The Energon Pub

So I watched Emgo's review of TFC Toy's Uranos (Not Superion), and it was so painfully obvious that by the end of the review, he didn't like the final product as much as he hoped he'd like it, to the point where he was doing the thing where the reviewer says "I still think it was worth the money." when they realize they've made a mistake. He also mentioned that Uranos had much worse reviews than Herculese (Not Devastator) did, with good reason, as Herculese was amazing.

However, after watching the review, and thinking about what third party companies do for a while, I had an interesting thought, and I wanted to know what you thought. Would third party companies make more money, if they didn't try so hard to make their products perfect, to the point where they're flawed or insanely priced? If they lowered the quality of their figures a bit, they would still produce excellent products, they would reduce the cost of production, and as such they could lower the cost of the product and sell to a larger market. Of course, keep in mind that I'm no business expert, and there are such things as how much they could actually supply since they don't have massive factories and such. However, the thought came to mind, and I mostly wanted to know what you guys thought of it?

If they lower the quality of their products, would it be worth it for them, or have they set a permanent standard for themselves to meet/exceed with each new product they make?

Fires_Of_Inferno wrote:So I watched Emgo's review of TFC Toy's Uranos (Not Superion), and it was so painfully obvious that by the end of the review, he didn't like the final product as much as he hoped he'd like it, to the point where he was doing the thing where the reviewer says "I still think it was worth the money." when they realize they've made a mistake. He also mentioned that Uranos had much worse reviews than Herculese (Not Devastator) did, with good reason, as Herculese was amazing.

However, after watching the review, and thinking about what third party companies do for a while, I had an interesting thought, and I wanted to know what you thought. Would third party companies make more money, if they didn't try so hard to make their products perfect, to the point where they're flawed or insanely priced? If they lowered the quality of their figures a bit, they would still produce excellent products, they would reduce the cost of production, and as such they could lower the cost of the product and sell to a larger market. Of course, keep in mind that I'm no business expert, and there are such things as how much they could actually supply since they don't have massive factories and such. However, the thought came to mind, and I mostly wanted to know what you guys thought of it?

If they lower the quality of their products, would it be worth it for them, or have they set a permanent standard for themselves to meet/exceed with each new product they make?

I think you make a good point, my main problem with 3rd party products is they struggle fit into other Hasbro/Takra products, for example Hercules an Uranos, not quite good enough to be Masterpiece, too good to be Classics, same with Fansproject G3 Trailer. I agree that if they were to tone down the enginering a little yet retain the overall quality, not only would they be more satisfying figures but they would also be able to drop the price a little AND focus on marketing more units therefore reducing the insane aftermarket price hike.

No, what they need to do is have a clear vision of where their figures should fit in.

FP makes their stuff to fit in with Classics, so they stick to Classics sizes and aesthetics.

TFC just decided to go overboard with the size of their combiners, getting bigger and bigger with each, but sticking to re-imagined designs that are more along the lines of Classics, but too complex and good to fit into that.

But if they decide to lower their quality, we wouldn't buy them. I mean Look at impossible Toys, they're gone because they had low quality and engineering.

I think a big part of it is that most third party TF makers are looking at the collectors' market when they make their products, so they make higher-end toys that will most likely end up as display pieces instead of in a kid's toybox.

That said, a group that wanted to make a less-detailed, more "play-able" product at a lower price would have to be ready to market their toy more to children (or their parents, I guess). I don't think that's too much more difficult to do, marketing-wise, but I'm no expert at that.

True, it's more for the hardcore collectors, the guys who have all the money and are dissatisfied with the wavering quality issues with Hasbro figures due to cost cutting and such. I'm just saying, it might be something they could think about.

Another example of the issues I was mentioning, however, is the Baltmatrix review of TFC Neman that just came up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs_X9_eQs_8

As you can see, he was more willing to admit the issues. I looked up TFC Neman on BBTS, and he's $130. That is a hell of a lot of money to sink into something that turns out to be not worth it. I like what third party companies are doing in providing an alternative source for transforming robots, but I think they're starting to overreach themselves.

Dead Metal wrote:I mean Look at impossible Toys, they're gone because they had low quality and engineering.

And then they went out with a "it's your fault" letter to the fandom/collectors. Absolutely unreal. I'm still having a hard time believing, but it's true.

Impossible Toys: Douchebags Since...well, forever.

I like good quality but if I could save $20-30 by not having parts storage on the figure, I’d be all for it. Sometimes I feel companies like Fansproject tries too hard to find a storage part for every stupid little piece in all modes. All that figuring out costs more money for the consumer. I got a parts box just like I did in the 80’s and it works fine for me. And screw the fancy box packaging. I have a whole closet of 3rd party boxes that I won’t throw out because of the value. But I wish they all just came shipped in a bag with bubble wrap. I really could use that closet.

Autobot032 wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:I mean Look at impossible Toys, they're gone because they had low quality and engineering.

And then they went out with a "it's your fault" letter to the fandom/collectors. Absolutely unreal. I'm still having a hard time believing, but it's true.

Impossible Toys: Douchebags Since...well, forever.

... I was unaware of this letter. How... perfect for them to end on such a note.

Rated X wrote:And screw the fancy box packaging. I have a whole closet of 3rd party boxes that I won’t throw out because of the value. But I wish they all just came shipped in a bag with bubble wrap. I really could use that closet.

I'd be incredibly ok with 3rd parties not having fancy packaging. That said, it wouldn't lower the pricing at all