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View Full Version : Australian Toyfair this weekend (4-7 Apr), we will be there, so post your Qs here.



griffin
3rd April 2008, 01:03 AM
The Annual Australian Toy, Hobby and Nursery Trade Fair is on this weekend (Friday 4th to Monday 7th April) in Melbourne (Convention Centre), and provided there are no unforeseen circumstances preventing it, Paulbot, Demonac and I will be there to hopefully get some photos and info on the Transformers toys to be released in Australia this year.

The AUS Star Wars collector website gets in every year as media, so I contacted the organisors and asked if we could get in as well. They said yes, and I wanted to take at least one other person with me, to not be selfish, and in case there is someone at the Hasbro display refusing to still have anything to do with me personally (I don't want that to prevent you guys from getting photos and info, so Paulbot and Demonac can do the interviewing).

I'm taking my notebook/laptop computer with me, and hoping to do some live coverage Friday morning (we will only be there on the Friday), posting here with the news and photos (if we are allowed to by Hasbro) as soon as possible.

If we get to ask them questions, is there anything in particular you guys want us to ask? (we will probably give them a checklist of known upcoming items, to confirm/update what is going to be released here).

Post here your questions before the end of Thursday, and we will try to ask the Hasbro reps (if we get to see them).

Soundwarp
3rd April 2008, 06:15 AM
So no Supa nova then........

You got a laptop????

All i want to know is future G1 stuff and homage G1 stuff?

TheDirtyDigger
3rd April 2008, 06:41 AM
I know a couple of registered traders I was hoping to tag along with but I think the weekend is going to end up too busy.
Good luck to you guys that are going...
It will definitely be interesting and exciting to see what's coming out early.:)

iceburn
3rd April 2008, 07:32 AM
have fun guys... and looking forward to the photos :P
i think the other guy suitable here should be STL or Borgeman

benben2142
3rd April 2008, 08:13 AM
What about brisbane toy fairs,it's always got to be melbourne or Sydney, no fair

TheDirtyDigger
3rd April 2008, 08:28 AM
It's a trade fair benben. Not open to the public so you wouldn't get in even if it was right next door to you.

i_amtrunks
3rd April 2008, 08:44 AM
There are a few things I would like to know, but I expect no answers for most of them.

1) What pricing will the Premium line get, regular Voyager prices, or are they going to bump them up stupidly high?

2) How long are we looking at for the Animated line? Will it be another year long line, only lasting till the '09 movie, or will it run alongside the movie, perhaps even outlast it?

3) What US toy exclusives will be available to what stores here?

4) What happened to all the excess Movie stock of Learning PC's Beamers etc?

5) Why does Hasbro still believe we should pay double the US price when the Australian Dollar is no longer worth $US0.50?

As I said, I expect to have no answers given, but I appreciate the asking!

1orion2many
3rd April 2008, 09:28 AM
:)Have they got another line in the works, something aimed at an older fanbase as the Transformer animated is really aimed at dragging in the younger audience to start a new and upcoming fanbase.:confused:

STL
3rd April 2008, 09:28 AM
Bah! You guys should've let me known earlier. I had been asked if I wanted to go again (I went last year) but declined b/c it's quite boring going by yourself and all you have is looking at toys you won't be able to get for several months. But if I knew you blokes were going, I'd have made plans to go too. Bugger.

sifun
3rd April 2008, 09:44 AM
I have been there twice before, when alternators and armada were first around.
The yellow alternators tracks got stolen so they lack displays now a days.

Would someone be able to pick me up some gundam catalogues? they're free at the stalls that distribute the kits. :) they're pretty to look at

And they usually don't like people taking photos. So do it while they're not looking!! :D

autobreadticon
3rd April 2008, 10:05 AM
awesome stuff, alot of pictures thanks :D

griffin
3rd April 2008, 12:22 PM
Soundwarp said:

So no Supa nova then........
You got a laptop????

I'm only away for the friday (leave on first flight, back on last flight). If I am not working on the Saturday (I'll know about 11pm Friday night), I can meet up with you, but with no one else showing any interest, you'll have to do some serious convincing to get me into a non-TF event at their admission price.
Laptop - yes. A few weeks ago for my trip to BotCon. I hate having to chase up public access computers at odd hours while there, or make you guys wait until I get back three days later. I want to be able to post reports and pics while I'm there. And hopefully this year I can do that (but it'll be a bit of a trial and error process this year though).

STL said:

Bah! You guys should've let me known earlier. I had been asked if I wanted to go again (I went last year) but declined b/c it's quite boring going by yourself and all you have is looking at toys you won't be able to get for several months. But if I knew you blokes were going, I'd have made plans to go too. Bugger.

Sorry about that. I do feel bad about this looking like exclusivity or favouritism, but it was just to make sure I could get in at all. I remembered that someone here had posted before about being to one, but couldn't remember who (I thought is might have been Paul, but it wasn't). I don't know how restrictive they are on allowing 'public' in, so I didn't want to broadcast this too early this year, in case I had a heap of Melbourne fans wanting to tag along who could end up being stopped at the door. The idea was to get in this year with at least one other, and get an idea of how easily we could get a group of us in, in future years. Registration may have been quite easy, but I get the impression that if you register as a retailer or media to get in, you could me asked to prove it (if they feel like it). I can do that with my registered business, and claim that a certain number of 'staff' are there with me. But unless I know how restrictive they are at the Toyfair, I wouldn't be sure how many others I could cover. I'd love to get more fans in, if there is a chance to get a first hand look at future toys, but I want to make sure we don't all get refused access because we show up as a 'crowd of fans' to a *Trade Show*.

Sifun said:

Would someone be able to pick me up some gundam catalogues? they're free at the stalls that distribute the kits. they're pretty to look at
And they usually don't like people taking photos. So do it while they're not looking!!

I'll try to remember to look out for gundam catalogues.
As for photos - I've been trying my best in the last 7 years since the last naughty thing I did against Hasbro, to keep Hasbro happy, so any photos taken and posted, would be done so with their permission. I don't want this to be a one-off opportunity, so if I posted anything they don't want posted, I won't have any chance of going to Toyfair again.

Tetsuwan Convoy
3rd April 2008, 01:18 PM
2) How long are we looking at for the Animated line? Will it be another year long line, only lasting till the '09 movie, or will it run alongside the movie, perhaps even outlast it?

5) Why does Hasbro still believe we should pay double the US price when the Australian Dollar is no longer worth $US0.50?


They are pretty my questions too!:D

Cheers Trunks

STL
3rd April 2008, 02:51 PM
No worries, Griffin. I'd only really want to go if a few forum members were. No fuss. Like i said, my experience last year wasn't that thrilling. I imagine it'd be much more fun w/ others. But yeah, let myself or others know next time as we've got other ways of getting in. I could probably still organise it both w/ footy and teaching over the weekend combined w/ job apps, i'm pretty flat out. :(

As for my questions, i'm a bit worried about Classics. I hope they don't get shafted b/c of Animated. I'd love to see them here but for some reason why that they might feel we're not a big enough market to support three lines of TFs on the shelves at once.

And of course, there's always that issue of price.

roller
3rd April 2008, 04:07 PM
any filler lines planned after Universe Wave (2?) ?

SofaMan
3rd April 2008, 04:48 PM
Actually, even though it may put noses out of joint, I'd like an answer to the pricing question as well. I'd like to see them justify the price-gouging.

autobreadticon
3rd April 2008, 06:32 PM
hay Griffin, much appreciated if you could get some info on when premiums are being released in Oz and ask if the U.S release animated toys early than the allocated deadline, would Australia retailers except earlier release dates as well?

Demonac
3rd April 2008, 08:00 PM
Pricing was something I brought up last year on the Hasbro tour at Botcon.
Their answer was that the prices are not set by them, but by Hasbro AU. So it will be interesting to see what they say.
And to be honest, as long as TF's are selling the way they are down here, Hasbro have no reason to lower prices.

roller
3rd April 2008, 08:07 PM
also wouldnt hurt to ask for some Aust.exclusives

Vector Sigma 13
3rd April 2008, 08:21 PM
Good luck guys, i look forward to hearing about your adventures.

griffin
4th April 2008, 03:50 PM
Back at Demonac's place right now (couldn't gain access to the wireless internet at the convention centre), so will post a couple of the really juicy photos in a few minutes, and the rest when I get home in 6 hours from now (this new computer I took with me doesn't yet have all the programs I need to edit the photos and transfer them to my server). Back in a few minutes in a new *Global* news posting.

roller
4th April 2008, 03:56 PM
take yo time no rush


drink demonac brand cogniac

autobreadticon
4th April 2008, 10:15 PM
good work, you put ozformers on the map for sure now :)

Pulse
4th April 2008, 10:34 PM
Hell, at one point I saw 78 guests. Is that a record?

STL
4th April 2008, 11:08 PM
79 for this board. At around the movie last year on the old board, i think we got to 121.

Pulse
4th April 2008, 11:16 PM
We're up to 90 guests!

I wonder what the record will be when you check tomorrow...

TheDirtyDigger
5th April 2008, 05:24 AM
152....iss all dose Americanos.

lcz128
5th April 2008, 06:57 AM
damn- How DO you guys get invitations and that stuff to go to these shows? I have wanted to go for ages now but obviously, it's not that simple ;b Thanks so much for the sweet pics though :D

And yeah - my biggest thing is when will we be getting premium down here :) And that sweet stealth bumblee too :D

iceburn
5th April 2008, 10:48 AM
i think you can go if you have your own ABN i think.
you can say you have a store/business...

griffin
5th April 2008, 07:19 PM
Registration and entry was surprisingly easy. We didn't need to prove who we were or what we were there for. I covered our bases by registering as both media (this website is after all media), and as a former retailer (I used to import and distribute TFs stuff years ago as a registered business).
Getting in others in future years could be just as easy, but I think if too many of the public tried to get in, they could put a stop to it, because they would get in the way of the corporate attendees who are there to conduct business.
When one of our vid clips are put online by Paulbot, you should get an idea of how cramped the space was in the Toyfair, and if the Hasbro reps lose business because a crowd of fans are blocking access to their customers (the retailers), they could quite easily prevent everyone from entering. So to make sure that doesn't happen, next year we could try to coordinate small groups of fans taking turns, so that we don't all try to squeeze in en-masse, and get on Hasbro's bad side.

Pulse
5th April 2008, 07:25 PM
152....iss all dose Americanos.

I didn't want to mention anything until the hoopla had died down but this past 24 hours has made me think about how different people percieve the extra attention. I mean, all this international exposure has increased traffic 100 fold (or something like that) while at the same time I bet griffin's server surely felt the hit.

In another way, having all these guests having a looksee is akin to a tonne of people walking around your home. I mean, Ozformers feels like it's our second home (well, atleast to me it does :p) & having that many people walking through it feels a little weird.

Please don't flame me guys :D but I'm pretty sure other people know what I'm getting at.

dirge
5th April 2008, 08:44 PM
It's a double edged sword.

Extra exposure on international boards can help OzFormers reach those in its intended audience who may have neglected to notice, for whatever reason.

On the other hand, the board isn't really set up for the traffic generated by the international "hoardes" (so to speak).

STL
5th April 2008, 09:44 PM
Extra exposure on international boards can help OzFormers reach those in its intended audience who may have neglected to notice, for whatever reason.
.

And I'm one of those who joined up because of that. I didn't realise this board existed till there was a link from seibertron.com way back when. from that point, i lurked for quite a while.

I don't mind the extra attention as long as it doesn't slow our board up i don't mind. it helps get us out there and maybe reach more Aussie fans like myself. All good. Plus it's temporary. Most folk won't come back as the convo here is pretty tight knit.

roller
6th April 2008, 12:01 AM
exactly its temporary

we are at the edge of the world after all

TheDirtyDigger
6th April 2008, 04:44 AM
And I'm one of those who joined up because of that. I didn't realise this board existed till there was a link from seibertron.com way back when. from that point, i lurked for quite a while.



I didn't realise any board existed and thought I was the one and only TF collector in the world until eBay seller, TurboNegro, pointed me at Ozformers.

Just glad I've found other freaks and angry loners to share my bizarre robot fetish with.;)

I love youse guys!:)

EDIT: Next year I'll make sure I take the time out to get the Toyfair one way or another and I promise to share whatever I pilfer.

griffin
6th April 2008, 08:42 AM
EDIT: Next year I'll make sure I take the time out to get the Toyfair one way or another and I promise to share whatever I pilfer.

I hope you're only kidding there. If anything were to go missing while we are there, or shows up later in the hands of one of our fans who was there, Hasbro would refuse us access every year after that. They take a big risk having non-retailers accessing their future product (it would have been easy to pinch something small), and I don't want to do anything to jeapordise this long term opportunity we have with Hasbro.
It's not worth the risk to grab something that will be available in a few months time anyway.

autobreadticon
6th April 2008, 08:55 AM
Griffin i enjoy your coverage, cant wait if you do, your botcon coverage ^^

TheDirtyDigger
6th April 2008, 06:22 PM
I hope you're only kidding there. If anything were to go missing while we are there, or shows up later in the hands of one of our fans who was there, Hasbro would refuse us access every year after that. They take a big risk having non-retailers accessing their future product (it would have been easy to pinch something small), and I don't want to do anything to jeapordise this long term opportunity we have with Hasbro.
It's not worth the risk to grab something that will be available in a few months time anyway.

Uhhhhh yeah....I was just joking of course.:D




(oops:o)

Pulse
6th April 2008, 07:46 PM
... I lurked for quite a while.

So, you're admitting you were basically a stalker. :D

Reminds me of this kid in my year in highschool. Brad N_____ walked in this Female Teacher's footsteps around the school. Therefore his nickname became "Stalker". :p

Ah, Highschool was a fun time.

GoktimusPrime
7th April 2008, 08:49 AM
Demonac has been a member of OzFormers since the 1990s (attended meets, conventions etc) yet he only made a board account a few months ago - now that's serious lurkage! ;p