JoeDios.com Forums - View Single Post - Bash The 25th and Hasbro Thread!!

I share everyone's pain here about the new figures (obviously -- see my previous post) but I think it's also important to understand Hasbro's POV...

1 - Fans vs Kids
Adult fans & collectors tend to think of themselves as the true driving force behind the popularity of their chosen toy line. But this is not the case. The number of monied adult fans is FAR exceeded by the number of monied parents with eager kids. These things we love are TOYS, after all, and the main market for toys is children. Ultimately, Hasbro is making toys for kids; they try to take adult fans' wishes into account as well, so as to make the most money possible, but at the end of the day the kid-aimed factors outweigh the fan-aimed factors. Basically, they're trying to have their cake and eat it too; the result is a product which doesn't really satisfy anyone fully.

2 - Focus Groups, etc
Hasbro (like any other corporation) spends tons of time and money trying to determine what their customers want, and then by committe they decide how best to make such things while at the same time spending as little money as possible. Apparently, the current trend for a lot of toy buyers -- kids included -- is display. Focus groups, market research, and the like indicate that nowadays, even kids are getting more interested in collecting and displaying rather than backyard-playing. Therefore, the look of an action figure is starting to become more important than the playability. I think this is the reason for the wierd crotches and hands and such. However, if you ask me, the figures don't really look all that nice. :-/

3 - Long-Term Plans
Much like the Transformers Classics line, I get the impression that the 25A line is a "filler" -- a placeholder until the movie-related toys come out. Once the movie hits theaters, Hasbro will probably not make any more 25A figures and instead will launch a blitz of movie-related toys with varying sizes and prices and styles. Look at the recent TF movie and its related merchandise if you want a forecast.

Anyway, the bottom line is that I am still not happy with the 25A line (except for a few figs, like Firefly, BeachHead and Zartan) either... But I know that Hasbro really just pays lip service to adult fans, and is much more concerned with kids. Me, I remain happiest with the 2nd-gen Spytroops and VvV toys.

Grebo!

01-14-2008, 07:40 AM	#63
greboguru Psychedelic Brainchild Offline --> Posts: 505 --> Join Date: Dec 2006	I share everyone's pain here about the new figures (obviously -- see my previous post) but I think it's also important to understand Hasbro's POV... 1 - Fans vs Kids Adult fans & collectors tend to think of themselves as the true driving force behind the popularity of their chosen toy line. But this is not the case. The number of monied adult fans is FAR exceeded by the number of monied parents with eager kids. These things we love are TOYS, after all, and the main market for toys is children. Ultimately, Hasbro is making toys for kids; they try to take adult fans' wishes into account as well, so as to make the most money possible, but at the end of the day the kid-aimed factors outweigh the fan-aimed factors. Basically, they're trying to have their cake and eat it too; the result is a product which doesn't really satisfy anyone fully. 2 - Focus Groups, etc Hasbro (like any other corporation) spends tons of time and money trying to determine what their customers want, and then by committe they decide how best to make such things while at the same time spending as little money as possible. Apparently, the current trend for a lot of toy buyers -- kids included -- is display. Focus groups, market research, and the like indicate that nowadays, even kids are getting more interested in collecting and displaying rather than backyard-playing. Therefore, the look of an action figure is starting to become more important than the playability. I think this is the reason for the wierd crotches and hands and such. However, if you ask me, the figures don't really look all that nice. :-/ 3 - Long-Term Plans Much like the Transformers Classics line, I get the impression that the 25A line is a "filler" -- a placeholder until the movie-related toys come out. Once the movie hits theaters, Hasbro will probably not make any more 25A figures and instead will launch a blitz of movie-related toys with varying sizes and prices and styles. Look at the recent TF movie and its related merchandise if you want a forecast. Anyway, the bottom line is that I am still not happy with the 25A line (except for a few figs, like Firefly, BeachHead and Zartan) either... But I know that Hasbro really just pays lip service to adult fans, and is much more concerned with kids. Me, I remain happiest with the 2nd-gen Spytroops and VvV toys. Grebo!