The Energon Pub

If this line is such a cash cow that logic dictates there will be another Hasbro Skywarp, then the release of Acid Storm isn't going to prevent that from happening.

GuyIncognito wrote:If this line is such a cash cow that logic dictates there will be another Hasbro Skywarp, then the release of Acid Storm isn't going to prevent that from happening.

True, but logic also dictates that characters that have not been done before will sell better. Of course, Optimus Prime and Starscream are exempt.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

GuyIncognito wrote:If this line is such a cash cow that logic dictates there will be another Hasbro Skywarp, then the release of Acid Storm isn't going to prevent that from happening.

True, but logic also dictates that characters that have not been done before will sell better.

Of course. That was the point I was trying to make earlier: if Hasbro doesn't make a new MP Skywarp in the near future, it won't be because of Acid Storm; it will be because they don't want to do another MP Skywarp so soon. The relatively minor changes to the mold don't warrant a new production run, especially if the previous version didn't sell very well.

fenrir72 wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Sinnertwin wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Kind of funny it's Hasbro Australia bringing this up, as they have a habit of importing TakaraTomy stock and selling them as-is (with a few extra stickers on the box that is). Per chance that's the case with Soundwave here?

Now Acid Storm is interesting, what could be running through Hasbro's mind? Or maybe it's actually a future TakaraTomy item sharing MP Soundwave's fate.

IIRC, they've only done this with 3 MP figures:
MP02, 04 (both at Target) and very oddly, Ghost Starscream (at TRU)
All other MP's: G1 Starscream, Grimlock, Rodimus w/Offshoot, MP10 and MP11 mold Thundercracker have had the Hasbro/US packaging. And considering TRU is the only mainstream/big-box retailer offering MP's, it's a sure bet that whatever the US will get, so will they.

It's not limited to MP's. DotM Jetwing Optimus Prime was released in Australia a week before his exclusive Japanese release, in TakaraTomy packaging. It's by no means an abandoned practice.

I remember Australia also got a Takara MP Ultra Magnus release too so this may indeed be 50% true. Though the Acid storm color makes my eyes bleed

MP 02 is Ultra Magnus

Keeping within the context of the thread, 4 out of the last 5 Australian MP releases have been US packaging. If history's anything to go by, I suspect that they'll adopt The Hasbro release.
If we look at it as a whole, other notable releases in Australia include the DOTM OP & Jetfire pack sold through Kmart's toy sale.

no no, they all start out in takara packaging, then a hasbro release puts their MP's in us package... but every MP starts its first go around in a beautiful black box.

GuyIncognito wrote:Of course. That was the point I was trying to make earlier: if Hasbro doesn't make a new MP Skywarp in the near future, it won't be because of Acid Storm; it will be because they don't want to do another MP Skywarp so soon. The relatively minor changes to the mold don't warrant a new production run, especially if the previous version didn't sell very well.

So instead put out one that will sell even less... Guarantee Skywarp would sell better than Acid Storm. And probably even sell well if they put it out before a TT version was released.

VioMeTriX wrote:no no, they all start out in takara packaging, then a hasbro release puts their MP's in us package... but every MP starts its first go around in a beautiful black box.

Except in Australia where as stated, we got a couple of Takara direct imports with stickers over the recommended age group. But it was all very much the Takara version, including the instructions.
(Might explain why they had to practically give Magnus away in the end)

It's safe to say though that particular little experiment might have been a failure as now we only get the Hasbro version through Toys-R-Jacked-Up.

Thanks for the verification Burn. Maybe that little "experiment" by Hasbro or takara(?) should have taught 'em a lesson.........release an Eglish language manual,

Anyway, Hasbro would be a fool not to release sometime along the road Soundwave. Maybe they'll trim out the fat like the energon cube and the cube connector/adapter and just retain Megs and Laserbeak.

Though if I have any complaint with MP-13, its the lack of paint apps on his knees and knee caps. Wished they could have stamp graph the same patterns of the decals from the original Soundwave figure.."hint, hint Hasbro,,,,,and Reprolabels."

fenrir72 wrote:Thanks for the verification Burn. Maybe that little "experiment" by Hasbro or takara(?) should have taught 'em a lesson.........release an Eglish language manual,

The lesson they (Target specifically) should have learnt is to stop over-pricing their Transformers.

Burn wrote:

fenrir72 wrote:Thanks for the verification Burn. Maybe that little "experiment" by Hasbro or takara(?) should have taught 'em a lesson.........release an Eglish language manual,

The lesson they (Target specifically) should have learnt is to stop over-pricing their Transformers.

That too Iirc, they charge a lot in Australia. Heard that even videogames are more expensive in our neck of the woods.

Cyberverse Commanders are around $15AU at Big W and K-Mart. Target is over $18AU.

Suffice to say, I don't shop at Target.
I also don't really shop at Big W or K-Mart. I shop at HLJ most of the time these days.

Ok, why on Earth is this still listed as rumour and why are people even saying that it has to be a Takara import?

Here's the thing. Griffin has developed enough of a relationship with Hasbro Australia that he's told things - things he's allowed to reveal and things he's not allowed to reveal. If he's being told this and able to pass it on, then I have no reason to doubt its authenticity or that it's information Hasbro is happy having in the public domain. Secondly, the information he was given specified packaging which differed from the standard Takara Masterpiece packaging.

There is no reason to regard this "with a grain of salt" or to even regard it as rumour - any more than a rep saying something at a Botcon panel should be taken as rumour.

However to play devil's advocate, let's presume for one minute that one or both of these were somehow an Australian exclusive. The other thing is that people need to understand how small the number of players in the Australian retail market are. Granted Australia has a population less than a tenth of the US, but you can almost count the number of major players on one hand.

You essentially have:

• Westfamers - controls Coles (a supermarket chain which does sell small transformers and low ticket toys, but is unlikely to get exclusives), Kmart, Target and Myer (a high end department store)
• Woolworths - controls Woolworths (a supermarket chain which does sell small transformers and low ticket toys, but is unlikely to get exclusives) and BIGW (a department store similar to Kmart and Target) as well as other unrelated retail chains
• David Jones
• Toys'R'Us
• ToyWorld (one of the 2 original toy chains in Australia - barely survived the arrival of Toys'R'Us and the then Coles-Myer's "World4Kids" megastore
• Uncle Pete's Toys (the other original toy chain that post TRU and W4K is barely limping along)

In short, with the exception of Uncle Pete's Toys, any of these juggernauts have a large enough market share to carry exclusives.

Furthermore, this is the exclusives history here in Australia to 2006 that comes to mind (feel free to fill in any gaps I miss burn):

• Australia-wide - Euro G1, G2 Powermasters, Machine Wars
• Kmart(?)- Beast Wars Airrazor & Razorclaw video 2-packs, Universe 1.0 Ramjet, Cybertron Primus (w/- bonus Unicron head), Alternator Optimus Prime
• Toyworld- Beast Machines Rattrap and Megatron
• David Jones - Universe 1.0 Nemesis Prime
• Target - RiD Dreadwind, RiD Landfill (yellow), RiD Jhiaxus, RiD Storm Jet, Energon Cyclonus & Demolishor (Armada repaints), Universe 1.0 Ruination, Masterpiece Ultra
  Magnus
• BigW - Energon Ultra Magnus and Energon Rapid Run, Energon Prowl/Checkpoint 2-pack (90% sure this was BigW but could have the retailer wrong), Cybertron Soundwave, Cybertron Dark Crumplezone

Some of these are merely exclusive distribution of regular items whilst others are official store exclusives from O/S. The point of this is that Australian retailers have had a long history of having the pulling power to have exclusive distribution rights to items here.

Furthermore whilst Toy'R'Us are absent from that list, they have since had multiple toy exclusives, including most recently, MP Prime and Thundercracker.

As for Uncle Pete's toys, while they are conspicuously absent from that list, they have exclusively had GIJOE BTR and Sigma 6 figures here iirc and their warehouse is large enough that several cases of Star Wars POTF2 figures appear to have turned up in the past couple of years, which they're now still selling at retail (and will most likely spend the next decade trying to sell).

Heck from what the manager in Toy World Fyshwick (ACT) has told me last year (although there's since been no new information), Toy World even look like they're getting Platinum Omega Supreme and Platinum Optimus Prime as exclusives.

In conclusion there is no rational reason to continue to dismiss this as mere rumour.

(Sigh.) If only. If only Masterpiece figures were within my budget.

Burn wrote:Cyberverse Commanders are around $15AU at Big W and K-Mart. Target is over $18AU.

Suffice to say, I don't shop at Target.
I also don't really shop at Big W or K-Mart. I shop at HLJ most of the time these days.

Try shopping at amiami or hobbysearch....20% cheaper if you are lucky(at the item not being sold out that is.

Bowspearer wrote:Ok, why on Earth is this still listed as rumour and why are people even saying that it has to be a Takara import?

Here's the thing. Griffin has developed enough of a relationship with Hasbro Australia that he's told things - things he's allowed to reveal and things he's not allowed to reveal. If he's being told this and able to pass it on, then I have no reason to doubt its authenticity or that it's information Hasbro is happy having in the public domain. Secondly, the information he was given specified packaging which differed from the standard Takara Masterpiece packaging.

There is no reason to regard this "with a grain of salt" or to even regard it as rumour - any more than a rep saying something at a Botcon panel should be taken as rumour.

However to play devil's advocate, let's presume for one minute that one or both of these were somehow an Australian exclusive. The other thing is that people need to understand how small the number of players in the Australian retail market are. Granted Australia has a population less than a tenth of the US, but you can almost count the number of major players on one hand.

You essentially have:

• Westfamers - controls Coles (a supermarket chain which does sell small transformers and low ticket toys, but is unlikely to get exclusives), Kmart, Target and Myer (a high end department store)
• Woolworths - controls Woolworths (a supermarket chain which does sell small transformers and low ticket toys, but is unlikely to get exclusives) and BIGW (a department store similar to Kmart and Target) as well as other unrelated retail chains
• David Jones
• Toys'R'Us
• ToyWorld (one of the 2 original toy chains in Australia - barely survived the arrival of Toys'R'Us and the then Coles-Myer's "World4Kids" megastore
• Uncle Pete's Toys (the other original toy chain that post TRU and W4K is barely limping along)

In short, with the exception of Uncle Pete's Toys, any of these juggernauts have a large enough market share to carry exclusives.

Furthermore, this is the exclusives history here in Australia to 2006 that comes to mind (feel free to fill in any gaps I miss burn):

• Australia-wide - Euro G1, G2 Powermasters, Machine Wars
• Kmart(?)- Beast Wars Airrazor & Razorclaw video 2-packs, Universe 1.0 Ramjet, Cybertron Primus (w/- bonus Unicron head), Alternator Optimus Prime
• Toyworld- Beast Machines Rattrap and Megatron
• David Jones - Universe 1.0 Nemesis Prime
• Target - RiD Dreadwind, RiD Landfill (yellow), RiD Jhiaxus, RiD Storm Jet, Energon Cyclonus & Demolishor (Armada repaints), Universe 1.0 Ruination, Masterpiece Ultra
  Magnus
• BigW - Energon Ultra Magnus and Energon Rapid Run, Energon Prowl/Checkpoint 2-pack (90% sure this was BigW but could have the retailer wrong), Cybertron Soundwave, Cybertron Dark Crumplezone

Some of these are merely exclusive distribution of regular items whilst others are official store exclusives from O/S. The point of this is that Australian retailers have had a long history of having the pulling power to have exclusive distribution rights to items here.

Furthermore whilst Toy'R'Us are absent from that list, they have since had multiple toy exclusives, including most recently, MP Prime and Thundercracker.

As for Uncle Pete's toys, while they are conspicuously absent from that list, they have exclusively had GIJOE BTR and Sigma 6 figures here iirc and their warehouse is large enough that several cases of Star Wars POTF2 figures appear to have turned up in the past couple of years, which they're now still selling at retail (and will most likely spend the next decade trying to sell).

Heck from what the manager in Toy World Fyshwick (ACT) has told me last year (although there's since been no new information), Toy World even look like they're getting Platinum Omega Supreme and Platinum Optimus Prime as exclusives.

In conclusion there is no rational reason to continue to dismiss this as mere rumour.

Simple: no direct evidence. We have no store listings, no product images, etc. All we have now is some story, which admittedly, doesn't count so much regardless of who the one is that tells it. We have been fooled by some bogus ones before, so we're taking extreme caution here.

Ronald Reagan once said........."Trust but verify" so JZGR has a point.We've gotten Burned more than once (pardon the pun Burn )

Burn wrote:Cyberverse Commanders are around $15AU at Big W and K-Mart. Target is over $18AU.

Suffice to say, I don't shop at Target.
I also don't really shop at Big W or K-Mart. I shop at HLJ most of the time these days.

Your Target is one jacked up a-hole. My local Target is pretty good with prices (the usual $15 US for Deluxes nowadays), it's mainly the local Toys "R" Us that likes to jack up prices ($18 US for Generations Ultra Magnus... -sigh- ).

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Simple: no direct evidence. We have no store listings, no product images, etc. All we have now is some story, which admittedly, doesn't count so much regardless of who the one is that tells it. We have been fooled by some bogus ones before, so we're taking extreme caution here.

In Griffin's defence, he has a great relationship with Hasbro AU and they're always good for info.

What happens though is the local retailers turn eventually turn around and tell them "No" because they have too much TF stuff still sitting on their shelves.

Well maybe if they didn't keep their prices so high ...

Burn wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Simple: no direct evidence. We have no store listings, no product images, etc. All we have now is some story, which admittedly, doesn't count so much regardless of who the one is that tells it. We have been fooled by some bogus ones before, so we're taking extreme caution here.

In Griffin's defence, he has a great relationship with Hasbro AU and they're always good for info.

What happens though is the local retailers turn eventually turn around and tell them "No" because they have too much TF stuff still sitting on their shelves.

Well maybe if they didn't keep their prices so high ...

I have little doubt that these are accurate, but until we have physical proof (in-package images of the figures) or official conformation this will be considered a rumor.

El Duque wrote:

Burn wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Simple: no direct evidence. We have no store listings, no product images, etc. All we have now is some story, which admittedly, doesn't count so much regardless of who the one is that tells it. We have been fooled by some bogus ones before, so we're taking extreme caution here.

In Griffin's defence, he has a great relationship with Hasbro AU and they're always good for info.

What happens though is the local retailers turn eventually turn around and tell them "No" because they have too much TF stuff still sitting on their shelves.

Well maybe if they didn't keep their prices so high ...

I have little doubt that these are accurate, but until we have physical proof (in-package images of the figures) or official conformation this will be considered a rumor.

wait wait, dont you know you cant post anything on the internet that isnt true?

VioMeTriX wrote:wait wait, dont you know you cant post anything on the internet that isnt true?

Which in this particular case, honestly comes across as an utterly ignorant strawman. This isn't a case of some unknown posting info. This is a case of someone who has an established relationship with Hasbro Australia and a track record for accurate and legitimate info saying something, after confirming it with the retail chain carrying the items in question.

But then heaven forbid a non-American fan site get a scoop before an American one. There's no way in hell that a news item could ever be legit in that case is there?

Oh and fyi to the mods, that's how this sort of response, which has been far from unique to here has come across as to several members of the Australian TF fan community.

hey i was being silly man, i dont care who gets news first.... as long as it is honest and accurate. i hold our australian members in very high regards, you live where i want to be someday. but i do honestly see what you mean about some of our american fans, and im sorry it is so apparent you feel it.

by the way that comment i got about everything being true on the internet comes from a comercial that currently plays 50 times a day here.

Same goes, Vio, you get bad apples in every bunch along with the good wherever you go.
I'm keeping a close eye on this Soundwave situation. I've got a friend who manages a TRU store. As soon as I can get product information (product codes etc) I'll be sure to let everyone know.

one of my best friends works for hasbro in retail distribution, and what does that mean for me getting insider info.... diddly squat. he can get me the figures i want without searching, but hes too far down the chain to know anything that is coming in advance.

so my question is, how does one go about becoming an insider?

I'd assume working directly for Hasbro or Tomy?