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08-02-2014, 05:11 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Kansas City Metro
Posts: 1,230
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Been thinking about this for awhile and I wonder how Hasbro would fare doing a joint exclusive between their SDCC booth and HTS during SDCC. It did not seem like they limited the boxes to 1 or 2 at the booth, although I am basing that on the pics I see from people with 3 or 4 so I could be wrong. Anyone know for sure?
I completely understand the idea of convention exclusives. However, not everyone can make it to SDCC for any number of reasons. Heck, this year's con sold out in less than an hour and a half. Maybe they should try something like limiting the set on the first day or two to 1 or 2 both at the booth and on HTS. Sure enterprising people at SDCC could buy two there and two online but that would give everyone else a reasonable chance too. Then open up the limit at the con for the rest of the days. Sell any left-over stock on HTS after that. There are always new collectors or returnees like me. I would easily fork over money to Hasbro for a decently priced 2013 Thunderbolts set. I would honestly even be willing to pay a reasonable premium for a chance to just order the current year's exclusive on HTS during SDCC. Say $100 at SDCC and $120 on HTS. I am fine with paying a little more when I did not make the trip and having them ship it to me. Plus it gives Hasbro some more income and every bit helps to keep the line going. I am fine with paying them the money, not so fine with paying someone online who bought a bunch just to cash in. This also somewhat feeds into some other thoughts I have been having for a while. First off, does anyone ever see a parent buy a Legends figure for their kid when you are in the stores? I have never seen it. At $20+ it seems like more of an adult collector line than something parents buy for their kids. If that is the case, the whole idea that double packing figures like Iron Man in the Guardians line for his kid recognizability is a bit off. I would also think the need for the cheapo lines would be less if parents were buying up Legends for their kids all the time. I would also personally be OK with just buying the line directly from HTS and bypassing stores all together. I understand why they still sell through stores (to a point) and also why there are store exclusives but I have to wonder how well the sales would do as an HTS only brand. Of course this would have to be different for the countries who get the lines but where HTS does not ship. Still a thought. That idea feads into the fact that figures such as the infamous Cap 2 Black Widow were virtually impossible to find in stores thanks to the short pack, BAF requirement and apparent belief that female figures still do not sell. Sure, I wanted the BAF piece but I also wanted a damn nice Black Widow. It seems from comments here and elsewhere that many others were in the same boat. Really the biggest thing seems to be that the supply vs demand is off for a number of figures. I am sure it is not easy to tell what will and will not sell well but I really wonder about the possibility of a better system than exists today. I am sure my ideas are riddled with holes that someone could drive a truck through. Even so, I am curious to see what everyone else's thoughts are. |
08-02-2014, 06:40 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 640
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I agree with a place where we could buy any Hasbro made ML figure, hmmm...like an online store or something...
For really now, if there is a toy product made by Hasbro, then it should be available on the HTS site, preorders and all. It really doesn't matter if a specific wave is exclusive to TRU or whomever, let those highest, lowest or only bidders carry it for whatever price they feel they need to. I mean, it isn't as if HTS doesn't carry ML's already - just carry them all! Personally, the figures I buy from ML (all of them + builders), are fuelled in part by my love of the movies and comics and vice versa, I cannot speak for anyone else out there, but if you want to keep up with how the money is coming in, just let the consumer have the ability to spend it. If I can't find the figures at retail (for whatever reason - pick some), there will probably be a time limit before the interest fades, bad story lines - less comics sell etc. Hasbro. Strike while the iron is hot. Sell the toys you make from your site, and we'll take it from there! And! Start a subscription service - all pre-paid! Then you can give those who subscribe a chance/ option to buy any exclusives you want to sell during the year. Wow, I'm a bit ranty today! Hah!
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B/S/T 4 Serious Lee |
08-02-2014, 06:43 PM | #3 |
Rated R superstar
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: California
Posts: 2,525
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It was 2 per person period. Not even two per person per day. But Hasbro's line was INSANE all 5 days and pretty much everyone who went through the line got the MLs. They also stopped selling them after a certain point every day to make sure they lasted the entire event
I honestly think Hasbro would be deathly afraid of selling exclusively on there site and making it a collector focused line after they saw Mattel cancelling DCUC due to us collectors not being able to keep it going, the truth behind that is another thread completly but I digress. Even though I am guaranteed all the new ML waves and I go to SDCC I would LOVE for a more fair system. I don't know if an online route would really help but it couldn't hurt. I think it would be perfect if they did 108$ at SDCC and 125+shipping online. It allows the con goers a bit of bonus for going and it scares off a lot of resellers. In short, good theory but the practice remains to be seen. |
08-02-2014, 06:49 PM | #4 |
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 4,524
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You've made a great number of points, but I'm not really buying into the belief that Hasbro believes female figures do not sell well anymore. The ML and MU offerings that were shown this past SDCC were proof of that, as there were several female figures on display, and one wave of the Avengers MLI series had as many as three female figures in the lineup. Something even more bizarre to wrap your brain around, but there wasn't a single Iron Man or Captain America featured in those waves outside of the Target Exclusive three pack. Perhaps the our constant cries (or in some cases...whining) for less of the "flagship characters" and more variety has been heard. It'll be interesting to see how it's handled in the upcoming year.
I think Hasbro knows exactly who they are marketing to in terms of Legends. I can recall something that was said during the Shartimus Prime interview with the SW Black Series development team, when they said that they created the Black Series so that adults can remember what it felt like the first time they held a smaller scale Kenner figure in their hands. We as kids grow up, and in response to that, so did the scale. They know that it's not the 5 to ten year olds fighting in the aisles over that last Nova figure on the shelf, but the 18 to 45 year olds instead. How Hasbro will fix their distribution woes, is another story. I still find a good deal of my figures in the wild, but with so many options out there online as well, from HTS to online stores like BBTS to E(vil)bay, I purchase many of them there as well. The Marvel Universe relaunch thus far has been a disaster, and before the Infinite series, there were entire waves of Marvel Legends that to this day I have never seen in stores. People are quick to blame Hasbro, but having worked in retail in the past, I'm really not too sure it's entirely their fault. If the online retailers have no difficulty in securing cases of these figures, then how is it Hasbro's fault? All major retailers have people who place orders at some level of management, and are in charge of their replenishment. Where are they to blame? Confront a Target or Walmart employee sometime and watch how how quick they point the finger at Hasbro. While I don't know who's entirely at fault, I do know that the easiest way to divert the blame and get a pissed off, angry and impatient customer out of your face is to blame the supplier. With so many shades of grey and lines drawn, I'm really not sure there is an easy solution to the problem. As for the SDCC thing, I have to agree that they really need to start limiting what is sold at the booths per customer. When I've seen some of the ridiculous hauls that people have come away with from this SDCC and SDCCs past...I cringe. Does someone really need 6 Thanos Imperative sets? Chances are they don't need more than two, and the rest of those are going to the secondary market, and they more than likely won't be cheap. But anyone who has held a garage sale knows, you never wanna have to repack the stuff that you brought, so I can't blame Hasbro's booths for selling them while they can. I think NECA handled SDCC really well, as they had a plentiful and ready supply of exclusives set aside and ready to order at the beginning of SDCC online. Perhaps Hasbro could create a dedicated site (like NECA) dedicated solely to carrying and selling their a ready supply of SDCC stock online, as opposed to just selling the leftovers from the con at HTS. |
08-02-2014, 07:33 PM | #5 |
Rated R superstar
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: California
Posts: 2,525
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Trivial Pursuit. They did limit how many of EVERYTHING we could buy. Our Badges were stamped with a grid and they marked what we bought most things were two per person. If someone had 6 Thanos sets it was because they found some way to cheat or had multiple people with them. Me and my brother went to hasbro and bought 2 thanos sets each. 1 for each of us 1 for our friend who LOVES Medusa (at cost) and one to our friend who owns a shop (at cost).
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08-03-2014, 03:23 PM | #6 |
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: United Kingom
Posts: 4,295
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big problem..... HTS doesnt sell internationally. Region one only. Asia, South America and the EU are 60% of their "boys toys" (everything from NERF to Star Wars) sales according to their share holders notes for 2012.
I live in the UK and we get screwed enough as far as distribution goes.... if they did that, then 2/3 of the world would not be able to collect at all. Also, Hasbro should LOVE this way of selling, because then they could sell at RETAIL price and not at WHOLESALE price.....effectively doubling their money. They would sell them for a tenner to the public instead of a fiver to a store. That makes it a win win situation for all. Small potatoes to one of the largest corporations in the world though. Too much red tape to even be brought to life, most likely. Any profit would be gobbled up by them creating and staffing such a system. In all likelihood it would cost them money, seeing they way they run distribution, I can see them dropping the ball on this too if it were to happen. We may not yet be able to order this way, but, we can hope though.
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Last edited by ukmu; 08-03-2014 at 11:08 PM.. |
08-03-2014, 04:44 PM | #7 |
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 640
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If they didn't have HTS to ship internationally then Hasbro should really get in bed with one company that does. Then keep that company stocked with every wave of every collector line. Or do it as an experiment for a two year span and see what happens, if it fails to profit, then change it and keep changing it until it ultimately works. Is it too much to ask that major buyers ($1000+/year per person), should have an opportunity to buy cases of toys?
Ok, I'm done with complaining for 1 month! Promise!
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B/S/T 4 Serious Lee |
08-04-2014, 12:10 AM | #8 |
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 640
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This may have been mentioned somewhere on the Ark, but I haven't read it myself...I just checked over at the HTS exclusives area on their site and it's the same as it was before the con. Does that mean that Hasbro sold all of their exclusives? Or, is there something else to it that I'm not understanding?
Either way, the site may see some action this week, so stay tuned....
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B/S/T 4 Serious Lee |
08-04-2014, 04:30 AM | #9 |
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 697
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The main issue with this idea is that Hasbro wouldn't want to be seen as competing directly with the retailers that are their bread-and-butter. This is undoubtedly the main reason HTS is as poorly stocked as it normally is, and possibly even why it's seemingly inefficient.
It's easy to say "Oh, but it'd just be with Marvel Legends" but if you're going to do it with Marvel Legends, then why not every "adult collector" oriented line? So suddenly there are several lines that are appearing to sell well on HTS. Now retailers are wondering why their "partner" Hasbro didn't offer those lines to them. Maybe they get upset to the point where they start ordering less of Hasbro's product. Or even stop ordering Hasbro product altogether. Hasbro kinda has to walk a fine line with HTS, lest they get themselves in trouble with the people that give them 99 percent of their revenue every year. |
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