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Thread: The Little Toy Company Website

  1. #461
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    Quote Originally Posted by jaydisc View Post
    but unfortunately, it seems like virtually all of our resellers suck at this. On top of that, a fair chunk of the community is unreasonable in their expectations and demands, and that can sometimes clog up the communication pipe even further (although that's not an excuse).
    If TLTC would have just responded to my enquiries of "when item X and Y was going to ship?" then I'd probably still be preordering from them. Personally, when they were responding to me I'd email them about an order I'd get a date and then only bug them again when it went past that date. Also, I'd ask here as much as possible to avoid emailing TLTC.

    Quote Originally Posted by jaydisc View Post
    So yeah, if I was still a reseller right now, I'd be pretty up front that the March date for big Powered is Takara's Asian release date, along with the fact that it's always at the end of the month, and I'd probably also buffer it with another 60 days. I'd also have a blog, or Twitter feed where I regularly posted updates like:
    That would be completely acceptable to me. The lack of communication is why I'm upset at TLTC and other Australian retailers.


    Quote Originally Posted by jaydisc View Post
    So yeah, TLTC should know better than posting a date of March for Big Powered without a bit more qualification. They're mismanaging expectations. But anyone here with a slight understanding of these realities could probably give them a bit more breathing room, regardless of that lack of clarity.
    If I just could get a realistic date I'd be a bit happier.

    As for these distribution issues. I really think the toy industry could take a few lessons the video game industry of a decade ago. Millions of massive boxes of plastic instruments, night vision goggles, heavy art books and other stupid collectors editions would turn up in stores week after week for the day one release of each game. No waiting 6 months for your most anticipated game to turn up at your local store. If the videogame industry can figure it out there's no reason HasTak can't.

  2. #462
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    Quote Originally Posted by DELTAprime View Post
    As for these distribution issues. I really think the toy industry could take a few lessons the video game industry of a decade ago. Millions of massive boxes of plastic instruments, night vision goggles, heavy art books and other stupid collectors editions would turn up in stores week after week for the day one release of each game. No waiting 6 months for your most anticipated game to turn up at your local store. If the videogame industry can figure it out there's no reason HasTak can't.
    Presumably, you're referring to Hasbro Australia, and yeah, I think we all know how shit they are. One only has to look for Siege at the major retailers for an example of this. Although, to be fair, I don't know the cause - maybe it's not them? Maybe the major retailers aren't buying it? It's hard to know from the outside.

    Nonetheless, I agree, that'd be great. But I think the size of the video game industry dwarfs the size of the toy industry.

  3. #463
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    I'm generally thinking it's the major retailers just not wanting to cater to the Transformer fan.
    Case in point, I've checked the stock levels for Transformers lately looking for any of the large SIEGE toys and they've just let the Transformer sections empty out without restocking.

    I've only had one direct dealing with Hasbro Australia and it was not resolved to my satisifaction.
    When I purchased my CW Inferno, I tried to assemble the megagun as shown on the outside of the packet, only to discover you can't do this with the included DINOBOT/Volcanicus foot modules!
    So I promptly sent the product back to Hasbro with a detailed explanation of the problem (with pictures and diagrams) and insisted they give me a replacement one with the correct modules.

    What I got in return was the exact same product with the same incorrect part.
    My next step was simply to take it back to Kmart, get store credit and use that as part payment for a large Lego set instead.

  4. #464
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tilarta View Post
    I'm generally thinking it's the major retailers just not wanting to cater to the Transformer fan.
    Case in point, I've checked the stock levels for Transformers lately looking for any of the large SIEGE toys and they've just let the Transformer sections empty out without restocking.
    Actually, we know that Hasbro AU has been having distribution problems which has been frustrating everyone to no end. It's not the stores.

    Take it from someone that works retail, if a store didn't want to stock Transformers they wouldn't leave the section empty, they would put something else there instead.

  5. #465
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    Quote Originally Posted by DELTAprime View Post
    Actually, we know that Hasbro AU has been having distribution problems which has been frustrating everyone to no end. It's not the stores.
    ...and yet you’re not willing to extend the same understanding to TLTC? “It’s not the stores”... except TLTC? I’d note that communication from major retailers tends to be pretty poor with regards to what’s going to be in stock and when as well (albeit without a pre-order model - it’s not a perfect analogy).

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  6. #466
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    Quote Originally Posted by M-bot View Post
    ...and yet you’re not willing to extend the same understanding to TLTC? “It’s not the stores”... except TLTC? I’d note that communication from major retailers tends to be pretty poor with regards to what’s going to be in stock and when as well (albeit without a pre-order model - it’s not a perfect analogy).
    Problem is TLTC has taken my money and then not communicated when my products will actually arrive when asked. If they would just say something like "thanks for your enquiry. Product X will arrive around date Y" then I'd be willing to trust them more. Grant it unlike PC, TLTC has always come through, but I never have any clue as to when I will get my product.

    When I have asked for a refund so I can take my business elsewhere they again don't respond, remind you of another company? So I'm stuck waiting on my last preorder with them and just hoping I get it sometime this decade.

    Also, I had no idea HK distributors have been stiffing people on orders for years. That's the type of thing people need to know before ordering.

  7. #467
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    That's the major reason I prefer to deal with Minotaur Entertainment for preorders or orders in general.
    If the product is delayed, all I have to do is send them an email or call them and they'll explain the reason, then state the revised delivery date.

    As long as I know the product is coming, I don't mind the date being moved around.
    But not giving information at all and just leaving me wondering if it's coming at all is not exactly good business.
    For example, if the preorder takes too long, I would just cancel it and go elsewhere to find the product.
    Like say, if I see the toy in the local stores after the missed delivery date......

  8. #468
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    I think we all understand that distribution can be a clusterbeep that is largely out of retailers' hands.

    Hasbro/TLTC is not a useful comparison though. Hasbro doesn't retail directly to the public.

    TLTC does. If I place a preorder and it hasn't arrived three months after the date I was originally given by TLTC, sure, it may not be their fault that the product is delayed. But if I email them multiple times asking for updates because they haven't communicated anything about the delays and their website still shows the original date - and every other store in the country received their stock on time - I think I'm entitled to consider that bad service.

    This isn't an occasional thing, this is apparently an ongoing issue with the way they run their business. We always hear that they're just a dude in his garage or whatever, don't expect Amazon-level service. Sure, that's fine. But if you don't have time to respond to emails from your clients when they're saying "hey, you keep ignoring me and I want to know what's up with all that money I sent you in June" then you have some issues and you need to make some changes. Maybe that's extra staff, maybe that's limiting your stock levels so you don't have so much to deal with. Maybe it's both those things, or something else - finding alternate channels for acquiring your stock, etc. But it's bad form to take your customers' money and then ignore them (and I'm not suggesting that they never respond to queries, but I think we've seen enough reports of poor or non-existent communication to agree that this is a thing).

    I have bought from them on eBay many times and been happy with their service and prices (on in-stock items). I won't be buying directly through the website again though, and I'll think twice before shopping in their eBay store too. That's a bummer because yay for supporting local businesses, but it's hard to do that when they can't reliably provide the service we're paying them for.

    People say "I'm patient, I can wait" and that's cool, sometimes, yeah - you don't mind waiting a few extra months as long as you get the product eventually. But maybe their stock falls through or they're shorted and allocated half the stock they need to fulfill preorders, and you're stuck with an aftermarket hunt and inflated prices because every other store sold out months ago. That's just not really how I want my collecting to run.

  9. #469
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    That’s fair, Maruten. I think that TLTC are limiting pre-orders until stock is confirmed and in-bound in the hope that those concerns of them having people’s money with nothing to show for an extended period, which people do get antsy about, especially in light of PCs behaviour. Those changes can take time though.

    I think at this point, people should know they can shop at traditional retail or larger online retailers if they want a different kind of service to what smaller retailers can offer or are offering.

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  10. #470
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    I just received an assortment of toys from the Little Toy Company (all preorders). Haven't been let down so far, though often after release date.
    On the lookout for MISB Headmaster Highbrow, Takara or Hasbro. I'm sure I could make you a sweet deal!

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