Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

[Bruticus1983]

I think i will let this one pass, im waiting for the voyager foc grimlock, or the retail combaticons because i already have the MP 10 convoy, so i really dont need it. (waiting face)

My mistake, MP-01 convoy.

[Mekatron]

The ONE Hasblo item I was going to buy this year... if I can't get this at retail, screw 'em.

[Flashwave]

Always blows my mind when these big companies sell out of an item rapidly and they don't do anything to alleviate the problem next time around - like having enough stock to keep the item online for a day, rather than 3 or 4 hours :/

The only reason I can assume companies do this, is that they don't want to make as much money as they could have if they had more to sell.

I get small companies, like the 3rd parties like Fansproject, or Perfect Effect (wait, am I allowed to say that in here?) only making a very limited amount of their products, because they maybe can't afford to keep doing new runs of them. Hasbro isn't exactly a small toy company, and TRU isn't really some little independent retailer. Pretty sure if someone in an office somewhere pressed a few keys on his computer, they could get more.

Your talking about two differnt things. You're talking about supply on one hand and demand on the other. In reality, it boils down to three things:

TRU is in the business of selling toys, not storing them. Now, we can all agree that they aren't doing a swell job maybe of spreading stock around in the right places, but having Prime sold out is much more interesting to them than taking a gamble on ordering a thousand more and then selling only anothr three hundred off the bat. The other 700 Primes end up becoming not what we think of the term, but for TRU its a shelf warmer and wasted money. And Hasbro's in the same boat. Primes unwanted by TRU do them no good.

On Hasbro's end, there's probably some balance of cost per unit. Now, usually on our end, that goes down with bulk runs. But with complex figures liek Prime, I don't know for sure, that may not always be true. If the facotry gives Hasbro a quote for X figures and a quote for Y figures that's higher, and hasbro only has one retailer buying, they're going to pay for X and say "Sorry bout'cha."

Yeah, its about profit. And it is actually possible to make a bigger orofit off of fewer figures without choking demand.

The other thing on Hasbro's plate is that manufactuiring Prime takes up a lot of casting machines and assembly time. The longer they spend making a figure for one retailer, the less resources they have to make another figure, or figures if not as complex, for multiple retailers. Like the bajillion Bumblebees for example.

1 Prime for TRU, or One Bumblebee, one Wheeljack, for Walmart, TRU, target, Meijer, etc.

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I dunno. I guess this was the decider for me. I was on the fence. Its a nice figure, but it doesn't really go with the Alternator collection like the first MP1 did. And I have him. Not really the modern asthetic, but he might belnd into the Classics shelf well. We'll see if he comes back up. If so, maybe...

[redoutlander]

Them Babies are back on! check it out!!

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.js ... d=15546036

just put mine on order! Thundercracker Friday and now OP w/ trailer. Man I'm broke but I'm happpy. Hope i survive the wife killing me!

[triKlops]

just got me order in
pretty psyched for this to come out

[steve2275]

can we still buy in store?

[Bubbah]

Just as a heads up, some people are having trouble finding it on the site depending on their browsers. I get a "no results" found page when checking from my phone (iPhone 4, iOS5 & using the full site, not the mobile TRU) but using my desktop (with Windows 7, IE8) I can find it no problem. So if you're having trouble getting him to pop up, go to something with a different browser.

[headsortails]

I GOT ONE!!!!!!! Now for the "wait by the mailbox" game......Long wait, though, since it won't be released for a few weeks...

[Depthcharge27]

Just ordered mine on Monday 7:30 am!! I clicked on the link just to see.. and it was back up!!!

[ViperEye82]

..the least they could have done is transform him right. Anyone notice the rear wheels?

As much as I love this mold, and I DO like the brighter colors and eyes, I'm probably going to pass. Finding Thundercraker was ulcer-inducing and seems I have the Takara version of Prime, I'll let him go to others who need him in my area.