This may have been asked and discussed before, however it has been bothering me for a while. Why is Hasbro unable to give a release date for specific Alternators like Takara can for their Binaltechs? For instance, Skids just came out and he did come out in Japan on his 11/19 release date. I just got mine today because it takes time for them to trickle to the states. So, anyone know why hasbro can not give at least an estimated date? Whenever I email them and ask, they give a generic blah blah answer. I am wanting to know how much longer for the alt skids and sunstreaker.

That is an excellent question. Especially w/ the collector line like Alternators, Hasbro should have release dates. I guess they just don't like to be pegged to a specific date in case something comes up that delays release. I know that I love looking forward to the next announced BT release date simply b/c it gives me something to look forward to, plus based on that date, I can kinda figure out when mine will "trickle to the states" (my BT Skids should be waiting for me when I get home too).

 

Personally, I just see Takara as a much more professionally run business than Hasbro. They make deadlines and for the most part follow them, plus all of their stuff is just of a better quality than Hasbro. Go figure that Hasbro is losing all it high-end clientele to Takara (ie the adult collectors who are willing and able to buy an entire line of TFs as opposed to a few odd ones here and there), I mean why wait months longer for a lower quality toy when you can get a superior quality figure from Takara much sooner? There is of course a cost difference, but for some figures, I want the better quality and I want it now.

Overseas Each individual BT release is regarded as premium major release. Sort of like when a new Game or DVD comes out Stores are anticipating it's release. With our Toys, they're just part of a line of toys that come out in various case assortments. Stores dont specifically order certain figs for immediate stocking. They have to just order a random "Case O Alternators" Once they order it, it's no telling what they'll get. So basically once all the remaining Shockblast, Dcharge cases sell out, that's when well see the new ones. Since Hasbro has no Idea when that will actually happen they just give estimates or they just let you know, "Skids is shipping right now. Keep checking your local retailer"

 

I can let you know right now that Hasbro's release date was November 05 for the bubble packs and they have been released by Hasbro. Now we have to rely on Holiday shoppers to buy all the old figs.

Distribution from across the Pacific ocean and across the United States is a bit more of a problem then getting things to Japan from the factories and across the much smaller country of Japan.

 

But besides that, it's the nature of US retail. Maybe the nature of brick and mortar retail. I've never been in Japan to see if BT Skids is immediately well stocked on TRU shelves the day of his release. Maybe he is, but for importing things we only see that things get released on their date to online stores which are just warehouses and mostly specializing in toys/transformers.

 

Online stores in the US do often get new stuff on a close to set schedule, but brick and mortar stores don't stock the shelves on that schedule since they have to sell through what's already there. Furthermore US retailers only deal with "assortments" and generally do not order or want to deal with ordering specific figures. This ends up with Hasbro having to pack assortments of figures in cases, thus online/specialty stores have to order cases and the "newly released" figures are somewhat rare when first released because they still need to be packed with older figures. With retailers only working on assortments/waves they don't know to stock "new releases".

 

It'd be great if Hasbro could pack cases of specific figures, and I'm sure they'd love to IF they could... and the old rumor was that they will be doing this for Alternators in the spring, but in general they have to figure out case assortments at the behest of the major retail chains.

 

Retailers are certainly capable of handling new releases of CDs and DVDs, but they bother to do this since each store can sell several of each new release, a "new release" transfomer at each wal-mart across the US would only amount to a few(probably less than 10) so there really isn't a point to them micro-managing inventory to that degree.

Man I was looking at my skids, which I just got today about an hour ago from UPS and there is a huge glue spot on the side of the car where the chrome logo plate is supposed to go! This is my 1st BT blemish! Guess it will be going back to BBTS since he is still sealed they should exchange him I hope otherwise i guess I will be buying another and opening this one :(

I would also guess it has something to do with efficiency.  In Japan people take their jobs seriously, regardless of how menial it may seem, or how insignificant something like a toy release might be.  In the US, as previously noted, it's just another case of random stuff, on a random truck, going to a random distribution center to be loaded on another random truck and shipped to a random store where random underpaid stockers who hate their jobs may have it sitting in the warehouse for weeks before it hits the shelves, either because they finally sold out of the crap that was on the shelf before or the stock manager who also hates his job finally noticed that random case among all the other random cases of random stuff in the warehouse and yelled at the stockers to set it out so they have room for another random case of random stuff in the warehouse. 

we use to get release dates, we had them up til i think grimy, well month release dates not exact :redface 

I would also guess it has something to do with efficiency.  In Japan people take their jobs seriously, regardless of how menial it may seem, or how insignificant something like a toy release might be.  In the US, as previously noted, it's just another case of random stuff, on a random truck, going to a random distribution center to be loaded on another random truck and shipped to a random store where random underpaid stockers who hate their jobs may have it sitting in the warehouse for weeks before it hits the shelves, either because they finally sold out of the crap that was on the shelf before or the stock manager who also hates his job finally noticed that random case among all the other random cases of random stuff in the warehouse and yelled at the stockers to set it out so they have room for another random case of random stuff in the warehouse. 

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This so true.

we use to get release dates, we had them up til i think grimy, well month release dates not exact 

 

We Still do get em. Dcharge and Prowl were mark at SDCC as September releases and to my shock, that's when they got here. Skids and Streaker were for November I preordered from BBTS, my first preorder so I think it's my fault they arent here yet. If I didn't preorder there'd be all kinds of sightings.

It'd be great if Hasbro could pack cases of specific figures, and I'm sure they'd love to IF they could... and the old rumor was that they will be doing this for Alternators in the spring, but in general they have to figure out case assortments at the behest of the major retail chains.

 

Retailers are certainly capable of handling new releases of CDs and DVDs, but they bother to do this since each store can sell several of each new release, a "new release" transfomer at each wal-mart across the US would only amount to a few(probably less than 10) so there really isn't a point to them micro-managing inventory to that degree.

Exactly.  Which is why I beleive the whole "WalMart wanted single case assortments of Alts" rumor is pure BS.

 

Does anybody really think that the toy manager at WalMart is really going to pay specific attention to what sells in the Alt line?

Man I was looking at my skids, which I just got today about an hour ago from UPS and there is a huge glue spot on the side of the car where the chrome logo plate is supposed to go! This is my 1st BT blemish! Guess it will be going back to BBTS since he is still sealed they should exchange him I hope otherwise i guess I will be buying another and opening this one :(

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Unfortunately, I've found that Takara's quality control on the BTs has slipped drastically over the last couple of releases.  Your situation is pretty much par for the course.

That is an excellent question. Especially w/ the collector line like Alternators, Hasbro should have release dates. I guess they just don't like to be pegged to a specific date in case something comes up that delays release. I know that I love looking forward to the next announced BT release date simply b/c it gives me something to look forward to, plus based on that date, I can kinda figure out when mine will "trickle to the states" (my BT Skids should be waiting for me when I get home too).

 

Personally, I just see Takara as a much more professionally run business than Hasbro. They make deadlines and for the most part follow them, plus all of their stuff is just of a better quality than Hasbro. Go figure that Hasbro is losing all it high-end clientele to Takara (ie the adult collectors who are willing and able to buy an entire line of TFs as opposed to a few odd ones here and there), I mean why wait months longer for a lower quality toy when you can get a superior quality figure from Takara much sooner? There is of course a cost difference, but for some figures, I want the better quality and I want it now.

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Cut Hasbro some slack, they've been doing their best to improve the quality of their stuff, yanno.

 

Geez, you sound like Bob :P