. The article is framed in such as way that adult collectors do feature, but Ryan is mentioning trying to get his daughter into the figures.

Which might do what you're saying. :D

Re: New York Times Article "Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations"

PostPosted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 10:35 am
by CaptainMagic
This appears to be a terribly volatile thread, so I'm hesitant to bring up the part about the movies, but let's talk about the part about the movies!

I think they make a good point about why opinions are always so divided on the movies. I don't like the movies, but that shouldn't matter because I don't like a lot of movies. Most of the time, if something comes out that doesn't interest me I just don't go see it. The problem here is that they shut every other aspect of the brand down for almost an entire year and then try to scrape something back together during the downtime between movies.

I hope they learned a thing or two from the way they mishandled the toy lines during and after DotM. The stuff they showed from next year's toy line gives me hope, but the fact that they killed Prime does not, so who knows?

Re: New York Times Article "Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations"

PostPosted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 10:28 pm
by Seibertron
PrymeStriker wrote:I've seen other members of other fan sites get mentioned in famous news articles, but had never imagined it would happen to Ryan. Cool for him, right? :APPLAUSE:


Seibertron.com and myself have been in about 1/2 dozen or so articles over the years with various media outlets. Quick ones that come to mind ...

New York Times: Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations
Published: March 1, 2013
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/02/busin ... l?hpw&_r=0

CNN: Dinobots’ triumphant return!
June 21st, 2012 02:35 PM ET
http://geekout.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/21/dinobots-triumphant-return/

Chicago Tribune's Red Eye: Transformers Fans Hail the arrival of Japanese Headmasters
Monday, July 11, 2011 11:00pm
http://blogs.redeyechicago.com/geek-to- ... admasters/

CNN: The lost 'Transformers' hits American shores
July 7, 2011 9:32 a.m. EDT
http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/TV/07/06/transformers.anime.go/index.html

CNN: Good and evil: The voices of 'Transformers'
June 24, 2011 1:56 p.m. EDT
http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/TV/06/2 ... index.html

Seibertron.com Referenced On G4's 'Attack of the Show'!
September 13th, 2008 4:53PM EDT
http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/ ... how/13942/

USA Today: Final shape of 'Transformers' makes debut today
Posted 2/12/2007 10:09 PM ET
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/mov ... mers_x.htm

USA Today: Fan buzz: Flesh out those 'bots
Posted 7/12/2007
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/printedi ... 12.art.htm

Boston Globe: The bots are back - An '80s phenomenon is hurling toward a new wave of popularity
October 11, 2006
http://www.boston.com/yourlife/articles ... ?page=full

And oddly enough, I made it onto WGN news the day before Toy Fair this year when I was flying out from O'Hare ... this was my first non-Seibertron.com/Transformers associated interview.

Northeast blizzard cancels flights in Chicago
02/08/13
http://wgntv.com/2013/02/08/northeast-blizzard-cancels-flights-in-chicago/

Kind of fun seeing all of this stuff again! Good times. :D

Re: New York Times Article "Classic Toys Redesigned to Traverse Generations"

PostPosted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 10:36 pm
by Seibertron
Va'al wrote:
Autobot Megatron wrote:Hopefully this will show the public we're not crazy toy-obsessed adults. Probably not, but oh well. :HEADHURTS:


There is a point to that, yes. The article is framed in such as way that adult collectors do feature, but Ryan is mentioning trying to get his daughter into the figures.

Which might do what you're saying. :D


The writer of the article, Gregory Schmidt, interviewed me for about 5 to 10 minutes. We talked about plenty more than Rescue Bots and my daughter. I think he asked me about my opinions about Beast Hunters, what Hasbro is doing to constantly change up the brand to stay relevant, asked me about my thoughts about (these are my words) Hasbro cracking down on MLP infringements to which I replied that I hadn't heard anything about it, told him I thought it was interesting to hear that they've been cracking down on MLP issues while Hasbro has its own problems with Transformers in regards to the 3rd party products (which we talked about for a little bit). He asked me a few questions about Seibertron.com, etc.

It was a nice, casual interview. We covered a whole lot of ground. It's interesting how much discussion and work goes into getting quotes that journalists both in print and TV end up using in their stories.