Dear Twincast:
With all the issues of having trouble getting toys onto shelves, do you think the problem is primarily/soley upon Distribution, or is Hasbro simply trying to produce too much product? Are we going to see a time when they cut back on waves and releases again when they figure out things aren;t moving? Or might we see, since Cases are being restructured, toylines getting longer shelflife?
I know some of you have said "Sell it online!" I do n't now that there aren't underselling contracts between HAsbro and the Box Reailer/Market 6/online divisions, but I'd bet a hat that Hasbro Toy Shop is an outlet store and neother sized nor staffed to handle a mass retail run, and I suspect even the big sites aren't either.
Perhaps we could get a special edition like Ryan did with the comic guys, but sit down with one of the Site Sponsor guys and ask a few non-dmaging, but prodding questions? Probably a lot they can't talk about, but the backside of the market as a whole, might fill an hour.
And as an aside, Ryan has said "Pre-order system."
No, please no. The Model Train community does this, and it sucks. Its worse, because not only do you hav to order the trains, but also the track, the scenery stuff, nohing is "available." Granted, trains tend to be much larger quantities, multipole engiens and cars and the like, but if you miss the pre-order window, that's it. If something is announced tha you want but is not worth the price, there's no "wait to see if i hits clearence". You like it or you lump it. If can't afford it when the pre-order is announced, you're SOL. How many people have amented missing the Subscription Service because they couldn't afford it a year before it comes out, and we're talking about the mainline stuff?
Its different, because most of you order online anyway. If I could, I would too, most likely. Bu for the leisure colector, who isn't in a position for boxes to be on a doorstep, wants to see things in hand, or kids shopping in a store with their allowance, this is a terrible, and dangerous idea. Ask your Model Train friend, Ryan, but only after I see those stunnoing photos of the Autobot Train, which reminds me, I need to dig mine out some day.
AND POSE IT WITH SOME MINICONS AND LEGIONS FIGURES. Figures like the Racetrack team, Prime Legion class Knockout/Fall Back, the ROTF Legion CLass Devastator, the vehicle modes are pretty close to being in scale with HO scale trains.
But I certainly don't do it for future monetary gain - some of these figures may be worth good money someday, but I open and discard the packages, and regularly handle them, as do my kid brothers. So they're not "collectible" per se.
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