The situation of the Hasbro reissues and Energon/Universe Seacons: CANCELLED

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Nevermore
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The situation of the Hasbro reissues

Post by Nevermore »

Version 1:
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/thread68133.html

Version 2:
http://animepunch.net/v-web/bulletin/bb ... php?t=2254

Sigh. Let's hope for ToyFair to finally solve this... :rolleyes:
Looking for a complete Energon Sky Shadow (from Superion Maximus).
Offering: Binaltech Hound, Swindle, Ravage (Corvette), Skids.
Can buy in stores: Robot Heroes Tigatron/Inferno, Ricochet/Predaking.
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Post by EvillEdd »

Well, continuing the series is hopefully a must, but perhaps if we ask nicely enough they'll release some more Decepticon re-issues. :-) And if they don't at least re-issue Soundwave, may we should start to throw things, lol.
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Post by RID Scourge »

The problem is that a lot of the reissues they've done have been done by Takara. They need to delve into the untapped, later stuff . . .
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Post by Denyer »

They need to dig out the Dinobot moulds... instant bulk pre-orders there...

We know that some of them were around as recently as the 90s.
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Post by Warcry »

They need to start selling the things for a reasonable price if they want to continue the line. It's that simple. When my local TRUs dropped the prices on the reissues, they flew off the shelves. So obviously the interest is there; people just aren't willing to pay such a ridiculous price. Dropping the price $10 (so that the regular Autobot cars sell for the same price as Hot Rod did) would solve most of the problems with the reissue line right away.

I agree that they should start releasing some figures that haven't seen the light of day in Japan yet (Dinobots would be awesome), but there's no reason to stop putting out already-reissued-in-Japan figures altogether. After all, not everyone who's interested in reissues is going to import from Japan.
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Post by Wildrider »

Re-Issue Apeface, trust me it's a winner.:glance:
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Post by Pun-3X »

Why, when you can release the Firecons instead? It's a three-pack versus a guy with a robot head. Smart marketing, if you ask me.
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Post by Civ »

I agree with Warcry for the most part, but I must ask a couple of questions:

1) How much does it cost to produce a batch of TFs?
2) If they drop the cost, could Hasbro still make a profit?

I would also love to see the Dinobots re-issued, particularly Swoop.
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Post by Nevermore »

Originally posted by EvillEdd
And if they don't at least re-issue Soundwave, may we should start to throw things, lol.


They won't reissue Soundwave. He didn't pass the drop test.
Looking for a complete Energon Sky Shadow (from Superion Maximus).
Offering: Binaltech Hound, Swindle, Ravage (Corvette), Skids.
Can buy in stores: Robot Heroes Tigatron/Inferno, Ricochet/Predaking.
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Post by Tempest »

Originally posted by Nevermore
They won't reissue Soundwave. He didn't pass the drop test.


You gotta be kiding me?

*goes to Action-HQ and see's it for $179*

Bastards ...
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Post by RID Scourge »

Originally posted by Warcry
After all, not everyone who's interested in reissues is going to import from Japan.


True, but enough online stores have them pre-imported for about the same price as the US versions will be when they finally get released. In which case, they should fix the distribution problem.
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Post by Warcry »

Originally posted by RID Scourge
True, but enough online stores have them pre-imported for about the same price as the US versions will be when they finally get released.
And...?

Considering how relatively small and insignificant the online TF community is, that makes no difference. The random guy who sees Jazz at TRU while shopping for his kid and buys him on a nostalgia kick isn't going to go buy TFs online. And it's guys like that who will decide the sucess or failure of the line. Not us.

Which is why Hasbro would be better off releasing Soundwave (hypothetically; I know they won't) than, say, Mirage.

I mean, Takara hasn't reissued Hoist or Grapple or Dirge in the collection series, yet those are the guys that are still warming the shelves at all my local TRUs. By your logic, they should have been snapped up while the previously reissued-in-Japan guys like Prowl and Skids warmed the shelves. So obviously previous Takara releases aren't as much of a factor as you seem to think.
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Post by Ravage »

Well considering I picked up Jazz, Jinrai, Prowl, Skids, Smokescreen etc when they came out in the Japanese lines. That took some of their business away right there. And I know I am not the only one who picked up some of the Japanese figures first.

But I agree make them the 20 dollar range and that should help.
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Post by God Jinrai »

ten to one says the reasoning being that the tape deck door snapped/cracked, the battery cover fell off, etc...

I'm quite convinced that the people in charge of "toy safety" in this nation of dolts ot the left of me and buffoons to the right (not all, mind) want to reduce all toy products that are entering the market to be equivalent to the transformers Go-Bots line. impossible to break, with no chance of parts falling off. I must wonder, seriously... if soundwave didn't pass the drop... how the blue hell did half the alternators?!?!?!?!?! Please, someone tell me, as iif you even BREATHE on them the wrong way, the tend to fall over.
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Post by RID Scourge »

Originally posted by Warcry
Considering how relatively small and insignificant the online TF community is, that makes no difference. The random guy who sees Jazz at TRU while shopping for his kid and buys him on a nostalgia kick isn't going to go buy TFs online. And it's guys like that who will decide the sucess or failure of the line. Not us.


I really doubt they're the target. How many people do you think are going to "impulse buy" a reissue because of nostalgia, and how many are they going to buy? Nope, it's not directed at "Joe Blow," who's buying toys for his kids. The sales just aren't there to actually warrant it.
I mean, Takara hasn't reissued Hoist or Grapple or Dirge in the collection series, yet those are the guys that are still warming the shelves at all my local TRUs. By your logic, they should have been snapped up while the previously reissued-in-Japan guys like Prowl and Skids warmed the shelves. So obviously previous Takara releases aren't as much of a factor as you seem to think.


Nope. The only thing that's obvious is that you're forgetting all of the reissues takara put out before their book-style reissues. Before Hasbro reissued any of them, Takara had all ready reissued a whole slew of them, and Hoist, Grapple and Dirge were among them. Basically, any collector, who wanted them had 1-2 years to get them before they even knew that Hasbro was going to reissue them.
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Post by Warcry »

Originally posted by RID Scourge
I really doubt they're the target. How many people do you think are going to "impulse buy" a reissue because of nostalgia, and how many are they going to buy? Nope, it's not directed at "Joe Blow," who's buying toys for his kids. The sales just aren't there to actually warrant it.
Really? Then we're the target? Seriously, how many members of the online fandom do you think there are? The few thousand of us aren't enough to warrent being the target market of anything.
Nope. The only thing that's obvious is that you're forgetting all of the reissues takara put out before their book-style reissues. Before Hasbro reissued any of them, Takara had all ready reissued a whole slew of them, and Hoist, Grapple and Dirge were among them. Basically, any collector, who wanted them had 1-2 years to get them before they even knew that Hasbro was going to reissue them.
You mean the 'limited to 1000 pieces' reissues? The ones that cost nearly as much as a vintage, good condition version on eBay? The mail-order only Dirge and convention-exclusive two-packs with Grapple and Hoist?

If those are really enough to sate collector interest, then there would have to be ~1000 collectors interested in the reissues [significantly less, actually, because many of those would have been soaked up by the Japanese market before western collectors even got a shot at them]. And if that's the case, then there's no way we're the target market for Hasbro's reissue line.
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Post by RID Scourge »

Originally posted by Warcry
Really? Then we're the target? Seriously, how many members of the online fandom do you think there are? The few thousand of us aren't enough to warrent being the target market of anything.
1. There are more of us than people, who are going to buy on impulse in the name of nostalgia.

2. Please define "online fandom." Are you referring to the few of us that post, or are you also taking lurkers into account?

3. Just because someone doesn't post on a tf message board doesn't mean that they're not buying online. There are easily millions of people, who buy stuff online. Not all of them are collectors, but I'd say enough of them are.
You mean the 'limited to 1000 pieces' reissues? The ones that cost nearly as much as a vintage, good condition version on eBay? The mail-order only Dirge and convention-exclusive two-packs with Grapple and Hoist?

If those are really enough to sate collector interest, then there would have to be ~1000 collectors interested in the reissues [significantly less, actually, because many of those would have been soaked up by the Japanese market before western collectors even got a shot at them]. And if that's the case, then there's no way we're the target market for Hasbro's reissue line.


Well, when they first came out, I remember certain places having an abundant supply of them, and they weren't as expensive as the originals can be. Of course, dropping the price might help, but I would almost be certain that it wouldn't be much.

Truth be told, I'd have to say that I think Hasbro realized that Takara had a good thing going with the reissues, and they wanted a piece of that pie. Unfortunately, they got into the game a little late.
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Post by Dragon Warrior Steve »

Maybe they should start releasing more fan favorites, like Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Wheeljack, Soundwave, mostly some other Season 1 guys. Guys like Hoist, Inferno, Skids, and Dirge just don't seem to sell.
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Post by Nevermore »

Originally posted by Dragon Warrior Steve
Maybe they should start releasing more fan favorites, like Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Wheeljack, Soundwave, mostly some other Season 1 guys.


Soundwave is a non-option for the reasons stated above.

Side Swipe... sigh. He was released in Canada and Australia last year, but I'm still looking for solid confirmation whether he was ever released (in extremely limited quantities) to the US or not. However, that was already part of the problem and sure isn't the "solution".
Looking for a complete Energon Sky Shadow (from Superion Maximus).
Offering: Binaltech Hound, Swindle, Ravage (Corvette), Skids.
Can buy in stores: Robot Heroes Tigatron/Inferno, Ricochet/Predaking.
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Post by Denyer »

Originally posted by RID Scourge
I really doubt they're the target. How many people do you think are going to "impulse buy" a reissue because of nostalgia, and how many are they going to buy?
The original Prime. Hasbro appeared to seriously underestimate the stock of this particular item which could be shifted via TRU. Pretty much any time I was in a store there was someone sounding happy about the price and the fact of having discovered it on sale.
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