I don't think the convention organizers are to blame at all for this. This is entirely Hasbro's fault. There was still time for them to release mass market repaints of Classics toys, but they decided to kill the line from the very start.

Maybe they should never have started the line in the first place. :tflaugh

 

and I'm only half kidding, judging from the intense angst in this thread

 

I agree with that. It was a filler line until the movie hit, guys. A special treat. They could've just filled the shelves with some more Cybertron repaints until June...

 

Some people, sci-fi fantasy fans in particular, won't be happy no matter what they're given. You all sound like this guy. :tflaugh

im pretty sure everything in this thread would not exist if they had just remolded the friggin wings.

 

 

I think so too. I said the start of this thread that I expected no remolding, that the set was expensive, but it was pretty unfair to those who will be buying the Botcon set.

im pretty sure everything in this thread would not exist if they had just remolded the friggin wings.

 

The price would still be an issue but I think there would be a sense of better value for the money. That's always a good thing.

 

well the price was always an issue. but the thread would have consisted of "omg theyre sweet but theys esspensive" had the toys been remolded slightly.

I was pretty close to choosing to just go to Botcon and not get the toys, but decided that since I was going I might as well go for the entire kit and caboodle. It's an expense that I had to make a bit of a sacrifice for.

 

The demand for the CD was pretty overwhelming, from what I can remember. I was one of those that was unable to get one from the original run, but I did appreciate the fact that they did a second run. But we are talking about a music CD, and not custom/repainted/remolded toys. CD's do not cost anywhere near as much to make, but toys need a tooling run, paint and assembly, and packaging, which costs way more in time and money. Add to that fact that any changes/new tooling that needs to be done, and you're adding thousands of dollars more to the production costs of these toys.

 

And I can just about guarantee you Botcon is not making a shload of money from the convention. Any money they DO make will more than likely go towards future conventions. Remember 3H? Yeah, they went out of business trying to put on a show every year. It costs a lot of money to rent convention centers, and it takes a lot of time and effort to organize events and get contracts with hotels, etc., etc.. The fact that they are doing toys every year is, as I said, "icing on the cake".

 

If I want to fraternize with any of the fans, then yes, forums and online chatrooms are pretty good. However, I have yet to meet anyone in person that I've met online, so I'm eagerly awaiting Botcon for this chance alone.

 

You should also notice that I'm one of the few in this thread that's trying to be upbeat and positive. I've also stated several times that I have not gotten many of the past exclusives, and that I am NOT bitter about the fact that I will never be able to afford to get many of them.

 

Your asbestos underwear is going to chafe mightily. :tftongue

 

I appreciate that there are people being optimistic and mature about discussing this. I might just take off my undies. ;)

 

I agree that CDs are not quite as expensive -- even with the cost of a studio for Stan Bush to play in, and all the printing involved, it's probably not as expensive as the initial outlay for any of the Botcon Sets, but maybe that's indicative of the problem? Gone are the days when you'd get a single con exclusive repaint. Maybe the 'Con Exclusives' have gotten too elaborate; if the exclusives are now the big draw, ridiculously overpriced, and a sizeable chunk of the cost involved, yet the people behind it still aren't profiting at all, perhaps a little paring down is in order? Dragon*Con is about as big as they come, and you'd pay up to 85$ to attend...quite abit less than the 155$ minimum to attend Botcon. The Badges are nice, but I'm not sure they're THAT nice. For 155$ you get nothing but the right to be there, which means that for the 5 figure set, you're paying an additional 174$. Which is still ludicrous, even for exclusives.

 

I'm not necessarily bitter about any of the past exclusives either, and I'm not going to be bitter about these, (especially if they're just repaints.) And that's where I think they're actually doing some harm to the fanbase. It isn't like they're handing out a Classics Starscream repaint as Sunstorm or Classics Optimus as Nemesis Prime; these are canon, staple characters. That's what has everyone so up-in-arms. And I wholeheartedly believe that if Hasbro can manage Alternators Nemesis Prime as a SDCC exclusive and keep his price and availability reasonable enough that anyone who really wanted one could get one outside of the con, they can manage a hasbrotoyshop.com blue Starscream shipped in a plain brown box.

 

So as far as my opinion regarding Dirge and company? Grossly overpriced for what attending fans will be getting, and wholly unfair to non-attending fans.

All I know is everyone's bad attitude in this thread is lame and not what's usually representative of this board. Clean your sh*t up.

 

And Con exclusives are always freaking expensive, we do this every year. Quit being pissed because [normal, average-incomed] fans are being denied a complete set of seekers again. It just won't happen as long as it's Hasbro producing. A collector-oriented toy producer would have a better chance.

To me, that says "We're not doing it for the fans any more, we're doing it for the money."

"We're doing it for the fans' money." :thumb

 

Originally the TF movie was supposed to come out last year, right at the end of Cybertron. Ba-da-bing, perfect timing, right? Well it was, until they pushed the date of the movie back, and all of a sudden Hasbro had nothing to put on shelves between the end of Cybertron and the pre-movie blitz. So they were like "what do we do??" and someone apparently had the idea of the Classics line. Hey, that'll keep the fans happy in the interim, right? So out come the Classics and the fandom SPOOGES on them and all of a sudden wants it to be a LOT more than it was ever intended to be. But it was only ever meant to fill the gap between the end of Cybertron and the movie. And indeed, what have we all been talking about for the last month or so? Movie toys. Perfect timing, again. The only problem is that the Classics line was EXACTLY what a zillion TF fans had been wanting for like forever, and they didn't want to let it go with only a handful of figures released. (Fair enough, some might say.)

 

Now Hasbro still does have the molds, and I'm sure that they won't just shelve them without trying to get some more use out of them, just like they do with any molds from previous lines. But who knows, right now the movie is ALL... next year when that's died down, the main focus will be on "Transformers: Animated". Whether or not we see any more Classics is pure speculation at this point.

Yeah. Their annual reports the previous years said pretty clearly the rebuilding of and reinvestment into TFs was gonna be a major venture for these years, and that the movie was gonna be a central part of it, with other lines all taking a backseat. The annual report for '06 also mentions the licensed toylines for the Marvel movies (Spidey 3, F4 2, and Ghost Rider) taking some similar attention.

 

We'll see. Though however much Hasbro is planning to devote to "Animated", it's still a series and in a similar realm as other series. Even if very successful, the marketing effort won't begin to approach that of the movie. Think if Classics is as successful as you described, I'm fairly optimistic that the chances for its return aren't all bad.

 

And Con exclusives are always freaking expensive, we do this every year. Quit being pissed because [normal, average-incomed] fans are being denied a complete set of seekers again. It just won't happen as long as it's Hasbro producing. A collector-oriented toy producer would have a better chance.

Think it's all that confusion again between a "value" toy and a "collectible" (which happens to be a toy), particularly in this case because they just happen to be the same figure. But the supply & demand for each are very much not the same.

I don't think I came off with an attitude at all earlier.

Yes, you did. Mightily. You tried to dismiss criticism by flaunting sales figures. You could've been more arrogant, but it would have taken some doing.

 

I can't confirm that yet

Why not? You've already sold X amount on hype and innuendo... why not tell your customers what they'll be receiving?

 

...the toys be very representative of their G1 counterparts. So, take that as you will :)

The one product that has been revealed isn't "very representative," only "color representative." And I take your statement as just more innuendo showing up where there could be real information. The set is already for sale, why the cloak and dagger routine?

 

But I guess it doesn't really matter... the set will sell out regardless. And THAT'S what matters, right?

Everyone seems to forget the economics here. The exclusives are offered by FB at BotCon. Let's say they have 5k sets made. Well, since this is for FB and not Hasbro, they have to markup the cost in order to meet that cost, plus add markup so they can get profit on each set sold. Remember, Hasbro can offer them cheaper on store shelves because they're going to sell a hell of a lot more than 5k. One of the reasons 3H failed was because they were offering everything at the lowest they could and we all know how that turned out. FB needs to make money to keep the convention alive and this is a way for them to do that. Collector's love stuff to collect and are willing to shell out thousands of dollars on one figure on eBay (well, the most dedicated anyway). Point is, FB doesn't have the mass market ability that Hasbro has and therefore they have no choice but to markup the price like they do. It sucks but we have to deal with it.

And as long as there are 5000 Transfans out there with $300 to spend (or as much room on their credit cards, lol debt), it's gonna keep happening. Sometimes capitalism sucks, but what can you do.

So more of them could clog the shelves? Who ever it was that suggested repainting mirage...are there not a dozen of him already hanging out at your walmart? Or to releaseing a ramjet repaint...he's clogging shelves too.

 

I suggested Mirage repainted as Drag Strip for the Botcon set - not retail. That way we could have gotten Thundercracker at retail.

didn't someone else say he should've been in retail? This thread's so full of repitition, I may have been wrong.