[flaccideagle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by trebleshot

A couple of things:

1. Hasbro is a US-based company, therefore they plan around the US market. Adult collectors in other countries wouldn't really affect anything in that regard. Now as far as its regional divisions in other countries (like Hasbro Canada), they plan around their own markets, but are always dependent on the main branch in the US.

They're actually one of(if not the) biggest toy maker in the world, with a global presence. If you look at what they offer in the US vs. other countries, there are some big differences in what is offered. The stuff we adult collectors focus on is the stuff more oriented towards the US market. Adult collectors in the EU might be a bigger thing there as they are significantly more expensive in those countries, and aren't the "impulse buys" they are for adults and kids alike in the US. They're way too expensive to be playthings nowadays there, and kids generally have zero interest.

Quote:

Originally Posted by trebleshot

2. The big difference between the US and Japanese markets is that there are very few children who buy and play with toys in Japan - they have video games and mobile devices. Japanese toy makers tend to cater to, and make toys for, adult collectors because that's their primary market now. They don't expect parents to buy an SH Figuarts or Play Arts Kai figure for their five-year-old.

I don't know about that at all. There are a lot of the same, popular toys offered for kids as in the US and EU. For all ages, and they're pretty popular. Far fewer children are playing with toys now regardless of country. I don't have kids, but every time I'm on an airplane, at someone's house, far more iPads than Transformers are in the kids hands. Everyone's experience will be different. One of my friends doesn't let his kid touch electronics, video games or TV so they of course have lots of toys. Another, has never owned an action figure. The Japanese lines you mentioned are aimed at adults, just like the US ones I mentioned earlier are, and are better compared to Sideshow or NECA offerings than mass-market like Hasbro.

Quote:

Originally Posted by trebleshot

Now there's definitely a switch point I have noticed that appears when kids reach a certain age range. At that point, they either continue buying toys and become collectors like us, or they drop it in lieu of other interests. Some might flip flop or return to toys later on, but during that pre-teen thru high school time frame, it looks to be one or the other.

I'd have to differ on that. You're right about kids dropping stuff, but I think you're skewing toy collectors a little young. Most collectors I've seen, since the 90's if not earlier, they start in their late-teens, early twenties, and most tucker out around 30ish, when they again "move on". Same for comics, and lots of other hobbies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by trebleshot

3. Part of this misconception (IMHO) of adult collectors being a larger market than it is, is those of us who frequent these boards tend to interact more with other fans and collectors and not so much people outside of the hobby (when it comes to toy buying or shopping).

Very true, Monster High anyone? Far more people buying them than say, Marvel Legends.

Quote:

Originally Posted by trebleshot

Bottom line, as stated by Hasbro on numerous occasions and conventions, is that they have a specific age range that they target when designing a toy line (IIRC something like 5 or 6 to 12-year-olds). TPTB at Hasbro have said that they know adult collectors are out there and they try to do things for that market when they can work it into the plan, but ultimately they're aiming for that kids' group.

You're right, but this years 6-inch line of Star Wars (not to mention calling it "Black Series"- 6yo kids do not get the signifigance of the name like an adult would ) and the new Mission line indicates a 2-pronged shift rather than the "all in one for everyone" approach of the past. As evidenced by walking into a toys r us, in action figures, the market is slowly shifting to a collector-driven one, while children tend to buy other things.

Quote:

Originally Posted by trebleshot

Nobody knows for certain, because Hasbro doesn't release sales figures for individual lines or toys and retailers don't keep track of who's buying what, why they're buying it AND for whom. Loyalty programs kind of do the first one, but not the other two (which is the crux of this discussion).

I'm willing to wager they do significant research on all three. I think both sides of this argument are right and wrong. There's a switch going on in the hobby the last few years- kids are drifting away from physical playthings, adults are drifting towards. The things kids buy are not the same things adults buy like it was in the 90's. Hasbro and the other big players aren't focused on people who want Tony Stark in Street Clothes, or Deadpool in Christmas Outfit, as they aren't anywhere near the force they think they are, and that makes them mad. In years past, they've taken the approach of trying to sell the most of any one product to the most people, adult or kid, and tried to make things for the last decade that clearly rode that line, and it was good for both. I think a lot of people look at the Japanese market and think it's just the Japanese in Japan adult collector people buying that stuff, or that it is the Promised Land where toy collecting is commonplace among adults, but it's simply not true. We hear about Walmarts and Targets and BBTS and their exclusives and numbers, but little about French electronics stores or UK grocery shops, or other chain stores or retails of this stuff around the world, which also push the little plastic dudes we love so much, sometimes in similar numbers, both US and Japanese alike...