Author Topic: TLC Millenium Falcon  (Read 232166 times)

Offline iFett

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Re: TLC Millenium Falcon Upgrade
« Reply #420 on: May 20, 2008, 03:09 PM »
Ouch.  That's kinda harsh, but at least he won the WoworNever contest.  I wonder how that would have floated with Hasbro/Lucasfilm had this image been posted before the winners were drawn.
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Offline Nicklab

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Re: TLC Millenium Falcon Upgrade
« Reply #421 on: May 20, 2008, 03:18 PM »
That is just a steaming pile of bull****!  For Hasbro to take that kind of action against Galactic Hunter is complete BRAVO SIERRA.  Especially with the way information manages to make it's way out of the othe(R) site.

The fact is that Adam's reporting has done more to promote the upcoming Millenium Falcon than Hasbro has done.  The article in WIRED just came out and it was completely lame!  If I hadn't gotten the magazine for free with my Borders reward points, I would have felt genuinely cheated.  But the response to Adam's reporting?  Countless posts in numerous forums that are very positive, and with numerous people saying that they're going to buy more than one of them...even though it's priced at $150.  

And then factor in that the genie was out of the bottle regarding the actual news.  Once someone found the Falcon in Target's computer system a couple of months before we even saw an image, collectors knew something was up.  Not a cool way to handle things on Hasbro's part.
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Offline Brian

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Re: TLC Millenium Falcon Upgrade
« Reply #422 on: May 20, 2008, 03:35 PM »
Agreed.  I think its kind of lame for Hasbro to be taking this type of action against Galactic Hunter.  I get that they wanted to "surprise" collectors, but with as much stuff that is out there these days - and money tighter than ever for just about everyone - popping a $150 "surprise" on us maybe wasn't the best idea.  Plus, like Nicklab mentioned, all the news at GH has done is generate some big excitement for the Falcon.  A lot of us started saving the moment we got the info, and its even generated lots of talk about what other "large items" we'd like to see - and how much we'd be willing to pay for them.  Like it has been said before, its free (and good) market research for Hasbro.

Plus, the thing is, leaks are just a part of the game these days.  All of the sites have them, and to be honest, GH hasn't had much for awhile now until this big Falcon news.  So, if anything, if GH is going to be punished there are some other sites around that have had a lot of news over the past few years as well.  Are you going to "ban" all of the fan sites?  Kiddos aside, this group is your bread and butter, whether they want to admit it or not - particularly for items that are $100 or more.  If they would start updating their web site in a more timely manner, they could probably avoid things getting leaked before they can debut it.

Sure, it would be nice if things could be a "surprise" like in the vintage days.  I kind of liked the days as a kid where the only way I knew what was out or coming out was by going by the cardback.  It would be nice if that could still be done, but the age of the internet, scalping, and lots more people "collecting" this stuff has really done away with that.  I'm sure it stinks from their side of things that this got "spoiled", but they could have done a big debut themselves if they had brought the news out at Toy Fair, or even on their website.  Just think of the excitement they could have gotten, and traffic to their website, if in the middle of March or something there is just a big post of the "BMF Falcon" at the Hasbro Star Wars site.  They tried to hold out too long I'm afraid, and things (Target computer, KB computer, TRU computer, GH pics, etc.) beat them to the punch.  Plus, on the GH side of things, its not their fault someone sent them the pictures.

Offline efranks

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Re: TLC Millenium Falcon Upgrade
« Reply #423 on: May 20, 2008, 03:42 PM »
So, if this was all a leak on Hasbro's part to boost GH's readership, why the continued blog posts about fallout from it?  I don't know Adam May personally, but would he fabricate this much drama just because?

If Hasbro really sanctions them because of that post it's pretty ****** on Hasbro's part.  What advertising have they really had to pay for on the SW line for the last 2 years?  How about any year when there's no movie?  Practically none.  They get it all for free from the fan sites.  Up till recently they didn't even update their own web site on a regular basis.

We know that Hasbro sends out perks to otheR Sites and it would be interesting to see who is on that mailing list, see what it takes to get that special treatment.

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Offline CHEWIE

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Re: TLC Millenium Falcon Upgrade
« Reply #424 on: May 20, 2008, 04:00 PM »
Hasbro really needs to come out and post an official response on their website. 

And if they're really blackballing GH, they're going to be pissing off a lot of people (including myself)... I mean, WTF is the point in there even being fan sites if this is how Hasbro's going to treat them?

Also pathetic how the article by Wired hints that the previous Falcon cost $100.00.  Pathetic.

Offline Dan

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Re: TLC Millenium Falcon Upgrade
« Reply #425 on: May 20, 2008, 06:08 PM »
I don't understand Hasbro's response to this at all. Maybe Wired is fussing at Hasbro for having been promised a big exciting unveiling and basically printing a lame afterthought.

And is Hasbro punishing Target for putting it in their computer system before they were told to?

We probably don't know the whole story, but what we do know smells like s*** on Hasbro's collective shoe.

Offline DoctorPadawan

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Re: TLC Millenium Falcon Upgrade
« Reply #426 on: May 20, 2008, 06:23 PM »
Hasbro's going to need to do damage control, and FAST, if they expect to keep themselves from feeling collector anger over the treatment of GH.  As everyone else has already said at length, what GH did is show a photo of an item that excited a lot of people from all over the collector spectrum, did not make money off of the showing of said photograph, and it has generated a lot of excitement and enthusiasm and (one would suspect) a lot of potential purchases.  As opposed to Wired, who were going to be showing it to primarily a lot of folks who don't collect toys to begin with, charge a few bucks for the magazine and make money off the photograph, and then subsequently go back to bashing SW for being "too kiddie" within a year. 

And what does it come down to, really?  Adam won't reveal his source, and *that* has Hasbro punishing him and GH as a whole, for showing a photo that leaked out of (most likely) their own company?  So, Hasbro is against freedom of the press and confidentiality of sources?  So, because Adam is standing by his story and not hanging someone else out to dry, Hasbro is going to now (openly rather than covertly) suck the otheR Site teat and make GH (and one would assume, the rest of the fan community eventually) sit in the corner?  It's only a matter of time before they start charging a licensing fee for photos of their toys, as they are copyrighted by LFL and Hasbro, after all.   ::)

Hasbro built up a lot of goodwill from the collecting community by doing this item (and the AT-TE) to begin with, and unless they drop this matter completely, there's going to be a lot of ill will that not even a BMF Falcon is going to make up for. 

Offline Jesse James

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Re: TLC Millenium Falcon Upgrade
« Reply #427 on: May 20, 2008, 07:23 PM »
I dunno, to be honest I don't think there's going to be any repurcussion felt by Hasbro over this, regardless of the facts of the matter...  Are collectors really going to boycot?  I doubt it...  Maybe I just have less faith in the solidarity of the hobby's die-hards than you, Dr. P.  I just don't think they'll boycot the Falcon or any Hasbro products really unless they simply don't want them.
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Offline CHEWIE

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Re: TLC Millenium Falcon Upgrade
« Reply #428 on: May 20, 2008, 07:34 PM »
Hmm... GH took down the blog link from the main page.

Offline speedermike

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Re: TLC Millenium Falcon Upgrade
« Reply #429 on: May 20, 2008, 08:10 PM »
Actually, if the fan base really wanted to support Adam and show some solidarity, NO SITES should send in Q&A next week.
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Offline P-Siddy

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Re: TLC Millenium Falcon Upgrade
« Reply #430 on: May 20, 2008, 08:45 PM »
And is Hasbro punishing Target for putting it in their computer system before they were told to?

Bingo. Is hasbro going to bring down the hammer on Target because they put items in their system before they release an image? Lame for hasbro to go after a fan site for a problem with their own internal security.

If they punish GH for this, I can't think of a way for solidarity on this. Boycott the BMF? That wouldn't look good for future release of big vehicles (and a lot of people want the Falcon). Not sending in Q&As? That's a priviledge as far as the Big H is concerned. They can quit doing them but I think a lot of people like this format.

I think Hasbro needs to step back and let GH free. It wasn't GH's fault for announcing breaking news. It's someone within their own company.

Cool that Adam won.

Offline evenflow

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Re: TLC Millenium Falcon Upgrade
« Reply #431 on: May 20, 2008, 09:29 PM »
I personally dont see the point of everyone not sending in questions. We are just screwing ourselves even more. I dont agree with Hasbro if indeed they are being this ridiculous over the leak, but there is no need to mess with soemthing good they do for us.
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Offline DoctorPadawan

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Re: TLC Millenium Falcon Upgrade
« Reply #432 on: May 20, 2008, 09:54 PM »
Are collectors really going to boycot?  I doubt it...  Maybe I just have less faith in the solidarity of the hobby's die-hards than you, Dr. P.  I just don't think they'll boycot the Falcon or any Hasbro products really unless they simply don't want them.

I wasn't referring specifically to a boycott, Jesse, but just a decrease in positive things to say about the company/team/etc.  I will be the first to admit that I'm a loudmouth when it comes to making fun of Hasbro and questioning the logic of their decisions, but in the last year, they had seemingly made an effort to listen to feedback from collectors, they were considering everything in terms of product selection, and even though I made a habit of poking fun at them whenever possible, there wasn't really much to point at and say, "that was ridiculous."  Hasbro, and the SW team over there especially, had made big inroads in terms of relations with the collecting community, but I wonder if this situation has put a huge dent in that for a lot of people.

Boycott the products?  Absolutely not, as I think even Adam would say "no" to that strategy, what with his vocal and persuasive support of the BMF to begin with.  All I'm saying is that Hasbro's being completely asinine about this whole situation, blaming a guy who does unpaid work for a (I would assume) not-for-profit website who is a fan and loyal collector for the stupidity of whoever their employee was that screwed all this up (in their eyes) to begin with, as Darth Vlad said.  Threatening fans and fan sites with legal action isn't going to make people think Hasbro is all sunshine and lollipops, nor should it.  The only people who wind up looking bad in this situation are Hasbro, period.



« Last Edit: May 20, 2008, 09:55 PM by DoctorPadawan »

Offline iFett

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Re: TLC Millenium Falcon Upgrade
« Reply #433 on: May 20, 2008, 10:43 PM »
I personally dont see the point of everyone not sending in questions. We are just screwing ourselves even more. I dont agree with Hasbro if indeed they are being this ridiculous over the leak, but there is no need to mess with soemthing good they do for us.

Do you like reading into smoke and mirrors every other week as I do?  That's pretty much all I get out of most of Hasbro's answers.  Not to say that we shouldn't send in questions, but Hasbro treats these toys as top secret military stuff, and I think that needs to stop.

This whole thing is just a mess - the way it turned out, and I really dislike Hasbro for puninishing GH for the image.  As others have mentioned already - I wouldn't have the funds available for a $150 purchase outside of the AT-TE and all the other **** that's going to be hitting on 07/26.  Mark this date on your calanders boys and girls.  This *should be* the most expensive SW launch date that we've seen in some time.
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Offline evenflow

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Re: TLC Millenium Falcon Upgrade
« Reply #434 on: May 21, 2008, 06:40 AM »
I personally dont see the point of everyone not sending in questions. We are just screwing ourselves even more. I dont agree with Hasbro if indeed they are being this ridiculous over the leak, but there is no need to mess with soemthing good they do for us.

Do you like reading into smoke and mirrors every other week as I do?  That's pretty much all I get out of most of Hasbro's answers.  Not to say that we shouldn't send in questions, but Hasbro treats these toys as top secret military stuff, and I think that needs to stop.

This whole thing is just a mess - the way it turned out, and I really dislike Hasbro for puninishing GH for the image.  As others have mentioned already - I wouldn't have the funds available for a $150 purchase outside of the AT-TE and all the other **** that's going to be hitting on 07/26.  Mark this date on your calanders boys and girls.  This *should be* the most expensive SW launch date that we've seen in some time.

I agree about the GH thing. If this is really the way they are handling it, its just ridiculous and even childish. The leak happened so they should should just deal with it and continue to promote it.

As for the Q&A's, i dont think we are entitled to know everything so i don't have a problem with the smoke and mirrors. For the most part they are vague but they do give us some info and if anything allows Hasbro to know what we are thinking. I think that for some reason we have a sense of entitlement to know everything we have planned. We really don't. I am sure there are reasons why things are held back, and although the magazine article for the falcon was probably something we would have never known about, they probably had a contract and would have announced it after that. We don't know all the inner workings. They probbaly also have stuffed saved for SDCC. If the casual fan knew everything then perhaps they wouldnt stop at the booth to see new items or go to a panel. (We dedicated and insane fans would go anyway) I just don't see it being as simple as why don't they tell us everything.
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