BBTS News - Transformers Prime Voyager Wave 2 Listed

HOLY RIPOFF BATMAN! $34 for a voyager! I think I'll hunt them down in the stores instead or just stick with my First Editions....

Optimus and Megatron shelfwarm like crazy down here in bellflower. Optimus looks alot better in person, but my want for the FE keeps me from pulling the trigger. Megatron on the other hand...

GuyIncognito wrote:Looks like Voyager Wave 2 is Bulkhead and Starscream.

I'm guessing the case assortment is probably one Bulkhead, one Starscream, and two Bumblebees. Doesn't matter that there isn't a Voyager Bumblebee (yet). They still find a way.

Why so much $? I thought these were supposed to be $19.99, that's a 70% markup above normal price!?

GuyIncognito wrote:

JackStraw wrote:Why so much $? I thought these were supposed to be $19.99, that's a 70% markup above normal price!?

Because it's BBTS. You're paying for the privilege of pre-ordering, which you can't do at most retailers. They will be $19.99 at Target and Walmart, $26.99 at TRU.

It's also becasue Wave 2 is 2 Primes, 1 Starscream and one Bulkhead per box.

They know that they're going to have more Primes than they know what to do with so they need to charge a premium on the limited, more popular, stock.

necr0blivion wrote:That's a pretty bad assortment. The shelves will probably already have the extra OPs from wave 1. Hasbro could've removed an OP and added a Megs, for those who couldn't find the 1 out of 4 out now.

Yes, they could have, but that would have required breaking their rule about applying no logic whatsoever to their case assortments, and we can't have that!

shin_hibiki wrote:

necr0blivion wrote:That's a pretty bad assortment. The shelves will probably already have the extra OPs from wave 1. Hasbro could've removed an OP and added a Megs, for those who couldn't find the 1 out of 4 out now.

Yes, they could have, but that would have required breaking their rule about applying no logic whatsoever to their case assortments, and we can't have that!

3 days later, and this still irks me. Why wouldn't a company want to allow prospective buyers to get their new figures? And why clog stores with OP?

Vygr Wave 1: 3 OP, 1 Megatron
Vygr Wave 2: 2 OP, 1 Bulkhead, 1 Starscream

Do we really need that many OPs? Maybe they think customizers are going to make their own Ultra Magnus, SG Prime, and Nemesis figures once a sale or clearance is announced. But it simply doesn't make sense in a business aspect. Force your markets to purchase these assortments, and leave them hanging with product they can't sell (overflow of OPs).

My idea: 2x for each figure; then have a wave 2.5 with 1each of all 4 molds. Hell, even wait it out a bit longer before reissuing a figure, unchanged.

I recently found a Marvel Universe Archangel at retail - I was so excited because I could buy the figure at retail and not pay unneeded mark-up. He wasn't reissued, somehow the store (Target) had a box of that wave (I saw other "Wave-mates" on the shelves also). When I recounted this to my brother (also a collector), he found his very own Archy at another Target a few days later. I couldn't tell you WHY this wave is hitting stores again, but I think it's a brilliant way to allow fans a chance to get figures they'd missed out on.

Clogging shelves with Prime and Bumblebee, not so much... come on, Hasbro!

mooncake623 wrote:"Clogging shelves with Prime and Bumblebee, not so much... come on, Hasbro! "

Besides the obvious answer that Hasbro market their products to kids and not collectors, and they think more kids will buy bumblebee and Prime, rather then cater to the collectors that want all the different characters.

but what if Hasbro does this to support the scalpers? boost up the value of these toys on ebay by making them rarer by providing fewer per box... It would create a supply and demand model that would cause you to order online and buy the whole box (even if you dont want those bumblebees) due to the fear of not finding what you want in store. in the end Hasbro is generating more sales!

I believe BB and Prime are THE most iconic characters to children, but children also see the other characters on the show and probably want them too. Having the above two figures shelf-warm doesn't help sales, to either the collector or the child/parent. Again, work on the distribution factor.

I don't really believe Hasbro is trying to support scalpers, I think they just have bad ideas trying to pump out their figures. I also think it hurts the middleman with their assortments. Look at BBTS: they sell individual figures, sets, and by the box. We're seeing several of their PRID offerings at an individual price above MSRP when short-packed. Even selling the more widely-distributed Deluxe BB at or slightly below retail, they are still going to be sitting on several BBs while sold out of everything else. With the profits of selling the short-packed figures at a higher rate, it makes the decision easier to clearance these BBs just to get rid of them, but it still means more cases have to be ordered to try and meet their customers' demands. I'm not sure that many individual consumers want to keep buying box after box of waves.

When the retailers start ending up with more and more shelf-warming figures, they will be less likely to order the newest waves - so, less sales for the company and e-Bay stalking for customers.