Transformers questions by newbies, and not-so-newbies

[kup]

Kup, your examples are terrible - 'Steelcore' and the Four Horsemen toys have production runs so small that they're not even a blip on the number of Power Core Combiners that sold at retail. If Hasbro had only sold that many of each PCC then they would have cancelled Transformers as a toyline altogether.

Perhaps but I still believe that a good toy will sell itself regardless of the fiction behind it or even production numbers - Crap toys would not sell well on their own regardless of the number produced.

It's not just other companies in which we have seen good toys sell without any real fiction or character recognition behind them. We have seen a fair few mainstream released Hasbro toys sell really well regardless of character recognition such as some of the non-movie ROTF toys and even some from DOTM line.

[GoktimusPrime]

I'm sure paying RRP+ would not have improved their likability?

Indeed. I personally gauge the value of a toy according to its RRP, because that's what the average consumer would expect to pay. Of course any toy is better value if you can get it below RRP, but RRP is the 'standard' by which I think value should be measured against, because it's what HasTak sets and expects retailers to charge for those toys.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Perhaps but I still believe that a good toy will sell itself regardless of the fiction behind it or even production numbers - Crap toys would not sell well on their own regardless of the number produced.

It's not just other companies in which we have seen good toys sell without any real fiction or character recognition behind them. We have seen a fair few mainstream released Hasbro toys sell really well regardless of character recognition such as some of the non-movie ROTF toys and even some from DOTM line.

I disagree on this. The non-movie ROTF toys were still under the name of "Transformers" and so they rode the wave of the movie line. They also had the same aesthetic as the other toys in the line. PCC didn't, they were a bit all over the place. I only have 2. Smo(u)lder beacuse I wanted to see what they were like (crap) and he was another evil 'rescue vehicle' and the Dinobots, coz they are DINOSAURS!

I suspect that in general retail there are 2 main factors that sell a toy.
1. It's license (story/fiction/character)
2. Price.

People will buy toys if it is a known character and they dont have to be good toys. Have a look at the Batman and Spiderman toys that came out for the recent movies. They were CRAP, especially the Batman ones. But they sold because of the license.

If a toy is cheap enough, then parents don't really care what it is, as long as Jr wants it. But of course cheap toys are generally not good ones.

Collectors will buy a good toy without any fiction behind it, but the general people won't.

[Bidoofdude]

I have a question regarding G1s. Should I start big and get the major ones, working my way down in size/price/rarity etc, or should I work my way up, starting with minibots and such, then cars and so on? Which is more effective in the long run?

[loophole]

I have a question regarding G1s. Should I start big and get the major ones, working my way down in size/price/rarity etc, or should I work my way up, starting with minibots and such, then cars and so on? Which is more effective in the long run?

Get whatever you want i would always suggest getting any stuff thats going to knocked off sooner that way you know you have an original and just keep an eye out for the good stuff, otherwise you might miss out on a sweet deal if your not collecting that specific transformer at the time...

[Demonac]

I have a question regarding G1s. Should I start big and get the major ones, working my way down in size/price/rarity etc, or should I work my way up, starting with minibots and such, then cars and so on? Which is more effective in the long run?

Neither. Just be opportunistic. And expect it to be expensive & time consuming.

[SuspectimusPrime]

Get whatever you want i would always suggest getting any stuff thats going to knocked off sooner that way you know you have an original and just keep an eye out for the good stuff, otherwise you might miss out on a sweet deal if your not collecting that specific transformer at the time...

Neither. Just be opportunistic. And expect it to be expensive & time consuming.

I agree with both Sweet deals only really come along because you've spend a helluva amount of time looking for them at a helluva different sources.

[GoktimusPrime]

I disagree on this. The non-movie ROTF toys were still under the name of "Transformers" and so they rode the wave of the movie line. They also had the same aesthetic as the other toys in the line. PCC didn't, they were a bit all over the place. I only have 2. Smo(u)lder beacuse I wanted to see what they were like (crap) and he was another evil 'rescue vehicle' and the Dinobots, coz they are DINOSAURS!

I suspect that in general retail there are 2 main factors that sell a toy.
1. It's license (story/fiction/character)
2. Price.

People will buy toys if it is a known character and they dont have to be good toys. Have a look at the Batman and Spiderman toys that came out for the recent movies. They were CRAP, especially the Batman ones. But they sold because of the license.

If a toy is cheap enough, then parents don't really care what it is, as long as Jr wants it. But of course cheap toys are generally not good ones.

Collectors will buy a good toy without any fiction behind it, but the general people won't.

Consider the following:

* The first series of Transformers toys in 1984 reaped US$1.4 million and breaking the record for most successful debut toy line -- this was in the year when TF fiction was at its infancy (and most folks outside of the US hadn't been exposed to the cartoon yet)

* Some G1 toys that little to no canonical appearances sold better than others which had a lot. I recally Hubcap selling pretty well - they even did him again in G2. On the other hand Kup shelfwarmed so badly, I managed to get mine for $5 from Grace Bros. Wheelie was a bit of a peg warmer too even though he appeared _very_ prominently in Season 3.

* Beast Wars similarly experienced massive toy success when the toy line debuted. It lifted the Transformers franchise up from near-extinction after G2, become the 3rd best selling boys toy in the U.S. after Toy Story and Star Wars -- this success prompted Hasbro to commission Mainframe to animate a cartoon series. And again, some of the more popular toys were ones that didn't appear in the cartoon -- like Shadow Panther! I remember walking into a Itoyokado that had just restocked, picked up a Shadow Panther for another collector, then I decided to go back a few hours later to buy another one for myself to keep sealed -- all sold out! This was in Saitama... do you think there'd be a lot of gaijin scalpers in such an inakamon area?? Transmetal 2 Cybershark also received rave reviews and he never appeared in the show (an overrated toy though IMO, but popular).

* Remember when Robots In Disguise first came out here? The cartoon wouldn't be airing on Channel Ten for months later, but during that initial period when toys were on shelves but there was no TV show to support it, the toys were flying off shelves!

I'd like to cite Classicsverse as another example too, but one might argue that since it's inspired by G1 it doesn't really count. But look at other toy franchises like Lego... when I was a kid there was no such thing as Lego canon. It was just Lego. And most of my friends and I were collecting toys long before we ever saw them in comics or the cartoon. There's no denying that media has a big influence on promoting the toys, but a well designed toy can sell well on its own merit. A lot of toys have sold well without promotional media; e.g. original G.I. Joe, original Barbie, Play-Doh, slinky, Nerf etc.

Conversely I only ever bought a few Star Wars figures when I was a kid -- as much as I loved the Star Wars movies, the action figures were only ever just "okay" to me. :/ And my favourite figures weren't even the major or popular characters in the films, they were the ones that appealed to me most as toys. Believe it or not, but my favourite Old Skool Star Wars figure was the AT-AT Commander! My favourite droid was R5-D4... and all he ever did in the film was blow his motivator! But as a toy I thought he was way cooler looking than Artoo Detoo! Artoo had one eye but Arfive had three -- and every kid knows that droids can shoot lasers out of their eyes! And what about teddy bears and plushies? None of mine ever appeared in any TV show or comics (other than ones I drew about them)! My favourite Transformer has long been G1 Beachcomber -- I'd decided that well before I ever saw him in any media appearance. In fact, his cartoon appearance was a bit of a disappointment, being all hippy-cool and stuff... before I saw him in the cartoon, I used to imagine him as a kick-butt fighter who could fly and shoot lasers from his arms. <shrugs>

[theheretic]

On the G1 topic, where are good places to keep my eyes on? Maybe there's a list somewhere but I haven't found it. I'm already stalking BBTS, TFsource and eBay (as best I can). Are there any other good sites?

[LordCyrusOmega]

On the G1 topic, where are good places to keep my eyes on? Maybe there's a list somewhere but I haven't found it. I'm already stalking BBTS, TFsource and eBay (as best I can). Are there any other good sites?

Robot Kingdom. Had a few transactions with them and happy each time.