Author Topic: Big Items of the Future!  (Read 211202 times)

Offline CHEWIE

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Re: Big Items of the Future!
« Reply #240 on: January 3, 2009, 11:29 AM »
Well it's a no-brainer that the crappy legs on the AT-TE aren't a positive.  But I think it's a pretty pessimistic outlook to think that it means we're not going to see more large scale items anymore in this line because of this.

From what I'm seeing online, the new GI JOE movie is going to have some really big items too.  Right now Hasbro sees the market as being viable for these larger scale items.

Offline Scott

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Re: Big Items of the Future!
« Reply #241 on: January 3, 2009, 11:51 AM »
I'm not saying they won't make them...I'm saying casual buyer people will think twice of buying them whicvh doesn't bode well for the long term viability of said items

I think Nick has a point too...there has to be some HUGE ramnifications internal to Hasbro to the leg debacle I would think.

Offline Jesse James

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Re: Big Items of the Future!
« Reply #242 on: January 3, 2009, 03:07 PM »
I think a bigger issue will be the economy overall..  Toys have a tradition of not doing well in bad years, and that means if sales aren't what retail had hoped for on some of this stuff, they're less likely to give Hasbro an indication that THEY will bite...  Regardless of consumer thoughts on the matter.

Case-in-point, Christmas wasn't even here and gone yet, and the Falcon saw a pretty wide price slash of 33% at most WM stores that had them.  Most here had them, and most here went to $99 and are still holding in at that price.  33%'s not a huge cut in price, but anything over 20% usually isn't a good sign.

On the contrary, the AT-TE (at least here) is pretty well sold out and didn't really see anything but a 20% cut for a week here or there.  At the same time though, your points are pretty valid Scott, and I think the leg issue will hurt the impression of this toy (and the line in general) and its quality.  Likewise I agree with Nick that internally it's surely got someone in trouble for the design flaw.  I don't know if that'll impact Hasbro's POV on big items or not, but it might.

I think the real thing they'll be looking at is whether Retailers think they're viable...  Right now I'm not so sure, again citing the Falcon.  Which I think that's an outstanding toy, believe me.  I just think the fact there's quite a few around after Christmas and a seemingly national 33% price cut (at least at WM) are things that may hurt the biggest retailer's faith in these big ticket SW items.

GI Joe has a movie coming out...  That's all it could take to get SW stuff, but SW doesn't have that going for it.  It has a cartoon though?
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Offline CHEWIE

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Re: Big Items of the Future!
« Reply #243 on: January 3, 2009, 03:52 PM »
Nobody is disagreeing that someone at Hasbro is being held accountable for the crappy design of the legs.  Scott has the relevant point here though that this could scare some parents off in the future, which I think is what Hasbro should be more concerned with.  Star Wars is so popular and fortunate for Hasbro, the brand can probably absorb this sort of thing from time to time, but they certainly need to ensure this doesn't happen again in 2009.

I would think that retailers are going to order whatever large vehicle (or playset) Hasbro offers up next... I don't think the retailers are going to be shy about it until a large item ends up burning them. 

In the meantime, I picked up another AT-TE yesterday for $64.00 at a Walmart out in the sticks... first time I've seen one in about a month anywhere, and the only one on clearance.

How long is the cartoon going to last anyway?  I don't know, I haven't watched one single episode and really don't care to.   :P

As for some Falcons hitting 30% before Christmas, remember all those big fluffy horses and dinosaurs saw markdowns around 50-65% before Christmas. 

 ;)
« Last Edit: January 3, 2009, 03:54 PM by CHEWIE »

Offline Captain Piet

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Re: Big Items of the Future!
« Reply #244 on: January 3, 2009, 06:46 PM »
Nobody is disagreeing that someone at Hasbro is being held accountable for the crappy design of the legs.  Scott has the relevant point here though that this could scare some parents off in the future, which I think is what Hasbro should be more concerned with.  Star Wars is so popular and fortunate for Hasbro, the brand can probably absorb this sort of thing from time to time, but they certainly need to ensure this doesn't happen again in 2009.

I would think that retailers are going to order whatever large vehicle (or playset) Hasbro offers up next... I don't think the retailers are going to be shy about it until a large item ends up burning them. 

In the meantime, I picked up another AT-TE yesterday for $64.00 at a Walmart out in the sticks... first time I've seen one in about a month anywhere, and the only one on clearance.

How long is the cartoon going to last anyway?  I don't know, I haven't watched one single episode and really don't care to.   :P

As for some Falcons hitting 30% before Christmas, remember all those big fluffy horses and dinosaurs saw markdowns around 50-65% before Christmas. 

 ;)

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Offline Phrubruh

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Re: Big Items of the Future!
« Reply #245 on: January 3, 2009, 06:50 PM »
Sams club had a AT-Te out on display for everyone to play with above all the boxes. Everytime I went by it all the legs were falling off. I'd fix them and next time it was even wrose. I wonder if this kept them from sell well at sams club. Currently they are not there anymore.
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Offline iFett

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Re: Big Items of the Future!
« Reply #246 on: January 3, 2009, 08:23 PM »
In the meantime, I picked up another AT-TE yesterday for $64.00 at a Walmart out in the sticks... first time I've seen one in about a month anywhere, and the only one on clearance.

Not that I'm contributing to the thread, but I purchased my second AT-TE at WM the other day for the same price here in the Twin Cities.  Also found one of my local freak Targets which has the BMF clearanced at $97 and some change.

Aren't we supposed to get a "chromed" Royal Starship next year for the 10th anniversary of TPM?  Thought I heard that rumor somewhere....
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Offline Nicklab

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Re: Big Items of the Future!
« Reply #247 on: January 3, 2009, 09:15 PM »
I'm not saying they won't make them...I'm saying casual buyer people will think twice of buying them whicvh doesn't bode well for the long term viability of said items

I think Nick has a point too...there has to be some HUGE ramnifications internal to Hasbro to the leg debacle I would think.

I think that right now people are looking for value when they spend their money.  And if parents plunk down $100 for a toy for their kids, they expect the manufacturer to get it right the first time.  The replacement leg program is nice, but it doesn't serve Hasbro's image with consumers positively.  Especially now with the state of the economy.

Someone is definitely going to take a financial hit because of the AT-TE legs.  But the way this impacts consumer confidence in Hasbro products is probably more important in the long haul.

And what about the Falcon's landing gear?  For me that's been a little bit of a pain.  Any little nudge to the Falcon and it can go over and the landing gear comes off.  Sure, it goes right back in and the parts seem to tolerate the process.  But it may be a longterm design concern.

I guess where it's going to be interesting is when you balance all of these things against the sales of both the Falcon and the AT-TE.  Were the sales good enough that these flaws are within acceptable parameters?  And will it permit Hasbro to proceed with more large vehicle projects?  I don't think we're going to know the answer for some time.
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Offline iFett

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Re: Big Items of the Future!
« Reply #248 on: January 4, 2009, 11:16 AM »
Were the sales good enough that these flaws are within acceptable parameters?  And will it permit Hasbro to proceed with more large vehicle projects?  I don't think we're going to know the answer for some time.

Guess we'll be finding out in a few more weeks, no?
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Offline CHEWIE

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Re: Big Items of the Future!
« Reply #249 on: January 4, 2009, 11:36 AM »
Yeah, I was thinking we *might* see some news on this or even pics of something new in February...

Offline jedi_master_sal

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Re: Big Items of the Future!
« Reply #250 on: January 4, 2009, 01:18 PM »
Yeah, I was thinking we *might* see some news on this or even pics of something new in February...

I'm really surprised with how tight lipped Hasbro has been in the last few months about new stuff.

I'm guessing they still feel burned over the whole BMF leak from last year. Also there were many reports coming out of Europe about new product. So it's possible Hasbro has clamped down on that leak as well.

Actually though, I'd almost prefer it this way now. It used to be I'd need to know as soon as possible so I could budget for all of the stuff. Now that I've slashed my budget yet again in half, I'm not so worried about these things. Nearly everything from last year was SO easy to find, that I refuse to get myself all excitable about it and think I won't be able to find it.

Gone are the days of "Got to have it now."

I'm going to be a bit more selective now I think (and hope). I feel burned that I went out immediately and bought both a BMF and AT-TE. When, if I'd have waited 3 months I could have saved nearly $90 for the both, almost effectively giving me the AT-TE for free...

I will still buy this stuff, but I'm not rushing out to get it anymore.
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Offline Nicklab

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Re: Big Items of the Future!
« Reply #251 on: January 4, 2009, 04:28 PM »
Were the sales good enough that these flaws are within acceptable parameters?  And will it permit Hasbro to proceed with more large vehicle projects?  I don't think we're going to know the answer for some time.

Guess we'll be finding out in a few more weeks, no?

I beg to differ.

I think the only thing going on right now as it pertains to vehicles is this:

Hasbro's finance people assessing where they are from a sales vs cost perspective.  Did the profits meet their projections?

I think it's very well possible that the design team may have had at least one or two ideas on tap.  But I think they're probably designs and that's it.  I think that the designs will only get the greenlight to go to the prototype or tooling stage after the finance people have their say.

So what if that happens?  What if something gets the greenlight?  I still don't think we would see or hear anything about a new, large vehicle for at least 6 months or more.
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Offline CHEWIE

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Re: Big Items of the Future!
« Reply #252 on: January 4, 2009, 07:07 PM »
That's a good point Nicklab that Hasbro might have wanted to see how things went over the holidays in terms of what retailers still had in their inventory on the bigger items, but maybe they had a decent gauge on things based on how they did over the last summer/fall.  At least I'm hoping that's the case.

Sal, I also am a bit surprised at how Hasbro hasn't revealed much lately either.  And if they're still sore over GH breaking news on the Falcon, I think they ought to get over it.  Knowing that was coming in advance helped me save a bit of extra cash for it, which prevented me from charging it on my credit card.

Looks like they've got a big GI JOE item planned this summer... which is a playset of all things, lol.

Offline Pete_Fett

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Re: Big Items of the Future!
« Reply #253 on: January 4, 2009, 08:45 PM »
Actually, Hasbro has stated in their Q&As that they are going to be closely looking at how well the AT-TE and BMF perform through the holiday shopping season.

So, I would be willing to bet that we won't see or hear anything about another big item until SDCC 2009.

If we see something at Toy Fair 2009, then that just means that the item had been given the green light quite a while ago.

I could have sworn that I read somewhere that the BMF was in development for over a year (perhaps it was the latest Star Wars Insider article on it).
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Offline speedermike

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Re: Big Items of the Future!
« Reply #254 on: January 4, 2009, 09:12 PM »
That sounds about right.  They won't have the real Holiday numbers for a few weeks...then they'll decide to go with another or to hold back...

About the At-Te...I bought one three weeks ago and finally opened it on Wednesday.  The legs seem to be fine.  You really, really. really have to press them in until the little click is heard.  My 4 year old son and I played with it for three hours, and the only time the center legs came off was when he leaned across the toy.
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