Cobalt Prime wrote:I voted an unequivocal NO.
While yes, poor distribution is at the head of the list as I go from store to store seeing either empty or BB cluttered pegs, the Vulcan Science Consulate has determined that this should be blamed on the retailers and not Hasbro. I don't know which party is truly responsible, but it is a source of great unhappiness nonetheless.
This could be swallowed with a really strong chaser if the other negative elements were not present as well. These have already been discussed to death, so I will go on about my new pet peeve: Bot Shots. While I have no beef with anyone who enjoys these things, I have to believe that a majority of the fandom would prefer main line offerings to these things. And the pegs are absolutely cluttered with them. Huge swaths of space that used to be reserved for Deluxes have been annexed by the munchkin bots. I have to ask WHY these tiny game pieces (and that's what they are too) weren't relegated to the Bakugan/Duel Masters/Beyblade etc isle with the rest of this crap instead of taking up space in the ACTION FIGURE isle. These do not follow the basic definition of action figure at all. I mean, I guess one could technically say that them springing into bot-form (term loosely used) could be considered "action", but that's not what an action figure is all about.
And if they simply MUST place these in the action figure section, why not a tiny one or two peg place like they used to do with legends? Why so darn many pegs devoted to these?
It's gotten like in the movie Rocky 3 (or was it 4?) where Rocky got so popular that he got over commercialized and the quality of his training and hence performance got ridiculously soft. Hasbro has seriously deviated from the very spirit and essence that made Transformers what they are over the years. Soon, the only thing that will be left will be the character identities with no actual transforming Transformers to be found.
This began during the initial movie line, where they started to stick "other stuff" in with the real Transformers. Unleashed plastic statues, those transforming movie cameras and other handheld things that had no bot modes, and continued with "Power Bots" (my cat just sprayed my Power Bot Optimus the other day which I use as a doorstop Having gotten him for free. The CAT doesn't even like it!), Robot Heroes, and RPMS. Every prehensile line subtracts from the main line, and THAT'S where the plastic that's not going into actual Transformer figures is going. And that's where all the shelf space is going too.
Somebody thought too far out of the box in that Hasbro board room and it's ruining the line. Someone needs to jump back into the box and get back to the basics, to that which made these toys great back in the day.
Rant finished.
Time for the sarcastic rebuffs now...
Noideaforaname wrote:While adult fans buy a lot, there aren't that many adult fans compared to kid fans. I'm willing to bet the majority of young boys (pardon the sexism, but these toys are geared towards boys) have at least 1 Transformer toy, while the majority of adult men only have fond childhood memories (if that, even).
Not to mention buying anything off the secondary marked = zero money for Hasbro.
bossman328 wrote:Noideaforaname wrote:While adult fans buy a lot, there aren't that many adult fans compared to kid fans. I'm willing to bet the majority of young boys (pardon the sexism, but these toys are geared towards boys) have at least 1 Transformer toy, while the majority of adult men only have fond childhood memories (if that, even).
Not to mention buying anything off the secondary marked = zero money for Hasbro.
Great point!! The figures on my shelf I've gotten from retail are completely outnumbered by the figures I've purchased on the secondary market (ebay/amazon/craigslist/tfw2005/seibertron/local comic shop).
alternator77 wrote:i constantly hear "but collectors are a fraction of hasbros sales"
when in reality its more like "collectors are a fraction of hasbro sales but a huge chunk of TRANSFORMER RELATED SALES"
RhA wrote:alternator77 wrote:i constantly hear "but collectors are a fraction of hasbros sales"
when in reality its more like "collectors are a fraction of hasbro sales but a huge chunk of TRANSFORMER RELATED SALES"
This implies that you have some solid numbers. Please present them in order to prove your point.
Evil_the_Nub wrote:I voted no. Even though I think the toys are still overall good, the poor distribution and case assortment, combined with canceling of figures is unacceptable. I really like the Prime line so far, the only stinker in the group is Airachnid. But I haven't seen any new figures in months, and I keep hearing that Hasbro isn't releasing so many figures it sucking the fun right out of this.
Instead of looking forward to new figures now I'm thinking "Hey that looks awesome, $50 says Hasbro doesn't release it."
RhA wrote:alternator77 wrote:i constantly hear "but collectors are a fraction of hasbros sales"
when in reality its more like "collectors are a fraction of hasbro sales but a huge chunk of TRANSFORMER RELATED SALES"
This implies that you have some solid numbers. Please present them in order to prove your point.
Dagon wrote:RhA wrote:alternator77 wrote:i constantly hear "but collectors are a fraction of hasbros sales"
when in reality its more like "collectors are a fraction of hasbro sales but a huge chunk of TRANSFORMER RELATED SALES"
This implies that you have some solid numbers. Please present them in order to prove your point.
Do YOU have any solid numbers to disprove it? I would bet you don't, and really, I'd bet Hasbro doesn't either. I have never been asked to explain who I am purchasing a figure for, be it for myself as an adult collector or for a child. Even Hasbro can't verify what percentage of sales are driven exclusively by adult collectors, unless they're estimating or using TFCC/Fun Pub sales as some kind of measuring stick for, once more, an estimate.
The one thing that is verifiable is that we've heard so many times that Hasbro isn't concerned with sales to collectors that it's become one of the most preferred comebacks by drones whenever someone does dissent.
JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Dagon wrote:RhA wrote:alternator77 wrote:i constantly hear "but collectors are a fraction of hasbros sales"
when in reality its more like "collectors are a fraction of hasbro sales but a huge chunk of TRANSFORMER RELATED SALES"
This implies that you have some solid numbers. Please present them in order to prove your point.
Do YOU have any solid numbers to disprove it? I would bet you don't, and really, I'd bet Hasbro doesn't either. I have never been asked to explain who I am purchasing a figure for, be it for myself as an adult collector or for a child. Even Hasbro can't verify what percentage of sales are driven exclusively by adult collectors, unless they're estimating or using TFCC/Fun Pub sales as some kind of measuring stick for, once more, an estimate.
The one thing that is verifiable is that we've heard so many times that Hasbro isn't concerned with sales to collectors that it's become one of the most preferred comebacks by drones whenever someone does dissent.
An excerpt from TFWiki, with the relevent quote in bold:
Hasbro should totally cater to the wishes of older collectors, as they purchase the most Transformers product.
Fans would like to think they've got some sway over the direction of the Transformers brand. After all, they've been buying toys for many years (as opposed to the limited purchasing span of most children), and they buy many more toys than any individual child. And in truth, Hasbro does pay attention to the desires and discussions of its older buyers, even designing certain line segments like Alternators or Classics and its successors with collectors as the primary target audience.
Collectors, however, simply can't compare to the vast numbers of children out there whose parents buy Transformers for them. The bulk of Transformers product is purchased for and/or by young children, and if a company like Hasbro wants to stay in business and keep making money (and by extension, more toys), it must design and market its products accordingly. No accurate figures exist on the collector/children ratio, but estimates mentioned at BotCon panels range from around 10% to 20% of all purchases coming from older collectors—enough to be worth listening to, but not at all the driving force behind the brand. Past toylines have shown that betting too much on sales from adult collectors can be disastrous.
Dagon wrote:Yeah, estimates range. RhA was asking for solid numbers. As I said, no one ever asks for whom a toy is being purchased, which means that ever that estimated 10-20% may not be entirely accurate. At best it's a ballpark figure. No, I am in no way claiming to have conducted market research or anything.
Also, I didn't say that Hasbro should/must cater to us as collectors. I find that to be just as stupid as saying the company doesn't care about collector revenue.
NewFoundStarscreamLuv wrote:me and my friends combine all the time. Sometimes I even combine by myself if no one is around.
Flux Convoy wrote:The Classics Arcee we were teased with if we supported Prime Arcee, she was exactly that. A tease. They feel that this Arcee IS G1 Arcee.
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