Hasbro Toy Shop may start shipping to Canada this January

[zuffyprime]

Some interesting information popped up at this years Botcon. Read on and post your input HERE (http://www.cybertron.ca/boards/showthread.php?t=2701).

please see 2 posts below after clicking on "here". for all the info!

[Paradigm-Shift Prime]

still shooting myself in the face over Masterpiece Starscream being a (likely US) Wal-Mart exclusive.

Wal-Mart Canada hasn't gotten any Wal-Mart exclusives in for TFs any time recently other than the BB/Barricade 2 pack, which was presumably super-mass produced and picked up as a movie item.

I'm thinking classics Devi, Alts Ravage & Rumble...

[dak]

the hefty dude is Bulkhead

EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT

ALL INFO FROM FIRST POST MOVED TO THIS POST FOR FRONT PAGE REASONS.

Hey guys,
I was one of the handful of Canadians who was forunate enough to go to botcon this year!

For those that want just the important highlights, you'll find them here:

(I have a Botcon Exclusive Springer/Huffer Set - sealed that I'm selling $110 -pm me if interested)
Now that I've got that shameless plug out of the way:

1) Classics WILL continue. They have plans for
Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, and they will
have DIFFERENT heads

2) Plans for Ironhide and Ratchet (classics) are
in the works

3) Titanium Line is on hold indefinitely. Last figure
released out of this line will be: War Within
Prowl, and possibly War Within Grimlock

4) There are plans for a figure of Ultra Magnus
that is NOT a repaint of optimus. (not sure if
they were referring to the titanium fig, but
to me it seemed like they were referring
to an entirely different figure).

5) If a toy is in the main line show, it will
more than likely not be a classics toy (with the
exception of prowl because they have
completely different alt modes - in the new show prowl is a motorcycle)

6) Hasbro said the last few figs of the Alternator
line will be shortpacked and hard to find.
Translation, if you see them on the shelves,
pick 'em up, b/c you probably won't be able
to find it again later

7) Michael Bay is a Moron.
(ok, that was just me saying it )
Hasbro didn't say it, but it sure as hell looked
like they wanted to (from my impression).
Case in point - Bay didn't think it was
necessary to have transformers talk. Hasbro
Had to fight with him to get them to speak.

8) Bob Orci is one classy guy. He totally
Earned my respect. (He's one of the co-
writers for the movie)... and guess what,
he lived in Toronto during his childhood!!

9) The Female lead in the movie (megan fox)
was called Mikahelea (or however you spell
it, because that is Speilberg's daughters
name, and speilberg specifically asked for it.

10) Possibly plans for a leader class Blackout
or Bonecrusher figure in the future if
"mr. tanko" sells well.

11) They had prototypes for the following
titaniums:
Cybertron Mode - Bumblebee/Cliffjumper
Shockwave
Cosmos
Arcee
ALL WERE G1 Show accurate. None of
them will be released. Maybe, just maybe
they'll find a way to do them as part of
the classics line.

12) New animated show - think teen titans
but with transformers. Toys looked
GOOD! Main characters: Op, Bumblebee,
Prowl (motorcycle-resident ninja) and
some hefty dude.

13) They will be doing a classics Octane!!!!!
(OMG he looked awesome. And they plan
to do the rest of the triple changers if
possible)

14) If you're getting a boxed or loose bagged
set. make sure you are getting the
correct missles for dirge and the rest of
the seekers. Many of them had two right
launchers, or two left launchers.

15) The helicopter with the twin propellers -
in the movie, but in the movie it wasn't
a transformer. They are making a
voyager class toy for it. (looks wicked)

16) There will be a repaint of Blackout.
It will be red/white/ blue/orange

17) Final Battle Jazz will be a target
exclusive. Jazz in g1 colour scheme

18) Masterpiece starscream WILL be
released in the US -I think the price
was 49.99 or 59.99. Show accurate G1
colours. Will be a WALMART exclusive.

19) MOVIE SPOILER
*
*
*
*
*
*
the scene where jazz dies was highly
edited. originally it had jazz being
heroic and telling prime he was going
to stop megs by himself, and prime
telling him not to do it. Scene was
edited out due to time constraints.

20) Guys from hasbro DO read the boards

21) There will be a translucent G1 version of
optimus prime released -sponsored by
Jello. He will be called Jell-Optimus Prime
No, no, I joke

hope you enjoyed the highlights, if I think of more, I'll post them!

[C_Shewins]

still shooting myself in the face over Masterpiece Starscream being a (likely US) Wal-Mart exclusive.



Indeed...this is a bad news to me, not a good news. It pissed me off.... they shouldn't make Starscream masterpiece as Walmart Exclusive They should make him available to all. I am not sure why Hasbro does this, but hey...they got to care about us Canadian too, we also made them lots of money :(

[zuffyprime]

Oh yeah, I personally spoke to the lady who is in charge of hasbro toy shop... dora, or doreen or something like that... very nice lady.

Asked her why hasbrotoyshop shows canada no love, ie) they don't ship to canada.

She said she's working on. She just got transferred to a new department, but wants to finish what she started. Hopefully she said Hasbro toy shop will ship to canada by the beginning of 2008.

Yeah, I agree screamer shouldn't be just a walmart exclusive... what you gonna do:p :D

[StarwarsTF]

Hasbro hates the double language packaging in Canada i have talked to there head merchandiser and VP of Hasbro in person. (This was a while back before they got marvel rights and where living off of SW mainly.) They feel the market for Canada is weaker because of the retails and the way the retailers expose themselves to the consumer ie TRU only does radio commercials, Zellers focuses on other then toys, etc. They feel U.S has a consumer that will buy it no matter what and if they don't then the retailers Target, TRU, Walmart, KB, etc. will take the hit and blow them out where as in Canada it's pulling teeth as two year old shit sits there!!!!
Thats my Opinion and if Hasbro does read these boards I am ready to debate on the shitty treatment in selection and quality of packaging they throw down our necks here in Canada!!!!! ie TF, Star Wars U.S. packaging rocks, etc

GO MATTE...I cant finish it Hasbro rules......

[General Tekno]

Yeah - I'm not thrilled at what they're doing with Starscream.

Granted, odds are I'll still be able to get one. But even then it'll be WAY more than it would be at general retail.

On the plus side, it'll probably be less than MP03.

[deathsynthe]

y can't hasbro make masterpiece starscream toysrus exclusive? this truly sucks...now most likely i have to flock over money to scrappers. =(

[zuffyprime]

Forgot to mention...
Hasbro Toy Shop said they would begin shipping to canada (hopefully) by jan of 2008!!
Yay!

I spoke to them directly at Botcon, and asked them why they show canada no love. Actually I said, "why don't you show us canadians some love, EH?"

[GMfan]

That would be nice though by that time all the cool exclusives will be gone and all thats left is overstocked protoforms :P

[Pascal]

It was about time!

[Quantum]

What Alternators are they referring to in terms of the shortpack? Their statement inplies more Alts. will be shipped, and I had no knowledge of this. Or are they talking about Mirage, Camshaft, etc...?

[zuffyprime]

I believe they were referring to the ravage rumble alts... although they did not specifiy.:)

[RED51977]

Support your local independent toy shops they are the ones that share the passion of the hobby like everyone here.

[Razorwing]

must.. get.. Leader Blackout..

on a side note, I really hate those Target exclusives, since We don't have Target in Canada this really sucks for us.

[Tech Spec]

It's about friggin time!

[General Tekno]

Support your local independent toy shops they are the ones that share the passion of the hobby like everyone here.

Yeah, I like to - except when they're WAY too expensive for something I don't really need.

70$ for the BFAC pack = too much.

[GMfan]

Hate to hijack the thread but did any attende's ask when the hell hasbro with adjust Canadian prices? I think its alittle rediculous that we have to pay $70-80 for a leader figure when in the states their $40 and ou dollar is nearly at par. If they wonder why the leader class doesn't sell well here perhaps if they made it equal or at least $45 here I'm sure they would sell alot more.

[zuffyprime]

that's a great question man...
perhaps it has something to due with import customs/ duty from importing into canada, and the increased price associated with having bi-lingual pakcaging. That being said, I still don't see how that can account for such a drastic difference.
:D I guess it all depends on if people are buying them. If people are still buying the toys (because they're used to the inflated prices) it wouldn't make business sense in hasbro's eyes to lower the prices.
But any big ticket items I need I usually try and get from the states b/c you're right, they're soooo much cheaper.

[Synch]

alls I have to say is $(& them for taking so long I've lived this long with out them what use have I for them now?... slackers!

[Tech Spec]

Slackers is right Synch, can't believe Hasbro has slept on the Canadian market for soooo long.

[soundwaveCA]

Though I probably wouldn't use it to much HTS shipping to Canada would be a very nice bonus, especially for harder to get figures that don't necessarily make it up here, as well as possible exclusives.

Always good to have options I say, hat's off to Hasbro for making the push to accommodate us.

[Autovolt 127]

6 more months and i get to preorder whatever the hell HTS has.

[lars573]

Hate to hijack the thread but did any attende's ask when the hell hasbro with adjust Canadian prices? I think its alittle rediculous that we have to pay $70-80 for a leader figure when in the states their $40 and ou dollar is nearly at par. If they wonder why the leader class doesn't sell well here perhaps if they made it equal or at least $45 here I'm sure they would sell alot more.
Hasbro doesn't set that. The NAFTA board does. And it was set 10 year ago.

[MangaSpawn64]

Though I probably wouldn't use it to much HTS shipping to Canada would be a very nice bonus, especially for harder to get figures that don't necessarily make it up here, as well as possible exclusives.

Alt Rodimus comes to mind :)

They had a bunch yesterday but they sold out pretty quick. Was damn dissapointed when I saw that they don't ship here...

[jourdo]

Alt Rodimus comes to mind :)

They had a bunch yesterday but they sold out pretty quick. Was damn dissapointed when I saw that they don't ship here...

For kicks I had 2 sitting in a shopping cart for a little while. Kept hoping that magically they would ship them up here. Alas, that never happened. But at least I postponed the sell out for 2 or 3 minutes.

[Protoman]

Finally....... it's what hindered me from getting Menasor.

[DarkMatrix]

Finally I will be able to get some HTS exclusive directly from Hasbro.

[Autovolt 127]

:D Ya,Know I'l buy Next years SDCC Exclsuive with HTS comming to Canada.

Please be Alt.Frenzy or Wildrider.

[killer_tofu]

That's crazy.... so now if I want MP Starscream I can only either:
a) Toss my money over to scalpers on eBay, most likely at an 80% markup (judging by previous auctions of the old MP Starscream); or,

b) Frickin' drive down to the US, cross the border, find a Wal-Mart, and drive back???

I'm so depressed now... :'(

Soo... anybody know the exact release date at Wal-Mart in the US for MP Starscream? :D

[Autovolt 127]

That's crazy.... so now if I want MP Starscream I can only either:
a) Toss my money over to scalpers on eBay, most likely at an 80% markup (judging by previous auctions of the old MP Starscream); or,

b) Frickin' drive down to the US, cross the border, find a Wal-Mart, and drive back???

I'm so depressed now... :'(

Soo... anybody know the exact release date at Wal-Mart in the US for MP Starscream? :D

Novemeber,I think?

[Rodimus Jay]

I really hate harping on about my hunt for Alternators on the boards but my complaint has to do with so called "Walmart Exclusives" as advertised on the Hasbro website.

I checked Walmarts here in London, Kitchener, Milton and Guelph (with a few stops at the Zellers too) for the Rumble and Ravage "exclusive" and neither store had them much less even heard of them.

I emailed Hasbro (and I use this term loosely) "Customer service" almost two weeks ago and have not recieved an answer to my question. My question purely was:

"I have been to my local Walmart here in London, Ontario Canada and had no luck. I even went to ones in Milton, Ontario, Guelph Ontario and even checked the stores in Kitchener, Ontario also and nothing had turned up there also. I eventually checked both the Walmart Canada and Walmart USA websites and saw nothing there.

So my question is this ... where can I find them? They are "Walmart Exclusives" yet I can't find them at any of your stores. Will I have to buy them via the Hasbro website?"

If they are purely available to US Walmarts only why can't they specify that on the Hasbro site w/a disclaimer saying Canadian stores are exempt and citing why?

Anyways, just my frustrations about Hasbro and it's distribution dealings w/certain store chains!

[Super_Megatron]

It's not Hasbro, it's Walmart. When Walmart or another store orders the toys and it's up to them how they want to distribute them. Hasbro just ships them the toys and that's the end of their involvement. You should be complaining to Walmart for not bringing them up here, not Hasbro.

Regardless Alternators Ravage and Rumble are not coming to Canadian retail, they are sold out in the US as well so can't even be imported.

[Rodimus Jay]

Ah!!! I was not aware of this SuperMegatron! I feel silly now for writting the note I did for Hasbro.

I thought Hasbro had a say in matters.

My bad!

[killer_tofu]

Ah!!! I was not aware of this SuperMegatron! I feel silly now for writting the note I did for Hasbro.

I thought Hasbro had a say in matters.

My bad!

When you're dealing with Walmart, you have NO say in the matter. Lol...

[Rodimus Jay]

killer_tofu (http://www.cybertron.ca/boards/member.php?u=791) vbmenu_register("postmenu_16755", true); : Good call there! *LOL* I'm learning stuff as I go here so a valuable lesson was learned! :)

[Vagabond Elf]

Hate to hijack the thread but did any attende's ask when the hell hasbro with adjust Canadian prices? I think its alittle rediculous that we have to pay $70-80 for a leader figure when in the states their $40 and ou dollar is nearly at par. If they wonder why the leader class doesn't sell well here perhaps if they made it equal or at least $45 here I'm sure they would sell alot more.

Hasbro doesn't set the price in Canada. At some point, probably a year ago, they made a deal with the Canadian companies - remembering that WalMart Canada or TRU Canada are not the same company as the Yank stores, even though they're owned by them - to sell so many toys at such-and-such a price US. At the same time they agreed on the US-CDN exchange rate they'd use. So the current exchange rate doesn't have much bearing on prices today.

Second, there are import costs. Companies have to pay to get things across the border just like we do. There aren't many of them, but they exist. Shipping costs are higher, too, because the toy has to travel farther.

Lastly, there's economy of scale. There are more people living in New York City than there are in Canada. So the American stores can buy more toys, and get a lower cost per unit, than Canadian stores.