The Energon Pub

[-Kanrabat-]

AC toys posted a "confidential" image of what appears to be the back of the box of the upcoming Leader Class Starscream based on the Thundercracker mold. The site calls it IDW Starscream and gives the date of July 1.

I'm so buying this day one!

[Shockwave7]

Ok, from your experience and from what you know, would you say Hasbrotoyshop operates similarly to other retailers who buy from hasbro. As in, do they also order from Hasbro to stock their items or are they given the remainder of a run after other retailers, such as walmart, have been taken care of. From your understanding, would Hasbro toy shop have a greater, equal or lower priority in terms of Hasbro filling their orders, in comparison to BBTS, Walmart, Toysrus and Robot Kingdom?

I just thought they were the equivalent of Takaratomymall.

Not equivalent to Takara Tomy Mall, which is why you don't ever see HasbroToyShop exclusives. I'm assuming they are able to order products just like BBTS, Walmart, Entertainment Earth, etc depending on their needs and sales history. It's not a dumping ground for leftover products.

That's handy to know, if it's true. At the least, it'll prevent me from having (and voicing) any grand expectations from HTS I guess they're just lower on the proverbial totem pole than many other places. A pity. Of all the online retailers, I've had the least problems with HTS as opposed to others like BBTS (And not just because their threshold for free delivery is $100 cheaper).

I was under the impression that they 'were' Hasbro, and that they operated similarly to Apple, with the factories shipping stuff straight from the factories to HTS's warehouses and such. Curious that's not the case. The points raised about businesses just not making as much money by selling direct from their own websites is also of note. From a marketing standpoint there is some truth to it.

Still, it doesn't make the wait for the W3 protectobot deluxes turning up on HTS.com any less grating. Plus it does raise some worries that people who use HTS will miss out on some figures, which never seem to find their way onto the HTS website - Generations Arcee being a 'prime' example...

[King Kuuga]

HTS might be lower on the totem pole because they just don't order as much stock as Toys R Us, Walmart, Target, BBTS, etc.

[Burn]

*cackles madly*
My holidays just got a whole lot more awesome.

[Emerje]

Ok, from your experience and from what you know, would you say Hasbrotoyshop operates similarly to other retailers who buy from hasbro. As in, do they also order from Hasbro to stock their items or are they given the remainder of a run after other retailers, such as walmart, have been taken care of. From your understanding, would Hasbro toy shop have a greater, equal or lower priority in terms of Hasbro filling their orders, in comparison to BBTS, Walmart, Toysrus and Robot Kingdom?

I just thought they were the equivalent of Takaratomymall.

Not equivalent to Takara Tomy Mall, which is why you don't ever see HasbroToyShop exclusives. I'm assuming they are able to order products just like BBTS, Walmart, Entertainment Earth, etc depending on their needs and sales history. It's not a dumping ground for leftover products.

Uh, actually the SDCC stuff are HTS exclusives. They're sold at the Hasbro Toy Shop Booth and aren't referred to as SDCC exclusives. Take a look at the 2014 press release for example:

The special edition items will be available at the Hasbro Toy Shop booth (#3329) at Comic-Con International starting on Preview Night, July 23rd (while supplies last), as well as in limited quantities after the convention concludes at HasbroToyShop.com.

They use that exact same line in all of their SDCC PR.

Hasbro does indeed own HTS, what they don't own is their distribution center, that's owned by Ingram Micro.

Emerje

[Shockwave7]

Hasbro does indeed own HTS, what they don't own is their distribution center, that's owned by Ingram Micro.

Emerje

So what exactly would that mean for HTS in terms of how fast they should be getting figures, vs. BBTS or some other online sellers who tend to get them 'earlier'? I can't deny that HTS seems to be getting figures a lot later, or at least not posting them as 'in stock' until a lot later...

[Shockwave7]

*cackles madly*
My holidays just got a whole lot more awesome.

11303530_10153424740703678_1440568548_n.jpg

Nice

[DedicatedGhostArt]

What does HTS stand for? I forgot which online retailer that is.

[Agamemnon]

I did have an explanation for you, Shockwave, on the last page, but it got lost in the shuffle.

The short of it is that when a company sells directly to the consumer, it risks undercutting the retail outlets. When those companies are the likes of Toys R Us, Walmart, Target, and others, well...follow the money. Do you think HTS will bring in more revenue than Target et. al? (My original explanation talks about a situation I was a part of back in the nineties as justification for this reasoning...)

[shajaki]

*cackles madly*
My holidays just got a whole lot more awesome.

Ahhh... but how does he smell?

[DedicatedGhostArt]

*cackles madly*
My holidays just got a whole lot more awesome.

Ahhh... but how does he smell?

Collectors get more and more crazy, after a while they start sniffing their figures.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

*cackles madly*
My holidays just got a whole lot more awesome.

Ahhh... but how does he smell?

Collectors get more and more crazy, after a while they start sniffing their figures.

After the debacle with Whirl, I cannot blame them

[Moosey]

What does HTS stand for? I forgot which online retailer that is.

Dude, 2 posts above you they were having a conversation about Hasbro Toy Shop.

[DedicatedGhostArt]

What does HTS stand for? I forgot which online retailer that is.

Dude, 2 posts above you they were having a conversation about Hasbro Toy Shop.

*facepalm* My mind blanked.

[william-james88]

Hey Shockwave 7, thanks for asking your questions. By our butting heads, we ended up getting some pretty good answers from the community and seibertron himself, which was a fun treat for me since I learnt a bunch of stuff. I am of course very confused still, but at least I am not as ignorant. Also, it turns out they did have Arcee:

[Burn]

*cackles madly*
My holidays just got a whole lot more awesome.

Ahhh... but how does he smell?

Up yours!
He smells just fine. Box was a bit plasticy but once he was freed it was all good.

[shajaki]

*cackles madly*
My holidays just got a whole lot more awesome.

Ahhh... but how does he smell?

Up yours!
He smells just fine. Box was a bit plasticy but once he was freed it was all good.

Easy there tiger. I'm not the one who gave your Whirl malaria.

[Burn]

Malaria can be cured.

As far as Ultra Magnus goes ... okay, I hyped myself up a bit TOO much. There's a couple of niggling little things (Minimus is incredibly tight so I end up removing all limbs to transform him, plus UM's head has next to zero articulation) but overall he's a fantastically engineered figure.

It also wouldn't take much for a 3P company to develop a replacement transforming cab.

[shajaki]

Wadya mean no head articulation? Can it at least go side to side?
How about the dreaded hollowness others speak of?

[Burn]

Wadya mean no head articulation? Can it at least go side to side?
How about the dreaded hollowness others speak of?

Head has partial side to side movement (maybe 45 degrees either way) but then he ends up staring into his chest piece.

As far as hollowness goes ... depends on what they speak of really. Yes, lower legs are hollow. But that's because of how he transforms. They do a fairly decent job of closing it all in so it's not that noticeable.

[Agamemnon]

If you remove Minimus while UM is in bot mode, then there is a hollow cavity below his head. Minimus pretty much eliminates this cavity.

[Burn]

If you remove Minimus while UM is in bot mode, then there is a hollow cavity below his head. Minimus pretty much eliminates this cavity.

I wouldn't say eliminates, but he definitely ... minimises it.

[Agamemnon]

If you remove Minimus while UM is in bot mode, then there is a hollow cavity below his head. Minimus pretty much eliminates this cavity.

I wouldn't say eliminates, but he definitely ... minimises it.

Okay, so that's how my daughter feels about my dad jokes. (I love me a good groaner like that! )

[chuckdawg1999]

From what I understand, HasbroToyShop.com is its own separate entity. It is not run by Hasbro.

Odd statement to make, I know, can't remember who I was talking to at Hasbro. Maybe I misunderstood what was being told to me, but if I recall correctly the relationship between HasbroToyShop.com and Hasbro isn't as straightforward as it seems and is actually managed by another company. I can't remember the specifics of the conversation from at least a few years back but I reached out to Hasbro to get some clarification again. Yes, the name is owned by Hasbro and it's supposed to look like the retail arm of Hasbro, but it is its own separate company that operates separately from Hasbro if I remember this correctly.

The easiest way to think about the relationship between HTS and Hasbro is to think of it like a franchise, take McDonalds for example. A franchisee owns the store, pays for the food, equipment, and employees out of their own pocket, but they still have to pay McDonalds for the rights to the name and do everything they say.

[-Kanrabat-]

People are enjoying their Hasbro CW Leader Ultra Magnus.

And I'm just here, waiting for the SEPTEMBER release of the Takara version.