The Energon Pub

I am upset about this news because I really wanted Que/Wheeljack. But...

I totally agree that this is NOT, very much NOT Hasbro's fault. It's retail. Unfortunately if no one buys their stock of toys, they don't make money and can't release them. This one isn't their fault. I've stopped buying TFs at Walmart because they just don't buy/stock what people want... I guess I'll have to stop buying them from Target too...

It really disapoints me how Hasbro is releasing their toys. First, now their not going to make as much money because these are gonna be collectors items and no ones going to go for the retailed stuff. Second, they'se been doing this too many times, it's about time they get their heads straight and release some good toys. Third, I was so planning to get Voyager Bulkhead and Optimus Prime but now I have to get the..... I can't even say it. And lastly I don't even buy their toys anymore except for Generations, they just don't fell right too me

Bummer for those looking forward to these. I woulda bought HA Soundwave, but no skin off my sack. It had enough flaws that I can live without it...and I'm beyond over the movie lines. I'm about ready to sell off 90% of it as it is. Getting to the point where I don't know WTH I'm gonna do with these HTS Groupons, though. I generally don't have the patience to wait for Generations figs to show up on the site and they keep canceling everything else.

*Rageface* FFFFFUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCC
Well, I and a lot of other people were looking forward to getting some of these...Congrats hasbro, YOU OFFICIALY SUCK!!! *Imagine me on a street corner, on my knees, looking up at the sky while it's raining, screaming either WWWWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYY???????????????, or NNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why Mr.T? 1. Because I can, 2. It's Mr. freakin' T!

For crying out loud! Enough of this s**t already! It's getting bloody tiresome. After the events of the past year I'm going to have a hard time actually trusting that we will ever get a complete line of TFs out of Hasbro again. They show something cool...then cancel it. They show something cool...then refuse to release it in the US. They show something cool...then "ohhh, the RETAILERS don't want it".

Ya know, I'm not a rocket scientist or engineer like some on this board. I can comfortably fit in collecting along with my bills IF the toys are available at local brick and mortar retail. I cannot afford to keep paying through the nose to import what should be cheap figures just to fill gaps in the collection because Hasbro dropped the ball again.

For the first time, I'm starting to lose that lovin' feeling for collecting Transformers, and that's tragic when you consider I've been at it since the 80's.

It's starting to just not be fun anymore....

When this kind of stuff happens they should really make better use of the club and/or HTS.

I understand Joe collector go through the same pain.
Nice to see it isn't just us.

These last few months are turning into a public relations disaster for Hasbro. What the heck are they doing now? I was really looking forward to Dino, Soundwave, and Que..not to mention the whole First Edition fiasco. Also, I believe there were a couple other Leader class figures (megatron and Shockwave I thought were getting the Leader treatment) that were announced that have disappeared. Was Hasbro being this incompetent before and it was just masked by the movie and subsequent sales? They revealed that 40 figures were going into the Generations line...my prediction of this line is as follows: 10 new molds, 15 repaints, and 15 versions of Bumblebee.

Hasbro, I know you don't give a rats penis about collectors, but if the stores are stopping buying the movie figures, then that means they aren't selling. And considering all that is left of the shelves are buttloads of BB figures, I think you have hit market over-saturation on that character. That's a sales term, just so you morons know: it means that there are so many BB figures out that no one will by them in the future...you're reached the point of diminishing returns. The question is this: will you notice? Or will we continue to be bombarded with BBs despite the fact that Bulkhead and Arcee are more popular in TF Prime? And are you INTENTIONALLY trying to kill the brand? Someone needs to be canned. Lots of somebodies. Do it and fix this or you will destroy this cash cow...and I don't think your stockholders and investors would appreciate that.

What the hell Hasbro!? What the hell do they think they're doing!!!??? Can we not go a damn week without Hasbro cancelling the figures that people are most looking forward to in a line!? First the Transformers Prime First Edition and now this!!! Dis-*#^%ing-respectful!!!

Unfortunately, Hasbro reported gains for last year, having a lot to do with the Transformers franchise. So...the money must be coming from somewhere. The franchise is as profitable as ever, which makes it more mind boggling that retailers, or perhaps Hasbro, are unable to find ways to get product to US consumers.

Mattycollector.com is a prime example of how to do things, and as many people have said, its doubly confusing as to why Hasbro can't or won't sell through Hasbrotoyshop.

I know they're just toys, and not a single one of us actually NEEDS these things, but man is it frustrating as a fan of the franchise.

My bigger question is why 'announce' "40 Generations figures" and then only have release information for FOC product? To tease interest? Good grief. Where's the Knockout prototype? Where's Airachnid? Why is the thing I'm most stoked on this year the Vortex Kre-O?

Here's hoping that third party Trailbreaker actually comes out.

this is bs. i really wanted deluxe leadfoot

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

worldsgreatest wrote:Unfortunately, Hasbro reported gains for last year, having a lot to do with the Transformers franchise. So...the money must be coming from somewhere. The franchise is as profitable as ever, which makes it more mind boggling that retailers, or perhaps Hasbro, are unable to find ways to get product to US consumers.

Mattycollector.com is a prime example of how to do things, and as many people have said, its doubly confusing as to why Hasbro can't or won't sell through Hasbrotoyshop.

I know they're just toys, and not a single one of us actually NEEDS these things, but man is it frustrating as a fan of the franchise.

My bigger question is why 'announce' "40 Generations figures" and then only have release information for FOC product? To tease interest? Good grief. Where's the Knockout prototype? Where's Airachnid? Why is the thing I'm most stoked on this year the Vortex Kre-O?

Here's hoping that third party Trailbreaker actually comes out.

Probably, there's a fine line that Hasbro must walk. Aggreed, if they can't sell to the retailers, the retailers had their chance, but as a supplier, Hasbro must also not look like it's ignoring the customers it has in the retailers.

The investors need to see what the fans think. I'm sure some of them are fans, too. Not to mention, the investors day image was misleading to them.

Remember First Edition was mixed in with PRID on the displays? None of what was shown in that picture came to fruition.

A case or two, here and there with no fanfare? Not what was promised. I realize the official release is March 1st, but when they say "We're canceling this and that, but we're still pushing onward!", I can imagine the investors get a bit nervous in their seats.

If I was putting that kind of money into it, knowing the movie was what bringing in BIG revenue and then they tell me they're canceling product tying into it...I'd be like "Impress me." And when they hadn't, I'd be like "Well, enjoy the money I did give you. I'm out. I'm done."

DOTM was a crappy line anyways I mean I bet I got 5 toys total. Too bad I can never have the Wreckers all in scale. And this was the only wave I was exited to get too. Mabe if they released the new characters first instead of Bumblebee mold 15 and voyager optimus #8 they would have had more success with this line.
Dotm was a complete failure in my mind. The released those crappy female triplets from rotf but we can't get the wreckers all in scale. This crap is why I've all but gave up transformers.
Just watch when the foc combaticons come out they will only have 2-3 and the rest will be impossible to find, or will be japan only. Hasbro is famous for this crap. Kids and parents don't care. But the know they've got the adult collectors by the balls. Just wait til you only have 3 combaticons and they decide not to release the other 2 I can practically smell it.
You'll pay and they know it. If it relates to g1 they can get you. These will drag out til a newer line will be due out and get cut off like wave 8, or rts, heck the prime fe too.they'll all be 30 plus marked up shipping lol You gotta hand it to hasbro they know you'll pay it I mean you don't think they pay attention to this site. look at all the people who bought hercules at that price. They would be fools to let these guys over saturate the market. When they can charge you more for them. And drive up the demand. Heck I bet the own tfsource or bbts.
Just remember the first hit is cheap 10 bucks the rest will cost you a lot more. HAHAHAHAHAHA (evil laughing)

ninjascythe79 wrote: Dotm was a complete failure in my mind. The released those crappy female triplets from rotf but we can't get the wreckers all in scale. This crap is why I've all but gave up transformers.

No they didn't, we got 2 and then a repaint, which was not even nearly in the right colours.

It's like them releasing a red Roadbuster and calling it "Leadfoot". We can try and pretend it's the real Leadfoot but in our heart we'd know it really isn't.

ninjascythe79 wrote: Dotm was a complete failure in my mind. The released those crappy female triplets from rotf but we can't get the wreckers all in scale. This crap is why I've all but gave up transformers.

No they didn't, we got 2 and then a repaint, which was not even nearly in the right colours.

It's like them releasing a red Roadbuster and calling it "Leadfoot". We can try and pretend it's the real Leadfoot but in our heart we'd know it really isn't.

wolverinetodd wrote:

kirbenvost wrote:Simple solution to this: Stop releasing 4 versions each of Bumblebee and Optimus Prime, and maybe they'd actually get some other characters released.

That seems to be the consensus of thinking here. Unfortunately they get greedy and money-hungry and release version after version, repaint after repaint of Bumblebees and Optimus Primes that they lose sight of what we fans truly want. But most importantly, they lose their commonsense thinking and that is why so many corporations fail.

And it's not (in this case) just a glut of Bumblebees and Optimus Primes. The DOTM line had no shortage of chaff. Approaching its end we got gems like Armor Topspin and Air Raid. The exclusives were generally unnecessary duds: an orange Roadbuster and an Optimus Prime with gold highlights for Walmart; and a collection of rehashes from previous movie lines for Target (of which the only one even a little bit desirable was Space Case). And that's just looking at the Deluxe figures.

Execution of the DOTM line was a train wreck. And this is exactly where we were around this time last year with the Reveal the Shield line. Only this time, things seem to be even worse.

Not only is Hasbro Doing It Wrong, they aren't learning from their mistakes.

Please dont hate me for this but...WOOHOOOO !!!! And yes I truly mean it. I am frickin happy . Why? IMO all 4 of the toys listed in the news SUCK. All those 4 will do is become shelfwarmers among the Prime toys. Peace out~

CrimsonPrime wrote:Please dont hate me for this but...WOOHOOOO !!!! And yes I truly mean it. I am frickin happy . Why? IMO all 4 of the toys listed in the news SUCK. All those 4 will do is become shelfwarmers among the Prime toys. Peace out~

Troll..

Ok...I have been buying Transformers since I had my first 10 dollar bill burn it's way through my pocket as a kid. I was crushed when they disappeared after Gen1 and went nuts when Gen2 came back.Went through the lackluster Machine Wars and the awesome Beast Wars (which blew my mind when my mom said "come look! a new transformers" and the first thing I see is a talking gorilla), and moved through the eventual RID and Unicron Trilogy Phases. When the 2007 movie came out, I bought EVERY SINGLE FIGURE. Repaints in all. Dunno what happened, I just went insane over them. Classics/Generations/Universe I loved. ROTF made me dial it back some with the extensive repaints. Then...Reveal the Shield hit. And my frustration truly kicked off. I was able to get exactly TWO of all the figures in the ENTIRE line in stores. And over the course of the year, I traveled extensively. I would stop and do a quick hunt in a new state, and get NOTHING. So everything had to be ordered online, but even that was picked over and bare, so I had to import...not cheap. Masterpiece Rodimus didn't even hit a single store within a hundred miles of me, and there are 3 Toys R us stores in that range. DOTM let me down with it's designs, but I had hopes for Soundwave in particular. Then the First Edition crap happened, and now the remaining DOTM toys are cancelled. I understand that it's not entirely up to hasbro which stores will have their product, as they must order it in and if they have too much backstock they likely won't. But let's take things like HTS never having items in stock (it's their own website for crying out loud), the constant yet baffling (at least to me) desire to give exclusive Transformers to the single most overpriced toy outlet I have set foot in (cough cough toys r us cough), and the shrinking size+lack of complexity to rising cost ratio, and you have to wonder...what the hell are they thinking? I keep giving them chances when I see a new Classic-verse character mold or things like Fall for Cybertron toys...but then I realize...there is no way in hell I am ever gonna see these toys on a shelf ANYWHERE! I have a hard enough time justifying paying anything over 10 bucks for a deluxe as it is...but then I have to pay a few dollars more than retail plus shipping (assuming I don't wait for a takara version). To make it even less cost effective, the scalpers are all over Hasbro's fumble, so if I don't have the cash the minute a figure becomes available or pre-order it, I'm out of luck. So...the final point of this ridiculously long rant is this: I'm giving Hasbro one last chance. If I don't see more than one of the FOC figures in any store (ten Vortex on one rack doesn't count), or if any of them are cancelled after a long wait, I am DONE with Hasbro. I will stick to the rare affordable Gen1 deal on ebay, the Takara figure I can't pass up, or the Third Party toys of characters I couldn't get before. I'd say eighty percent of my recent purchases were either third party figures on sale or KOs, not because I didn't want to buy Hasbro's items, but because I COULDN'T! I couldn't find them in stores and I wasn't going to pay forty dollars for a scout-class figure like Windcharger!!!! For example.
The part about this hobby that was the most fun to me was walking into a store, seeing an awesome figure on the shelf, geeking out and buying the damn thing by impulse. Now its a stressful hunt-slash-race to the finish line or you will never get what you want.

...Hasbro, you are killing Transformers for me. There I said it.

Sorry for the rant guys...

Autobot032 wrote:The investors need to see what the fans think. I'm sure some of them are fans, too. Not to mention, the investors day image was misleading to them.

Remember First Edition was mixed in with PRID on the displays? None of what was shown in that picture came to fruition.

A case or two, here and there with no fanfare? Not what was promised. I realize the official release is March 1st, but when they say "We're canceling this and that, but we're still pushing onward!", I can imagine the investors get a bit nervous in their seats.

If I was putting that kind of money into it, knowing the movie was what bringing in BIG revenue and then they tell me they're canceling product tying into it...I'd be like "Impress me." And when they hadn't, I'd be like "Well, enjoy the money I did give you. I'm out. I'm done."

Is there some way we can bring this up with the investors? Hasbro will probably listen to them and if they knew how Hasbro was pissing money away on development then not releasing the product of that development I'm sure they wouldn't be happy.

Autobot032 wrote:The investors need to see what the fans think. I'm sure some of them are fans, too. Not to mention, the investors day image was misleading to them.

Let's be honest: fans tend to be a picky lot who are often unduly critical of novelty. For the overwhelming majority of investors, fan response isn't a sufficiently quantifiable or reliable thing to track. Careful investors have a lot of hard numbers available in which they can put a bit more faith.

Remember First Edition was mixed in with PRID on the displays? None of what was shown in that picture came to fruition.

A case or two, here and there with no fanfare? Not what was promised. I realize the official release is March 1st, but when they say "We're canceling this and that, but we're still pushing onward!", I can imagine the investors get a bit nervous in their seats.

If I was putting that kind of money into it, knowing the movie was what bringing in BIG revenue and then they tell me they're canceling product tying into it...I'd be like "Impress me." And when they hadn't, I'd be like "Well, enjoy the money I did give you. I'm out. I'm done."

If you have a look at Hasbro's stock price, it had a pretty lousy 2011. 2012 is looking better... but it's still early in the year. Based on this, I do think it's fair to say that investors have not been especially wowed by Hasbro's execution. There's a whole lot more that goes into this than Transformers, of course. But one of the biggest and most successful (monetarily) movies of that year could be considered a long advertisement for Hasbro's toys. That's huge. Hasbro would have to try really hard not to make money under such circumstances. Investors should be asking not only "Did they make money?" but, more to the point, "Did they make as much money as they should have?" And intelligent investors most definitely do ask that question.

At this point (well, actually probably some months ago), Hasbro has done the math and figured that distributing these figures outside Asia is not going to be sufficiently profitable. That means they've failed to capitalize fully on their investment developing these figures. That sucks; but it's the right call from a business standpoint today. Hasbro's advertising dollars are better spent promoting the new stuff. And movie merchandise that's perceived as "last year" isn't interesting to retailers. The bad decisions that got us to this point were the ones that led to a failure to integrate these figures into the DOTM line sooner.

Just a random thought: is it just me or has this change coincided with them moving a good chunk of their TF factories to (I think this is the right place) Vietnam? It seems to me that there has been a major evolution the last year and half or so...lower quality, less factory leaks and early prototypes, and horrific distribution...it seems like it all happened almost simultaneously.

I now know how animated fans felt. This really sucks. I hope they can find a way to release them.

Not much I can say here that hasn't already been posted. It's depressing to walk into your local store and find 5-10 Bumblebee's and Prime's on the shelf, plus some Mudflaps from RotF still hogging space, and knowing that characters that I actually wanted to buy are never comming.

I know Hasbro can't always predict what's going to be popular, but honestly, they released four or five different deluxe sized Bumblebees for the movie line in less than 6 months time, and NO ONE thought that was a little ridiculous? Especially given how many other versions we got of him from the previous 2 toylines?

Ugh, I'm not eager to check prices for Takara versions of these guys now, with this news they're gonna shoot up to insane numbers. Thanks for letting the scalpers win, Hasbro.