For those wondering if the recent (lengthy) lull in Transformers by Retailers (and Hasbro) was about to end before the Christmas period, don't count on it. I'm predicting a rather bleak Christmas this year for any Transformers collector who are unable or unwilling to import.

According to the September issue of Toy & Hobby Retailer Magazine, Hasbro Australia's top 10 toys they are pushing to retailers this year for Christmas, are...

1 - Furby
2 - Monopoly Millionaire
3 - Nerf Elite Hailfire
4 - Baby Alive Baby Wanna Walk
5 - Twister Dance
6 - Furreal Bounce, My Happy to See Me Pup
7 - Sesame Street LOL
8 - Lazer Tag
9 - BeyWheelz Crash Course Set
10 - My Little Pony Royal Wedding Castle Playset

No boys action figure Brands at all really, so the boys 7-12 demographic that buys toys most of us collect (Transformers, Star Wars, Spiderman, Marvel, GIJoe, etc), doesn't appear to be in the crosshairs of Hasbro this Christmas season.

This suggests that Retailers won't be restocking much (if at all) of Transformers (and other action figure lines from Hasbro) before the start of next year... so if you are holding out for certain figures, especially the many waves we have now missed here in the last 6 months, my advice is to consider (affordable & reliable) online sources.

The absent waves/figures may still appear here, but recent history shows that if they do, it will be in limited numbers or random stores. Because while Wave 1 still clogs the shelves (like it did for the TF3 movie), retailers won't restock if Hasbro* doesn't give them an incentive to (discounting the wholesale price for the Retailers to sell more competitively against other toylines, and most importantly against much cheaper foreign sources).
And if Hasbro is pushing those other 10 lines this Christmas, they are less likely to do any temporary or permanent price drops for Transformers (a random sale at a store for specific items or brands is often the result of a temporary price drop from suppliers - no price drop from suppliers means less chance of a sale at a store before they decide to just stop stocking a "dead" product range and just clear them out cheap).

After 2 successive years of "dead" (failed) Transformers product lines in Australia (TF3, Kreo, TFPrime - all failed to sell enough of their launch wave to prompt most retailers to restock in any significant manner, or at all, leading to clearing out at a loss)... the brand has become so "toxic" to retailers, we might see Hasbro Australia take a step back from the brand next year in this country, so that they can make sure the 2014 movie toyline gains more interest as a "return to the brand".

At least with the "break" we had after Gen1 and Beast Machines in this country, it was more because the toys themselves were uninspiring to retailers and consumers... this time, the toys are fine... it's the price and over-supply of launch waves that has done the damage in this country.
But over-supply is something that will keep happening, as toy companies want to convince retailers to buy more than they need, in case the line flops early. Because if the retailers weren't going to re-order anyway, at least the toy company sold extra units of one wave before the series was axed.


*Hasbro America would probably need to approve a drop in pricing, as their commission from any Toy sold outside of America is pricing themselves out of the local markets in those other countries... The Head Office in America needs to understand that being greedy is leading to less sales, and less profit than if they forced a smaller commission rate on the foreign branches.