Comments on: Hasbro Profits Soar, led by performance of Boys Toys brands

By: Derrick Lyle Coleman

Derrick Lyle Coleman — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:15:12 +0000

Some things work, others don’t. The Combat Heroes line was never essential in the first place. Even if I were a kid, I wouldn’t bother with those figures. You and others on this site have this grand idea that the line was a failure. All along, I’ve maintained that it wasn’t. Combat Heroes are tertiary, nonessentials. To bring them up is a joke.
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra – from jumpstreet – was derided by a segment of the fanbase. All I’ve ever stated was that the line did well. In spite of the economic downturn, Hasbro still succeeded in selling toys – G.I. Joes in particular. That’s the bottom line. And as for the line being on hiatus…every toy line gets to a yearly point where product stops until the next cycle. Who are you trying to fool, dude?
You make it seem like Hasbro took this huge dive in red ink. In reality, a good percentage of the toys were recycled figures and sets from prior releases…going back to the 1980s. Did it really cost Hasbro to release Deep Six, the Armored Panther with Sgt. Thunderblast, the Para-Viper, or even Pit Commando? The parts were already accounted for and ready to use. Duke, Ripcord, and Breaker all shared the same bodies at some point. The TRU, Target, and Walmart exclusives all used previously released figures, vehicles, or playsets. Did the “Big H” choke on the cost of brand new molds? Don’t think so.
Finally, given that the toys are made in China, Hasbro learned to live with selling price points. It could afford to lower prices. Keep swinging for the fences Alpine.

By: Alpine

Alpine — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 05:13:04 +0000

Don’t want to face reality?
Reality #1: Price dropped to $5 rollback when the line was only 3 months old. It’s been that way for 4 months.
Reality #2: Combat Heroes and other related product intended for kids cancelled due to poor sales.
Reality #3: Line is on hiatus until Fall of this year due to poor sales.
Reality #4: Despite the corporate spin in the Q&A’s you have Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner coming forth and admitting there were mistakes in the way Hasbro handled the line and things are getting changed.
Who’s ignoring reality Coleman? Who is ignoring facts?
But you know what? Don’t bother. I’m wasting my time talking to you because you couldn’t answer the questions, but simply dodged them.

By: Derrick Lyle Coleman

Derrick Lyle Coleman — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:40:50 +0000

Well Alpine, if you don’t want to face reality, that’s on you. If the film was so bad, they would not be developing a sequel. It’s one thing to dislike; but to ignore facts is lunacy. Good night, and good luck.

By: Alpine

Alpine — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 03:27:24 +0000

And no Coleman, kid’s did not “like it.”
It wouldn’t be collectors buying the combat heroes, the spinners or the oodles and oodles of shipment from wave 1 figures consisting of those that had a part in the movie.
The fact that those have been cancelled and that the movie heroes and villains in wave 1 from the movie are some of the biggest pegwarmers, is the biggest testimony of how this movie failed to connect with a new generation of kids.

By: Alpine

Alpine — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 03:22:08 +0000

How much of a success is it really Coleman? Seriously. Of course we can expect Hasbro to give us all the coporate spin in the Q&A’s. Do we really expect them to say, “oops, we goofed. We really messed up that!”
That wouldn’t exactly inspire confidence in consumers and help the brand with sales now would it?
So corporate spin aside, you tell me how it was a success when the line went on rollback for $5 dollars 4 months ago and only 3 months into the life of the line? How much of a success was it that they cancelled waves and other products related to the movie? How much of a success is it when the line is put on hiatus for 6 months? And how much of a success is it when it takes Hasbro’s CEO Goldner to come forward and admit there were mistakes?
Seems to me Coleman that if it was all a big smashing success as you’d like us all to believe, the prices never would have dropped to rollback prices, waves wouldn’t be cancelled, the line wouldn’t be on hiatus and POC would be here RIGHT NOW as planned by Hasbro.
And Brian Goldner certainly wouldn’t be saying what he is saying now.
I don’t hear him saying that about Star Wars, Transformers and MU.
No, the Hasbro HASN’T learned from it’s mishaps. Sounds like it JUST NOW is learning a valuable lesson.
And I’m sorry I’ve given you the impression that this should all be compared to the lines available from 1997-2005. I personally don’t care for that time period and it’s product I never bought it. That time period also represents failed lines and endeavours of G I Joe.
Rise of Cobra, even with a multi-million dollar movie and a multi-million dollar ad campaign behind it still fizzled out from box office, to game stores to toy aisles.
Not conjecture–FACT.