You know what kids like? McDonalds toys, which are hardly the definition of excellence and quality.

 

I wonder IF the toys were selling 50% more, would the people blaming simplified toys also attribute the growth to the simplified toys or is it just a scape goat, for people who don't like them?

 

McDonald's toys come free with a meal. And they used to be pretty nifty, but I still much preferred a main line TransFormer. You could easily tell the difference...

The simplification is not the problem really. I don't mind simple transformation schemes. But if you are going to have overly complex designs, the two will never meet well in the middle. This is just common sense. You have to pick a path with your brand and have a vision, not just try to make a mountain out of a molehill.

They do things for the wrong reasons because they force themselves into a corner, and then try to use faulty logic to explain their situation and try to justify a way out.

 

"They're making more sales because people keep buying the wrong toy!"
 

 

Your logic is flawed. Obviously, if sales were skyrocketing then the simplified toys could be seen as a driving factor. We have to look at what has changed (toy design), look at the sales figures, and make an analysis accordingly. An objective observer could make either conclusion based on the end result, which is sales.

 

My kids are 3 and 5, and they can transform chunky V-Tech Switch & Go Dinos fine (they transform in what, 4-8 steps, depending on size), but I don't think they'd be able to transform FOC seekers correctly, or any mainline Transformers, for that matter. Lining up tiny tabs and panels would be too difficult, some steps on certain toys even requires a force their little hands and fingers don't have.

 

He was just posting a hypothesis.
This entire thread has been less about looking at anything that might be a reason that Hasbro sold 50% less than DotM at the same period, rather bitching about Hasbro making a bunch of stuff they don't like (likely under the false impression that it impaired our ability to get stuff "for us"). If sales were higher than DotM, then these same people would have cited ANYTHING aside from the simpler toys, since they "don't like the toys so that must clearly be the problem".


Again, I don't see the drop as reflective of anything other than two major events:
Sales for DotM compared to RotF WERE down, and those results were reflected in orders for AoE (diminishing returns, and whatnot)
Retailers, in a broad sense, are just not ordering/stocking NEARLY as much product as they were just a few years ago, especially Walmart.

These events were going to impact AoE regardless of WHAT the product might have ended up being.

 

Interesting question.
I can only speak for my local WM and Target:

At Wal Mart Deluxes are now $10.
The simplified toys are their same price and cheaper.
Deluxes are wiped out.
Plenty of simplified stuff.

Across the street at Target everything is normal price. Take your pick of anything on the shelf; it's all there.

 

But were deluxes and Power Battlers ordered in the same amount, though? Deluxes might have sold out, but did Walmart opt to order MORE Power Battlers to begin with? At mine, anyway, there were easily THREE TIMES as many Power Battlers as there was deluxes to begin with.
Or if people saw deluxes at $15, did they sell better because they were so much cheaper or presented a better value than Power Battlers at the same price?

Maybe nothing is selling because your area got its fill on the cheaper stuff at Walmart?

Again, due to variances in markets and retailers, I'm not sure ANY observations are really going to be indicative of anything. That said, for me and my "one Walmart town" (all we have is a single Walmart, no Target, Kmart, TRU, etc), I haven't seen JACK for price reductions, though deluxes are basically sold out (but again, there were CLEARLY more Power Battlers out than there was deluxes, to the point of overflow)

 

I´ve only seen the one step changers ate 26 euros, roughly 28 bucks give or take.

 

I think Hasbro making this big attempt to bring back the G1 magic with simpler transformation is a double-edged sword. Absolutely, a lot of the previous movie toys were too difficult for young children to transform. But, I feel as though a lot of younger kids will still opt to get the more complex figures over the 3-step ones, because they just look more cool, and more screen accurate. They don't realize that the more advanced transformers are too much for them to handle. They just see that the character looks a whole lot better than their simplified toy counterparts.

 

It's just a hypothetical for those who are positive the decline in sales is because of the simplified toys and nothing else. So if a decline in sales is only because of simplified toys then the question would be is an increase of sales only because of simplified toys.

Obviously in the real world there are many variables that affect sales, and people can't base it on the one or two things they dislike about the figures. I believe the decline in sales is a result of many things, and though I think the simplified figures are in general a good thing, I do accept that there is a possibility that simplified toys have caused a decline in sales.

In the end we don't know what the cause is. Hasbro most likely has a strong idea, but I'm pretty sure they aren't going to be doing a press release about what things are causing the decline in sales.

 

Is there a thread where we can talk about what were seeing in stores? Not a sightings per say, where we talk about what has shown up in stores, but rather one where we note what is warming the pegs, and what is flying off, and get a general idea of what people are actually buying as a resault?

As for my local wal-mart, I was in both Saturday and this morning, and both were pretty much the same. Exactly one AOE Generations Deluxe, Crosshairs. The One step Flip Changers, and Power Battlers both had twice as many pegs as the Deluxes, and no lack of figures on them. The Flip changers seem to be moving a bit better than the power battlers. The Dinobot Sparkers also seemed to be doing okay, surprisingly. For Voyagers they had about five Evasion Mode Optimus Primes, and one Grimlock. They had one each of the Leader Class figures. They also had a few pegs for the Construct Bots stuff, and the pegs were still pretty full. Oh and the Titans Class figures. Geez, for twenty bucks you could just buy a couple of actually transforming deluxes with more than 5 paint apps.

For non movie figures, the Generations Legends Prime and Bee and the wave with Armada Screamer and Scoop each had a much peg space as the AOE deluxes. Both had a decent amount on the pegs, but some had sold. Honestly less of them poportanaltly on the pegs than the Flip Changers and Power Battlers. Oh and Voyager Blaster and Soundblaster. Poor guys, no one wants them.

What I take away from this- Either the AOE deluxes are moving better than anything else, or they are not getting nearly as many of them in stock as the Power Battlers. Either way, at the local Wal-Mart, the supply for them is not meeting the demand. Also the Dinobots are selling better than anyone else.

Oh and I just want to say this to Hollywood Hoist. Good thing you aren't allergic to Bees. *Puts on Shades* YEAH!

 

I'm sure.
I view Deluxes as a different product as Power Battlers, and before the price drop at Wal Mart there was already fewer Deluxes on the shelf than the simplified stuff.

Can't say for certain how much of what was ordered, but if I know my store, not all that much.

Not being a Deluxe fanboy or anything (because I find myself passing up the AoE line- even when cheaper) but it looks to me like the traditional stuff is selling more than this new simpler stuff.

But really it's too early in the game for any of this. More will sell in a couple weeks.

 

Also the last time I was at Target the Deluxes had maybe half as many figures on the shelf as the Power Battlers even though both had the same amount of shelf space. And it's hardly a new phenominon. Same thing happened back during the first movie with the mainline figures being impossible to find at times, and the FAB toys being much easier to find.

 

Hit Target again today, and I just have to ask one thing. HOW THE HELL MANY DAMN SUBLINES OF THE SAME CHARACTERS DOES HASBRO NEED?!?! Yes, all the emphasis was needed. I saw the smash and change. Or maybe some of them were large flip and change. Hard to tell. Titans in two sizes. Smaller Flipchangers. Dinobot sparkers, the construct bots and Kreo dinobot riders. Power Battlers. And with the least space for them than anything else, the deluxes. Still on wave one, but plenty of them. I noticed Scorn seems to be selling well, as there was just one of him. 3 of Slug. Didn't count Bee and Crosshairs, but plenty more of them. Honestly I don't think the fact that Crosshairs Deluxe and his power battler both look very similer and have the exact same picture on the packaging.

And I feel bad for parents. Your kid wants a Bumblebee, or an Optimus Prime or a Grimlock for their birthday? Which one, there are like ten different versions. Hasbro really overdid it with all these different sublines, and it's getting confusing, and they are competing with themselves, and glutting their shelf space with redundent product that will only clog things up.

 

Yes to all points!   Hasbro had some good intentions here... but they seem to have botched up the execution. Too much product, confusing displays.... ehh, I guess their plan was to throw darts and hope something hit the bullseye?  

I think it's clear Hasbro prefers to sell the cheaper-to-make toys, and to kids, if possible. It has been that way for quite some time.

Generation toys are expensive and a bigger financial loss. If not Hasbro's decision, it could also be the retailers who prefer to pay less for product (I'm assuming the simplified and flip-changers are cheaper to order).

We don't know the cause? Really? Hasbro has already addressed this (I believe @ Toy Fair, though you'll have to forgive me for not having a printed source!): kids are busy with video games and not buying toys. (By that, I mean BOYS - the girls division of toy sales is doing quite well, which points to a bit of sexism in the way we are bringing up our kids, doesn't it?)
But in general, toy sales do not typically skyrocket during tough economic times.
Anyway, I'm sure you knew all of this already. Just wanted to point out that the "slow sales" are not as mysterious as you made it sound. Take a few test groups and ask them what's wrong with the toys: you'll learn a whole lot, real quick!  

 

Agreeing with a lot of what I'm seeing here. Too many sub lines. It's not just the different scales, now it's focus on gimmicks, easy transformation, those big chunky plastic garbage figures. There's just too much to choose from, which shouldn't be a bad thing, but parents buying these toys for kids have got to be overwhelmed. Not to mention TRU asking, what, 15.99 for deluxe figures now? I think it's 15.99.