Transformers Toy updates from Hasbro Australia

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I emailed Hasbro to find some info on the Beast Hunters line and an expected release date and got this reply.


Hello,

Thank you for your email. The Transformers toys should be in Australian stores from early April.

Kind regards,

Hasbro Consumer Services

So there we go. Get yer pennies saved boys n girls, the Beasts are coming!

It'll be nice to see some new toys on the shelves. Woo!

[griffin]

Good news, at least, to know now if and when they are coming.

Pity about the 4 month delay from America and Asia. They'll be up to wave 3 by then.

[Bidoofdude]

That's some good news. There's a few I like the look of.:cool:

[KalEl]

Yay, even though i'm only after 2

[reillyd]

So are we skipping waves now, or will we get the remainder of Prime toys?

[griffin]

I sent an email to Hasbro AUS back on January 20th (4 weeks ago), and again on January 28th to a different address (3 weeks ago), asking if we were getting any more items we missed here... still waiting for a reply. :(

Best thing I can suggest is to email them yourself, or call, and if they give you answers, post them here in this topic.

[gekisou]

So, I got a reply about the KREO TF situation.

<The newer range of Kreo are Combiners, they should available in major retailers early March.

The Beast Hunters Kre-O Transformers are currently planned for September, this information is yet to be confirmed.

Regards>

Anyone who is interested in this line. Here it comes!!!

[BigTransformerTrev]

I've had the first wave of kreon combiners ordered from BBTS for ages - they arrived last month but I'm still waiting for the rest of my POL to show up. If anyone does not fancy having to hunt them all down, I think they were surprisingly cheap and added very little to the overall postage cost because they are light.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

After reading the bios, I want the combiners. But I dread the price they will come out at over here. I reckon, about 25 unconfirmed dollars. too much for my liking.

[UltraMarginal]

They'll have to be a pretty good price to beat ordering through BBTS for $10 a set.

[UltraMarginal]

I sent in an email asking about the Rescue Bots and got the following reply:



Thank you for your email.

You may be getting some information from the US site, all products available in the US may not necessarily be available in Australia.

The 2 packs will be available from March and the Rescue Bots from May.

There are no plans to release Play Sets in Australia at the moment.

Regards



it's interesting that with such a global market these days that there are still such differences as an entire sub-line not being released here.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I don't undestand why they don't push the rescue bots more... Cinsidering how hard it was for me to find Bumblebee and Optimus and their little human pals, they must sell well enough...

[Bumbleb33]

They'll have to be a pretty good price to beat ordering through BBTS for $10 a set.

And having received mine the other day at $10 + shipping they are a bargain, there is so much freedom to customise them to your specific taste. They are amazingly vibrant and look brilliant in scale with the other Kreons, particularly Galvatron.

[BigTransformerTrev]

Well that shows that BBTS must in some way change their prices according to demand, much like Robot Kingdom does. I pre-ordered them ages ago and I got the set of 4 combiners for $34.99, now they are $39.99. Admittedly it's only an extra $5 for the 4 but still, I wonder how many other figures they do it with

[griffin]

Yeah, I saw that change in price too - I was going to get them from BBTS (I had noted their price a few weeks back and was waiting for some other items to arrive), but they raised their price to pretty much match Amazon... so decided to get the three in-stock at Amazon (for cheaper shipping), and the remaining one from BBTS with some other items I wanted.

[iamirondude]

the beasthunters deluxes are at ayr toyworld.i sais to the lady that they were suppose to come out about april and she said" they send them and i put them out"they had 2 wheeljacks 1 bumblebee and 1 soundawve.no laserbacks and as of earlier today they only had 1 wheeljack left.i grabbed the rest.

[griffin]

Some minor updates from Hasbro, while at Toyfair today.

The Beast Hunters toys have only just started being shipped to Retailers, so for them to appear in Nth QLD was pretty quick turnaround. But it means they should be showing up in more stores and chains across the country in the next few weeks.

We should see all of the main lines this year (Generations, Beast Hunters, BotShots, Construct-Bots, Kreo), but we will have to wait and see how successful they are after their first waves.
We might even see less of a bottleneck of first wave toys clogging shelves this year, as Hasbro Reps try to get retailers to spread out their requested pre-order quantities over more than just one assortment (to increase product variety on shelves, and greater turnover from people only wanting a new toy). It was interesting to note that the Rep in charge of the new TMNT toys (by HeadStart), actually commented on the "Collector Factor" of toy sales, in that they create early sales of a new assortment, but won't cause another rush of sales until the next assortment is released... which was giving retailers a false sense of popularity on the more collectable toylines. (he was talking about how he was able to better manage the release of TMNT toys here, based on the inconsistent sales rates in America, thanks to the different buying habits of Dedicated Collectors to Parents/Kids)

Construct-bots are being aimed for a similar September release here as in America.

Metroplex is being aimed for Sept/Oct, for the Christmas period. Pricing hasn't been set yet for Australia. But the good news is that it is coming here, as Hasbro were really pushing it at the show.
(apparently the one at Toyfair America is the only completed prototype so far produced, but was too expensive & risky to have it sent to Australia for our Toyfair, or to build a second prototype).

Beast Hunters Ultimate Class Optimus AND Predaking will be released here as general release items in August (in American, Predaking is a Target exclusive).

BotShots are doing better than they expected (they even ran out of stock at one stage), so fans of those toys should be happy to know that we are likely to be seeing most or all of this second series here.

On a related note, there will be a couple more Marvel toys using "Transformers Technology" this year. There were four Spiderman "Jumpstarters" last year, and this year there will be two Ironman 3 toys that pull back and transform while rolling forward (they look a bit like the TFPrime Remote Control toys, or the original Gen2 Autorollers).


And now the bad news...
Other than cheap excess stock dumped in this country a lot later by Hasbro America (which we see at Toyworld from time to time), we shouldn't expect to see any of the Prime toys that haven't been seen here yet. Or any other 2012 toy that we missed - like the second series of Kreo or the second series of Rescue Bots.
Also, Rescue Bots will see some of the Energize series, but looks like it will only be the 2-pack figurines and the Electronic two. They were promoting the convertible Bots as well, but had on display first series versions, so I'm not sure if they are re-releasing them, or do plan to get in the Energize versions (with the translucent blue parts).

(the disappointing thing this year is that we didn't really have anything "new" on display since the American Toyfair - so nothing Globally News-worthy this year, aside from some second wave BotShots packaging of toys that were at the US Toyfair)

I have some photos to post up of the display, but I have to edit them first.
Big Thankyou to Ben at Hasbro for making an exception to the no-photos policy (with restrictions of course*), and Daniel for taking the time to answer all my questions and be happy to just talk about toys between Retailer appointments today.

*Australia (still) has a different "publicity environment" to America that has the Toy Companies preferring to do their own direct promotions or have the Retailers do it. So regardless of how much was made public at the American Toyfair, the exhibitors here (not just Hasbro) are not keen about their products being promoted indirectly through a third party, in case the 'general public' sees mockup packaging or prototypes, assuming that that is the final product (it could either put them off the product, or have them complaining later that what they bought didn't match what was initially "promoted" months earlier).
This may change in the future, but for now, I have to work with the parameters at hand... and for me at least, they are already making exceptions. Which is greatly appreciated.
I just gotta remember not to include items that I'm not supposed to, no matter how much the fans would really like to know about it. :o

[Hursticon]

I have some photos to post up of the display, but I have to edit them first.
Big Thankyou to Ben at Hasbro for making an exception to the no-photos policy (with restrictions of course*), and Daniel for taking the time to answer all my questions and be happy to just talk about toys between Retailer appointments today.

Indeed, a big thank you and to you too Griffin for continuing to traverse the nation obtaining & sharing what information (Good or Bad) you can with us. ;):)

I hope that Hasbro (AU at least) takes further head as to what Playmates (HeadStart? :confused:) has already noticed with the Collector market - There's a reason why TMNT is absolutely dominating things left, right & centre; a number of lessons could be learnt. :cool:

Talk to your fans and NO not just the parents & kids, we don't bite that hard. :D

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Playmates (HeadStart? :confused:)
The distributors aren't always the same for Australia I noticed. As an example, Headstart are the same company that distributed the recent Thundercats toys. It looks like a company can go and buy the toys/license for certain franchises and they aren't tied down to a particular US distributor (EG, Bandai who did Thundercats). That can be annoying in that tracking down the local distributor can be tricky as they aren't always the same. I suffer this when chasing up Sonic The Hedgehog figures....:(

But good news to see some things happening there and that they were receptive and gave us info.

Cheers Griffin and all those involved.

AS for the Bot Shots doing well, well, they are the only TFs under ten dollars now...

I am now curious to know how much we will get ripped off in pricing now. ;):rolleyes:

[griffin]

Photos from this year's Toyfair.
(if there had been anything significantly new, I would have created a new topic)

I wasn't expecting much this year, as I forgot to bring my business cards (which would help me get in to the closed-off exhibits), most of the good exhibits were walled-up,
and the Hasbro exhibit was walled up this year to prevent people from walking in to just browse (I had to leave a message at the front desk and wait for a call back).

I had checked in at the Toyfair at 9.40am, and after the hassle with Hasbro, I checked in with Ian/Demonac to see what he was doing (he said
the day before that he would be looking at going to the Sandown Collectables Fair. He was just near the Convention Center at that time, so swung around to pick me up, as I'd just go back to the Toyfair after midday.

I ended up coming back at a bit after 1pm, and was there until 6pm when it closed up for the day.

So it started out, feeling like I wasn't going to achieve much this year, but by the end of the day though, it was probably the best Toyfair for me, as I
got talking to a number of the different Reps about the toy industry over the last decade or so (which I've been reporting on for 17 years now), to
the point of having two of them suggesting that I should work for them as a Rep because I knew more about certain action figure lines than they did.

The main entrance signage this year.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/951.jpg

Outside the Convention Centre was a TMNT Pizza vendor, organised by Nickelodeon.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/952.jpg

They had free stickers and posters for the general public (who wouldn't be allowed into the Toy Fair). The pizzas were $10, but I was too early to see
what they were actually like.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/953.jpg
.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/954.jpg

Inside the Foyer, a few interesting displays.
The new Combat Creatures (electronic, remote controlled battle droids).
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/955.jpg

A giant Dinosour to promote some dinosaur toys.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/956.jpg

A cardboard display to have your photo taken with it (you step behind it and stick your head into empty ID square.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/957.jpg

I didn't see any people walking around in costumes (promoting certain Brands) this year.

The Entrance.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/958.jpg

The Hasbro Exhibit.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/959.jpg

The Transformers Wall, covering the largest space inside the Hasbro exhibit this year.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/960.jpg
.
The box mock-up had to be blurred out because it showed a greyscale image of Metroplex and Scamper, and I wasn't allowed to show it.
.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/961.jpg
.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/962.jpg
.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/963.jpg
.
Bios of the two Triple Changer Voyagers.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/964.jpg
.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/965.jpg
.
Wave 2 BotShot singles, both sides of the packaging (and their numbers).
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/966.jpg
.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/967.jpg
.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/968.jpg.http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/969.jpg
.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/970.jpg.http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/971.jpg
.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/972.jpg.http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/973.jpg
.
The 3-packs aren't new... I just needed a visual reference to their BotShot numbers.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/974.jpg
.
A second Kreon 5-pack. I think only one was shown at the American Toyfair.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/975.jpg
.
Command Base.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/976.jpg
.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/978.jpg
.
New Marvel toys with "Transformers Technology".
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/979.jpg
.
Some of the promo booklets.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/980.jpg

For non-Transformers news from Toyfair, check out this topic (http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?t=15609).

[5FDP]

Thanks for the pics griffin.

The only toys that I have any interest in are Generations Springer, Blitzwing, and Metroplex. The rest is all meh!

It was a pretty safe assumption that if we haven't received the remaining toys from TF:Prime, we weren't going to see them. Disappointing but expected.

[jazzcomp]

What he said ;)

[Trent]

Thanks for the update Griffman. It appears as though we will be getting Blaster and Grimlock after all. I was starting to think we'd missed that train. And it's very good to see that we're definitely getting Metroplex. Still don't know whether I'll buy one but I'm pleased for those who will.

[Omega Metro]

What they said.

[griffin]

Talk about bad timing... the second wave of BotShots was just found in America in the last couple days, and photos posted online (http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/other-news-20/bot-shots-2013-wave-2-released-at-us-retail-176980/), which were really the "new" thing for me to take photos of (that I was allowed to post). :(

[Hursticon]

Oh Hell Yeah! :D:D:D

Blitzwing is going to have his 3-faced gimmick completely carried over from Transformers: Animated! - This is awesome! :eek::D:cool:

[Bidoofdude]

Thanks for the reassurance with Grimlock and Blaster. I'm still waiting for a reply about the same thing from them.
10 bucks says they'll say: "Sorry for the delay. I had to ask the manager," like last time...;)

[Quickstrike]

Yessss, Blitzwing has 3 faces.

I don't know whether to wait for the new Microchangers to show up here or just buy them online. Where can I even buy a set of them online?

[KalEl]

Seems this thread is receiving some international attention :)

[lancalot]

Oh Hell Yeah! :D:D:D

Blitzwing is going to have his 3-faced gimmick completely carried over from Transformers: Animated! - This is awesome! :eek::D:cool:

Wow:eek: Blitzwing does really look good!!

[1AZRAEL1]

Yessss, Blitzwing has 3 faces.

I don't know whether to wait for the new Microchangers to show up here or just buy them online. Where can I even buy a set of them online?

I've ordered a box of wave 2 and 3 off BigBadToystore.com. At least that way i should get a whole set and offload the rest.

[Bidoofdude]

Good to see three faces on Blitzwing.:cool: Wish we could see the third though.:(
I'm so jealous of that TMNT poster.:o:p

[KalEl]

I've ordered a box of wave 2 and 3 off BigBadToystore.com. At least that way i should get a whole set and offload the rest.

what doubles will you have?

[5FDP]

Seems this thread is receiving some international attention :)

Had a bit of a chuckle when I saw that someone else on TFW was credited for the story when all they did was transcribe the tech specs based on photos that griffin provided. Pleeeeease :rolleyes:

[1AZRAEL1]

what doubles will you have?

Not sure. They've reduced how many are in the boxes now to 24 from 32. With 12 in a set, don't leave much room for 2 full sets. I'm hoping for 2 full sets. The other set is already spoken for my order.

[1AZRAEL1]

Had a bit of a chuckle when I saw that someone else on TFW was credited for the story when all they did was transcribe the tech specs based on photos that griffin provided. Pleeeeease :rolleyes:

Some people just have no shame in taking credit for other peoples news/reporting.

[Zommael]

Hey griffin, I wonder if you could do a list of the product that was on display at Toyfair so we know for sure what we will be getting down here? I can see we're definitely getting Beast Hunters but can't tell which waves. I know we have the checklist up the top but that lists everything coming out in the US, some of which I'm reasonably sure we won't see.

Thanks for going and taking the pictures for us. :)

[Trent]

Had a bit of a chuckle when I saw that someone else on TFW was credited for the story when all they did was transcribe the tech specs based on photos that griffin provided. Pleeeeease :rolleyes:


Some people just have no shame in taking credit for other peoples news/reporting.

Hmmm. I'm beginning to see some sort of pattern with TFW...

:rolleyes:

[griffin]

Hey griffin, I wonder if you could do a list of the product that was on display at Toyfair so we know for sure what we will be getting down here? I can see we're definitely getting Beast Hunters but can't tell which waves. I know we have the checklist up the top but that lists everything coming out in the US, some of which I'm reasonably sure we won't see.

Thanks for going and taking the pictures for us. :)

The product on display is just a guide to retailers as to what is available... so none of it is guaranteed to be released here if none of the retailers pre-order it.
We "should" get the first wave of TFPrime, as it is the main focus, while the BotShots will continue due to being more successful than expected. Kreo is not a certainty, due to its failure in the first year, and complete avoidance by retailers in the second year... but we are appear to be getting at least the smaller/cheaper assortments (combiners, blind packs, etc), as they are less risk to retailers.

The Generations are an unknown variable, as they have also been considered "successful" by Hasbro Australia, but we've seen very sporadic releases here already, so there is no guarantee that we will get every figure in the various size classes.
You will note that they only had the Triplechangers and Metroplex of the future Generations toys, as it was suggested that the Comic Deluxes may not come here due to the added comic (licensing issues I think, and it also has a different coding, so would be seen as a new line by retailers - getting them to reorder an existing line is easier than to take on a "new line" if it isn't a whole new series).

[griffin]

On the second day at the Toyfair, Dispensor had one of those Turtle pizzas (the wood-fired pizza vendor outside the Fair). I had the Donattello one, as he was my favourite Turtle... I even managed to get a bite before Dispensor gobbled up the lot.

http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/977.jpg

Yeah I know... it isn't news, but it relates to three of the photos I included in the earlier posting.

[Zommael]

The product on display is just a guide to retailers as to what is available... so none of it is guaranteed to be released here if none of the retailers pre-order it.
We "should" get the first wave of TFPrime, as it is the main focus, while the BotShots will continue due to being more successful than expected. Kreo is not a certainty, due to its failure in the first year, and complete avoidance by retailers in the second year... but we are appear to be getting at least the smaller/cheaper assortments (combiners, blind packs, etc), as they are less risk to retailers.

The Generations are an unknown variable, as they have also been considered "successful" by Hasbro Australia, but we've seen very sporadic releases here already, so there is no guarantee that we will get every figure in the various size classes.
You will note that they only had the Triplechangers and Metroplex of the future Generations toys, as it was suggested that the Comic Deluxes may not come here due to the added comic (licensing issues I think, and it also has a different coding, so would be seen as a new line by retailers - getting them to reorder an existing line is easier than to take on a "new line" if it isn't a whole new series).

Aha... thanks for that. It's not like retailers in Rocky ever seem to restock anyway... :(

[Fungal Infection]

On the second day at the Toyfair, Dispensor had one of those Turtle pizzas (the wood-fired pizza vendor outside the Fair). I had the Donattello one, as he was my favourite Turtle... I even managed to get a bite before Dispensor gobbled up the lot.

http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/977.jpg

Yeah I know... it isn't news, but it relates to three of the photos I included in the earlier posting.

The important thing though, was it any good? :p

[ILikeSoundwave]

Will we be getting wave 4 of the Fall of Cynertron line? ( Wreckers)

[Trent]

The important thing though, was it any good? :p

That is indeed the question most would want an answer to.

[griffin]

It was nice, but not great since it was just mushrooms and black olives. (not a favourite flavour of mine)


Will we be getting wave 4 of the Fall of Cynertron line? ( Wreckers)

No idea. I could try to ask. I think we should, as the third wave sold quite well... but then, we only really saw them in Kmart, which could mean that Hasbro might not get enough total pre-order sales to import more shipments (they'd just take longer to sell the old wave they still have sitting at the warehouse).

[Hursticon]

On the second day at the Toyfair, Dispensor had one of those Turtle pizzas (the wood-fired pizza vendor outside the Fair). I had the Donatello one, as he was my favourite Turtle... I even managed to get a bite before Dispensor gobbled up the lot. *snip*

This is why Griffin rulz. :p:D

[KalEl]

On the second day at the Toyfair, Dispensor had one of those Turtle pizzas (the wood-fired pizza vendor outside the Fair). I had the Donattello one, as he was my favourite Turtle... I even managed to get a bite before Dispensor gobbled up the lot.

*snip*

Yeah I know... it isn't news, but it relates to three of the photos I included in the earlier posting.

How much they hit you for that dude? mind you it looks pretty good (especially for a 'show' pizza).

[griffin]

It was $10.

[KalEl]

It was $10.

Not bad

[reillyd]

Once again an excellent job Griffith.


Did you see any other cool toylines (Star Wars, Marvel Universe/Avengers) on display?

[ILikeSoundwave]

Where can I contact hasbro Australia?

[Trent]

Where can I contact hasbro Australia?

http://www.hasbrotoys.com.au/customer_service.php

[griffin]

Did you see any other cool toylines (Star Wars, Marvel Universe/Avengers) on display?

Yes, but no photos. (http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?t=15609)

[ILikeSoundwave]

Asked Hasbro AUS when Masterpiece Acid Storm and Soundwave are supposed to be released in Australia and they told me June/July.

[reillyd]

Yes, but no photos. (http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?t=15609)

That's awesome news about the Avengers. I was a little worried we might miss out, with so many pegwarming Wave 1 stock and no sign of the Avengers Deluxes (Chitauri with chariot)