The Energon Pub

breakdown99 wrote:It still boggles me how people think that it's all Hasbro's fault that people aren't getting the toys that they want. If retailers don't allocate a certain amount of $$$ to Transformers in their toy budgets (all retailers as we know have budgets that they must adhere to)how can you turn around and say that it's Hasbro's fault for not supplying you with toys?
If your Walmarts etc don't give Hasbro business, what did you expect them to do? Of course they're going to go elsewhere to sell their product. 2 + 2 is 4 people. Hasbro isn't going to waste its energies on a market that isn't going to do business with them. Would any of you?

You make a good point while missing another.

1.) Hasbro either shortchanges production runs, or over does it. (This has happened many times in recent years.)

2.) Stores do demand a lot of Hasbro, which is why I say they're both to blame. Stores ask for too many of one item, not enough of another. (Hasbro keeps sending it out and the stores keep taking it. They're both at fault.)

3.) It's understandable that they might want to go to another market, but they helped create their problems in this market. When it wasn't fiscally responsible to continue down this path, they should've said something sooner. Instead, they kept shipping the same cases, over and over and over. Or including the same figures in wave after wave with no room for the new. (Hasbro has a planning department. They hired people for this exact problem. What gives? Can't blame the stores entirely.)

4.) Why market a product to, and promise the product to, a market....only to say it was never intended for that market? (No, seriously. Why? People never seem to answer this question. All they ever say is "No one promised anything. Deal with it." Problem is, they did actually promise it. Why advertise something that does exist, that you can't get your hands on? See what I mean? No. I doubt it...)

BBTS and other stores wanted First Edition figures and DOTM. Hasbro wouldn't even sell their own import figures to import stores. Do you see that? It's one thing to favor another market when the current one's not doing so well, I get that, but some of this problem rests on their shoulders. When you have customers willing to buy, but don't give them the product or the ability to do so, you're left with a gaping hole in your finances. I'd think a multibillion dollar company would know how to handle their business better than that.

And you don't lie to your core audience (kids), yet they did. You can blame the retailers, but don't excuse Hasbro. Don't be an apologist for those who don't need or deserve it.

EDIT: There's no excuse not to sell these figures through Hasbro Toy Shop. They may not own it, but their name IS on it. They can't sell their own product through a store that is supposed to represent them? Really? Please.

Autobot032 wrote:

breakdown99 wrote:It still boggles me how people think that it's all Hasbro's fault that people aren't getting the toys that they want. If retailers don't allocate a certain amount of $$$ to Transformers in their toy budgets (all retailers as we know have budgets that they must adhere to)how can you turn around and say that it's Hasbro's fault for not supplying you with toys?
If your Walmarts etc don't give Hasbro business, what did you expect them to do? Of course they're going to go elsewhere to sell their product. 2 + 2 is 4 people. Hasbro isn't going to waste its energies on a market that isn't going to do business with them. Would any of you?

You make a good point while missing another.

1.) Hasbro either shortchanges production runs, or over does it. (This has happened many times in recent years.)
Again, depends on how much the stores order, doesn't it? Retailers don't have to order x amount of cases if they aren't selling. We have stock on hand figures to determine what is and what isn't selling.

2.) Stores do demand a lot of Hasbro, which is why I say they're both to blame. Stores ask for too many of one item, not enough of another. (Hasbro keeps sending it out and the stores keep taking it. They're both at fault.)
Not necessarily. We'll order equal amounts of all figures, then based on sales per size class, we'll order what is required, or not.

3.) It's understandable that they might want to go to another market, but they helped create their problems in this market. When it wasn't fiscally responsible to continue down this path, they should've said something sooner. Instead, they kept shipping the same cases, over and over and over. Or including the same figures in wave after wave with no room for the new. (Hasbro has a planning department. They hired people for this exact problem. What gives? Can't blame the stores entirely.)
50/50 there. Some times we've ordered cases because we've got them at a certain % off cost price, which we in turn then sold at lower profit margins, but still at a profit. Again, we made the decision to order voyager case x.

4.) Why market a product to, and promise the product to, a market....only to say it was never intended for that market? (No, seriously. Why? People never seem to answer this question. All they ever say is "No one promised anything. Deal with it." Problem is, they did actually promise it. Why advertise something that does exist, that you can't get your hands on? See what I mean? No. I doubt it...)
Agreed. Production costs of old lines vs marketing new lines? Who really knows how they operate at Hasbro. Only way we'll ever know is if an executive was on these boards or answering the questions at Botcon etc. The odds of that? Pfft...


BBTS and other stores wanted First Edition figures and DOTM. Hasbro wouldn't even sell their own import figures to import stores. Do you see that? It's one thing to favor another market when the current one's not doing so well, I get that, but some of this problem rests on their shoulders. When you have customers willing to buy, but don't give them the product or the ability to do so, you're left with a gaping hole in your finances. I'd think a multibillion dollar company would know how to handle their business better than that.
Obviously not...


And you don't lie to your core audience (kids), yet they did. You can blame the retailers, but don't excuse Hasbro. Don't be an apologist for those who don't need or deserve it.
I'm not apologizing for anybody. At the end of the day, Hasbro will never explain themselves and we'll just be asking, over and over and over again. C'est la vie my friend.

EDIT: There's no excuse not to sell these figures through Hasbro Toy Shop. They may not own it, but their name IS on it. They can't sell their own product through a store that is supposed to represent them? Really? Please.

Lol How can you argue fact

I'd still like to hear an explanation for their wonky case assortments. "Kids love Bumblebee" just isn't cutting it anymore.