Movie figures garnering little action at toy stores

[skrilla 88]

Originally Posted by Pascal

Went to Rossy today, and found ROTF & DOTM toys. LOL!

I assume you don't have Toys Toys Toys in Quebec. You can still find Armada Laser Beak, Animated voyagers, ROTF HA Skids and DOTM stuff. They mark up figures and they stay on shelves for years.

[jtkv]

Toys Toys Toys isn't that bad... $18 for Prime characters.. just a little over retail.

I've seen far worst on the for-sale forums...

[Pascal]

Originally Posted by skrilla 88

I assume you don't have Toys Toys Toys in Quebec. You can still find Armada Laser Beak, Animated voyagers, ROTF HA Skids and DOTM stuff. They mark up figures and they stay on shelves for years.

Our Hart store was still carrying TM2 Optimus Minor and RID Ruination limbs a few years ago. Actually, they still have Animated Voyagers for sale (Prime and Megatron).

[Wheeljack Off]

The movie release won't make any more difference for AOE as it did (as stated in the article) for Spiderman 2 or Captain America...and those movies were both better than AOE will likely be.

You might see some interest in the dinobots pick up, depending on how they are portrayed in the film...hopefully this puts the nail in the coffin for the Michael Bay era of Transformers.

The reality is, Hasbro is doing such a shitty job of maintaining any of the integrity of this series that I hope they shelf it and leave it to Takara and third parties.

[Scrapper6]

It seems to me, that this has all happened before. Back in the haydays of G1 to be exact. Started out strong with Diaclone and other import molds being sold, lasted for years, then when the well of vintage molds dried up Hasbro tried their hands at designing their own molds. Which eventually lead to Action Masters and the death of the line.

Until a little something like Beast Wars came along.

Then in the dark days of Cybertron as retailers began to grow tired of Transformers products and ordered less than they did during the beast era, until a little something like 2007 Movieverse came along.

Unfortunately the movies did not maintain the same peak that the first one did, it was fresh, it was new and it did wonders for the brand. However I strongly believe they should have gotten a new director for any subsequent sequels, people enjoy seeing the same old, same old only for so long.

It's nothing against Bay personally, I just don't think his style lends itself well to sequel franchises. I mean look at what happened when people finally got their Bad Boys II. And Pain & Gain I think didn't do so hot either. The general public may be getting tired of his style of moviemaking.

Especially as they've been given something as action oriented and complex as the MCU has turned out to be.

We're nowhere near the problem G.I.Joe is facing, but we're pretty darn close, retailers see these so-called movie toys and they all suffer from sameitis.

And the inclusion of gimmicked up junk to try and continue to appeal to every age of consumer is the same problem the Masters had in G1.

The fact that in the past, what thirteen years? We've gotten 3-4 new versions and repaints of mainstay characters add nauseum without anything to bring in originality back to the franchise doesn't help. Just like with the Marvel movies there are only so many versions of Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee or Starscream that a parent is going to buy for their kids. I mean hasn't the movieline alone featured dozens of these characters in multiple size classes and multiple paint jobs?

Product Fatigue indeed.

I find myself buying these figures, but I'm starting to wonder, when did I turn into a Barbie collector? Because that's basically what I'm doing, buying the latest, greatest version of Bumblebee and Prime just because they have a new look. I can't imagine how exasperated parents are becoming with this neverending glut of similar style transformation characters.

Retailers aren't stupid, they can predict patterns just like any of us.

Hasbro seriously should consider dropping the main characters in favor of some fresh new faces.

[Pgianos]

Just curious I've been wondering this for a while. What g1 toys were made after they used up a all the other stuff like the diaclone, toyco etc.

[xueyue2]

Originally Posted by Scrapper6

It seems to me, that this has all happened before. Back in the haydays of G1 to be exact. Started out strong with Diaclone and other import molds being sold, lasted for years, then when the well of vintage molds dried up Hasbro tried their hands at designing their own molds. Which eventually lead to Action Masters and the death of the line.

Until a little something like Beast Wars came along.

Then in the dark days of Cybertron as retailers began to grow tired of Transformers products and ordered less than they did during the beast era, until a little something like 2007 Movieverse came along.

Unfortunately the movies did not maintain the same peak that the first one did, it was fresh, it was new and it did wonders for the brand. However I strongly believe they should have gotten a new director for any subsequent sequels, people enjoy seeing the same old, same old only for so long.

It's nothing against Bay personally, I just don't think his style lends itself well to sequel franchises. I mean look at what happened when people finally got their Bad Boys II. And Pain & Gain I think didn't do so hot either. The general public may be getting tired of his style of moviemaking.

Especially as they've been given something as action oriented and complex as the MCU has turned out to be.

We're nowhere near the problem G.I.Joe is facing, but we're pretty darn close, retailers see these so-called movie toys and they all suffer from sameitis.

And the inclusion of gimmicked up junk to try and continue to appeal to every age of consumer is the same problem the Masters had in G1.

The fact that in the past, what thirteen years? We've gotten 3-4 new versions and repaints of mainstay characters add nauseum without anything to bring in originality back to the franchise doesn't help. Just like with the Marvel movies there are only so many versions of Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee or Starscream that a parent is going to buy for their kids. I mean hasn't the movieline alone featured dozens of these characters in multiple size classes and multiple paint jobs?

Product Fatigue indeed.

I find myself buying these figures, but I'm starting to wonder, when did I turn into a Barbie collector? Because that's basically what I'm doing, buying the latest, greatest version of Bumblebee and Prime just because they have a new look. I can't imagine how exasperated parents are becoming with this neverending glut of similar style transformation characters.

Retailers aren't stupid, they can predict patterns just like any of us.

Hasbro seriously should consider dropping the main characters in favor of some fresh new faces.

very well said.

[elburrito]

Originally Posted by Pgianos

Just curious I've been wondering this for a while. What g1 toys were made after they used up a all the other stuff like the diaclone, toyco etc.

Does, "etc..." include Bandai? There was Roadbuster and Whirl. Also Predaking. I don't know. For me, G1 ended with Scramble City.

[Undrave]

Originally Posted by Pgianos

Just curious I've been wondering this for a while. What g1 toys were made after they used up a all the other stuff like the diaclone, toyco etc.

Anything with a name that ends in 'master' and most of the folks from the 86 movie like Kup, Galvatron, Wreck Gar, etc.

[wedge1021]

Do kids even play with toys anymore?
I am of course generalizing, but I would think that kids spend a lot of time (too much time?) with their eyes glued to the various i-devices, etc that they have. ESPECIALLY boys of the age that would typically play with action figures. Why would they want to play and act out scenarios with cheap, cheesy action figures when they can play realistic video game scenarios for hours on end?

I think it is just a shift in the way kids play now, especially boys. Maybe Hasbro and retailers would do better to really focus on selling to collectors and the casual adult fan. I know it is a smaller market, but the greater attention to quality, detail and demand would allow for higher prices to be charged. And there would be less wasted resources on the dollar store garbage they have been pushing the past 5+ years.