The Golden Idol
New member
tnswman said:
Can you please tell us about some of those cool 2009 products?
Hasbro QnA
- Thread starter thelaw
- Start date
Can you please tell us about some of those cool 2009 products?
Way of the dodo
New member
Very short-sighted. If they quit now, it's obvious to everyone they mismanaged it and there's hard feelings all around and everyone is gunshy about any non-Star Wars toys in the future. If they let it go a little longer (again, just about 15 figures and a tank) it's a well-liked, COMPLETE-feeling line which is something that people like, and might buy steadily. Everybody likes a "complete set" of a quality line. Nobody likes a half-finished mess.
bonoferox
Active member
Whil I'll be highly disappointed if the line ends so early, I'm happy with what we've gotten. I never thought we would get an updated line and that we would have had to settle with the Disney exclusives for the rest of our lives. I'm not thrilled if the dead in the water rumour is true, but I'm happy with the line, nonetheless (as long as the TOD wave still hits, that is).
The Golden Idol said:
I too would also love to hear what they had in store... even though now it may not matter. Just really curious to hear what was on their radar.
I wonder if there is any other way for Hasbro to possibly deliver some obscure figures outside of retail? I would really hate for this line to end without main characters like Donovan and Mac not being made!
Well Hasbro paid for the master license, you would think they would try to milk it a little more! There are plenty of Indy fans that will continue to buy the merchandise. I realize there are not as many fans as star wars, but there are enough that would support the figure line... if Hasbro would scale it back a little bit.
Didnt Hasbro just come out with a Cloverfield monster as a internet exclusive? That thing was huge and cost $100! So say this line is cancelled at retail, what would stop them from Releasing say 6 to 8 figures per year exclusively on-line, I can GUARANTEE they would make more money than they probably made on that Cloverfield monster! I know the figures would cost a bit more, but at least we would get them! I would be more than happy to pay $15 per figure if they only sold 6-8 per year!!!
Didnt Hasbro just come out with a Cloverfield monster as a internet exclusive? That thing was huge and cost $100! So say this line is cancelled at retail, what would stop them from Releasing say 6 to 8 figures per year exclusively on-line, I can GUARANTEE they would make more money than they probably made on that Cloverfield monster! I know the figures would cost a bit more, but at least we would get them! I would be more than happy to pay $15 per figure if they only sold 6-8 per year!!!
masterJ said:
It honestly might be a smart move on their part, especially given reduced figure numbers per wave and higher pricing for those figures. I'm no accountant or toy maker, so can't say for sure. However, I do know there's a market for it, however big it is. Meeting the demands of that market (whose scale I'm sure is big enough to warrant an online ordering or mail-away ordering process) is what business is all about.
Agent Spalko
Guest
If Mattel can do online distribution of Masters of the Universe figures through their website, what's stopping Hasbro? I think it's the only way to keep this line going without retail support.
Uki
Member
How about, instead of some of the people here complaining (regardless of whether they have inside information or not), we all rally behind this line, do everything in our power to help it survive, spread the word, and keep up the optimism? Doom and gloom are not what we need now! That's what the big party in Denver is for!
We're all fans here, and we all want this line to survive to at least come to a nice close rather than just sputter and die like the engines on Lao Che's plane. Join me and we can end this destructive conflict!
We're all fans here, and we all want this line to survive to at least come to a nice close rather than just sputter and die like the engines on Lao Che's plane. Join me and we can end this destructive conflict!
Uki
Member
EXACTLY! If I was so lucky to have any inside contact with the big H, I would do my best to bend their ear and let them know how much support there is here and all over! Given, this line will probably never do SW-Business, but I think a smaller, conservative line can last at least a few years. I understand the need to keep certain figures in distribution: even SW recycled toys over and over again. Indy can be the same way, as long as we get a smattering of new characters and versions of fan-faves along with the occassional vehicle.
phantom train
New member
Uki said:
I completely agree. There is definite interest by fans in keeping the IJ action figure line going for quite a while - I think if Hasbro would treat IJ as they do the G.I. Joe: RAH line (i.e. aimed at collectors and limited distribution) it would be doing a lot better.
Also, distribution of hard-to-find figures is also very important: I'm a long-time SW figure collector (started back in the mid-'90's POTF2 days), and I've noticed a huge improvement in distribution as time has gone on, i.e. figures that were hard to find at one time being re-released in future waves (in different packaging).
If Hasbro would IJ would take this same mentality and apply it to the IJ line, there would be no reason every fan couldn't get all of the figures they wanted eventually. For example, the LC (and almost certainly the TOD) figures are/will be tough to find and if they were re-released in future waves (for example, sprinkled in the forthcoming ROTLA 2009 wave) people that missed them the first time around should be able to get them then.
Of course, this will mean that Hasbro will have to commit to this line for the long haul, and we don't know if they've done that yet....
Regarding Brody, we should keep in mind that his action figure situation may have recently changed i.e. he may have been in the circle along with all the other stuff tnswman was talking about, but the current situation may have moved him into the "We'll Probably Never Get To Him Now" section of the line...
So in regards to the QnA:
A question I'm thinking is something along the lines of...
"Assuming things don't work out as we, the Indy fan base are desperately hoping i.e. the current swollen pegs prevent sell-through of Indy products, has any thought been given to a rebranding of the line (including resetting the SKUs and all the other pieces that go along with that) with possibly an initially smaller retail footprint? With Star Wars, we've seen the rebranding almost annually, with the POTJ rebranding being particularly successful in relaunching (and possibly saving) the line after the relative failure of the Episode 1 line. Also, the initial POTF2 line was quite small, which allowed it build up an audience that now defies all expectations (and even logic at times!)."
So in regards to the QnA:
A question I'm thinking is something along the lines of...
"Assuming things don't work out as we, the Indy fan base are desperately hoping i.e. the current swollen pegs prevent sell-through of Indy products, has any thought been given to a rebranding of the line (including resetting the SKUs and all the other pieces that go along with that) with possibly an initially smaller retail footprint? With Star Wars, we've seen the rebranding almost annually, with the POTJ rebranding being particularly successful in relaunching (and possibly saving) the line after the relative failure of the Episode 1 line. Also, the initial POTF2 line was quite small, which allowed it build up an audience that now defies all expectations (and even logic at times!)."
Uki
Member
That's a good line of thought, there thelaw. I think a scaling back would gratly aid the line's longevity. A rebranding ala Star Wars is perfect and your analogy to the post-TPM POTJ line is dead-on, as I've personally referred to Indy's toyline as suffering a bout of "Phantom Menace Syndrome."
In case the line does survive, what other characters need to be immortalized in plastic? Here's my list of what I'd like to see in future waves (assuming the sales pick up and the line doesn't die in the water):
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Colonel Dietrich
Katanga
Barranca
Jock Lindsay
Giant Sherpa
Mongolian Thug
Temple of Doom
Lao Che
Wu Han
Chattar Lal
Maharaja
Village Shaman
Last Crusade
Marcus Brody
Walter Donovan
Kazim
Hatay Soldier
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Mac
Harold Oxley
Russian Soldier (variant)
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Colonel Dietrich
Katanga
Barranca
Jock Lindsay
Giant Sherpa
Mongolian Thug
Temple of Doom
Lao Che
Wu Han
Chattar Lal
Maharaja
Village Shaman
Last Crusade
Marcus Brody
Walter Donovan
Kazim
Hatay Soldier
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Mac
Harold Oxley
Russian Soldier (variant)
Abner Lives
New member
I have a question for Hasbro...What the @!#% is wrong with you guys? This line has been managed worse than the Detroit Lions.
No, seriously I do have a question:
Ok, you've made it clear that you feel (and correctly so) that kids probably don't want an action figure of an old guy in a suit (Marcus). You've also strongly hinted that the whole line might go the way of the dodo. My question is if 50% of the sales come from the collectors why not offer 3.75" figs to the collector at a premium and continue the line on a limited scale. I'd pay $14.00 (double retail to compensate for the 50% reduction in sales) for a Marcus or a KOTCS Marion or a Hatay soldier etc. Heck, I'll even pay up front. How many preorders would it take to justify the molds?
No, seriously I do have a question:
Ok, you've made it clear that you feel (and correctly so) that kids probably don't want an action figure of an old guy in a suit (Marcus). You've also strongly hinted that the whole line might go the way of the dodo. My question is if 50% of the sales come from the collectors why not offer 3.75" figs to the collector at a premium and continue the line on a limited scale. I'd pay $14.00 (double retail to compensate for the 50% reduction in sales) for a Marcus or a KOTCS Marion or a Hatay soldier etc. Heck, I'll even pay up front. How many preorders would it take to justify the molds?
Uki said:How about, instead of some of the people here complaining (regardless of whether they have inside information or not), we all rally behind this line, do everything in our power to help it survive, spread the word, and keep up the optimism? Doom and gloom are not what we need now! That's what the big party in Denver is for!
We're all fans here, and we all want this line to survive to at least come to a nice close rather than just sputter and die like the engines on Lao Che's plane. Join me and we can end this destructive conflict!
Buddy, You have to understand that being realistic is NOT complaining.
the truth is ( and I HAVE told this to Hasbro ) that they screwed up by shipping too many revisions of the same figures. They KNEW the history of the line.. they KNOW that the basic Indy figure sells better than any other character and they STILL followed Kenner's path.
you can walk into ANY town and find at least one store that has every ROTLA figure EXCEPT for the basic Indy with Jacket. The stores that have KOTCS mostly only have the Rocket Launcher Indy.
The Last crusade wave should have been cased out by itself instead of in two revisions. That was a mistake on Hasbro's part. in the end, they filled the pegs with the exact same figures that were not selling.
The other part of reality is that we WILL suffer for this mistake. If the Kids can't buy enough to pick this line up out of the gutters, then the collector's have to.
Anyone who knows me and has followed my involvement KNOWS that I predicted this very thing and warned Hasbro not to over look the past mistakes of LJN and Kenner.
NOBODY is a bigger supporter of this line than I am....again, Most of you know this. However, No matter how much I love it, Hasbro needs to see the reality of the situation and maybe that sight will grant this line a longer life.
All of you that read the Q & A know that hasbro is at the end..They need retail support and for 2009, it just isn't there. Anything can happen and there is no reason to give up. However, be realistic....As of the TOD wave, this line is DEAD. It's too bad because the Indy team was coming up with some AMAZING items for us in 2009.
Uki said:
Where is this so called support at to clear the pegs now?
I have done my part. I have bought 8 cases of Product and HUNDREDS of dollars worth off the pegs.
Nothing I can do anymore as a single buyer will help.
Indy made a KILLING for Hasbro and the stores this year. However, now they see what happens to the line with no event attached.
You see how Hasbro is having to do the Last Crusade figures. They have to pack them together to even get rid of the stock they have. The re-orders are just not being placed.
For the Phantom Menace, The numbers are that only 40% of the manufactured product was shipped to retail...the rest sat in China and was later destroyed.
Star Wars could survive that kind of disaster, Indy can not. Stores NEED Star Wars toys..
Kids have bought a TON of Indy figures...However, will a kid want 10 Sallah or 10 Belloq figures? How about the Cairo Swordsman who was wayyyy over produced? Come on folks...You know the answers to this stuff.