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aronjlove wrote:

AcademyofDrX wrote:Hasbro is moving away from plastic packaging as part of its sustainable efforts.

"This is so overpriced I only bought two!" is a heck of an argument, dude. Not sure you're sending a strong message of dissatisfaction to Hasbro.

Hmm.....another one that never learned how to read.

I'm not sure I'll be able to pass on Origins Bee if I see him...
I wish the lower legs were cleaner, but everything else looks really on point.

@ Nemesis Reformatted-- Don't sweat the negativity... There are a couple people here that seem to like to throw out comment jabs periodically. Why?? Who knows. It's almost laughable, especially when they're trying to sound smart. But it's also easy enough to ignore.

Nemesis Reformatted wrote:

AcademyofDrX wrote:"This is so overpriced I only bought two!" is a heck of an argument, dude. Not sure you're sending a strong message of dissatisfaction to Hasbro.

Well DUH! The point of my post was the reaction from that woman & regular people. Parents thinking it's a blatant rip-off & not purchasing it.

I even pointed out that I HATE the price but the Cybertronian modes were the thing I wanted most from G1.

You seriously need to work on your reading comprehension. Learn how to pick out the main point of a paragraph.

Maybe your argument is stupid and I was trying to be snarky instead of directly mean. I don't know why you immature fanboys get mad and then justify it by crying out, "won't someone think of the children?!"

Generations figures are not make for little kids. They're not as collector-oriented as the stuff on the back wall, but the adult and older kid collector market is as much the target as any other.

If you're going to be personally insulting, come up with a better argument than making up conversations with Target employees. I know they're putting out $18 ReAction figures without thinking twice about it.

Oh man, I'd hate to see some poor little rugrat try to transform that floppy Blackarachnia in the Worlds Collide Buzzworthy set. And by hate, I mean put on Youtube or Tik Tok

I don't know why I had such a bad attitude yesterday, but I'm going to try to act like an adult and give a sincere explanation of why I think the whole criticism of Origin Bumblebee is off-base. And it's not really about this figure so much as it's about how we see ourselves and our favorite figures.

Contemporary action figures are designed for multiple customer segments. Many of the product lines are designed, if not for adult collectors first, then at least for them on par with any other segment. This is obviously the case for Generations based on its design priorities: in character selection and visualizer likeness, they prioritize animation that is decades old and not widely accessible to children. Like, look at Kingdom Tracks, and ask yourself who would design a toy that way if it was made for a child.

Yes, these figures are sold in the regular toy section and are priced similarly to other children's toys (in contrast to high end collectibles with toy-like features.) I'm sure some adult toy buyers are motivated by a combination of personal affinity for a character and passing on that legacy to their own kids, which I did in the past. That's not any more legitimate a reason to buy it to anyone--manufacturers, retailers, ourselves. We do not have to invoke an imagined "real" toy customer to justify or criticize anything about a given figure. We are just as legitimate, any in the case of a toy like Origin Bumblebee, arguably more so.

Is the figure overpriced for a child? Who cares? Target doesn't care who gets the toy after it's sold. Will the toy be a net financial loss because moms and stockers think it's too much? Well, that's an entirely different question, and one we don't have data for. And frankly, I don't think it's a very interesting question. In my experience, when people complain about the underlying financial strength of a product line, they're making a lot of assumptions because they want to trash something. I'm not worried about the strength of the brand or the likelihood of future toys based on the cost/benefit analysis of one retailer-exclusive figure.

Is the toy overpriced for a figure this size, either in an "objective" sense or to an adult? That's a completely fair question, and ever since WfC started, there's been an ongoing debate about whether the design, manufacturing, and product complexity justify the so-called size classes even though the cost-to-height ratio is completely different than in past years and cycles. Feel free to argue about that, everyone else has.

Personally, a major reason I don't care about that is because TFs are unique among other toys and I can afford them. Look at similarly priced figures like Marvel Legends: they have extensive part reuse and limited accessories, and the primary variation among figures is in paint applications. I don't know about the cost of materials or anything like that, and I'm not criticizing that line, I'm just saying that for me there's a lot more that goes into Generations to make up for it.

I think I've lost the thread ... it's just, like, I think the Transformers toys of the last decade are the best that have ever been. I think the prices are reasonable for what we get. I think it's clear that they're made for people like me, lifelong fans who would rather dump thousands of dollars into playthings than, I dunno, a fancy car or whatever. Adult collectors may not be the center of the world, but we don't have to pretend like we don't matter against an imagined idealized child consumer.

Nemesis Reformatted wrote:I just picked up 2 Origin Bumblebee's today. The woman had to pull them out of the back. And I **** you not, the very first thing she said was "THESE TINY THINGS ARE $22 EACH???".

Regular people are noticing how badly Hasbro is screwing us on the prices. You can ignore all the Hasbro apologists. If Buzzworthy Bumblebee is aimed at children & parents are saying this, that can't be a good sign. How many more price hikes can Hasbro get away with before it starts to have a negative effect?

This Origin Bumblebee is half figure & half empty box & people are noticing. And Hasbro is so cheap they didn't even bother to close it in with plastic, the window is open which adds to the cheap feel of it. I don't like being ripped-off but the Cybertronian modes have always been the main things I've always wanted from G1. So I had to get him. Now I hope they make Wheeljack.

I certainly wasn't plussed to pay 48.73 with tax for two deluxes when I got my Origin Bumblebees.

Not to ignore the above post, but it's not about the specific figure being 22.99, it's the fact that all deluxes in the future are basically 23 bucks. It's a huge increase. Simple as that - and it's stretches the dollar even farther, which while we might be able to afford it, doesn't mean we want to or don't have other things that might be more worthy of that ectra money to purchase.

Now that WFC is technically over, I can be more selective about what figures I'll be adding to the collection from the next line, but that's jumping ahead because I don't have any of the newest wave of deluxes as yet.

I'm not going to argue with "I'm mad about inflation" or even "I'm mad at Hasbro about inflation." After all, that 10% increase is across all of their collector-oriented lines. No one is happy to be spending more money. But that's a targeted argument and there are plenty of macroeconomic explainers out there to address it.

AcademyofDrX wrote:I'm not going to argue with "I'm mad about inflation" or even "I'm mad at Hasbro about inflation." After all, that 10% increase is across all of their collector-oriented lines. No one is happy to be spending more money. But that's a targeted argument and there are plenty of macroeconomic explainers out there to address it.

I'm aware of the explainers. I also am aware that this is technically the second increase in two years, although the retailers kept the costs down, which they are no longer willing (able?) to do.

I don't really grouse about pricing - like you, I love my Transformers figures and will buy them as long as they make ones I want, but there's a pain threshold and we're getting to the 'I notice it' level.

Buzzworthy Worlds Collide link

Origins Bumblebee in stock at Target

Sabrblade wrote:

aronjlove wrote:Origins Bumblebee in stock at Target

No it isn't.

I guess it depends on where you live

If it is available in your area you can use the link to find out. If not, you got a link to bookmark and check back later.

It's a matter of miscommunication. I believe aronj is using the Target.com website as a tool to see if the item is IN Stock at a specific B&M Target store "near you". To be fair he said in stock at Target, (the actual store) not Target.com (though he was using that site as a tool).

The stores are doing resets it seems. Some have a plethora of Buzzworthy product. Some, like mine, are a wasteland of nothing.

I was able to get Origins Bee, & pick-up will be ready in 2 hrs.
There are 8 in stock at the store near me.
So it looks like it does depend on your area.

The Worlds Collide set is not available at this location
(Which I don’t want anyway).

Yes, the links were provided so people could check if the items are available in a store nearby. Apologies for the miscommunication.

I believe what it means is its available in some physical stores, but is not actually available on Target.com.

I can get delivered today by 2pm from a Target near my sister's home. But cannot buy it directly on target.com.

Thanks, aronj for the heads-up!

This is especially nice since I was just at the Target by me at 10:30 this morning and they had almost nothing in the TF section. The case of O.B,'s must have just come in today.
As well as the fact that not only did I miss out on NF Bee (again, I don't want the Worlds Collide set), but I think this is the best Bee that's been released in the last couple years.
Imo NF Bee's color is off and too Yellow-Orange.
Buzzworthy 2-pack Bee (with Spike) is too small to fit in with the other lines.
Worlds Collide Bee has too much window on his chest, and suffers from Cliffjumper's hobbit feet.

The Origins version still has a couple issues, but overall has such a good bot mode.
And the new alt mode is different and I appreciate that a lot.

Both of these sets have a strict order limit of one per customer. That's good! However, that limit is triggered even if your order is cancelled, like because the store's inventory count is out of date. That's not good!

Customer service says the counter should be reset by tomorrow, but I'm thinking I'm not going to have much luck with this unless they end up putting out a bunch more stock.

Wow...
So I'm assuming a scalper struck at the nearest Target...
With roughly 20-ish mins. until pick-up should have been ready, I received a notification that there were no more O.B.'s left in stock.
Giving it another shot at a store that is 7 miles away.
Fingers crossed this goes through.

Just picked up my Origin Bee. Haven't taken him out of the packaging yet, but I do kinda see the point where he's a bit small, but I think maybe if the packaging wasn't the standard size for deluxes it'd look better. Also, I had the thought of what if in addition to a Cliffjumper repaint, maybe we could get an Animated Wasp homage that could serve as a Pre-Beast Waspinator? I think just a remolded chest and head, and new feet could really make hin pop

I saw those links yesterday, and they have really annoyed me. for both, they read as no stock nearby and unavailable to deliver or pickup.

And I struck out at more targets today. One stocked the SS 2-packs, but the Clunker Bee set was already gone again!

That second Target came in clutch for Origins Bee...
And because we wanted to look around a bit, I got to see that they actually had 5 left on the pegs.
Haven't opened him yet, but I'm glad I have him.