Author Topic: Hasbro Q&A Sessions  (Read 305089 times)

Offline McMetal

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Re: Hasbro Q&A Sessions
« Reply #1215 on: July 15, 2010, 11:33 PM »
Hmm, they didn't care to ask how we got a Snow Speeder prior to August 6th?  ;)

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Offline Brian

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Re: Hasbro Q&A Sessions
« Reply #1216 on: July 16, 2010, 02:13 PM »
I was just reading the Q and A over at AFI, and they confirmed that the "themed" waves will end at the end of this year (2010).  They mentioned that this might be different than previous information, and for some reason I was thinking we had themed waves through at least the first part of 2011 - but I may have been remembering that wrong.  Anyways, it looks like they are once again confirming four waves for this year - ESB, ROTS, ROTJ, and AOTC.  After that, we'll get the "mixed" waves - at least that is how it sounds.

Offline Jesse James

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Re: Hasbro Q&A Sessions
« Reply #1217 on: July 16, 2010, 02:35 PM »
Hmm, they didn't care to ask how we got a Snow Speeder prior to August 6th?  ;)



I don't recall saying I did in the question.  I saw it around February.
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Offline Pete_Fett

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Re: Hasbro Q&A Sessions
« Reply #1218 on: July 16, 2010, 11:13 PM »
I am loving the news that next spring we will be getting another Force Unleashed multi-pack exclusive.

Hopefully, this time we'll get a Kazdan Paratus to round out the XBox 360/PS3 level bosses.

I wouldn't be surprised if one of the two Sith Lords from the PS2/Wii/PSP version of the game made it into this pack since Hasbro previously indicated interest in making them as figures.
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: Hasbro Q&A Sessions
« Reply #1219 on: July 16, 2010, 11:22 PM »
I'm pretty geeked for more TFU sets too, which there's a couple guys I'd still dig seeing made.
2011 Rebel Fleet Trooper Gets My Seal Of Approval!  But Where's The Friggin' Holster On Him!?
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: Hasbro Q&A Sessions
« Reply #1220 on: September 14, 2010, 08:14 PM »
Another round of sound from Hasbro has been posted...

-Soooooo...  how bout that Fanblade Fighter in the new CW3D Trailers?  Pretty cool, eh?

-And what the hell is up with this pretty big looking Disney Toy?  Oh wait, we already heard the answer to that one because the Q&A took forever.   >:(

All the answers to, well, basically one of the questions above, is waiting for you if you Click Right Here!
« Last Edit: September 14, 2010, 08:38 PM by Jesse James »
2011 Rebel Fleet Trooper Gets My Seal Of Approval!  But Where's The Friggin' Holster On Him!?
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Offline Scott

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Re: Hasbro Q&A Sessions
« Reply #1221 on: September 14, 2010, 09:45 PM »
Kithaba was confimed over at SSG...that's cool! ;D

Offline McMetal

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Re: Hasbro Q&A Sessions
« Reply #1222 on: September 14, 2010, 09:49 PM »
Whoever works PR for Hasbro really needs to step in and say, "Look, this is getting borderline-sexist, please stop commenting on the characters' gender as a justification for determining which properties get green lit for production."

I feel like they harp on that way too much. I have 2 daughters and resent the implication that the heroins and villainesses are somehow second class. The show has really strong female characters, and it's a disservice to the female fans to imply that they are insignificant from a marketing standpoint.

If they don't want to make a toy because they don't think it will sell, that's fine - just say that and leave it at that. But to characterize the decision as gender-influenced as misguided at best, and offensive at worst.

Imagine the outcry if you replaced the word "female" with "African-American" or "Hispanic". (IE: "it actually suffers as a kid vehicle given it's rather unusual shape and the fact it belongs to a Hispanic antagonist") All hell would break loose. Someone at Hasbro needs a little refresher sensitivity training, IMO.
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Online Rob

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Re: Hasbro Q&A Sessions
« Reply #1223 on: September 14, 2010, 09:59 PM »
Weren't there supposed to be photos of new figures with this Q&A wave?

Offline Jesse James

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Re: Hasbro Q&A Sessions
« Reply #1224 on: September 14, 2010, 11:37 PM »
Photos were implied that they'd maybe be available in Curto's interview with Hasbro at C5, but I don't think they were guaranteed...  Just a "maybe".  That has been pushed back to later on I guess.  No big deal but I was really kinda anxious for photos today too, so yeah I'm a little bummed. :(

Still...  that's probably why it's best for Hasbro not to say anything about that kind of stuff.
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Offline Jeff

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Re: Hasbro Q&A Sessions
« Reply #1225 on: September 15, 2010, 01:29 AM »
- Add RotJ Sandstorm Leia to the 2011 confirmed list.
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Offline Nicklab

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Re: Hasbro Q&A Sessions
« Reply #1226 on: September 15, 2010, 01:53 AM »
Whoever works PR for Hasbro really needs to step in and say, "Look, this is getting borderline-sexist, please stop commenting on the characters' gender as a justification for determining which properties get green lit for production."

I feel like they harp on that way too much. I have 2 daughters and resent the implication that the heroins and villainesses are somehow second class. The show has really strong female characters, and it's a disservice to the female fans to imply that they are insignificant from a marketing standpoint.


I think they're trying to give an honest perspective about what sells and what doesn't.  Historically action figures of female characters do not sell that well.  That's not discriminitory.  That's a business statement on how well one class of products sells compared with another. 

Hasbro was also stated for years that they did not think the Cloud Car would sell well.  Lo and behold they finally offer one and guess what?  It's not flying off the shelves as fast as the Snowspeeder.

There's a lot of discussion on a lot of forums about what Hasbro should or should not be doing.  But sometimes when it comes to female characters, or how well a vehicle may sell, you've got to trust some of Hasbro's market research.  They do on occassion get things right.
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Offline CloneF13Y35

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Re: Hasbro Q&A Sessions
« Reply #1227 on: September 15, 2010, 08:38 AM »
Whoever works PR for Hasbro really needs to step in and say, "Look, this is getting borderline-sexist, please stop commenting on the characters' gender as a justification for determining which properties get green lit for production."

I feel like they harp on that way too much. I have 2 daughters and resent the implication that the heroins and villainesses are somehow second class. The show has really strong female characters, and it's a disservice to the female fans to imply that they are insignificant from a marketing standpoint.


I think they're trying to give an honest perspective about what sells and what doesn't.  Historically action figures of female characters do not sell that well.  That's not discriminitory.  That's a business statement on how well one class of products sells compared with another. 

Hasbro was also stated for years that they did not think the Cloud Car would sell well.  Lo and behold they finally offer one and guess what?  It's not flying off the shelves as fast as the Snowspeeder.

There's a lot of discussion on a lot of forums about what Hasbro should or should not be doing.  But sometimes when it comes to female characters, or how well a vehicle may sell, you've got to trust some of Hasbro's market research.  They do on occassion get things right.

True and it's not like we want every single variation of Padme in all her hundreds of outfits, most of which would not translate well into a toy (unless they can utilize decent softgoods). I'm just glad they gave us a very good Hoth Leia, Now we need a Bespin one. I picked up the Padme Naberrie (tatooine ep1) and Queen Amidala (naboo ep1) when they came out. I didn't get any ep2 figs until Pilot Padme because they looked terrible. I got both the sneak peek Zam and the regular one because I liked the character - but again, the designs were not the best. I'm looking forward to the all new Zam coming out. I have most of the ep2 female jedis, because they looked cool even with funky poses, but the ep3 ones didn't look as good so I didn't get them. My son doesn't want girl figures all that much but even he wonders why hasbro doesn't make for the people who DO want them.
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Offline McMetal

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Re: Hasbro Q&A Sessions
« Reply #1228 on: September 15, 2010, 09:58 AM »
I think they're trying to give an honest perspective about what sells and what doesn't.  Historically action figures of female characters do not sell that well.  That's not discriminitory.  That's a business statement on how well one class of products sells compared with another. 

Yeah, as I mentioned, I'm fine with them not making a toy if they don't think it will sell. That is all that needs to be said though. To say we're not making it because it is a girl's ship, is very ill-advised, all economics aside, IMHO. I understand the marketing component, I just think you have to be careful about how things are presented to the general public.

For example, there may be loads of market research that shows that Asian kids don't buy action figures. But you wouldn't want to cite that as a reason for not making Asian action figure characters. I've worked at several marketing companies, and that would be a HUGE misstep. You never want to exclude any demographic based on their perceived economic impact.

Just my 2 cents...I'm not really trying to blast Hasbro, I just think some of their responses come across as somewhat less than PC.

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Offline Jesse James

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Re: Hasbro Q&A Sessions
« Reply #1229 on: September 15, 2010, 02:38 PM »
I'd rather here why they're not making it than hear, "We're not making it because it won't sell well and can't tell you why".

It's a Boy's Toy brand...  I don't think saying that female characters tend to have a lower sales rate, is really that big of a shock, or politically incorrect.  I have a feeling if you checked Barbie's sales data, they'd say that Ken sells slower, so they make fewer of him and more of Barbie.
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