Hasbro Question and Answer, round 5.

[Dominic]

Revised: 7/1/09



Here they are. Remember, we can only have 3, so choose wisely.

I know the deadline is the 13th, but lets call it the 10th, to make sure we are in good shape. (We cut it a bit close with rounds 3 and 4.)


I like how these are shaping up to be largely "magazine" interview questions. Hopefully, Hasbro will as well.

While many of us understand the need for Hasbro to tighten up on its intellectual property, there are some worries about the ramifications it may have. For example, what about sellers that have sold items with semi-official sanction, such as the Lukis Brothers? Will they be grand-fathered in based on past precedent (the Vector Sigma accessories)? Will Hasbro attempt to fill the market void left by now banned fan-items? The existence of this (unlicensed) market proves a demand. Might Hasbro find an official license holder to make these sorts of items?

There are some undocumented features that are clearly present in certain toys, yet aren't noted in the instructions at all. In some cases, these are obvious, in other cases less so. Sometimes these are unfinished and understandably left out (Ala Universe Galvatron's third mode), yet some are simply inexplicably left out of the documentation, such as the gun for TFU Sideswipe/Sunstreaker connecting to the robot's shoulder. What do the designers think of elements designed into toys, but undocumented? Is there any possible outlet for 'correct' transformations and undocumented design elements? Are these intentional little "extras" that the designers like to add? Does Hasbro keep track of this sort of thing?

Can you possibly discuss any toys that have turned out better or worse than expected these past few years (say 07 to now), in terms of sales or just being able to look at a finished product and think "________"? What toys from past lines would you revise? What toys are the design team especially proud of? (Yes, we are asking for your favorites.)

Given that a frequent theme in fan Q and A letters is "when will you make, or re-release, _____?", is it likely that there could be some kind of referendum process set up, (similar to local political referendums), to allow fans to petition/suggest certain toys be produced or re-issued?

Remember, this list is not final. We can add questions up until dead-line. And, anything we do not use can get carried over to Round 6.

Dom

[Onslaught Six]

What are some of Hasbro's, for lack of a better word, failures? In other words, when did a toy Hasbro expected to succeed sell poorly and/or become disliked? I dunno how to better word this, but yeah. Cruddy toys that didn't turn out the way they wanted to, or that we didn't like when we did.

[Dominic]

Sounds kind of like a question for an interview. But, I like the direction, even if we might get a non-answer.


Hmmmm.....

How about:

Are there any toys from previous lines that did not work out as planned, for good or ill? Many fans suspect that Cheetor's popularity in "Beast Wars" was unexpected. What are toys that you, as a team, are especially proud of, or unhappy with?



Dom

[Onslaught Six]

Something like that, yeah. And I do think it's possible to get a non-answer--after all, it's difficult to think that Hasbro would openly admit "Yeah, that toy sucked ass, we're sorry," even if it's years after the fact. Still, if we come up with nothing better...

When are the questions due?

[onslaught86]

Definitely the Grindor/Sideways situation.

Why do Grindor and Sideways implicitly resemble Blackout and Barricade, with no explanation given? What does this mean for future Blackout and Barricade toys?

[Onslaught Six]

Take Barricade out. While Sideways only superficially looks like Barricade, Grindor is a much more difficult situation, since he's a direct repaint/remould. Anyway, I'd recommend only asking it if it doesn't look like anybody else is going to ask it.

[Dominic]

The deadline is the 30th of this month. (It took Hasbro a bit longer to get back to us, which is why the turn-around time seems so short on this round.) We might have a day or so more, but plan for Tuesday the 30th, midnight.


I get the feeling that Barricade was planned for the movie, but dropped. There is a toy coming out. And, he is mentioned prominently in both the prequel novel, and "Alliance".

Dom
-lets hold off on that until round 6, as it is likely to be answered elsewhere.

[SynjoDeonecros]

1. What is Hasbro's take on the unauthorized alt modes that fans find in some of the Transformers (for instance, the "killer chicken" mode for RotF Ravage, or the centaur/Quntesson face-switching modes for RiD Bruticus)? Do they incorporate them into future re-releases of the figures, or do they ignore them?

2. What does Hasbro do with the figure concepts that never come to be? For instance, take Armada Unicron; it bears some similarity to the Unicron figure they had planned to create for Beast Wars Neo. Did they incorporate any ideas from the latter into the former, and if so, what? What of the Transtech models, or the Beast Wars Ravage figure, or the unused Botcon figures? Are they still in the drawing board as possible release or reference ideas, or have they been thrown into the trash, never to be seen again?

[Onslaught Six]

1. What is Hasbro's take on the unauthorized alt modes that fans find in some of the Transformers (for instance, the "killer chicken" mode for RotF Ravage, or the centaur/Quntesson face-switching modes for RiD Bruticus)? Do they incorporate them into future re-releases of the figures, or do they ignore them?

Never heard of anything like this before, but these fan-modes only come along so often. I'd be interested in their thoughts on the matter, if we get rid of the part about re-releases--there's no precedent for it to begin with, yeah.

2. What does Hasbro do with the figure concepts that never come to be? For instance, take Armada Unicron; it bears some similarity to the Unicron figure they had planned to create for Beast Wars Neo. Did they incorporate any ideas from the latter into the former, and if so, what? What of the Transtech models, or the Beast Wars Ravage figure, or the unused Botcon figures? Are they still in the drawing board as possible release or reference ideas, or have they been thrown into the trash, never to be seen again?

...Have you looked at the two Unicrons lately? ArmadaCron looks nothing like NeoCron, who certainly turns into a planet but only because half the planet is sitting on his backside. I'd go as far to say that any similarities between the two is a byproduct of them both being toys of Unicron.

In addition, I'm fairly sure that we were told that elements of TransTech Cheetor snuck their way into Animated Blurr, among other things.

Beast Wars Ravage figure

[Dominic]

Dear Hasbro,

Could you please make a BW Ravage figure? There is clearly demand for it, and Onslaught is sick of hearing about how much people want one. Thank you.

Never heard of anything like this before, but these fan-modes only come along so often. I'd be interested in their thoughts on the matter, if we get rid of the part about re-releases--there's no precedent for it to begin with, yeah.

I think Synjo might be thinking of RiD Galvatron/Megatron here. I like the idea Synjo is going for, but the question itself is a bit....I dunno. Can we tweak this a bit?


Dom