The Energon Pub

My point is most of them wouldn't know Hasbro cancelled toys unless they went to a convention or know anything about fansites. And if not every kid has the Hub, since it's not on basic cable, who's to say every kid has seen Transformers Prime? If they don't go to retail every week to buy a Transformer, who's to say every kid knows the Transformers Prime line is out? We can't put every kid in the same bin; every kid in my neighborhood from age 8-15 only knows about the movies, and has never heard of Transformers Prime.

Seems my whole point was missed. It doesn't matter if kids pay attention to news sites or not. The simple fact of the matter is Breakdown would almost assuredly sell better than the likes of Hotshot or any other non-show-existing character. Or characters who were only in one or two episodes. Seriously, why did Cliffjumper, a character who is in the show for such a short period of time, get released 4 times? ... I take that back, he has 5 toys - the FE, zombie FE, SDCC, PRID and now generations (or whatever the crap the one coming from Asia is).

So saying Hasbro skipped releasing Breakdown for financial reason (which is what I had originally responded to) is complete bull, in my honest opinion.

I know I'm not a business person, but if they got rid of 3 or 4 of those Cliffs (never mind the other "insignificant" characters) and made in-show characters that were around long enough to leave an impression on viewers, they'd probably make better money. Quantity is not always the best route to go and while I know people want to say "well Hasbro has to know what they're doing" the simple fact is, they're a business, they are just as capable of making bad choices as any. Yeah, Hasbro probably will make money over the mass of "who cares" characters, but how does that equate in regards to the characters people actually care about?

Whether you are a collector or an kid, chances are you're going to purchase a character you connect with long before you buy one you've never heard of or didn't see long enough in the show to care about.

Erailea wrote:Seems my whole point was missed. It doesn't matter if kids pay attention to news sites or not. The simple fact of the matter is Breakdown would almost assuredly sell better than the likes of Hotshot or any other non-show-existing character. Or characters who were only in one or two episodes. Seriously, why did Cliffjumper, a character who is in the show for such a short period of time, get released 4 times? ... I take that back, he has 5 toys - the FE, zombie FE, SDCC, PRID and now generations (or whatever the crap the one coming from Asia is).

So saying Hasbro skipped releasing Breakdown for financial reason (which is what I had originally responded to) is complete bull, in my honest opinion.

I know I'm not a business person, but if they got rid of 3 or 4 of those Cliffs (never mind the other "insignificant" characters) and made in-show characters that were around long enough to leave an impression on viewers, they'd probably make better money. Quantity is not always the best route to go and while I know people want to say "well Hasbro has to know what they're doing" the simple fact is, they're a business, they are just as capable of making bad choices as any. Yeah, Hasbro probably will make money over the mass of "who cares" characters, but how does that equate in regards to the characters people actually care about?

Whether you are a collector or an kid, chances are you're going to purchase a character you connect with long before you buy one you've never heard of or didn't see long enough in the show to care about.

I agree with it totally. Kids do read news sites and do have the Hub too contrary to what people think. Maybe not every single U.S. kid or one particular group or neighborhood but they do. Extened cable isn't that much more than basic and usually includes the Hub. Kids use computers earlier now than they did when I was in school. They (Hasbro and Takara) both have use of the molds, the problem is it'll cost them to much to put their Puketizer gimmick in (which would RUIN the figure anyway IMO) to turn a profit and the plastic is more brittle and lighter than the other voyagers so safety comes into question. He does have far more screen time than Cliffy, they can use a sturdier plastic, leave the junk gimmick out. It's not un-doable by any means. They just won't and it is kinda wtf when he is a popular character.

PrimeStriker wrote:My point is most of them wouldn't know Hasbro cancelled toys unless they went to a convention or know anything about fansites. And if not every kid has the Hub, since it's not on basic cable, who's to say every kid has seen Transformers Prime? If they don't go to retail every week to buy a Transformer, who's to say every kid knows the Transformers Prime line is out? We can't put every kid in the same bin; every kid in my neighborhood from age 8-15 only knows about the movies, and has never heard of Transformers Prime.

It's been out since last year counting the TRU exclusives. I'm sure if a kid is a fan that's plenty of time to know a line is out. You say you can't put every kid in the same bin but that's exactly what you're doing saying " every kid in my neighborhood from age 8-15 only knows about the movies, and has never heard of Transformers Prime." Pretty much implying any other kid doesn't have Hub, go to fan sites, know there's a line, or even a show because the kids in your area don't. That's comparing apples to potatos. Whether you meant it that way or not that's how it looks and reads. There are other neighborhoods, other cable providers, whole states where there are kids who do know about it. Breakdown is a well known character and if they follow the show and like him, you can bet they want a toy better than that gimpy Legion. This whole line has been a massive screw-up from the get go.

I'm sure a lot of kids have access to the internet. Sooner or later they're going to look up when Breakdown is getting a figure and they'll see that once again Hasbro is screwing them out of one.

Well, all the figures you mentioned are deluxe class, which is traditionally the best selling size class of Transformers figures. I'm pretty sure Hasbro allots a certain amount to each size class in a toyline and their production is handled separately. So if we didn't get Cliffjumper, Hot Shot, Shadow Strike Bumblebee, Dead End, Kup, Ironhide, and Rumble, we would get a bunch of OTHER Deluxe non-show characters or decos. With the possible exceptions of Thundertron and Ultra Magnus, all the Voyager figures in this line are show characters, so there's less wiggle room. Does it suck that we're not getting Breakdown? Yes. Do I think it's a good decision? No. But maybe they feel it would be too expensive to put clear parts in him, chop off the micron ports, and give him a Powerizer weapon. All we can do is keep asking that they release him, and maybe they'll reconsider like they did with First Edition.

He HAS clear parts in him, several. It's just another Prime-line f-up. Maybe they'll fix it maybe not. I've got mine and a double coming since the news. I just wish they'd get it together with this toyline. Nightmare comes to mind when I think about collecting Prime figures.

Archatron wrote:He HAS clear parts in him, several.

I'm not sure if this means anything, but his instructions depict him with clear forearms and hands as well. Seems likely that he was originally designed with an American release in mind, as opposed to being a Japan-only toy. The Takara AM voyager class toys have no use for clear plastic arms, as they don't even use light-up gimmicks.

Just a theory, though.

Archatron wrote:You say you can't put every kid in the same bin but that's exactly what you're doing saying " every kid in my neighborhood from age 8-15 only knows about the movies, and has never heard of Transformers Prime." Pretty much implying any other kid doesn't have Hub, go to fan sites, know there's a line, or even a show because the kids in your area don't.

There are no kids that have the Hub. What's the Hub? The Hub doesn't exist because there aren't any kids watching it.

The kid living in poverty doesn't have the Hub because it's not on Basic Cable. The middle class and upper class child does because their parents can afford it. Not every kid has the Hub, but there are kids that do. That's why we can't put every kid in the same bin. Did you honestly believe that I was saying that every other kid in the world didn't know what Transfomers: Prime was, or the Hub for that matter?

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