In an unexpected move Hasbro UK are undertaking a fan survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Hasbro_Modern_Fan_2015 It's a poorly designed survey and a bit frustrating to fill IMO but UK residents please let them know what you think.
How the bloody blazes am I supposed to know the exact number of figures I own? ... Hasbro just made "CHUG" official. ... they're seriously asking which character is over-represented in my favorite toyline.
I tried putting 1000+ as an answer there and it rejected it! Someone said "too many BBs" to the Hasbro rep at AA!
I thought it was a fine survey. Sure, some answers don't give a lot of leeway (and not being able to add a monetary sign to questions on how many you spend on collecting might result in some wrong conclusions)..but overall I was actually pretty surprised by what it does covers. Dear Hasbro, please don't use the results of this survey to decide which 3rd party company to go after first!
Why was King of Fighters on the list of brands? Seems like the people or person who made this is a fan of it, cause that's a weird thing to put on it.
shocking if this did come from the UK side of the company. The seem to openly know that Wave skipping is BS as its an option is the dislikes part. Also thats a rather full list of 3rd party toys. Good to see hasbro ask why we are buying them then right out banning them. but all in all most of my answers were basically "stop skipping collectors toys... thanks"
Never heard of that one! I read the survey that suddenly they are worried about missing toys and skipped waves and thus the money going to importers and not to them
Well, 'official' as in 'the employee who set up the survey knows/researched enough about the current TF community to use that term'. The word being used in a survey extremely geared towards us doesn't surprise is (even though I personally HATE the acronym CHUG ). But from experience I know/suspect that oftentimes these type of marketing research surveys are handed out to interns, sometimes as part of their own determined research part of getting their degrees. I honestly wouldn't count on Hasbro starting to use CHUG anywhere official. They'll probably stick to Generations *insert subline name here* for a while. Anyway, I don't see how anyone could see this survey as something negative or inadequate. It asks rather intricate questions about 3rd party and why people buy it, what we feel is lacking from the franchise, what we feel is surplus..it even acknowledges the wave skipping as Blitz mentions. AND it leaves enough room to add some explanations to your answers in a lot of places. I used the survey to let them know that: -I mostly buy Transformers online, not because of price, but because they never seem to have the good new stuff in brick and mortar stores anymore over here. -I sometimes buy 3rd Party stuff because it's filling in gaps in my collections / sometimes stuff gets released that would be very unlikely to find an official release (DJD eletrical chair, anyone?). -I'd really like an IDW Overlord figure. I really liked Animated and I wouldn't mind getting some additional figures for that line, like the Constructicons. -Europe missing out on waves sucks. -I personally feel Transformers might be trying to 'reinvent the wheel' too much when it comes to new shows. I think it's great that there's always something new coming out, but in some shows they're not really trying to pull from the vast history of the franchise, but are content with just inventing everything from scratch and nameslapping the bots (like the new RID - even though I like it.) Sometimes that's a shame, especially compared to some other franchises. (no, not saying everything should be 'G1' ). I'm not expecting them to print this out,run to Hasbro HQ USA and begin working on IDW Overlord tomorrow morning, but really, this is basically the most direct line you'll ever get to Hasbro, so let your voice be heard, instead of nitpicking if you are able to fill in 'I got 1000 toys' or 'I got 1000+ toys'. TL;DR: don't expect anything to come from this, but it only takes 10 minutes of your time, so who knows! Yes, that's probably it. They're a business, so they'd be losing a bit of money there. Or are they? Because that stock originally came from them somehow. Either way, it does mean they have less of a control over territories... But if they want to improve that there's only one solution, and that's to make sure those regions do get the new waves. So that's not a bad thing. That's exactly what everyone wants!
I thought it was an extremely clued up and focused survey indeed. Somebody put some real thought into it. Which with my usual cynical head on makes me think nobody who actually "works" for Hasbro (F)UK had anything to do with it I was able to lay into them about wave skipping, not having certainty from one figure to the next about what I could safely leave to buying at retail and where my money is "lost" to them by importing. But I didn't swear even once. And yeah, the "tell me your favourite 3P chaps so I can kill them" was straight out of James Luceno's Sith Creed But I told them anyway, just in case this actually was an honest effort to reach out and find out about what should be their market, but isn't. So, not so cynical afterall perhaps.
The survey was unbiased and comprehensive, how could it be negative? The use of certain images made me giggile, especially the end. I tried answering everything succinctly and clearly, hopfully all my sentiments are understood. (I asked for more BW and TFA, unliley as it is, it is the truth) Certain questions like "who do you think is missing from your favourite line" are really neat and shows that at least whomever made this survey actually cares about or understands how fans work.
This is a total surprise. A page dedicated to 3P figures, with all the companies named. Seriously, after the survey, i think they are a bit humans. I answered honestly, without bad words, and a move like this is very good. Also, a mention to CHUG and TFW... There's a rat here from Hasbro who comments on 3P threads , and i suspect on everyone. Guys, 3P was our secret , TRAITORS!!! Jokes aside, i hope they read carefully what we say
I find it fascinating that Hasbro UK is doing this. In my mind it shows that they're willing to consider all options while perhaps trying to identify a new collector's market.
