The Energon Pub

http://tformers.com/transformers-has-ha ... /news.html

Now, take this with a grain of salt (or a shaker...) but here's what Hasbro had to say:

We thank "formerly nortagem" for his help and the following is the full email he received:

Thank you for contacting Hasbro, Inc. regarding the Transformers Animated Blackout and Thundercracker. We appreciate your interest in our company and products.

Regrettably, both products have recently been discontinued. We are, therefore, unable to assist you in identifying retail markets which may still have this product in inventory nor do we have any available for direct sale.

Although they are no longer in our current product line, you may still be able to find them in retail stores. Some of the retail stores that carry Hasbro products include Toys R Us, Wal-Mart, Kmart, and Target.

We apologize for any inconvenience. We hope you and your family will enjoy Hasbro products for many years to come.

Now, granted, the toyline has been discontinued from store shelves (it's on clearance, or not on the pegs/shelves at all) and we're waiting to hear from places like TRU to see who will carry the rest of the line (Arcee should be an excellent indicator as to how well these last minute figures will sell.) but couldn't this email just be a snafu along the lines of "one hand doesn't know what the other one's doing"?

I mean, I'll import the Takara versions of the toys if need be (only the missing figures, however) because I fully support Animated, but I'd like to be able to get them at retail cost without losing an arm and a leg for each figure...

So, what do you think folks? Is this it, or is more to come?

I've already got the Takara Blackout on pre-order, so I'm covered there. Hopefully the Takara line will have Thundercracker, Rodimus, and Ironhide. At this point I would rather just pay more for the imports than run all over the place trying to track down store exclusives before scalplers.

Blurrz wrote:I wanted Vortex Blurr.

....and fugitive Wasp and Jetpack Optimus Prime.

What really gets me is that we know Rodimus and Blackout were produced in more than one figure. There was at least a small production run, what with Botcon having a carded and loose Rodimus on display, and Peaugh buying one of the Blackouts.

So, where are they going? Especially with Rodimus' American packaging?

Wouldn't Hasbro be losing money at this point?? Not to mention, we've seen packaged samples of Bulkhead's repaint, have we not?

Not to mention, Hasbro is repaint/mold whoring happy, why would they pass up a chance to fleece us once again?

Well I guess we better hope the Japanese market LOVES Animated, maybe if they show enough interest all those unproduced figures will appear in the Takara line. Maybe we could even get some new molds.

El Duque wrote:Well I guess we better hope the Japanese market LOVES Animated, maybe if they show enough interest all those unproduced figures will appear in the Takara line. Maybe we could even get some new molds.

I doubt we'll see new molds. I think we'll definitely see repaints (if the toys and show do perform well).

I do think we might see the "unproduced" Hasbro figures hit Japanese retail, such as Blackout's supposed to. I doubt Hasbro would let those figures and molds go to waste.

They probably decided to save those Animated figures for next years Botcon


.

DavidT wrote:They probably decided to save those Animated figures for next years Botcon


.

That's....not even remotely funny. There will be a fan outrage of tremendous proportions if they pull that.

It was bad enough with the Seekers, but if they pull a repeat with the missing Animated figures, fans will flip their **** and go mad.

Autobot032 wrote:

DavidT wrote:They probably decided to save those Animated figures for next years Botcon


.

That's....not even remotely funny. There will be a fan outrage of tremendous proportions if they pull that.

It was bad enough with the Seekers, but if they pull a repeat with the missing Animated figures, fans will flip their **** and go mad.

LOL... Don't worry, I don't doubt that next years Botcon will be Animated figures, but I don't think they would use new molds for the 1st time that way... Botcon sets are normally repaints of already used molds.

Though if the figures get released in Japan... then it would be possible for Botcon to improve the paint scheme on them... so in theory, they could get used twice and it would still leave most of us high and dry...


.

DavidT wrote:

Autobot032 wrote:

DavidT wrote:They probably decided to save those Animated figures for next years Botcon


.

That's....not even remotely funny. There will be a fan outrage of tremendous proportions if they pull that.

It was bad enough with the Seekers, but if they pull a repeat with the missing Animated figures, fans will flip their **** and go mad.

LOL... Don't worry, I don't doubt that next years Botcon will be Animated figures, but I don't think they would use new molds for the 1st time that way... Botcon sets are normally repaints of already used molds.

Though if the figures get released in Japan... then it would be possible for Botcon to improve the paint scheme on them... so in theory, they could get used twice and it would still leave most of us high and dry...


.

Oh, I'll buy the damned Japanese versions (though I'm not at all a big fan of the chromed paint...I hate it with a passion, honestly...) but I won't be happy about having to pay that much just to get what I was promised in the beginning.

Blurrz wrote:And all I wanted was a Rodimus toy..

We all do, man. We all do.

The Oil Slick, Bulkhead, and Grimlock repaints...are actually the only ones on the list I wasn't counting on getting. Well Hasbro, I wasn't going to steal from you by buying a bunch of Animated Starscream KOs to dye into his unproduced clones, but if you insist on not even releasing the rest of Animated through the Generations line...

Oh, and I'll also need some extra Cybertron mode Ratchets to kitbash into Ironhide; guess I'll have to start hiding all the cases that the Toys'R'Us where I work receives and making it even harder for fans to find that Arcee...

Just remember Hasbro: you can easily stop me and hundreds of potential a-holes from doing the same by letting every figure on the list trickle out, and have no real reason not to since the line won't have as much ROTF stuff to compete for its shelf space this year...

Before everyone commits suicide (...isn't it weird? I seem to remember everyone HATING this line when it came out...) over the death of Transformers Animated, just remember that the individual lines will no longer be in existance. They are all being merged into the catch all Transformers line. Could we see these figs released in the same way as Deluxe Thrust and others? WHo knows...but let's wait and see what happens first before decrying the end of the Animated line.

I would wait for a more direct answer. From reading through it, it sounds more like a general generic answer regarding the Animated line as a whole, stating that you may check retail outlets for them, etc. Although they do mention Blackout, and Thundercracker, why would they tell you to check retail outlets for two figures that we all know havent been released. It seems kind of weak, but we may have to wait till Botcon again (or atleast this round of the Hasbro Q&As) to get a specific answer. Either that, or a bunch of us nerds can flood Hasbro with emails until they feel presured into answering (or start ignoring us). I am not really convinced that this email means much of anything.

I'm gonna say this and its not a slam on the Animated line, but I'm not suprised.

Before you get the torchs let me explain...the US Transformers line goes through this every so often...they expand lines then get the idea that they need to condense to present a more unified line.

-Movie(when we have movie product out)
-Animated
-Classics Universe

You know Movie is not gonna be cancelled. And the Classics line or whatever their calling it this week always seems popular.

So what was left to condense. Animated.

The two product lines I wish Hasbro would cancel are Legends...I'm sorry their smaller crappier versions of larger figures and to be honest their peg warmers, unless they want to do more smaller characters like the did with Wheelie and such the line should just disappear.

That and the roleplay and the little Hot Wheels style cars...again maybe its me but this stuff sits on shelves forever until it hits clearence...I just don't see the sense of continuing lines that are essentially made to clear.

First-Aid wrote:Before everyone commits suicide (...isn't it weird? I seem to remember everyone HATING this line when it came out...) over the death of Transformers Animated, just remember that the individual lines will no longer be in existance. They are all being merged into the catch all Transformers line. Could we see these figs released in the same way as Deluxe Thrust and others? WHo knows...but let's wait and see what happens first before decrying the end of the Animated line.

Here's the problem with that theory: We saw Rodimus on card, in Animated packaging. Not once did we see or hear a mention of Animated being in the Generations line.

And ROTF isn't dying, really. It's now becoming Hunt For The Decepticons. HFTD and Generations are two totally different lines.

I do think we could see the death of Animated on these shores.

NOBODY LOVES WHEELIE wrote:I'm gonna say this and its not a slam on the Animated line, but I'm not suprised.

Before you get the torchs let me explain...the US Transformers line goes through this every so often...they expand lines then get the idea that they need to condense to present a more unified line.

-Movie(when we have movie product out)
-Animated
-Classics Universe

You know Movie is not gonna be cancelled. And the Classics line or whatever their calling it this week always seems popular.

So what was left to condense. Animated.

The two product lines I wish Hasbro would cancel are Legends...I'm sorry their smaller crappier versions of larger figures and to be honest their peg warmers, unless they want to do more smaller characters like the did with Wheelie and such the line should just disappear.

That and the roleplay and the little Hot Wheels style cars...again maybe its me but this stuff sits on shelves forever until it hits clearence...I just don't see the sense of continuing lines that are essentially made to clear.

None of your points were inflammatory. You're right. Animated was the one line they were able to leave by the wayside and really not look back. So, it lost out and was axed.

I must disagree, however, on the Legends Class comment. I see them sell out rather frequently, with new product being refreshed often. I personally don't find much to like about them (I own 4, perhaps 5) but they're at least a modest success.

Now, I will agree with you on RPMs. Man, those suckers ain't going anywhere. I've seen some of the original case shipments still sitting on pegs. There's dust on some of them!

Fortunately, Takara is carrying Animated, so I think we'll get to see the figures we were promised, just not as we were promised. I'm wondering if Hasbro planned this...

Here's why:

The show's off the air, the sales were down, the kids need more to be interested in than just toys and 'toons, and with Takara releasing their own figures now, all Hasbro had to do was swat us with Arcee and Ratchet, keep us calm cool and collected and then they'll say "Here ya go, have at it!"

So, they won't lose any money on the figures being produced (because Takara will most likely release them on their own), and we still get our figures. In the end, it's a win/win for everyone.

Kind of a poopy way to do it, but at least we'll have gotten what we were promised.

It also doesn't help that the cartoons air on a network that some people have no access to. You can't get it over the air, it's not on some basic cable systems (most, but not all), and a lot of people don't even have cable (period), so what's a kid supposed to do? How are they supposed to know about the show?

And now that it's moving to The Hub? Geez. Another cable tier and more money. Oh gee, sign me up!

Barrelass wrote:I would wait for a more direct answer. From reading through it, it sounds more like a general generic answer regarding the Animated line as a whole, stating that you may check retail outlets for them, etc. Although they do mention Blackout, and Thundercracker, why would they tell you to check retail outlets for two figures that we all know havent been released. It seems kind of weak, but we may have to wait till Botcon again (or atleast this round of the Hasbro Q&As) to get a specific answer. Either that, or a bunch of us nerds can flood Hasbro with emails until they feel presured into answering (or start ignoring us). I am not really convinced that this email means much of anything.

Exactly this.
This is exactly the style of a very generic answer, provided by a service desk employee who probably actually hasn't got a clue about a real answer to the question. Asides from Transformers I also collect Lego, and I know that if you mail Lego's customer service about future releases, this is practically the same generic and nonsensical answer you'd expect to get. Hasbro is a LOT bigger than just TF's, and I suspect their general help desk answering these questions has probably been outsourced to India or someplace.
In short: this e-mail proves NOTHING, in my opinion.

Damn all I wanted is Thundercracker. Everytime I get close to having a complete set of the 3 original seekers, something screws it up !!!

You know, considering they said 'check for them in stores', I think they didn't bother looking into the specific figures and were commenting on the line as a whole. How could they honestly know what they're talking about while Arcee and Ratchet are still currently in stores? I don't think we have to worry about this.

I have to admit that I am not the biggest fan of the Animated line, but I hope everyone here who wants these figures has the chance to do so. It is a good line, and anyone who likes the cartoon must get them-they are so accurate it is amazing. So, hopefully this doesn't turn out to be truly the case.

alldarker wrote:

Barrelass wrote:I would wait for a more direct answer. From reading through it, it sounds more like a general generic answer regarding the Animated line as a whole, stating that you may check retail outlets for them, etc. Although they do mention Blackout, and Thundercracker, why would they tell you to check retail outlets for two figures that we all know havent been released. It seems kind of weak, but we may have to wait till Botcon again (or atleast this round of the Hasbro Q&As) to get a specific answer. Either that, or a bunch of us nerds can flood Hasbro with emails until they feel presured into answering (or start ignoring us). I am not really convinced that this email means much of anything.

Exactly this.
This is exactly the style of a very generic answer, provided by a service desk employee who probably actually hasn't got a clue about a real answer to the question. Asides from Transformers I also collect Lego, and I know that if you mail Lego's customer service about future releases, this is practically the same generic and nonsensical answer you'd expect to get. Hasbro is a LOT bigger than just TF's, and I suspect their general help desk answering these questions has probably been outsourced to India or someplace.
In short: this e-mail proves NOTHING, in my opinion.

I concur.