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

[Wardah]

If it wasn't for the attention she got they probably would have straightened out the error in future appearances and when she did get released she would have just normal eyes.

[BrightIdea]

Aww man, that is just too bad.  You would think it would be more logical to sell 2 ponies max to each people: 1 in box, one you can take out, or 1 for you and one for your friend. Then there would be more to spread around. And yeah, some people at cons telling people what to do do comes off as rude sometimes. It is like they are herding cattle or something and everyone has the crazies. They have probably dealt with rowdy and obnoxious con-goers all day and forgot there are well-behaved polite people in line, too.

I would be happy to get to go to comic con at all, I love conventions! I hope you got to do some fun stuff that didn't just involve queuing.

[RAMChYLD]

If it wasn't for the attention she got they probably would have straightened out the error in future appearances and when she did get released she would have just normal eyes.

still, at least she'll have gotten a release.  Imo that's orders of multitudes better than the current situation.

[Taxel]

If it wasn't for the attention she got they probably would have straightened out the error in future appearances and when she did get released she would have just normal eyes.

still, at least she'll have gotten a release.  Imo that's orders of multitudes better than the current situation.

A pony being in the background does NOT automatically guarantee it a toy release.

[Loa]

I think Hasbro may have learnt a lesson from this years fan-dangle.
Next year they should just flood the market!

[butterflybuttons]

I think Hasbro may have learnt a lesson from this years fan-dangle.
Next year they should just flood the market!

I hope so!

[RAMChYLD]

A pony being in the background does NOT automatically guarantee it a toy release.

Whatever you say...

[StarlightGaze]

Over time, I hope they do release all the common background ponies, especially as brushables. Ditzy Doo doesn't even have a blindbag version yet, but at least she made it as a fashion pony.

[goddessofpeep]

I was at SDCC this year, and I've been going for many years.  This is actually not new at all.  This system has been in place for at least 6 years now(I think).  Unfortunately for us, this is the first year that Hasbro included the ponies in the ticket system.  They weren't popular enough to force limits on them before, so if you were *just* buying ponies in previous years, you could just walk up to the cash registers in the Hasbro booth, and they'd let you buy the ponies without any fuss. This year we just got stuck doing what the GI Joe and Transformers collectors have been doing all these years.   I did manage to get my pony this year, but it wasn't easy.  I was prepared for this too, and it was still all kinds of horrible.   Apparently Hasbro thinks that my time, and everybody else's time, is completely worthless. 

Hasbro is unlikely to change its system.  I was there when they first started the ticket thing.  They've been doing it for so long, they really should have figured out how to do it RIGHT.  They know how many tickets they have, it can't be *that* hard to make a educated guess at how many people are in the line.  It wouldn't be that hard to go along the line and tell the first section of people they'll get tickets, the next group of people that they're in the "maybe" section, and figure out the "no way in heck" area of the line and tell those people they should spend their time somewhere else.  As it stands, you don't get told you won't get a ticket until you get to the front, and by then you've wasted so much time in their line, you can't get a decent place in any other line.  It really is the *worst* organized shop of all the major toy manufacturers.  This is not new at all.  This has been going on for years, and I'm sure it will continue to go on for many more.  They just don't care.  Until people stop buying their toys completely, they won't care.  Judging from the line I saw though, they've got plenty of replacement customers just waiting to snap up whatever they put out. 

I actually wish I collected Mattel toys.  We did the preorder thing last year, and it was BLISS.  Didn't get everything we wanted, but we just had to go to a room in the hotel next door(no line), show them the printout, and we got our stuff.  5 minutes total.   That's it.  So well run! 

[xeevee]

Yeah, the preorder thing is a really good idea.  It would relieve the lines a lot, and it would help get an idea how popular an item will be so they could stock accordingly.  I plan to go to comic con next year, and I will definitely be pre-ordering from Mattel, and crossing my fingers for hasbro.

[Nerdfins]

Wow, that really sucks!  I feel so bad for anyone who had to deal with Hasbro like this.  My fingers are crossed they at least make a small brushable Pony, or even release more Fashion Style ones in regular packaging.

[hathorcat]

I think Hasbro may have learnt a lesson from this years fan-dangle.
Next year they should just flood the market!

I hope so!

This! I dont need the pony to be "exclusive" or "limited"...I would just like the pony please HB so make lots please!!!

[Marigold]

I know I keep talking about the Designer Dolls, but it is the only limited toy line experience I have had.  My Disney store had set up the line the night before inside the mall so that once mall doors opened (and after everyone pushed each other to get to the store first), you got in line and waited for the store to open.  When the store opened they immediately passed out tickets so you know who got a doll and who didn't.  I was the last person in line to get a doll (Jasmine which I traded for a Rapunzel).  Then people behind me either left, waited in line to see if anyone was going to give up a ticket (yes at least one person did and she and her child were super thankful and had the biggest smiles ever), or they stalked the group of people in the front of the line who were obvious resellers.  Some people walked home with a doll because they bought them from this group. 

Anyway, if you are given out tickets at least you can decide if you want to stay and hope someone is nice, or you can leave and enjoy the rest of your day.  It makes a whole lot more sense. 

[Sugar]

I'm honestly confused (normal state of affairs).  Rant impending, and please don't take offense, I'm just going at this from a businessy point of view.

The reason a business is in, well, business is to make money, right?  If market research is doing their job, they should take note of trends not just in their targeted demographic (like age 6-10 girls or whatever they "target" ponies to), but in a wider demographic if there is one (like bronies and collectors and all pony people).  If a popular trend is demonstrated, like The Grey One Who Must Not Be Named (egad - Vol-Derp-Mort? ), one might be forgiven for thinking the manufacturers would jump on the trend bandwagon and crank out crates of that pony.  'Cauz, like, sales = profits, right?

The way Hasbro seems to have done it, the only big profits being generated are in the scalper market.  And I sincerely doubt that Hasbro is seeing much profit off the profiteering going on over on eBay and elsewhere.  I'm only a drone, but it seems to my common sense that if I were in charge over at Hasbro, I'd be giving my marketing department a serious hiding over this.  After all...

If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell 6 friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends.  attributed to Jeff Bezos

When the customer comes first, the customer will last.  attributed to Robert Half

We don’t want to push our ideas on to customers, we simply want to make what they want. attributed to Laura Ashley

and

There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.  attributed to Sam Walton, Founder of Wal-Mart

Not rocket science, Hasbro...

Okay, rant over.  Thanks.   Hope I didn't tread on anypony's hooves...

[Gingerbread]

I agree - Hasbro have got to be kicking themselves. Even as a regular store release, Ditzy will have sold out several times over, but then there would be more of a chance of everyone getting her. Hasbro are missing out on a lot of sales.