It seems like I don't see Hasbro releasing MP figures specifically for North America anymore and its all straight out of Takara in Japan now.

If so, anyone know why they stopped?

I recalled they use to sell them in Walmart.

 

They still release MPMs, but the simple fact is the G1 MPs are too expensive and too niche.

 

Yes, because the G1 MPs were sold in TRU, and since TRU died(and returned last year), they have only been importing the Japanese versions.

 

Too niche?

 

No one really buys them apart from older die-hard fans and collectors, especially with their prices. Why would a parent buy their kid a $150 for an MP Soundwave when they can spend $20-30 for a War For Cybertron Soundwave that looks and plays just as good?

 

Suppl

Supply and demand.

 

Slightly OT, but does anyone have an explanation for why the MP Skywarp Version 1 shelf warmed so badly in 2009 Walmart?
Also, was that part of the impetus to make MP TRU exclusves?

IIRC the WM MPs were MP-1 Optimus, MP-3 Screamer, and Skywarp ?

 

That's......that's the market. How are they too niche for their market???

Parents arent buying MPs for kids for the same reason they're not buying $300 Robocop figures for their kids.

So, how are G1 MPs too niche? They are marketed to adult collectors who want the best version of a G1 character. If anything, the BW MPs would be too niche.

 

Likely many people saw what happened to the earlier Walmart exclusive MPs and just waited for it to go on clearance for cheap. Because it didn't sell well, Walmart probably declined any future exclusives so TRU got the slot instead. I remember the TRU exclusive stuff being way hard to find, so they probably sold well enough there for it to keep going until their eventual closure.

Correct me if I'm wrong on any of this, I wasn't actively collecting when MP Skywarp was available at retail.

 

Masterpieces really don't move a whole lot of units, not enough for a major retailer to be interested in carrying them, anyway. It's a lot of upfront money for a retailer to put down for an expensive toy with a limited market.

 

A small part of me wonders if Hasbro would ever take MP 44, remove the trailer and most of the accessories, and sell just the semi-cab, gun, axe, and matrix in Hasbro Pulse/amazon/ BBTS for $200 in a few years.
(and fixed knees of course)

Im not a businessman so I dont know if that would be profitable but Op is the flagship character so maybe?

 

It's not their market. Hasbro's market is mass retail. Collector niches are relegated to TT and, recently, Hasbro Pulse importing TT figures.

Collectors don't go to Walmart for high-end, high-priced items. They go online. No need to get MPs at Walmart when you can import them or buy them from numerous e-tailers importing them for you.

I challenge you to find me a $300 Robocop sold at mass retail.

You seem to think adult collectors make up the majority of the toy-buying demographic. We don't, at least not in America. Like I said, no one shops at Walmart for high-end collectibles, and that's where Hasbro sells their product.

Collectors may buy the shit out of MPs at retail, but there's simply not enough of us to justify the number of units produced to be sold at mass retail. It's supply and demand. You're not really that far off in that MPs target their demographic perfectly, but that demographic isn't the same as the market.

Remember, Hasbro isn't selling MPs to us, they're selling it to retailer,s who then sell it to us, and if it's not worth the retailers' time or money they won't bother.

 

I can't speak from a market as a whole but I know in my experience, Hasbro Masterpiece figures were extremely difficult for me to find. My local Wal-Mart never got the first 20th Anniversary Prime nor the first MP Starscream release though they did get Skywarp and cleared him out at $25 each and the TFTM Anniversary MP Prime.

It got worse when they switched to TRU since I didn't have one within reasonable driving distance (80 miles away) and when I was near a store, they would be out of stock or it was no longer available. it was also a crap shoot being able to catch the more popular ones on TRU.com. I never saw Hasbro's MP-10 Optimus, Rodimus, Grimlock, MP11 Starscream, Acid Storm, BB, Bluestreak, or the Soundwave/tapes set. Only MPs I was able to get in store were Sunstorm and Prowl. A friend of mine was luckily able to get me an MP-10 Prime and MP-11 Starscream.

I eventually ended up not even caring enough to see if Hasbro would release a certain MP or not. If it was something I wanted, I would go straight to Takara. I imagine I was not the only one in this boat.

 

Hasbro consolidated it's efforts with TakaraTomy with brand unification. This has affected all products, particularly how Hasbro goes about the Masterpiece line. There's no Toys 'R' US in the US anymore, so there's not a major retail outlet willing to carry the MP line. The recent MPs carried through Pulse are relatively the same as the TakaraTomy releases with just the added slipcase cover.

 

I only really got the opportunity to use Toys R Us during it's twilight years unfortunately, and I think the only MPs I ever saw were Bumblebee and Prowl

 

The adult collecter market is niche, bro.

 

Somewhat surprised Hasbro doesn’t release the G1 MPs through the Pulse like they are doing with the TT Gen Selects now.

 

Because Walmart chose not to stock them at full price and instead sat on them until they could be dumped straight to clearance. In this area, they literally were not put out until they'd been knocked down to $20 and disappeared inside of a week. Too many stores think stuff will magically sell sitting in the warehouse and blame everything but their own incompetence when it doesn't.

 

TRU was really the only chain to promote or support slow turnover toys. A lot of stuff at TRU would never go below 25% or so off MSRP but they would stock and restock 4 year old toys.

Toys are more like a periodical than a book at Walmart or Target. There's no "but it's really cool so we'll warehouse it and move it slowly over a few years". It's all about fast ROI for big box department stores.

 

Is it doable? Of course, MP Nemesis Prime without the voice box has an inferior price too. But will they do this? Nah.