I wonder what would happen if I made it dance to "Snakes of Despair" or "Lucifer's Dance 'Part C_Opus1'"? In all seriousness, I'm not a huge fan of this toy. If it's not a transforming toy, it doesn't belong in the Transformers brand.
Sqweeks just wanted to ride into Valhalla, shiney and chrome, but missed and now he can't see. That's such a silly remark to make. Is it a Transformers character? Yes? Then it belongs in the brand. That's like saying any Batman toy that isn't Batman doesn't belong in a Batman toyline.
I think Actionmasters would like to have a word with you. As well as all the non-transforming transformers action figures that seem to be popular among kids. Cya Raziel-chan
I wonder how much of a loss retailers are going to take on TLK (because the film just isn't resonating with mainstream audiences) merchandise like many other properties just sitting on shelves collecting dust. I've lost count how much Star Wars stuff is choking the isles at my local stores.
Hasbro made money from BB-7 and Groot and tried to make one they actually owned. And then tied it to a Michael Bay movie. At least he wasn't Skids and Mudflap.
Not sure if I want to buy one and set it on fire, buy one and strap a rocket to its back (like in Toy Story), or just continue pretending Sqweeks doesn't exist. I mean, he already looks dead inside anyway. May as well give him a hand. But not literally give him a hand. No, he can suffer.
How many people remember Hasbro's fiasco with Star Wars Episode One? They were shilling those damn things at every store that had peg space. Target. 7/11. Kroger's. The corner liquor store. It sold like gangbusters until the movie actually came out. By the fall, Target was so overflowed with Wave 1 that they pulled the entire stock from the shelf and sent it back to Hasbro. The entire chain did this, not just one store. The same time Pokemon sales collapsed for Hasbro. But hey, they had Transformers right? No. They had Beast Machines, which was selling worse than Episode One. People preferred Jar Jar to a $30 foot tall Nightscream and a $40 Cheetor whose special gimmick was falling over faster than Otis Campbell on a Friday night. This was after they had paid George Lucas a cool billion in cash and stock options for a ten year Star Wars license and had just purchased Wizards of the Coast. That was why we got Car Robots after BM. Importing toys and having Saban dub anime was cheaper than making TransTech.
So then what's the point of selling a toy that doesn't transform in a franchise about toys that convert from one form to another? With your logic, Hasbro might as well bring back Action Masters.
This. I feel bad for the retail partners that pre-manufactured this junk, only to lose their shirts when the movie tanks. Although, if they had checked the previous box office numbers, they might have had some idea that this could happen...
I think it's a little more nuianced than that. Yes having a good movie helps (although I think the The Force Awakens is copy & paste poop) with sales, but so many other franchises are squished out because of how much Star Wars is on the shelves. Entire isles devoted strictly to SW. So does having a box office successful film translate to toy sales, I don't know? Because I don't have facts in front of me, just an over abundance of SW on shelves I see with my own two eyes at most department stores I frequent. Kids on average are not playing with toys like they use to when their folks can plop them in front of a tablet or game console. I don't think its immediately doom and gloom for toys but the writing is on the walls down the road. I'm just assuming/curious if retailers can send back unsold stock or they're stuck with it only to push it off to outlets in the near future. I'm sure someone with real data can answer that. I just know personally I just don't buy much Hasbro stuff anymore.
Hey that shampoo has an amazing bouquet of dirty exhaust, sadness and a touch of lilac that completes every Transformers fan life.
SW is a mainstream thing for men. You'll be hard pressed to find a male 18-35 that DOESN'T love SW in some way. It's actually so damn predictable that it's disappointing. And you see the aisles full of adult guys all the time, too. So there's a constant market and demand there. It's not really fair to use SW as a comparison, in this way. :/ But you're right: the toy industry is in decline... FOR BOYS. Girl toys are actually doing well, but there's reasons: girls don't use technology like boys do. It's actually an alarming trend, where Boys are much more likely to be adept with tech than their girl counterparts. And why is that? It's hard to understand, but one has to wonder if there isn't some sort of gender inequality going on there. When I see the girl toy numbers shoot up (like they have been), I just shake my head in sadness. Girls should also be playing with tablets!!! Anyway, long story short, the toy industry will eventually cater exclusively to the collectors. Prices will rise (as they keep rising every year), to the point where only serious collectors still buy. Casuals? They rely on movie successes. When a TF movie does well, TF toys sell well to casuals. Otherwise, you're not seeing the same pattern you'd expect from an 80s kid: an 80s kid would fall in love with a toy brand and continue buying (almost indefinitely). Today's kid will dip their feet in the brand and then move on, such are the distractions and constantly changing pop culture items today. Which is why Hasbro is so determined to make TF movies every year (a la SW, right?). It's to keep kids' short attention spans. And I don't blame the kids at all here. The world today kind of sucks for focusing on anything. If you're a kid today and you chose to stick to TFs for the long haul? Just imagine the ridicule you'd face for sticking to an old brand without a popular movie! The other kids would completely ostracize you for not liking the current Harry Potter or whatever. Even YouTube videos are more important than TFs today.