Fan-backed Hasbro project: Unicron

[griffin]

What I don’t understand which someone can perhaps explain to me, is why producing only a certain amount and charging near $600US would be preferable to the companies rather than mass-producing it and charging a lower price.

I mean, this is yes the biggest official TF toy ever produced to my knowledge, but it’s not gigantic in the grand scheme of plastic toys. And plastic and screws only cost so much. And this is a figure I could see a massive proportion of the fandom and even toy collectors in general wanting. So if the main cost is the design, why not mass-produce the hell out of it, stick on a more realistic price tag and make it available worldwide?

I'm hoping that Hasbro America comes to it's senses and allocates stock to other countries, including ours, but the massive size of this toy would never be profitable to Hasbro if they tried to sell it through retailers and online stores just to get the production numbers up.

With Hasbro selling these, it cuts the price by about 35-40% as retailers and online stores mark up by the usual* 50-60% (or more to cover the risk of a more expensive item)... plus the extra expense of shipping to the retailer/online store from Hasbro, before it is then shipped to the customers.
(the "usual" 50-60% markup is taken from wholesale price listings I have been sent in the past, which follows most retailing markups, having the wholesale price being a little under 2-3rds of the retail price)

As such, a US$575 toy from Hasbro would need to be sold to retailers and online stores for less than US$345 (which would include shipping to the retailers, as the US$575 price includes shipping to customers from Hasbro). So for online stores to sell one and add on shipping to their customer, it would need to be even cheaper than US$345 from Hasbro to come to less than US$575 (including shipping) from an online store. And to get to a cheaper price at retail or online store, you just have see that Hasbro would have to sell it for significantly less than US$345 in order for a retailer or online store to sell it for significantly less than US$575.
I think it would need to be at least half the current price for a significant number of people to buy it for a more general release, but then Hasbro probably wouldn't be able to produce it at a profit.
I imagine that these would be the things that their accountants would be working out beforehand, in order to determine what is a minimum price to make it profitable and then adjust the price up according to how many people would be expected to buy one - if their bosses say that they need to raise at least US$4.6 million before it goes ahead, and lets say that it would cost them at least US$400 per unit to produce to cover all expenses and minimum profit (this is not the actual figure, but I'm just using it as an example, based on MP-44 Optimus having an estimated US$260 wholesale price for it to be US$440 at Ent-Earth, and Unicron is a lot bigger), then they would have needed to sell 11,600 units at that price to raise the same amount. Maybe they assumed that number was too big a goal to reach at that price, so reduced it down to a goal of 8,000 backers, which raises each unit to needing US$575 to make it happen.
(if my estimate for a wholesale price of US$260 for MP-44 is close, it would make it really unlikely that Hasbro could produce Unicron to sell to retailers for less than US$400, which would then mean a retail price of over US$600 - my guess is that people at Hasbro worked this out, and realised that to make it more affordable to fans, they would need to sell it themselves)

[danny-boy]

Exclusive interview with John Warden. Pretty much confirms this is a Masterpiece Unicron. Also the teeth can be shown or hidden.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ISQKvz5o4b4

[DELTAprime]

I'm hoping that Hasbro America comes to it's senses and allocates stock to other countries, including ours, but the massive size of this toy would never be profitable to Hasbro if they tried to sell it through retailers and online stores just to get the production numbers up.

~snip~

If Lego can sell the UCS Millenium Falcon globally, and at retail, then really Hasbro should be able to sell Unicron in the same manner. Have you ever held that box? It's not small or light.

[Other]

That's not really a good comparison, Lego has been selling direct to consumers all around the world for coming up on nearly two decades now which is huge amount of time to work out how to do it best, Hasbro's been doing it consistently for like one or two this go around and only in two countries in North America. That UCS Falcon is also made from dozens of mass produced preexisting parts massively reducing development risk. It's also a big 'status symbol' product that brings together two of the most well known and beloved brands to exist, it's a safe bet for retailers. This new Unicron is real fancy but in the eyes of the world he just doesn't compare

[Sinnertwin]

I was thinking on my jog tonight, if you're a silly billy like me paying half a grand for another MP Optimus, value wise Unicron is much better. YMMV

[Sinnertwin]

BBTS have also opened up their preorders for him at $775.
I expect other stores to jump aboard soon to boost backing.

[griffin]

Obviously for those outside america, or those in america who miss the cut off... but the hasbro pulse site says limit of 5 which seems stupid for preventing online stores from buying up a heap to then sell off with a payment plan... which I'd go for if it wasn't too much more.

[Sinnertwin]

Im beginning to think that this project will go ahead regardless if BBTS are offering up to 10 units per customer per preorder.

[DELTAprime]

Obviously for those outside america, or those in america who miss the cut off... but the hasbro pulse site says limit of 5 which seems stupid for preventing online stores from buying up a heap to then sell off with a payment plan... which I'd go for if it wasn't too much more.

I noticed the 5 Unicron limit. It actually says "5 per transaction". So if BBTS wanted to buy 50 Unicrons it sounds like they would just need to place 10 orders.

I'm actually considering ordering him from BBTS.

[BigTransformerTrev]

I'm hoping that Hasbro America comes to it's senses and allocates stock to other countries, including ours, but the massive size of this toy would never be profitable to Hasbro if they tried to sell it through retailers and online stores just to get the production numbers up.

With Hasbro selling these, it cuts the price by about 35-40% as retailers and online stores mark up by the usual* 50-60% (or more to cover the risk of a more expensive item)... plus the extra expense of shipping to the retailer/online store from Hasbro, before it is then shipped to the customers.
(the "usual" 50-60% markup is taken from wholesale price listings I have been sent in the past, which follows most retailing markups, having the wholesale price being a little under 2-3rds of the retail price)

As such, a US$575 toy from Hasbro would need to be sold to retailers and online stores for less than US$345 (which would include shipping to the retailers, as the US$575 price includes shipping to customers from Hasbro). So for online stores to sell one and add on shipping to their customer, it would need to be even cheaper than US$345 from Hasbro to come to less than US$575 (including shipping) from an online store. And to get to a cheaper price at retail or online store, you just have see that Hasbro would have to sell it for significantly less than US$345 in order for a retailer or online store to sell it for significantly less than US$575.
I think it would need to be at least half the current price for a significant number of people to buy it for a more general release, but then Hasbro probably wouldn't be able to produce it at a profit.
I imagine that these would be the things that their accountants would be working out beforehand, in order to determine what is a minimum price to make it profitable and then adjust the price up according to how many people would be expected to buy one - if their bosses say that they need to raise at least US$4.6 million before it goes ahead, and lets say that it would cost them at least US$400 per unit to produce to cover all expenses and minimum profit (this is not the actual figure, but I'm just using it as an example, based on MP-44 Optimus having an estimated US$260 wholesale price for it to be US$440 at Ent-Earth, and Unicron is a lot bigger), then they would have needed to sell 11,600 units at that price to raise the same amount. Maybe they assumed that number was too big a goal to reach at that price, so reduced it down to a goal of 8,000 backers, which raises each unit to needing US$575 to make it happen.
(if my estimate for a wholesale price of US$260 for MP-44 is close, it would make it really unlikely that Hasbro could produce Unicron to sell to retailers for less than US$400, which would then mean a retail price of over US$600 - my guess is that people at Hasbro worked this out, and realised that to make it more affordable to fans, they would need to sell it themselves

Thank you for that explanation

BBTS have also opened up their preorders for him at $775.
I expect other stores to jump aboard soon to boost backing.

Obviously for those outside america, or those in america who miss the cut off... but the hasbro pulse site says limit of 5 which seems stupid for preventing online stores from buying up a heap to then sell off with a payment plan... which I'd go for if it wasn't too much more.

Yes if only there was a lay-by option with the online retailers where you could pay off a certain amount each month. I can't justify shelling out so much in one go but if I could pay off $100 a month then I could swing it. I wonder if BBTS would be open to the proposition.