2012 New York Toy Fair

[zedhatch]

I'm conflicted about this movie line to say the least. I don't want this brand to fail but I fear that if this movie line succeeds then Hasbro will view this as 100% approval of their POA choices. I guess they would be right. If the line tanks then would H take G.I. Joe back to a collector friendly line? Or would they shelve the line entirely? I just don't want to pay $9 or more for a figure with no wrist or ankle articulation.

If the consumer accepts less while paying more, what incentive is there for the manufacturers or the retailers to offer more down the road? The "less" becomes the new plateau and therefore, the dreaded "new normal". The precedents for that in retail are all over the place.
If the line fails.......its not Hasbro that has to do something to pick it up, its the retailers. If they lose confidence in the brand then they will not order it and the only thing left to do is a direct-to-consumer option. That is not work out for Hasbro last time, and I'd bet they'd be VERY reluctant to try it again, despite whatever loud demands the collector community might make.

The thing that really bugs me is when people tell you you need to buy everything even though you don't like it to support the brand.

The voices that say that.........no, let's be more polite, that suggest that are full of bull-hooey. Why should any consumer be beholden to a brand name, especially if the brand is not delivering what that consumer wants. Its not my JOB to buy their wares.......so its my right to pick and choose what I like and dislike. If the product stinks........We are NOT obligated to buy.
That is speaking with one's dollars and that is a cornerstone of commerce.
Insinuating that people need to behave otherwise is simply saying that WE all have to support a brand that THEY want to continue buying. Sorry, that don't fly with me.

I'm with you dude. I like the property but I'm not going to fill my limited space with crap just I need to support the line. For the folks who hope if they support the line and expect a return to arituclation I hope they are right. That just doesn't make sense though. How will Hasbro not see big sales of a limited articulation line as a smashing success? It's more profit for them.

I remember this was the mantra during the "New Sculpt" years very badly, I can remember fights about Cobra Mountain and people saying "How can you denounce this item if you haven't bought it?" (PS I did but not for the reasons most collectors at the time did, all beside the point though). The whole time it was (And this literally is a quote from that era) "Support what Hasbro gives us now or we are going to end up with Justin Timberlake Joes" (I still have no clue what that meant). But what did all that support get everyone, DTC, which had some ok stuff, but overall was a mess. Then Hasbro shifted gears to Sigma 6 and alienated the core audence (Many of which abandoned the line entirely) we ultimatly got 25th which did morph into something good though, but now we are taking steps backwards again. Supporting it just to support it will get no one anywhere but with a ton of junk.

There is stuff in this line I kind of like, and that's all I will get, none of this piss poor crap, I vote with my wallet.

[alvarobm]

I remember this was the mantra during the "New Sculpt" years very badly, I can remember fights about Cobra Mountain and people saying "How can you denounce this item if you haven't bought it?" (PS I did but not for the reasons most collectors at the time did, all beside the point though). The whole time it was (And this literally is a quote from that era) "Support what Hasbro gives us now or we are going to end up with Justin Timberlake Joes" (I still have no clue what that meant). But what did all that support get everyone, DTC, which had some ok stuff, but overall was a mess. Then Hasbro shifted gears to Sigma 6 and alienated the core audence (Many of which abandoned the line entirely) we ultimatly got 25th which did morph into something good though, but now we are taking steps backwards again. Supporting it just to support it will get no one anywhere but with a ton of junk.

There is stuff in this line I kind of like, and that's all I will get, none of this piss poor crap, I vote with my wallet.

Good call on remembering the "new sculpt" era, especially DTC figures. This is the proof that we old fans have supported the brand before, by buying several horrible and unfunctional figures, and tons of repaints (how many different Neo Vipers exists?), all of them with very poor and overused accesories. Aside for Barrage, Spirit and Mutt, the entire DTC line was full of frankenjoes with (sometimes) new heads.

I mention, as other proof of support, the eternal "hunt" for 25th figures on retailers. I remember in 2008 i was in the West Coast, and spent galons and galons of fuel, searching for every TRU, Target and Wal Mart, and found almost nothing. The poor distribution continues: I was in Vegas last november, and I only found desert Duke, and no other figure...

I agree: there's a danger of misunderstanding from Hasbro, if we accept to buy this less articulated figures.

[Dusty Ayers]

I remember this was the mantra during the "New Sculpt" years very badly, I can remember fights about Cobra Mountain and people saying "How can you denounce this item if you haven't bought it?" (PS I did but not for the reasons most collectors at the time did, all beside the point though). The whole time it was (And this literally is a quote from that era) "Support what Hasbro gives us now or we are going to end up with Justin Timberlake Joes" (I still have no clue what that meant). But what did all that support get everyone, DTC, which had some ok stuff, but overall was a mess. Then Hasbro shifted gears to Sigma 6 and alienated the core audence (Many of which abandoned the line entirely) we ultimatly got 25th which did morph into something good though, but now we are taking steps backwards again. Supporting it just to support it will get no one anywhere but with a ton of junk.

There is stuff in this line I kind of like, and that's all I will get, none of this piss poor crap, I vote with my wallet.

Good call on remembering the "new sculpt" era, especially DTC figures. This is the proof that we old fans have supported the brand before, by buying several horrible and unfunctional figures, and tons of repaints (how many different Neo Vipers exists?), all of them with very poor and overused accesories. Aside for Barrage, Spirit and Mutt, the entire DTC line was full of frankenjoes with (sometimes) new heads.

I mention, as other proof of support, the eternal "hunt" for 25th figures on retailers. I remember in 2008 i was in the West Coast, and spent galons and galons of fuel, searching for every TRU, Target and Wal Mart, and found almost nothing. The poor distribution continues: I was in Vegas last november, and I only found desert Duke, and no other figure...

I agree: there's a danger of misunderstanding from Hasbro, if we accept to buy this less articulated figures.

Well said dude. I remember the 25th line with both fondness and anger. I too was on the west coast when the 25th anniversay line was in full swing. One some days I would hit 6 stores and burn nearly a tank of gas to find zero figs. Then I would read stories of where TRU employees would take the cases off the trucks and then put them on ebay. Man that crap would really burn me.

[zedhatch]

25th's distro almost caused me to leave joes completely, it wasn't until wave 5 I saw anything and even then it was iffy (like every other wave), I hated when (twards the end) the roadblock wave kept hitting with revision cases that clogged the pegs too. I never got any of the vehicles except Ram/truble bubble and Firebat, just to infrequent of shipping on them. Never around when I had the cash.