[JamesBenjamin]

So I did read the whole thread, quite entertaining for the last few pages...

I have one minor thing to add... Someone posted something about how Hasbro was trying to please everyone with one line (per IP): kids, collectors, parents, etc. But it seems now like they're deliberately trying to split their lines. For Star Wars, there's the normal 4" figs AND the 6" Black line, for Marvel (all lines lumped together for the moment) you get the 5 PoA 4" movie figs and the 6" Legends line. For Transformers, we now have (as of this most recent Botcon) the "upsized cyberverse" Beast Hunters line and the collector oriented "Generations" line...

At Botcon, during the Hasbro panel, they even said as much. That previously they were trying to please kids *and* collectors with one line and it wasn't working. So instead of doing that, they're splitting it into two distinct lines, one for kids (currently Beast Hunters) and one for collectors (Generations). They said this would continue with next years Movie line, where the "mainline" would be "simple transformation" figs for kids, but Generations would stay as it is. I'd also guess (and this is just me) that they'll bring back the Human Alliance toys for adults too (or something similar). I'm not even bringing up Masterpiece here, but they're clearly expanding that for "us" too.

From in-hand Botcon reports, the "kid" upsized legends toys are HUGE compared to normal TFs, too. You can also see Hasbro trying to cater to kids with the 12" 5PoA figures showing up for all their lines.

I think Hasbro is deliberately trying to split their SKUs and try to appeal to each segment separately. In 2-3 years, they'll have some solid info on which types of lines sell better, and to whom.