Matty Collector

[kup]

I think Hasbro will eventually have some sort of online store for low-production, fan specific figures (probably more likely to be Star Wars first though), but not for a while... Not until they see how viable it's been for Matty. They're so slow to react because they fear taking risks... kinda like Hollywood.

That is exactly what I put forth to FFN when having that chat. Everything you said is pretty much spot on to what I said on my side of the discussion.

The only reason Hasbro doesn't have a Collector exclusive line outside of retail, is because they don't want to take the risk - That's it.

Hasbro may be a larger toy company than Mattel but the latter is still within the same league and it's not as if they are struggling. Mattycollector.com was probably as risky to Mattel as it would have been for Hasbro it's just that the former is not afraid to take that risk. Despite people whining about the handling of the matty website (that includes me) we still come back for more and the toys sell out within the hour because there is indeed a market for collector toys which Hasbro largely neglects.

Mattel is now barely tapping into that Market and it has turned out be be very profitable given the announced longevity of the MOTUC line. The 3rd party Transformer companies are seriously exploiting it because they have discovered it to be a largely profitable market largely neglected by the large toy giants.

[GoktimusPrime]

The only reason Hasbro doesn't have a Collector exclusive line outside of retail, is because they don't want to take the risk - That's it.

Is anyone surprised by this?

Even when TakaraTOMY produces collector-exclusive lines, Hasbro either doesn't touch them, or they modify them so that they can be targeted at kids.

e.g.

+ G1 reissues. Since TakaraTOMY's reissues are marketed at mature collectors, they're exempt from child safety laws, and thus they can have super-strong missile launchers and regular sized missiles. Hasbro insists on marketing G1 reissues at children who never grew up with G1 and thus we have things like neutered launchers or stupid looking over-lengthened missiles etc. RRP was also really overpriced.

+ Alternators. Whereas Binaltech have die-cast metal parts and beautiful paint apps and details, Alternators are entirely plastic and don't look anywhere near as nice. Alternator Smokescreen seriously looks like a KO of BT Smokescreen. RRP was also a rip-off.

+ Masterpiece Optimus Prime: smoke stacks shortened for child safety (even though they self-collapse anyway *shrug*)

+ Alternity, Sport Label, Device Label -- all collector-focused lines which Hasbro won't touch. I've heard rumours about them considering Device Label, but not sure if that's been confirmed...

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<puts on Devil's Advocate hat>

It could also be pointed out despite Takara's greater focus on collectors and Hasbro's lesser focus on collectors, Hasbro has enjoyed greater corporate/financial success (although being "Toy Microsoft" helps). We know that about 10-11 years ago Takara began experiencing considerable financial difficulty and was considering declaring themselves bankrupt.

But the fact is that in 2006, Takara merged with former-rival company TOMY. Because Takara had been experiencing financial woes for 6 years before the merger, a lot of people (including some people in the media) assumed that it was a takeover of Takara by TOMY, but Takara actually had significantly higher sales than TOMY between 2003-06, and apparently both companies had discussed merging for quite some time, long before it actually occurred.

So one could argue that Hasbro has survived with their conservative "keep it for kids" attitude, whereas Takara experienced hardships with their riskier "let's appeal to collectors" initiatives.

</hat>

[kup]

<puts on Devil's Advocate hat>

It could also be pointed out despite Takara's greater focus on collectors and Hasbro's lesser focus on collectors, Hasbro has enjoyed greater corporate/financial success (although being "Toy Microsoft" helps). We know that about 10-11 years ago Takara began experiencing considerable financial difficulty and was considering declaring themselves bankrupt.

But the fact is that in 2006, Takara merged with former-rival company TOMY. Because Takara had been experiencing financial woes for 6 years before the merger, a lot of people (including some people in the media) assumed that it was a takeover of Takara by TOMY, but Takara actually had significantly higher sales than TOMY between 2003-06, and apparently both companies had discussed merging for quite some time, long before it actually occurred.

So one could argue that Hasbro has survived with their conservative "keep it for kids" attitude, whereas Takara experienced hardships with their riskier "let's appeal to collectors" initiatives.

</hat>

No one is saying that Hasbro should change their current business practices, we are talking about slightly increasing their horizons. Mattel is still a largely retail company and the Mattycollector lines are but a minuscule percentage of their business yet it is clearly a profitable one so there is no reason why Hasbro can't have one of their own other that they want to play it safe as in the extreme sense of it since for a company that large, the risk is negligible.

[griffin]

I would have thought Hasbro don't do a Collector based online exclusives concept like Matty, because they would end up competing with FunPub, who have actually paid a license to produce exclusively, Collector based exclusives.
And if Hasbro had some small run, high risk items they wanted to get rid of, they seem to find somewhere to offload them anyway. Like our Target with the JP Masterpiece toys, or Walmart for the final 2 Alternator toys. Or even the leftover SDCC Alternators that showed up at our Toyworlds and ToyKingdoms.
I think Hasbro just don't think we need one, because the brand itself generates enough interest from retailers to take on some additional extras like those. MOTU on the other hand is not in general release, so Mattel probably weren't able to get any retailer to want them.

[FFN]

Taking risks - here's the flip side: what if Mattel thought X product line, specific figures and such were too risky for a full retail production run and projections indicated not enough interest from the mass market and/or did not encounter enough retailer interest?

With Transformers specifically I can see it getting anything more than a remold or redeco if such an online store existed. Due to the cost of engineering a TF it would never happen.

One can dream though. And yes, I'd expect Star Wars to take the lead.

I don't think there's much Hasbro can do with Star Wars that they haven't already done. I could only see director-to-collector sales on stuff that has little mass market appeal.

Fans would have never dreamed of a new Millennium Falcon, AT-TE, Turbo Tank, AT-AT, Slave-1 ect a few years ago. In fact, the only things that I can see Hasbro not doing is something that is impossible to get at a certain price point or is purely impractical. I believe anything figure scale is fair game to be made perhaps one day, so long as there isn't a legal problem (see: the Tonnika sisters).

Hasbro may be a larger toy company than Mattel but the latter is still within the same league and it's not as if they are struggling.

According to at least 2009 figures, Mattel is still the largest toy company based upon revenue, and they still enjoy larger total assets. Hasbro's share price is worth almost twice as much, however, and they're slowly catching up in revenue.

I've actually discussed this with many people over the past couple of years (some of them even work for Hasbro). It's been a point of debate for some time among fans of collectible action figures.

Personally, I think it comes down to the fact that Hasbro just aren't a company that's known for taking risks... and having an online-only collector's line for adults available for only (often) one day per month, is too much of a damn risk. Of course, Mattel are known for blazing the trail somewhat, and while they certainly haven't got it 100% right yet and there are MANY issues that need to be addressed, I commend them for taking the chance.

...

I think Hasbro will eventually have some sort of online store for low-production, fan specific figures (probably more likely to be Star Wars first though), but not for a while... Not until they see how viable it's been for Matty. They're so slow to react because they fear taking risks... kinda like Hollywood.

Mattycollector.com was probably as risky to Mattel as it would have been for Hasbro it's just that the former is not afraid to take that risk. Despite people whining about the handling of the matty website (that includes me) we still come back for more and the toys sell out within the hour because there is indeed a market for collector toys which Hasbro largely neglects.

Mattel is now barely tapping into that Market and it has turned out be be very profitable given the announced longevity of the MOTUC line. The 3rd party Transformer companies are seriously exploiting it because they have discovered it to be a largely profitable market largely neglected by the large toy giants.

I think a question that should be asked is: Does Hasbro need to market directly to their collectors? From what I've seen and heard from Hasbro's designers (and specifically Hasbro's Transformers designers), they got into this business to make toys for children, to live out some sort of dream to make the things they would have enjoyed when they were that age.

What else can Hasbro make that they don't already do? We are not left wanting for products that collectors can enjoy. We are not like the MOTU fans who only have a handful of toys for a franchise that isn't going anywhere.

It also helps that many of Matty's lines (at least 4 that I can think of right off the top of my head) have Brand Managers who have "fan-boy" passion and commitment towards them. Hasbro doesn't seem to be the same.

Take it from me: In my dealings with people who work or have worked for Hasbro, I have never once questioned their personal passion for the brands they work upon or the professional commitment to them. At the same time, I don't expect them to view the brand from the same perspective as we fans do 24 hours a day, because that's their work, this is just our hobby.

The fact that their brands are doing so well is a testament to them. It is not dumb luck or the consumer not caring, tt's the hard work that Hasbro have put in.

[Sky Shadow]

We are not like the MOTU fans who only have a handful of toys for a franchise that isn't going anywhere.

They'd have to be mother#@$*!^% big hands.

[kup]

They'd have to be mother#@$*!^% big hands.

Yeah, it almost seems that every couple of days I find out about a MOTU character that I didn't previously know about and I am not exactly a stranger to the line.

The amount of characters, vehicles, beasts and potential of repaints and remoulds is considerable.

[kup]

.
What else can Hasbro make that they don't already do?

It's been brought up that Transformer toys are harder to develop and produce than MOTUC toys and I agree since MOTUC reuses a lot of parts which a transformer cannot.

How about them using a Collector site to release more 'premium' versions of their retail figures? With better paint apps and perhaps new G1 inspired accessories or parts such as a new more fan friendly head in a similar form that Botcon does. This would also include reissues and proper Hasbro releases of the Japanese collector lines such as Alternity.

In regards to FunPub, they would still have exclusive rights to their own toys since they are very 'theme' based anyways and I seriously doubt a Hasbro collector website would compete with them as long as they are not producing the same figures. I find this comparison irrelevant specially when FunPub exclusives are not exactly accessible to everyone.

A Hasbro collector focused website and lines could even take the wind out of the 3rd parties if Hasbro begins to sell upgrades and accessories with perhaps the odd completely new fan requested figure which Walmart would have never accepted.

MOTUC figures sell for US$20 and although this is typically double the price for an equivalent US retail figure, they still sell out within the hour! Some of the larger toys that cost $30-$40 still sell out within the same day! Imagine a Transformer figure with arguably double the budget to produce.

I think that at the end of the day, Hasbro has no will to do it so it's not so much that they can't but more that they won't.

[GoktimusPrime]

If they had a collector-exclusive site, then I fear the cost of those toys for non-American collectors may be prohibitively expensive. (-_-)
Perhaps it would be better if they were like Diamond Select and distributed the toys to places like retailers like Comic Kingdom, Kings Comics, Phantom Comics, Kinokuniya, Comics R Us etc. - i.e. retailers that directly cater for collectors instead of "general consumer" retailers like Kmart, Target etc.

From what I've seen and heard from Hasbro's designers (and specifically Hasbro's Transformers designers), they got into this business to make toys for children, to live out some sort of dream to make the things they would have enjoyed when they were that age.

And I think this is a really good thing. One thing that sometimes concerns me when manufacturers start making toys for adult collectors is that you can end up with really boring toys (re: inferior play value) - what Kevin Smith shamelessly calls "Inaction Figures." Having said that, most collector-centric Transformer toys thankfully retain good play value.