The Energon Pub

This is a bit old by now, but I didn't see it posted before, so better late than never.

Anyway, back on December 12, 2013, the TCC made the following Tweets regarding the quantity of this year's TFSS 2.0 toys compared to last year's excess leftovers:

https://twitter.com/The_TF_Club/status/411188273386504192

All of the extra TFSS 1.0 figures are now sold out of the Club store…

https://twitter.com/The_TF_Club/status/411188512134684673

There were more TFSS 1.0 figures ran which is why we had more than we had anticpated as "extra's" for sale.

https://twitter.com/The_TF_Club/status/411188803122913280

Please note, for the TFSS 2.0 we were able to adjust numbers better, and we will NOT have the same excess i.e. if you didn't order 2.0...

https://twitter.com/The_TF_Club/status/411189776662818816

Gonna be TOUGH to grab these! To all that DID sign up for 2.0. Thank you! We should have more pics soon and everything is on schedule.

Now, I know what you're thinking ("ARGH! I WANTED TO SKIP THE SERVICE TO JUST GET THE SPECIFIC ONE(S) I WANTED FROM THE CLUB STORE!!!"), but come on, guys. The whole point to these figures is to sign up for the subscription service in order to get them. The excess quantity from last year's batch of figures was a miscalculation. Though convenient for some, it wasn't intended to happen and kinda went against the whole intention behind the subscription service.

I can see why anyone would be upset over this, and would want to use this as just another excuse to hate on the Club, but really guys, is it so hard to believe that a company would want to promote the primary service it uses to sell a specific set of goods over secondary alternatives for selling said goods? Look at it from a business standpoint.

After all, it isn't called the "Transformers Collectors Club" just for nothing. The stuff they produce simply isn't going to be cheap, no matter what. It's fruitless to keep beating the dead horse.

With that said, you may proceed in your inevitable nerdraging over this news.

So many good figures, at the very least Barricade, Thrustinator and Chromedome... Has the 7th Bonus figure been revealed yet? We already know it's a United Rumble/Frenzy mold.

well, I do get their wanting to tie people into buying a whole set of figures (and charging them, and keeping their money, and not shipping the figures until much later than advertised) I have to wonder if maybe more people might have wanted and might have bought separately some of those figures at their usual premium price?

looking at those which sold out immediately and those which are still on sale at reduced prices on 3rd party e-tailers (who presumably bought complete sets in multiples to break up and sell on to people like me) it certainly suggests a larger share of the market wanted some of those characters than others. I'm obviously no businessman, so I might be crazy here, but if you can sell 10,000 Scourges to people, isn't that better to do so, than putting off 5,000 people who don't want to pay for Circuit and a dozen others?

sure the numbers are wonky there, but were I to make products for sale to other people with the intent to make money, I'd probably not be overly worried that I wasn't selling so much of one or two products, if 3 or 4 others were selling plenty more.

craggy wrote:sure the numbers are wonky there, but were I to make products for sale to other people with the intent to make money, I'd probably not be overly worried that I wasn't selling so much of one or two products, if 3 or 4 others were selling plenty more.

You know what? I agree with everything you say, but let me play Devil's Advocate for a minute.

Scourge and Slipstream? Instant hits and they sold out really quickly on all fronts. There's no doubt that they knocked those out of the park. But what about the other 150 ideas that will be only mildly popular instead of wildly popular? If those are made, then there's either a chance they'll succeed, but there's also a possibility that they'll shelfwarm until TFCC has to clearance them. These mildly popular figures shouldn't sit idle in the minds of but a few lonely souls, they should make it to the outside world! The subscription is the best way to do something like that as it helps TFCC do 2 things:
1) Gauge which mildly popular figures generate the most buzz, allowing for better planning of upcoming figures
2) Keep dying stock out of their warehouses and moving at prices which generate the most profit. Eventually, they tell themselves, those that really just want Animated Jackpot will get Animated Jackpot one way or another.

Mkall wrote:Scourge and Slipstream? Instant hits and they sold out really quickly on all fronts.

Scourge did, yeah, but Slipstream surprisingly lasted for a quite a long while before selling out like the rest of them. I remember seeing her still for sale when Ultra Mammoth went up. Twas an unexpected thing, it was.

I was already using Dark Energon Starscream as Slipstream. (and before that was announced had planned to get the SS that came with the Bumblebee in the Entertainment 2 pack to use) I don't have a lot of Prime toys (well, they're not the focus of my collection) but I felt TFPFESS sounded like a balloon slowly deflating, and also looked Classics-y enough to fit that collection as a femme-con. Maybe others had the same idea?

Mkall wrote:

craggy wrote:sure the numbers are wonky there, but were I to make products for sale to other people with the intent to make money, I'd probably not be overly worried that I wasn't selling so much of one or two products, if 3 or 4 others were selling plenty more.

You know what? I agree with everything you say, but let me play Devil's Advocate for a minute.

Scourge and Slipstream? Instant hits and they sold out really quickly on all fronts. There's no doubt that they knocked those out of the park. But what about the other 150 ideas that will be only mildly popular instead of wildly popular? If those are made, then there's either a chance they'll succeed, but there's also a possibility that they'll shelfwarm until TFCC has to clearance them. These mildly popular figures shouldn't sit idle in the minds of but a few lonely souls, they should make it to the outside world! The subscription is the best way to do something like that as it helps TFCC do 2 things:
1) Gauge which mildly popular figures generate the most buzz, allowing for better planning of upcoming figures
2) Keep dying stock out of their warehouses and moving at prices which generate the most profit. Eventually, they tell themselves, those that really just want Animated Jackpot will get Animated Jackpot one way or another.

I think Mkall makes a great point here. I've kinda wanted a Treadshot from Warpath ever since the Universe Legends figure came out. Now from what I've seen posted here and elsewhere, that seems to be one of the less popular figures from this year's batch. Now if they just did these toys as a few premium figures you could buy through the club, would we really be getting an update of such an obscure character? Because of the popularity of Chromedome, Rewind and Ironfist, making them part of the sub service means we can also get more leftfield ideas like Treadshot, Thrustinator and Prime Barricade that will excite fewer fans. Personally, I have no interest in the final two in that list, but I'm glad they're available for those that do want them, and I don't mind them being an all or nothing purchase. It means I get my Treadshot and I can sell on the two I don't want.

Wreckgar wrote:

Mkall wrote:

craggy wrote:sure the numbers are wonky there, but were I to make products for sale to other people with the intent to make money, I'd probably not be overly worried that I wasn't selling so much of one or two products, if 3 or 4 others were selling plenty more.

You know what? I agree with everything you say, but let me play Devil's Advocate for a minute.

Scourge and Slipstream? Instant hits and they sold out really quickly on all fronts. There's no doubt that they knocked those out of the park. But what about the other 150 ideas that will be only mildly popular instead of wildly popular? If those are made, then there's either a chance they'll succeed, but there's also a possibility that they'll shelfwarm until TFCC has to clearance them. These mildly popular figures shouldn't sit idle in the minds of but a few lonely souls, they should make it to the outside world! The subscription is the best way to do something like that as it helps TFCC do 2 things:
1) Gauge which mildly popular figures generate the most buzz, allowing for better planning of upcoming figures
2) Keep dying stock out of their warehouses and moving at prices which generate the most profit. Eventually, they tell themselves, those that really just want Animated Jackpot will get Animated Jackpot one way or another.

I think Mkall makes a great point here. I've kinda wanted a Treadshot from Warpath ever since the Universe Legends figure came out. Now from what I've seen posted here and elsewhere, that seems to be one of the less popular figures from this year's batch. Now if they just did these toys as a few premium figures you could buy through the club, would we really be getting an update of such an obscure character? Because of the popularity of Chromedome, Rewind and Ironfist, making them part of the sub service means we can also get more leftfield ideas like Treadshot, Thrustinator and Prime Barricade that will excite fewer fans. Personally, I have no interest in the final two in that list, but I'm glad they're available for those that do want them, and I don't mind them being an all or nothing purchase. It means I get my Treadshot and I can sell on the two I don't want.

Precisely. Becuase of a few figures that don't excite me, but excite enough other people, I can pick up Treadshot and Ironfist because those two do interest me (and are pretty cheap too).

Most likely, TFCC only *SAID* that to get more subscriptions. It's not like they're going to be honest and say "Hey folks, no need to subscribe; we'll sell you these figures later without membership."

GuyIncognito wrote:Most likely, TFCC only *SAID* that to get more subscriptions. It's not like they're going to be honest and say "Hey folks, no need to subscribe; we'll sell you these figures later without membership."

well that would sure be underhanded and not at all like the TFCC to lie to people, although at least this would be deceit in order to profit, which is something I can understand.

It's just like on those infomercials when they say "WHILE SUPPLIES LAST", even though there's no chance of them selling out, or when they say "The next ten callers will get free shipping!" when actually EVERYONE gets free shipping.

They're not *technically* lying, but they're bending the truth. Don't fall for it.

I enjoyed Sabrblade's attempt to pre-empt the nerd rage

Honestly, I'm not surprised by this at all. As someone who didn't subscribe for 1.0, I was super happy to get a chance to purchase Scourge directly from the Club, and then Slipstream & Breakdown on the secondary market (for cheaper than what the Club was pricing them at). But, I would expect 2.0 to be a smoother enterprise and tighter ship, and I'm glad I subscribed this time around (especially since the only figure I don't want is Thrustinator).

As far as producing the figures as singles as opposed to grouping them like this, think of the subscription service as a diversified portfolio. Not all your portfolio picks are going to yield a payoff - some will result in losses. But by hedging your bets with a wider range of picks, you're protecting yourself against the risk of calamitous loss were you to pick one item in your portfolio. By bundling the figures, TFCC is ensuring a moderating the return on their investment rather than allowing for a home run or strike out.

And I get that.