After what I would call a lacklustre Toy Fair I would like to comment on something that bother me. How pissed would you have been if you designed a toy, conceptualized the transformation, painted it, etc, etc just for some shmuck to mis-transform it to be put on display for all major retailers to see. I am talking about the titanium mess that is Megatron, but it is not limited to him. How is it that these things still happen?
My company was there as exhibitionist 2 years ago and most of the people at the booths are average people who aren't into toys but treat it as any other job. It's possible that the people responsible for transforming and displaying them have never touched a TF before and was only going by instruction manual or even verbal instructions. Besides time was of the essence and they probably rushed through it to get the booth set up in time. It's a really hectic show and TF aren't like Barbie or G.I.Joe where you simply take out of the box and put it on a stand.
I'd hardly call it lackluster, either. There was a lot of great stuff there, it's just proto leaks and Takara's line meant we knew a lot of it was coming. If not for that, the same content would have been mindblowing. Which the truly new stuff like the Titanium line and Unicron Jr. was.
Agreed, the only reason that we feel that it was a lackluster showing is that we've seen most of this stuff through Takara's Galaxy Force and the repaints through prototype leakage. Otherwise, yeah, the new stuff (especially WW Titanium 6" Prime) was exceptionally mindblowing.
Personally, I'm far more bothered when something is mistransformed on the packaging (Alt Skids, Meister, RID Scourge etc.). Honestly, when trying to market something to prospective consumers, you would think that it would make sense to make the product look as flatering as possible. When it comes to the actual packaging, most Transformers are awkwardly posed and poorly photographed. Getting it wrong for a tradeshow that is closed to the public is one thing. Getting it wrong on the actual package is another ball game!
it was kinda because i dident see the g1 stuff. but on the other hand i love that metroplex now that i gave it a good look. and titanium prime is a little slice of heaven. we all have a lot to look forward to this year.
It is pretty sickening when they don't show it right. The fricken' designers should transform them, package them, and send them out. Don't leave it up to somebody who doesn't know or care. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that Megatron was transformed wrong. How obvious does it have to be that he shouldn't have a huge panel sticking up over his head?
None of this stuff really bothers me. It's amusing, but not really frustrating. By and large, Hasbro's promotional department probably doesn't care if the toy is mistransformed - slightly or profoundly - so long as A) it sells and B) they get paid because it sells.
Oh dear Primus. http://www.webster.com/dictionary/exhibitor http://www.webster.com/dictionary/exhibitionist Of course, if it was an anime-con this would not NECESSARILY be improper usage. And let's not forget the ENTIRELY NEW MEANING this brings to the thread title...
'Tis true, unfortunately. Most of the folks that setup the displays and speak to the public are either interns and/or aren't very knowledgeable on the product. They basically read from a script (some do it literally) when they're speaking to potential buyers and/or the press. Not everyone from headquarters can fly out to events like Toy Fair to set things up perfectly; it’s simply not a cost-effective measure for any company. You just have to hope and pray that the folks at the shows follow direction and set things up fairly well. Additionally, regular, corporate-type, buyers don’t know any better and wouldn’t even be able to tell if something’s mistransformed.
All of which goes to show that Hasbro should hire a couple of us each year to do the show. (Or at least, some of us should seek to be employed by Hasbro for the job.) Otherwise, this is all just a bunch of us...
More sad than Titanium Megatron was the Beast Wars... Tarantulus's torso was completely backwards and Waspinator looked like he was cut in half (which doesn't hurt show accuracy in any way, of course) I can understand botching the transformation of a new figure but they've had these guys 10 years now and still cant get them right... if it's an Intern setting these things up you would think they'd get sent there with one in vehicle mode and one in robot mode perfectly so it couldn't get botched. Let's also not forget how many collectors are there who do know how they should look, why not let someone stand there in case someone goes "Hey, this Transformer looks like he got stuck in a head on collision" so someone allowed to touch the display can fix them?
Seems it would be in ANY toymaker's interest to send at least one person with good knowledge of the toys (from the design team or whatever) whose job is to make sure the display toys look their best - or at least not look wrong.
i saw how someone transformed that jetfire repaint, with the arms in the down position in jet mode. duh!
