The Energon Pub

I was born in 1984 and grew up in New York. As a kid, ghostbusters was my first toy love, ninja turtles my second. Though I vaguely remember owning a transformer, for some reason I was never really into them. In fact, I don't ever remember seeing the TV shows except when Beast Wars came out and I was too old for it. In fact, until the movie came out and I actually started reading about the TF phenomenon, I had no idea there was so much of a fandom or that the show had run more or less continuously since the year of my birth.

How did I miss it? I don't know.

But I went to see the movie and loved it. For a couple weeks after I had a strange compulsion to own one of the toys -- I really don't know why. So I bought the movie-leader-class optimus prime just to fool around with while on the phone at work.

PLEASE DON'T FLAME ME FOR THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH UNLESS YOU'VE READ (and *understood*) MY ENTIRE POST.
I should add that I don't really care about the TV series or the transformers storyline. I don't even care about the movie storyline (it was awesome because of giant transforming robots beating the hell out of each other. not because of the incredibly generic good-vs-evil story).

TRUST ME, though -- I totally understand having a passion for the stuff you loved as a kid. I was psyched for the TMNT movie (until the reviews said it sucked). I'd be there opening night for a ghostbusters movie. And a couple of years ago I watched a tape of an old TMNT series episode and was amazed at how incredibly awful the story and animation were. Doesn't stop me from loving them. I just never had that experience with the t'formers, and now it's too late.

But the TOYS, man, are flippin' awesome. That first Prime toy, which I bought last Wednesday, gave me a strange sense of joy that I still can't explain. It's just so.... cool.

Now I'm hooked. I've scoured Tampa's Targets, Wal-Marts and Toys R' Us for the toys. Depressingly, I was only able to find 4 transformers that appealed to me enough to drop the dough -- Leader-class Optimus, Deluxe Brawl, and Voyager Blackout and Ratchet.

The shelves are flooded with figures I don't care about: protoform starscream and optimus, a host of crappy-looking "legends" figures, non-transforming garbage like the titanium figures and mini-whatevers, cyber-stompers, and cheap-looking "real gear" toys.

Okay, to end my rambling I'm just going to list my questions now.

1) How many production runs does each wave of toys go through? For instance, I wanted the Voyager Ironhide but couldn't find it. Will Hasbro make more?

2) Does every store get an even quantity of each toy, or might one store get lots of one toy (say, voyager Ratchet and blackout) but none of another (say, ironhide and starscream)?

3) Does Hasbro make the same number of each toy in a wave? Like I said, all the local stores have a bunch of Voyager ratchets, protoform optimuses (optimi??) and starscreams, and those ridiculous slammers, stompers, optimus helmets and blasters, etc etc.

4) Since I assume Hasbro does, indeed, make the same number of each toy... are they nuts? Why haven't they figured out how to predict what people want? I mean... given that Bumblebee is a main character in the movie, shouldn't they have planned appropriately, by making more of his Deluxe figures?

5) Who buys those awful basic 5.99 transforming figures anyway?

6) WHHHHY do they make transformers figures that do not transform? I speak of the many tiny figures they make, titanium and so on. Why do they exist? I can't tell you how frustrating it was when, on my search for Ironhide, every store was full of box sets of these horrible inch-tall wastes of petroleum. There's not enough supply of the deluxe-and-higher transforming figures to meet the demand. The resources that went into making crappy toys that end up in the bargain bin could have went into making cool toys that fly off shelves.

6a) I understand that part of why the toys are popular is the large collector base, and that scarcity makes them more attractive for collectors. But I got into them, and I'm sure as hell most kids under 12 get into them, because they're AWESOME TOYS that are fun to play with. If a kid (or, say, a 23-year-old geek) WANTS a Voyager-class Ironhide, and it will make him/her happy, why doesn't Hasbro supply them in the desired quantities?

7) I'm genuinely interested in seeing what the animated series is all about, but I'm not about to pay for a DVD set. Also, as a fan of shows like Battlestar Galactica, The Wire, 6 feet under, and Deadwood, I'm not going to watch it if it's not genuinely intelligent and engaging (since, let's face it, it's not going to have anywhere near the visual appeal of Bay's movie). So...
7a) will any of the many animated TV shows satisfy me?
7b) if so, which one should I start with?
7c) and where can I get it, just to sample it?

I've got higher expectations for the TF comics, since I'm a comic-book geek. So which titles/story arcs/etc should I look for?

9) Where do you guys buy your toys? Is there a website where I can get the current toys at retail so I don't have to scour toy stores?

Hm. I think those are all the questions I can think of, but I might post more.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to shoot me an email/IM.
MikeyMo

Welcome! WARNING!! SEIBERTRON MAY CONTAIN NUTS!!!
but ye I'll try to answer some of ur questions.
1)Depends some toys go on for a few waves some dont. But Ironhide should be fairly easy to find.
2)No some figures come 2 percase some only 1n Every store gets gets most wave after a while
3)Nope
4)who knows
5)Noobs who have nothing else to do wit their $
6)They do just some areas get more than others
7)Beast Wars
Dreamwave
9)Hasbro toyshop, bbts
Hope that helps,
Bond

Too many Q's for me to answer, lol. But welcome to the board. Enjoy your stay!

Hey there, welcome to the forums. I'm pretty new myself, so I really can't answer all of your questions.

But I really must recommend the Voyager Ironhide and Voyager Starscream. Both of the figures are just excellent toys in my opinion, and I really think you should enjoy them.

Also, you probably don't need to worry too much about finding the items. I actually went through the same problem as you finding the toys right after seeing the movie for the first time. But the stores (at least in my area) seem to be restocking their shelves once or twice a week. I couldn't find any Ironhide's or Starscreams, but after waiting a week I went to Toys R Us and the shelves were full of them. If you have a Toys R Us in your area, you might even try asking them when they plan on restocking. Depending on who you talk to you could get a pretty helpful answer.

Anyway, glad to have you on the forums, and good luck finding the items you want...

Interesting. Well, thanks for the encouragement! I'll return to the stores around here with renewed excitement...

What do you like so much about the starscream figure? What really turns me off is that it barely looks like a jet in alt-mode, what with all the stuff underneath. It looks like a Raptor... on a trailer.

And I found that really depressing. Watching the movie, I told myself I was gonna go get Starscream because I've actually seen an F-22 in person and it was....incredible...and I was excited to get a model of one that turned into an ass-kickin' bot.

see, what really drew me into the idea of the transformers toys was that something that looked, basically, like a model of a real-world vehicle could somehow turn into a bitchin' robot. If it already kinda looks like a robot to start with, what's the point?

For example, I would never pay money for a megatrom that turns into a "cybertronian jet."

but then again, if there's something extremely compelling about starscream otherwise, I might get him. I hear his transfo is extremely complicated, which might make it worth my while.

Mikeymo,

I know the Starscream toy isn't as impressive as the bot in the movie but it is a decent figure and if you manage to get the set of the movie toys you'll regret not picking him up.

I have been pleased so far with the movie line and there are a few that aren't so good.

If you like realistic looking figures try to pick up any alternators you find in the stores still and search on ebay they are a line that's right up your alley. Sadly the line is no more but the forthcoming Universe line in fall of 2008.

If you like very realistic alt modes, check into the Masterpiece line. They're pricey, and made to be displayed, but they're wonderful! You would probably like the Alternators/Binaltech line as well. Note that none of these are movie designs though.

Starscream's Girl wrote:Too many Q's for me to answer, lol. But welcome to the board. Enjoy your stay!

Really?
There's a maximum number of questions you can answer?
And it's under nine?
How do you fill out application forms?
Or take standardised tests?
How would you fare if you were being interrogated by the police?
Is there a cool-down period or something in between question blocks that allows you to function in society?
Is the maximum number of questions you can answer eight?

Bro, I see that we share a like for long detailed posts with ordered points. I'm new to buying TF toys to so I'll try to answer your questions from my POV. I've learnt a lot talking to people on this forum, fellow collectors in my country, and e-pals from China.

[quote="mikeymo"]


2) Does every store get an even quantity of each toy, or might one store get lots of one toy (say, voyager Ratchet and blackout) but none of another (say, ironhide and starscream)?

I believe other factors like geography plays a part. Example, Malaysia had Voyager Megatron long before we did. We have lots of Arcees still, and as I wrote in another post once we had Longarm and Payload (must be an accident!).

However in terms of equality, these toys come in assortment boxes that have a set number for each of its figures. In other words, store don't go "I'll order 2 boxes of Deluxe Bonecrushers because they're selling like hot cakes, and stay away from the 08 BBs because they're sucking on pegs". Instead they'll go "I'll order box 1, 5, and 6", which each have their own assortments of figures. Some boxes have 2 of Jazz or Dreadwing, for example.

[4) Since I assume Hasbro does, indeed, make the same number of each toy... are they nuts? Why haven't they figured out how to predict what people want? I mean... given that Bumblebee is a main character in the movie, shouldn't they have planned appropriately, by making more of his Deluxe figures?

I'm sure Hasbro makes figures it estimates will do well, and churns them out in the proportion it can only guess will work for the market. But really, how can they predict this across the board? I'll get Bonecrusher; he's a real badass mofo and he had a major streetfight with Prime. No, I won't get Bumblebee; car looks old and paintwork sucks. Jazz is pretty dull and looks damn plasticky; I'll wait a bit to see if they make him in a shiny version. Leader Prime... a hundred bucks? I'll wait till he goes on sale (good luck!)


5) Who buys those awful basic 5.99 transforming figures anyway?

Children? These basic transforming figures might be nothing to you, but it's still something that will stimulate a young child's creativity and spatial appreciation and construction. I don't know about you, but I spent 20min first transforming Voyager Ironhide, and 38min transforming Leader Prime.

They're also more hardy, because when you're an adult you know when caution seems called for transforming Ironhide's legs, but a child may not be able to. To end, it's simply a way to introduce and allow children to have a transformer who might not otherwise be able to afford the SGD$50 for a Voyager figure.


6) WHHHHY do they make transformers figures that do not transform? I speak of the many tiny figures they make, titanium and so on. Why do they exist?

Why do people make die cast figurines that don't move and have no colour, busts, display models of any sorts? Why do people buy Battle Stompers and Potatohead Prime? Different people like different things. Just because you may not like something doesn't mean it's got no value, otherwise why would Hasbro make them in the first place?

The resources that went into making crappy toys that end up in the bargain bin could have went into making cool toys that fly off shelves.

Again I have to say, these "crappy toys" are the ones that may be the ones that most children can afford, or would be happy with, or that parents would pay money for. Have you also wondered just how much of these toys that fly off the shelves are bought by scalpers who in turn create higher demand for their ill-intentioned purchases to sell high on e-bay?

It's like the movie, why did they do this, change that, etc? Because apart from one subgroup of people they are trying to appeal to (collectors = diehard fans), they are also trying to reach a greater demographic and mainstream (innocent little children = transformer virgins)

6a) If a kid (or, say, a 23-year-old geek) WANTS a Voyager-class Ironhide, and it will make him/her happy, why doesn't Hasbro supply them in the desired quantities?

How would Hasbro know what who would want? I love Ironhide because he's black. But other people don't like him because they would like to see more colour. I love Bonecrusher, and the scene where Michael Bay depicts how a real streetfight between two transformers might go down, others think he's ugly and had too short screen time. I love Wreckage and bought him almost immediately; others ignore him because he's not in the movie.

Where do you guys buy your toys? Is there a website where I can get the current toys at retail so I don't have to scour toy stores?

I understand your frustrations, because I went through them a while ago. Then I talked to people in the know and relaxed more. Here are some key tips:

a. Be patient. The stocks are going to come, and probably will stabilise towards Christmas. A guy I know from China joked about how people complain about the QC problems. Granted some of it is design related. But many more are probably due to pressures to churn out in droves at high speed.

b. Don't get obsessed over it. Right now there are lots of scalpers buying up toys in huge quantities but there will be a stabilisation point whereby they've bought too much, the new stocks come in, and they're left holding stuff they can't sell.

c. All this is good for business, which means that we're going to be guaranteed a Transformers Movie 2. It will also encourage Hasbro to increase supply to meet demand. Hasbro wants to sell toys; it doesn't care too much about keeping things 'rare' for collectors.

d. Ask around. Network. One thing I've done to contribute a little to beat the scalpers is to offer to get toys abundant in my area and send them to people in other countries, at a reasonable and cheap postage and handling cost. For instance I've gotten friends in the Phillipines Barricade, Jazz, Arcee and Dreadwing because we have plenty of those. You can do the same.

Take care, and good luck!

mikeymo wrote:1) How many production runs does each wave of toys go through? For instance, I wanted the Voyager Ironhide but couldn't find it. Will Hasbro make more?

Standard lines usually see a single production run. There hasn’t been a run of more than two that I can remember.

The movie toys are different though. Don’t expect anything to be really hard to find.

2) Does every store get an even quantity of each toy, or might one store get lots of one toy (say, voyager Ratchet and blackout) but none of another (say, ironhide and starscream)?

It happens. Stores restock after something sells automatically. They are almost blind to which figure goes in and out.

3) Does Hasbro make the same number of each toy in a wave? Like I said, all the local stores have a bunch of Voyager ratchets, protoform optimuses (optimi??) and starscreams, and those ridiculous slammers, stompers, optimus helmets and blasters, etc etc.

The ‘toy’ things are different than the figures. We don’t normally have those clogging things up.

4) Since I assume Hasbro does, indeed, make the same number of each toy... are they nuts? Why haven't they figured out how to predict what people want? I mean... given that Bumblebee is a main character in the movie, shouldn't they have planned appropriately, by making more of his Deluxe figures?

Case ratios determine and balance this.

Popular toys are repacked later on in what are called wave assortments. These have a selection of the current figures out.

5) Who buys those awful basic 5.99 transforming figures anyway?

Not me.

6) WHHHHY do they make transformers figures that do not transform? I speak of the many tiny figures they make, titanium and so on. Why do they exist?

Because you touch yourself at night.

6a) I understand that part of why the toys are popular is the large collector base, and that scarcity makes them more attractive for collectors. But I got into them, and I'm sure as hell most kids under 12 get into them, because they're AWESOME TOYS that are fun to play with. If a kid (or, say, a 23-year-old geek) WANTS a Voyager-class Ironhide, and it will make him/her happy, why doesn't Hasbro supply them in the desired quantities?

They are.

They’re just selling fast at the moment.

You weren’t around for the Energon line, when no one got anything ever.

7) I'm genuinely interested in seeing what the animated series is all about, but I'm not about to pay for a DVD set. Also, as a fan of shows like Battlestar Galactica, The Wire, 6 feet under, and Deadwood, I'm not going to watch it if it's not genuinely intelligent and engaging (since, let's face it, it's not going to have anywhere near the visual appeal of Bay's movie). So...
7a) will any of the many animated TV shows satisfy me?
7b) if so, which one should I start with?
7c) and where can I get it, just to sample it?

PM Me, we can work something out.

8) I've got higher expectations for the TF comics, since I'm a comic-book geek. So which titles/story arcs/etc should I look for?

IDW. Start with Infiltration and be patient. Buy the MTMTE Profile books and all Spotlight books.

9) Where do you guys buy your toys? Is there a website where I can get the current toys at retail so I don't have to scour toy stores?

WalMart, Target, TRU, and http://www.bbts.com

Welcome to Seibertron, chap!

1) Hasbro produce tens of thousands of toys in each run, and they are usually distributed en masse to distribution centres for chains of stores. For example, the Toys'r'us UK warehouse is in Manchester. It is the size of a village and probably contains more movie Ironhides than your or my heart can handle. These are gradually shipped out to individual stores over the course of, for a single wave, usually a couple of months. Rest assured that main characters from the film will be available in copious amounts over the next few months.

2) No. How much of each wave of figures a store gets depends on how many they order and at what time. For example, Toys'r'us was late ordering the Cybertron Ultra assortment so we didn't get wave 1, while Argos and a couple of supermarkets did. A wave of figures would only not appear if the store had desperate trouble selling the previous one and Hasbro had shifted the lot before they reordered.

3) No. They make different numbers of different size classes according to expected demand. That's why there are two Bumblebees and two Barricades in a deluxe case and one of everyone else. There will also be many, many more deluxe figures made than larger figures because they are more popular with kids.

4) You assume incorrectly, and while the sanity of Hasbro's decision-makers is called into question pretty frequently, especially around here, they seem to have their heads screwed on when it comes to success.

5) I do and they are awesome.

6) Some people think they are awesome.

6a) See above.

7a) Beast Wars. Possibly Beast Machines. Possibly also Chojin Masterforce and Victory if you can find them. They're only on DVD in Japan, China and the UK.
7b) Probably Beast Wars.
7c) The Australian box set can be ordered from Madman Entertainment directly. It's pretty awesome.

8 ) I would recommend... against trying anything by Dreamwave. While the first War Within is quite highly regarded among fans I suspect that might have more to do with the breathtaking amount of references to older storylines and characters than the quality of the story itself. IDW is probably a good place to start, and if you can find any reprints of the Marvel UK material that might be worth a shot too.

9) I get mine all over. The exchange rate with the US dollar just now is awesome, so I'll probably be buying from places like bigbadtoystore.com and eBay a bit more than usual. Plus since I work at Toys'r'us I have the added incentive of a staff discount to shop locally

-Nick