Transformers Tuesdays

Discussion in 'Transformers News and Rumors' started by SinisterSpinister, Aug 10, 2020.

  1. Dinobot Nuva

    Dinobot Nuva Johnny 3 Tears Veteran

    Joined:
    Apr 2, 2006
    Posts:
    9,112
    News Credits:
    16
    Trophy Points:
    347
    Likes:
    +5,657
    Yeah I'm gonna echo the sentiments that fans aren't being unreasonable if they want Hasbro marketing to include all of their collector-focused product. If we're going to compare to other brands like folks have done with Joe on the small side and the Mouse stuff on the bigger/licensed side - Power Rangers is a smaller brand and they've managed to cover their product a lot more consistently than the TF team has this year.

    Want to reveal things sooner to get ahead of leaks? Cool. But if Generations is "main line" these days, I don't see any reason why figures from that line aren't getting attention on the marketing side prior to their appearance at brick and mortar. If a wave of possibly-leaked-but-otherwise-unannounced Lightning Collection/Black Series/Marvel Legends/Classified/etc. started showing up at Wal-marts with no prior announcement or any way to order at MSRP you know fans from any of those brands would have the same (not unreasonable) complaints.

    I don't want to go back to the days when things just randomly dropped on HasbroToyShop or BBTS, etc. without any prior warning - the scheduled cadence Hasbro's built with all of their brands has made collecting much more stress-free, particularly in a time where retail is both a logistics shit-show, and also not necessarily safe for a lot of folks to venture out into.
     
    • Like Like x 6
  2. LunarStrike

    LunarStrike Let's Get Dangerous!

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2021
    Posts:
    414
    Trophy Points:
    142
    Location:
    NW Indiana
    Likes:
    +907
    Hastak jinxed themselves by calling a handful of Tuesday announcements “Transformers Tuesdays”, thus many of us hope for at least a couple of those a month. Regardless of why, they have consistently provided Marvel and Star Wars reveals and updates on an almost weekly frequency. TF fans feel left out, especially when we know there is product out there needing pre orders to go live.

    It doesn’t have to be every week, it doesn’t have to be at all if there isn’t any product out there to be revealed or ordered. Right now, leakers and YT reviewers are “adding fuel to the fire” of TF fans.

    Supply chain issues aside, many of us will remain hopeful that today and subsequent Tuesdays yield announcements that pre orders for Kingdom Waves 4 and 5, and the Golden Disc Collection are live until there is nothing left to pre order before the next line is announced.
     
    • Like Like x 6
  3. WolverineDragon

    WolverineDragon Banned

    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2021
    Posts:
    4,665
    Trophy Points:
    192
    Likes:
    +13,299
    Nah, at the end of the day, a good portion of us are gonna get these figures anyway.
     
  4. Nemesisprime1975

    Nemesisprime1975 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 20, 2020
    Posts:
    2,661
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Likes:
    +3,659
    Yes and they know that will be the case....
     
  5. Fenrys

    Fenrys Formerly Tigatron2002

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2002
    Posts:
    60,385
    News Credits:
    9
    Trophy Points:
    492
    Location:
    Virginia, United States
    Likes:
    +124,616
    You also missed the entire context of what I was saying in an attempt to prove me wrong, which is something you have done several times in the past. I generally enjoy the content of your posts, but a lot of the time when replying to me you seem argumentative. I'm not trying to argue. I've got no interest in that. If you think it's not odd that Hasbro failed to announce an entire wave of figures and never put them up for order then so be it. If you think that it's not odd that they split announcements for waves of studio series figures between live streams and instagram posts rather than revealing it all at once then so be it. If you don't think it's odd that the pace of reveals in general has declined in momentum this year compared to last then so be it. I wasn't just talking about the lines I like or collect, in general Hasbro has done a shoddy job marketing Kingdom, Studio Series, Cyberverse and some exclusives this year. Last year the pace of reveals was much more consistent and the amount of stuff they left out of reveals (except for Cyberverse) was considerably less than this year. If you don't find that odd and want to keep arguing against that then that's on you dude. Hell, remember when they did the livestream that included Netflix wave 2? Like close to 15 figures were revealed on that livestream if I'm remembering right.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  6. WolverineDragon

    WolverineDragon Banned

    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2021
    Posts:
    4,665
    Trophy Points:
    192
    Likes:
    +13,299
    What's also odd is the fact they dedicated time at their last TF FFF for some moba collabs a good portion of the TF fanbase won't bother to engage in, when we mostly care about wave 4 of kingdom being revealed along with other figures. The marketing decisions of Hasbro is questionable these days.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  7. T-Hybrid

    T-Hybrid Gnodab Kidult (He/Him)

    Joined:
    Aug 19, 2006
    Posts:
    38,096
    News Credits:
    58
    Trophy Points:
    412
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Likes:
    +77,882
    It's odd for Kingdom, but then W4 is only trickling out to stores now. If these hit any kind of major saturation or start shipping from places like Amazon (where I've got Tigatron, Waspinator, and Shadow preordered from my Wishlist back in April) then we're definitely in uncharted territory.

    But by that same token, it's not odd for Transformers in general. Cyberverse is almost entirely run in this fashion. Figures just sorta hit stores and we go "Oh hey that's cool!" or they get a listing on Amazon/Target/whatever and that's where we first learn about it. Hasbro has never really announced those formally yet the line seems to be doing quite well. Heck, Cyberverse has no presence on Pulse...despite having "Deluxe" figures that are more like the traditional Generations that do.

    So as a fan? Yeah it's odd. But to general audiences there's nothing different about what's currently going on with Kingdom than with any of the other TF stuff they see in stores. So maybe that's why my frustrations aren't really at the same level as others? Because I've already been dealing with it as someone who's interested in Cyberverse so Generations getting in on the fun is just more of the same.
     
  8. Effigy

    Effigy Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 8, 2019
    Posts:
    9,835
    News Credits:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    247
    Likes:
    +23,445
    there have been a lot of Marvel announcements but they sell a lot more Marvel product. Star Wars though I think have had FEWER announcements than Transformers this year, so your premise feels a little off. Between Kingdom, Studio Series, Masterpiece, the Perfection series, Haslab and all the exclusives and fan channels we have actually been eating pretty well this year compared to most other lines.
     
  9. Fenrys

    Fenrys Formerly Tigatron2002

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2002
    Posts:
    60,385
    News Credits:
    9
    Trophy Points:
    492
    Location:
    Virginia, United States
    Likes:
    +124,616
    Except it breaks the precedent set by Siege and Earthrise. In addition to that Hasbro never really announced T-Wrecks or the entire Buzzworthy subline. They never really announced Red Alert or Netflix wave 3 (just randomly dropping them on pulse), etc. We usually get reveals/preorders for waves months before they hit shelves, Kingdom wave 4 is the most obvious example of them dropping the ball but it's not just Kingdom.

    If you're happy with their marketing then fine, but it's definitely a regression compared to the last 2 years. I'm curious if it has to do with the shuffling around of the design team (Warden no longer being there since he was the face of the streams during Siege and Earthrise) or if it's an issue with the marketing team, but there is definitely a difference overall compared to the last 2 years.
     
    • Like Like x 3
  10. T-Hybrid

    T-Hybrid Gnodab Kidult (He/Him)

    Joined:
    Aug 19, 2006
    Posts:
    38,096
    News Credits:
    58
    Trophy Points:
    412
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Likes:
    +77,882
    It's possible they didn't see a big enough return on investment to whatever level of marketing they had been doing to warrant further effort. I dunno. Like I said, we as a fandom aren't the main consumers of product. So if they're not seeing a big enough difference to warrant the cost of marketing they'll cut it without a second thought. It wouldn't change anything to general audiences who go off whatever they see advertised in traditional media or in stores.
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2021
  11. Fenrys

    Fenrys Formerly Tigatron2002

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2002
    Posts:
    60,385
    News Credits:
    9
    Trophy Points:
    492
    Location:
    Virginia, United States
    Likes:
    +124,616
    But the cut in marketing is also a cut in preorders, which ultimately will trickle down to the bottom line in some capacity. There's rumors that one of the marketing people is disgruntled with the leaks and that's playing into the lack of marketing, but it can't really be substantiated.
     
  12. T-Hybrid

    T-Hybrid Gnodab Kidult (He/Him)

    Joined:
    Aug 19, 2006
    Posts:
    38,096
    News Credits:
    58
    Trophy Points:
    412
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Likes:
    +77,882
    Does it? It affects our ability to easily purchase products, but if we're not preordering it all it means is we'll either buy it later when we find it in store or someone else who isn't us is getting that item that we can't find. To Hasbro, it's not a lost sale, even if we aren't the ones buying it.

    So yes, I agree the lack of preorders is frustrating...but if it was translating to lost sales you'd see them do something about it.

    I wouldn't blame them. A few times on stream they've joked about stuff they really wanted to reveal first and got beat by leakers. It's gotta be frustrating as a marketing team when your whole job is to build hype and you can't because some rando in Vietnam is selling stuff out the back door of your factory to a bunch of guys on YouTube. All the while there's people in positions of trust dumping even more info on forums like this for stuff way ahead of when you'd be ready to announce it.

    It creates a no-win situation. The whole point of the reveals/streams is to excite online fandoms like this. But then they do a stream and they're flooded with people who complain that "oh this already leaked!" or "we already saw this!" But if they try to get ahead of those leaks they see complaints about it being too far ahead and people want to see the stuff that's "already leaked" because someone in Singapore has it so clearly it should be in the US too. And while "it's just social media" is one way to look at it...there are real people who have to monitor those comments/streams and deal with that shit. It's going to be tiring and frustrating.

    So if you start to get the impression your target audience isn't going to be happy regardless, you stop wasting time/money on it. As others have said, it's not like we won't buy the product anyway. It's a cynical take, but it's the truth.
     
    • Like Like x 3
  13. PlanckEpoch

    PlanckEpoch Red and black red and black

    Joined:
    Jul 20, 2010
    Posts:
    15,190
    News Credits:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    337
    Likes:
    +20,845
    Instagram:
    YouTube (Legacy):
    At the end of the day the fandom is it's own worst enemy. We're the reason we can't have nice things.
     
    • Like Like x 9
  14. T-Hybrid

    T-Hybrid Gnodab Kidult (He/Him)

    Joined:
    Aug 19, 2006
    Posts:
    38,096
    News Credits:
    58
    Trophy Points:
    412
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Likes:
    +77,882
    And literally as I wrote the above post someone leaked the entire 2022 Studio lineup.

    So now it doesn't matter what Hasbro's team does because we know everything that's coming so any reveal will be old hat. They typically reveal quarter by quarter but we've got everything a full year in advance.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  15. Sunbow Prime

    Sunbow Prime TFW2005 Supporter

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2021
    Posts:
    4,904
    News Credits:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    242
    Likes:
    +7,257
    I won't complain about things being announced too early. They know what's coming long before anybody in a factory can leak something, and could get ahead of everything if they chose to.
     
  16. T-Hybrid

    T-Hybrid Gnodab Kidult (He/Him)

    Joined:
    Aug 19, 2006
    Posts:
    38,096
    News Credits:
    58
    Trophy Points:
    412
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Likes:
    +77,882
    Someone literally just leaked the entire 2022 lineup. Generations, Selects, Studio, all of it.

    How do they "get ahead" of that? Do you want them to start putting up preorders for stuff 18 months before it hits stores?

    Though I think some of the "Legacy" and Studio leaks go even further back than that.

    People claim leaks only happen in the absence of info, but in reality all the leakers did was move further and further ahead.

    Instead of getting stolen factory product and vague hints... we're now getting the full case assortments for an entire year. If Hasbro tries to keep ahead of that it'll just create desire for *more* leaks that are even FURTHER ahead.

    Because the next thing will be people putting their 12/2022 preorders down back in October of 2021 and spending the next year bored because there's nothing new announced they didn't already know about in stores.
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2021
    • Like Like x 1
  17. T-Hybrid

    T-Hybrid Gnodab Kidult (He/Him)

    Joined:
    Aug 19, 2006
    Posts:
    38,096
    News Credits:
    58
    Trophy Points:
    412
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Likes:
    +77,882
    I should add, I've been warning for a while that this new arms race of leaks getting ahead of Hasbro would likely backfire.

    The PR/Sentai community had this same issue. Leakers got so far ahead of Bandai that BoJ/Toei responded by locking shit down so info wasn't getting out ahead of anything being official/finalized.

    We're heading that way now. Hasbro isn't going to try and get in an arms race, they're going to just clampdown to ensure leaks aren't getting ahead of anything that they may still potentially change.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  18. G1 Mirage Owner

    G1 Mirage Owner My alt. mode is an Antikythera Device.

    Joined:
    Jan 31, 2021
    Posts:
    3,565
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Location:
    Grays, Essex
    Likes:
    +27,565
    How can Hasbro be beaten to the punch by leakers? Hasbro could easily reveal the 3D models and concept art of what's upcoming looooooong before an early prototype wanders off the production line. Just let us know when things are coming (subject to change), even a season would be nice. Hasbro Star Wars manage it with their pipeline reveals.

    Hasbro should literally be doing what Chefatron, Kremzeek and PvP are doing with the figures. The internet gives them access to the cheapest advertising/hype model in history. You literally sit a marketing/design guy (who you already pay) in front of a webcam and let them sell the 'sizzle' of what's coming. Then upload the edited results to Facebook/YouTube once a week or every two week... call it something like "Transformers Tuesday's" if you want a catchy and memorable name.

    If they want to 'beat' the leakers, they need to do is do what they do, but better.
     
    • Like Like x 3
  19. Dinobot Nuva

    Dinobot Nuva Johnny 3 Tears Veteran

    Joined:
    Apr 2, 2006
    Posts:
    9,112
    News Credits:
    16
    Trophy Points:
    347
    Likes:
    +5,657
    I think the majority of the criticism thrown Hasbro's way isn't for not revealing leaked items that pop up in store systems a year ahead of time, since that's been happening semi-consistently for a couple years now (remember when all of Siege was orderable on Amazon, months ahead of reveals, only for stuff to get cancelled months later?).

    The bigger issue is with not promoting stuff that's clearly already in circulation. Kingdom Wave 4, Studio Series Deluxe Wave 14, T-Wrecks, no preorders for the latest wave of Studio Series releases (with a subset of those hitting retail early), all of the Buzzworthy Studio Series reissues, the new mold WFC stuff in Buzzworthy, Grindor hit retail before being revealed on IG with no links to order from Pulse/Target/Walmart/Amazon. Heck the only official marketing for Worlds Collide was a Hasbro-provided turn-around video to BWTF, Road Rage at least got a post on socials when Target threw up orders for her (though I'm not sure if Draculus got the same attention?).

    The ball is in Hasbro's court to reveal or at least provide preorders for these things with whatever rhythm they want to use going forward. We haven't seen pics of any of today's leaks, the community just knows what to expect and we'll know if they only reveal like 1 figure out of a new wave's case assortment and skip over the rest on a stream now.
     
    • Like Like x 5
  20. Cardion

    Cardion Courage and Good Cheer!

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2020
    Posts:
    1,898
    News Credits:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    197
    Likes:
    +7,040
    The people that keep up with, and follow leaks are not the core purchasing demographic. Until it affects parents getting gifts, Hasbro may be fine with this level of leakage. I know it affects our enjoyment of the brand, but we only represent 10%-20% of the purchases.