Q&A 2009 - Round #4

[Mousedroid]

Dear Hasbro,
I've read recently that you made a comment in regards to the "Legacy Collection not selling well" That may be true, from a certain point of view, but I don't think you guys have the full picture. One of the major problems I have noticed (especially in recent times) is that retail continues to restock with older assortments. My local Target-Australia store has been without new Legacy (and Clone Wars figures) for some months now and yesterday they finally had something on the pegs - turned out to be Legacy Wave #1 and Clone Wars Wave #1 - again! This is happening at a number of stores.

On the same day Coles-Australia put out a fresh case of TAC Wave 4/5 remix (Holiday Boba, Jedi Luke, Stormtrooper etc) and now the people who already bought these figures, have to wait until these are all sold, which could take some time. The last few months have seen Big W-Australia restock, but with TLC Waves #3 and #4, preventing Wave #5 from getting through at many retailers.

How are we expected to support the line, if retailers aren't educated on what is new, what is old and what is last years collection? How can we truly support the line, if there is nothing new to collect?
Regards
Mike S

HASBRO RESPONSE:
Retailers, for the most part, are far removed from the components in the assortments that ship out of their distribution centers and into the stores. If older waves are showing up, it's because they haven't moved through from Hasbro the retailer in the original expected quantity, meaning that it's slower than we'd like. Before we get to the new waves, we often have to make sure we get through the prior, or else the inventory will get increasingly older and will have nowhere to go.

However, your comment about TAC shipping into the Legacy Collection space is a disturbing one, since those have distinct 5-digit Assortments and that should not be possible, unless the retailer has "linked" the assortments to avoid markdowns. If that is the case, it could explain why older assortments are showing up, likely out of their warehouses.

[Mousedroid]

Dear Hasbro,
Why do we need to have "exclusive" action figures, such as the ones sold on starwarsshop.com or hasbrotoyshop.com? Wouldn't it be easier to simply relegate these releases to the basic line? Then collectors wouldn't have to worry about the (exorbitant) shipping costs from sws.com or the fact that hasbrotoyshop.com does not ship outside the US.
Regards
Mike S

HASBRO RESPONSE:
HasbroToyShop has made a commitment to go to San Diego Comic Con every year, and we support the initiative with exclusives to offset costs and help contribute to their goals. If not for that, it's likely that we would not do exclusives through HasbroToyShop.

[Mousedroid]

Hasbro,
Is there any chance that the following figures will receive upgrades in the next two or three years - Grand Moff Tarkin, Gamorrean Guard, Yak Face, Artoo Pop Up Saber, EV-9D9, Anakin Skywalker (Shaw), Rebel Commando, Rebel Fleet Trooper, Ishi Tibb, Dash Rendar, Anakin Skywalker (Lloyd), See Threepio (TPM and AOTC), Jar Jar (TPM) or what about Chewie as Snoova from SOTE?
Regards
Mike S

HASBRO RESPONSE:
Yes, some of these *will* be updated in the next two years. We really want to do Snoova; he's come up a few times recently. We think it might be due to the renewed interest in bounty hunters thanks to The Clone Wars.
We would like to see him upgraded but right now don't have him in a specific slot.