I really hope this doesn't start a flame war or anything; this is almost a purely academic and business-related question. Say I want to buy Windblade, who is finally appearing in stores in my area. However, Takara's deco is REALLY nice, and although I might want to buy her asap, I might be willing to wait for the new figure to be released. Assuming I could only get one, is there a financial incentive to buying from Hasbro? Does money spent on ANY official TF toy go to the overall operating funds for both companies, or does buying from one or the other only benefit a particular aspect of the franchise? Thanks.
I am not sure how their agreement works but I think that if you buy from Hasbro, Hasbro would get the profit and the same would go with Takara.
Paint apps are the biggest selling point. Otherwise it's basically the same plastic molded parts in different packaging.
Wow, that's an interesting question. I would say not to overthink it. As I understand it, the big companies make their money once they fill their orders with the big box retailers like Target, TRU, Walmart, etc. Then Hasbro will monitor the sales to see how well the items sell through. Under that chain of logic, buying a TF item at retail will benefit Hasbro. I can only presume that purchasing a Takara product at retail, or from an online e-tailer would similarly benefit Takara. In either event though, you are suporting the brand with your purchase. Having said all that, my thought would be to simply get whichever item you like the best.
Hasbro is the company that actually makes decisions, and takes initiative. It commissions and creates the fiction from where all designs come. Hasbro's the ones actually moving the brand forward and deciding what gets made, though figure design is a joint effort. Doesn't matter which company you buy from, though. It all pools to the same R&D source. Buy what you want, not what you think ahs "financial incentive." You won't hurt Hasbro's feelings if you choose Takara. In fact, if your goal is to give more money for Transformer's future, Takara's more expensive figures probably draw more profit-per-unit-sold.
Pretty much what everyone else has said. Either option holds pros and cons over the other. Takara has a bigger budget for the extra details like paint apps however being domestic, Hasbro has the benefit of being a cheaper option for those who cannot afford to import Takara.
Aren't Takara figures just more expensive because of the inport fees, and to buy them from a Japanese retailer in a B&M store there would be the same as buying a Hasbro figure in the US?
Takara TFs typically cost more at retail in Japan than Hasbro ones do in the US. But TT aren't so tied to price points and Hasbro items cost as much as TT ones in some places.
Financial incentive? Not really? Unless you count saving money and an included comic book as incentive. With the new Hasbro deluxes including comics and being about $15 a piece, you're basically paying the standard $5 comic price and the $10 deluxe price of old. With Takara, you pay nearly twice that for what? Extra paint, which in some cases is applied exactly as it is on the Hasbro release, just shiny! Granted, this about Windblade, and technically both versions are acuurate. Hasbro's goes for her first IDW appearance, whereas TT's goes for the Sarah Stone version. As people have said already, both companies benefit regardless who's version you buy. The only incentive I can think of now are extra and/or shiny paint that may match the Hasbro release vs lower cost and included comic book Personally, it comes down to "Does it look good?" and "Is it worth it?" I like the look of TT's Winblade in all but the head. That face is atrocious. Answer: buy 2 of the Hasbro versions, headswap Takara's with one.
I say buy what you want. If you like Takara's cool. Hasbro sometimes does a good job too, it's not just about what's shinier. But I would say neither company is superior, they both get the money, and it's the same mold.
In general, I'd say just buy what you like and don't worry too much about where the money is going on the corporate spreadsheet. However, if you're ever expecting to sell your figures, I'd say go with the Hasbro version. Because as much as people are always saying that the Takara figures are SOOOOO much better than the Hasbro figures, they generally don't re-sell for more than the Hasbro version of the same figure. For instance, I've been trying to sell some of my Galaxy Force figures for awhile now and, despite them apparently being SOOOO much better than the Cybertron figures when they were released, a GF figure now goes for basically the same price as the Cybertron version. And I've seen the same trend with other lines.
I think the only Takara things that go for more valuable are the unique redecos. Using Galaxy Force as you said, for example, I think the only thing that's any more valuable than the Hasbro version, is the Voyager Starscream. But I don't see unique Hasbro redecos going for much.
I don't think TF cost anywhere as little as they do in the US. If you want to get TF's as cheaply as possible, make sure you live in the US and buy only Hasbro. Except for the several TT only lines or series that are designed by TT with Hasbro occassionally picking up a figure (like Masterpiece). But as far as the (current) mainline is concerned, I think you're right. As I understand it Hasbro usually comes with the concept for a new series, make the basic designs and lets TT realise those designs. Yeah, agree with this. A Hasbro product means Hasbro gets the sale/money, and with a TT product the sale/money goes to TT. And it's indeed an interesting question. I would add that this possibly also means that in some cases choosing TT over Hasbro can be beneficial for the series. With for example Masterpiece I'd suggest going for TT since it is TT that decides, designs and makes the figure, while Hasbro uses what's available. A Hasbro purchase then does little for the succes of the line in Takara's eyes, while the more TT MP's you buy the more money TT gets for R&D and the more they're willing to invest in that line. But with mainline figures it probably doesn't really matter. (Unless the whole fandom starts buying TT because they want better paint apps and Hasbro realises that they're losing to many sales by cheapening out.)
Not as much anymore. I can buy voyagers at HLJ for the same price as Target here. The only difference is shipping.
That's a really interesting question, one I've never even considered. I think the simple answer which I've seen said already, is that buying either Hasbro or Takara will contribute funds to an overall Transformers pool.
