That would instantly put up the price of product more due the consumer paying for licences that would then be factored into the products cost.
Add to the fact Hasbro is massive and owns most of it's assets.
That's why bigger companies like Disney go to them to make their products.

Yeah but Hasbro isn't only "selling cupcakes to America" are they?. The fact is that the film performed much better internationally than it did stateside. If it hadn't have made as much as it did in china, it would be a massive flop.

MLP is massive. My little girl and all her mates love it. There's even a movie coming out later in the year. TF could learn a bit from how the MLP brand has been handled.

 

Don't worry, the movie is still a pretty big flop. While the studio gets the lion's share of domestic box office take the first week (theaters get a bigger cut the longer it stays playing) my understanding is that it's nowhere near as generous (for the studio) internationally. Simply exceeding the costs with the box office isn't nearly enough.

 

Have no idea how the title relates to what's being discussed. I came to see what happened to the Last Knight. We enjoyed the film. I was curious if there was something I'd missed.

 

My local cinema has cut showing times for TLK to almost zero now. They aren't making much dough from over my way. All I was saying is that it's not a massive flop. It has failed - but it will make it's money back.

 

Posts like these are the reason I spend more time on another TF forum.

 

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Nothing like corporate doublespeak to make claims that bolster investing while hiding issues. When they say sales are good on this line, what they mean are that retailer orders are good, but that's not shocking given the fact that the line hit inside this quarter. There's no actual conversation about consumer take-away because they haven't had time to look at re-orders yet, so they can say sales are good this quarter, then next quarter say it's still going because it's coasting off initial sales, and by 4th quarter sales are strong due to the holidays. It's only when we get to the first or second quarter results of NEXT year that this line will show its true issues, they can spin it as a temporary slowdown and wait until another quarter comes along that bolsters sales enough to prove value. It's similar to what they're doing with Star Wars, just keep kicking the problems down the line so investors don't notice that consumer-end sales are weakening and more product is making it to liquidators.

MAKE MORE PRODUCT PEOPLE WANT, DISTRIBUTE IT COMMENSURATE TO MARKET DEMAND, INVEST IN QUALITY PRODUCT THAT SHOWS THE LINE'S STRENGTHS RATHER THAN HIGHLIGHTING OLDER PRODUCTS BECAUSE IT'S CHEAPER, STOP WASTING TALENTED DESIGNERS' EFFORTS, STOP IGNORING THAT THE ENTERTAINMENT CONTENT IS LOSING STEAM WITH AUDIENCES. Gah!

 

This is where I stopped reading, because this is what is important. Corporate speeches that make everything sound great are what these investor meetings are supposed to be about.

 

Neospark1 is stating truth. Exacerbated truth, but this is what they have done (in most cases) to 2014 and beyond Transformers toylines. Why be apologist to a corporation that only cares about cutting every corner they possibly can yet increases the price to the end user?

 

Nice analysis. People seem to forget the business Hasbro is in. They don't sell toys to the general public, they sell toys to retailers.

 

WOW.....that is some EPIC dodging of the questions he did. I am actually impressed he was so good at it. But, sorry, this movie will not do a billion dollars like AOE did. Even thought I liked it a LOT more than AOE, its time for a reboot.

 

Elbows are for losers...

 

Somewhere else on the board someone said anticipation, and possibly attendence are down from Botcon. I guess it could be because it's not as special if it's shared.

Nothing new. I've been on this board since before the split from Transfandom, and I've always seen stuff like this.

 

The rising price of oil is a major factor in the rising prices. Hasbro isn't raising prices and cutting corners just to be greedy; oil costs more now, and there's getting to be less and less oil as the years go by. Hasbro isn't just being greedy; they're doing what they have to so they can survive as a company.

Besides, we've gotten some great toys recently. TR's a fantastic toyline that's given us great toys like Triggerhappy.

 

Yeah, right...then why didn't all plastic products seeing the same rise in prices like toys?! Stop excusing the constant deterioration of American playline toys since 2012 and ridiculous price rising in the toy indusry in general.

Triggerhappy is so hollow he could be a pretender shell!
I like TR line a lot, but I don't deny it's faults. Many TR toys suffer from thin hollow plastic which just wouldn't last in child hands. Ironically, the titanmasters are the most soild and durable since they're too small to be hallowed like the rest.

The real problem is lack of competition; we need more toy companies like in the past ! Speaking of which, does anybody here heard about Tobot? It's transformer toy done by Korean company called Young Toys, I recently saw them in an Israeli toy shop (I wonder if they arrived to the USA, as well). While they may not appeal to collectors, I think it's great toy for kids and way better then the hollow chunk of plastic RID.

 

All I know is... I have a harder time finding the non initial releases of Post "Dark of the Moon" Figures in the stores than finding the G1 reissues in the early 2000s. Because of it I have to turn to the internet. While you guys get wave 2+, All I see in SolCal is wave 2 of 1-step Transformers.

 

Distribution's a pain here, too.

Because toys require better-quality plastic than, say, a disposable water bottle.

 

Tell that to Hasbro.

 

Except that oil prices have actually been depressed for a while now (years). That was the DOTM/transformers Prime era excuse.

I will say, I do feel like the quality of the toys this time around actually improved a bit (we're still in the basement though). But between franchise fatigue, general decreased interest in toys, and them deciding to fill shelves with repaints of toys mostly not even in the movie the improvements in quality won't translate into sales for them.