Hasbro bans KOs & 3rd party goods at Botcon

[SharkyMcShark]

I don't think that that would qualify as a symbiotic relationship - you can't get Mindwipe direct from retail anymore, you'd be buying him from a fellow fan or Internet reseller, so it's not like Hasbro would be part of the transaction. Skyhammer is newer so you may have a bit more luck with him but the point still stands.

Even if head robots were making a run of 10000 heads, which is 5-10 times as many as they make, and all of the 10000 people buying needed a fresh Skyhammer or Mindwipe it still wouldn't be enough of a profit to justify Hasbro shoe horning them in to one of the existing lines again.

[kup]

I don't think that that would qualify as a symbiotic relationship - you can't get Mindwipe direct from retail anymore, you'd be buying him from a fellow fan or Internet reseller, so it's not like Hasbro would be part of the transaction. Skyhammer is newer so you may have a bit more luck with him but the point still stands.

Even if head robots were making a run of 10000 heads, which is 5-10 times as many as they make, and all of the 10000 people buying needed a fresh Skyhammer or Mindwipe it still wouldn't be enough of a profit to justify Hasbro shoe horning them in to one of the existing lines again.

It doesn't matter if it's 2% or less. There would still be new sales that otherwise would not have occurred.

Mindwipe and Skyhammer may no longer be in retail but knowing Hasbro, they are likely to re-use the molds sometime in the future and although it may be 'minuscule' as you implied, there may still be an increase of sales due to the upgrade kit. Plus no one is saying that Hasbro would re-release those molds based on the new kit, they don't really seem to pay attention to what is released by 3rd parties anyways just that the market exists.

When 'Hot Head' was announced, the Hasbro Universe Hard Head repaints were still on shelves. After the announcement, they sold a fair bit of them and ebay prices increased considerably showing demand (even though that is secondary market).

1%, 2%? It doesn't matter, the point is that 3rd party upgrade kits do appear to promote increased demand and awareness for Hasbro products, some which would have otherwise had a long shelf life like the Universe/ROTF Bruticus Maximus repaints.

[heroic_decepticon]

When 'Hot Head' was announced, the Hasbro Universe Hard Head repaints were still on shelves. After the announcement, they sold a fair bit of them and ebay prices increased considerably showing demand (even though that is secondary market).

1%, 2%? It doesn't matter, the point is that 3rd party upgrade kits do appear to promote increased demand and awareness for Hasbro products, some which would have otherwise had a long shelf life like the Universe/ROTF Bruticus Maximus repaints.

sounds like a sound argument. If not for Headrobots, I would never have picked up Universe Hardhead.

[Paulbot]

Skyhammer is a great figure. Easily the best DOTM toy IMHO. It doesn't need to be forced into a G1 homage to be worth buying.

[kup]

Skyhammer is a great figure. Easily the best DOTM toy IMHO. It doesn't need to be forced into a G1 homage to be worth buying.

I agree, it is a great figure but since I don't know anything about the character and don't really care about the universe he is from, I didn't buy him. Now this upgrade kit gives me reason to seek him out.

sounds like a sound argument. If not for Headrobots, I would never have picked up Universe Hardhead.

When Universe Hardhead was first announced, I dismissed it as another worthless repaint but after the upgrade kit was announced, it was at the top of my list of toys to buy. Now I am proud to own him and display him in my collection.

[SharkyMcShark]

Skyhammer is a great figure. Easily the best DOTM toy IMHO. It doesn't need to be forced into a G1 homage to be worth buying.

To be fair that's akin to being least gammy in a pack of lepers.

[griffin]

1%, 2%? It doesn't matter, the point is that 3rd party upgrade kits do appear to promote increased demand and awareness for Hasbro products, some which would have otherwise had a long shelf life like the Universe/ROTF Bruticus Maximus repaints.

Those percentages might well be negligible for a general release item, even if the add-on was released during Hasbro's product's release... but I'd like to see the add-ons targeting items that shelfwarm, otherwise it's not going to be of any benefit to us & Hasbro, as stores still still be stuck with the same stock that prevents them reordering anyway. And the add-ons sometimes target limited-edition items - making it impossible for collectors of "untouched/pure" toys, to be able to afford them.
I really wanted the Henkei Wildrider, as it's the only Gen1 Henkei that I'm missing - but when the redeco Rodimus trailer add-on was released, the price jumped from a "standard" $200 to $600 overnight, and has never come back down. I was willing to allow for a desperate splurge at $200 (at a future BotCon to at least save on shipping), but not at $600.

The same happened with Classics Ultra Magnus, making it more expensive for new fans of TFs or even Classicverse, of that toy to complete the Gen1 set, which was already a hard enough toy to find due to its limited release.
I'm guessing the same probably happened with the Hardhead toy and Aerialbots, but at least with those ones and the latest "Headmaster" add-ons, less newbies were likely to come back to them, as the Movie toys aren't as popular as Classicverse. Most of those who will be fighting over those toys on the secondary market will be those wanting to modify them with these add-ons.

Some fans will indeed benefit from the add-ons enhancing their toys, but others will suffer from paying out more for those toys, especially if they don't intend to get the add-ons.

[kup]

Some fans will indeed benefit from the add-ons enhancing their toys, but others will suffer from paying out more for those toys, especially if they don't intend to get the add-ons.

I cannot argue against that, it is a perfectly reasonable and valid point but like all things in life there are always some who benefit and some that will not.

With just the Upgrade kit, the Shadow Scythe set was valued to around $1000 so it's not just the buyers of official toys that miss out due to demand but a bit of a universal circumstance.

I have too missed out on official toys which value was drastically increased due to demand from high end collectors which were committed to pay a premium. Those official toys didn't necessarily need a 3rd party upgrade to drive their value up. It can happen to anything regardless of 3rd party upgrades or not, it's all about supply and demand.

[Prowl]

The same happened with Classics Ultra Magnus, making it more expensive for new fans of TFs or even Classicverse, of that toy to complete the Gen1 set, which was already a hard enough toy to find due to its limited release.

That alone should be a signal to Hasbro that there is market demand for certain lines to be rereleased such as Ultra Magnus, Ironhide, Ratchet & Skywarp being prime examples.

Then again if Hasbro did UM properly in the first place then 3rd parties would not have made kits to do the original mold justice.

[kup]

That alone should be a signal to Hasbro that there is market demand for certain lines to be rereleased such as Ultra Magnus, Ironhide, Ratchet & Skywarp being prime examples.

Then again if Hasbro did UM properly in the first place then 3rd parties would not have made kits to do the original mold justice.

I totally agree with what you are saying about Ultra Magnus but I am unsure of what you mean with the other characters as Has-Tak-Tom has done a decent Ironhide, Ratchet and Skywarp already.