Hasbro and MLP TLC

[gemini_pony]

No they even slack bad on some of their Transformers toys. There's a a reason people call it Hasbroken

[Taffeta]

I think the difference may be the Japanese approach to marketing vs the AMerican approach to marketing. This is totally away from toys but if you look even at things like the music industry, when the US creates a band, that band generally has a finite life span unless they decide to do a reunion, it's only so long as they fit a particular criteria, there's always another coming along behind.

In Japan, once you are in a band, you are probably in that band for life unless you break some kind of rules.

Voice artists are also different in their popularity in Japan and again, age and longevity is not really an issue. Their concepts don't go away or get replaced in the same way as you see in the West. I think particularly right now of some of the other game franchises aside Pokemon, on the otome spectrum - I know of a few that were first released in 1990ish or 2000ish and they're still getting reworks and merch and live events now. The same happens with anime and manga - look at the recent reboot of Fruits Basket, just as one example. But even ones like Saiyuuki, which celebrated a 20th anniversary a few years ago, has kept the same voice artists despite the long gaps between production  of both manga and anime. Art books and merch still happen in spite of the manga being often on hiatus.

My point is that Pokemon also fits this mentality. Having moved to a new generation does not mean abandoning the previous, but working it in. The thing is as well that pokemon is really very clever in how it markets older and newer generation things. It's not just the way the games recycle characters or pokemon, or reinvent new regional versions. But just looking at the Pokemon Center concept...

I am not sure how many PC stores there are in Japan right now. I only visited four when I was over there, one of them was in walking distance of where I was living. That store changed it stock out in some areas on a weekly basis. I don't know whether it cycled between regions, but I found different things in different stores, while there wrre also some staples that probably sold all year around. So there was a reason for people to visit frequently, while keeping the old stuff available. There were also the regional variations. In Kyoto, they had three different Pikachu figures dressed in traditional Japanese attire that were only available in Kyoto. I have one of them on my PC desk. But it's still Pikachu, right? Iconic and recogniseable - but a version that is extremely limited by geography. I know Tokyo also had an exclusive Pikachu. I think Osaka did too but I didn't buy them - I only bought the one I have because the kimono is pretty. But it even made me - who doesn't like Pikachu that much - buy one.

So the model is entirely different. Lots of new things to make people come back. Weird things like "ditto" versions of every pokemon with goofy ditto faces. Constants like keychains or basic plushes, interspersed with new characters or different styles. Favourite characters in regional exclusive attire or even 'around the world' attire.

MLP has none of that, but I don't think there's a way that it could. Aside Hasbro being entirely different and totally focused on the here and now, it's just not the same kind of franchise. And I think it is in part because in Japan, if you have a good thing, you keep working out ways to sell that good thing. Whereas in the US and the West in general, it's more about the quick buck. And yeah, we saw the M6 over and over, but that was badly done in comparison to what Pokemon has achieved over a longer period of time.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Yes, the Japanese approach to marketing vs the American approach to marketing is very very different, as Taffeta said. 

No Western toy company except from Mattel thinks of itself as having life-long fans and collectors.  Hasbro has always in its history existed as a rival to Mattel ; hence why they started up by buying all the other toy companies at the time [Parker Brothers!].  It doesn't do much independently, it's all reactive to what its biggest threat is.  If Mattel finds out that toys with colorful poop sell, Hasbro releases a rival toy with MORE colorful poop.  We wouldn't have had Jem, if Barbie and the Rockers hadn't been a thing. 

[Wardah]

Yes, the Japanese approach to marketing vs the American approach to marketing is very very different, as Taffeta said. 

No Western toy company except from Mattel thinks of itself as having life-long fans and collectors.  Hasbro has always in its history existed as a rival to Mattel ; hence why they started up by buying all the other toy companies at the time [Parker Brothers!].  It doesn't do much independently, it's all reactive to what its biggest threat is.  If Mattel finds out that toys with colorful poop sell, Hasbro releases a rival toy with MORE colorful poop.  We wouldn't have had Jem, if Barbie and the Rockers hadn't been a thing. 

Jem was actually first and if Barbie and the Rockers hadn't happened Jem would have had longer success.

[Taffeta]

Yes, the Japanese approach to marketing vs the American approach to marketing is very very different, as Taffeta said. 

No Western toy company except from Mattel thinks of itself as having life-long fans and collectors.  Hasbro has always in its history existed as a rival to Mattel ; hence why they started up by buying all the other toy companies at the time [Parker Brothers!].  It doesn't do much independently, it's all reactive to what its biggest threat is.  If Mattel finds out that toys with colorful poop sell, Hasbro releases a rival toy with MORE colorful poop.  We wouldn't have had Jem, if Barbie and the Rockers hadn't been a thing. 

Jem was actually first and if Barbie and the Rockers hadn't happened Jem would have had longer success.

Wardah is right.
It's well known that Barbie & the Rockers were created to compete with Jem, and ther existence was part of Jem's downfall. The problem was that Barbie's dolls were in the regular size of fashion dolls and thus clothing was more interchangeable - Jem had different proportions and was at a higher price point. So Barbie & the Rockers were put out to kill Jem, and it mostly worked.

[LadyMoondancer]

Hasbro doesn't have a problem taking care of its boy-themed franchises, like Transformers, GI Joe, etc.

HARD disagree on G.I. Joe.  It's functionally dead and Hasbro mostly ignores it.  It hasn't had a cartoon in 10 years and when IDW tried to publish comic books for it, they ended up doing Transformers / Joe crossovers; Joe comics couldn't survive on their own, it had to ride TF's coattails. I think the "wooo, American military!" concept is too jingoistic to thrive in the modern era where companies want to have brands with global appeal.

Basically, I think Transformers is a unique case.  It's Hasbro's most financially successful line.  (The other two most successful are MLP and NERF.)  I'm sure Hasbro has other boys toys besides TF but I can't name any off the top of my head without looking them up.  Which kinda says it all.

[Taffeta]

They also merged Jem concepts into MLP (EqG Rainbow Rocks), almost certainly because they thought it would sell better (and they were probably right) under the MLP brand.

But going back to Japan, even the stuff you get in the hyakuen store is better quality than what you find in most pound stores over here (and I assume dollar stores in the US). I was actually quite amazed at the things I could pick up for 100yen - at the time that was less than 80p in GBP.

[Leave a Whisper]

Yes, the Japanese approach to marketing vs the American approach to marketing is very very different, as Taffeta said. 

No Western toy company except from Mattel thinks of itself as having life-long fans and collectors.  Hasbro has always in its history existed as a rival to Mattel ; hence why they started up by buying all the other toy companies at the time [Parker Brothers!].  It doesn't do much independently, it's all reactive to what its biggest threat is.  If Mattel finds out that toys with colorful poop sell, Hasbro releases a rival toy with MORE colorful poop.  We wouldn't have had Jem, if Barbie and the Rockers hadn't been a thing. 

Jem was actually first and if Barbie and the Rockers hadn't happened Jem would have had longer success.

Wardah is right.
It's well known that Barbie & the Rockers were created to compete with Jem, and ther existence was part of Jem's downfall. The problem was that Barbie's dolls were in the regular size of fashion dolls and thus clothing was more interchangeable - Jem had different proportions and was at a higher price point. So Barbie & the Rockers were put out to kill Jem, and it mostly worked.

Imagines a secret legion of Barbie Clone Assassins

Post Merge: October 05, 2020, 03:52:23 PM

Hasbro doesn't have a problem taking care of its boy-themed franchises, like Transformers, GI Joe, etc.

HARD disagree on G.I. Joe.  It's functionally dead and Hasbro mostly ignores it.  It hasn't had a cartoon in 10 years and when IDW tried to publish comic books for it, they ended up doing Transformers / Joe crossovers; Joe comics couldn't survive on their own, it had to ride TF's coattails. I think the "wooo, American military!" concept is too jingoistic to thrive in the modern era where companies want to have brands with global appeal.

Basically, I think Transformers is a unique case.  It's Hasbro's most financially successful line.  (The other two most successful are MLP and NERF.)  I'm sure Hasbro has other boys toys besides TF but I can't name any off the top of my head without looking them up.  Which kinda says it all.

Not completely. They exhumed and dusted off its freshly re-buried corpse and have started putting out shiny new toys. Just snagged me a classic diecast pack last week. They're also making a new Joe movie and its getting a video game.

[LadyMoondancer]

Ohhh, interesting!  Thanks for the update!

[Leave a Whisper]

Ohhh, interesting!  Thanks for the update!

Welcome. You'll have better luck at Target I think. I haven't been able to find the big articulated figures anywhere at Walmart. Been looking for a Baroness and a Destro for my boyfriend. Also the Vipers are Target Exclusives.

[Wardah]

Hasbro doesn't have a problem taking care of its boy-themed franchises, like Transformers, GI Joe, etc.

HARD disagree on G.I. Joe.  It's functionally dead and Hasbro mostly ignores it.  It hasn't had a cartoon in 10 years and when IDW tried to publish comic books for it, they ended up doing Transformers / Joe crossovers; Joe comics couldn't survive on their own, it had to ride TF's coattails. I think the "wooo, American military!" concept is too jingoistic to thrive in the modern era where companies want to have brands with global appeal.

Basically, I think Transformers is a unique case.  It's Hasbro's most financially successful line.  (The other two most successful are MLP and NERF.)  I'm sure Hasbro has other boys toys besides TF but I can't name any off the top of my head without looking them up.  Which kinda says it all.

Not completely. They exhumed and dusted off its freshly re-buried corpse and have started putting out shiny new toys. Just snagged me a classic diecast pack last week. They're also making a new Joe movie and its getting a video game.

I could be wrong but it seems the angle they are going for is more "woooo nostalgia!" than "woooo American Military!"

[Leave a Whisper]

Hasbro doesn't have a problem taking care of its boy-themed franchises, like Transformers, GI Joe, etc.

HARD disagree on G.I. Joe.  It's functionally dead and Hasbro mostly ignores it.  It hasn't had a cartoon in 10 years and when IDW tried to publish comic books for it, they ended up doing Transformers / Joe crossovers; Joe comics couldn't survive on their own, it had to ride TF's coattails. I think the "wooo, American military!" concept is too jingoistic to thrive in the modern era where companies want to have brands with global appeal.

Basically, I think Transformers is a unique case.  It's Hasbro's most financially successful line.  (The other two most successful are MLP and NERF.)  I'm sure Hasbro has other boys toys besides TF but I can't name any off the top of my head without looking them up.  Which kinda says it all.

Not completely. They exhumed and dusted off its freshly re-buried corpse and have started putting out shiny new toys. Just snagged me a classic diecast pack last week. They're also making a new Joe movie and its getting a video game.

I could be wrong but it seems the angle they are going for is more "woooo nostalgia!" than "woooo American Military!"

Well its working. And considering they've been doing both nostalgic toys and new toys for three of their lines isn't a bad thing.