Kapow to abandon 3 party toys?

Discussion in 'Transformers 3rd Party Discussion' started by General Magnus, Jun 23, 2014.

  1. alex1984

    alex1984 Well-Known Member

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    That would be impractical and also very risky for these 3P companies. When TFC first came out with Herc, it was said that each figure pretty much depended on the previous figure's sale. The 3P scene has gotten much larger since those days, but it's still not likely that these companies would be willing to sit on these unsold stock for an extended period of time, while sinking in more money to churn out the next release. The way things are right now, they get paid by the dealers, and unsold stock are the dealers' problems, not theirs.

    Aside from this, most 3P companies aren't set up to have the infrastructure to take on all of the customer service things. Most of the time, people still go back to the e-tailers (who have this) and the e-tailers deal with the 3Ps.

    That's not to say it can't be done, but it's a risky move, and not necessarily as rewarding as it might sound.
     
  2. CyberShadow

    CyberShadow Wheeljacks Lab

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    Exactly my point. England is blessed with a handful of really good online stores compared to the size of its market, but Kapow is the major store for the UK and parts of Europe. For them to make this move must be a big thing for 3Ps as it represents and entire sector almost dropping off their distribution map. Now, its pretty clear that most 3Ps barely acknowledge any market that isnt Asia or the US - Warbotrons recent farce is one example, FT splitting shippment to the UK while somehow managing to keep US stores fully stocked is another - but any business that doesnt care about half the world customer base is simply dumb.

    I sincerely hope that this moves bites a lot of 3Ps in the ass hard and makes them realise that while they are 'fans' who get a load of pats on the back for visiting a thread here (even when that delays a release months through tiny changes), their priority SHOULD be retailers. I would prefer a 3P with zero presence here if I knew that any QC issues could be dealt with quickly because the manufacturing company actually answered emails from my retailer. That is simply more important to me than a 1000 page thread that the designer pops in on.
     
  3. tomboland

    tomboland Well-Known Member

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    what happened with Warbotron? Been a bit out of the loop in regards to them
     
  4. Rquiem

    Rquiem Dutchbot

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    Just got some behind the scenes info, its a collective group of retailers that are going to cancel business with about 70% of the 3p productionhouses.

    Problems are with shipping, distribution, quality issues and most of all communication or lack thereoff. The collective are being discarded as second hand retailers and as to such they responded in kind.
    If there is no mutual respect, then business cease to exist.

    Some of the 3p will still be carried, but only those that have a firm base where good business was built upon.
     
  5. Gryph

    Gryph Action Master

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    Warbotron made a timed exclusivity deal with BBTS, and failed to inform any of the other online retailers that had ordered from them.

    Not surprising in the least. I'm guessing the Warbotron incident was the last straw. If they don't want to act like a proper business, then they shouldn't be treated like one.
     
    Last edited: Jun 25, 2014
  6. Zavien

    Zavien Veteran

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    I'm just gonna keep getting figures while the getting is good. I feel for parties affected by any of this. I do hope however that whatever happens n the not to distant future that this somehow manages to have the companies bring down there price. I'm really surprised that any small etailer would even stock Quantron and utopia for example. I mean wouldn't it hurt them if they couldn't sell something like that at that price? I don't know what all this entails but will definitely be keeping an eye out and ear to the ground on this situation and see if this progresses. Quick some third parry company get me a Piranacon
     
  7. deaculpa

    deaculpa Stand Alone Complex

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    ^ exactly. It's today now, and shelves are full. Most if us try to avoid aftermarket prices anyway, get it now. And if there's no more 3rd party well all be rich because our collections will be priceless.
     
  8. CyberShadow

    CyberShadow Wheeljacks Lab

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    I think that the price per unit is secondary, and a bigger issue is that the makers minimum order requirement. If a retailer can order a minimum of $50,000 worth of one item, how can they be expected to sell that quantity? Only places like BBTS, TF Source and RobotKingdom can meet those numbers, which is why they get preferential treatment. Its utterly unworkable.
     
  9. koonfasa

    koonfasa Well-Known Member

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    Why shouldn't they get preferential treatment for that?
     
  10. Cast

    Cast Roll the dice

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    Are you able to name the stores? Kapow going it alone might have been noticed but not changed anything, a group could be quite significant effect on the 3p's so this will be interesting to watch.
     
  11. Swoop

    Swoop Well-Known Member

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    No reason, but from what I've heard, it a) annoys people waiting for stock from a small retailer, who then gets irritated customers, and b) the 3rd party companies are bad at basic communication, so the retailer has no idea what's happening with their stock/money/delivery dates.

    Plus there's cases of 3rd parties promising to supply stuff and then going back on it in favour of exclusive dealing with one retailer.
     
  12. Turnman

    Turnman Well-Known Member

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    Makes sense. The lack of any real action against 3P from Hasbro is probably making a lot of these companies get cocky. Really, no real responsibility, no safety rules to adhere to, no legal costs, no infrastructure or office personnel to maintain, probably little to no taxes to pay… no wonder we are getting so many new 3Ps and other ones are probably feeling invulnerable and ready to demand high orders no questions asked.

    Of course, they forget that the retailers, even the small ones, are a very important part of them getting our money. MMC gets this; that is why they cut back the offers their own online store had. They didn't want to alienate themselves from the people that first put them on the map.
     
  13. Rquiem

    Rquiem Dutchbot

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    No sadly I can't. But Kapow just openly made the first step and more will follow. The guy I spoke with did mention some of the Collectives names though, but im not sure of some of them, and I think they would appreciate when they come forth on theyr own terms.

    Thing is, to compete with a lot of bigger companies the smaller ones had to combine for larger orders and distribute among themselves due to some changes the 3rd partys made when it came to buying from them (big increase).

    But It's not just UK. This will effect a lot of stores in Europe.
     
  14. archieboy

    archieboy Well-Known Member

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    I am 100% behind this move.
     
  15. CyberShadow

    CyberShadow Wheeljacks Lab

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    Because it creates a two tiered system, which is only good for the businesses on the top, and guess what happens? This happens. What would happen if only TRU got Hasbro stock, and all other stores had to wait longer or got sidelined? If you live near a TRU then thats great. Which ever way you slice it, 3P companies are largely ignoring markets outside of around three big retailers, one in Asia and two in the US. As a customer, I want to support companies that help me. I expect to be able to buy their product at the same time as anyone else, get decent reassurance of good QC and have an avenue if something does go wrong. Instead, we have a new 3P company announced almost every week with a render or silhouette, prices that are steadily rising, preorder periods of over half a year, utterly unknown quality assurances and zero communication to the point where even the retailers cant get an answer to their email.

    Right now, a retailer is expected to front up serious chunks of change to meet minimum preorder levels (that dont just give preference but mean that a store gets nothing if they cant meet that minimum) which is used to fund the figures, in an already overcrowded market where who knows what company is associated with others, with zero assurance of good quality and no information on shipping dates or what happens when a figure is broken. The stores take all of the risks. The 3P company gets payment up front before anything is made and then doesnt respond to emails and sinks into the earth if there is a problem, maybe to reappear later under a new name and repeat the process.
     
  16. zfarsh

    zfarsh Big Penguin Chief

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    Hmm, very interesting, thanks for sharing. Wonder if this will extend to NA too. I was really under the impression the only bad apple was Warbotron, but it seems this is not the case. I just hope FT / MMC / FP / MT keep being well represented and distributed ((and maybe Planet X and PE too). I cant buy from BBTS because of Tax / Duty, and TFSource, I don't want to support. I would only really deal with the little guys: Chimungmung, CP, Chosen Prime and PSX.

    No matter what, this potentially might bring the prices up, though I hope not, as there would be less competition, and out of my reach.

    hopefully / thankfully, if / once I get all my FT Dinos and MMC FR / Fembots (and maybe Seraph), I don't have to worry so much about me being able to afford 3rd party products, my collection would be where it needs to be, and if other figures I want are still within my reach at that time, then cool, if not, I still got a kick ass collection and can just get some MP cars / minibots every year and be a whole lot richer!!!
     
  17. AnegefalosGR

    AnegefalosGR Elite Guard!

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    So after all Hasbro didn't need to take action against them, they poked out their own eyes :p . At least the unreliable ones.
     
  18. Gryph

    Gryph Action Master

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    It was kind of obvious. When Combiners started becoming a viable 3rd party product, a ton of groups started showing up rapidly, trying to cash in. If you hook customers with the first part, you have them for the next 4-5. Unfortunately, while they may have the technical expertise, many don't seem to have the business sense to run things properly. Really, it's something that needed to happen. Hopefully something is learned from this, and it makes them act more professionally.
     
  19. Composite Ghost

    Composite Ghost Motorized Transformer

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    These 3rd parties reveal a design people like and suddenly they think they're Banksy.
     
  20. motorthing

    motorthing Too old for this $hit

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    This. So much this.

    Being frank I'm surprised an outfit "like" Warbo haven't actually pulled a scam of this type - pop up with renders, Protos etc, solicit stupidly big orders for a "must have" multi-part purchase on almost no record of delivery and then just disappear with the stake money. In a way the fact that Air Burst and Heavy. Noisy actually exist is almost reassuring that things haven't got that bad yet.

    As to the other Retailers.......Comics and Toys of the Netherlands were another.