|
|
Post by Philip Ayres on Mar 2, 2012 11:30:41 GMT
So... TF4 is being released juuuust in time to utterly kill whatever 30th Anniversary line hasbro deems fit to give us, just like TF2 came out just in time to killed the 25th anniversary line (Which got only two waves, while the GI Joe 25th line lasted over a year) Universe, if that's what you're refering to (and if not what?) lasted considerably longer than 2 waves of toys, even in the UK. |
|
|
|
Post by Toph on Mar 2, 2012 12:26:50 GMT
So... TF4 is being released juuuust in time to utterly kill whatever 30th Anniversary line hasbro deems fit to give us, just like TF2 came out just in time to killed the 25th anniversary line (Which got only two waves, while the GI Joe 25th line lasted over a year) Universe, if that's what you're refering to (and if not what?) lasted considerably longer than 2 waves of toys, even in the UK. No, the 25th Anniversary was a subset of Universe. They used Universe as the brand to sell in, but each one was packaged as 25th Anniversary. And it lasted all of two waves. Cyclonus, Hound, Dinobot, and Cheetor were just about all we got. (I forget who the others were). It's an easy to overlook, because it wasn't heavily promoted. But GI Joe basically does the same thing. This year is the 30th anniversary, and they just rolled the Renegades figures into it. (A mishmash of Renegades and non Renegades fillers until the movie line) You actually have to look on the back of the package to see that it's a special Anniversary line. They did the same thing with Universe in the TF 25th. But Hasbro didn't shut down the non-movie joe Anniversary line, like they did TF. Doubly irritating because they decided to do things other than realistic vehicles, which is what made the anniversary line special. Finally, variety. |
|
|
|
Post by Philip Ayres on Mar 2, 2012 12:48:35 GMT
I didn't know that about the 25th anniversary stuff but having trawled ebay quickly there's a lort of exclusives branded as 25th anniversary in the Universe line: Asda 2 packs, TRU Ultras, Minicon multi & single packs, reissue Perceptor & the Insecticons....
I'm also finding product with and without the stickers for it on!
|
|
|
|
Post by The Doctor on Mar 2, 2012 21:14:21 GMT
I got the impression the '25th' sticker on TF stuff was just some branding on figures that happened to be released that year rather than an actual specific line. Whereas the 25th Anniversary GI Joe stuff was clearly branded and marketed as its own line.
And we were never told of a 30th Anniversary TF line. Deep breaths!
-Ralph
|
|
|
|
Post by Toph on Mar 2, 2012 22:27:27 GMT
I didn't know that about the 25th anniversary stuff but having trawled ebay quickly there's a lort of exclusives branded as 25th anniversary in the Universe line: Asda 2 packs, TRU Ultras, Minicon multi & single packs, reissue Perceptor & the Insecticons.... I'm also finding product with and without the stickers for it on! Well, from what I recall, Hasbro said that the deluxe Universe was specifically targeted to being 25th Anniversary, which is why they felt comfortable doing eras other than G1, as well as non realistic vehicles. The rest of it, yeah. Just a branding gimmick. And no, nothing announced for the 30th anniversary yet, but to completely ignore it would be a greater disservice to the fans and franchise, than killing it only a couple months in to pump out "MOAR MUVEE!" |
|
Hero
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
King of RULES!
Everything Rules
Posts: 7,487
|
Post by Hero on Mar 2, 2012 22:55:50 GMT
I hope there's something special for the 30th Anniversary that won't be overshadowed by "Moar Muvee". Hasbro didn't ignore the Anni for Star Wars and by assumption they won't with Transformers either.
===KEN
|
|
|
|
Post by blueshift on Mar 3, 2012 9:25:12 GMT
I think the poor performance of the DOTM line will cause Hasbro to either focus on a prospective 30th line too, or at least redesign the movie characters so we don't get a 4th line of toys that look exactly the same!
|
|
|
|
Post by Bogatan on Mar 3, 2012 9:48:25 GMT
I think the 40 odd generations next year are something of a sign that Hasbro are looking to change things up a little. And it could be that the back end or more of that line will be treated as the 30th line. Hopefully it wont go the same way as Windcharger and Frenzy etc and disappear ahead of the movie4 toy releases.
|
|
|
|
Post by Jaymz on Mar 3, 2012 13:14:47 GMT
I think the poor performance of the DOTM line will cause Hasbro to either focus on a prospective 30th line too, or at least redesign the movie characters so we don't get a 4th line of toys that look exactly the same! Hasbro said in their last quarter earnings statement that TF toys brought in $483 million and despite a drop in overall boys toys earnings, TF toys increased by 85% thanks to DOTM. I don't think they see that as a poor performance. |
|
|
|
Post by Bogatan on Mar 3, 2012 13:44:34 GMT
The line did end far more quickly than the first two though. Or it seemed to anyway.
Maybe it brought money in but not as much as expected.
|
|
|
|
Post by Philip Ayres on Mar 3, 2012 14:01:47 GMT
Hasbro UK bailed early but that was hardly a surprise. That there's product that was in the film that hasn't hit US shelves is.
|
|
|
|
Post by blueshift on Mar 3, 2012 14:55:54 GMT
I think the poor performance of the DOTM line will cause Hasbro to either focus on a prospective 30th line too, or at least redesign the movie characters so we don't get a 4th line of toys that look exactly the same! Hasbro said in their last quarter earnings statement that TF toys brought in $483 million and despite a drop in overall boys toys earnings, TF toys increased by 85% thanks to DOTM. I don't think they see that as a poor performance. That's interesting. Though that's sales to retailers rather than actual sales to customers. If the line didn't shift on shelves, retailers will order less in future. Also don't forget the figures had a massive bump in price. |
|
|
|
Post by Toph on Mar 5, 2012 2:30:18 GMT
Hasbro said in their last quarter earnings statement that TF toys brought in $483 million and despite a drop in overall boys toys earnings, TF toys increased by 85% thanks to DOTM. I don't think they see that as a poor performance. That's interesting. Though that's sales to retailers rather than actual sales to customers. If the line didn't shift on shelves, retailers will order less in future. Also don't forget the figures had a massive bump in price. This. I can't speak for over there (Or honestly very well for outside my general area), but I know for a fact everywhere I go I see the exact same lineup of DotM toys. In all the toy isles across several stores, the Transformers have been amongst the poorest moving toys. (I have my own theories why this is, but that has nothing to do with the subject) Retailers will not be seeing it as the success Hasbro is telling everyone it is. That's exactly why the last few figures have been cancelled, because the retailers are tired of it, and want to move on. |
|
kayevcee
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
The Weather Wizard
Posts: 5,527
|
Post by kayevcee on Mar 5, 2012 18:28:27 GMT
Transformers was actually a large and steady seller in Toy's'r'us at Christmas, or at least in my branch (the only one I can speak for). I kept hearing that the line was doing poorly and wasn't that well received but that wasn't my experience at all. While I was in Iowa in the summer I remember massive TF displays (Wal-mart had a whole aisle for the first fortnight the movie was out) and they got cleared out pronto, with only the unpopular dregs (figures that weren't in the film, Bumblebee variant #7 etc) remaining. The only thing that stopped TF owning the summer was Cars 2, which is just a juggernaut. It might be that Hasbro shot themselves in the foot Mattel-Batman style with the 1,001 flavours of Bumblebee idea. The leader-class sold extremely well in our shop (better than Sentinel Prime) but the deluxes, aka the meat of the range, tended to have 2-4 Bumblebees per case and by December I was literally spreading the less popular Bumblebee variants across all the pegs first before putting the new figures out on top of them to save customers from having to dig. So... yeah. That's my diagnosis. Bumblebee fatigue killed the DOTM deluxe lineup. Stores didn't order more figures because their stock computers said each store still had dozens and they weren't shifting, because they were all Cyberfire Bumblebee*. -Nick *Incidentally, our entire DOTM, indeed Transformers, deluxe selection at Toy's'r'us is currently 7 Cyberfire Bumblebees next to 4 pegs of Legions, 80% of which are Bumblebee with various different chest markings. |
|
|
|
Post by Philip Ayres on Mar 5, 2012 19:25:25 GMT
Does this sort of left over info get back to Hasbro?
|
|
kayevcee
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
The Weather Wizard
Posts: 5,527
|
Post by kayevcee on Mar 5, 2012 20:17:04 GMT
I assume it must, although the responses from toy companies seem to vary. Mattel don't seem to give a toss, and are quite happy to let shops drown in unpopular Cars characters. Ban Dai are the only company I've seen take positive action concerning unpopular figures, when they issued a recall on all the unsold Swampfires and Chromastones from the first wave of Ben 10: Alien Force. They were left over because each case contained one of each of Ben's 10 new forms and two of these guys (who were not the most popular of the 10). It was many moons ago, but I think our store alone sent back 90-odd unsold figures representing at least 80 cases worth of chaps.
Hasbro seem to be somewhere in between. They've never recall anything, and they do occasionally put line-killers in their boxes in large numbers as anyone who remembers the Wheelie Blight of 2009 will agree. However, they do put out revised case assortments with more popular characters in them and they sometimes make completely revised assortments available to large retailers- like the 'Christmas waves' of A/E/C deluxes that would come into Toys'r'us that contained all the early wave figures in one box.
-Nick
|
|
|
|
Post by legios on Mar 5, 2012 20:27:49 GMT
I think that DOtaMan has generally done well in the large specialised stores, but my experience was that in supermarkets it went a little like Animated - sold incredibly quickly when it was marked down but didn't shift well at full price. But this may be a regional thing.
I do think that Bumblebee fatigue hurt the deluxe range. Even when they released the first wave it was noteable that 'Bee was the guy who was being left on the shelves, even before we got to the Cyberfire version. (The Voyager Shockwave and Sentinel Prime have stiffed badly mind you - they seem to be everywhere at the moment, in very large numbers).
Karl
|
|
|
|
Post by Toph on Mar 6, 2012 0:25:53 GMT
Since the conversation has drifted to why DotM seemed o be a flop anyway, I'll add my own two cents.
I honestly feel it was a number of reasons (No particular order, only numbering them to keep track for myself).
1- Too strong a focus on Bumblebee. Yes he's popular. Yes it's important to make sure Bumblebee is always accessible to kids. But this is over the top.
2- Too strong a focus on offscreen characters. Not that offscreen characters are bad, but this was so much that several key characters didn't get toys at all.
3- Limited variety. Both in alt modes, and color. When you look at a display, you see a sea of dark colored cars, and almost nothing else. Even formerly brightly colored characters, such as Sideswipe (Silver is bland, but it does pop), Skids, and Jolt are now very dull, or black colors.
4- Almost no decepticons. There were hundreds of decepticons in the movie, but barely more than a dozen released. I know from first hand experience that kids prefer heroes, and on top of that there are parents who refuse to buy a villain for their child (Have witnessed this on a few occasions), but come on. Those types are still the minority. Batman is completely worthless without his rogues gallery.
5- Size and cost. Hasbro's TF team seems to be genuinely falling out of touch with collecting trends. When other markets are focusing more of their resources on producing smaller toys, as well as collectors and kids both demanding smaller, cheaper product, Hasbro had an amazing opportunity to revitalize the entire brand, but didn't.
6" action figures used to be the staple of all action figures, and all toy companies. But now it costs nearly $20 usd for one, almost all across the board. Other brands are scaling back production on them dramatically, if not dumping them outright, yet Transformers seems to be going about it ass backwards.
Why? They think that a line they gave absolutely no support to, failed. The Scouts, in RotF/HftD/RtS. Bumblebee has appeared multiple times in every single price class Hasbro has, except Scout and Voyager. The scouts were cheap enough to be impulse buys, and large enough to be a satisfying toy. The deluxes, now costing the equivalent of a BW Mega, are now in begging territory.
I think hasbro's biggest failing with DotM is not restructuring the entire franchise with Scouts as the backbone.
Characters that previously would be deluxe toys would now be scouts (Movie Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Barricade; G1 Prowl, Jazz, Ironhide).
Deluxes would be scaled back dramatically and include characters who were previously voyager material (Movie Ironhide, Ratchet; G1 Optimus, Shockwave)
Voyagers would still have a place, and would be used largely how they are now. The larger characters (Movie Optimus, Sentinel; G1 Grimlock, Jetfire.
And the Legends being used pretty much as they are. But with the renewed decress in overall scale, they would be now appropriate for the smaller characetrs, like the G1 minibots, and be far more compatable with the mainline.
But ultimately, I think what lead to the poor performance of DotM is the combination of all these things.
|
|
|
|
Post by Philip Ayres on Mar 6, 2012 7:41:04 GMT
Hasbro seem to be somewhere in between. They've never recall anything, and they do occasionally put line-killers in their boxes in large numbers as anyone who remembers the Wheelie Blight of 2009 will agree. However, they do put out revised case assortments with more popular characters in them and they sometimes make completely revised assortments available to large retailers- like the 'Christmas waves' of A/E/C deluxes that would come into Toys'r'us that contained all the early wave figures in one box. Many years ago, c2000, Discount Toy retailer Toy Stack got solid cases of Beast Wars Claw Jaw & Cybershark which, if you remember, redefined the term Shelf Warming in the UK and nothing has ever got close to impersonating since. Well apart from BW Inferno. BW Scavenger. Armada Scavenger. Energon Ironhide & Treadbolt..... |
|
|
|
Post by mabus1984 on Mar 11, 2012 1:02:17 GMT
I think the 40 odd generations next year are something of a sign that Hasbro are looking to change things up a little. And it could be that the back end or more of that line will be treated as the 30th line. Hopefully it wont go the same way as Windcharger and Frenzy etc and disappear ahead of the movie4 toy releases. What do you mean Windcharger disappear??? I seen plenty of them and only yesterday i still saw four for sale in a certain toy shop - though price 10 quid each, which was the same price they were charging for the Universe Galvatron/Acid Storm/Sidewipe i bought off them yesterday - and they still have more of them along with Ironhide and Silverstreak. It's like a timewarp lol and that they have somehow become shelf-warmers!  |
|
|
|
Post by Philip Ayres on May 1, 2012 18:28:02 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by Philip Ayres on May 2, 2012 6:24:42 GMT
That Magnus is rather nice!
|
|
|
|
Post by The Doctor on May 2, 2012 7:11:45 GMT
And not a white repaint. Hurray!
-Ralph
|
|
|
|
Post by glaug on May 2, 2012 7:14:54 GMT
Frankly, Magnus is a nicer use of the mould than Prime.
|
|
Dezzeh
Thunderjet
Wait, what?
Posts: 4,886
|
Post by Dezzeh on May 2, 2012 7:57:58 GMT
Words cannot describe how much I love the look of the new FoC line.
|
|
|
|
Post by Andy Turnbull on May 2, 2012 9:03:48 GMT
Likewise.
Spiffy looking stuff.
Andy
|
|
Jim
Thunderjet
Micromaster Backside Monitor
Now in glorious Ultra HD 4K
Posts: 4,916
|
Post by Jim on May 2, 2012 9:30:18 GMT
I'm finding Fireflight particularly intriguing. Never would have guessed they'd go for something like that from the Shockwave mould.
And are my eyes deceiving me or is Sideswipe an incredibly extensive retool of Jazz?
(also, all this photoshop filtering is getting out of hand. I feel I have to squint at pics like these to know what the figure's like.)
|
|
|
|
Post by Philip Ayres on May 2, 2012 9:35:52 GMT
It is apparently!
|
|
|
|
Post by glaug on May 2, 2012 12:25:07 GMT
If I'm making it out right, Sideswipe's not a massively extensive retool; head, front car section, and gun, that's it. It's just very effective!
|
|
|
|
Post by Philip Ayres on May 2, 2012 16:20:14 GMT
|
|
