Beedo Sookcool presents: Belated Hasbro Q&A

by Beedo Sookcool
on 2010-08-20, 23:52:27

Wa tetu dat uta, gang! Strange things are afoot with the Hasbro Q&A. I submitted a batch of questions to the good folks at Hunter PR, and never got them back with answers. So I wrote to them to find out what was up. The answers never made it to my inbox, and they weren’t in my Spam folder, either. (I’ve been checking the Spam rigorously for the last few years since some important e-mails to me have strayed in there somehow and opportunities were missed.) And the Hunter PR gang went and re-sent the answers that I’d missed out on, so they had received the questions and got the answers back from Hasbro . . . so, I dunno. To quote a Discworld philosopher: “Things just happen, what the Hell.” But before we get into the belated Q&A proper (nobody's fault), a follow-up from a much earlier session:

While reviewing the questions I submitted in the past I came across a question from loyal reader Richard Rice, who asked if Slave I would get a BMF-style makeover, to which the Hasbro brass said “No, unless it gets more exposure.” Well, Richard, it looks like after the SDCC reveals, we’re going to get a revamped new bigger kick-arse Slave I (with Mace Windu Jedi Starfighter and several figures!), if you haven’t seen the coverage on the other internet news media sites yet. Sweeeeet. And speaking of SDCC reveals, here’s the aforementioned Friday 25th June batch of questions and answers that got lost in the ether somewhere. Better late than never, eh? Enjoy!

CreatureCantina: As I’m sending this set of submissions out on my birthday (June 23rd), is there any chance I (and our loyal Creature Cantina readers) could get a present in the form of a previously-unleaked upcoming product sneak-peek? Pretty please?

- Beedo Sookcool, staff writer and spoilt brat

Hasbro: Sorry Nigel, but we have to rain on your birthday parade (especially welcome rain though as it's currently 102 in Providence). We will not have any more product reveals until Comic Con.

CC: As I've probably mentioned before, my collecting habits in the last few years have been limited to key items. But then I started finding the BOGO Blockbuster Value packs at Walmart, and snatched up a bunch of figures I had previously passed. Then, beginning in May, Toys R Us had its promotion that knocked figures down to under four dollars. Now Walmart figures have hit the $4.50 rollback mark, and I just made out like a bandit with Hasbro Toy Shop's 20% off deal (numerous overlooked Saga figures are on their way to my house now). In other words, I have purchased more figures in the last five months than I have in the last three years...although I still refused to buy Yarna, even when she was marked down to $1.25. All of the sales have kept me in the game. So whom do we thank for these great deals?

-Tresob Yr, staff writer and bargain hunter

H: You are seeing the end of the basic figure discounting, we hope. We have still been struggling with figure releases for the past 18 months and what you are seeing is the result of excess inventory in both our warehouses and at retail of the combined blue/white and red/white line looks. Going forward, we will have a more conservative approach to wave releases in the U.S. than we have in the past, so we don't get into situations where some figures pile up, which throws our whole wave structure into chaos and things can't get to shelves. If you had picked up that one Yarna, or maybe a dozen for friends, it really would have helped!

So there it is, gang. Birthdays don't count for jack diddly in the cut-throat world of toymaking, and sales are bad. Well, after SDCC and C5, we should have enough reveals to keep us happy for a couple more weeks, at least. And I picked up enough Yarnas for customising purposes (she can't be the only fat chick in that galaxy) to make up for Tresob's reluctance to do so, so as a group, Creature Cantina is going to be blameless for any upcoming distribution issues. And I'm looking at you when I say that, Sir Steve. (Let's hope that distracts the rabble long enough for us to make good our escape.) 'Later! [Zooms off into the distance in a cloud of dust]