Marvel Legends discussion

[nighthawk]

I generally only pre-order must haves. Other stuff, I get lucky or I find on sale later.

I notice lot of stuff comes out in limited numbers at first, but is shelf warming a month or two later.

[canprime]

"Supposedly"


And I say that with a huge hunk of salt, but according to what was said on the 3POA podcast, with Nerdzoic as a guest, Hasbro is cutting production on most of their lines by 35%. Now normally I wouldn't say much about this, more than it's a rumour, but Nerdzoic has a good track record of the behind the scenes information. Mostly due to his running a toy store.


So it seems like Hasbro is course correcting from the pandemic era and we may start to see newer waves in small amounts and less likely on sale/clearance.


As for budgeting, unless you are fortunate enough to not have to worry about money, then yeah you should be budgeting. And as others have said, it sucks when a whole whack of stuff shows up at once when you expect time between product. Who do you blame? I don't know, but I also agree that complaining isn't likely to do much either way.

[Ksteel]

It's fine. Honestly, it's the ideal time to scale back or give up on this, and the Price Hike helps with that decision.

There are no forthcoming Hasbro offerings I'm really jazzed for.

Marvel - Already have all the main players of the Infinity Saga. Phase 4/5 isn't worth my money (aside from NWH). I have the 90s X-men, FF, Galactus, Doom, Avengers, Stan Lee, I'm good.

Star Wars - Got all the main characters from Mandolorian, and WM Jedi Luke, Vader and George Lucas.

Power Rangers - Have MMPR, Space teams completed and their villains. Zap Megazord, and about 50 other legacy characters.

Transformers - Optimus, Megatron, Bumblebee, and Rodimus, Never watched Transformers.
GI Joe - Before my time, but I got Cobra Commander for laughs.


What else is there? Indiana Jones perhaps?


NGL, I'm lowkey happy that the Marvel and Star Wars franchises have gotten so mediocre.... it makes the merch far less appealing. Especially during these price hikes.

If I'm spending $40 CAD on a figure, I need to really love the character. Or the character should have some major significance/popularity.

[Hoffman]

I don't think it's anybody's "fault" that everything is hitting at once.

We're in a post-pandemic window where most toy companies are finally getting caught up with production from the last 3 years.

It's not just Hasbro. Super 7 and Mezco are releasing loads of long-delayed products, more in a 3-4 month window than at any point in the last few years. NECA also just dropped a whole glut of product for their Haulathon.

It's unfortunate when stuff hits at once and you can't afford it all. A company's goal though is to release as much product as they can. It may not work out for you, but it's still going to translate to more sales for them, which is their ultimate goal.

[Enforcer]

Originally Posted by philtastic

To all the smug commenters above:

First, it's not up to you to say how much is or isn't a lot for someone else. Whether it's $100 or $1000, your ideas of what someone else's budget should be are irrelevant. We all make our own financial decisions, based on our individual means, and they're nobody else's business.

Second, if you're told that an item will arrive around a certain time, and have various orders spaced out, having things all arrive at once is, at the very least, an annoying inconvenience. And, as we've seen with some, can escalate into a major headache of having a credit card cancelled. If your landlord said he wants three months rent all at once, that would mess with your budget.

Third, no one wants to hear how much better you are at collecting, or budgeting than they are. So kindly keep your smug comments to yourselves. Nobody likes smug. It's annoying.

Ah, yeah - no one is being smug. Also, no one is commenting on how much should or should not be a lot of money for a person. People are correctly saying that there is no blame on GameStop or Hasbro for when their product, a toy that you collect for fun, is actually released in accordance with your budget. If an additional few hundred dollars throws your life into such turmoil that you need to complain about it on a forum (not our business, but it's being shared openly as a point of complaint) and rail on a company for selling you something you don't need for survival, it's time to rethink your priorities.

Also, the most telling aspect of your argument, is that you compared the early release of a pre-ordered action figure - which is a non-essential commodity that has zero impact on your survival (but seemingly too much impact on your overall happiness) - to the price of shelter essential to life. So... the grasp on priorities and reality seems tenuous at best here. I think a more apt comparison would be if you were buying say... crack, and your drug dealer had a bunch unexpectedly to sell you. You definitely want it, you don't need it - and if you can't afford it at the time, it's not your drug dealer's fault.

Pre-Order dates shifting around can be annoying, sure. But the frank and honest truth of it is that if you can't afford things you've pre-ordered should they move up in release date - rethink your collecting habits. Stop blaming Hasbro or GameStop for your inability to keep up with the action figures you've deemed so important. If you feel the need to take this frustration out on someone else, do the world a favor and just don't. There are so many people in the world with actual struggles. This is not one of those. I know that's harsh, but it's a reality many of us face when it comes to prioritizing things to get pissed off about.

Originally Posted by Hangfest

While I agree that people absolutely should not be ordering beyond their financial means, nor do I agree with anyone directing their anger towards GameStop (they're just the middle-man here), there is something to be said for Hasbro setting pre-order dates spanning April through August for their various lines, then dumping ALL of that product out in one go at the start of March.

Many people rely on the pre-order dates as rough estimates for budgeting their hobby spending, and if you are into multiple lines, having $600+ worth of stuff drop in one week is tough, or impossible, and while some of the responses here are saying "It's easy to find these things weeks and months after that fact, at a discount!", that's only the case for some items. Some things vanish immediately, never to be seen again.

Also, it's no secret that Hasbro hasn't been hitting their financial goals and both this massive drop, and the one that happened back at the start of December (a similar all lines drop, for items that were slated for January through April pre-order dates), align pretty well with quarter end financial periods. So I understand people being frustrated that they are essentially being milked to pad quarter end reporting for a company that has been cutting more and more corners and becoming less and less friendly to the collecting community through things like blind boxes, unreliable exclusive availability, massive price hikes, and weakening QC.

I'm fortunate enough to have the overhead not to worry about the impact this hobby has on my bank account, but that doesn't mean I like getting the call that all my Star Wars, ML, Joe, and Transformers pre-orders from the next five months all arrived at my local GameStop in one massive shipment. It's still an unexpected/unwelcome expense, even if I can afford it.

There is for sure personal accountability to be had here in not over extending yourself, and a lesson to be learned about Hasbro's operations in relation to conducting their pre-orders (ie. their dates are meaningless), but it's also hard for people to budget for the things that bring a little joy to their lives when they are given completely fictitious dates to plan for their expenditures. That's bad business practice.

I collect a fair bit of Lego as well, and they have pre-orders/release dates that line up exactly with what they say (ALMOST always anyway), their products typically stay in circulation with easy availability for 12-18 months (occasionally longer), so there's rarely ever any surprise expenses or "hunt" for something you may never see again. I realize Lego is ultimately the larger company but they both generate revenue in the billions and Hasbro should have a better handle on their production and logistics so customers know what to expect.

Your shifting the onus 100% to the customer is as just as extreme in the opposite way as people giving GameStop a piece of their mind.

Anyway, this is a huge response and obviously off-topic for the ML thread, so apologies for continuing the derailment from the main subject.

If you want to think that Hasbro is intentionally making life harder for their customers to boost quarterly earnings - fine. Everyone needs a villain. In reality, product is being shipped and made available as it physically arrives. Hasbro is not responsible for how much or how little you can afford depending on this fact. Sometimes you just need to say "sorry, I can't afford all of this product at this time" and attempt to pick it up later. Could they do a better job at spacing things out to align with your budget? Maybe, but it isn't their fault when something physically arrives from China before intended.

People can keep trying to place blame with Hasbro or GameStop for these hardships. It doesn't make it accurate. Be frustrated. Be annoyed. Fill your boots (but remember these are toys). DO NOT look to Hasbro or GameStop to help keep your life and priorities in order. Grow up.

[Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Enforcer

It is hilarious to me that some of you are looking to blame Hasbro or Game Stop for getting product in stock and selling it to you. There is no grand conspiracy against you. Product is made and shipped, and as soon as it is available it is sold to you rather than taking up space in a warehouse. They aren't going to pay to store this stuff just because you can't afford everything you've pre-ordered.

The willingness to look for blame here is frankly childish. If you can't afford all of your pre-orders being fulfilled unexpectedly sooner, you may just want to rethink your collecting habits. And give Game Stop a piece of your mind over product you ordered coming in stock? As soon as you leave after your tantrum, they will laugh at you. I would. That is the most Karen shit I've ever heard.

This is no one's fault but your own for pre-ordering more than your credit cards or bank accounts could hypothetically take on. It is bewildering to me how some of you are trying to lay this at the feet of Hasbro or Game Stop.

Or this, the brutally honest version of what I'm getting at.

[Hoffman]

Another note - Hasbro also has very little control over when product arrives. They schedule it at the factory, it gets made...but then they are at the whim of transport, which is still not operating smoothly. Ports are still backed up, overland transport is still in high demand. If all of their containers suddenly make it through to the warehouse (or directly to the retailers who manage their own imports), they're not going to decline them or ask stores to sit on inventory that they need to sell.

[Enforcer]

Originally Posted by Hoffman

Or this, the brutally honest version of what I'm getting at.

Yeah... gentle honesty has never been my strong suit.

[Lord Scareglow]

Hyperion & Doctor Spectrum pre-order now available (gamestop)

https://www.gamestop.ca/Toys-Collect...octor-spectrum

[Enforcer]

Awesome, thanks for that. Wasn't coming up in searches.

Walmart Exclusive Pre-Orders go up tomorrow including a figure we have yet to see.

Rumor is High Evolutionary.