is the Transformers the top toy franchise

blastoff · Post by **blastoff** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 6:32 pm

As far a Animated and Toy Franchise goes
is Transformers tops

Post by **Denyer** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 8:10 pm

Doubtful. Limited access to associated fiction, lots of competition from video games.

Post by **Clay** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 9:20 pm

Toy franchise? I'd say Barbie or GI Joe before I'd say Transformers, even with the recent success of the movies.

Auntie Slag · Post by **Auntie Slag** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 9:41 pm

Does Pokemon count? That's got fingers in every piece of the pie and seems to make more money year after year than many rapidly developing nations.

Savannahtron · Post by **Savannahtron** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 10:46 pm

Video games also count as part of toy sales. According to Business Wire (2008) "at the current pace, NPD expects worldwide toy sales to top $86.3 billion in 2010."

"Next to the United States, Japan and United Kingdom produced the most revenue in 2007, generating $5.95 billion and $4.38 billion, respectively."

I could not find any statistical reports on actual toy figure sales, but based on the global toy volume of sales, the companies with branding budgets are going to have the highest volume of sales.

I would think that Transformers are one of the more recognized brands, as well as Barbie, Legos, GI Joe, Gundam Z, and so on.

Reference:
"Global Toy Sales Reached $71.96 Billion in 2007 and Expected to Top $86.3 Billion in 2010." Business Wire (Sept 10, 2008): NA. General OneFile. Gale. Apollo Library. 23 July 2009
<http://find.galegroup.com/itx/start.do?prodId=ITOF>.

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 6:19 am

Power Rangers is probably there or thereabouts too... It's pleasing to see that Lego seems to be making a bit of a comeback as well.

Patapsco · Post by **Patapsco** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 8:51 am

I'm probably going to go with lego myself, and not just because I've bought a snowload of Technic sets in the last six months and am planning to buy more in the future.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 9:48 am

Hasn't Power Rangers just finished?

-Blackout- · Post by **-Blackout-** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 11:45 am

inflatable dalek wrote:Hasn't Power Rangers just finished?

Please let that be true.

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 11:56 am

inflatable dalek wrote:Hasn't Power Rangers just finished?

No idea. Define finished, though - Transformers is off-air (with, I believe, no solid plans for anything new that we've heard of yet).

blastoff · Post by **blastoff** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 12:41 pm

Isnt a new Transformers cartoon coming out soon

Halfshell · Post by **Halfshell** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 12:51 pm

If there is, I've not heard about it yet.

Cliffjumper wrote:No idea. Define finished, though - Transformers is off-air (with, I believe, no solid plans for anything new that we've heard of yet).

It's over -- finished! / It never ends! [delete as applicable]

SenahBirdR · Post by **SenahBirdR** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 1:43 pm

-- Multi-Platform Initiative Planned to Premiere in Late 2010; TV Network to Reach Approximately 60 Million Nielsen Households in the U.S. Served by Discovery Kids Channel --
...
New programming will be based on brands such as ROMPER ROOM, TRIVIAL PURSUIT, SCRABBLE, CRANIUM, MY LITTLE PONY, G.I. JOE, GAME OF LIFE, TONKA and TRANSFORMERS, among many others.
...
Creative work will start in the next few months beginning with early stage development for properties including ROMPER ROOM, TONKA, G.I. JOE, TRANSFORMERS and MY LITTLE PONY.

...
http://www.hasbro.com/corporate/media/p ... enture.cfm

No specific plans quite yet. Everything is very very preliminary. A new version of Transformers will likely be one of the flagship programs. I do not expect much real work to be done on actual brands until Hasbro has finished preparing for the holiday season. Doubtful much info will even leak before 2010.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 2:00 pm

It's over -- finished! / It never ends! [delete as applicable]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Rangers

An article in The New Zealand Herald published on March 7, 2009 identified RPM as the last season of the Power Rangers run. Production manager Sally Campbell stated in an interview, "...at this stage we will not be shooting another season".[4]. However, a couple weeks later, Bandai released a statement that "Disney is producing a Season 18 and Bandai America will continue to develop action figures and toys for fans and collectors of all ages.

I must have read the "It's over...finished!" announcement but missed the "It never ends!" one.

eisen · Post by **eisen** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 10:09 am

i'd call it that.

RID Scourge · Post by **RID Scourge** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 1:42 pm

I'd be surprized if they didn't make another Transformers series. At this point they're focussing on the movie since it just came out last month. I'd say after they get all the designs they want to get done, they'll probably keep the line going with repaints/premium series while they plan the next cartoon.

It's an interesting question to ask where it fits inthe action figure genre. There's tons of lines out there. I collect TF, G.I. Joe and DC Infinite Heroes, and I usually pick up the DC Universe Classics I'm looking for (though they're a pain to keep up with since hardly anyone carries them) and I grab the occasional DC Direct figure. I'd say that TF gets the larger profile of all those lines in my area.

-TF can be found pretty much anywhere toys are sold.
-G.I. Joes usually get a good chunk of aisle space in Toys R Us and Target (with a little more room now that the movie line is in full swing

). Walmart has a single row of single-carded figures and one for comic packs and a small area on two shelves for 5-packs and vehicles. Local Walmarts have 12" Ninja and role play sets, and one that's way out of the way has the 3.75 figures, but rumor has it most of their stores won't have those 3.75 figures out until a week after the movie opens (the street date was originally 7/11 and then moved up to 7/4). Walmart reportedly has no love for 3.75 Joe because they own stock in Lanard (the company that produces the Corps).
-DCUC seems to have failed at retail with little support, but few sales. Infinite Heroes doesn't seem to be selling as well either, but it has a little bit more support.
-DC Direct can only really be found at comic shops with the occasional line of figures (like Watchmen-mainly because it was the only line of Watchmen figures (in a movie year)) making it's way to TRU. KB used to have a ton of DC Direct figures, but they are no more.

Savannahtron · Post by **Savannahtron** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 10:32 pm

Didn't they already announce it for Discovery Channel? If they follow the traditional release, we will start seeing the new line as early as next spring to summer.

SenahBirdR · Post by **SenahBirdR** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 12:43 am

Savannahtron wrote:Didn't they already announce it for Discovery Channel? If they follow the traditional release, we will start seeing the new line as early as next spring to summer.

Yeah, Transformers is specifically one of the mentioned franchises announced that will early work will begin on in a few months. So far it is just "Yes, we want to do Transformers." I doubt we will begin to hear anything solid until late spring maybe summer.

Vin Ghostal · Post by **Vin Ghostal** » Thu Feb 18, 2010 3:34 pm

I don't think any new Transformers series will start until Fall 2011 at the earliest. We haven't heard anything solid about a new series, which means the earliest one could debut is Fall 2010. That would leave less than a year before TF3 drops in Summer 2011. Better to start the new series in the fall, right after the third movie's release, to ride that wave of popularity into a fanbase for the new show for the following 3-4 seasons.

starlord · Post by **starlord** » Sat Feb 27, 2010 5:05 am

YEah ..they have put HASbro on top of the toy makers in the World along with the littlest pet shop and little ponies. The company is not suffering from any recession there. Thanks to transformers, walmart and toys r us are in the black.