I'm thinking a lot of this is based on ideas that really haven't been tested, or that work for different products (i.e. not Transformers), or that the whole thing is just random and ad-hoc, governed solely by short-term thinking.
While I can believe that retailers believe that holding less inventory at any given time and having stock that changes frequently is a good thing, it leads to things like the glut of HFTD. This was not a good thing for anyone.
Part of that was Hasbro's fault for assembling a crappy wave. But part was the retailers'. They don't understand the product or the people who buy it, and therefore cannot make intelligent purchasing or stocking decisions.
I would say that things are getting worse, but they've been this way for years now. Energon Ultra Magnus. Alternators Swerve, Rumble, and Ravage. Animated Arcee. Red Rampage and Evac.
Still, I never felt the "you snooze you lose" quite so acutely. It seems now that even with obvious mainstays of the line -- Windcharger, Grapple -- you may only have one time (if that) that you
ever see it at retail. The will-we-won't-we-Warpath wave is only the latest symptom in a system that isn't working for anyone.
It's not working to the benefit of collectors, who can't even get regular releases. It's not working for Hasbro or retailers, neither of whom benefit by tons of toys on the aisles that no one want. It's also not good for either of them to alienate customers.
About the only people who benefit are secondary market sellers. This makes no sense. Collectors pay more, and Hasbro sees none of that profit. It's the worst possible outcome.
This sucks. I didn't get into Transformers in order to gamble. I feel like I already visit chain stores way more than average and yet I feel like if I'm less vigilant, I'll miss out. It should not be this hard or tedious.
And I don't think it has to be. Last year, during my Great Arcee Hunt, I visited a bunch of Toys R Us stores over a short period. Amazingly, while there were no Arcees anywhere, Hasbro and Toys R Us were able to roll out exclusives to all the stores at the same time. Of course, they were exclusives that no one wanted (Shanghai Showdown, other repaint sets). It was uncanny.
This led me to three realizations:
- There can be coordinated releases if they want it to happen.
- Hasbro and the stores don't really understand their markets -- there is something in the process, whether its from one side or both of them together (i.e. a communications breakdown) that leads to a disconnect with consumers
- The process is completely inefficient for everyone involved.
Will it change? It's really hard to overcome short term thinking, since it leads to short term profits and that's all they have their eyes on.
But retailers are missing out. They could be selling so much more product to people who want it. Hasbro could be moving more Transformers and seeing more profit.
Getting people in the store isn't enough. I'm at the point where I have retail fatigue. I don't want to go your store anymore, and when I don't find what I'm looking for the fifth, tenth, twentieth time, I'm not going to hang out in your store and buy something else. I'm out the door.
And if I finally decide to be done with it by shifting my orders online, I won't be coming back in that door. You've done worse than lose a sale. You've lost a customer. For good.
