The Energon Pub

Just read this on the Kapow Toys Facebook feed.

Sadly we're not going to carry on supporting the DOTM line due to a number of factors - 1) Extremely poor UK distribution at wholesale level - meaning some retailers are still waiting on wave 1 item 2) Poor case assortments 3) Slow sales 4) Larger chains doing deals with which we cannot begin to compete 5) No notification or sales info on upcoming products.

Cant say I blame them.

They added:

We will however continue to support the DOTM Human Alliance line, Leaders and the Takara Tomy exclusives.

Site Sponsor Kapow Toys has announced on their Facebook page that they will no-longer support the Transformers Dark of the Moon line. here#s what they had to say:

Sadly we're not going to carry on supporting the DOTM line due to a number of factors - 1) Extremely poor UK distribution at wholesale level - meaning some retailers are still waiting on wave 1 item 2) Poor case assortments 3) Slow sales 4) Larger chains doing deals with which we cannot begin to compete 5) No notification or sales info on upcoming products.

But they will continue to support eh following DOTM items:

We will however continue to support the DOTM Human Alliance line, Leaders and the Takara Tomy exclusives. If you want anything clarified or any questions asked send us an email at contact@kapowtoys.co.uk

So much for Hasbro improving things for us.

I understand their POV. If the line isn't selling well here in the US, I can't even begin to imagine what kind of damage it's doing to the pegs and shelves over in the UK.

Some US locales are doing well, but for the most part, these things warm so much, you could fry a steak on the shelf.

Everywhere I go I see DOTM toys just sitting there. No one wants them. Walgreens and Toys R Us are both running buy 1 get 1 half off and they just sit there. Meanwhile the RTS and Generations stuff is flying off the shelves minus Skullgrin and Thunderwing. I cannot go to a store to find Generations stuff and when friends find it locally by the time I get there it is gone. I think Hasbro should focus on the great Wave they currently have with Generations as I know every figure just about is sought after.

Consider this. Would you rather buy a case with 2 Wheeljack , 2 Thundercracker , 2 Warpath , 1 Scourge , and 1 Kup or a case of DOTM Rehashes that no one likes or has any nolstagic value. The collectors have made their choice and the kids just do not care about overly complicated Transformers that look like Gorillabot Jumbled messes. Most of my friends kids prefer the Classics figures as they actually look like PEOPLE rather then Monkeybots! I was watching the G2 Transformers toy commercials and thought to myself how awesome it would of been to get a CGI based G1 cartoon or movie. When I see Bayformers movies I just think to myself man not more shiny cinematography and crappy GM vehicle designs that makes no sense.

Primeultimus wrote:Everywhere I go I see DOTM toys just sitting there. No one wants them. Walgreens and Toys R Us are both running buy 1 get 1 half off and they just sit there. Meanwhile the RTS and Generations stuff is flying off the shelves minus Skullgrin and Thunderwing. I cannot go to a store to find Generations stuff and when friends find it locally by the time I get there it is gone. I think Hasbro should focus on the great Wave they currently have with Generations as I know every figure just about is sought after.

Consider this. Would you rather buy a case with 2 Wheeljack , 2 Thundercracker , 2 Warpath , 1 Scourge , and 1 Kup or a case of DOTM Rehashes that no one likes or has any nolstagic value. The collectors have made their choice and the kids just do not care about overly complicated Transformers that look like Gorillabot Jumbled messes. Most of my friends kids prefer the Classics figures as they actually look like PEOPLE rather then Monkeybots! I was watching the G2 Transformers toy commercials and thought to myself how awesome it would of been to get a CGI based G1 cartoon or movie. When I see Bayformers movies I just think to myself man not more shiny cinematography and crappy GM vehicle designs that makes no sense.

LMFAO !! What you said totally contradicts the situation here at Malaysia. Here at Malaysia theres ALOT of generations stuff just hanging around warming the shelves. While DOTM toys keep dissapearing one by one. Seriously I think the DOTM line is awesome. And since when the Bayverse look like monkeybots? Say do you even know what a MONKEY is? I bet you dont. Either that or you just have poor eyesight.

Good. Terrible line save for a few gems. I'm sick of seeing 5000000 bumblebees on the shelf and no laserbeak, thundercracker, HA roadbuster, space case, or leader Ironhide.

I was speaking to Andy from Kapow on the phone last week, and he keeps getting this done to him, for example Toys r Us basically stole the last shipment Hasbro sent out to the smaller retailers because they admitted that they were outselling DOTM massively.

As ive just posted on another site, talking to managers of toy shops, they all thought after the rts/gens lines that Transformers was gonna be a huge seller this summer, so they stocked up on as much as they could get, and its become almost impossible to make anything on them, whereas they mostly admit they could double the price on the Gens line and still have them fly off the shelves.

To which end ive totally given up on hunting now, if im near a shop, ill pop in, but i havent bought anything from a shop in well over a month, whereas ive bought about 25 from the tintersnet in the same period!

READ AND TAKE IN HASBRO!!!!!!!!!!

CrimsonPrime wrote:

Primeultimus wrote:Everywhere I go I see DOTM toys just sitting there. No one wants them. Walgreens and Toys R Us are both running buy 1 get 1 half off and they just sit there. Meanwhile the RTS and Generations stuff is flying off the shelves minus Skullgrin and Thunderwing. I cannot go to a store to find Generations stuff and when friends find it locally by the time I get there it is gone. I think Hasbro should focus on the great Wave they currently have with Generations as I know every figure just about is sought after.

Consider this. Would you rather buy a case with 2 Wheeljack , 2 Thundercracker , 2 Warpath , 1 Scourge , and 1 Kup or a case of DOTM Rehashes that no one likes or has any nolstagic value. The collectors have made their choice and the kids just do not care about overly complicated Transformers that look like Gorillabot Jumbled messes. Most of my friends kids prefer the Classics figures as they actually look like PEOPLE rather then Monkeybots! I was watching the G2 Transformers toy commercials and thought to myself how awesome it would of been to get a CGI based G1 cartoon or movie. When I see Bayformers movies I just think to myself man not more shiny cinematography and crappy GM vehicle designs that makes no sense.

LMFAO !! What you said totally contradicts the situation here at Malaysia. Here at Malaysia theres ALOT of generations stuff just hanging around warming the shelves. While DOTM toys keep dissapearing one by one. Seriously I think the DOTM line is awesome. And since when the Bayverse look like monkeybots? Say do you even know what a MONKEY is? I bet you dont. Either that or you just have poor eyesight.

Definition of a Monkey Bot.

http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/ ... 2136/1/42/

Really long arms looks like Guerilla. Overly detailed. Unfriendly face. Non humanoid looking Transformers all look like monkey bots. Notice the small torso and long arms.

If you want I can dig up some more pics of these Bayformers Monstrocities!

Primeultimus wrote:Definition of a Monkey Bot.

http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/ ... 2136/1/42/

Really long arms looks like Guerilla. Overly detailed. Unfriendly face. Non humanoid looking Transformers all look like monkey bots. Notice the small torso and long arms.

If you want I can dig up some more pics of these Bayformers Monstrocities!

No.

Definition of Monkey Bot = Optimus Primal. QED.

You can show yourself the pictures.

ephbot wrote:

Primeultimus wrote:Definition of a Monkey Bot.

http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/ ... 2136/1/42/

Really long arms looks like Guerilla. Overly detailed. Unfriendly face. Non humanoid looking Transformers all look like monkey bots. Notice the small torso and long arms.

If you want I can dig up some more pics of these Bayformers Monstrocities!

No.

Definition of Monkey Bot = Optimus Primal. QED.

You can show yourself the pictures.

yeah, that bot is no monkey bot. that would be primal.

still supporting the HA line? I hope that includes the HA basics. I don't want to have to rely on Argos.

The case assortments are horrible for this line. Like every wave has a case with 2 Bumblebee/Optimus and one of each other toy. There is already a ton of shelf warming and the movie has been out for weeks. This line is flopping hard. Nothing is moving off the shelves and I've got to think that is because most people already have most of these characters. Parents who already bought their kids Optimus Prime and Bumblebee and all the other movie characters the last time around, aren't looking at buying them again.

Transformers movies aren't keeping the toyline going anymore. It's time for something new. Just like Generation 1, a series can only last so long before interest is lost.

Here is to hoping they bump up the release of Prime because of this, and cancel the movie line where it is. Right now there is no hope of finding anything new because the shelves are clogged with wave 1 figures that aren't moving.

ephbot wrote:

Primeultimus wrote:Definition of a Monkey Bot.

http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/ ... 2136/1/42/

Really long arms looks like Guerilla. Overly detailed. Unfriendly face. Non humanoid looking Transformers all look like monkey bots. Notice the small torso and long arms.

If you want I can dig up some more pics of these Bayformers Monstrocities!

No.

Definition of Monkey Bot = Optimus Primal. QED.

You can show yourself the pictures.

I am going by what my friends and I go by. I despise Michael Bay and his stupid ugly horrid Transformers.

G1 Classics for life!

Dear Fandom,

Can we stop having the same discussions over again? "BAYFORMERZ SUKK" is not that far removed from "ANIMATED=TEEN TITANS" which itself is only a hop and a skip from "TRUKK NOT MUNKEY". Some of you only like G1. Wonderful. Others like some variety in our transforming-robots.

In the end, they're toy robots. That transform. From one thing to another.

Get over it.

Let's try to keep the bickering to a minimum folks. If you want to debate the aesthetics of a certain line there are other areas of the forum for that.

Primeultimus wrote:Definition of a Monkey Bot.

http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/ ... 2136/1/42/

Really long arms looks like Guerilla. Overly detailed. Unfriendly face. Non humanoid looking Transformers all look like monkey bots. Notice the small torso and long arms.

If you want I can dig up some more pics of these Bayformers Monstrocities!

Hailstorm is no monkey, he is just stocky, be nice.

If you don't have the figure, I actually quite recommend him. He has a fun transform and a lot of posability.

I actually keep a pair of him, his repaint, and a few of the movie line Armorhide figures & his repaints with my Classics Hound as Hound's military squad.

Glad I don't live in the UK. The economy must be really bad over there based on what I hear on the news.

Lousy_Autobot_Lover wrote:Glad I don't live in the UK. The economy must be really bad over there based on what I hear on the news.

I dont think bad covers it. I dont even think i can us the language that would describe our economy atm.

As for Hailstorm, my partner bought him for me from smyths in a buy 2 get 1 free deal, and he was the best of the rest as it were, i was really surprised how good he was, just wish Mindset had a nicer colour scheme, i wouldve bought him in a flash then.

Primeultimus wrote:Everywhere I go I see DOTM toys just sitting there. No one wants them. Walgreens and Toys R Us are both running buy 1 get 1 half off and they just sit there. Meanwhile the RTS and Generations stuff is flying off the shelves minus Skullgrin and Thunderwing. I cannot go to a store to find Generations stuff and when friends find it locally by the time I get there it is gone. I think Hasbro should focus on the great Wave they currently have with Generations as I know every figure just about is sought after.

Consider this. Would you rather buy a case with 2 Wheeljack , 2 Thundercracker , 2 Warpath , 1 Scourge , and 1 Kup or a case of DOTM Rehashes that no one likes or has any nolstagic value. The collectors have made their choice and the kids just do not care about overly complicated Transformers that look like Gorillabot Jumbled messes. Most of my friends kids prefer the Classics figures as they actually look like PEOPLE rather then Monkeybots! I was watching the G2 Transformers toy commercials and thought to myself how awesome it would of been to get a CGI based G1 cartoon or movie. When I see Bayformers movies I just think to myself man not more shiny cinematography and crappy GM vehicle designs that makes no sense.

Personally, I'd rather see the DotM rehashes as I've already had the complete Generations line since May.

Wow, my heart goes out to all the UK collectors out there, I knew it was bad for you guys but now it's getting worse. It just...sucks

After reading this article, and watching the trends TFs have taken in the past year, I've come to the conclusion that Hasbro really needs to take a good long look at how they're doing things now. The way Hasbro is timing and trying to create artificial demand for toys is really doing a lot of damage in my opinion. I can remember back to when the Gen/ RtS line where (aparently) running side by side. Because of all the Shelfwarmers the HftD line and some of the early waves of gen. had, my area had maybe 2 or 3 shipments of the first wave of RtS (only at Wm not TRU). Never any past that. Now with news of some new waves of Gen. I'm worried that after all that the stores in my area will take a pass on them.

Now part of that is the retailers fault, It's up to them what they order from Hasbro and put on the shelves. But the way Habsro seems to be saturating stores with shelf warmers in every case and the timing Hasbro is choosing to release things I understand why retailers are not ordering a lot of new things. with so many sub lines and Dual lines at the same time it just really makes a mess of the shelves and stock. I honestly can't help but point the finger to Hasbro on this one. They really need to clean up and simplify their lines (especially when it comes to BB and OP). Less is more imo. I just worry about the future distribution of TFs (especially in regards to Prime). With how slow a lot of TF stock seems to move in my area we don't get new things for months sometimes and I don't want to wait longer than I have to already.

Yeah, this was a bit long winded, but this is a very concerning topic for me. I'm not big on Dotm Toys (last one I want is Lazerbeak) so for me rest of the year is shot until Prime hits shelves. I Know that's really because of my choice, but it seems to me everybody is coasting by this year and waiting until next year before they put out good things( movies especially). Yeah, I'm a bit disgruntled with TFs this year, can you tell?

Hmm, perhaps people should have seen this coming. A few years back I used to walk into TRU and there would always be something to make me want to part with my cash. For a while now I have gone in, seen the same old stuff and walked out. Only a few of the movie toys have really caught my eye and most of those were the leader class figures and the larger HA figures, most recently Jazz.

In the last year or so, I've put more money into the Generations line and 3rd party toys. Thinking about it, that tells me that something has gone wrong with the movie lines. Having said that, Im a collector not a kid playing with them so maybe my view isnt in sync with Hasbro who are in the business of selling toys to kids who seem to love Bumblebee or at least Hasbro think they do. We collectors are not the priority.

From my point of view, DOTM is doing very well. I went into The Entertainer the other day - Most DOTM stuff on the main shelf had been bought, and the promo shelf was basically empty. Only leftover ROTF and HFTD stuff still standing. Went in later, and they were opening new cases and shoving even more stuff on the shelves.

In my opinion, retailers are perhaps very possesive of this line because they know how well it will sell, so Toys R Us etc. are trying to get hold of as much of it as they can. Either that, or the line isn't popular with the majority of fans, meaning online stores like Kapow! don't get high sales like high street stores.

Meh... Idk.. I agree with all of you to a certain degree... they SHOULD NOT have produced so many voyager optimus', deluxe bumblebees, deluxe ratchets, deluxe sideswipes, and any other deluxe or voyager characters that have been around for all 3 movies.
This line would be doing EXCELLENT if they produced 1/3 the number of those guys and bumped up newer characters that NONE OF THE OTHER 2 MOVIES have featured.

I personally have found ONE voyager sentinel prime after searching for him and Leader Ironhide for the past month or so... and I mean yah the leader has been on the shelf and whatever which is great, but you'd figure they'd go all out with him considering he was like the main villain in DOTM and an overall very important character.

and FINALLY ... WHERE IS SOUNDWAVE?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!?!?!?!?! ... people like ratchet who BARELY SAID ANYTHING IN THE MOVIE should get LESS FIGURES and just wawdioajwhdoiawhdaiwjdoiawjdBLARHHHHGHGHGHG

and now that I've seen the movie, I honestly dont even want a leader shockwave.. the voyager will do (considering his lack of characterization in the movieverse) ... but oh man if I dont get me a leader Megatron with a cloak and a ballin-ass shotgun, after ALL these shelfwarmers go on ANOTHER clearance, I may have to buy a few bumblebees and throw them in a box with a big pile of burning dog sh*t and deliver em to hasbro's CEO with a note thats like .......... well I have a few things I'd like to say.. but for now I think I'll just keep my mouth shut

kookookajew wrote:Meh... Idk.. I agree with all of you to a certain degree... they SHOULD NOT have produced so many voyager optimus', deluxe bumblebees, deluxe ratchets, deluxe sideswipes, and any other deluxe or voyager characters that have been around for all 3 movies.
This line would be doing EXCELLENT if they produced 1/3 the number of those guys and bumped up newer characters that NONE OF THE OTHER 2 MOVIES have featured.

I personally have found ONE voyager sentinel prime after searching for him and Leader Ironhide for the past month or so... and I mean yah the leader has been on the shelf and whatever which is great, but you'd figure they'd go all out with him considering he was like the main villain in DOTM and an overall very important character.

and FINALLY ... WHERE IS SOUNDWAVE?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!?!?!?!?! ... people like ratchet who BARELY SAID ANYTHING IN THE MOVIE should get LESS FIGURES and just wawdioajwhdoiawhdaiwjdoiawjdBLARHHHHGHGHGHG

and now that I've seen the movie, I honestly dont even want a leader shockwave.. the voyager will do (considering his lack of characterization in the movieverse) ... but oh man if I dont get me a leader Megatron with a cloak and a ballin-ass shotgun, after ALL these shelfwarmers go on ANOTHER clearance, I may have to buy a few bumblebees and throw them in a box with a big pile of burning dog sh*t and deliver em to hasbro's CEO with a note thats like .......... well I have a few things I'd like to say.. but for now I think I'll just keep my mouth shut

Totally agree. Shelfwarmers prevent good stuff from being put out.