The State of the Toy Business.

[Gofigure]

Hmmm, might have to watch that movie again. Haven't seen it in years!

I'm right there with chief (looks for dvd somewhere in bookcase in back room)

[DELTAprime]

As far as the toy market as whole part goes. Is it down because the global economy is? Or is down because more toy companies are making cheaper products at high prices like Hasbro is with hollow Transformers and 5 POA Star Wars figures?

[Sky Shadow]

I was at Toys 'R' Us today, and thinking how outdated Hasbro's model is in terms of case assortments. Toys that are going to be shelfwarmers are now doubly so, because toys that people actually want will be a.) bought first by people who want them, and b.) bought by scalpers to sell online. At Woolworths, if they run out of oranges, they can order more oranges. They don't have to buy the oranges in an assortment that contains one orange, two apples, three lemons and a mandarin.

[kurdt_the_goat]

$75 for tt prowl was there was haggling - perceived value for these babies have come down.

I had 2 people trying to open the linkin park Soundwave. If I had not stopped in time it will been torn open.

It went for $65 maybe? It was either Llamatron or snaketales who sold it i think.

[kup]

I was at Toys 'R' Us today, and thinking how outdated Hasbro's model is in terms of case assortments. Toys that are going to be shelfwarmers are now doubly so, because toys that people actually want will be a.) bought first by people who want them, and b.) bought by scalpers to sell online. At Woolworths, if they run out of oranges, they can order more oranges. They don't have to buy the oranges in an assortment that contains one orange, two apples, three lemons and a mandarin.

So true, they should go back to an 80s model. I remember Transformers (and other toys) being restocked at stores once sold out.

[Lint]

I was at Toys 'R' Us today, and thinking how outdated Hasbro's model is in terms of case assortments. Toys that are going to be shelfwarmers are now doubly so, because toys that people actually want will be a.) bought first by people who want them, and b.) bought by scalpers to sell online. At Woolworths, if they run out of oranges, they can order more oranges. They don't have to buy the oranges in an assortment that contains one orange, two apples, three lemons and a mandarin.

It's also a retailer problem. My local coles refuses to buy in cases of Schweppes Agrum and instead only stocks Sugarfree Agrum. Sugarfree Agrum shelfwarms like crap even when its on special. This has been an ongoing problem for nearly 3 years so they clearly haven't noticed or cared.

If Hasbro did do cases of single product types theres no stopping an ignorant retailer from ordering a boatload of crap we don't want and not learning their lesson from it. Also, with this, there is a huge risk that a particular product may not get picked up by retailers at all, so all your design and development costs go down the toilet. It's a pity that Hasbro pretty much have to tailor their product to sell to the retailer, not the end consumer.

[Sinnertwin]

Single figures, multiple figures, you're inevitably going to end up with figures that don't sell.
The key is variety. Nobody is going to be interested in a figure that has been available for the last two waves. From what i've seen, Hasbro do seem to be changing their ways... slowly.

[SharkyMcShark]

Quality has gone through the floor since 2011 to the extent that I've basically stopped collecting. I used to be a fairly broad consumer of the franchise - absolutely loved the movie line figures, didn't particularly like the Animated show but got most of the figures, and got a fair whack of the Generations/Classics stuff too, but no more.

The last six new Transformers toys that I bought and actually enjoyed were

Gen Springer (April 2013)
DoTM Human Alliance Roadbuster (Jan 2013)
MP-13 Sideswipe (mid/late 2012)
MP-12 Starscream (June 2012)
FE Prime Cliffjumper (Feb 2012)
DoTM Human Alliance Soundwave (Feb 2012)

Basically everything else I've seen from DoTM and Prime's mainline going forward has been absolute garbage to the extent that for the first time in literally about 16 years I don't even bother to keep up with what's on the horizon, what's actually coming out, and what's hot.

I don't know how much that would affect non-adult collectors but it's basically killed off most of my interest in Hasbro and Takara's stuff, and now my purchasing pattern is older figures that I missed and feel like I'd enjoy and third party stuff.

[5FDP]

The last Transformer I ever bought was Encore Fort Max. The only thing that would bring me back to collecting at this point is if they announce a MP Shockwave or reissue G1 Dinobots.

[kup]

Agree that today's toy lines are crap. Why isn't MOTU as 'mainstream' as Star Wars or Transformers these days?

Mattel - They seem to not like the line and do everything they can to knock it down. The only reason it exists is due to a couple of 'fans' within Matty that have kept it going but one of them is a total douche and that has caused problems too as he treats Matty as his own play thing so he can get the toys HE wants.