Hasbro Q&A Sessions

[Morgbug]

Dang, Jayson forgets to send Yak's questions and now THIS?  What is the world coming to?   

 

Q. Will Hasbro be making playsets for the 3.75" line?

A. No.

Status quo

[Paul]

Some good questions all around this week...

but proof Hasbro STILL does not have a clue what happens once the product leaves their warehouse:

The Saga Legends figures have been storming the pegs, almost to the point of over-running the new TAC figures. With the huge amount of Saga Legends figures on tap, will this affect how and when we see future waves of the TAC figures? Some stores won't refill their pegs unless they are empty, and if they are filled with Legends figures I can see this affecting how the newer TAC figures are stocked. (JTA, 07/20/07)

They are managed separately, just as the TSC and Greatest Hits lines were managed separately last year.  Replenisment is automated, which means that as one sells down, it will be reordered and shipped out for restock. The two SKUs (87500 and 85770) were created expressly for the purpose of separate inventory management.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

While the intent may be for them to be "managed separately"...in my neck of the woods...they are not managed at all.   The Re-tread Prequel Blight has choked all life from the pegs.  And where re-tread stuff hasn't completely clogged ALL pegs (not just the ones with the Special SKU) the stuff from last year is still hogging as much shelf space as possible.

A thought for the Hasbro bean counters...just because you CAN make twice as many "re-release" figures for the price of a newly sculpted one, doesn't mean you HAVE to....

And this is not meant as a slam on the poor souls who work the aisles.  It is not a job I would want (except to get  new figures faster).

[ruiner]

I, for one, will never understand the strategy of shipping last year's TSC product six months into 2007.

I would love for Hasbro to explain this - maybe we could pose that question for the next QNA.

[Darth Slothus]

we would never submit that Question though

[Diddly]

This is one case where I'm going to have to agree with Hasbro when they say different stuff is happening in different areas because I have seen only one shipment of Saga Legends ever. All of my local stores seem to just keep getting TAC in.

[Famine]

This is one case where I'm going to have to agree with Hasbro when they say different stuff is happening in different areas because I have seen only one shipment of Saga Legends ever. All of my local stores seem to just keep getting TAC in.

Agreed, I totally second this. I've seen ONE shipment in all the stores I hit. And it hasn't been restocked to my knowledge. I hit 2 Wal*Marts, a Target, and K-Mart. Occasionally I hit a KB Toys when time permits, and I've seen nothing. I'd like to see some more of the product for custom fodder, but it just isn't happening. I can deal with TAC flooding in because of the SBD's I've been collecting.

Kevin

[Darth Slothus]

Ok, I'll take a third stance and 'just say no' to more refresher crap legends, overdone/shipped Saga and instead send only more TAC now.

DS

[Jesse James]

I don't mind legends sometimes, some of them are really desirable figures obviously since the Shocktrooper, battledroids (despite their suckiness), and the AOTC Grunts are all pretty popular.  But Hasbro is indeed out of the loop on this one regardless of their numbers.  This is a prime case of the plan not matching the execution, and Hasbro has its head clearly in the sand on the matter. 

Legends DOES interfere with the basic line...  In WM's case (where I see legends mounting up), it's simply a matter of pegspace, and really relates nothing to the different SKU's.  Without space on the pegs for new basics the Legends line takes over, and it seems to be on WM's heavier shipping list while the basic line gets less.  Why that is, I have no clue, but that is how it seems to be near me.  It happened at certain stores last year with Greatest Hits too...  So it's not new, it just sucks.

About the 06 stuff shipping into 07...  I think I understand Hasbro's logic there.  they're trying to avoid the problems of the past where the "last wave" syndrome took over and people were up in arms over not finding many of the last figures they wanted.

To me, I don't mind the strategy but Hasbro has to fine tune that...  Maybe that's a good question to ask then?  If they've learned how to fine tune things so last year product doesn't overwhelm next year product. 

Obviously I have as much Saga2 stuff as any of you do...  Tons of Jerjerrods, tons of final wave figures (though army builders in general are pretty much gone, thank god), and so on.  I think Saga2 shipments into '07 needed to really cease at a specific point regardless of reordering and Hasbro needed to micromanage that a little better...  It's obviously hurt '07 product, no doubt.  But at the same time I liked that opportunity to buy multiple Kashyyyk troopers, Appo's, and the like.  I didn't get hardly any Wookiee Heavy Gunners in late '05 and that was certainly frustrating to me...  Most I was lucky to see once at K-Mart of all places, and never anywhere else.  So I get the strategy but the execution was bungled.

[CHEWIE]

I'm in the crowd who keeps seeing SAGA2 stuff being stocked.  When TAC is stocked, it's usually Wave 1 or 2, with very few concept figures being found.  Several times now when stock has gotten low, I've gone back just to find MORE of the SAGA2 product back on the pegs.

I'm fine with this year's Legends assortment so far because they haven't shipped in high quantities in my area, and because there are some desirable army builders thrown in there.

Did I mention that SAGA2 stuff takes up about 90% of peg space in my area?

 

[Jeff]

The latest Hasbro QnA has been posted.

- We need Chewie's family!
- We need removable hats on our Imperials!
- Can we get some "progress reports" on upcoming figures?


* I'd really like to see Chewie's family someday, so I'm glad that they are "not out of the realm of possibility someday."

[evenflow]

That is incredible news about the Wookie family. I really hope it is soemthing they eventually release. 

[Jesse James]

Good news on the Chewie family too from me, I kind of dig them...  As annoying as that kid was.

I would liked to have seen more positive answer on getting inside looks at figures in development.  I liked getting the images from the Luke Skywalker so it's disappointing that they basically won't be doing that too much.  The design drawings are really neat to see a while prior to the figure's unveiling I think.

The Imp. Officer hat question's got some possible positive-ness to it...  They're doing it with the Luke in the Empire Comic pack, so maybe that's the start of another positive trend in improvement towards Imperials?  I'd have loved a black kepi hat with the Death Star Trooper we got this year...  Would've made him a much cooler army builder.

[evenflow]

Ok, can we get a follow up question on this one.
By my count the coin holder only has 80 spots, not 90.

If it had 90, it would not be a problem to get the UGH coins in there.


3. Now that your 2007 30th Anniversary plans are almost all set, can we get a final count on how many unique coins there will be (counting all the exclusive and convention coins)? Will we have enough slots in our albums to hold them all?

** It's tight but it works, but here's how it breaks down, if one had all the available coins: 60 basic figure coins; 7 Saga Legends; 4 Convention gieaways (CIV, Celebration Europe, and Comic Con, plus bonus Indiana Jones IV gold coin); 5 Convention exclusives (2 McQ Luke, 2 McQ R2/3-PO, 1 McQ Obi-Wan/Yoda), 12 UGH variants, and 7 Vintage coins including the Toy Fair coin. Excluding the latter set (which has it's own folder), it totals 88 coins for 90 spaces. Tight, but manageable!

[Jeff]

Man, you're fast!

Anyway, yeah - the new Q&A session has been posted.

And yeah, they totally biffed the answer to that coin question since there are only 80 spaces in the album.   

[Matt]

Just a quick question for the readers of the Q & A Compendium:

Do you guys prefer the black text for Hasbro's responses, or the white?  Which one is easier to read?