http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4919606.stm

 

Well, most of us know that Takara and Tomy have joined forces.  The new company has also mentioned that TFs will be more geared to the collector's (basically non-kid) market.

 

So, this makes me really wonder about where TFs are going.  Excluding the new TF movie inspired toys, will Hasbro follow TakaraTomy and focus TFs less on kids? Without the Japanese children's market I worry about a new cartoon series being released as well.  Galaxy Force (both toys and anime) didn't do that well in Japan, and I have heard that the show is hard to find in the U.S. market as well.

Thoughts?

Sigma 6 isn't sold in Japan( as far as I know) and they still have a show. So dont worry. Hasbro will be force to go another route. Like with Beast Wars/BM

IMO that should be good news for us collectors.

IMO that should be good news for us collectors.

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No it wouldn't.  It means that Transformers in the US would die.

 

Hasbro keeps Transformers going because, ultimately, it's very profitable to them, perenially being in the top 5 boys' toylines.  If you pull Transformers out of the children's market, and into the collector market, the target audience shrinks considerably (probably down to about 5%, give or take).  Definitely not enough to support an entire toyline in the US, at least not at the capacity it's at now. 

 

Japan's market is very different, with a steady decline in children per-capita, and a very collector oriented industry.  And even then, we're talking about very few releases, maybe 2-3 figures in a year when it comes to adult-oriented lines. 

Binaltech/BTA was an adult-oriented line. As are the G1 reissues - although that's not really a line, as they are just reissues - but both of these lines have always been marketed as "For Ages 15 and Up." The reissues have been going on six years now and BT/BTA for about two and a half years.

 

Also, I fail to see how the changing demographics in Japan and changes in TakaraTomy's marketing/design of TFs would effect Hasbro. As T.Man said, Hasbro can easily just take another route. As you said, Japan's market is very different and it wouldn't really effect Hasbro's.

IMO that should be good news for us collectors.

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No it wouldn't.  It means that Transformers in the US would die.

 

Hasbro keeps Transformers going because, ultimately, it's very profitable to them, perenially being in the top 5 boys' toylines.  If you pull Transformers out of the children's market, and into the collector market, the target audience shrinks considerably (probably down to about 5%, give or take).  Definitely not enough to support an entire toyline in the US, at least not at the capacity it's at now. 

 

Japan's market is very different, with a steady decline in children per-capita, and a very collector oriented industry.  And even then, we're talking about very few releases, maybe 2-3 figures in a year when it comes to adult-oriented lines. 

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I agree. Anyone who want Transformers to target the collector mindset should be weary of what happened to MOTU a few years ago. Turning TFs into the collectors' industry will eat up a lot of profit they are having now. You guys should also realize that the reason why Transformers is much alive and well is because of the kids. The reason we liked TFs before was because we were kids.

 

If you notice that there are many times that some great looking non-TF toys end up getting cancelled. There are also companies like Palisades that have died out even with a decent fanbase. If you're also going to Starscream about paint apps or the prices, imagine what would happen if Hasbro is earning (if not merely breaking even) less from TFs.

:slap

:stfu

 

I'm saying that if Takara decided to market their Transformers more exclusively towards adult collectors, then it would be better for collectors everywhere as we would also be able to reap the benefits as well.

 

Many Gaijin fans have benefitted from Takara's collector-mindset with Binaltech and their G1 reissues. We'd be Powerglideed if we only relied on my favorite company ever for reissues. So what I'm saying is that if Takara continued along this direction, we Gaijin would benefit too.

 

Nobody is suggesting that Hasbro follow suit. :tfmad

Nobody is suggesting that Hasbro follow suit.   :tfmad

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The future of TFs in the west will be much the same as it is now... toys for *kids* with regular homages.  They are by a long stretch Hasbro's most successful toyline, and they're not going to rock the proverbial boat - Cybertron has been a steady seller.

 

 

Tomy will keep their current direction too -  Higher priced items in 'limited' runs to ensure quicker purchases, and to avoid a continuation of embarasing situations such as Alternators fetching several times their retail price on eBay while the BT version of the same toy gathers dust at $25.00

 

 

 

Sigma 6 isn't sold in Japan( as far as I know) and they still have a show. So dont worry. Hasbro will be force to go another route. Like with Beast Wars/BM

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Apparently, Hasbro plan(ned?) to launch it in Japan simply as  'Sigma 6' rather than G.I.Joe Sigma 6...perhaps the name change is becasue 3.75 G.I.Joe flopped in Japan.

 

If Sigma 6 doesen't follow suite, i'll be suprised.

I have never seen G.I. Joe anywhere in Japan.  The whole life-like military action figure market doesn't really work here...

 

I agree a lot of Hasbro's Tf market is Hasbro designed.  But problem is scale.  Japan is a abig market.  Takara and hasbro shared costs designing/marketing/producing the toys.  With japan out of the picture in at least part of the TF market, the puts more pricing pressure on Hasbro. This usually means more conservative business descisions.

Hasbro keeps Transformers going because, ultimately, it's very profitable to them, perenially being in the top 5 boys' toylines.  If you pull Transformers out of the children's market, and into the collector market, the target audience shrinks considerably (probably down to about 5%, give or take).  Definitely not enough to support an entire toyline in the US, at least not at the capacity it's at now.

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actually, it wouldn't surprise me if North America has just as many, if not more, adult tf collectors than Japan. the main difference is shipping costs. Japan is a tiny little nation, it's a lot easier for Takara to distribute the toys to the collectors. North America is huge, it would be a statistical nightmare if Hasbro tried to distribute collector oriented toys, hence why most of them end up as USA exclusives(such as Universe Nemesis Primal, the Armada Dinobots, and Universe Devestator for example).