They are in trouble because they are arrogant.
They figure they can be lazy, make crappy, smaller toys (transformers) , raise the price yet cut more corners by using substandard QC and materials.
And WOW...folks are falling all over them selves like they were when the first movie came out to just suck up and buy all those transformer figures.

BAM!

they took it in the Jimmy and now they will find out just like other companies that neglect their customers what happens...their revenue flatlines.

NO NEW PRODUCT , STORES WILL DEVOTE THEIR SPACE TO OTHER TOYS THAT WILL STOCK AND SALE.

Transformer areas in targets, TRUs, Walmarts, etc are shrinking or just going away.

Beast Hunters is definitely not saving shit at the moment.

 

really what version of reality are you living in?

The recession has hit this country square in the ass just like any other place on this planet...Folks have lost jobs...or if they are lucky just lost hours and had their pay cut.

It most definitely has affected spending patterns...just look at ebay for average prices of Botcon transformers a few years ago compared to today.

people are selling their shit at fire sales prices because they are desperate for $$$$...check out the sales threads in the Junkion Exchange....about every one in ten is directly stating they are selling due to financial problems.

 

Unfortunately for me, the DOTM line pegwarmed a lot of the local retail and most of what I COULD find didn't interest me much.

There were some chase pieces in the Prime line that I wanted but the fact that most retailers frontloaded with early waves made it very difficult to find pieces from later waves.

One day I saw both Magnus and Thundertron on the shelf on the same day. But at $30 a piece and being in a bind financially I couldn't pull the trigger on both. I'm glad I did get at least one, because I've never seen either of them on the shelf since.

So far nothing in the Beast Hunters line appeals to me, and the FOC-Generations stuff seems very cheap in person. When I finally find one I'm remotely interested in in person, I find it to be rather underwhelming.

I'm hoping there will be better toys in the future (nothing at Botcon raised my bloodpressure much) but for now I think I'll be holding onto my pennies.

 

Yep.

And TF's haven't been that well off far a year now, either.
But really, the rage and shame isn't really necessary because the Gizmodo articles alone (not to mention cost cutting measures that will be felt in 2015) demonstrate that HASBRO is invested in TF's for a long time coming.

Know enough when a stores mark it up 30%-40%
And when the price is too high, you aint gonna buy.

It's true tho- while the recession is undeniable, not every household in every region is unilaterally hurt the same way.
Some are doing better thyan others.
Some are doing worse than others.

In my region, the housing market was the worst in the entire US. Other areas were barely affected.

That's for damn sure.

 

I couldn't agree more. I'm ecstatic that they raise the price. Now, I don't feel the urge to want to buy anymore. Simplification on the transformation also turn me off. More money saved to buy other stuff.

 

hasbro has been selling garbage like beast hunters with raised prices and smaller size and lower quality.

They can go to hell for all I care. They need to lose money first so the suits making the decision can be fired.

They're just reaping what they're sowing, nothing special there.

I have not 1 single line from BH because they're atrocious. The only beasty looking TF i have is kickback from the FOC line. That also is the only FOC toy I have.

The regular Prime line was not bad but not spectacular. Movie line was pretty decent.


But what takes the cake is the unequal distribution of sought after characters, and also corruption in the retail industry.

By giving exclusive rights to TRU asia for MP-10 and letting these bozos jack the price up 200 percent is the last cake imo.


Till now, nobody I know would pay that price for an MP-10 knowing fully well they're being ripped off.

Hasbro needs to stop giving exclusives to undeserving retailers.

 

This is probably true for a lot of people, even those that would've bought (almost) everything from a line in the past.
Used to be I'd see a figure, maybe umm and ahh over the price a bit and then probably just buy it anyway. Nowadays I see the smaller figures with the lesser quality and the higher prices and the decision to skip the figure is so much easier. I can't justify the outlay as much as I used to and that makes deciding not to buy some figures a lot easier and also a lot less disappointing.

That coupled with not being able to find most of the stuff in stores anyway has severely reduced my interest in the figures over the last few years. Used to be I'd intensely follow news of upcoming figures and plan what I want. Now since I know it's all going to be a pain to find (if it even actually gets released here in the UK at all) and cost more for less, I barely know what's coming out at all since that previous interest has all but vanished. Almost all my TF purchases these days are me chancing on a figure in a store, probably on discount, and deciding there and then if it's worth my coin. And then half the time it still isn't.

FOC is only available in TRU here. I live nowhere near a TRU so I've just skipped the entire line, regardless of if there might've been one or two figures in it that could've taken my fancy. But then I hear of that stuff breaking so that's reduced my interest even more. I have no idea when Beast Hunters is hitting the UK. But then I have almost zero interest in what I've seen of that too. And no doubt the few bits that I might like won't get decent release here anyway and I'll likely never see them out in the wild to even get tempted to open my wallet.

As someone that's been a dedicated Transformers collector since 1984 I feel pretty unhappy that I feel so disinterested in them these days.

 

Maybe if we had something other than FOC Shockwave, Optimus, and Prime Bumblebee on the shelves, the sales would've been up. Also, a re-release of Airachnid and some of the voyagers would be nice. Missed Skyquake. At least the upcoming assortments are better than the Star Wars figures coming out... like we need more of the same Anakin and Clone Troopers that are already collecting dust on the shelves.

 

Most of the stores have had the same Transformers and Star Wars toys for about 8 months now. Nothing new. All peg warmers.

Hasbro does this to themselves. If they make a product fans want, they make sure it gets shotty distribution.

One of Hasbros endless blunders of 2012 was Star Wars. Nearly ALL the toys from the last few releases were NOT new molds. Surprise! They did not sell. When they made a figure everyone wanted (VTC Royal Guard or VTC Gammoriean Guard), they were released in such small numbers that I have NEVER EVER seen one in person.

Same tactic Hasbro used with the Generations line.

Retail 101. Supply + Demand = Sales.

8 + month old peg warmers of toys no wants (despite what their polling of what kids say would sell) = no sales.

Listen to your customers and release supply to meet that demand. Quit telling fans you aren't going to listen to their requests because you allegedly know what they want more than they do, because if you look at your falling sales you obviously don't know your fanbase (customers).

Just sayin.

 

People are way over thinking this. The main issue is money. Figures cost way more and parents aren't buying. The prices of deluxe figures is what kept them as the mainstays for so long.

People can't spend what they don't have nor will they if they feel that cost is not justified.

 

I predict the Transformers brand will continue to fall away as the higher costs price itself right out of the market. For $15 a pop one should be getting something of way higher quality than the current figures. and as Hasbro continues to maximize profits at the expense of quality it will be crushed under the weight of its own price tag.

You all might not believe so, but the small niche that composes the rabid fan who shells out at every opportunity will not be able to support the line. If it survives in five years I would see them falling on more "cheaper" options, like Bot shots.

 

This--^ assumes Hasbro wouldn't foresee this type of trend and act accordingly were things to start going this way. And I completely and utterly disagree with you on just about everything you said anyway. Hasbro isn't some startup company with zero historical data on which to base current and future decisions. And your comment about low quality with their toys? I... don't even know where to start. That's one of those things where I could argue with you till I'm purple and never convince you otherwise if you're dead set on seeing low quality.

I guess my one and only question would be- on what are you basing this comparison of ostensible "low quality"?

 

the only problem with that theory is there are no "cheap options like" _____.
fill in the blank.


Hasbro got rid of the scout class ($9.99) price tag usually.

Now the Cyberverse commanders are the $9.99 or more option there.

cyberverse is now around $7.99...that will probably be $9.99 in a few seasons.

The botshots are $4.99 to $6.99 depending on store...and more and more they are lumping those into multi packs and getting that high $ price tag with it.

Hasbro really does not have a line dedicated to the budget price cliche anywhere....

And their not going to invest alot of resources into designing and selling one....why? There is no profit there.

Botshots might go two seasons more if its lucky...its on season 2 i think.

after that...the cheapest price is cyberverse again.

 

I haven't purchased a transformer from retail in ages... I used to when the classics / generations were about half the price they are now.. it seems the quality was much better back then as well.

All good i'm always down to save a yuan..

 

Voyager pricing, save for TRU hasn't been bad. It jumped for a bit but quickly fell back and can be found for $19.99 in many places again. I understood the need to up the price a bit, but after 12.99 for deluxe and $21.99 for voyager, it's ridiculous. It's not entirely Hasbro's fault either, retailers simply suck at really filling up on anything anymore. A few shelf warmers can doom entire lines because they hold back the assortments people are waiting for and it's the retailers who tack a bunch extra on to boost their already sick profit margin.

ONE lingering figure can keep a store from getting restocked for weeks simply because of smaller truck loads being sent and a system that poorly prioritizes what gets shipped and when. It's a real clusterfuck!

 

My local Toys R Us have pulled the Beast hunters line from the shelves for now.


They aren't selling. They look too much like cheap china knock-offs priced at premium.


It has the worst traits of everything. So bad that Wave 2 isn't even coming because Wave 1 just couldn't sell.

 

Transformers has done what few other toy lines could: they've solidified themselves in the entertainment industry. They went from being a niche 80's toy line to a household name. I'm willing to bet someone in every household in this nation knows what the name Transformers is.

Gi Joe is struggling to do so, but just hasn't produced the caliber of movies that Transformers has. Not in the eyes of the general public at least. I don't see Transformers going anywhere anytime soon.

Considering Transformers (the toys specifically) were in the top 10 products (not just toys) that benefited from the worst recessions since the great depression, I would say we don't have anything to worry about.

 

This might be true if the brand wasn't keeping up with (or setting in some cases) the rise in toy costs across the board. You may as well be saying they're not going to be making ANY toys over $10 in five years.

The brand will not change, and will be more profitable than it is now in five years. As is.

 

Glass half-full/glass half-empty.

Much as I personally despise them Movies do make a difference and in off-movie years sales do tend to drop.....that just seems to be an unavoidable fact of modern retail life.

I'm sure when the steaming pile of shite that is T4 plops into the Public's lap sales will spike more than enough to rate a line or two in the performace report and all will stay well in corporate-land. And hopefully allow a few more generations type figures to escape out the gate to keep old-school grumps like me happy to.

5 years time the reboot idea will really have kicked-in and we'll have JJ Abrams to save our beloved franchise anyway......so I secure in the knowledge that my little (and getting littler!!) transforming robots will still be a going concern.

 

Well they could have done a bit better I would say. Flat is a good for them internationally speaking and without a movie to back them up they will be fine. The HUB network is expensive but I'm sure they will get there return so long as they keep pushing TF and those Ponies!

Some fails I noticed that they could have improved on:

-More product on the shelves.
-More characters to buy.
-Arachnid was a fail. Horrible toy.
-Not making Breakdown available in the U.S.A
-Delaying MP Soundwave
-Delaying MP Prowl/Bluestreak
-making legions/legend class figures and calling them "deluxes" lol. still make me laugh
-Blitzwing arms
-not having those predacon toys in the show.



Lots of positives though. All of the 30th anniversary toys are good. Blitzwing is o.k.
Having IDW comics incorporate the toys and selling them together is a good idea.
I liked the Jackhammer and energon drill but I would have liked another toy to go a long with them. Maybe selling Ultra Magnus' ship would be nice.