Stores want parents to buy Predaking for Christmas. For December, they know most shoppers will be last minute shoppers and will buy anything. They don't have any reason for wanting a new toy line for December. The new Cybertron line might come out in December but will be very limited.
This distribution problem is really sucking the joy out of collecting TFs. When you know that the same figures will be what you are for months at a time, there no reason to be hopeful or excited when looking. Personally, I don't totally buy into the Walmart strong-arming Hasbro thing because it's not like their shelves are now replete with product and everyone else suffers. Or if they are throwing their weight around, they really suck at it. The same goes for the TRU closing excuse. That is a thinly-veiled way to cover for their inability to pivot quickly and strike up new deals with other outlets to carry exclusives and move the product otherwise allocated for TRU. It's not like TRU's financial woes were a shock to anyone. I think that Hasbro is simply deprioritizing the US more as the toy market continues to decline here. This is leading to most of the figures showing up in lots of other countries first, and in far greater number. Combine that with the disastrously inefficient distribution systems of the retail giants, and you have the beast we are confronted with now.
Continuing the benefits of Lego's distribution system: LEGO ships sets as FULL CASES of a SINGLE SET. Each and every set has it's own sku. So B&M stores can reorder only what's selling well. They may end up ordering 20-30 cases of set XXXXX and only 3 cases of set YYYYY depending on customer demand. And what's left over when it's time for those products to be retired in 6 months goes on CLEARANCE to move it out. LEGO doesn't have the "well wave 1 figure X is still sitting on the shelves so we aren't ordering Wave 3 until those figure are gone" syndrome that Hasbro has.
Just re-read your comment and had a horrible thought: what if the Hasbro/TT "Brand Unification" was done specifically because Hasbro wants to shift product away from the US???
It is very frustrating considering this isn’t the first time a Transformers toyline has had sh*ty distribution. I have only seen Hun-Gurr and Elita-1 at least once at a target store (thankfully I picked up Hun-Gurr at that time). I’m still looking for Moonracer, Elita-1, and now Wave 3 is starting to come out. But like many others keep saying, it’s more the retailers doing than it is Hasbro themselves, which actually makes it even more frustrating. Mainly because, to Hasbro’s Credit, they at least they know what you are talking about when you say “can you tell me if you have Transformers Power of the Primes Hun-Gurr”. Bottom line, when it comes to anything beyond Wave 1 of a Transformers toyline, you basically just have to get lucky enough to the point where it is reminiscent of a Bigfoot sighting.
name a store not named toys r us or a bargain outlet that has carried trypticon or devestator. Titan class is not in the mix at retail. They don’t care because it won’t be stocked. Hasbro will be pushing out cybertron in November. There will be plenty of sightings.
I halfway expect all four deluxe waves to show at Ollies early next year. My more conservative estimate is that it'll be waves two and three. Predaking is, in my opinion, a forgone conclusion. Trypticon had so much hype and Ollies recieved more of him than Fort Max.
They still havnt been made available on Wal Mart or Targets website and I refuse to believe they will let their online sales miss ALL wave two classes.
I saw Devastator and Trypticon at Target. Albeit it was the same Target so they may have had a limited release. I agree 100% with this one. He's way too fascinated with developing the movies but I don't think he really cares about them in a meaningful way either. Hearing him talk about the movies at Hascon, it was clear that all of his meetings about the movies were about how much it cost and how much they made. Heck, when he was talking about the movies, he struggled to actually say anything about them. I'm not even sure he has watched them. Long story short (only not really because I can't shut up), for the head of a popular toy company, he seems to want Hasbro to be run inefficiently. And there are three causes of inefficiency: apathy, incompetence, and corruption. And while I'm fairly sure he isn't corrupt, he does seem apathetic about the toys and incompetent when it comes to making deals to get the toys out there. Heck, he could have prepared for the TRU collapse even if he didn't think it was going to happen. A lot of business people thought TRU would get a renegotiated loan and were taken aback by the news. And if you saw it coming, good on you; no one in the industry did. Either way, you hope for the best but plan for the worst; it's a simple business mantra that's helped more than it's hurt. The TF movies were a bit of a gamble but they brought so many fans into the arms of Transformers so you have to give him credit for at least that. But like old bread, he's gone stale and needs to be thrown out. He's a one-trick-pony and that is more apparent the longer he stays in charge. Sorry about the rant but I feel like he just doesn't get his customers. The designers on the other hand, those people are keeping Hasbro alive and they're awesome people. Maybe I am being too hard on him but it's hard to like someone when the poor distribution got this bad under his watch (if he was even watching at all). Or yunno, I could be an idiot. That may also be true.
I’ll eat crow when I have to with the front page story, but if hasbro didn’t take the step of re-releasing wave 2 it was out of luck city.
The front page story does confirm though this was on hasbro’s side. They underproduced or most of the stock to se Asia.
Just sell them directly from Hasbro Toy Shop.... Then you could at least get some idea what people actually like and don't like, currently theres no useful feedback system.
Most of what you guys said in this thread is absolutely right but also horribly wrong. Having worked in a manufacturing plant in Vietnam for a year, plus my engineering degree, plus my mba, plus my computer science background I can confirm that there are many issues which even I cannot get my head around let alone the common person. My plant's product is pretty simple a 10 y/o child can do the work and yet planning is a disaster. I'm amazed how a production plant for transformers can even get product out the door. Specifically, comparing Transformers to Lego's is comparing apples and orangutans. Simple comparison They're both toys, why can't Transformers do what Lego can Actual comparison Legos made from plastic. Transformers require plastic and metal for screws, batteries. Lego mold once designed can be used for thousands of products. Transformers molds are bigger, unweldy and have limited uses. Legos have no assembly required in production. Transformers are on the higher end of assembly requirements, which require detailed instructions to asian factory workers in their native language. Legos have sold online long enough that they have a good IT system in place. Hasbro does not have a good system. The cost of implementing a good new system is HUGE. . . . I'm running out of time today but I could go on and on and on about the issues related to marketing, sales, logistics, supply chain management, audience, customers, retailers, distribution that are all more complex as of today for Transformers. Don't get me wrong, I still think Hasbro's management has issues and Lego's management is awesome but we can't ignore the inherent differences.
Please do go on. I'm genuinely interested in the other things you're talking about. Next time you have time, make a post. I'd love to read it.
Well, whatever the story is with the US allow me to reassure you that your Toys are not being sent to the UK that's for sure. With TRU here a distant memory trying to get Generations at regular Retail has become as difficult as it's ever been since Beast Wars. We are down to two and a half (Smyths, Entertainer and Toymaster who are so small and regional they barely count anymore) specialist Retailers and those have fairly scattershot regional coverage. What is really hurting is that our Supermarket Big Boys are not stocking POTPs. In the past Tesco/Sainsburys/Asda would have accounted for a big chunk of TF sales, but with TLK Leftovers rotting on their shelves still perhaps they decided that TFs as a whole were done and don't differentiate between Film and Generations as seperate entities. Online is becoming the only sure way of getting stuff now and even that has had blink-and-miss-out order Windows on several POTP items.
Eh, I am simultaneously producing a product line consisting of over 500 items, also broken down to a few thousand different SKUs based on paint, fabric options, etc. We are currently producing products in Japan, Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines in eleven separate factories. We get everything made and shipped on time for the most part, there are sometimes small delays because of small production orders and LTF containers. Once here we coordinate shipping to 37 major retail accounts and hundreds of small dealers. Then you have Walmart.com and Amazon. It is my job to get my head around all of that and make sure we have a plan in place for retail distribution three years out. Last year I designed 127 separate products and traveled to visit each of our eleven factories. We aren't a multi billion dollar company and we get it done. Hasbro has no excuse. Goldner cares more about padding his executive stock compensation than making toys and getting them into consumer's hands. Arrogance and greed have taken over at Hasbro and pretty soon they might be facing the same situation as Toys R Us. Arrogance - People will pay $299 for a AT-AT walker just because it has lights, sounds, and a barely functioning motorized system when the old one was $100. Case made: This piece of horrendous trash that is worse quality than the $3 fake lightsabers is $9.84. It is more expensive than the lightsabers from two years ago, yet is half the size and doesn't even completely collapse. Is the $2.50 price increase due to the $.10 batteries and $.03 LED light? I don't think so. Arrogance and Greed https://www.walmart.com/ip/Star-Wars-Electronic-Jedi-Apprentice-Lightsaber/744128700
