tigertracks 24 wrote:I voted for the last option.
It's hard to put why in words because I understand some folks elation, but I understand more the frustration from my point of view.
DOTM toys did not work for me. I mean they are somewhat fun, but the few I have bought, will go the way that most of my movie toys will go and that's on the selling block. The movie aesthetic has never been amongst my favorites. And unfortunately for me (but fortunately for the franchise) that has translated into not wanting to buy or keep a lot of that type in my collection.
I also have a hard time understanding HASBRO. You and Paramount make movies that are PG-13, but want to sell toys to an boys 8-12 demographic. What kind of a barrel does that put parents over when their child wants to see their new toy robot in action?
The Prime cartoon is for this age group but there, until very recently, have been no toys of it for the kids to latch onto.
Rescue bots toys have come out 3+ months before a cartoon was even seen. Is the demographic even one that watches TV? I suppose so.
What is going on with the intellectual property lining up with the toys that are the representation of that product being out with that cartoon?
Distribution is poor. Yes, if you are savvy you can nail things from HTS, or TRU when they come in stock, or order in large amounts from BBTS. Brick and mortar though is a freakin' nightmare. And for many collectors of my cut, the hunt was half or more of the fun, but when the hunted has become seemingly like finding a Unicorn, when it used to simply be like trying to find a needle in a haystack, it's much less fun. Nowhere near what the UK has faced, but frustrating for me.
I know there are more collectors now than there used to be which can account for some of the inability to find product...but never seeing some things...ever...not just at the beginning of when they are released, but ever? Blah.
Local fans are not as into it as we used to be. Not having the local connection to fellow collectors really hurts the collection desire. And because Botcons have been moved to Florida, Cali, and Texas, the local guys have not been going there to meet up and hang out either.
And as I am purging large parts of my collection as soon as my un-collector life gets less busy, it's sad that I cannot keep and hold on to, and be a completist of Transformers items as I used to be. Lack of space, and lack of interest because of the disjointedness of products and fictions again, helps make the purging decision even easier.
I mean I loved Animated, got used to the toys and the cartoon, and it's gone.
Now we have Prime, a good cartoon and good toys, but nothing like Animated. So I'll have another group of toys that don't match with one another, and thus, feel like I don't need to keep them (minus one or two).
I guess I am having a hard time changing my collecting style to match HASBRO's consistant Transformations.
So, I've become less passionate about the product when it becomes by play, display, sell, or not buy at all unless toys meet certain requirements to be able to have a home on my shelf.
Yes, I currently have a collecting problem and it has no solution and is not HASBRO's fault (or is it)?
This year I've bought more third party product than actual HASBRO or TT product. I've bought more third party product to enhance the line that I feel is the one I really want to have on display... my Neo-G1/G2 or the G3 line as some call it.
Besides that I want to keep my original G1 and G2. But I'm trying to figure out, what else is worth keeping, and what needs to get the boot, due to all my self-created frustrations.
Transformers is not as big a part of my life as it used to be, and I think part of that is the lack of consistency, the lack of HASBRO really trying to hook and keep a collector level community, and the fact that most of the stuff I have bought is not official HASBRO and TT, so I feel even less interested in the actual brand of Transformers that appear officially because it is nothing a really want to spend my money on, or keep on display.
Yes, I know, I'm riddled with inconsistencies, and my own personal goals for satisfaction, but that is what should base my interest in a hobby, my own personal desires, and goals.
I appreciate and love the brand's roots, but I don't much care for where the brand is now, as a whole, officially.
Absolutely how I feel - I picked the last option too. This should be printed out and circulated to the board members at the Hasbro / Takara brand philosophy steering commitee meetings, or whatever they call them.
It's funny, looking at the start of this thread, all of the positivity going towards the doomed release of the Prime FE line - I'd like to know how many of those views have changed over the last couple of days!
It seems everything I collect, or want to, I have to pre-order online, as it sure as hell won't be available near me, due to the ridiculous amount of dead stock Deluxe DOTM, and the unloved bastard offspring (PCCs, Ultimate Primes, and those fake Legos
) clogging up the shelves.
For the likes of Striker / Jetwing Prime, ROTF Starscream, Generations and RTS / United designs that I have had to source online, I have to admit to a twinge of 'how does IT FEEL!!!' for the general populace that are able to normally get these things locally.... and currently having to source their FE Prime above market price (and yes, I do feel bad about that...
)
I guess what I'm saying is, looking at most of the stuff I've got lately, I've ended up leaning towards imports, or 3rd party, or bought stuff I had passed up on previously - and none of that has been available locally.
Hasbro seems to have ploughed way too much resources into sidelines (those blasted Legos, Rescue Bots, Fast Action Battlers, RPMs, etc) that have failed to even catch on with the target groups they were even aimed at - and are now in the process of 'reaping the whirlwind' by losing sight of the core line's quality and sustainability - if Hasbro didn't keep wasting their time on these things, and concentrated on keeping the main line going, maybe we wouldn't be here now.
I do think the 3rd Party bandwagon is already peaking, or is about to - (that Dr Wu Metroplex eye is my 'jumping the shark' equivalent) - but there will always be a market for high end collectors items (Masterpiece, Premium Leaders) - and smart 3rd Party makers will be there to cater to that - bottom line is, I'm getting most of my stuff from an imported cardboard box from somewhere anyway, Hasbro is getting less and less of the percentage on what I'm buying at this time.
Conversely, there will always be a market for cheap and cheerful mass-produced TFs - instead of all the ill-conceived younger market-driven sideline stuff, why not concentrate on that, and use the sidline budget to go more for more diverse Premium line items, for collectors?
It's that niche 3rd Party makers are getting in on now, so why not show them how it's done?
