The Energon Pub

Sat Jan 28, 2012 12:30 am

This is disappointing. Im not going to blow a fuse over it. I'm used to this by now. I never had any chance of seeing these guys on shelves in Australia anyway, but I was fortunate enough to pick up the first three through BBTS and place the voyagers and CJ on preorder more than 6 weeks ago.

BBTS I know its not your fault so thats cool but please dont send me rid CJ. Thats a figure I never had, and never will have any intention of purchasing. Store credit will be fine I guess.

News Credits: 3 · Sat Jan 28, 2012 12:45 am

Erailea wrote:
metaphorge wrote:The people we should be complaining to are, quite frankly, WalMart, but I doubt we can muster enough numbers for them to notice.

Ultimately, the problem boils down to this: Hasbro makes what chain-store buyers will order. At this point I'm afraid that those buyers see Transformers as being intrinsically Bayverse shaped, and that if the toys don't sell that it's because children are tired of Transformers, not that they're tired of the most pervasive iteration of them that features designs that don't translate all that well into plastic (forcing the toy to either be overly complex or totally off-model), which should have been a primary design consideration for the film models. But I digress....

Except the FE's were TRU exclusives not Walmart's and if a store that specializes in toys doesn't understand their products or their clientele we're really screwed :/ Not just now, but in the future too.

You're reversing the order of the chicken and the egg. They became a Toys R Us exclusive because there wasn't a sufficient quantity of them produced for them to have been anything else.

I suspect these have been in the can for quite some time. Is anyone any good at deciphering manufacturing dates from markings on the toys or the packaging? I'm not.

In any case, I suspect that at some point these figures were shopped to all the chain stores, and for whatever reason they failed to bite on them as a stand-alone line.

News Credits: 10 · Sat Jan 28, 2012 12:46 am

quickmixed wrote:This is disappointing. Im not going to blow a fuse over it. I'm used to this by now. I never had any chance of seeing these guys on shelves in Australia anyway, but I was fortunate enough to pick up the first three through BBTS and place the voyagers and CJ on preorder more than 6 weeks ago.

BBTS I know its not your fault so thats cool but please dont send me rid CJ. Thats a figure I never had, and never will have any intention of purchasing. Store credit will be fine I guess.

As I read it, RID will be pre-ordered. You should be able to cancel your pre-order for Cliffjumper. Wednesday, all will be clear.

Or maybe not.

I'm tired and need to go to bed.

Sat Jan 28, 2012 1:01 am

El Duque wrote:
STINGRAY749 wrote:Is this just for BBTS or is it for all online sellers like ToyWiz(which my preorder is through)? Esther way I put my 2 cents in and sent a complaint.

TFsource is saying the same thing as BBTS so I assume it probably goes for all of them.

Ok thanks, I was just wondering because I haven't gotten a cancelation email yet. Please let Toy Wiz get them. I'm getting sick of this $*#t hasblow.

Sat Jan 28, 2012 1:03 am

Wrote an email, said my piece, fight on bot bretheren!

News Credits: 1 · Sat Jan 28, 2012 1:04 am

Alrighty, who do I have to kill to get a damn FE Prime?

Seriously, that's the only figure I wanted from the entire TF:Prime line. No stupid RID figures, no other FE figures even. Just a damn Optimus Prime.

And all of this after the major let down that was DOTM. I spent quite a bit of money on the ROTF/HFTD lines (including my first Takara figure - Buster Prime). Then scraped by the DOTM line with just about purchases or so, mostly deluxes.

Like others have said, this is going to result in my orders being canceled with BBTS. Sucks for them, they are going to receive the brunt of this debacle.

Sat Jan 28, 2012 1:06 am

What the ****ing hell?!?!?! I don't know whats going on at Hasbro, but they have really been screwing things up lately. Do they not know how to conduct a focus group. It's easy, just get a bunch of kids and a few collectors that represent the fan base. Then ask them if they like the the figure that's more show accurate or would they prefer the one that looks like an orangutan with sheet metal bolted to it.

And what's this about not getting DotM Wheeljack, Soundwave, and HA Soundwave? I thought they were getting released in the Trilogy line at least.

News Credits: 13 · Sat Jan 28, 2012 1:21 am

wrote my email to hasbro aswell. this is very troubling though

News Credits: 5 · Sat Jan 28, 2012 1:34 am

That is really unfortunate news. I've been waiting on these since I pre-ordered them in early November. The list of figures I'll just never pick up (at reasonable prices anyway) is growing at an alarming rate.

Sat Jan 28, 2012 1:35 am

So after this apparently crappy RID line does do all we to look forward to is the inevitable crapy foure movie and toy line that will sit on the shelfs fo years? ugh at this point TF's is on life support as a toy line as far as im concerned.

Again though that just means more money for GI Joes, Thundercats, and video games.

Sat Jan 28, 2012 1:35 am

So, they gonna pull this on the Takara Uniteds that we're still waiting on, too?

News Credits: 2 · Sat Jan 28, 2012 1:35 am

This sucks. I thought the Prime line would be the first one that I'd get every (or nearly every) figure from, until I saw what the actual main line figures looked like. There are a few I'll certainly pick up (Wheeljack, Vehicon, Ratchet, Soundwave and maybe that new Arcee), but when I saw how good the First Edition toys were, I pre-ordered all of them from BBTS (both the Hasbro versions AND all of the Takara versions).

At this point I'm going to have to try and hunt down the Hasbro versions, or at least the few that I really cared about if BBTS does cancel my pre-order (which it certainly seems they will based on this news).

I've said it before and I'll say it again. This is economics Hasbro. The principal of supply and demand. There is obviously sufficient demand for the product that you produced in insufficient numbers, so if you want our money, it's here for the taking, all you need do is deliver the toys that we collectors want in numbers sufficient enough to meet our demand (without overproducing to the point that you burn your profits with pegwarmers).

News Credits: 668 · Sat Jan 28, 2012 1:39 am

Laserwave13 wrote:@Autobot032
Hi and sorry if my post sounded a little harsh. All those emotions

Yes i know about the Takara DOTM Soundwave(s) and Que but they are far from worth the import prices.
(see, germany is a barren wasteland for a TF collector, we even have to import from the states a lot of stuff. Most toylines we get about half or less and almost zero exclusives)
That is also why it hit´s so hard to see that there are no more TF:Prime FE toys anymore.

But about Generations... Well, United but still nothing beats Henkei

Oh no, no need to be sorry. My post was for clarification purposes and to agree with you. This is just a bunch of bullcrap we're being given.

Sat Jan 28, 2012 2:11 am

Well this is dissapointing in the worst way possible. Here I am stuck in Virginia of all places, with an extremely limited release, and a local TrU that barely ever carries anything that remotely close to a transformer. I feel betrayed. :sad:

News Credits: 767 · Sat Jan 28, 2012 3:49 am

You know, I've been contemplating collecting Prime.

I thought I would buy the FE molds and the mainline versions for all those that don't have a FE toy. But man, I hate the RID versions, and seeing that the FE versions will be even more expensive now, meaning I would have to be stuck with only poopy RID figures, I believe I'm going to sit this line out, sure currently I have the money to buy most of the FE versions, but I would have to import them, and when I import stuff I get distracted by 3rd Party products.

So looks like my Prime funds will go towards FansProject and co.

Sat Jan 28, 2012 4:05 am

All this hype for Shrek-formers?

Meh, so when does Generations line start up again?

News Credits: 8 · Sat Jan 28, 2012 4:05 am

KenjaminLinus wrote:
i say we get a lot of people together, and flood hasbros inbox with complaints.

I'm with you on that; I just emailed Hasbro through their site. If they want to see demand, let's show them some damn demand.

I guarantee it wont accomplish anything, just think about how many of us sent hate filled emails during the RTS incidents or just in the past year about price increases & low quality figures. If it makes you feel better then by all means do it, its why i do it but my best advice that i can give here is change your hobby. Start collecting something else that has nothing to do with hasbro (like say Thundercats or spawn) and either stop or limit your TF buying, if enough of us do that then maybe theres a slight chance something will be done about all this bullshit. Just keep in mind hasbro isnt the only toy company out there **** people over so try and pick the lesser evil(hasbros not it). Oh and welcome to the war.

Sat Jan 28, 2012 7:17 am

Megatron Wolf wrote:
KenjaminLinus wrote:
I guarantee it wont accomplish anything, just think about how many of us sent hate filled emails during the RTS incidents or just in the past year about price increases & low quality figures. If it makes you feel better then by all means do it, its why i do it but my best advice that i can give here is change your hobby. Start collecting something else that has nothing to do with hasbro (like say Thundercats or spawn) and either stop or limit your TF buying, if enough of us do that then maybe theres a slight chance something will be done about all this bullshit. Just keep in mind hasbro isnt the only toy company out there **** people over so try and pick the lesser evil(hasbros not it). Oh and welcome to the war.

I agree. think it's time to walk away from the TF line. I've noticed that most of my money seems to go to third party stuff and KO's lately. Hasbro's stuff has been real disappointing and the Takara stuff is too expensive. As an animated fan I was annoyed when animated died, and now they want to sell us some "Happy Meal" toy crap. Hasbro has always said they make toys for kids not collector's, but what will Hasbro do when former collector's don't buy transformers for there kids hmmmm? Seems my kids might get a new hobby also.....Thundercats Hooooooooooo!!!

News Credits: 2 · Sat Jan 28, 2012 8:48 am

Well, this sucks royally. I'm most pissed about Bulkhead. I'll wait and see if BBTS is still carrying him before I shift to the Japanese version.

The problem with BBTS is they take so long to get things. You'd think they were making the order or whatever beforehand because they only offer a distinct number of preorders. AND with the security and conveinience of a preorder, you assume they WILL have it, so you don't have to go trapesing across the globe to find them.

*edit*

And Hasbro's not off the hook either. These WERE going to be part of the Generations line before they decided to start a line for the series.

Sound's good right? Make them the first run the Prime line. It buys you time while you develop. WRONG! While developing they decide to shoehorn in some gimmicky bullshit. Afterall, why have really good representation of characters when you can work in soemthing extra crap that curbstomps all promise of good design, like the need of crazy gearworks (that can't be locked, just for kicks), peppering the vehicle mode with ports (because all vehicles should look like they came out of a twisted metal game) or a massive battery pack.

So they went through the trouble of sectioning off their early work into FE, and the FE toys were really good. Sounds good right? WRONG! Because Someone at Hasbro with basic logic skills realized that regardles of quality, people would look down the new gimmicky line as badly compromised next to the FE toys. So they set up to cripple distribution and kill it fast so they're more myth than fact in America.

News Credits: 3 · Sat Jan 28, 2012 8:52 am

Requiem Prime wrote:The problem with BBTS is they take so long to get things. You'd think they were making the order or whatever beforehand because they only offer a distinct number of preorders. AND with the security and conveinience of a preorder, you assume they WILL have it, so you don't have to go trapesing across the globe to find them.

I'm failing to understand how any of this could be construed as BBTS's fault... they can't make Hasbro give them product that Hasbro has not had manufactured....

News Credits: 3642 · Sat Jan 28, 2012 9:27 am

FYI ... I sent an email to Hasbro last night to see if they could provide any additional information pertaining to this situation with the First Edition toys. I'll let you guys know if I hear anything back from them that is newsworthy.

News Credits: 668 · Sat Jan 28, 2012 9:42 am

metaphorge wrote:
Requiem Prime wrote:The problem with BBTS is they take so long to get things. You'd think they were making the order or whatever beforehand because they only offer a distinct number of preorders. AND with the security and conveinience of a preorder, you assume they WILL have it, so you don't have to go trapesing across the globe to find them.

I'm failing to understand how any of this could be construed as BBTS's fault... they can't make Hasbro give them product that Hasbro has not had manufactured....

In a way, it is.

They keep preorders open for months, when all others have exhausted their in stock supplies. They keep preorders of items that end up being canceled or delayed for a very long time. Some people waited a YEAR for FP restock. When they order from Bandai? Always late. People are still waiting for their S.H.Figuarts to come in, months after they've sold out everywhere else, including Japan.

The product IS available most times, yet they keep waiting, for some reason. I think it's to justify their prices to customers.

News Credits: 1 · Sat Jan 28, 2012 10:07 am

Autobot032 wrote:
metaphorge wrote:
Requiem Prime wrote:The problem with BBTS is they take so long to get things. You'd think they were making the order or whatever beforehand because they only offer a distinct number of preorders. AND with the security and conveinience of a preorder, you assume they WILL have it, so you don't have to go trapesing across the globe to find them.

I'm failing to understand how any of this could be construed as BBTS's fault... they can't make Hasbro give them product that Hasbro has not had manufactured....

In a way, it is.

They keep preorders open for months, when all others have exhausted their in stock supplies. They keep preorders of items that end up being canceled or delayed for a very long time. Some people waited a YEAR for FP restock. When they order from Bandai? Always late. People are still waiting for their S.H.Figuarts to come in, months after they've sold out everywhere else, including Japan.

The product IS available most times, yet they keep waiting, for some reason. I think it's to justify their prices to customers.

I went through this with BBTS over the NECA Robocop figure. First off they announced preorders for the NECA figure and the very expensive Figma figure at roughly the same time. So I preordered both. Even with delays in it as well, the Figma came out first, which had a later arrival date. I sent them an email asking where the NECA was and they said they had no idea. I went ahead and sent the Figma to myself, no sense in waiting. The NECA figure continued to be on preorder for another couple months, each month the availability would change to that current month and then lapse. During this time I see him popping up at Toy'R'Us during holiday shopping. First time I thought to myself "no, I have him on coming, TRU has him, it can't be long now." When he still didn't come in before December, I gave up and I bought him at TRU on my next gift shopping excursion, for two dollars cheaper - not to mention shipping prices saved. Came home and canceled the preorder with BBTS. I believe it came in a month after all that finally.

I am glad there is a BBTS though. I had Prime preordered there. And it should have gone smoothly, if not kind of slowly, if Hasbro hadn't just screwed over everyone. I stood virtually no chance of seeing those figures in TRU here. We have one 25 miles away and it kind of sucks for new stock. Pretty pissed about all this really. It's pretty damn late in the game with the preorders to go and tell the retailers they won't be getting stock to fill those orders.

News Credits: 3 · Sat Jan 28, 2012 10:31 am

BBTS has several of the Takara First Editions back up for preorder, including Voyager Bulkhead and Deluxe Cliffjumper and Vehicon/Eradicon.

(I realize this post is somewhat ironic given the nature of discussion in the last few posts. 8-}

)

Sat Jan 28, 2012 10:39 am

Augh, do I really have to create an account just to send them one e-mail? Balls, they even want my address. I hate giving that **** out.

If I click "Allow to contact" does that mean they'll send me junk mail or that they can simply reply to my e-mail?