October Q's for Hasbro (closes 5th Oct).

[Tommy K]

darn a day late, ah well i only wanted to ask them this question

will there be any more anniversary beastwars toys comming out?

[roller]

Q:
Can we have all the Original Transformers Toy commercials released on DVD?

[jaydisc]

This round is closed folks.

[griffin]

Just emailed in the first submission to Hasbro.
The following are the 20 Qs sent in. Apologies to anyone who feel that their reworded question misses the point of their original wording. I did contact people I did major re-writes to, and if you feel your question is not being properly asked, resubmit it in the next month. Any questions missing this month will be carried over to the next month (posted in the first topic).

1 - Are there any plans for a global competition next year for Transformers 25th, along the lines of the one run for My Little Pony's 25th Anniversary?
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2 - Would Hasbro US consider doing an 'international themed' line (or redecos) of Tf's, and include at least an Australian themed/redeco toy?
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3 - Are the plastic bubbles on carded figures made from plastic that can be recycled?
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4 - Are Hasbro aware of the noticeable increase in quality control issues (weak plastic, messy paint aps, etc) being found by collectors and even reported to Hasbro Customer service in the past, and if so, are there plans to rectify the problem or is this just a result of sourcing more affordable production methods to offset higher production costs (and as such, won't be changing any time soon)?
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5 - Are there any plans to bring over more Japanese Takara exclusives, like Masterpiece Convoy and Ultra Magnus?
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6 - Are we likely to see more Machine Men/Gobots homages, like the Fracture/Crasher figure?
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7 - Is there an update on the creation of a Hasbro AUS online store, as it was last mentioned at Toyfair to be likely by the end of this year or early next year?
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8 - Is there any way we can get in a 'collector quantity' (couple hundred) of the toys not released in Australian retail stores, either directly through Hasbro AUS or through an independant toy importer with Hasbro AUS's help?
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9 - Is it possible to have an Australian-based Official Collector Club, or does the Official one in America cover all international jurisdictions, preventing a local one?
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10 - Regarding toy instructions, I find the original G1 style of instructions, which also give written descriptions in each transformation sequence, far far easier to follow than the current picture only instructions. With the modern TFs toys, being more and more complex to transform, could this be passed on and reviewed by Hasbro US, to help make it easier for the general consumer?
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11 - With the advances that Lego has had in their Technic range and also the mecha-like and popular exoforce series which can all create fully transformable vehicles if engineered correctly, (the parts in their catalog are more than capable of fully articulated robots), would a series of licensed Lego transformers be considered, as opposed to Hasbro's own attempts at competing with Lego with its own version in the past?
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12 - Are robot points ever going to be seen or used again?
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13 - Will the Universe Special Edition toys (Optimus, Megatron, Dragstrip, Overkill) be a general release in Australia, available to all stores, or be a store exclusive, and what sort of approximate price range can we expect?
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14 - The 25th Optimus toy is being released here in late November, will more of the 25th wave of the Universe product line (deluxe, legend, etc) start shipping at that time as well?
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15 - What will Hasbro Australia be doing this year to prevent a repeat of last year's shortage of Transformers toys last Christmas, which saw empty shelves in most stores from November to late January, (because of Hasbro America under-estimating their own demand, preventing retailers here and in other countries from being able to rely on supply from their Hasbro branches)?
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16 - Was Hasbro AUS aware of all the Target Exclusive MP04 Masterpiece Convoys found to have missing parts, that were even emailed to Customer Service (without reply)? Were they excess stock from TakaraTomy, which could have included returned stock from JP retailers because they were defective/missing parts?
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17 - Do you know if TakaraTomy are going to continue releasing reissues in their Encore line, or how long they plan to continue that series?
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18 - What is the inspiration (if any) behind the vehicle modes chosen for the Marvel Crossover Transformers?
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19 - Are any of the following US store exclusives being released in AUS stores?
Optimus Prime Vs Crumplezone (CYB Leader Vs Voyager repack) (US Costco/AUS unknown)
Battle for the Cyber Planet Keys (Deluxe 5-pack - repack) (US Sam's Club/AUS unknown)
Freeway Brawl (Battle Scene 2-pack) (US Target/AUS unknown)
Battle Over Mission City (Battle Scene 2-pack) (US Target/AUS unknown)
Bulkhead (Voyager) w/ Autobot Jazz (BBat) (repacks) (US unknown/AUS unknown)
Optimus Prime (Voyager) w/ Autobot Ratchet (BBat) (repacks) (US unknown/AUS unknown)
Animated Optimus Prime Vs Blackarachnia (Deluxe repacks) (US Walmart/AUS unknown)
Animated Prowl Vs Megatron (Deluxe repacks) (US Walmart/AUS unknown)
Stealth Lockdown (redeco) w/ Optimus Prime & Bumblebee (Leg repacks) (US Target/AUS unknown)
Rescue Ratchet (redeco) w/ Prowl & Starscream (Leg repacks) (US Target/AUS unknown)
Gunbarrel (Basic Decepticon) (US Target/AUS unknown) (EN Tank)
Decepticon Reverb (Basic Decepticon) (US Target/AUS unknown) (EN Jet)
Backtrack (Basic Autobot) (US Target/AUS unknown) (CYB Motorcycle)
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20 - Have any of the following AUS release details changed since the last update?
The Legacy of Bumblebee (3xDeluxe Autobot) (US Walmart/AUS Kmart Sep/Oct)
Crankcase (Deluxe Decepticon) (US Walmart/not here)
Decepticon Fracture (Deluxe Decepticon)(US Walmart/not here)
Breakaway (Deluxe Autobot)(US Walmart/not here)
War Within Grimlock (Titanium Autobot) (US TRU/not here)
War Within Prowl (Titanium Autobot) (US TRU/not here)
Bulkhead (Leader) w/ Bumblebee (Act) (repacks) (US TRU/AUS TRU Oct)
Megatron (Leader) w/ Starscream (Act) (repacks) (US TRU/AUS TRU Oct)
Unicron w/ Dead End (Supreme 'Decepticon' - repack) (US TRU/not here)
Nemesis Prime (Universe/Classics Voyager Decepticon) (US SDCC/AUS maybe in 2009)
Skywarp (Titanium Decepticon) (US SDCC/not here)
Minicon 12-pack (US Kmart/AUS Kmart Oct)
Leadership Team/Special Team Leaders (Legends 5-pack) (US Target/AUS Target Oct)
Aerial Rivals Team (Legends 5-pack) (US Target/AUS Target Oct)
Standoff Beneath the Streets (Comic 2-pack) (US Target/AUS TRU Sep)
Autobot Ambush (Comic 2-pack) (US Target/AUS TRU Sep)
Optimus Prime Vs Megatron (Classics 2-pack repack) (US KB/not here)
Premium Ironhide (Movie Voyager) (Not here)
Premium Blackout (Movie Voyager) (Not here)
Premium Megatron (Movie Leader) (Not here)
Premium Optimus Prime (Movie Leader) (Not here)

Some of those questions are fishing to see what scope we have with this, but most should get some sort of answer, even if it is a partial answer limited by what they are allowed to publically admit to.
Fingers crossed though. Hopefully we get a response within a week or two. I'll disceminate the answers here and the relevant news sections when I do get them.

[jaydisc]

8 - Is there any way we can get in a 'collector quantity' (couple hundred) of the toys not released in Australian retail stores, either directly through Hasbro AUS or through an independant toy importer with Hasbro AUS's help?

This is a great idea. Boy that would be awesome. But I suspect highly improbable.

[Paulbot]

This is a great idea. Boy that would be awesome. But I suspect highly improbable.

SDCC Alternator Nemesis Prime and Rodimus both made it here in these kind of small numbers to limited stores...

[griffin]

Exactly. There were about 200 Alt Rodimus toys imported to Toyworlds in Brisbane. I want to get that sort of thing happening with all other figures not released here. I probably should have mentioned this precident in the Qs submission, so that they don't just dismiss it lightly.

[jaydisc]

My bad. My reaction was to the 'direct from Hasbro' part. I missed the indy shop part.

[griffin]

No probs, as I'd prefer to go through Hasbro, as it would probably be cheaper and easier to source items direct from the source.

[jaydisc]

Perhaps you just need to setup the appropriate business entity Griffin, making yourself, or OTCA, THE indy shop.