diosoth wrote:
My personal opinion is that Brian Goldner really doesn't care one way or another for G.I. Joe. The line's certainly been put on the back burner quite a bit over the past 4 years while Transformers got the focus. 25th got a toy line but no media. ROC wasn't the box office success they hoped and Renegades didn't really last(I partly blame that on them airing the show a year before the toys were even ready). Everything is sort of hoping the movie does well AND the toys sell well.
I was at Target today and they had 2 figures, some of the 12" stuff and some Skystrikers. TRU had a few red HISS tanks and some Renegades figures but really, not much else. Hardly what I'd call the retailer caring, and at times I wonder why Target and Walmart even bother if that's all they'll put into it is a very minimal shelf presence. If the movie isn't a raging success I almost see retailers just turning their backs on it, and Hasbro hasn't much helped matters either because they don't push the line. It's sad to see the brand that started Hasbro, and a sort of American icon, being forgotten.
I posted this on another board, but I'm going to repost it here:
So I've seen the new items from Toyfair and I'm pretty underwhelmed. Some of the items are nice, but a lot of it seems to highlight Hasbro's treatment of the brand. It needs to be said that Hasbro treats the Joe brand like a red-headed-step-child. It could be a major brand, but it seems that the effort just isn't there. Correct me if I'm wrong, but here's some of the things I've seen:
The distribution is lousy:
This is obvious to everyone, but it strikes me as very strange that stores get in one case, sell out, and then the pegs sit empty for months.
the marketing is inconsistent:
Here's your new movie! The line will continue with movie-sculpts! Wait! No it isn't! Here's different sculpts! Here's your new cartoon! Get hyped about it! Wait! We're cancelling it for the new movie! We'll throw out a few items in the meantime, but make sure you get ready for the new movie! which leads to...
Bizarre choices:
Do we really need another Awe-Striker? Why are some of the figures so different from their on-screen counterparts? Can anyone explain this?
Successes are never followed up on:
This really bugs me. I remember how, back in 2006-7, Adventure Team figures were released as store exclusives. It seemed to sell out everywhere (except for the Urban Outfitters Air Adventurer with the wrong outfit). Hasbro decided to capitalise on that success by doing absolutely nothing. Not only that, but according to various message boards, retailers actually asked Hasbro for more AT exclusives, but were turned down! Are you #@$%& kidding me?
Blaming everything on retailers:
I'm not going to list all the problems since I know that some of it is the retailers' fault, but Hasbro acts as if everything is the fault of retailers. Does anyone find it a little strange that only G.I. Joe is held to this standard by stores?
Can anyone explain the moves they've taken with the brand?
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