Yeah, I think they only ever really put things on clearance when the line itself changes name. They don't seem to recognize the difference between waves, so much.
That's been a wrinkle in Hasbro's retail strategy for some time. Big retailers can't be made to care about the wave system. Imagine what it would actually take for Walmart to manage that for all the stuff they sell.
That would backfire. Retailers would see one wave as not worth their time.
It's a puzzle. Retailers want a line that lasts multiple waves so they know they'll have a while before they have to think about switching over to the next new thing, but they also want to consider those multiple waves as essentially the same thing. They don't care if Hasbro wants to move on to wave 7. Wave 1 is still just as good as ever.
It does make sense when you consider other toylines. Parents looking for Spider-Man don't know whether they're looking at a wave 1 or wave 2 toy, and will do absolutely everything in their power to refuse to notice a difference if their kid asked for a specific one. Parents and retailers agree, it's all just Spider-Man. Transformers just doesn't fit that retail model as neatly. Hasbro tried with Bumblebee, and retailers loved it, but we hated it.
It's a puzzle. Retailers want a line that lasts multiple waves so they know they'll have a while before they have to think about switching over to the next new thing, but they also want to consider those multiple waves as essentially the same thing. They don't care if Hasbro wants to move on to wave 7. Wave 1 is still just as good as ever.
It does make sense when you consider other toylines. Parents looking for Spider-Man don't know whether they're looking at a wave 1 or wave 2 toy, and will do absolutely everything in their power to refuse to notice a difference if their kid asked for a specific one. Parents and retailers agree, it's all just Spider-Man. Transformers just doesn't fit that retail model as neatly. Hasbro tried with Bumblebee, and retailers loved it, but we hated it.
Doesn't hurt that some retailers simply don't restock until the existing stuff is gone, and also cannot move the stuff they stocked because it's not the jive that people want. The walmarts up near me still have fairly thin toy aisles from christmas, but we're also a good two months away from a refresh because toys don't make money outside oct-dec.
Well, here is the question I want answered. Why not have Wave 1 be essentially waves 1,2, and 3 into one wave with one figure per box? I mean Target and Walmart always way over-order Wave 1, almost skip wave 2, put out some Wave 3, and maybe have a sighting or two of later waves after that.
I should state that shopping at retail has just got so difficult since the plague, that I just pre-order anything I want these days online. Any toys I get in store are usually just for the kids.
I ceased my in-person toy hunting years ago. It was fun to a point, but became far too frustrating (and expensive!) to continue. If I find something toy-related that I want at a brick and mortar store these days, it's usually a happy accident. Preordering online is definitely the way to go if you're sure that you want something.
There's one place in town that sells Transformers now and they still have Kingdom toys up last I checked.
I just got a kingdom blaster from the liquidation retailer not far from here. Brick and mortar for anything other than necessities has been miserable since the pandemic.
If you want informed ordering then someone (either Hasbro or retailers) is going to have to put the time and money into enacting it.
Both seem very hesitant.
Right now Transformers has an absolute gut of product. 90% of which isn’t going to *ever* move at full price and even steep discount is doubtful. They’re running almost SIX LINES once you factor in exclusives.
-Legacy
-Studio Series
-Rise of the Beasts
-Earthspark
-RED
-Toxitron/Buzzworthy
*I* can’t even keep that straight and I’m a fan of the property.
Both seem very hesitant.
Right now Transformers has an absolute gut of product. 90% of which isn’t going to *ever* move at full price and even steep discount is doubtful. They’re running almost SIX LINES once you factor in exclusives.
-Legacy
-Studio Series
-Rise of the Beasts
-Earthspark
-RED
-Toxitron/Buzzworthy
*I* can’t even keep that straight and I’m a fan of the property.
Transformers sales were up as opposed to most everything else, weren't they?
It's still money they don't need to spend (either side.) for results that aren't immediately going to show ridiculous results. Would there be a long term benefit, to all parties? Yeah, probably. Will it be enough of a benefit for anyone other than the consumer (and frankly, who ******* cares what the consumer wants.) to merit implementation? Absolutely not.
If hasbro thought they would make more money by throwing their product in a ditch for us to scrounge and assemble ourselves, walmart will happily rent them the ditch.
If hasbro thought they would make more money by throwing their product in a ditch for us to scrounge and assemble ourselves, walmart will happily rent them the ditch.
Even if Walmart wanted to pay that much attention to what they're ordering, they can't do that for every product line they carry. They're just too big.
Which is why the wave compression system would work. Its what they are currently doing, but handled better. Oh, you have sold 30 boxes of W1-3, then here is 30 more of W1-3. If you have 10 Bumblebees left over, now you 40 Bumblebees, 30 Primes, 30 shockwaves, 30 Starscreams, 30 prowls, etc....
Peg warmers is the only problem here, but that could be easily identified, and quite honestly would be more difficult to happen as you only get one of that figure per box instead of multiples.
You also get a much better selection of toys with 12 deluxes to choose from instead of four. It would look more like the Toy aisles of the 80s than it does today.
I miss the 80's toy aisle. The days where one line got a full 30 foot section. Now most are lucky to get 10' of space.
Transformers at my local toy shop most of the time barely have a single shelf to themselves, let alone a couple of bays, while my local Supermarket barely stock any Transformers and last I saw was the odd Earthspark figure sat on the shelf, in a sea of other toys, sure my local Toy shop is pretty small, but the supermarket is the largest in the region, yet over time, much of the top floor has been sealed off for staff, my guess is that they use it as a warehouse for the clothes, while the part they did use to storage clothes is now for the home delivery of food and every day stuff people needed, thou that's just me guessing as you cannot see what up there any more!
I miss them too! The giant walls of GI Joes, Star Wars, and TFs were almost hypnotic!
Looking atthe the pictures I posted, its kind of crazy, as you can see Post TFTM toys mixed in with 1984 toys. One of them even has PMOP next to the original prime.
I'm pretty sure the Transformers pics are someone's private collection set up like a store display (notice the Ikea shelves to the right in the first pic - also that it's labeled "20th Century Toy Collector").
Still an effective point of course. The toy aisles of yore were a sight to behold.
Still an effective point of course. The toy aisles of yore were a sight to behold.
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Oh, that would explain my surprise at seeing Powermaster and OG Optimus Prime sharing shelf space.
That's, uh, a lot of duplicates, though. and what's with the price tags? I get going for authenticity, but... wow.
Admittedly, I'd love to display my stuff in a similar way, but... probably fewer duplicates.
That's, uh, a lot of duplicates, though. and what's with the price tags? I get going for authenticity, but... wow.
Admittedly, I'd love to display my stuff in a similar way, but... probably fewer duplicates.
Just follow this Google Search "1980's Toys R Us" and look at the images.