Speaking on inexpensive things that Hasbro should do but don't - Tech Spec Cards. It's standard for Takara, but I have no idea why Hasbro doesn't do it. We had those stickers with Armada and spec cards with Energon that had no bios... (-_-)

Because if they do it in Japan it must be a great idea....

 

I don't care either way, if Hasbro did start producing Tech Spec Cards I'd probably toss them with the rest of the packaging.

 

Anyway, my original point was that just because they do something/something works in Japan, that's no reason to bring the concept to the English-speaking world. You yourself pointed out that the cards were tried in Energon (and from the Japanese figures I have, I can't see anything that the Japanese cards had that the English cards lacked).

People didn't care enough about them in Hasbro's markets so they stopped producing them.

 

What TT does =/= :win

What Hasbro does =/= :fail

 

Both companies do well enough jobs :win and :fail on their own.

 

Back on topic....

 

I would love a direct to DVD Classics/Universe/Classics 2.0 movie.

I don't care either way, if Hasbro did start producing Tech Spec Cards I'd probably toss them with the rest of the packaging.

 

Is that what you do with your Takara tech spec cards? I keep mine in collectible card sleeves in a folder.

 

Anyway, my original point was that just because they do something/something works in Japan, that's no reason to bring the concept to the English-speaking world.

That's not what I was saying. It's the fact that I think it's an inherently good idea, I don't care if it was devised by the Japanese, Burmese or Bosnia-Herzegovinians! Having bio & tech specs on a collectible trading card format is, IMO, a really neat idea!

 

You yourself pointed out that the cards were tried in Energon (and from the Japanese figures I have, I can't see anything that the Japanese cards had that the English cards lacked).

 

The Japanese cards had BIOS - you know, telling you all about the character. The Energon cards just had the stats for Strength, Intelligence etc., nothing about their function, personality etc.

 

People didn't care enough about them in Hasbro's markets so they stopped producing them.

How do you know this? Did Hasbro really get customer feedback saying that they didn't care for tech spec cards or is it because they've just never bothered to do it properly?

 

No, it's not an utterly essential thing to do, and I'm not condemning Hasbro for not doing it, but I was mentioning it in terms of being something that is ridiculously inexpensive with very little effort that they could do that would just be a really nice thing for fans - which is basically what the spirit of this thread is.

Some of the cards had bios on them. I have a Leader class Optimus Prime card that has a bio on it.

Which Leader Prime are you talking about? The first Leader Class Optimus Prime was Cybertron Leader Class Optimus Prime, and his bio/tech specs is printed on the back of the box, not on a separate collectible card. Classics Optimus Prime was a Voyager Class (and even there, the bio/tech specs was still printed on the box - no separate card) - so the next Leader Class Optimus Prime after Cybertron was Movie Leader Class Optimus Prime, and his bio/tech specs was also printed on the back of the box.

Which Leader Prime are you talking about? The first Leader Class Optimus Prime was Cybertron Leader Class Optimus Prime, and his bio/tech specs is printed on the back of the box, not on a separate collectible card. Classics Optimus Prime was a Voyager Class (and even there, the bio/tech specs was still printed on the box - no separate card) - so the next Leader Class Optimus Prime after Cybertron was Movie Leader Class Optimus Prime, and his bio/tech specs was also printed on the back of the box.

IST might mean the Super class Energon Prime.

The larger figures of the Energon line did get bios on their cards, IIRC.

 

Also, I have TT figures from Henkei! and SuperLink, and I don't remember ever seeing bios on the cards (I can distinctly remember Henkei! Megs, 'Screamer, and Convoy having bio-less cards).

I don't care either way, if Hasbro did start producing Tech Spec Cards I'd probably toss them with the rest of the packaging.

 

Is that what you do with your Takara tech spec cards? I keep mine in collectible card sleeves in a folder.

I'm OCD, so I would only keep the cards if I could for every figure I have, which isn't possible since a good portion of Hasbro's lines don't have cards.

 

You yourself pointed out that the cards were tried in Energon (and from the Japanese figures I have, I can't see anything that the Japanese cards had that the English cards lacked).

 

The Japanese cards had BIOS - you know, telling you all about the character. The Energon cards just had the stats for Strength, Intelligence etc., nothing about their function, personality etc.

Like I said above, I don't remember seeing bios on the TT SuperLink cards, and I'm 99% positive they weren't on any of the Henkei! cards.

Also, the Robot Master cards had to be cut out and didn't even have tech specs. Just the character's picture.

 

People didn't care enough about them in Hasbro's markets so they stopped producing them.

How do you know this? Did Hasbro really get customer feedback saying that they didn't care for tech spec cards or is it because they've just never bothered to do it properly?

Hasbro's a multi-billion dollar company. They have focus groups, survey teams, etc.... out there to figure stuff like this out. The info probably came back that their consumers didn't care for the cards. So if people aren't collecting them, why produce them? Why not eliminate the cost, however small it may be?

 

Anyway, my original point was that just because they do something/something works in Japan, that's no reason to bring the concept to the English-speaking world.

That's not what I was saying. It's the fact that I think it's an inherently good idea, I don't care if it was devised by the Japanese, Burmese or Bosnia-Herzegovinians! Having bio & tech specs on a collectible trading card format is, IMO, a really neat idea!

 

No, it's not an utterly essential thing to do, and I'm not condemning Hasbro for not doing it, but I was mentioning it in terms of being something that is ridiculously inexpensive with very little effort that they could do that would just be a really nice thing for fans - which is basically what the spirit of this thread is.

I can understand that. I'm just a tad annoyed at all the blind TT worship and Hasbro condemning that goes on in the fandom. Yes, TT does some great stuff. So does Hasbro though. And both companies fall on their asses from time to time.

I like Tech Spec card really. As long as they fit into pages. Even the stickers from the Deluxe Energon toys were cool.

IST might mean the Super class Energon Prime.

The larger figures of the Energon line did get bios on their cards, IIRC.

None of the Energon figures had bios on their cards, just the tech spec stats. And I had the Super class Energon Prime (sold it after I got Super Mode Grand Convoy) and his card didn't have a bio.

 

Also, I have TT figures from Henkei! and SuperLink, and I don't remember ever seeing bios on the cards (I can distinctly remember Henkei! Megs, 'Screamer, and Convoy having bio-less cards).

The only Henkei I have atm is Astrotrain and he came with a bio & tech specs card (and comic book).

 

Also, the Robot Master cards had to be cut out and didn't even have tech specs. Just the character's picture.

You're right, the Robot Masters didn't have collectible cards - they were clip and save, except for e-Hobby Skywarp and Thundercracker. Neither does TakaraTOMY's movie figures, which are basically in the same kind of packaging as Hasbro, just with Japanese stickers. I imagine Japanese TRU MP Starscream would be the same. But these are exceptions to the rule, so to speak - generally speaking TakaraTOMY tends to include collectible tech spec cards with their Transformers.

IST might mean the Super class Energon Prime.

The larger figures of the Energon line did get bios on their cards, IIRC.

None of the Energon figures had bios on their cards, just the tech spec stats. And I had the Super class Energon Prime (sold it after I got Super Mode Grand Convoy) and his card didn't have a bio.

 

I meant Super class, and yes, he did have a revision with a bio on the tech spec card. I have one. If you don't believe me, I'll scan it.

I'd like to see that (not that I don't believe you, but you've piqued my curiosity ;)). And it should be something that Hasbro should do more often. With TakaraTOMY it's typically standard practice to include bio and tech spec collectible cards whereas with Hasbro it seems to be more common practice not to.