new Indy Answer from Hasbro

Dr.Sartorius

New member
It made $800 million worldwide because a lot of people including myself was looking forward to a new Indiana Jones film so we went and paid admission to it. Unfortunately we got KOTCS instead.

A lot of people who hated Indy 4 seem to be in denial. Believe it or not people actually liked the movie and paid to see it not only once but went back for multiple showings. Even people who really didn't like it went back to see it again like, HovitosKing.
 

Dr.Sartorius

New member
HovitosKing said:
I didn't say the movie didn't make any money. I said the film likely killed sales of the action figures. For instance, I saw that movie 3 times to try to convince myself it was good. I also stopped buying the action figures after my first viewing, because I lost interest in spending money on KOTCS figures due to the quality of the film itself. Ergo, I contributed to the financial success of the film while simultaneously putting a halt to my action figure purchases. I'm sure I wasn't the only one. At the same time, those figures sold really well leading up to KOTCS. No doubt the pre-film sales boosted Hasbro's earnings, as reported in the article you cited (which I didn't care to read).

It's all in the eye of the beholder, dude. I can spin as well as you.

If you read the article you'd know that it doesn't specifically refer to pre-release sales.
 

Wugmanmax

New member
If I were to put the blame on the recent glut of figures on the shelves I would do it thusly:

The line started off a bit strangely. No solid release date was adhered to by all retailers (unlike other Hasbro lines), and some places had initial shipments completely sold out by the time others even first stocked. This I believe led to the retailers buying a massive amount of re-stock with the mistaken belief that they would move them all just as quickly. This in and of itself was not unusual, as anyone who tried to collect the "Cars" die cast toys for themselves or children can recall. The difference here however, was that the popularity of Cars toys took Mattel by surprise and it took them a while to crank out more, driving up demand that much more. Hasbro by contrast had these suckers sitting by waiting for orders, so the instantly flooded the market at a time when toys usually don't see much sales beyond the collector sector.

So now we have a problem.
5 more months till prime toy season, and jammed shelves. The good news is that IJ still has shelf presence and they sold well enough to not get canned almost immediately, unlike some other lines that shared the action figure aisle recently. I think the situation will stay the same until Christmas time and then we will see the shelves thin out. The DVD release will also boost sales, as kids who didn't get to see it in the theater will now get to enjoy IJ4 and want the toys. More good news is that Hasbro likes to make money and does not fuel scalpers as much as other companies. So the Last Crusade and TOD figures WILL be available again, even if we don't see them on the shelves for a while.

I see around the 1st of the year a new packaging scheme/UPC perhaps renaming them to "the Indiana Jones Legacy Collection" or something and including repacks of all figures from the 4 movies with maybe one or two new ones in the mix.
 

Spalkomania

New member
sp-tni103.jpg



Amusing, although Hasbro did release Ep. 3 Mon Mothma with 'galactic senator!' as a call out.
 
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JimmyPSHayes

New member
I've been away from the Raven for WAY too long and look what I come back to!!:eek: All this doom and gloom!!! Yes, there are some Indy figures on the pegs, but I don't see stuff falling off.
-I'm both a collector and a retailer, and the Indy stuff has been selling decent for me. This summer I know I sold more Indiana Jones figures than I did Batman figures. That might be because the Batman toys were the typical Mattel "Every Bat-Variant under the sun", but who knows.
-I'm also going to be doing my best to get my nephew into Indiana Jones toys and some other kids as well. I do agree that in the near future we'll see a "Indiana Jones Legacy" line switch.
 

ChromiumBlue37

New member
Excellent post, Jimmy!!

This line is what - 3 months old?? Give it time and a few Target/Wal-Mart sales or maybe clearance and things will rectify themselves!
 

HovitosKing

Well-known member
JimmyPSHayes said:
I've been away from the Raven for WAY too long and look what I come back to!!:eek: All this doom and gloom!!! Yes, there are some Indy figures on the pegs, but I don't see stuff falling off.
-I'm both a collector and a retailer, and the Indy stuff has been selling decent for me. This summer I know I sold more Indiana Jones figures than I did Batman figures. That might be because the Batman toys were the typical Mattel "Every Bat-Variant under the sun", but who knows.
-I'm also going to be doing my best to get my nephew into Indiana Jones toys and some other kids as well. I do agree that in the near future we'll see a "Indiana Jones Legacy" line switch.

Yeah, what's up with having Batman figures in every two-tone color matchup possible (red, black, orange, silver, green, etc.)? I don't remember TDK having a different multi-color Batsuit for every trick and stunt in the film!?

I'm glad the Indy line is sticking to actual on-screen attire.
 

vf wing

New member
Wugmanmax's assessment makes the most sense to me. Although i thought the ironclad street date for these figs was May 1st, I made my first Indy purchase on April 30. Not that i remember that date, but i came across the receipt just the other day while going thru some things. I bought the Marion/Thug 2-pack, mainly for the accessories, as i was needing a Falcata-type sword.

I had no plans to collect the line when it was announced. Too much extra stuff on top of what i was already getting. But i justified purchasing Indy with horse, since that was a nice horse sculpt and everybody needs an Indy fig. Then i got the German with motorcycle due to its utter sweetness. This blossomed into collecting most of the line to finally getting it all.

Now, looking at Hasbro's diminishing expectations thru their own Q&A's, it does seem that the writing is on the wall.:( The sales simply aren't where Hasbro wants them to be to justify a continued major retail push. Like others, I hope they can manage to keep eeking out figures in Star Wars case assortments or online. Maybe the holiday season will surprise us.

But after Christmas, they'll be gearing up for producing a new line of Marvel Super Heroes. Transformers and GI Joe films are coming next year, both with their own strong pushes. Until plans are finalized on a new Indy flick, there is no major media in the pipeline to support a toyline. Heck, if they could get some kind of animated project for TV off the ground that'd be something!
 

phantom train

New member
I hope everyone is wrong about the Indy line dying out soon, because I for one was really looking forward to the LC figures (which I still can't find), and even more to the TOD figures, and also the next wave of Raiders figures in 2009.

I agree the problems here are primarily ones of over-production of the current ROTLA and KOTC figures, which naturally leads to the under-production of the LC figures (and presumably future waves as well).

I know that there are collectors out there like me who want the new figures in this line, support the line, and who want the line to continue. As has been suggested, it would be better to gear these figures specifically towards collectors (like the current 25th anniv. G.I. Joe line).
However, if that is done, people would invariably complain that the figures are too hard to find (as in the case of the G.I. Joe figures). But, better a line that is underproduced and hard to find, than a line that is cancelled before it can reach it's full potential.
 

HovitosKing

Well-known member
phantom train said:
I hope everyone is wrong about the Indy line dying out soon, because I for one was really looking forward to the LC figures (which I still can't find), and even more to the TOD figures, and also the next wave of Raiders figures in 2009.

Those are still coming, no doubt. But they might be harder to find due to reduced production, and we may not see much after that.
 

DetectiveFork

New member
I've had no problems finding the G.I. Joe figures, as Target, Wal-Mart and TRU all carry them. And they seem to stock them regularly. There have been a couple figures that have been harder to find, like the new B.A.T. figure, but that's just because it's very popular.
 

ChromiumBlue37

New member
The only place that I see the Indiana Jones figures clogging the pegs is at Wal-Mart. Anyone else think that they over-ordered cases. A sale with end cap promotion is really in order.

TRU and Target do not seem to be having this problem in the Chicago area.
 

The Golden Idol

New member
In the next Hasbro Q&A, let's ask if the Flying Wing that's in the works will be correctly scaled for the figures. I really hope it won't be underscaled!

According to glorbes' accurate model, the Wing's wingspan should be 38" and the length from stem to stern is about 16". Can Hasbro do this? I mean they did make the new Big Millenium Falcon...
 

HovitosKing

Well-known member
The Golden Idol said:
In the next Hasbro Q&A, let's ask if the Flying Wing that's in the works will be correctly scaled for the figures. I really hope it won't be underscaled!

Let's also ask where the F--- our crystal skeletons are...
 

bonoferox

Active member
ChromiumBlue37 said:
The only place that I see the Indiana Jones figures clogging the pegs is at Wal-Mart. Anyone else think that they over-ordered cases. A sale with end cap promotion is really in order.

TRU and Target do not seem to be having this problem in the Chicago area.

Same here. TRU is pretty much barren aside from a few Mighty Muggs and maybe 3 figures on the shelf.
 

ChromiumBlue37

New member
The Golden Idol said:
In the next Hasbro Q&A, let's ask if the Flying Wing that's in the works will be correctly scaled for the figures. I really hope it won't be underscaled!

According to glorbes' accurate model, the Wing's wingspan should be 38" and the length from stem to stern is about 16". Can Hasbro do this? I mean they did make the new Big Millenium Falcon...

Yes, Hasbro CAN do it. Especially if it a similar scale to the Dagobah X-Wing Fighter in the Starm Wars line. If they are worried about it selling, they should go for the lowest production amount allowable and then offer it to IndianaJonesShop.com or make it a TRU exclusive.
 

The Golden Idol

New member
ChromiumBlue37 said:
Yes, Hasbro CAN do it. Especially if it a similar scale to the Dagobah X-Wing Fighter in the Starm Wars line. If they are worried about it selling, they should go for the lowest production amount allowable and then offer it to IndianaJonesShop.com or make it a TRU exclusive.

Do you know if the dimensions of the Dagobah X-Wing Fighter are close to the dimensions of a correctly-scaled Flying Wing?

If Hasbro can make it correctly scaled, then they better do it!
 

HovitosKing

Well-known member
The Golden Idol said:
Do you know if the dimensions of the Dagobah X-Wing Fighter are close to the dimensions of a correctly-scaled Flying Wing?

If Hasbro can make it correctly scaled, then they better do it!

Hasbro is more out of touch with fans of their action figure lines than Lucas and Spielberg are with fans of their films.
 
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