In Europe, given the ludicrous (yes we have entered the Spaceballs universe) prices for the junk they offer, it will just not sell. Woth DOTM they had the same problem and those toys were far better then what i've seen so far from AOE.

 

You might find that less shelf space (Launch-wave Units) is intentional, as the feedback from retailers from the last three years had them over-estimating the amount of Launch-wave stock, which limited their ability to restock, and forces them to discount more stock at a loss. (the ratio of full-price unit sales to discount-price unit sales is important to Retailers, and ultimately to us as well if they see a profit potential in the Brand for next year)

Major Retailers need to understand that it is strategically better to not over-saturate the market in a launch wave, so that it has a better chance of selling out, and end up selling more units at full-price over the next six months of restocking.
Unfortunately, the more common strategy by Major Retailers is to try to out-supply their competitors for short-term profit, even if it means long-term loss, because they can only sell half of them at full price... and not be able to re-order later waves to even sell more product at full-price.

It's better for stores, and better for us fans (we will see more later wave items as stores will actually sell out of first wave figures, compared to wave 1 DOTM, TFPrime and Beast Hunters clogging most stores for 6-9 months in the previous years)... but not better for share-holders who prefer the short-term profit over long-term profitability. And unfortunately in our society dictated by the share-market, short-term profit is more important.

The media (news article) paints it as a bad thing, but we are already seeing the benefits from finding Wave 2 product in stores, and should see greater turnover over the next few months. So how exactly is it a bad thing for Retailer product-buyers to finally get the balance right, so that they can order more stock later, and we have a better chance of finding those later waves.

 

When you focus on money, you get less money.

When you aim for quality, you'll be surprised by the profits.

I think Hasbro execs thought they can get away with subpar products.

Nope. Not when the high bar was already set by toys from The First Movie and ROTF/ HFTD.

Parents, start introducing your kids to the Masterpiece line.

 

Good idea in theory. Unfortunately, not everyone is a priviledged suburban middle-class.

 

I think:

1. Leader Grimlock looks awesome in robot mode but looks horrible in dino mode.

2. I don't like the colors on most of them. Scorn is the only one I really want.

3. They're not worth $15. That's gouging/rip-off. My Walmart has a rollback $9.98 sign up but none in stock. I'm watching & if they restock I'll pick them up for that price.

4. Most people will agree with me that $15 is a rip-off. The high prices & the cheap crappy look is probably why they aren't moving.

5. CONFUSION! I haven't been paying attention to the toys as closely as you guys & I'm confused as to which are the real/main line & the cheap baby gimmick crap. The stores don't have deluxes in stock but they look like they do. Those 1 step flip pieces of shit look like deluxes. And there are 2 Grimlocks that look similar, the leader & the flip change POS. If both aren't in stock right next to each other a lot of parents are going to be confused as fuck. Timmy said he wants "leader Grimlock", is this it? No that's the flip changer. "what about this one?" No thats the small Titan. "and this?" That's the big Titan. "????????????????????".

There's going to be a lot of parents buying the wrong thing this year. Stupid Hasbro! Very very STUPID!!! The stores are probably going to see more returns than usual. Try to imagine that you're an average parent that doesn't know anything about Transformers. X-Mas shopping is going to be a nightmare this year.

 

Yes Parents.

Why spend $15 when you can spend $100.

 

Time to give us more Generations figures, instead of movie figures.

 

So many people with marketing degrees on this board.

 

CUZ IZ TEH GEEWUN!!!!


Meh, just give me a deluxe Hardhead. I don't need all this masterpiece crap. Mom'll kill me.

 

I know right.

Makes me wonder how many people have actually looked at these figures beyond the TFW images.

It's a well known fact (to those with real market knowledge) that much of the price vs materials used blame lies with the major retailers who want to sell for as low as possible.

This frequently requires companies to adapt their production methods.

Masterpiece falls slight outside of this paradigm and 3rd parties are simply governed by what the niche market is willing to pay.

 

I think some dude called Gilgamesh summed it up quite aptly on the thread awhile back.

 

The main line has around 20+ figures of mediocre quality while the masterpiece line has a few range of figures and a much higher quality.

Make more sense to spend extra money and get a high quality figure that will last longer and potentially become a collectable figure compared to the current AOE line which is unlikely to ever become worth anything.

 

I dully remembered much waffling about Masterpiece Rodimus stinking or something.


besides, masterpiece grimlock looks like Barney 

 

In concept you're right, in reality it doesn't always work that way.

Parents would likely see $15 once a month as far more digestible than $100 in one shot.

Plus for people for who the movies are their G1 then AOE figures are likely going to be of more appeal than MP.

 

Hahahah, no.

If everyone were savvy enough to buy from AE or be lucky enough to live in country where MP's were on the shelf and cheap sure. But all of us in Europe and the US don't and have to rely on TRU for our MP's, and they're not cheap there.

Certainly well above the price of 'cheap disposable toys' that most parents will buy their kids.

Also, bear in mind that not all kids are going to be into Transformers. You assume that a kid will like a MP toy bought for them, what if they don't? In the UK that'll be £60 (+100$US) wasted.

On topic... I think this is something that Hasbro will have prepared for.

Aside from their own focus testing (which would have revealed that most young kids simply cannot cope with some of the DOTM moulds, let alone the super complex ROTF moulds) Hasbro won't have gone into AoE design/production without also getting retailer feedback from places like TRU/Walmart/Tesco/whoever (and this feedback will presumably encompass DOTM and ROTF/HFTD).

So on the one hand Hasbro will have made the decision to simply the mainline toys themselves (while deciding to restart the MP line in the US to try and tap the more adult market) and on the other hand will have been told that these shops were going to devote less space to their mainline product anyway.

It probably explains the confusing packaging the AoE line is suffering, because Hasbro knew they were getting reduced shelf space they probably thought unified packaging would be the best way to create bigger visual impact with the limited space they were to recieve.

It also explains Hasbro's push to diversify the Transformers IP, they want Kreos and Constructabots in the Lego section, which is the biggest brand in toys at the moment.

It amazes me that so many people believe Hasbro either don't know what they are doing, or that they could do better.

 

Yes found that just now. Very true.

If anyone here has actually built a successful business from the ground up (very unlikely) they'll understand the problems Hasbro face.

 

In this weeks edition of 'Show your knowledge of running a global B2B and B2C business'

Hasbro a global merchandising titan with almost one hundred years of experience VS. some Halo playing kid scratching his nutsack, eating potato chips and trolling the internet.

 

I won't bank on it if I were you.


Sci-Fi nerds tend to have this weird anti-capitalist mentality where they believe the companies providing them with plastic-crack-sustenance need to be destroyed so that their nerd utopia where toys don't need to be paid for will be born or summat.


People don't tend to study people or concepts they want to exterminate. it helps the dehumanising process.

 

Kungfu Dinobot

 

I love it when faceless internet guys give me praises. It makes me feel spehshul 

I'm not a hardcore Randian about Capitalism, But I don't hate it; it's just another product of civillization, artificial darwinism, if you will. I do hate it when The Man uses it to keep me down though >.<

Besides, I bet most Transfans don't play Halo. Too Mainstream; Spec Ops: The Line seems more their style.