So upset with Hasbro right now...Comic Con was an absloute nightmare!

[StarDapple]

...wow.  That line is incredible.  I'm starting to rethink my desire to go to Comic-Con.

[Marigold]

You're probably fine to go, if you don't try to buy the limited items.

[Phar]

A friend of mine just got back from Comic Con and while he wasn't able to get the Derpalicious for himself, he did tell me about his attempt. He's an actor (so Professional badge) so he got into the con space early, but that didnt even help him! Apparently within 10 minutes of opening on Wednesday for the Preview night, she was sold out for the day. He said it wasn't even worth trying when he saw what a mess it was for the rest of the convention.

He saw numerous vendors selling her at the con (aside from the Hasbro booth) throughout the week-weekend. He only bothered to ask one vendor, but was told 100$ for the grey peg. Ugh! Can't blame him for being discouraged. :/

I have to point out, Hasbro doesn't make their big bucks from the toys. They license a lot of stuff out to other manufacturers, which means they pretty much just rent their name out for a percentage of the profits. (IE WeLoveFine tshirts providing a lot of apparel online/through Hot Topic) Nothing new there. It saves Hasbro a lot of overhead, fans get awesome merch, and people make money.

The real moneis they make is in the syndication of their programming. Not toys.

No doubt Hasbro Marketing percieved it as Hasbro taking a gamble with Pony, but they're so supportive of their fans and the G4 enthusiasm. I doubt they really expected the utter insanity. It's like that aweful TickleMeElmo thing, eeesh.
They have to be aware of the popularity (if not before, definitely now!), and no doubt manufacturers will take notice. Where there is demand, someone will try to fill it.

The real culprits for the Derpageddon are re-sellers who just want to capitalize on collectors/enthusiasts/people with desperate demanding kids/Christmas lists, etc etc. The people who couldn't make the event, couldn't queue up at 3am, but are willing to bid and bid...

Don't support the scalpers, it'll only serve to inflate the perceived value more. :/

Just kinda sad, this whole thing. Really puts it into perspective. No piece of plastic is worth getting so worked up about/upset over.

[babylicketysplit]

i must disagree on them not making money off the toys... they are a toy company silly!    they actually do not make very much money off the syndacation of the tv series. 

[gemini_pony]

I just talked to a shop owner and im pretty sure it is the fault of people working at comic-con she sold out so fast. he says if you know the right people you can get multiple copies of your badge so you can buy over the limit, he had a stack and got way more than the limit on the monster high exclusive and is re-selling them for $100 :/ ....I only buy the items made by local artists in that shop.

[Snapdragon]

i must disagree on them not making money off the toys... they are a toy company silly!    they actually do not make very much money off the syndacation of the tv series. 

Yeah, I was about to say ... huh?

I think their company definitely makes a TON off of their big-budget movies - Transformers, Battleship, GI Joe - but they are, first and foremost, a toy company. And I think, especially for their pony division, the toys are the moneymaker, rather than the cartoon.

[hathorcat]

i must disagree on them not making money off the toys... they are a toy company silly!    they actually do not make very much money off the syndacation of the tv series. 

Yeah, I was about to say ... huh?

I think their company definitely makes a TON off of their big-budget movies - Transformers, Battleship, GI Joe - but they are, first and foremost, a toy company. And I think, especially for their pony division, the toys are the moneymaker, rather than the cartoon.

Yes, I agree with this

As others have said with MLP suddenly being so "licensable" they will indeed make much more merch license money on this brand than they used to and selling rights to products like Transformers, Battleship and Joe to movie producers no doubt does a tidy line in profit too not to mention the sudden upsurge in product interest. But the cartoons [and even the Hub channel itself] is simply a marketing tool with the end syndication being a bonus but not the core of the company. If Hasbro made most of their money from the cartoon, we would simply have seen a Season 1 DVD release by now.

[Tenar]

The 'grey peg' was on HasbroToyShop for $20 but sold out right now (of course) but the people on ebay really gouge.  almost $100.

[kissthethunder]

i must disagree on them not making money off the toys... they are a toy company silly!    they actually do not make very much money off the syndacation of the tv series. 

This

[Pinecone]

Yeah, the cartoon is just there to sell toys. I know people like to deny this for whatever reason, but it's pretty obvious when you look at it! Pony formal ball, Applejack's barn, etc.

[Tenar]

Yeah, the cartoon is just there to sell toys. I know people like to deny this for whatever reason, but it's pretty obvious when you look at it! Pony formal ball, Applejack's barn, etc.

And Rainbow Dash goes camping. Really that is the silliest set.  lol

[GoodyGumdrop]

I've been to Comicon, and after my experience, I would never go there just to buy exclusive con toys anymore. Its too big, too many people, and too stressful to even try. One time I went, all I wanted was one of the Comicon exclusive  ponies...until I saw the lines at the Hasbro booth. I was at Comicon for three days, and staff at the Hasbro booth were handing out what amounted to RAFFLE TICKETS JUST TO STAND IN LINE every day of the con. That's right, the line was so long staff members wouldn't let anyone in it anymore. They would hand you a numbered ticket, and you had to check back later to see if your ticket number got  pulled, then you could stand in line. And the staff handling the line weren't even sure what they actually had in stock, and were lax in updating the signs...so some items that were sold out didn't have a sign saying that, other items that had a sold out sign had been replenished later in the day and were up for sale.

At the end of day two of our trip, my husband ended up just saying "eff it," and while I was showering in our hotel room, ordered me the con pony I wanted using his laptop off of ebay as a surprise. The pony was resold only $20 more than the con price, and he paid extra for the seller to ship it faster so it arrived at our house by the time the con was over. My husband's reasoning for this...it costs alot of money to go to Comicon if you are not a southern California local (transportation, room, tickets, food) and it was stupid to spend hours in line for something I  might not even get, meanwhile missing out on panels, discussions, movie screenings, etc., so $20 extra in the grand scheme of things was very little for him (also, he felt guilty because he managed to purchase all his con exclusive wants with minimal fuss). However, $100 and up for Pony...that's highway robbery.

[StoryDreamer]

Yeah, the cartoon is just there to sell toys. I know people like to deny this for whatever reason, but it's pretty obvious when you look at it! Pony formal ball, Applejack's barn, etc.

Didn't Faust pitch the cartoon to The Hub when they asked her to come in? So didn't it come before the toys? 

[babylicketysplit]

Yeah, the cartoon is just there to sell toys. I know people like to deny this for whatever reason, but it's pretty obvious when you look at it! Pony formal ball, Applejack's barn, etc.

Didn't Faust pitch the cartoon to The Hub when they asked her to come in? So didn't it come before the toys? 

no faust was contacted i believe by a hasbro Rep to reboot the line    the series was more of a redesign campaign honestly i do not believe they intended it to be such a hit.    it works well though! great cartoon and new toys.   win win for hasbro either way.  so no the toys did not come after the show, i would say they are about even  they both started off as concept designs.       but Hasbro is first and foremost a toy company   remember they contract out to animation studios, its not actually hasbro animating the show, they just foot the bill

[LadyMoondancer]

Yeah, the cartoon is just there to sell toys. I know people like to deny this for whatever reason, but it's pretty obvious when you look at it! Pony formal ball, Applejack's barn, etc.

Didn't Faust pitch the cartoon to The Hub when they asked her to come in? So didn't it come before the toys? 

They asked her to come in because they felt she had ideas that would make a cartoon that would sell the toys, though.   It really does all come down to selling toys. 

The train suddenly running through Ponyville is the most blatant example of this to date, IMO.  "Look guys, we suddenly have a TRAIN . . . just like this TOY TRAIN SET!"  Subtle.