Hasbro Q&A Sessions

[Corax]

On the front of Legacy not selling well/collector interest is down I would like to point this comment out from Hasbro in their answer to SSG:

 Last Fall, however, we saw a change. There was an overall reduction of collector dollars in the action figure collecting hobby to which Star Wars was not immune, and we saw this on a more granular level in the sell-through of purely collector-target figures. While the hero figures (Obi-Wans, Anakins, Lukes, Vaders, troopers, etc) continued to do very well, the collector figures really started to struggle compared to all past years. This resulted in a need to recalibrate our release levels for these figures, since without that recalibration the normal releases we would make on purely collector figures would now be too large for the current collector market to bear, pegs would really start to back up, and the whole Legacy/Droid Factory figure flow would grind to a halt - in short, a disaster, unless corrective measures were taken.


I don't really think this is fair to put on the collector's shoulders.  In my area from around the time the new figures hit the shelves in July until Novemember that's all that was available, aside from TCW animated figures which sold well.  Now wave 2 moved very well and the main charcters from the first wave sold well.  My area then got bombarded with Saga figures.  So of course the "main" characters sold well that's really the only choice we had in my area.  It really seemed that there was at least 5 Yarnas apiece for every collector in the known universe.  So I think it's a smart move by Hasbro to cut back on the production numbers of collector-oriented figures, just don't put the blame on the collector's shoulders when crappy distribution of newer figures played a role in what a collector could buy.

[iFett]

I hope Hasbro doesn't ditch us OT lovers in favor of CW animated stuff, but I can see a new focus since CW stuf is "all the rage" with the kiddos.  Did Yarna and the Organas kill Legacy into whatever the new line is called?  Meh....Just one more reason for me to ditch this stuff if that pans out.

Anyways, nice to get some more information on Hasbro's thinking - and hopefully some other nice bits of info along the way (new DSE Han Solo from Han's Hideout Q and A)

I have to ask - after all this time.  Does anybody even know that Jeff was behind Han's Hideout?

[P-Siddy]

Anyways, nice to get some more information on Hasbro's thinking - and hopefully some other nice bits of info along the way (new DSE Han Solo from Han's Hideout Q and A)

I have to ask - after all this time.  Does anybody even know that Jeff was behind Han's Hideout?

At least the Minnesohta contingent...

[Daigo-Bah]

I have to echo the sentiment about Hasbro's changing the Battlepack formula away from the Yavin style.  I swear, sometimes I think they believe they're giving us a gift with sets like these, but they "don't want to spoil us".  What the hell?  Is it cost?  Wouldn't everybody here accept an increase in price to $30 or so if we got great sets like these?  Imagine a Hoth base equivalent with sled, driver, R3, and a Echo trooper or Snowspeeder pilot... but no, they want to go back to selling sets of Ep3 clones or heroes.  I don't get it- most stores around here are clogged with BoMarr assault BPs, yet there are no Yavin sets remaining...

[Jesse James]

I'd accept a price hike for nothing at this point...  No offense DB, but that set's just about right at $25 to me...  The sled's nice, but 3 figures and a vehicle seems expensive to me, especially a small vehicle.  I can choke down $25-ish right now and not think to myself too much...  At $30 I'd have bought one and called it a day.  Things are getting too expensive in this line as far as I'm concerned.  I think that's more a reason Legacy is lagging.  I think all SW sales are probably starting to lag due to price hikes. 

I heard someone bitching in the toy aisle yesterday about what figures cost for SW and wouldn't buy their kid that, even though it's what he wanted.  I think that's a pretty broad view on the line right now, not just to me and maybe collectors...  I think it goes all around.

[P-Siddy]

I heard someone bitching in the toy aisle yesterday about what figures cost for SW and wouldn't buy their kid that, even though it's what he wanted.  I think that's a pretty broad view on the line right now, not just to me and maybe collectors...  I think it goes all around.

Plus, while SW figures at $8, aren't there similar 3.75" figure lines for a couple dollars cheaper for more pack-ins. Wasn't GI Joe like this for awhile? (I only get SW and really don't look at other products in the aisle, so I'm not sure)

[Nicklab]

GI Joe is definitely cheaper than SW.  But that has everything to do with licensing fees.  Hasbro owns GI Joe as an intellectual property.  As such, they don't have to pay any kind of licensing royalties.  But there's a license royalty paid to Lucasfilm for SW merchandise, and that's built into the price structure.

[CHEWIE]

GI Joe is definitely cheaper than SW.  But that has everything to do with licensing fees.  Hasbro owns GI Joe as an intellectual property.  As such, they don't have to pay any kind of licensing royalties.  But there's a license royalty paid to Lucasfilm for SW merchandise, and that's built into the price structure.

^ Yet most retailers charge about the same.  Either the retailers are jacking up the price, or Hasbro is sitting on a higher profit margin with the JOE stuff.

However, I'd think that for each GI JOE figure that Hasbro has sold the last 2 years, they've sold a few cases of Star Wars.  The volume of sales can't even be close (at least not from what I see).

[Nicklab]

Really?  I was just in Target.  GI Joe figures were $6.99, and Star Wars figures were $7.99.

[CHEWIE]

Here's the price breakdown in my area:

Wal-Mart
Star Wars - 7.46
GI JOE - 6.96

Target
Star Wars - 7.49
GI JOE - 6.99

TRU
Star Wars - 7.99
GI JOE - 7.99

Pretty similar in price, exactly the same at TRU.

Here's a weird one though, Wal-Mart is lower than everyone on all Hasbro figures that I can tell, except the Wolverine and Marvel figures in the 3-3/4" scale... they charge $8.44 while the other retailers charge $7.99.

I remember back when the GI JOE line launched a couple years back, they were $4.99 each pretty much everywhere... maybe that price was just to help build some interest in the line.  I dunno.

[Nicklab]

TRU has far fewer stores nationally than both WalMart and Target.  So I don't see them as a significant player.  WalMart has been the single largest toy seller in the US for some years now.  TRU's pricing seems like they're trying to boost their profits from GI Joe.  But that's where I tend to see the most GI Joe stock.

[JediJman]

TRU has far fewer stores nationally than both WalMart and Target.  So I don't see them as a significant player.  WalMart has been the single largest toy seller in the US for some years now.  TRU's pricing seems like they're trying to boost their profits from GI Joe.  But that's where I tend to see the most GI Joe stock.

You don't see them as a significant player?  I view all of the outlets I can buy my stuff from pretty equally - I'd easily switch from buying at Target to TRU if they had better prices.  I guess it all differs by region.  In my area, TRU has the absolute worst supply of Joes.  There's also a Target store 5 miles in any direction, whereas our Wal-Marts are in the boonies and seem to re-stock a lot less regularly than Target. 

That's an interesting point on paying the licensing fee for Star Wars items.  I'm sure that does factor into the pricing, though I feel like retailers could drop back down to $7 on Star Wars at any time if they felt unit sales were dragging.  SW has the biggest and most loyal collector base, so I'd guess that its the line that is least sensitive to price changes/higher prices.

[Nicklab]

The numbers don't lie in terms of the number of stores:

WalMart - 971 discount stores & 2400+ super centers in the US & 2,900 + stores internationally
Target - 2,000 stores in the US (projected by 2010)
Toys R Us - 580+ US stores; 680+ internationally

TRU has more shelf space devoted to their sections.  And one would think that an increase in shelf space would aid them.  It does in terms of room for exclusives.  But they don't manage their inventory as efficiently as Target does.  And WalMart has over 6 times as many locations as TRU.

[Jesse James]

If you throw KM into the mix, I think they're $7.99 for Joes and $9.96 here for Star Wars (Yes, holy ****).  They're larger in certain areas though...  Others, not so much.

As far as price-hikes go though, many companies haven't seemingly done the major hikes Hasbro's lines have...  I don't know why that would be, but if you look around at other toy lines the %'s just aren't the same as what Hasbro's lines have been it seems.

[Darth_Anton]

Companies do raise prices "just because," regardless of supply and demand all the time. That could be the case here.