The Energon Pub

Is it just me, or is Hasbro jerking all of us transformers toy collectors around? They advertise they are offering certain transformers and then they yank them away!!! I had a pre-order of the Alternator Rumble thru B.B.T.S. at a decent price, and then they email me and state that Hasbro has decided to make him and the new Jaguar Ravage, a mass market store exclusive! And the price on him goes way up! Guess I try and bid for one on ebay and take my chances! I'd interested in anyone else's thoughts about Hasbro?

transform1245 wrote:Is it just me, or is Hasbro jerking all of us transformers toy collectors around? They advertise they are offering certain transformers and then they yank them away!!! I had a pre-order of the Alternator Rumble thru B.B.T.S. at a decent price, and then they email me and state that Hasbro has decided to make him and the new Jaguar Ravage, a mass market store exclusive! And the price on him goes way up! Guess I try and bid for one on ebay and take my chances! I'd interested in anyone else's thoughts about Hasbro?

They're super cool.

Mass marketing Alternators is sure better than having to hunt for 3 months to find Decepticharge.

Counterpunch wrote:

transform1245 wrote:Is it just me, or is Hasbro jerking all of us transformers toy collectors around? They advertise they are offering certain transformers and then they yank them away!!! I had a pre-order of the Alternator Rumble thru B.B.T.S. at a decent price, and then they email me and state that Hasbro has decided to make him and the new Jaguar Ravage, a mass market store exclusive! And the price on him goes way up! Guess I try and bid for one on ebay and take my chances! I'd interested in anyone else's thoughts about Hasbro?

They're super cool.

Mass marketing Alternators is sure better than having to hunt for 3 months to find Decepticharge.

I saw Decepticharge once. I picked up the Wheeljack instead. I saw neither in a store after that. I should have gotten both.
I would rather have a toy I want mass marketed than hard to find i.e.: Reissue Soundwave.
Maybe I'll be able to find these as I really want the Rumble. Yeah ground breaking piledrivers. Finally a rumble that can do some damage. And a spiffy car mode too.
Oh, I don't have a problem with Hasbro. I don't have a never ending supply of money so spacing out the time between issuance of toys is just fine with me.
Oh yeah, they also make the NERF products. I picked up two of the N-Strike Fireflys for 8 bucks each, K-Mart clearance, Hasbro has made one AWESOME toy in that respect.

I have no problem with Hasbro, but I don't like the fact that these last two Alts are exclusive to WalMart. That instantly turns the toys into scalping targets, much as it did with the WM Exclusive MLs. I saw those once, I repeat, once, and I am happy that I bought the whole set, because I never saw them again.

Except, of course, when I saw an employee pull an open case of them, only to hang about 20 AOA Sabretooths in one shot.

Counterpunch wrote:

transform1245 wrote:Is it just me, or is Hasbro jerking all of us transformers toy collectors around? They advertise they are offering certain transformers and then they yank them away!!! I had a pre-order of the Alternator Rumble thru B.B.T.S. at a decent price, and then they email me and state that Hasbro has decided to make him and the new Jaguar Ravage, a mass market store exclusive! And the price on him goes way up! Guess I try and bid for one on ebay and take my chances! I'd interested in anyone else's thoughts about Hasbro?

They're super cool.

Mass marketing Alternators is sure better than having to hunt for 3 months to find Decepticharge.

You should be lucky that he was even released near you. Who would have thought that Alternators were affraid of the snowy peaks of central Ontario

I had to buy mine from a comic book store for three times the retail price. If I recall, Canada got up to Ravage and in very very thin quantities then we didn't see any Alts until the bubble packed alts. Friggin Canada!

PorQPine wrote:Except, of course, when I saw an employee pull an open case of them, only to hang about 20 AOA Sabretooths in one shot.

My goodness, how many of those guys did they MAKE!!! He was the only one I ever saw(my bro collects 'em, and I don't get to Wal-Mart much). He also never got started on the Onslaught wave or Mojo, cause he couldn't find them anywhere but TRU for a slightly infated price. Poor distribution.

Fortuneately, for my bro, with Hasbro at the wheel now, I've read future Legends will be packed with a complete set per case, and will be easier to find. He's already completed Annilus.

Of course, I also recall never seeing any alts. in stores past Silverstreak, and when I did, it was a fluke. The bubble package ones were easier to find though.

So, I guess I like Hasbro for the most part, but I do wish they would make more Classics Grimlocks. I found one, but still, he's such a great figure, and I think everyone who wants him should have one.

Duke of Luns wrote:

PorQPine wrote:Except, of course, when I saw an employee pull an open case of them, only to hang about 20 AOA Sabretooths in one shot.

My goodness, how many of those guys did they MAKE!!! He was the only one I ever saw(my bro collects 'em, and I don't get to Wal-Mart much). He also never got started on the Onslaught wave or Mojo, cause he couldn't find them anywhere but TRU for a slightly infated price. Poor distribution.

Fortuneately, for my bro, with Hasbro at the wheel now, I've read future Legends will be packed with a complete set per case, and will be easier to find. He's already completed Annilus.

Of course, I also recall never seeing any alts. in stores past Silverstreak, and when I did, it was a fluke. The bubble package ones were easier to find though.

So, I guess I like Hasbro for the most part, but I do wish they would make more Classics Grimlocks. I found one, but still, he's such a great figure, and I think everyone who wants him should have one.

Well, the reason he was so common is that he was the only one that was packed two per case. Everyone else, including the variants, were only one per. So basically this means that either he himself, or he let someone, go through about 10 cases, and take everything except AOA Sabretooth. I was disgusted.

WM employees are the most whiny and self-righteous of the retail bunch, so I imagine that the guy used the typical rationalization "I don't get paid enough, so I have to pad my income on ebay with exclusives."
I see these Alts being no different, just in the sense that there is only two of them rather than 11, like the ML wave.

I don't think anyone is going to have a problem finding these new Alts.

I saw at least 6 cases of them (6 figures per case, 3 Ravage, 3 Rumble) in one WalMart.

However...

The first Rumble I bought had only one of his two guns. One of them simply was not included. The second Rumble, I almost bought, did not have the inner bubble to the package and thus bounced around inside the package. The third one was the right one though.

Mass marketing Alternators is sure better than having to hunt for 3 months to find Decepticharge.

I saw Decepticharge once.

You should be lucky that he was even released near you. Who would have thought that Alternators were affraid of the snowy peaks of central Ontario.

What are you guys talking about? My girlfriend worked at the local TRU (until it closed a year ago) and one night when I was picking her up from work there they where, 9 of them sitting there. Nine. And a Wheeljack. So I grabbed one of each and my gf bought them with her employee discount. When the store was slashing the prices to 50% off when they were going out of business, guess how many there sitting there? EIGHT! Here they were shelfwarmers because they weren't a real G1 character and nobody else I knew wanted one. That's life for you...

zodconvoy wrote:

Mass marketing Alternators is sure better than having to hunt for 3 months to find Decepticharge.

I saw Decepticharge once.

You should be lucky that he was even released near you. Who would have thought that Alternators were affraid of the snowy peaks of central Ontario.

What are you guys talking about? My girlfriend worked at the local TRU (until it closed a year ago) and one night when I was picking her up from work there they where, 9 of them sitting there. Nine. And a Wheeljack. So I grabbed one of each and my gf bought them with her employee discount. When the store was slashing the prices to 50% off when they were going out of business, guess how many there sitting there? EIGHT! Here they were shelfwarmers because they weren't a real G1 character and nobody else I knew wanted one. That's life for you...

We're talking about the fact that Decepticharge had very sketchy release patterns once he finally came out. Some areas got what they should have, like what you mentioned, others did not see him at all.

To top all of that off, Decepticharge was released in a very limited quantity in a '.5' wave release that happened prior to a 3-4 month lull in Alternator releases. Everyone was frantically looking for him.

Then the case with Prowl and Decepticharge came out and he became somewhat widely available.

Counterpunch wrote:I don't think anyone is going to have a problem finding these new Alts.

I saw at least 6 cases of them (6 figures per case, 3 Ravage, 3 Rumble) in one WalMart.

However...

The first Rumble I bought had only one of his two guns. One of them simply was not included. The second Rumble, I almost bought, did not have the inner bubble to the package and thus bounced around inside the package. The third one was the right one though.

Well, this statement is quite encouraging, especially when I've been to three Wal-Marts and they don't even show a space for Alternators on their new aisle stock lists.... I may be begging you to drive to a Wal-Mart for me...

PorQPine wrote:

Duke of Luns wrote:

PorQPine wrote:Except, of course, when I saw an employee pull an open case of them, only to hang about 20 AOA Sabretooths in one shot.

My goodness, how many of those guys did they MAKE!!! He was the only one I ever saw(my bro collects 'em, and I don't get to Wal-Mart much). He also never got started on the Onslaught wave or Mojo, cause he couldn't find them anywhere but TRU for a slightly infated price. Poor distribution.

Fortuneately, for my bro, with Hasbro at the wheel now, I've read future Legends will be packed with a complete set per case, and will be easier to find. He's already completed Annilus.

Of course, I also recall never seeing any alts. in stores past Silverstreak, and when I did, it was a fluke. The bubble package ones were easier to find though.

So, I guess I like Hasbro for the most part, but I do wish they would make more Classics Grimlocks. I found one, but still, he's such a great figure, and I think everyone who wants him should have one.

Well, the reason he was so common is that he was the only one that was packed two per case. Everyone else, including the variants, were only one per. So basically this means that either he himself, or he let someone, go through about 10 cases, and take everything except AOA Sabretooth. I was disgusted.

WM employees are the most whiny and self-righteous of the retail bunch, so I imagine that the guy used the typical rationalization "I don't get paid enough, so I have to pad my income on ebay with exclusives."
I see these Alts being no different, just in the sense that there is only two of them rather than 11, like the ML wave.

You saw a Walmart employee working? Like really working?

I very rarely ever see a Walmart employee working or stocking shelves. Usually what they do is bring the palette of stuff and put it in the most hard to navigate around spot, and they leave it there for half a month until shoppers tear open the boxes and get what they need out, then they bring out a new palette.

I wish I had a decent Walmart near me. There are 7 near me in about a 20 mile radius and considering the law of averages you'd think that at least one would be respectable.

At my local Walmart stores, I think what they do is hire about 60 employees to stand around and ignore customers. 10 people get hired to stand near the front of the store and look off into space past the customers while akwardly holding a radio that, quite frankly, everyone knows doesn't get used. 4 elderly people to get hired to stand at the front door and do God knows what. 1 person with the most obnoxious speaking voice to page a manager over and over again. 2 people are hired to check out all the customers even though the store is equipped with like 50 check out lines, 80% of which you never see get used ever.

My favorite has to be that they have 4 self check out lines and 2 of them usually stay closed. THEY ARE SELF CHECKOUT, what the hell? Leave all of them open, it isn't like that person that stands there and watches you do their job is going to have to do more work if all the lanes are open. Plus my Walmart stores never have any of the store exclusive figures so any time I see a figure is a Walmart exclusive I bitch and moan because I'm going to have to find it off a website somewhere and at a considerably higher price.

wow I did not know he was exclusive to WM. I lucked out I guess. So does this make Swerve still the hardest to find? What about Camshaft?

SnapTrap wrote:wow I did not know he was exclusive to WM. I lucked out I guess. So does this make Swerve still the hardest to find? What about Camshaft?

I think Camshaft is the hardest to find.

Swerve was actually in two different case assortments.

I saw about 6 or 8 of him total.

Never a single Camshaft on the shelves. (still got one though. )

yeah I tend to agree. I've never ran across a Camshaft in stores either. I saw Swerve once or twice and tons of Decepticharges. I have a Camshaft coming my way from Canada though.

I was lucky enough to see Camshaft 3 times (only got one...). Swerve, though, only once. Passed on him, had a change of heart the next day, and went back to get him. Luckily, he was still there.

By the way, Snaptrap, like the classic-looking sig and avatar. Classy.

thanks. I was actually toying with changing it a bit though. might have to reconsider..

I had no problems finding ALT Mirage & Prime so I should have seen him but no. I also had a hard time rounding up 2 of the 3 Minicons that make up Perceptor/Requiem Blaster.

SnapTrap wrote:yeah I tend to agree. I've never ran across a Camshaft in stores either. I saw Swerve once or twice and tons of Decepticharges. I have a Camshaft coming my way from Canada though.

It's the opposite for me. Canada was never issued Swerve, so I had to buy mine, much like D-chrage from a comic book store. Camshaft on the other hand is all over this place. The Zellers down the road has three that are just hangin out with Rollbar and Ricochet

Counterpunch wrote:I don't think anyone is going to have a problem finding these new Alts.

I saw at least 6 cases of them (6 figures per case, 3 Ravage, 3 Rumble) in one WalMart.

However...

The first Rumble I bought had only one of his two guns. One of them simply was not included. The second Rumble, I almost bought, did not have the inner bubble to the package and thus bounced around inside the package. The third one was the right one though.

Damn I should pay close attention then. Three each per case is good odds though, I thought that they were still 4 per case total.

Down_Shift wrote:The Zellers down the road has three that are just hangin out with Rollbar and Ricochet

how much are they going for?

There were not enough Jetfire in Australia. My classics have no leader.(I dislike O Prime and would have designated Jetfire as JetFurer)Thanks Hasbro, thanks.

I wish Hasbro AUS would get some bloody figures out here in decent quantities, I should have a bloody Classic Ramjet by now!

SnapTrap wrote:

Down_Shift wrote:The Zellers down the road has three that are just hangin out with Rollbar and Ricochet

how much are they going for?

$29.99, but they should be going on sale sometime soon.

Counterpunch wrote:I don't think anyone is going to have a problem finding these new Alts.

I saw at least 6 cases of them (6 figures per case, 3 Ravage, 3 Rumble) in one WalMart.

However...

The first Rumble I bought had only one of his two guns. One of them simply was not included. The second Rumble, I almost bought, did not have the inner bubble to the package and thus bounced around inside the package. The third one was the right one though.

Which one did you see them at? I'll send my bro to grab me some.

This is a bad move. Most wamarts dont keep there items well stocked. Now that these are only at walmart the'll have one shipment out then that'll be it. At least if the figures are at all stores there's a better chance of finding him. I have seen evrey alternator figure at evrey store at least once. All but hound. When the figure came out evrey store had it. If you couldnt find it in one you go to another. But now that its only at one it'll be even harder to find these.