Marvel Legends discussion

[ssjgoku22]

Originally Posted by Zeroflamez

This set is gonna be like the Happy Hogan 2-pack. Sits on shelves forever til clearances lol. The 2-pack looks good but it will only really be for completonists. Especially since it will probably cost $80 or more

With these new price hikes, we might end up paying at $100 for these multipacks. Absolutely disgusting.

[philtastic]

Originally Posted by ssjgoku22

With these new price hikes, we might end up paying at $100 for these multipacks. Absolutely disgusting.

They might be asking $100, but I don't think anyone's gonna be buying at $100.

[MorphGrid]

The thing that makes the least sense about this, is Hasbro thinking that they can somehow make up 100mil in lost revenue from withholding shipments in Russia, by charging consumers more after already increasing the price like 4x in the last two years.

The end result is going to be more frustration and more shelf-warmed products that's not getting liquid.

In my stores, I'm already seeing way more products sitting on shelves across multiple Hasbro lines compared to August-Dec 2021

[Napseeker]

Literally the only thing that interested me today was Lizard and because he's a friggin Walmart exclusive I won't even get the chance to give Hasbro my money.

Anything else, in the old days before the price hikes, would've been an impulse purchase, but at these price points, I'll wait to find them at clearance somewhere.

Hasbro isn't going to enjoy those hefty profits from their Marvel or SW division in the coming quarters. Higher prices, no window to preview the figure for QC and paint problems, and diminishing enthusiasm over the constant need to pre-order 6 months to a year in advance (and even then no assurance that your preorder won't get cancelled like mine did with Symbiote Spidey).

It's a recipe for Hasbro's steep fall from grace.

[philtastic]

Originally Posted by Napseeker

Literally the only thing that interested me today was Lizard and because he's a friggin Walmart exclusive I won't even get the chance to give Hasbro my money.

Keep in mind, you wouldn't be giving your money to Hasbro, you'd be giving it to Walmart.

The collectors, kids, whoever? are not Hasbro's customers. The retailers are. Retailers put in their orders, and sell their lot. If they sell them all, that's all they care about.

Did scalpers buy them all? They don't care, as long as they're sold. Walmart will even let scalpers resell the same figures on their own website, and happily take another cut of that resale, too.

That's why we see all these exclusives. The big US retailers (Walmart, Amazon, Target) account for 60% of Hasbro's global sales (if memory serves). So if Walmart wants an exclusive, or ten exclusives, then they get them.

At least we're seeing exclusivity windows expiring when Walmart and Amazon can't get their shit together.

But the point is, Hasbro doesn't deal directly with consumers. Even Hasbro Pulse is technically a separate company. So the only way we'll see any pushback is if retailers start to care, and tell Hasbro. That is if sales go down. But really, they'll just cut their orders, like so many already seem to be doing.

And ultimately, as long as shareholders are happy, and the stock price goes up, that's really all Hasbro cares about. As is obvious from today's unpteenth price hike announcement.

[MorphGrid]

Originally Posted by philtastic

The collectors, kids, whoever? are not Hasbro's customers. The retailers are. Retailers put in their orders, and sell their lot. If they sell them all, that's all they care about.

This is kind of pedantic, because the retailers only make orders because they know the product will move. The last thing they want is to make an order for a product that will end up shelf-warming, and thus, impact shelf space for other orders from different companies.

In other words, retailers are making orders and relying on the fact that collectors/kids/etc. will buy these products. And if the retailers are noticing that these products are not moving, then eventually that makes it way to Hasbro's metrics.

[philtastic]

Originally Posted by MorphGrid

This is kind of pedantic, because the retailers only make orders because they know the product will move. The last thing they want is to make an order for a product that will end up shelf-warming, and thus, impact shelf space for other orders from different companies.

In other words, retailers are making orders and relying on the fact that collectors/kids/etc. will buy these products. And if the retailers are noticing that these products are not moving, then eventually that makes it way to Hasbro's metrics.

You are right, but it's a slow process. Orders go in months, even a year before products are released. So the turnaround time on figuring out which items will sell, and which won't is not short. And for every Eternals, there's a Spider-Man or Thor, so it becomes about averages.

Plus, one of the reasons Hasbro gives retailers exclusives is to get them to carry the full waves. And generally speaking, it's the exclusives that sell out, and at a higher price point, which pads their bottom line.

So if Walmart or Amazon sell out their exclusive preorders, which is usually the case, they don't mind having some that don't move as fast. Or even at all. They'll sell them off at cost to Winners, anyway.

And don't forget, exclusives increases foot traffic. I'll admit I buy a few more things at Walmart now, just because I'm already there hunting toys, and it's just more convenient. So maybe I'm not walking out with a new figure, but I'm probably walking out with a 12-pack of Cokes. Walmart isn't just a toy retailer, and they need to have a wide selection of all items tk stay competitive overall.

But as long as Hasbro has the licenses for Marvel and Star Wars, they can be complacent about quality control, and pissing off consumers with blind boxes, and annoying exclusives.

Maybe if they really underperform, Disney will pull the license, but that day is a long way away, and right now Hasbro doesn't seem to care.

[Mudflap]

Originally Posted by 4lott

Not happy about the windowless packages. If the paint apps were consistently good it wouldn?t be a problem but with Hasbro it?s always hit or miss.

My sentiment exact. I've encountered far too many visible QC issues for me to be happy about this news. I'm all for using less plastic but this is not customer/collector friendly at all. Then add in how much easier this makes it for fraudsters to swap figures. These really will be mystery boxes and we get to pay more than ever to gamble that the figure inside is ok.

[philtastic]

Is the Thor: Love and Thunder wave going up for pre-order today at 1pm?

[canprime]

Originally Posted by Mudflap

My sentiment exact. I've encountered far too many visible QC issues for me to be happy about this news. I'm all for using less plastic but this is not customer/collector friendly at all. Then add in how much easier this makes it for fraudsters to swap figures. These really will be mystery boxes and we get to pay more than ever to gamble that the figure inside is ok.

I don't understand why they didn't go the same route as Transformers Legacy, or Fortnite. Give us a small plastic free window to see the top part of the figure. If they are worried about stealing accessories put them in the bottom in a sealed cardboard that can't be accessed unless the package is opened. Then we can at least get a bit of a look at the figure.


I guess the only downside to that, especially for ML would be the possibility of people stealing the heads.