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It's not too surprising with the way the US economy has nosedived since 2008. Until that gets fixed, look for more and more of this sort of treatment. And not just from Hasbro.

xyl360 wrote:

Cobalt Prime wrote:Positively.

In fact, Hasbro's new logo should be one of their lovable characters pitching the middle finger to both the U.S. and U.K. flags. Like a fickle girlfriend, Hasbro has dumped us without ceremony or apology. "Thanks for enjoying our product since the eighties, America, but you're no longer man enough to satisfy us."

Though I do not in any way hold it against the posters of such articles (fine job!) I am nonetheless sick of constantly seeing huge splashes about "arms microns" and all the other stuff we in the US are not getting unless we pay outrageous import prices. We want them, and could afford them if they were distributed in our own country, but no-"f**k you America, we love Sasuke now!"

Our wounds are thus getting thoroughly salted.

Keep in mind that Arms Microns etc. are out of Japan, and not from Hasbro at all. In Japan, it's Takara running the show. If Hasbro chooses not to reproduce or distribute Takara's creations/alternate takes on the figures/lines, then that's their choice (the Masterpiece, Henkei, United and countless other lines from the past were no different).

Takara is an entity unto itself, with their own market to cater to, one more focused around collectors, not children. That's the reason Hasbro is so different with what they offer vs what Takara creates.

Yes, that is true. You raise a good point.

I suppose that one could take this back to the eighties and early nineties when Japanese fans got such greats as Overlord, Deszanrus, and Star Saber among others, while the U.S. did not.

Of course, this raises another question; that particular era basically marked the death of TFs in America, perhaps through oversaturation or general loss of interest on the part of retailers. The quality and intricacy of the TFs we started getting at that time declined until finally there was nothing. Japan and even Europe continued to get cool new TFs and comics, however.

Using past history, one can ask if the U.S. is perhaps heading towards another TF crash, despite the popularity of the movies.

Cobalt Prime wrote:

xyl360 wrote:

Cobalt Prime wrote:Positively.

In fact, Hasbro's new logo should be one of their lovable characters pitching the middle finger to both the U.S. and U.K. flags. Like a fickle girlfriend, Hasbro has dumped us without ceremony or apology. "Thanks for enjoying our product since the eighties, America, but you're no longer man enough to satisfy us."

Though I do not in any way hold it against the posters of such articles (fine job!) I am nonetheless sick of constantly seeing huge splashes about "arms microns" and all the other stuff we in the US are not getting unless we pay outrageous import prices. We want them, and could afford them if they were distributed in our own country, but no-"f**k you America, we love Sasuke now!"

Our wounds are thus getting thoroughly salted.

Keep in mind that Arms Microns etc. are out of Japan, and not from Hasbro at all. In Japan, it's Takara running the show. If Hasbro chooses not to reproduce or distribute Takara's creations/alternate takes on the figures/lines, then that's their choice (the Masterpiece, Henkei, United and countless other lines from the past were no different).

Takara is an entity unto itself, with their own market to cater to, one more focused around collectors, not children. That's the reason Hasbro is so different with what they offer vs what Takara creates.

Yes, that is true. You raise a good point.

I suppose that one could take this back to the eighties and early nineties when Japanese fans got such greats as Overlord, Deszanrus, and Star Saber among others, while the U.S. did not.

Of course, this raises another question; that particular era basically marked the death of TFs in America, perhaps through oversaturation or general loss of interest on the part of retailers. The quality and intricacy of the TFs we started getting at that time declined until finally there was nothing. Japan and even Europe continued to get cool new TFs and comics, however.

Using past history, one can ask if the U.S. is perhaps heading towards another TF crash, despite the popularity of the movies.

Yep, that's very true. Hasbro moved on from TF's for the most part in the late 80's/early 90's after the failure of G2 etc. (then we got Beast Wars ). I think the biggest problem was not only that G2 was almost entirely bizarre looking repaints of old figures, but also that there was no cartoon to go with it (cartoons sell toys obviously).

I think TF's in the US are still doing fine, and if Prime gets enough kids excited about the franchise in this post-movie era, then I think Hasbro will continue to do a lot in the US.

Overall, the limited edition FE line notwithstanding, I think Hasbro has done an OK job so far, but of course, this comes from a collector who buys exactly 0 toys in stores and only shops online (BBTS, ToyArena, ebay etc.) so my views may be skewed a bit on that front.

As long as the toys sell well, stores will have a demand for them, and as long as the stores are ordering the product, Hasbro will be more than happy to supply them.

I think kids in the states might just be a bit TF'ed out at the moment after being bombarded with all the movie stuff. Once things settle down a bit (as they have been for the past several months) and as we get closer to the 3rd quarter (early holiday shopping etc.), I suspect that we'll see the volume of new TF's in the stores really pick up.

Cobalt Prime wrote:Yes, that is true. You raise a good point.

I suppose that one could take this back to the eighties and early nineties when Japanese fans got such greats as Overlord, Deszanrus, and Star Saber among others, while the U.S. did not.

Good example.

Cobalt Prime wrote:Of course, this raises another question; that particular era basically marked the death of TFs in America, perhaps through oversaturation or general loss of interest on the part of retailers. The quality and intricacy of the TFs we started getting at that time declined until finally there was nothing. Japan and even Europe continued to get cool new TFs and comics, however.

This is one of the things I've been worried about for awhile now.

Cobalt Prime wrote:Using past history, one can ask if the U.S. is perhaps heading towards another TF crash, despite the popularity of the movies.

Absolutely. Since Hasbro states that they are a multimedia company and not just toys, anymore, I can see there being a good chance that their focus will shift from toys completely.

A large number of the movie audience doesn't buy the toys and the movies were big hits. No reason to assume the next film won't be a hit. Toys or no, Hollywood doesn't need Hasbro's merchandise, and the movie will flourish. Why make the toys if you don't need to?

Dark Optimum Supreme wrote:It's not too surprising with the way the US economy has nosedived since 2008. Until that gets fixed, look for more and more of this sort of treatment. And not just from Hasbro.

My cousin lived and worked in China for years. He said one of the reasons there's so many bootlegs/knock offs is because the people couldn't afford the real deal. They made them, just couldn't afford them. Now, they can. China (and Asia, as a whole) is getting bigger and bigger and their economy is becoming a force to be reckoned with. We owe them money!

paul053 wrote:Well, Hasbro might just say: "I did care about every country, especially US. But the retailers are not ordering from us because they still have tons of DOTM toys to clean up and some even still have ROTF toys. So, not our fault. Really."

It's been said before, and it's true, that the retailers ARE at fault. Wal-Mart, especially. They helped create this mess. Ultimately, the fault lies with Hasbro, though.

They do have some say in what's released and when. As evidenced by DOTM. Also, they had no faith in their movie or product the first time around, and with improper wording, basically admitted it. By that, I mean saying "We weren't expecting or prepared for the demand." or something along those lines. Back then, when we were hyped, that sounded awesome, but hindsight is 20/20 and some of us see it as "Wait. You knew Paramount was releasing it, Bay was directing it, and preview buzz/word of mouth was good and you still doubted it? You didn't make enough toys because you weren't entirely sure of it? Fantastic. That's...fantastic."

Had they worded it something like "Due to unexpected manufacturer delays and public demand, we are currently unable to fulfill current orders. We're working as hard as we can to make sure TransFormers toys return to stores as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience and understanding. We hope to continue to serve you!" It definitely would've sounded better and we wouldn't have given it a second thought.

Then the stores said "Give us more!" So, Hasbro over compensated. Again, and again, and again. Wal-Mart and Hasbro are to blame for this.

It still boggles me how people think that it's all Hasbro's fault that people aren't getting the toys that they want. If retailers don't allocate a certain amount of $$$ to Transformers in their toy budgets (all retailers as we know have budgets that they must adhere to)how can you turn around and say that it's Hasbro's fault for not supplying you with toys?
If your Walmarts etc don't give Hasbro business, what did you expect them to do? Of course they're going to go elsewhere to sell their product. 2 + 2 is 4 people. Hasbro isn't going to waste its energies on a market that isn't going to do business with them. Would any of you?

breakdown99 wrote:It still boggles me how people think that it's all Hasbro's fault that people aren't getting the toys that they want. If retailers don't allocate a certain amount of $$$ to Transformers in their toy budgets (all retailers as we know have budgets that they must adhere to)how can you turn around and say that it's Hasbro's fault for not supplying you with toys?
If your Walmarts etc don't give Hasbro business, what did you expect them to do? Of course they're going to go elsewhere to sell their product. 2 + 2 is 4 people. Hasbro isn't going to waste its energies on a market that isn't going to do business with them. Would any of you?

You make a good point while missing another.

1.) Hasbro either shortchanges production runs, or over does it. (This has happened many times in recent years.)

2.) Stores do demand a lot of Hasbro, which is why I say they're both to blame. Stores ask for too many of one item, not enough of another. (Hasbro keeps sending it out and the stores keep taking it. They're both at fault.)

3.) It's understandable that they might want to go to another market, but they helped create their problems in this market. When it wasn't fiscally responsible to continue down this path, they should've said something sooner. Instead, they kept shipping the same cases, over and over and over. Or including the same figures in wave after wave with no room for the new. (Hasbro has a planning department. They hired people for this exact problem. What gives? Can't blame the stores entirely.)

4.) Why market a product to, and promise the product to, a market....only to say it was never intended for that market? (No, seriously. Why? People never seem to answer this question. All they ever say is "No one promised anything. Deal with it." Problem is, they did actually promise it. Why advertise something that does exist, that you can't get your hands on? See what I mean? No. I doubt it...)

BBTS and other stores wanted First Edition figures and DOTM. Hasbro wouldn't even sell their own import figures to import stores. Do you see that? It's one thing to favor another market when the current one's not doing so well, I get that, but some of this problem rests on their shoulders. When you have customers willing to buy, but don't give them the product or the ability to do so, you're left with a gaping hole in your finances. I'd think a multibillion dollar company would know how to handle their business better than that.

And you don't lie to your core audience (kids), yet they did. You can blame the retailers, but don't excuse Hasbro. Don't be an apologist for those who don't need or deserve it.

EDIT: There's no excuse not to sell these figures through Hasbro Toy Shop. They may not own it, but their name IS on it. They can't sell their own product through a store that is supposed to represent them? Really? Please.

Autobot032 wrote:

breakdown99 wrote:It still boggles me how people think that it's all Hasbro's fault that people aren't getting the toys that they want. If retailers don't allocate a certain amount of $$$ to Transformers in their toy budgets (all retailers as we know have budgets that they must adhere to)how can you turn around and say that it's Hasbro's fault for not supplying you with toys?
If your Walmarts etc don't give Hasbro business, what did you expect them to do? Of course they're going to go elsewhere to sell their product. 2 + 2 is 4 people. Hasbro isn't going to waste its energies on a market that isn't going to do business with them. Would any of you?

You make a good point while missing another.

1.) Hasbro either shortchanges production runs, or over does it. (This has happened many times in recent years.)
Again, depends on how much the stores order, doesn't it? Retailers don't have to order x amount of cases if they aren't selling. We have stock on hand figures to determine what is and what isn't selling.

2.) Stores do demand a lot of Hasbro, which is why I say they're both to blame. Stores ask for too many of one item, not enough of another. (Hasbro keeps sending it out and the stores keep taking it. They're both at fault.)
Not necessarily. We'll order equal amounts of all figures, then based on sales per size class, we'll order what is required, or not.

3.) It's understandable that they might want to go to another market, but they helped create their problems in this market. When it wasn't fiscally responsible to continue down this path, they should've said something sooner. Instead, they kept shipping the same cases, over and over and over. Or including the same figures in wave after wave with no room for the new. (Hasbro has a planning department. They hired people for this exact problem. What gives? Can't blame the stores entirely.)
50/50 there. Some times we've ordered cases because we've got them at a certain % off cost price, which we in turn then sold at lower profit margins, but still at a profit. Again, we made the decision to order voyager case x.

4.) Why market a product to, and promise the product to, a market....only to say it was never intended for that market? (No, seriously. Why? People never seem to answer this question. All they ever say is "No one promised anything. Deal with it." Problem is, they did actually promise it. Why advertise something that does exist, that you can't get your hands on? See what I mean? No. I doubt it...)
Agreed. Production costs of old lines vs marketing new lines? Who really knows how they operate at Hasbro. Only way we'll ever know is if an executive was on these boards or answering the questions at Botcon etc. The odds of that? Pfft...


BBTS and other stores wanted First Edition figures and DOTM. Hasbro wouldn't even sell their own import figures to import stores. Do you see that? It's one thing to favor another market when the current one's not doing so well, I get that, but some of this problem rests on their shoulders. When you have customers willing to buy, but don't give them the product or the ability to do so, you're left with a gaping hole in your finances. I'd think a multibillion dollar company would know how to handle their business better than that.
Obviously not...


And you don't lie to your core audience (kids), yet they did. You can blame the retailers, but don't excuse Hasbro. Don't be an apologist for those who don't need or deserve it.
I'm not apologizing for anybody. At the end of the day, Hasbro will never explain themselves and we'll just be asking, over and over and over again. C'est la vie my friend.

EDIT: There's no excuse not to sell these figures through Hasbro Toy Shop. They may not own it, but their name IS on it. They can't sell their own product through a store that is supposed to represent them? Really? Please.

Lol How can you argue fact

I'd still like to hear an explanation for their wonky case assortments. "Kids love Bumblebee" just isn't cutting it anymore.