January Qs to Hasbro (closes 25th December)

[griffin]

January submission - 20 questions to Hasbro by the 1st January, so please post your questions by the 25th December (to give me enough time to sort and check out the best ones, and to converse with anyone who posted something that needs or could be reworded).

Make sure you read the 'Rules' posting before you post your questions.

The various questions that didn't make previous months will also be considered.

[GoktimusPrime]

Q: Any plans or intentions to import Masterpiece Grimlock to Australia as was done with Ultra Magnus and Convoy w/ trailer?

------------------

Q: Why won't Hasbro use full wrap-around bubbles like Takara uses that allows carded figures to be opened without damaging the backing card and also allows opened figures to be displayed on card?

e.g.:
Japanese TF movie Deluxe figure (in this case Lawson Bumblebee)
http://www.herogangu.jp/shop/item/webshop/picture/goods/471_thumbnail.jpg

[griffin]

Q: Any plans or intentions to import Masterpiece Grimlock to Australia as was done with Ultra Magnus and Convoy w/ trailer?

The October Q&A from an american board suggested that Hasbro would be releasing Grimlock in the last quarter of 2009. If that is indeed true, I don't think Hasbro AUS will release the JP version - it would limit sales of their own release, and they've only imported JP versions of MP toys that weren't released by Hasbro.

Hopefully Hasbro answer that in their current round (I submitted a Q about it in November), so that we might have confirmation on their next 'MP' figure being Grimlock, before next month.

[roller]

with the Timelines re-release of the Seacons boxset, will we see any more G1 combiner teams being released? Perhaps a G2 Stunticon boxset?:)

[blackie]

i think a simmilar one might have been asked but:

1. Does hasbro recieve feedback, (ie good or bad) about all their resent repaints of old molds?

2. apart from these q&a's and the collector survey, how else do hastak get feedback not only from regular fans but collectors too?

[Wheel-J]

I tried using the advance search to check if my question have been asked regarding universe unicron but I thought posting it here could be easier...:)

Q: Are we expecting Universe Unicron to show up on shelves of our local major retailers? If so, when?

[jaydisc]

Q: Are we expecting Universe Unicron to show up on shelves of our local major retailers? If so, when?

Last round of answers said no:


- Unicron w/ Dead End (Supreme 'Decepticon' - repack) (US TRU/not here) No plans

But the Animated 2-packs was also a no and they've just been sighted.

[STL]

Last round of answers said no:

But the Animated 2-packs was also a no and they've just been sighted.

And by BigW. :rolleyes: It leaves me suspecting that Big W may get the "exclusives" no one wants. There's a good chance yet that either the mid year sale next year might include the Cybertron 5 pack or a Unicron or something of that kind. Darth Vader was this mid year's whipping boy across the board and BigW still had Ultimate BBs they wanted to flog off despite the movie's momentum having come to a screeching halt by that point.

[Pulse]

It leaves me suspecting that Big W may get the "exclusives" no one wants. There's a good chance yet that either the mid year sale next year might include the Cybertron 5 pack or a Unicron or something of that kind. Darth Vader was this mid year's whipping boy across the board and BigW still had Ultimate BBs they wanted to flog off despite the movie's momentum having come to a screeching halt by that point.

Yeah but if by some chance we do happen to get Unicron, Won't he be priced at something like $150? Compared to an Animated Leader, He's huge...

[Golden Phoenix]

Yeah but if by some chance we do happen to get Unicron, Won't he be priced at something like $150? Compared to an Animated Leader, He's huge...

He might be huge, but if the price is too high he wont sell. I'd expect about 120

[jaydisc]

I disagree. I think he'll be no more than Animated Supreme Prime, whom is priced lesser than a Leader at many retailers.

[blackie]

He might be huge, but if the price is too high he wont sell. I'd expect about 120

with a 20% off sale = $96
with staff discount ~$94
not a bad price at all...

[Golden Phoenix]

I disagree. I think he'll be no more than Animated Supreme Prime, whom is priced lesser than a Leader at many retailers.

The difference will be in what the production costs are. I think Unicron would take more to assemble then Prime.
On the other hand, they have used the mould before, so you might be right

[Wheel-J]

The difference will be in what the production costs are. I think Unicron would take more to assemble then Prime.
On the other hand, they have used the mould before, so you might be right

I Whatever the price they tag on a unicron, I hope it won't be that much.

Just for comparison, this is a link on last weeks sale (and normal price) I found from TRU Canada.
http://www.cybertron.ca/boards/showpost.php?p=93468&postcount=1

.

[roller]

Does Hasbro have information on their G1 toy advertisments production? Who voiced Pretender Jazz?

[griffin]

Until we get some word back from Hasbro that this Q&A program is still happening, there is no point in posting your questions at this time. It's difficult to not appear impatient, but if Hasbro have indeed decided it is against their best interest to continue, the false hope of posting your questions here will just get most of us upset and lash out here or to Hasbro. Neither of which would do us any good, as Hasbro would have more reason to distance itself from us.

Remember, it is their right to stop doing the Q&A program at any time.

I'm just not getting any replies to my emails to see if there is a problem, or if this is still going ahead. I've offered to them several times now that if the number of Qs every month is just too much, we can cut back, as this program is for our benefit as much as it it theirs. Not to mention that we get so many more Qs to submit than the Global/US Fan forums do - something I was at pains to make sure Hasbro knew we were grateful for.

If I do get confirmation that it is continuing, then you can start posting questions again. But until then, it's best to suspend this, or we'll have a lot of people venting their frustrations - and I don't want to be the one caught in the firing line trying to stop it.

[Kyle]

Hasbro AU has abandoned us. *Sob*

[1orion2many]

:)I'm going to post a question just in case you get an answer back Griffin. Do you get fed up with the negativity that is seen on a lot of boards towards Hasbro in general and then the same people singing the praises of Takara/Tomy.:cool:

[griffin]

This topic is open again for business. For a couple days at least.

[llamatron]

Q) Given that the Transformers Collector's Club is supposed to cater for all international fans, is it possible for Hasbro to apply a bit of pressure to make it more international friendly? (Current problems include overcharging on postage for the magazines, huge delays in announcing Botcon dates and locations and not accepting online registration and payment for Botcon).



NOTE: someone may want to try and reword that question or add to it. I believe it's a pretty big problem but unfortunately seems to be one that Fun Publications love to ignore.

[griffin]

Emailed to Hasbro today are the January Qs:

1 - Are the Toys R Us exclusive Universe Darkwind and Countdown being released here?
2 - Anymore word on the next lot of Universe Special Editions, that were mentioned mid last year?
3 - Is Universe Unicron still not intended for release here?
4 - Will Hasbro AUS be directly importing Takara's new Masterpiece, Grimlock, like the Ultra Magnus and Prime/convoy with trailer, which were available in Target?
5 - Given that the Official Transformers Collector's Club acquired an international license to prevent anyone else from setting up an official club outside of America, is it possible for Hasbro to apply a bit of pressure to make it more international friendly, and fairer to non-Americans, who pay twice as much, for less access to the discounts (the convention), and getting overcharged on shipping of items (they re-charge customers that are under-charged, but don't refund when they overcharge by a greater amount). The offer made to them last year to help administrate a local branch here on their behalf, still stands, as an incentive to keep the local non-American members in the club. But the excessive profiteering on shipping last year was the last straw with the local collectors, and many will not be renewing their membership this year if they don't feel like they being treated as part of that 'American' Collector Club.
6 - Do you get fed up with fan boards being generally pro-TakaraTomy and negative towards Hasbro?
7 - Why reuse the name "Universe" for the current "Universe" line? The two lines aren't related in terms of concept and storyline.
8 - Who is responsible for the poor pairing of names to toys that aren't featured on a cartoon or movie? I understand that certain names need to be re-used to keep ownership, but the thing that made the original series work so well was that the names reflected the alternate mode or an element or ability of the character. Why can't the people at Hasbro at least allocate the names you need to keep, to more applicable toys/characters?
9 - Is there a reason why Hasbro glue the plastic bubbles to the deluxe sized toys instead of taping them to the cards like TakaraTomy do? It makes it easier to open and remove the plastic without damaging the backing card.
10 - Apart from these Q&A's and the occasional online collector survey at the US Hasbro website, how else do Hasbro/TakaraTomy get feedback from their customers? Ever considered a feedback form inside the toy packaging, to post back or answer online? Otherwise, only the more serious collectors who are online ever give their feedback, and they are the small insignificant portion of your customer base.

(the other 2 questions are administrative questions relating to Toyfair and this website, that won't be posted publically yet)

Questions that didn't make the cut this month, that may be considered next month:

Will Animated Arcee finally give fans an accurate Generation 1 form

are we getting any other targetmasters in the universe or 25th ann. line? or head / power masters?
or breast masters. A Universe version of Lio Kaiser

Do Hasbro (or TakaraTomy) still have the moulds for Reflector and the three incarnations of Powerdasher? (Just about all the other Diaclone and Micro Change Transformers have been reissued, and these ones in particular are often missing from G1 collections because of their mail-order nature. A Reflector or Powerdasher set would be perfect.)

1. Does hasbro recieve feedback, (ie good or bad) about all their present repaints of old molds?

with the Timelines re-release of the Seacons boxset, will we see any more G1 combiner teams being released? Perhaps a G2 Stunticon boxset?