Hasbro Q&A Round 3

[Ryno]

http://marvelousnews.com/index.php?catid=23&itemid=11196

[theturquoisegoblin]

I'd like to start the discussion on the latest Q&A forum but unfortunately I can't reveal my thoughts on this or anything else at this time.

[synch]

hey jayc maybe you should hold off on these untill you get a build up of enough questions hasbro CAN actually ANSWER! Other wise they come off as looking like complete and total F T@rds!

 

 

& this one really makes me wonder if there is any HOPE what so ever for the future of the marvel legends lineup ...

 

"

Hasbro: Comic included is cool and it's certainly possible, but at the current price it's a trade off - comics or BAF [build-A-Figure] components.

"

 

WTF! honestly ...

 

were we just really totally and completely spoiled here by toybiz or what?.. Either way there marvel toys is still kicking hasbros ass... & I have a feeling that that the DC-C line up will as well...

[DesiSpider]

There is not much i can say at this point either.

[JayC]

Yeah getting juciy tid-bits of info can be hard this time of year, and really till Toy Fair in Feb, not just with Hasbro but with all toy companies. That being said though, we do have a little surprise coming up (hopefully as soon as tomorrow) I think you all might enjoy, so stay tuned.

[Ryno]

Yes, quite the little surprise indeed @twisted@

[synch]

to jay & crew with love

 

 

@loll@

 

 

 

yeah I guess it is true most company's would wana keep there stuff for the big show

[operarob]

Whats the point of having a Q&A if Hasbro doesn't answer any questions?!? Really...There's nothing you can talk about?!!? WHAT A JOKE!!

 

I've read the Q&A on 3 sites and nothing is ever answered. They're doing more dodging of questions than The White House.

 

How about this question.... If Hasbro took over the ML line for better distribution, How come the new product isn't around Chicago at all. ML 1's are clogging every TRU, Spider-man 3 dogs are hogging all the shelf space in the other stores, and the only place to find this stuff is on Ebay. Yeah, that's great distribution for ya.

 

No wonder this line is going belly up.

[drzenith]

Interviewing Hasbro feels like asking someone about Roswell, the Yeti, Atlantis, the Bermuda Triangle, etc...

 

It also reminds me of watching LOST and X-Files combined. The answers are usually "No comment" "No comment" "Let us see what the future tell us"

 

It is actually funny reading the transcript, since it feels like an Easter Egg Hunt.

 

But they did give us information, since all you needed was to decipher the clues:

 

1. BAF clicks, comics don't. So we stay with BAF.

2. Cap is good, but Bucky is not. But what if Cap is Bucky would it still click?

3. 5 inch sucks with no BAF part, we lost millions. We try 6 inch this time.

4. 2008 is a big year since we are no longer rookies. We try the Spider-Man cartoons also with BAF and six inch.

 

I guess the best way to ask them is questions like "Did you or did you not order the code red?"

 

Straight answer. No more going around the bush.

[nagauthier]

I don't know why Hasbro even bothers with a Q&A if these answers are the best they can do. It really makes me miss the old Q&A thread Jesse Falcon had at Fwoosh when Toybiz was running the show. Whatever crap people gave him, he was a lot more forthcoming than this crap.

[annihilator]

It is obvious Hasbro is still in the dark on how to make this series click. They try to put their own stamp on this thing and they are failing miserably. How many times do you have to reinvent the wheel? Do it with what works in the past. Right now they are getting set to get their @ss handed to them by the competition and they are still clueless! Follow the narrow path and do not stray

[SheriffofCoffeeTown]

Yes, because innovation and new ideas are a sure path to failure...

[FearfulSymmetry]

... That being said though, we do have a little surprise coming up (hopefully as soon as tomorrow) I think you all might enjoy, so stay tuned.

 

 

Everyone's bitching about the lame Hasbro Q&A but what about this surprise?

c'mon now the suspense is killing me

 

whatever it is it's gotta be better than that Q&A

 

"he who expects nothing can never be dissapointed"

[nagauthier]

Yes, because innovation and new ideas are a sure path to failure...

 

If you consider less articulation, fewer paint aps, and less pack-ins all for a higher price to be "innovation and new ideas" then, yes.

[SheriffofCoffeeTown]

Yes, because innovation and new ideas are a sure path to failure...

 

If you consider less articulation, fewer paint aps, and less pack-ins all for a higher price to be "innovation and new ideas" then, yes.

 

No, I consider ita a different way of doing things. And if I understand the relationship between Toy Biz and Marvel correctly, the Biz didn't have to pay as much of a liscensing fee for the use of the Marvel properties. Hasbro does, and that fee is passed onto the price of the figures. Also factor into that the obvious rising price of oil. So, rather then raise the prices even further on individual units, they cut some things out. There'd be just as much complaining if Hasbro Legends were exactly the same as Toy Biz, but $15 a pop.

 

And to clarify, I was actually referring to the failed Spider-Man 3 line as new ideas and innovation. Yes, it's a failure, but that's what happens when you try new ideas. Some of them don't work.

[annihilator]

Blah, blah, blah . . . yada, yada, yada. Meanwhile, Mattel (DC) and Marvel Toys are doing better products for less bs. lol

[SheriffofCoffeeTown]

Blah, blah, blah . . . yada, yada, yada. Meanwhile, Mattel (DC) and Marvel Toys are doing better products for less bs. lol

 

Congratulations, you've proven that different companies with different liscensing agreements can do things differently.

[rachelgrey616]

no comment

[ScorpioKyle]

Whats the point of having a Q&A if Hasbro doesn't answer any questions?!? Really...There's nothing you can talk about?!!? WHAT A JOKE!!

 

I've read the Q&A on 3 sites and nothing is ever answered. They're doing more dodging of questions than The White House.

 

How about this question.... If Hasbro took over the ML line for better distribution, How come the new product isn't around Chicago at all. ML 1's are clogging every TRU, Spider-man 3 dogs are hogging all the shelf space in the other stores, and the only place to find this stuff is on Ebay. Yeah, that's great distribution for ya.

 

No wonder this line is going belly up.

 

one of the major problems they are doing, unlike toybiz is they are following the Starwars plan of distribution.

 

Toybiz: each series had its own SKU number per wave. so if wave 10 is out and not selling it will be marked down as wave 11 comes in.

 

Hasbro: 1 sku for all Marvel Legends. Wave one is rotting on the shelves. It is still active in the system, so it doesn't get marked down and the warehouse does not send any new assorments. the warehouse is still stocked so they do not get the newer waves in either. some stores did an RTV, but others didn't for wave one. Most stores (walmart, target) in my area just in the past 2 months got in wave 2 finally

 

by having one SKU for all the marvel legends, it cloggs up the newer lines, my toysrus I work at never got in series 2, and at this rate probably won't get series 3.

[operarob]

Yes, because innovation and new ideas are a sure path to failure...

 

 

 

Everyone's bitching about the lame Hasbro Q&A but what about this surprise?

c'mon now the suspense is killing me

 

whatever it is it's gotta be better than that Q&A

 

"he who expects nothing can never be dissapointed"

 

 

 

Is this supposed to be a podcast or something?

 

 

I can't get it to work, what's the buzz?

[nagauthier]

No, I consider ita a different way of doing things. And if I understand the relationship between Toy Biz and Marvel correctly, the Biz didn't have to pay as much of a liscensing fee for the use of the Marvel properties. Hasbro does, and that fee is passed onto the price of the figures. Also factor into that the obvious rising price of oil. So, rather then raise the prices even further on individual units, they cut some things out. There'd be just as much complaining if Hasbro Legends were exactly the same as Toy Biz, but $15 a pop.

 

That must be a seriously high liscensing fee then. Because Toybiz has demonstrated with the Legendary Heroes line that it is still possible to make superarticulated figures with great paint apps and a HUGE BAF spread out over fewer figures and still charge just $8 a pop. I don't fault Hasbro for wanting to make a profit but when they're turning out figures with less articulation, less packaging, less paint, no comics, and small BAFs spread out over 8 figures AND charging $2-$3 more per figure depending on where you're buying them, it just doesn't sit well with me.

 

And I certainly don't fault them for trying new things in other lines, but when Toybiz had already demonstrated a very clear and successful path for the primary ML line, I see no excuse for the changes made there.

 

And back on the topic of this Q&(no)A that they've been doing, it just shows even further that Hasbro doesn't seem to get how to deal with the Marvel lines. They've got a Q&A for their Star Wars line spread out over nearly a dozen fan sites and frequently give really good answers in those. Sure, they dodge a few, but not almost all of them like they've done with Marvel. For a toy company that does such a great job with most of its other lines I just don't get why they've screwed the pooch so hard on the Marvel stuff.

[operarob]

No, I consider ita a different way of doing things. And if I understand the relationship between Toy Biz and Marvel correctly, the Biz didn't have to pay as much of a liscensing fee for the use of the Marvel properties. Hasbro does, and that fee is passed onto the price of the figures. Also factor into that the obvious rising price of oil. So, rather then raise the prices even further on individual units, they cut some things out. There'd be just as much complaining if Hasbro Legends were exactly the same as Toy Biz, but $15 a pop.

 

That must be a seriously high liscensing fee then. Because Toybiz has demonstrated with the Legendary Heroes line that it is still possible to make superarticulated figures with great paint apps and a HUGE BAF spread out over fewer figures and still charge just $8 a pop. I don't fault Hasbro for wanting to make a profit but when they're turning out figures with less articulation, less packaging, less paint, no comics, and small BAFs spread out over 8 figures AND charging $2-$3 more per figure depending on where you're buying them, it just doesn't sit well with me.

 

And I certainly don't fault them for trying new things in other lines, but when Toybiz had already demonstrated a very clear and successful path for the primary ML line, I see no excuse for the changes made there.

 

And back on the topic of this Q&(no)A that they've been doing, it just shows even further that Hasbro doesn't seem to get how to deal with the Marvel lines. They've got a Q&A for their Star Wars line spread out over nearly a dozen fan sites and frequently give really good answers in those. Sure, they dodge a few, but not almost all of them like they've done with Marvel. For a toy company that does such a great job with most of its other lines I just don't get why they've screwed the pooch so hard on the Marvel stuff.

 

 

What he/she said!

[SheriffofCoffeeTown]

That must be a seriously high liscensing fee then. Because Toybiz has demonstrated with the Legendary Heroes line that it is still possible to make superarticulated figures with great paint apps and a HUGE BAF spread out over fewer figures and still charge just $8 a pop. I don't fault Hasbro for wanting to make a profit but when they're turning out figures with less articulation, less packaging, less paint, no comics, and small BAFs spread out over 8 figures AND charging $2-$3 more per figure depending on where you're buying them, it just doesn't sit well with me.

 

 

 

I don't doubt that it is a huge liscensing fee. Because, with no offense to Madman, Witchblade, et al, they're nowhere near the legaue of Spidey or the X-Men in terms of marketing potential.

[nagauthier]

I won't argue that, and I'm sure the sales for the Legendary Heroes line won't be as good as Toybiz's sales for ML. But I still have a hard time believe that the rising costs, whether they're related to oil prices or the liscensing fee, justify both cutbacks AND a $2-$3 per figure mark-up. One or the other, sure, but both tells me that Hasbro is dicking us.

[SheriffofCoffeeTown]

I don't, on the simple basis that it just isn't good business sense to increase prices arbitrarily, especially in a situation like this. A situation to consider is one of Hasbro's other lines, the Transformers. The deluxe figure price point has been at $10 since 1995, in spite of increased costs and all that. Hasbro did this because they knew that it was a very appealing price point to consumers. (And, of course, there wasn't a licensing fee at all). I suspect Toy Biz took the same approach to Legends, keeping the price at about eight bucks as long as they could because the price was part of the customer's expectations of the product. Hasbro doesn't have the luxury of doing so, apparently.