It would be nice if HasTak considered the fans more however we are only a small part of the market.
What they should do is just release smaller amounts in the waves and then have a second run if need be.
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It would be nice if HasTak considered the fans more however we are only a small part of the market.
What they should do is just release smaller amounts in the waves and then have a second run if need be.
Rank 8 - Multi-Section Mod
That was true ten years ago, but now it's a fallacy. We're a whopping great big part of the market, and common sense dictates that if 80% of people posting about a leaked toy say that it looks like utter poo then it is idiotic to put that toy more than one-to-a-case.Originally Posted by LordCyrusOmega
Rank 9 - Board Staff
Agreed
I think one of the key factor when it comes to shelfwarming is how long the figure has been out and how many are available.
Some shops will simply order to much and when they put more out on the shelves they are the same figures that took ages to sell before.
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Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
As a retailer myself, I've noticed a significan problem with the case lots themselves.
Take for example the recent Thor movies toys:
1x Loki
1x Odin
1x Frost Giant
3x Lightning Clash Thor
3x Battle Hammer Thor
3x Sword Spike Thor
While unconfimed, Wave 2 looks like it will be
1x Volstagg
1x Hogun
1x Frost Giant
3x ??? Thor
3x ??? Thor
3x Sword Spike Thor
Can anyone see at problem yet?
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
Hasbro consistently states at BotCon that fans (the ones who post on boards, attend BotCon for the weekend, etc) make up, at most, 10% of their total customers. We are still a relatively minor side of sales to them, and as long as Bumblebees and Optimus Primes are still selling, they will continue to make them, despite how much we may protest.
The issue comes more when hasbro places its bets on a character that flops (eg: RotF Skids), or a minor character that already has plenty of saturation (eg: Movie Ironhide).
In Australia I'd say adult fans are more important (as hasbro AU has stated that Generations sells faster/better than HftD & RtS), but worldwide (which is what Hasbro US cares about) fans are a small percentage.
Yeah - that is a little ridiculous, and is inevitable when your cast of characters is small, but way too weighted on the wrong side. Luckily Transformers aren't quite at that stage yet.
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
While adult collectors have significantly increased lately, I'd say we're still a minority. Albeit a sizable minority. Big enough that Hasbro ought to pay attention to us, but not so big that they should cater to our needs over that of the majority demographic (children).
Having said that, a lot of the crappy gimmicks that Hasbro chucks into their TF toys (e.g. electronic "Try Me!" features) are more to impress retailers rather than kids. Kids will buy well made toys regardless of gimmicks and even in the absence of a TV show or movie to promote it. Look at how Robots In Disguise just flew off shelves months before the TV show aired on TV here. Same with G1 -- by the end of 1984 the Transformers franchise had grossed over US$1.4 million in the US making it the most successful debut toyline in history (not sure if that record's been beaten since or not). And a lot of that success would have come from the toys' own merit.
IMO a good Transformer toy is one that appeals to both children and adult collectors alike; one that looks good and is fun to play with. And I reckon these are the toys that tend to sell better... the shelfwarmers are the ones which lack appeal to either demographic (either through design or other factors like with the delayed release of Legends Devvie -- most adult collectors already imported the Japanese version, and most kids aren't consciously thinking about ROTF at the time since it was a year after the film came out).
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there isnt enough thors.... hehe i do understand that thor is "the main movie guy" but why cant they just 2 pack the entire wave... most people are going to atleast want a loki or a frost giant to combat thor.. its rediculous case packing..
Rank 8 - Multi-Section Mod
The whole point of this thread is that Hasbro doesn't have a clue. Find the last time that Hasbro said that at BotCon, because I'm pretty sure it's still the same regurgitated made-up statistic from years ago. Fans are not a negligible percentage of the Transformer-buying public, and the fact is that a crap toy is a crap toy. If collectors think a toy is rubbish, why force it upon kids? By releasing shelfwarmers, Hasbro is just ensuring they lose repeat purchases from kids who feel ripped off that they got a crap toy like Sea Attack Ravage.
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The thing is that this is a relatively small sample size to the hundreds of thousands of kids out there who just want a transformer. While the collector market for transformers is huge, the general sales market for transformers has got to be much bigger. so considerations of what the fans want while important to hasbro, surely can't be a guiding light to their decisions, especially given how so many posts, especially overseas have traditionally been picking on the negatives and why nots. it's only in more recent times that the fandom has become more reasonable and this leads to a broad spectrum of yes no maybe, I'll have to see it for myself first. That's not a lot of help.
I so totally wish this had happened in my home town back then.+ G1 1986 Kup (plastic wheels): Hasbro's? They must have overproduced this toy, because by the end of that year stores were trying to flog them off at $5 a pop. My mother went and bought a whole load of them - I got a Kup, my brother got a Kup and every kid who received a birthday and/or Xmas gift from us got a Kup!!
I personally think the asking price on these was just too high, yes they are targeted at collectors, but seriously, they didn't cost that much 20 years ago, and given that manufacturing techniques have improved soooo much, the enjoyment value of a re-issue sky lynx, next to a brand new classics deluxe at a quarter or less of the price, is questionable. The first I saw of the hasbro/takara re-issues was a hot rod for $25 in a TRU, I snapped it up without even thinking twice. later I saw others, skids, Inferno, around the $60 - $70 mark, just un-justifiable. I bought Metroplex and Omega Supreme through BBTS but only on a massive clearance sale.
Honestly I think all these products suffered first and foremost, by just looking crap. regardless of whatever reasons were given, or how well the idea "fit the movie" A monkey devastator and ravage that transforms into a ball, are just not cool. What parent is going to buy a crazy robot monkey, or strange HR Gieger inspired dog, when right next to that is a really cool dumptruck, or audi, or ice cream truck at a fifth of the price. These three are just unfortunate by products of the difficulty of transposing some of the movie designs to toys.
I think repaints of certain figures is a good idea, especially since for HasTak, it's making the most of a mold. they could quickly get to the piont on repaints, where it's OK if stuff goes for a relly low price as they paid for design and production on the first paint scheme and every cent is pure profit. I do agree though that certain figures would sell better, if just re-released, ie Jazz and tracks, while others like all the iterations of ravage from rotf, could have been totally skipped.
[QUOTE=gdmetro;231748]But isn't the goal to sell as much as possible?QUOTE]
Absolutely, the more sold the more profit, as I said above, there would be much higher profit margins on repaints as well, and I think we are starting to see HasTak be a lot smarter with repaints, ala Tracks and Wheeljack. As we've seen with recent releases, there is an element of poor timing in ordering, long packing prime and bb is a standard practice as they are popular characters, and I'm sure you will see them move, maybe not straight away but over a couple months.
Don't forget, products don't have to move the day after they are shelved. We see things we are desperate for moving from shelves, and we grab stuff as soon as we see it, but parents are only going to buy for birthdays and Christmas. which means apart from christmas and mid year sales, there is a general lull on shelves through the rest of the year.
I think True shelfwarming, ala Supreme devastator, rotf ravage etc, is a combination of low appeal, high price, and in some cases over ordering and poor timing.
there are several steps in the developing, ordering and store purchasing process that are judgement calls that can sometimes be way off the mark.
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
I think in general by the time that a toy is leaked, the case assortments have already been worked out (as the factory is producing the toy) so fan reaction isn't going to make much of an impact.
From a purely subjective point of view (I have no facts to back any of this up): I think that ugly toys don't sell that well and I don't think TF toys in robot mode don't sell as well as ones in vehicle mode. ROTF toys that are packaged as their ugly (subjective) robot modes tend to double the effect.
Look at ROTF Wheelie -- and if you've forgotten, go look at your local Target there's probably still a few on the shelf two years later. The other toys on sale with him (Sideswipe, Smokescreen, Breakway, Rampage, Sideways, Skids) were all much more appealing vehicles: why would a kid, parent or collector pick the ugly robot thing over one of them? If Wheelie had been sold in vehicle mode I think it would not be shelfwarming as badly. Being cramped up in robot mode in package didn't help either. Nor did Hasbro help themselves by overestimating the appeal of Wheelie in the movie (everyone will love the way this little robot calls Mikaela a bitch and then humps her leg right?)
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