I have seen broken or cracked TF toys (not just TFP) at multiple retail locations that were not the result of shipping, shelf damage, or anything other than just bad initial quality that didn't seem to start until the latter half of last year. That's only my anecdote, but there have been several people here who have seen or bought new TF toys with QC issues recently.

 

I think there is an excuse, and it would be that we don't matter that much from a business perspective.

Maybe it sucks to not get the particular figure you want, but--and this 'poor distribution' argument, along with the 'too many Bumblebees' argument, comes up quite often--I'm still not sure how adult collectors not getting the figures they want when they want count that heavily toward Hasbro's bottom line. Maybe Hasbro figures it's not cost-effective to make enough Masterpiece figures for everyone who wants one, or that it's not cost-effective to ensure that each wave of figures has the perfect collector-approved balance of figures.

Here's a quarterly report from Oct 2012:

Hasbro Reports Financial Results for the Third Quarter 2012 (NYSE:HAS)

From my rough calculation, the 'boys' segment makes up about 35% of the overall Hasbro pie. There's no breakdown for the Transformers adult-collector market, but I imagine if there were, it would be smaller, much smaller, than that 35% (the 'boys' segment also includes GI Joe, Beyblade, Marvel, and a bunch of other things).

There's a difference between being a Hasbro 'apologist' and someone who wants to take a more distanced, objective, non-knee-jerk view of the situation. I'm actually anti-big-corporate, so...

Besides the job loss, there's also the ongoing issue of work conditions/wages for many who assemble Hasbro's products. It may be hard for some collectors to believe, but the problem isn't just the scarcity of certain figures they want, or figures not being made to their exacting standards.

 

Well... they couldn't have expected sales for the year to match that of DotM's launch year... not even close. A previous earnings report made it sound like they were seriously hoping for such. Moreso... Battleship flopped miserably... and the next GI Joe movie, which was being hyped up and folks actually seemed more interested in than the first film... gets pushed back a whole year... just because.

Not sure if Hasbro fought the decision for pushing back G.I. Joe's movie... but they should've done something if they didn't.

As for figure sales... IDK about you... but it didn't matter where I stopped by... there were swarms of Bumblebees shelfwarming just about every store year round... think they would've done something after the previous year's ****ton of Bumblebee decos... which in some stores are *still* able to be purchased.

Obviously can't say for sure... but it really sounds like there were bad calls throughout... Going forward with Battleship was simply goofy... still thinking about making movies off Monopoly and Hungry Hungry Hippos regardless... Swarms of Bees... No Joes... yea... IDK.

Unfortunately, it sounds quite like they're just cutting from the bottom immediately than saying "Hm... think some of us made some bad calls." Damn unfortunate to hear about more job losses.

 

When I discuss matters of distribution, I refer to the fact that Hasbro's pegs are usually bare or very near to it (goes to the product being 'held hostage' in retail distribution centers), not the absence or overabundance of a particular toy. If boys toys only accounted for 35% of revenue, that's a very strong indication that they are not selling. Walmart is the largest toy seller in the world and they have gone out of their way to shrink Hasbro's presence in their toy departments to the point that there is now only a single aisle out of seven to ten devoted to action figures and Mattel has seen their "pink" girls toys get double the shelf space as a result.

 

Based on my conversation with my local Hasbro rep, they expected Spider-man toys to supplant the loss of the GI Joe movie and the Spidey line is very nearly total junk. GI Joe isn't even on their radar anymore, and it looks as though Transformers 4 toy sales had better be huge, otherwise it will share a similar fate.

 

What makes you think that it's ONLY the adult collectors who aren't getting the toys they want?

How can little Jonny or any adult get more figures if all that is there is a Bumblebee that they already have?

No toy aisle has a 23 1/3 section for Transformers thatonly kids and their parents can pass through you know.


But this is only a part of the problem:
You have The Hub on a cable channel that not everyone gets.
You have a lot of jobless adults who is savng whatever money they have.
You have other people in economic uncertainty that likely has better things to do with their disposable income than buy figures that keep going up in price.
Then there are people like me who decided that they weren't worth buying any more.
And maybe not everyone likes the PRIME line.

Looking back, I'm surprised that they aren't doing worse.

 

Because little Jonny is a hypothetical problem, and I've not seen or heard any actual evidence that suggests that little Jonnies (or adult Jonnies) not getting the exact figures they want is a significant cause of the sales slump, which is what we're talking about...

Also, your hypothetical example implies that to succeed, Hasbro needs to target kids with collector mentalities, as opposed to targeting a lot of kids (as many as possible) who may just want one or two main figures from the line before moving on to something else (because of different buying/playing patterns).

I'm sure there are retail/production strategies that have little to do with what we think they are or should be.

 

35% is still the largest cut of the pie. Has it traditionally been larger (honest question)?

As far as a shrinking presence in toy aisles, again, I think it has to do with the fact, mentioned by others here as well, that toys are no longer the primary medium of entertainment for boys (and girls).

 

Yeah, I’ve never really bought this whole divorcing of collectors from all other consumers. The problems we face are the same faced by mums and dads with lists from their kids asking for specific toys. Poor distribution results in money left on the table and it doesn’t really matter how big a company is, that’s a major failing. Speaking from an English POV why Hasbro isn’t more proactive in exploring the online distribution business model is unfathomable to me, it would seem to be a natural evolution.

I know it’s only conjecture over just how much of Hasbro’s revenue comes from the adult collector demographic, but whatever it is it’s going to be a big chunk of change. Hasbro can’t be dismissive of this consistent revenue stream that has disposable income and a love for it’s brands ... and to be fair it’s not. The main problem re Transformers, and we have to keep coming back to it, is distribution.

 

Well then I'll tell ya exactly why there's a sales slump:
People aren't buying as much stuff.

Exactly.

 

And don't fogot about the Less Articulation from the Marvel Movie Figures.

 

agreed

 

don't take it personal. Yours just happened to be the first of many posts in that theme.

Hasbro's relationship with Walmart is nothing new here, I'm quite familiar with how that reportedly works and the demands they have to meet.

The cheap plastic isn't anything exclusive to this past year. It's been an ongoing complaint since at least 2007. Compare Movie Swindle against TFP Wheeljack, and it doesn't look like much of a decline.

The thing that's easily forgotten here is that Hasbro have been expanding aggressively in those years. They've been muscling in on other people's rackets, trying to carve out an extra slice of the pie in every department. It's inevitable that some of these ventures would fail and have to be scaled back. Part of this may just be ebb and flow.

This is a setback. Especially for the employees. 10% of their workforce is a significant cut. I hope Hasbro manages to hold onto most of their top talent.

yeah, distribution didn't just start to be a problem for me when I became an adult collector. I had great difficulty finding what I wanted as a kid too. And I think getting more of the range of figures on shelves is important to keeping kids on board.

Hasbro seem to have prioritised things so that no matter the time of year, Bumblebee and Optimus Prime will be available. I don't see that as a bad thing in itself, there's always that demand there. But I think it's at least of equal importance to maintain variety with other figures.

The problem I've seen is the excess volume of some early waves clogging things up and preventing a steady stream of new toys sustaining interest in the line.

 

Third Party toys have ankle tilts - well worth the insane price points.........

 

Toys not on the shelf isn't a problem for collectors. I did lots of driving but I just couldn't find Blast Off on the shelves anywhere. So then I tried a back order with Entertainment Earth that didn't work out either. So back to hunting and I managed to find a pre-order from Hasbro Toy Shop. How many parents would do that if there weren't any Transformers toys on the shelf at the local Wal-Mart?

I also think that too many of the same character is a problem when that becomes the only character on the shelf. How many parents are going to fork over $15 for Bumblebee if their child already has a Bumblebee figure?

Just seems like it's really hard for kids to buy deluxe Transformers figures if there aren't any on the shelf when little Timmy goes to the store his parents or the only figure is the same Bumblebee he got two months ago.

 

Somebody should email this thread to Hasbro.

EDIT

I bet part of why Hasbro's transformers sales are going down is because their distribution of their toys STINKS. I mean, kids buy one optimus and bumblebee. If nobody else buys the other fifteen, then they just clog the shelves! No kid is going to want two of the same Optimus!

 

Does anyone have any "Retro-Numbers" so to speak, or know any links off hand for how sales and profit were for Hasbro back in the heyday when G1 Transformers was at its most popular during that 84-86 period, as well as during GI Joe's peak around that time? Obviously we have to factor in inflation and such...and I was only about 8 or so during that mid 80's period but I know from talking to my parents there was a recession during the 80's as well....Kinda curious about Hasbro's business back in those days.

 

Pay heed to this man's words.

 

I"m more upset about people losing their jobs  

 

Yes, yes, YES. Cost-cutting is a knee-jerk reaction with short-term positive consequences, at best. In the long term, it cheapens the product and destroys brand equity.