o.supreme wrote:william-james88 wrote:Scott "answered" your question on this, but I don't feel he went into depth enough. It was a very bland blanket, "they don't care about you, let's just move product" answer. I would at least expect part of the reason to be that Hasbro knowingly puts a character that will make the boxset more attractive to get that 30% extra in sales from collectors, as opposed to just ignoring a set if the one that was most coveted could be bought online as an exclusve. Or that the rest of boxset helps offset the cost of the new tooling.
Yeah, I agree. I addressed that in the Youtube comments. Scott knows his stuff about some parts of the toy industry, but I underestimated his lack of knowledge about the Transformers brand in general.
Honestly, Ryan (site owner) and I (through him) know more about the transformers toy business than Scott. Through the years of operating this site and speaking directly with Hasbro, we can make better sense of the business. So remember, when I mention something to you or offer an explanation, it may be coming from an insider perspective.
And now we have the designers talking business directly to us as well, which is pretty cool. Like, for instance, we now know why the volkswagen bee was not in the worlds collide set, Walmart still has exclusivity on the mold. Maybe you could write on instagram to the designers directly if you have a specific question.
Anyways, even though Scott seems very dismissive of fans and adult collectors in general, I can tell you with 100% certainty that that is not the case with Hasbro. It's kind of interesting how it looks like you and I started these discussions at totally different ends, with me seemingly downplaying our importance in their business and you seeing the generations line as being fan driven. But we meet in the middle now. Of course, while it looks like I may have changed my stance, I don't think I did, I'm still facts first, but those facts do bring me to say that we are not as downplayed as Scott says. I mean, we talk of facts, he was throwing around at 20% figure, and we know that's not the case. It's 30% in general in terms of dollars. Which makes sense since pricier toys may have a higher percentage of sales to fans while the mass market will be for lower priced toys so it's way more parents and kids buying but less expensive stuff.
I guess the difference is that Scott sees us as something expendable while Hasbro does not. We are still just 30%, but you can bet your bottom dollar they want that 30%. It's a third of sales!
And @Zerowolf, I tend to believe that what I write is already generally known by fans. Also, I can't have anyone in the industry validate any claim I may make regardless of whether my info is from the industry or simply an educated guess. It's a fine line. I'll just mention it when we get more info on the upcoming 4 pack and give a series of reasons why it may exist the way it does.