Seibertron wrote:I think you might be being a little too harsh on the retailers or on Hasbro. What I really think happened was First Edition was most likely supposed to see a wide retail release at stores such as Walmart, Target, etc. Perhaps because of factory delays, shipping delays, a strike, supply delays on the factory side, retailer(s) bailed out, etc ... too much stock ended up being made of First Edition for the amount of stores that wanted to take the product. Toys R Us agreed to X amount of product whereas Walmart and Target either declined perhaps because it was a unique sku or something along those lines or backed out altogether (maybe because a production delay for whatever reason prevented the products from arriving for a holiday season or something). So all of the First Editions were made because it was too late to change the production runs, so they farmed out the product to stores willing to take the extra product line in regional areas such as Canada and Asia. Those stores were only willing to order a certain amount of product, so the extra First Editions sat in a warehouse until they can find a home for them. Toys R Us took additional stock last year, but apparently that wasn't all of the rest because now the product is showing up again this holiday season at Toys R Us and discount chains like TJ Maxx. It's just a normal supply/demand/production issue that probably happens a lot more than we realize which is why products show up in weird places some times like grocery stores, discount chains, dollar stores, and other places where you don't expect to normally find main line Transformers products.
Kudos to Hasbro for continuing to get these products out to consumers by finding new homes for them.
Seibertron, I don't understand your unbelievable optimism and love for Hasbro. That was a beautiful story above. Just beautiful.
But you do realize it's just a story, right? Mere pontificating on matters beyond our knowledge?
Your story is no more believable than mine is, differing only in unbridled amounts of gushing hope and positivity!
Regardless of who declined the re-order or who declined to offer a re-order, the point remains that an opportunity was lost (selling these toys when they were
hot). Right now? I'm not sure anyone still cares. Except the scalpers, which are already listing these on eBay as "rare" and "hard-to-find!!!" Sure, some of your fine SEIBERTRON MEMBERS care about these... but even here, I've not seen an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response to this re-release (just check the number of comments/views on this thread).
Let's not look a gift horse in the mouth, as collectors, on this fine re-release... or maybe we should look in the mouth and x-ray the whole damn horse, for that matter. If Hasbro made more sales, they could afford to make more G1 and MP figures - or more succinctly, what's good for the goose is good for the gander (with us being the gander).
I see this news as a tie or defeat for Hasbro (who did not sell this product closer to release, when people were REALLY REALLY excited). If I were a football coach, I wouldn't pat my players on the @$$ for tying or losing. I want to see some more hustle, guys (Hasbro)! Let's move out there and score some touchdowns!
But don't take my word for it. Let's hear from another member...
Xephon0930 wrote:And yet we still have no word on the status of Masterpiece Soundwave.
You probably already realized that MP SW is no longer listed on TRU.com, huh?
I sincerely hope Hasbro plans to do another run of these MP Soundwaves for TRU, as demand has clearly NOT been met, and I say it's better to err slightly on more supply than demand. I think they could do another entire run of these figures and they'd STILL sell out.
I barely got my MP SW, and I'd be pretty pissed if I didn't. Maybe Hasbro just doesn't like money?
Cause, y'know, when I have demand for a product I make, my favorite thing to do is come up with excuses about why I can't sell to meet this demand (factory labor/scheduling problems, retailer demand, blah blah blah, wank wank
).
More annoyingly, I'm seeing secondary sales of these releases make WAAAAAAY more than actual retail sales, and it's not a singular, isolated situation. Virtually every TF toy released today in short quantities hits eBay instantly, bought by people who don't even want the product (or Seibertron members who feel it their Manifest Destiny to clear stores of MP inventory to turn a profit). THIS is my biggest issue with Hasbro's lousy distribution, planning, poor work with retail chains, etc.
I say, fellow collectors, that the blame lies not in the individual stock boy, manager, or store, but at the very top of this supply chain: the manufacturer.
Demand is not being met, and the black market is literally STEALING from legitimate customers. The only way to combat either is to properly supply the distribution channels and thereby eliminate black market value... well, that is unless Hasbro is directly profiteering off of these prospectors and is literally taking advantage of people with no employment or of otherwise unsound minds.
Or maybe I'm being dramatic and Sound Wave is already owned by everyone who cares, and the few people who did NOT get him are just that: few. I don't have numbers, so this theory is as good as anyone else's.
(If it makes you feel better, Xephon0930, the TRU version of SW was not very impressive. It felt rather cheap for how much I paid, and because they painted my Buzzsaw without first taking it apart, the tail fin was literally stuck in tape form - the paint acting as permanent adhesive to this thin piece of plastic - and snapped when I tried to convert it into a bird tail. That tells me the line was rushed and painted sloppily, so I think you're better off ordering Takara on this MP. I would have loved to even CONSIDER the possibility of an exchange, but the broken piece seemed minor - even though it'll be impossible to actually repair - and I can only imagine the horror it would have been to try and find a replacement SW at TRU).