Percentage of your 2013 toys bought locally?

[griffin]

After all the major retailers here chose not to stock the Generations toyline in 2013, it had me wondering, how much did that impact on your local purchases and your importing (in addition to the higher prices here).

IN OTHER WORDS - What percentage of US Hasbro toys that were available to Hasbro AUS did you acquire DURING 2013 from a local Major Retailer?
(BigW, Kmart, Target, Toyworld, ToysRUs, Coles, Woolies, Myer, Reject Shop/Warehouse, Costco - ones that order from Hasbro)

If there is enough participation, we could do this annually, to see how the average tracks over time (based on the varying factors like exchange rate and product availability here)... and refer to it to Hasbro or Retailers if ever necessary.

So for those who keep records of what they purchase, this is how we can do this....

- Look over your US Hasbro purchases made DURING the 2013 calendar year, and see if you can remember which ones you bought here and which ones you imported.
- If you need help with remembering what was released by US Hasbro that was available to AUS Hasbro, check out the first post (only) of our 2013 Checklist (http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?t=15196) and look for anything noted as "OUT" or "HERE" (TFPrime, Generations, BotShots, Kreo, Construct-Bots, Rescue Bots, & AUS Store Exclusives - DON'T count items yet to be released at all).
ALSO count any previous-year Hasbro items that were purchased at a Major Retailer DURING 2013, because old items can show up late, or sit on shelves here for a while.
- Now, work out (roughly) the TOTAL number of US Hasbro toys you got in 2013 AND the number of them as LOCAL purchases (or the number of imported toys and subtract it from your TOTAL). It doesn't matter what YOU consider counts as a "toy", because the final percentage won't be affected too much if you apply the same ruling to LOCAL and TOTAL.
- Now, divide your LOCAL by your TOTAL, and multiply by 100 to get your percentage of locally bought toys DURING 2013.
- Post your actual percentage and vote in the Poll. (if you didn't buy anything locally, only vote 0-20 if you did buy some Transformers toys from somewhere during 2013)
You don't even have to say how many you bought during 2013 if you are worried about it being a small, or large, amount... just note the percentage, which won't give away the total amount.

For example - If DURING 2013, you bought 50 US Hasbro toys (from the first posting in our Checklist), and you imported 20 of them (they weren't available here, or near you, or were cheaper to import), you would post up that you have a LOCAL purchasing percentage of 60%... and would vote in the 41-60% poll category.

(mine was just 6.8% - meaning, I imported 93.2% of my 2013 US Hasbro toy purchases, that were released here (like Beast Hunters), or could have been released here (like Generations)... and that is money that the local Retailers and Hasbro AUS missed out on, due to wholesale prices and product availability)


And for a bit of added "fun", post here if you can work out your percentage from ALL your TFs toy purchases during 2013 (which includes all Transformers you bought last year, from US Hasbro, HK Hasbro, UK Hasbro, TakaraTomy and US Exclusives)
(mine would be a tiny 3.3% - so a massive 96.7% of my 2013 TFs toys were imported!)


On a related note, this is a list of the US Hasbro toys that were scheduled for a 2013 release, that were definitely sighted here at a Major Retailer (so far).... to show how many we missed here that could have been here.
(the numbers here are the "loose" toy counts within 2, 3, 4, or 5 packs - you can count them as 1 "sealed unit" if you prefer as it won't affect the end percentage much if you keep both your counts to that method)
TFPrime DLX (11 of 16 here)
- - Wave 1 Bumblebee, Soundwave, Lazerback, Wheeljack.
- - Wave 2Starscream (HERE with Wave 4)
- - Wave 3Skystalker, Ratchet, Dreadwing
- - Wave 4 Arcee, Knock Out, Vertebreak
TFPrime VOY (6 of 6 here)
- - Wave 1 Optimus Prime, Predaking
- - Wave 2Shockwave
- - Wave 3 Grimwing, Ultra Magnus
- - Wave 4 Sharkticon Megatron
TFPrime Weaponizer (2 of 2 here)
- - Wave 1 Optimus (green), Bumblebee (black)
TFPrime Legion (11 of 11 here)
- - Wave 1 Airachnid, Bumblebee, Smokescreen, Twinstrike
- - Wave 2 Soundwave, Hun-Gurrr, Prowl
- - Wave 3Blight, Rippersnapper, Windrazor
- - Wave 4 Jet Vehicon
TFPrime CMDR (9 of 9 here)
- - Wave 1 Predaking, Bulkhead, Optimus Prime
- - Wave 2Trailcutter, Hardshell
- - Wave 3Starscream, Shockwave
- - Wave 4Optimus Prime, Huffer
TFPrime Vehicle (2 of 3 here)
- - Wave 1 Sky Claw w/ Smokescreen, Apex Armor w/ Breakdown
TFPrime non-convertible (2 of 4)
- - Wave 1 "12 inch"Bumblebee, Optimus Prime

GEN LEGENDS 2-packs (4 of 20)
- - Wave 1 Ravage & Decepticon Rumble (blue), Frenzy (red) & Ratbat (early release NOV 2012)
GEN DLX (5 of 16)
- - Wave 3 Air Raid, Kickback, Sideswipe, Starscream, Ultra Magnus (early release in US in DEC 2012)
GEN VOY (4 of 10)
- - Wave 1 Soundwave w/ Laserbeak, Soundblaster w/ Buzzsaw (early release OCT 2012)
GEN TITAN (1 of 1)
- - Wave 1 Metroplex

Botshots Singles (13 of 13 here)
- - Wave 1 Bumblebee, Ironhide, Shockwave, Sunstorm
- - Wave 2 Optimus Prime, Scourge, Decepticon Brawl, Cliffjumper
- - Wave 3Megatron, Twinstrike, Inferno, Hound, Skywarp
Botshots Launcher (2 of 4 here)
- - Wave 1 Optimus Prime, Bumblebee
BotShots 3-Pack (6 of 12 here)
- - Wave 1 Cliffjumper/Decepticon Brawl/Dirt Boss, Bumblebee/Shockwave/Skyquake
Botshots 5-pack (10 of 20 here)
- - Wave 1 Autobot Polar Assault Team, Stunticons -
Botshots multi-pack
- - Wave 1 Dragon Track (Optimus Vs Megatron)

KREO Microchangers (36 of 48 here)
- - Wave 1 Singe, Inferno, Autobot Springer, Warpath, Quickslinger, Rampage, Insecticon, Blast Off, Hook, Dirge, Airachnid, Decepticon Bludgeon
- - Wave 2 Bulkhead, Hardshell, Blight, Arcee, Acid Wing, Vehicon, Scourge, Powerglide, Perceptor, Lugnut, Hoist, Groove
- - Wave 3Nosecone, Thrust, Nemesis Prime, Ramjet, Huffer, Kickback, Long Haul, Guzzle, Sharkticon, Cheetor, Beachcomber, Seawing
KREO Combiners (24 of 36)
- - Wave 1 Predaking, Bruticus, Devastator, Superion
- - Wave 3 Menasor, Computron
KREO Custom (6 of 6)
- - Wave 1 Optimus, Bumblebee, Soundwave, Megatron, Starscream, Ironhide
KREO Build packs (2 of 6)
- - Wave 1 Mech Venom, Dragon Assault
KREO reissue multi-packs (0 of 13)
-

Construct-Bots Scout (4 of 8 here)
- - Wave 1 Starscream, Ironhide
- - Wave 2 Thundercracker, Bumblebee
Construct-Bots Elite (5 of 8 here)
- - Wave 1 Wheeljack, Soundave
- - Wave 2 Megatron, Optimus Prime, Hound
Construct-Bots Triplechanger (2 of 2 here)
- - Wave 1 Blitzwing, Bumblebee
Construct-Bots 2-pack (2 of 2 here)
- - Wave 1 Megatron VS Optimus Prime

Rescue Bots Robots (6 of 6 here)
- - Wave 1 Optimus, Bumblebee, Chase, Heatwave
- - Wave 2 Blades, Boulder
Rescue Bots 2-pack figurines (12 of 12 here)
- - Wave 1 Optimus Prime & Cody Burns, Bumblebee & Graham Burns, Chase The Police Bot & Chief Charlie Burns, Heatwave The Fire-Bot & Kade Burns
- - Wave 2 Boulder & Doc Greene, Blades & Doc Morocco
Rescue Bots Single figurines (0 of 4 here)
-
Rescue Bots Electronic (2 of 2 here)
- - Wave 1 Optimus, Bumblebee
Rescue Bots Trailer Optimus (1 of 2 here)
- - Optimus w/ Trailer
Rescue Bots Flip Changer (0 of 2 here)
-

AUS STORE EXCLUSIVES (16)
- - Platinum Edition YOTS Omega Supreme
- - Platinum Edition YOTS Optimus Prime
- - Platinum Edition Ultra Magnus
- - Platinum Edition Grimlock Vs Bruticus
- - Masterpiece Soundwave (w/ Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, Ravage, Rumble, Frenzy)
- - Masterpiece Acid Storm (redeco Starscream)


(it's interesting to note that despite all the stores staying clogged with wave one Beast Hunters for most of the year, we didn't end up missing out on many figures by the end of the year - but very few stores restocked, making later waves very hard to find, and unintentionally exclusive to some chains)

[CBratron]

It seems I made a mistake counting up my Prime figures. It seems Beastfire Predaking is the only one that counts.

wait, Beastfire Pred isn't on the list. And I just remembered (wished I didn't) I got BH Soundwave.

[Kapryiath]

voted 0-20 because i didnt actually buy a single toy locally this year, how depressing is that?

[Bidoofdude]

Surprisingly, 69% of my purchases last year from Hasbro US are bought here. I did buy a bit of Asia stuff, 2012 stuff and Takara Stuff last year. Interesting. :)

[MayzaPrime]

The only stuff that I picked up at retail were Botshots & Cyberverse... so I voted 0-20%

[i_amtrunks]

7 out of 72/84 depending on how we count the blind packed kreos.

Part of it was my complete lack of interest in Beast Hunters, only bought two voyagers and a Ratchet from that series.

[Lint]

3/4, but it should be noted that the majority of the Hasbro 2013 TF's I bought were not released in Australia. :mad:

[BigTransformerTrev]

I bought nearly 200 figures last year (nearly double my usual amount) and the vast majority were online.

This was in part due to my remote location which only has a small Target and smaller Toyworld, and in part because I did not want to wait 8 months to see if the figures might show up here. There were certainly some figures I bought online that did reach our shores, such as a lot of the FOC toys and some of the TFPrime ones, but the vast majority of the Generations ones didn't. And of course the G1 and Takara ones I purchased would never have made it here anyway.

The main ones I bought locally were Bot Shots, Kre-O Microchangers and a few of the TFPrime line. But that would probably make up at the very most 20% of the figures I purchased.


It might be worth, depending on the results, sending a link to this poll to Hasbro Griffin, to try and reinforce what you've been trying to tell them for years. :)

[Sky Shadow]

I didn't buy a single Transformer off the shelf last year. So 100% were bought online.

[DELTAprime]

I got a BH Deluxe Soundwave and Construct Bots Starscream locally last year. Every other figure I bought was vintage, Generations US or Takara. Where is that "shut up and take my money" gif when I need it?

Wait, I did get a Omega Supreme from work also, wow 3 figures locally from my roughly 20+ US figures.

Really Hasbro AU I want to give you money, just give me some Generations.

[GoktimusPrime]

Metroplex and MP Acid Storm were the only Hasbro US toys released here that I bought online and overseas respectively. All others were bought from local Australian stores. So I'm approx. 99% local store bought. The rest of my non-local purchases were toys that weren't released here... which has been increasing this year as Hasbro Australia seems to be becoming less reliable in releasing stuff here. :(

It really sucks when even stubborn-as die-hard local retail store shoppers like me are being driven to shop online... which I still intensely dislike. To me, shopping online is like calling a call centre where I get to talk to a machine. I'd rather deal with people, even if it means paying a bit more and waiting a while longer. I find getting refunds/exchanges is so much easier with store bought toys; I'm more willing to "grin and bear" minor defects from online bought toys, whereas if it were bought locally I would've brought it back for an exchange in a heartbeat.

[Paulbot]

I might be missing some stuff, but I'd say I got 40% local last year. The percentage is higher than it might be this year since all but one of my Beast Hunters toys are Legions (and it's not cheaper to import a Legion toy than to buy it here) and I included a buy of several cheap TF:Prime Commanders from Big W. The other 60% are all Generations figures.

From what was revealed at the Toy Fair, in 2014 it will be close to 100% Generations that I'll be buying this year so we'll see what gets on the shelf (if any! AOE Generations should be here though).

[Hursticon]

I'm fairly certain that the only figure I bought from a local retailer last year was Masterpiece Acidstorm, and I bought him via Toys R Us' online store. :eek:

The combination of a sheer lack of variety, availability and a reasonable price made the decision incredibly easy to simply seek out what I wanted from foreign online stores; they had what I wanted, when I wanted it (Predominantly preorders) and 9 times out of 10 - cheaper (Even after postage/shipping) than what I would've been able to get locally IF the particular figure was even available locally. :rolleyes:

...

I hate sounding like a broken record on the issue but aside from a handful of instances, Hasbro AU & AU Major Retailers (With the exception of TRU AU) continue to let the Transformers Brand down here in Australia and to the detriment of its standing in the eyes of many parents & children - For without their involvement with the brand it'll die here & that will have dire ramifications for collectors. :(

I just think of little Jimmy and/or Sally, looking forward to the weekly shopping trip, nagging Mum or Dad to let the go to the Toy aisle so as to checkout the Transformers, because the Bumblebee & Optimus figure they got for Xmas needs some back up or someone to fight...

...they tear off down the lanes to the relevant toy aisle in Big W/Kmart/Target/Myer/Toys R Us/Toyworld/Uncle Petes, it's March now so said store MUST have new toys after everyone bought them at Xmas! - Jimmy and/or Sally pull up in front of what used to be the "Transformers" section, only to find it's half the size of what it was at Xmas and it only has a handful of the same Bumblebee/Prime i.e. Wave 1 (Maybe 2) toys that were there even BEFORE Xmas...

...Jimmy and/or Sally broken-heartedly shuffle back to where Mum and/or Dad are, being asked what they found and which toy they'd like? - Mum and/or Dad are met with an answer they not expecting to hear: "Nothing"...

...it's June now and Jimmy and/or Sally figure that maybe their luck has changed and their local store might have something new! - once again they're disappointed and again in September but at this point Jimmy and/or Sally's friends are all about that cool new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon! and what should they find when they arrive at the toy aisle?...

...an absolute s***-tone of every "Turtles" character in the cartoon! - All the brothers are there, Shredder is there, Krang and Dogpound and Fishface and Master Splinter... - You get the picture.

...

Playmates is doing amazing things with the current NickTurtles toyline; there's always stock, always variety and all at incredibly good "Value for Money" prices - It's true that Australia was lagged behind the rest of the world by a year with the new line, but it's been going gangbusters ever since, with plenty of support for the brand by its local distributor beyond simply:

"Hey Mr. Retailer; buy these 20,000 units of Wave 1/2 stock, you've gotta do all the advertising though, oh and you have to buy it all at double the current US RTP, Oh! and you can only discount the items twice a year - See you in 24 months". :rolleyes:


I just want to continue going down the Toy aisle and be greeted by 2-5 screaming kids arguing about which Transformers character is the "bestest" and which one they want and why so-and-so can't have it.
I don't want to continue hearing Mums and/or Dads saying: "You've already got that Optimus/Bumblebee" or "I'm sorry honey, maybe they'll have that transformer who's on the back of the box next month?".
I don't want to hear: "Oh, Jimmy and/or Sally were totally into Transformers last year, they don't even play with them anymore and they cost a mint! - Now all they want is (Insert a Toyline here)...".


I realise that kids change their minds like the underwear they're meant to change regularly; I also realise that kids today aren't like when we were kids, holding interests longer than 5 minutes - I just want there to be a TF fandom 20 years from now etc. you know? :o

/end.rant

[High_Q]

0, as I didn't buy any Hasbro TFs in 2013. The dozen or so TFs purchased were merchandise (e.g. Myclone, Disney Label) or MP.

[griffin]

Metroplex and MP Acid Storm were the only Hasbro US toys released here that I bought online and overseas respectively. All others were bought from local Australian stores. So I'm approx. 99% local store bought.

So you didn't import any of the US Generations toys that weren't released here, since you said you only imported two US Hasbro toys, leaving you with 99% bought locally? (since the purpose of the poll was, what US Hasbro toys you had to import because it didn't end up here, or was too expensive here)

That'd probably make you the most "loyal" domestic shopper, not importing anything that US Hasbro didn't release here.

[BigTransformerTrev]

I got a Construct Bots Starscream locally last year.


Oh yeah, forgot about the ConstructBots :o, I bought a few of those locally too.


I guess I go by the mantra: "If I really want it, I buy it online as it may not come out here. If I'm not too fussed then I just hope to find it on the shelves one day".

But even remembering the ConstructBots, I still would have bought less than 20% locally.

[GoktimusPrime]

So you didn't import any of the US Generations toys that weren't released here, since you said you only imported two US Hasbro toys, leaving you with 99% bought locally? (since the purpose of the poll was, what US Hasbro toys you had to import because it didn't end up here, or was too expensive here)

That'd probably make you the most "loyal" domestic shopper, not importing anything that US Hasbro didn't release here.
I did, but I thought this thread/poll was only counting Hasbro USA stuff that was released by Hasbro AU. At least, that's how I interpreted:
"What percentage of US Hasbro toys that were available to Hasbro AUS"

If I was meant to include stuff that Hasbro USA released that Hasbro AUS didn't release, then I would definitely include all my TFG Thrilling 30 stuff.

[llamatron]

I didn't buy a single Transformer off the shelf last year. So 100% were bought online.

Same here.

[liegeprime]

I think I bought around 11-15 locally... mostly doubles though - cyberverse. so I picked 0-20%

[griffin]

I did, but I thought this thread/poll was only counting Hasbro USA stuff that was released by Hasbro AU. At least, that's how I interpreted:
"What percentage of US Hasbro toys that were available to Hasbro AUS"

If I was meant to include stuff that Hasbro USA released that Hasbro AUS didn't release, then I would definitely include all my TFG Thrilling 30 stuff.

The post got very lengthy to explain what I was asking, which probably got a bit confusing, so I tried to make the Poll question as simple as possible, because that was more important than what people posted in the topic. And it isn't the end of the world if one or two people vote wrong, as most are likely to be guessing anyway.

I'll try to explain the poll question a bit in case it is too confusing for people - Percentage of locally bought US Hasbro TFs Toys in 2013.
"US Hasbro TFs toys", as described in the post, are any Transformers toys that are available to Hasbro Australia for regular retail... which included Beast Hunters, Generations, Kreo, Construct-Bots, Rescue Bots, plus the Australian Store exclusives noted on our 2013 Checklist.
Transformers Toys that aren't available for general release by Hasbro Australia are the ones from TakaraTomy, Hasbro HK, and American store exclusives that don't show up here.

The point was to show how many Transformers toys people here HAD to import because they weren't willing or able to buy them here (either due to price, or the toys didn't end up in Australia but should have).

I would have preferred that the poll was even simpler and just asked for the percentage out of ALL Transformers toys you bought, but it isn't fair to include all those ones that can't be a general release here, like Japanese and HK ones, or exclusives like SDCC and FunPub ones.
That would distort the results, and not make it possible to say to Retailers or Hasbro Australia, that a certain average percentage was imported last year by collectors because they didn't have a certain line (like Generations) and/or the prices were too high.

[christalcase]

Surprisingly, I bought 25% locally, which was more than I expected. However, nearly all of those were Legions toys.

[GoktimusPrime]

"US Hasbro TFs toys", as described in the post, are any Transformers toys that are available to Hasbro Australia for regular retail... which included Beast Hunters, Generations, Kreo, Construct-Bots, Rescue Bots, plus the Australian Store exclusives noted on our 2013 Checklist.
Transformers Toys that aren't available for general release by Hasbro Australia are the ones from TakaraTomy, Hasbro HK, and American store exclusives that don't show up here.
Aah right, in that case about half of the toys I bought last year that fall under that classification was bought online. :o

[5FDP]

There's only one that I bought locally within the last 12 months - Platinum Edition Bruticus v Grimlock, everything else was online. Having said that though, I only made 4 purchases so that makes my answer 25% which sounds like a lot :p

[SuspectimusPrime]

Selected 0-20% in reference to my total spend on robots* during 2013. Local purchases were only Metroplex, MP Soundwave and the BH Terrorcons.

My total spend dropped drastically (more than 2/3) from 2012's total spend as 2012 was more spent chasing up individual Classics/Henkei releases I missed out on via eBay. Aside from paying hefty after-market prices, I also spent loads shipping (quite sickeningly, say the worth of two Encore Fort Max!) them from individual sellers rather than buying in bulk (most of the time it wasn't an option).

If Hasbro does manage to bring Generations IDW figs locally, at the lowest retail sale prices they won't be able to beat BBTS' $50 plus shipping (and currency conversion) on a Wave Set of 4. I'm only shipping my POL once it brings the shipping per unit (based on an individual order rather than number or items or weight) to roughly $12-14.

As none of the local stuff has caught my interest for this coming year so far, this trend will most likely continue.

* In reference to all the purchases made to expand on my Classicsverse - which for 2013, was heavily invested in 3rd party pre-orders.

[requiemau88]

Was in the 41-60% I count what ever my USA contact gets then brings over as online stuff. I'm only missing wave 2 of Generations but have the rest. I got a few Predacons off the shelf but I avoided the Beast Hunters line altogether, tacky remolds of figures that I already have that are the same character or extremely low on priorities of purchase ... So I think I'm sitting at 50/50 for last year.

This year its already at 100% import

[1orion2many]

I can't remember getting anything from the local stores unless you count the Nexus fair so pretty much 0%. I would have bought items off the local stores if they actually released them here, This has saved me a lot of money as I haven't bothered getting the general release items from overseas only the MP's. Has anyone else been this way inclined? If Hasbro don't want to support the local market then I won't support them (Except MP'S but this is Tak/Tom so doesn't count :p).