New Hasbro Q&A 05/27/04

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New Hasbro Q&A 05/27/04

Post by Nevermore »

http://www.hasbro.com/transformers/ener ... efault.cfm
Q: Why are Hasbro’s TRANSFORMERS ALTERNATORS molded in plastic while Takara’s line is die-cast metal?
A: We felt that it was important, for the US market, to make ALTERNATORS affordable.

Q: Do you have any plans to release more G2 toys, such as the Laser Rods or the Autorollers?
A: We are looking at many toys from TRANSFORMERS history. If molds exist, there is a chance you will see more G2.
Though rather useless, I hope this will finally put an end to the endless fanboy "b00 H45br0 5uXX0r2 4173rn470r5 dumb p1a57!c n07 d!3c457"...
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Post by Zizicez »

when hasbro said Lazerrods i started foaming at the mouth and i got a hard-on
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Re: New Hasbro Q&A 05/27/04

Post by Windrazor »

Originally posted by Nevermore
http://www.hasbro.com/transformers/ener ... efault.cfm

Though rather useless, I hope this will finally put an end to the endless fanboy "b00 H45br0 5uXX0r2 4173rn470r5 dumb p1a57!c n07 d!3c457"...


I don't think much of anything would put an end to that. Hasbro may say its more affordable, and in this case it might be, but if Japan can make them in metal, then why can't Hasbro? If the demand is out for them, I'm sure they would sell well. For example, regular Alternators are being sold for $19.99. So if they made Die-cast versions for about $24.99, or even $29.99 then a lot of people would be happy enough to stop bitchin'. At least I know I would. I like the plastic versions just as well, but it seems that consumers should have a choice too. After all, what would Hasbro do without us?
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Post by dedicon »

does hasbro ever talk to fans or are they asking questions at random thoughts?
they are grinding the same qs over and over. bet you next month one of the q&as will again be:will soundwave be reissued again?
or are you going to release more alternators?
well at least the answers are always diffrent.
still,bring me previews!not stupid q&as!
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Post by Denyer »

I'm guessing adult die-cast only fans are in a minority... Alternators are pitched at teens, too, and the die-cast leads to flaking, may make it harder to pass US toy safety laws (Japanese society isn't as litigious as the US) etc...
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Post by Cliffjumper »

Plus it'd be expensive and impractical to make plastic and diecast versions. I can't see Toys R Us giving up shelf-space to some near identical toy for $10 more that'll appeal to a minority within a minority with a not exactly massive fanbase.
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Post by Windrazor »

All I can say, is.. ya never know until/unless it happens.
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Re: New Hasbro Q&A 05/27/04

Post by Dark Rodimus »

Originally posted by Nevermore

Though rather useless, I hope this will finally put an end to the endless fanboy "b00 H45br0 5uXX0r2 4173rn470r5 dumb p1a57!c n07 d!3c457"...



Oh, jeez. Here we go with another fanboy bashing thread. Can’t you guys think of anything more interesting to post about? Do you people know how many threads start out as fanboy bashing? There are so many, that it’s redundant. And here you go. You go around bashing people who like metal over plastic. Do you know how ridiculous that sounds? If something as trivial as whether someone likes plastic or metal toys upsets you that much, then you have serious problems. Why don’t you people come up with something more original to post, like something about the actual toys? And you guys are always crying about someone being a fanboy because they are critical of Hasbro. Did you ever consider the fact that you might be a Hasbro fanboy, because in your eyes Hasbro can do no wrong?

I like this site. It’s very informative, but the problem is an environment for free and open discussion is very discouraged, and that discouragement is supported by the mods. This thread is a case in point. From the title it looked like a very informative and interesting thread, but then the first post establishes open season on fanboys. It was established from the first post that if a person liked the plastic toys then they were fine, normal people, but if you wanted a metal toy, then you were seriously disturbed, had mental issues, and were of all things, a fanboy. The horror. Now this behavior is supported by the mods, sometimes encouraged by the mods, and often times the mods participate in it. Now what happens say if someone did like the metal toys better than the plastic ones, and wanted to share his thoughts, ideas, and opinions with others that have similar interests? He would quickly be flamed and humiliated. In fact, because of the abuse that he would endure, he would probably either never post on this site again or if he did post, he would probably not be able to post his true thoughts and feelings, and have a truly honest and meaningful discussion for fear of being ridiculed again. He may even in the future participate in the flaming of other people who display these despicable fanboy traits. Thus openness would be stifled. Creativity hindered.

This would be a much better forum if openness to new ideas was allowed and tolerance to others views encouraged, but I guess you guys like the closed minded, intolerant, stifling environment better. Hey, here’s a thought. Why don’t you all free your minds, drop the attitudes, and try to get along with your fellow Transformer fans? You all would probably live better lives if you didn’t harbor all of that negative energy.
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Post by Dark Rodimus »

Here’s an illustration that kind of explains what I’m talking about:

Start with a cage containing five monkeys.

Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a ladder under it. Before long, one of the monkeys will spot the banana and start to climb the ladder. As soon as he does, spray all of the other monkeys with cold water.

Replace the banana.

After a while another of the monkeys will probably go for the banana. Again, spray all of the other monkeys with cold water. Monkeys are fairly smart, so pretty soon whenever one of the monkeys tries to climb the ladder all the other monkeys will try and prevent him doing it. When this happens, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. Then put another banana at the top of the ladder.
The new monkey will spot the banana and make for the ladder. To his surprise all of the other monkeys attack him. After a couple more attempts result in further beatings the new monkey will not make any attempt to go for the banana.

Remove another of the original monkeys and replace it with another new one. Then replace the banana. Again, the new monkey will make a grab for it. Like his predecessor he will be amazed to find that all the other monkeys attack him. The previous newcomer will take part in his punishment with some enthusiasm.

One at a time, gradually replace all of the original monkeys with new ones. Each of the newcomers will go for the banana. Each one will be attacked by the other four. Most of the new monkeys have absolutely no idea why they were not allowed to climb the ladder, or why they are participating in the assault on the newest monkey.

When all of the original monkeys have been replaced, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless no monkey ever approaches the ladder. Why not? Because as far as they are concerned that's the way it has always been done around here.

Now the banana is the metal Alternator, and the monkey who climbs the ladder is the fanboy. Now the rest of the monkeys that attack the fanboy monkey are all of the people that flame the fanboys on this site. And the…..oh, screw it. You’re all a bunch of monkeys.
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Post by Bombshell »

Dark Rodimius, you really need to chill out. Seriously. I don't seem to recall anyone in this thread "fanboy bashing" what Nevermore said at all. In fact, there was quite a good discussion going on.

Like Denyer said, diecast metal toys aren't generally considered great for general sale since, even though the Alternators line is marketed to older collectors, the general age of a Transformer consumer (Energon and Universe in particular, and Alternators in general) is 8-12 years old. And like Denyer said, there's a whole lot of saftey issues regarding diecast toys. Not only is paint chipping and flaking a potential problem, but there is also the possibility that a child could potentially be injuried playing with a diecast toy. (I've had a metal toy dropped on my foot once. Let me tell ya. It wasn't pretty.)

And as for your criticism about how we mods deal with this situation, I do believe that it is unfounded. To my knowledge, we have never (and I certainly have never) attacked a forum member for speaking his opinion. I would certainly like to see any proof that you have that a mod or anyone else has "flamed and humiliated" someone over stating their opinions.
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Post by Zizicez »

no offence dude but he didnt say

"i decree that all who like Metal shall burn in hell, and all that oppose my decree will burn along side them, thus is my will"

but really

Takara makes BinalTech (those are the metal ones money boy;-))

Hasbro makes Alternator (the plastic ones)

its pointless for them to bitch constantly about Hasbro for that reason

it they want the metal ones, they can talk to Takara

Edit: this post is directed at Dark Rodimus
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Post by Windrazor »

Bombshell.. I think this thread is starting to go majorly off topic here. If Nevermore would have left the beginning post with just the Q&A, and the next post after that would have had some sort of fanboy reply that would have been one thing. But he started it off with fanboy comments about metal not plastic. This is related to the whole Truck not Monkey concept. Newcomers have no idea of what that is supposed to mean, even though they come on to the scene saying they like the original G1 Optimus Prime over the Beast Wars Optimus Primal. I can see Dark Rodimus's logic in saying what he did. I have seen it first hand too.. especially in topics of religion, and politics. Moreso in the area of those who oppose or who agree with George Bush, those who think gay people should either be accepted or that the concept is wrong, or those who have religion and feel standards should be continued to be followed. I have seen people come into discussions and give the reasons as to why they agree with Bush's plan even though it may not be logical, but the majority of the consensus don't like Bush, just because they think it is all about oil. So anything anybody else says in agreement to Bush and what he is doing is immediately flamed, and sometimes banned. Same way with with the homosexuality scene, and religion. I've seen people give off a good debate and side to their story, and just because the majority of this board was on one side, and not the other.. the newcomer was banned. Is this right? I think not. I've seen this happen in many situations.. and I personally am afraid to give my opinion about this BS anymore due to thinking I'll be banned as well. I was brought up with morals and standards, as well as religion with ryhme and reason. But if I was to present my case, I can just be as sure that someone will disagree with me with no matter what I say and will bring up some sort of case or trickery to get me banned and I'm not gonna fall for that.

Anyways.. I'm getting way off topic here myself, but the fact is that the first post should probably be edited to remove the fanboy comment about plastic not metal. If that is removed, then feel free to remove this post as well.

I personally like the concept with Japan putting out diecast versions. I understand that there are probably teenagers as well that like this series, just as much as the older fans. I can't say I know how many of the younger generation go after Alternators and not the Energon series, as I see 7 thru 12 year old kids that go to the stores looking for Energon toys, and not Universe or Alternators toys. Usually I only see Collectors going after the reissue, Universe and Alternators line. In that line of thinking, I think there should be metal versions produced as well. Regardless of if they may be more expensive or if Toys R Us has to make room for these other versions. After all, they have the Armada and Energon versions of Tidal Wave and Unicron on the shelves.. so why not the 2 versions of Alternators? The reissue pieces sell on average for $20 to $35. So what would be so wrong to have them be sold at for around $25? I think it'd be a great idea. What does Hasbro have to lose with doing this? Absolutely nothing.
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Post by Nevermore »

Dark Rodimus:

1. Personally, I prefer Binaltech over Alternators. Surprise. And I think everyone is free to prefer what he likes. What I don't like, however, is fanboys bitching over any decision Hasbro is making (like "boo, Meister is the same transformation as Smokescreen, boo, Hasbro suxxor, boo, Side Swipe is another transformation as G1 Sideswipe, boo, Hasbro suxxor") no matter how many times people have come up with valid explanations for those decisions.

Do I say Hasbro is withouth fault? Hell, no. But it's one thing to say "I'm not satisfied with Hasbro's decision in that regards" and a totally different pair of shoes to say "waaaah Hasbro hate fans because the Bumblebee Alternator they bring out who looks exactly like a real 1975 VW Beetle, transforms like G1 Bumblebee, has the face of cartoon Bumblebee and talks with the voice of Dan Gilvezan IS RED INSTEAD OF YELLOW OMG TEH SUXXOR!!!!!!!"
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Post by Cliffjumper »

Originally posted by Windrazor
So why not the 2 versions of Alternators? The reissue pieces sell on average for $20 to $35. So what would be so wrong to have them be sold at for around $25? I think it'd be a great idea. What does Hasbro have to lose with doing this? Absolutely nothing.


Did you actually read what I posted? They have money to lose. They'd have to, at a guess, set up a second product line to produce what I'll call USBT. Then they'd have to package the things differently [maybe slightly differently, but differently]. Then they'd have to persuade someone to stock them. And even then, they wouldn't be able to count on many of the fans buying JBT buying USBT. It's a financial risk they needn't take.

Your comparisons with Unicron and Tidalwave are invalid. a) they're recolours, using the same material as the originals, b) they're supported by animated and comic appearances, c) them being on the same shelves as the Armada version isn't some grand scheme to allow buyers choice, but because the Armada versions didn't sell well enough and d) Alternators appeals to a significantly smaller audience than Armada/Energon. USBT would appeal to a faction [those who wanted USBT] within a faction [those who want diecase BT/Alt] within a faction [those Transformers fans who actually buy BT/Alt full stop] within a medium-sized fanbase [Transformers fans].
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Post by Sir Auros »

Cliffy, let me introduce you to a dear friend of mine...:wall:
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Post by Denyer »

Originally posted by Dark Rodimus
bashing people who like metal over plastic.
Nope. Read what's written. I like metal parts (I mostly collect '84-'85 series stuff) and I certainly don't take what's written as an attack on me.
Originally posted by Dark Rodimus
It was established from the first post that if a person liked the plastic toys then they were fine, normal people, but if you wanted a metal toy, then you were seriously disturbed, had mental issues,
It was established in the first post that people who can't wrap their head around the economics of the US toy market (and continue to whine they aren't getting the same product as somewhere else) have the mentality of brats: "This is why we've done this." / "But I WANT. Waahhhh!"

Importing is really easy these days. We also get international information in days rather than months, thanks to the net. The only thing holding most people back is weak currencies and the belief that things should be served to them on a plate, regardless of whether it makes economic sense for the distributing company.

Clamber down off the horse and get back on topic.
Originally posted by Bombshell
I would certainly like to see any proof that you have that a mod or anyone else has "flamed and humiliated" someone over stating their opinions.
That's not strictly true, since bigotry counts as (admittedly irrational) opinion. No-one is going to apologise for disrespecting those opinions, in much the same way no-one is going to regard an opinion as more valid because it follows an institutional line. An opinion isn't valid simply for being an opinion.
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Post by inflatable dalek »

Originally posted by Dark Rodimus
You’re all a bunch of monkeys.


Oook, oook, oook?
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Post by Windrazor »

Originally posted by Cliffjumper
Did you actually read what I posted? They have money to lose. They'd have to, at a guess, set up a second product line to produce what I'll call USBT. Then they'd have to package the things differently [maybe slightly differently, but differently]. Then they'd have to persuade someone to stock them. And even then, they wouldn't be able to count on many of the fans buying JBT buying USBT. It's a financial risk they needn't take.


Yes, I read what you wrote, and I took that into consideration. Actually it isn't that much expensive or mind bending as you may think. As far as the graphics on the boxes would go, Hasbro could borrow the graphics from Takara's Binaltech line. As everything can be passed through the net, it wouldn't be much of any trouble to send the picture by email to Hasbro. There would be some key words or things to be changed (i.e. Takara symbols to Hasbro symbols, Japanese text to American text). This program is then loaded into a machine that prints the picture onto cardboard. That same program is used for the cutting machine to accurately cut out the layout. Packaging wouldn't really change. They could use either the Binaltech form of packaging or the Alternator form. They would all be the same size vehicle. The only thing that would change is from plastic to metal. Cost is roughly the same in actuality these days. Plastics are going up in prices whereas metals are staying around the same price. (I know this from working at a rotational plastics plant - John Deere, Graco, Rug Doctor, etc.). Persuading someone to stock the items is really not a hard thing to do. Wal-Mart would do it no problem. Toys R Us would probably do it as well. Since it is all under the Transformers line, there isn't much cost there adding another toy to their shelves. I would love to see a comparison sheet in adding another toy to the shelves and the actual cost difference to both items. I can bet you that it really isn't that much of a difference. I don't think it would be that much of a financial risk as one may think. A financial risk would be to come out with some more of those stupid Animorphs.
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Post by Denyer »

Originally posted by Windrazor
it isn't that much expensive or mind bending as you may think.
If it's a formula for such raging success, why hasn't it been done? Simply because they haven't thought about it (doubtful) or because it hasn't been run through their various departments (doubtful)?

Hasbro and Takara have a rough agreement whereby each doesn't poach the other's customers, which may have some bearing on things, but I do think it's as simple as Hasbro not wanting to have to quantity balance products competing with themselves. Alternators are already a sub-market.
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Post by Alpha Trion »

Originally posted by Windrazor
Packaging wouldn't really change.
The packaging would have to change to make it clear which version was plastic and which was metal.
Originally posted by Windrazor
Persuading someone to stock the items is really not a hard thing to do. Wal-Mart would do it no problem. Toys R Us would probably do it as well.
Walmart and TRU already have plastic Alternators all over their shelves. Do you really think they want to put near-identical toys next to them on the shelf?

We all know it would be physically possiblel for Hasbro to release diecast Alternators. It's just that it's so impractical that it will never happen. The sales would be so low that it would be a disaster. Think about it: if Hasbro suffered huge money loss like that, they might even stop producing Alternators entirely, or close the Transformers line altogether.
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