Back on topic, if any one here admittedly worked for Hasbro, they'd get slammed with question after question. It'd be worse than people finding out who Superman really is.

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Plus this information is probably considered classified. Most large companies forbid their employees from giving any company information with the threat of termination. And I know nobody would want someone to get fired just to find out, for example, when Downshift is being shipped to Massachusetts.

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I doubt anyone from Hasbro could really even tell you that.  They ship things to the distribution centers of the big stores, after that it's out of their hands if WalMart, etc. ships it out immediately to a store or lets it fester in a warehouse for months.

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That's what I was thinking too. It's kind of like how the US never really saw widespread distribution of reissue Sideswipe until a few months ago. Was that Hasbro? No. They didn't even know that had happened. It was TRU.

I doubt anyone from Hasbro could really even tell you that.  They ship things to the distribution centers of the big stores, after that it's out of their hands if WalMart, etc. ships it out immediately to a store or lets it fester in a warehouse for months.

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That's what I was thinking too. It's kind of like how the US never really saw widespread distribution of reissue Sideswipe until a few months ago. Was that Hasbro? No. They didn't even know that had happened. It was TRU.

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Sometimes I feel a little bad for Hasbro being blamed for "distribution problems" - this really isn't their fault at all.

 

Stores order from their respective distribution centers, and the distribution centers order from Hasbro.  If a chain's distribution centers aren't receiving fresh stock, it's because they didn't order any - it isn't like Hasbro is trying to obfuscate matters.  And like you said, sometimes Hasbro has sent stuff out and the chain lets it sit in its warehouses.

In The Netherlands it is quite bad.

 

The stores have little and if that does not sell, there is no restock. I think that is a big problem, stuff needs to sell before the store orders new stock.

 

And I too am puzzled why Action Man Atom gets more shelf space than Transformers. I mean, is there any cooler toy than a Transformer?

Another thing I've always wondered, is how many units of each toy are produced? Does every figure get the same run? Are there a few million of each scout class made? a few million of each deluxe? a million of each voyager? a few hundred thousand of each Ultra? I know the numbers are probably different, but I hope you get my point...or does the manufacturer decide to make 5 million Red alerts, but only 2.5 million Blurr's?

 

What do we know about the numbers of runs each figure gets? A lot of you talk about case assortments, and I still don't understand the whole reasoning behind those choices either.

 

Do they gauge popularity of a character at the toy fairs? And then base production on perceived industry reactions?

 

It's all very confusing.

 

Dave

Another thing I've always wondered, is how many units of each toy are produced? Does every figure get the same run? Are there a few million of each scout class made? a few million of each deluxe? a million of each voyager? a few hundred thousand of each Ultra? I know the numbers are probably different, but I hope you get my point...or does the manufacturer decide to make 5 million Red alerts, but only 2.5 million Blurr's?

 

What do we know about the numbers of runs each figure gets? A lot of you talk about case assortments, and I still don't understand the whole reasoning behind those choices either.

 

Do they gauge popularity of a character at the toy fairs? And then base production on perceived industry reactions?

 

It's all very confusing.

 

Dave

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No, Hasbro's marketing team would probably be responsible for "guessing" which toys will/would be more likely to sell more units. That's why you'll see more CD Red alerts out there, compared to other stuff.

Another thing I've always wondered, is how many units of each toy are produced? Does every figure get the same run? Are there a few million of each scout class made? a few million of each deluxe? a million of each voyager? a few hundred thousand of each Ultra? I know the numbers are probably different, but I hope you get my point...or does the manufacturer decide to make 5 million Red alerts, but only 2.5 million Blurr's?

 

What do we know about the numbers of runs each figure gets?

My best guess is that you're off by over an order of magnitude.

 

Basing my estimates on the sales of Playmates old Star Trek line (where the figures and starship toys were individually numbered to enhace "collectability" [ :tflaugh1 ]), the most popular figures usually peaked out in the 250000-275000 range.  For the starships, the numbers peaked about 50000-60000.

 

Therefore, I'd say the best sales volumes for a basic/deluxe Transformer figure are probably in the neighborhood of ~150,000-200,000 (I'm lowering it from the highest numbers seen for the ST figures since there are probably 3x as many TF figures available over the same period of time).  The ST ships with their 60,000 sales volume probably equates pretty well with the Ultra sales point, with slightly lower numbers for the leaders ~45,000 and slightly higher for the Voyagers ~75,000.   Although, I have a feeling that these numbers are probably a bit on the high side, as the boxed figures don't seem to sell nearly as well as the carded ones (plus, there were usually only 3-4 ST ships available over the course of a year selling up to the 60000-unit point, as opposed to the dozen-plus boxed TF figures usually available for a shorter time). 

A lot of you talk about case assortments, and I still don't understand the whole reasoning behind those choices either.

In the US toys come in "waves" because it's simply easier for the toy managers at the big stores to order "another case of deluxes" rather than trying to account for each individual figures.

Do they gauge popularity of a character at the toy fairs? And then base production on perceived industry reactions?

Toyfair used to be how interest was gauged, but now its more for the smaller wholesalers and media - the big stores get to see what's coming up at private showings in the fall.

Well, if thats the case, I think their marketing teams ought to spend time on the fan sites...because a lot of their choices and the routes they take just flat out dont make sense. To me at least.

 

I wonder why Supreme Starscream was clearanced (I never got a chance to scoop one up...dammit) but no other figures were. I also wonder why most retailers clearanced him, but TRU stubbornly refuses to...even though my local TRU has about a dozen of them still at $49.99...the same dozen theyve had for the last 6 months or so. Bastards! Drop him down to $35 or so and you'll make room for a couple more Robosapiens you nippleheads....sorry...just needed to vent for a second there.

 

Dave

How can there only be a few hundred thousand of each figure made? 50 states in America alone....hundreds of retailers in each state....plus the numbers of figures held in the maker/distributors own wharehouses to feed online sales.....just seems awfully low to me. Plus it seems as if many figures get re-relased in a new wave.....Dirtboss for insatnce wa sall over the place...then dried up for a few months....then all of a sudden I saw multiples of him at all my retailers in a couple hundred mile radius. Could be old stock finally seeing the light of day, but in so many stores?

 

I dont think I'll ever understand how the whole manufacturing and distribution process works...I guess thats why I work in the aerospace industry and not the toy biz eh?

 

Dave

Well, if thats the case, I think their marketing teams ought to spend time on the fan sites...because a lot of their choices and the routes they take just flat out dont make sense. To me at least.

Unfortunately, although we'd like to think we're capable of seriously impacting the main-line sales - in reality the hard-core fan base is probably at best ~5% of total sales.  (Although, I reckon we actually make up a much higher percentage of the Voyager and Ultra sales.)

How can there only be a few hundred thousand of each figure made? 50 states in America alone....hundreds of retailers in each state....plus the numbers of figures held in the maker/distributors own wharehouses to feed online sales.....just seems awfully low to me.

Let's see, for the US there are approximately:

2400 WalMarts

1300 Targets

1100 TRUs

 

It's probably reasonable to assume that these three chains probably sell 80% of all Transformers.

 

That would mean each store would have to sell about 40 of each deluxe to get to 200,000 (80% of the 250,000 number).

 

For Cybertron the deluxes come packed 1-2 per case of eight.  If we estimate a figure appears 1.5 times per case (usually it starts at two when new, then drops to one as additional figures are released in the line) and the average figure is readily available for a period of say six months or 180 days, selling 40 figures requires a store to put out a fresh case every 6.75 days (or once a week) over a 180 day period, which is probably about right.  This "back of an envelope" calculation (literally :redface ) also assumes that all figures sell equally well over the time period involved, which we know isn't quite what happens, more likely newer cases are put out slightly more frequently until the less popular figures accumulate to annoying levels, which then stops new cases being put out in the maddening feedback loop of which we're all aware.