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Quote from: Al-1701 on November 30, 2014, 12:21:06 PMQuote from: hathorcat on November 30, 2014, 10:23:08 AMUnfortunately it will simply be that the supplying manufacturer has changed something in order to become more cost effective or more productive. However the moulds are probably just due to when they were cast; moulds are replaced after a certain amount of time or perhaps if a different production process is being made. So the different heads is probably nothing more than that unfortunately. Its worth bearing in mind making something cheaper is not necessarily the fault of the manufacturer or Hasbro, it could be retailers stating how much they are willing to pay per unit and leaving the supplier with no option but finding a cheaper make option.If it is retailers, I wonder if it's a sign that the brand not moving off the shelves like people here have said. The sales we see on Hasbro's income statement isn't to the end users. It's to retailers who turn around and sell it to the end users. Stores are buying ponies because they think they'll sell. However, stores might be seeing pony stuff not moving as quickly and want to pay less so they can mark up more to compensate for poor sales and have more room for clearance to try to move inventory out.Its probably also partly that retailers typically expect a lower per unit cost as the years pass. Thats pretty standard in most industries unfortunately. Toys are almost becoming FMCG nowadays; a sector they never came near in the past. This usually means popularity of the line depreciates and therefore there has to be increased incentives for retailers to carry a line - sometimes this is done with cheaper price point exclusives or sometimes its just a cheaper unit price. In general and by rule of thumb, the lines popularity probably is decreasing and selling fewer units - thats just the nature of a sector which is heavily influenced by what is current and popular as well as having a high churn and short target age market. Decreasing sales over time is why sectors like the toy industry are to heavily reliant on continued "new" and "reimagined" releases, multiple generations essentially.
Quote from: hathorcat on November 30, 2014, 10:23:08 AMUnfortunately it will simply be that the supplying manufacturer has changed something in order to become more cost effective or more productive. However the moulds are probably just due to when they were cast; moulds are replaced after a certain amount of time or perhaps if a different production process is being made. So the different heads is probably nothing more than that unfortunately. Its worth bearing in mind making something cheaper is not necessarily the fault of the manufacturer or Hasbro, it could be retailers stating how much they are willing to pay per unit and leaving the supplier with no option but finding a cheaper make option.If it is retailers, I wonder if it's a sign that the brand not moving off the shelves like people here have said. The sales we see on Hasbro's income statement isn't to the end users. It's to retailers who turn around and sell it to the end users. Stores are buying ponies because they think they'll sell. However, stores might be seeing pony stuff not moving as quickly and want to pay less so they can mark up more to compensate for poor sales and have more room for clearance to try to move inventory out.
Unfortunately it will simply be that the supplying manufacturer has changed something in order to become more cost effective or more productive. However the moulds are probably just due to when they were cast; moulds are replaced after a certain amount of time or perhaps if a different production process is being made. So the different heads is probably nothing more than that unfortunately. Its worth bearing in mind making something cheaper is not necessarily the fault of the manufacturer or Hasbro, it could be retailers stating how much they are willing to pay per unit and leaving the supplier with no option but finding a cheaper make option.
Which is why I don't understand collapsing the brand to the Mane 6 and the Princesses. G4 has past the market penetration phase of its life cycle, so new customers are those entering the market for the first time. And you have to worry about the hand-me-down factor where parents will give younger siblings their older siblings toys instead of buying them the same characters. New characters in each wave bringing back old customers as well as new. Some will fall off of course, but a new bunch of pony characters will bring back more returning customers than a another version of Pinkie Pie.
I received the G4 firefly look-a-like from the seller on China today and it looks like her mane was easily drenched and washed, but her tail is definitely hydrophobic. It looks exactly the same, I used the same soap on both, but I couldn't get her tail wet. We have more of this hair in future lines, yay.... At least she's gorgeous and worth the buy to me...
Quote from: NoPonySpecial on November 24, 2014, 10:00:23 AMIf the bodies and the heads are made of the same plastic, maybe they did it to make sure there isn't head/body mismatch? I can't imagine Hasbro caring about that, but maybe! I haven't looked very carefully at the newer pony releases, do their heads and bodies match better?Not really - I have a Rainbow Power TAF Rarity with a creamy head and white body >.< (stupid yellowish store lighting..._
If the bodies and the heads are made of the same plastic, maybe they did it to make sure there isn't head/body mismatch? I can't imagine Hasbro caring about that, but maybe! I haven't looked very carefully at the newer pony releases, do their heads and bodies match better?
Quote from: hathorcat on December 01, 2014, 01:36:05 PMQuote from: Al-1701 on November 30, 2014, 12:21:06 PMQuote from: hathorcat on November 30, 2014, 10:23:08 AMUnfortunately it will simply be that the supplying manufacturer has changed something in order to become more cost effective or more productive. However the moulds are probably just due to when they were cast; moulds are replaced after a certain amount of time or perhaps if a different production process is being made. So the different heads is probably nothing more than that unfortunately. Its worth bearing in mind making something cheaper is not necessarily the fault of the manufacturer or Hasbro, it could be retailers stating how much they are willing to pay per unit and leaving the supplier with no option but finding a cheaper make option.If it is retailers, I wonder if it's a sign that the brand not moving off the shelves like people here have said. The sales we see on Hasbro's income statement isn't to the end users. It's to retailers who turn around and sell it to the end users. Stores are buying ponies because they think they'll sell. However, stores might be seeing pony stuff not moving as quickly and want to pay less so they can mark up more to compensate for poor sales and have more room for clearance to try to move inventory out.Its probably also partly that retailers typically expect a lower per unit cost as the years pass. Thats pretty standard in most industries unfortunately. Toys are almost becoming FMCG nowadays; a sector they never came near in the past. This usually means popularity of the line depreciates and therefore there has to be increased incentives for retailers to carry a line - sometimes this is done with cheaper price point exclusives or sometimes its just a cheaper unit price. In general and by rule of thumb, the lines popularity probably is decreasing and selling fewer units - thats just the nature of a sector which is heavily influenced by what is current and popular as well as having a high churn and short target age market. Decreasing sales over time is why sectors like the toy industry are to heavily reliant on continued "new" and "reimagined" releases, multiple generations essentially.Which is why I don't understand collapsing the brand to the Mane 6 and the Princesses. G4 has past the market penetration phase of its life cycle, so new customers are those entering the market for the first time. And you have to worry about the hand-me-down factor where parents will give younger siblings their older siblings toys instead of buying them the same characters. New characters in each wave bringing back old customers as well as new. Some will fall off of course, but a new bunch of pony characters will bring back more returning customers than a another version of Pinkie Pie.