Hasbro's Final 2009 Transformers Q&A Answers for Cybertron.ca

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by jacobot

Yeah, it's just business... Where else can we cry about the toys we are shown but can't get... easily

No one ever said we were guarunteed to get any of those exclusives anyways. People just assumed we were and that's their first mistake. We're shown Japanese versions of toys too, some that we don't get and some we do. See? it's the same thing, but this crying about not getting them easily is sad.

Instead of bitching and complaining about these answers try to appreciate the time Hasbro took to answer these and maybe try to organize getting some of these still available figures from the US somehow while there is still time instead of blaming them for not placing them on your doorstep.

Seriously, thanks Hasbro for these Q and As. If you're reading, hope this will continue in 2010.

[Mighty_Galvatron]

At least we have the ability to order the figures that are not released here through various web-stores. This allows us to "fill in the missing pieces" in our collections.

...if I see Animated...I buy Animated...all Animated, everywhere.

...oh, and we did get most of the Animated line here so far. I only had to order a couple.

[Pascal]

Originally Posted by GMfan101

there are some that seem to see these decisions are based on a dislike of the country which is ridiculous to say the least.

You shouldn't read those comments at the first degree, you know how it works.

[Paradigm-Shift Prime]

Originally Posted by UTF

3. WHERE THE @#%$ IS ANIMATED WRECK-GAR?!

Originally Posted by GMfan101

3. He's out there, I know because I have one.

Just to clarify, no, Animated Wreck-Gar never got to Cdn retail. I'm not complaining, just don't want people confused, as really he hasn't been 'out there' in terms of a Cdn release.

And yeah, retailers do have to pick up on stock for it to make it here, and our Cdn retails tend to be rather fickle and uniformed/behind the game on what product to bring in to make it sell (though it does have to be produced in bi- or tri-lingual packaging for that to be a possibility).

[joshimus]

You know what I REALLY want fixed by Hasbro?
Get a REAL CANADIAN (like oh say Hasbro Canada ) ONLINE STORE where shipping doesn't cost 35.00 for an item.
I was gonna order Voyager Long Haul (before we finally got him) and not only do NONE of the promo codes work for Canadians. I inputed 2 codes, one for free shipping and one 20% off, so after customs takes their share, I basically get Long Haul for retail cost or maybe 5 bucks more, but when I filled out my canadian address, reverted to regular prices.
Went to checkout anyway, figured I was SOL with the discounts but to my surprise shipping was, and I kid you not, 35.00 (35.54 or something) So I passed on it.

Of all the issues we Canadians have with aquiring new or HTF toys or having to resort to paying more on ebay and all that crap, a well put effort at making HasbroToyShopCanada.ca a reality would make me MORE than happy. If I could GET U.S. Exclusives or toys that didn't make it to Canadian retail from THEIR site, I think that alone would make us fans bitch a LOT less about the whole issue.
I relize if I told Hasbro that I have a room full of TFs, Star Wars, GI Joes and Marvel (some during Hasbros take-over) they won't give a shit about helping me aquire hard to get toys.
I STILL want the damn Cloverfeild Monster AND the new Rancor that they repainted from the Force Unleashed line!!!
I already have the POTF Rancor and Luke, but this new Rancor looks WAY nicer....BUT I CAN'T GET IT except online.
See Hasbro?! Help Canadians who support you buy giving us the means to buy what we can't get at a fair market price.

[jourdo]

Originally Posted by Bruticus82

Looking at the results of our questions, I think this should be our next question:

What exclusives do you plan to offer to Canadian retailers in spring/summer of 2010?

This is a great question, as opposed to the will toy X be available.

Originally Posted by justprime

Maybe Hasbro could open up a venue .... mail ins or company outlet,... internet store...HERE

This is one area where I commend Mattel for having a collector oriented online store. They even started carrying retail waves of the DC Universe figures as the distribution has been so crappy. I don't see why the same type of thing could not work for a company like Hasbro.

Originally Posted by Pascal

I think the confusion comes from the way their answers are worded. They should not say "We don't have any plans in bringing those products to the canadian market", it makes it sound as if it was THEIR call. They should instead readily admit "Retailers aren't showing any interest in the products we are offering". But from a PR perspective, it would make them look like idiots.

If it was the retailers that were not interested, I would agree that they should just come out and say it. That gives us someone else to use our Official Cybertron.ca Pitchforks (patent pending) on.

[OneShallFall]

Originally Posted by joshimus

You know what I REALLY want fixed by Hasbro?
Get a REAL CANADIAN (like oh say Hasbro Canada ) ONLINE STORE where shipping doesn't cost 35.00 for an item.
I was gonna order Voyager Long Haul (before we finally got him) and not only do NONE of the promo codes work for Canadians. I inputed 2 codes, one for free shipping and one 20% off, so after customs takes their share, I basically get Long Haul for retail cost or maybe 5 bucks more, but when I filled out my canadian address, reverted to regular prices.
Went to checkout anyway, figured I was SOL with the discounts but to my surprise shipping was, and I kid you not, 35.00 (35.54 or something) So I passed on it.

Of all the issues we Canadians have with aquiring new or HTF toys or having to resort to paying more on ebay and all that crap, a well put effort at making HasbroToyShopCanada.ca a reality would make me MORE than happy. If I could GET U.S. Exclusives or toys that didn't make it to Canadian retail from THEIR site, I think that alone would make us fans bitch a LOT less about the whole issue.
I relize if I told Hasbro that I have a room full of TFs, Star Wars, GI Joes and Marvel (some during Hasbros take-over) they won't give a shit about helping me aquire hard to get toys.
I STILL want the damn Cloverfeild Monster AND the new Rancor that they repainted from the Force Unleashed line!!!
I already have the POTF Rancor and Luke, but this new Rancor looks WAY nicer....BUT I CAN'T GET IT except online.
See Hasbro?! Help Canadians who support you buy giving us the means to buy what we can't get at a fair market price.

X 1000

Dont we buy enough to deserve it?

[faustx]

Why is everyone complaining? Those of us who have been working on this have already located all of the current releases and can make them available at cost + shipping (WreckGar, Target/Walmart Exclusives). Sure it's nice to get them while already at our local big box...but most of us already spend way too much time running all over town looking for things for hours when there are more efficient ways that don't involve the time value of money.

Retailers are not the only source of bots boys and girls....haven't been for some time. Check my sales thread and the threads of the people near Detroit and Buffalo for other good leads. The US TF boards often have people with US exclusives willing to ship for reasonable rates too.

PM if you are looking for something specific...when we all work together this works smooth and everyone is happy.

[Echotransformer]

I've noticed that many of the Zellers exclusives have not sold well...and Zellers ordered 'too many' and seemed to stock 'too many' and thus we (as in most of the TF community, myself included) waited for a sale price (i.e. ROTF Superion, Bruticus, etc.) Profits diminshed, and product is STILL on the shelves. Twinkie TFA Ratchet, anyone?

Either way I'm not surprised they (or other retailers) aren't doing some of the exclusives this year...I'm disappointed, but not surprised.

For the big bots (i.e. Roll out Prime, Devy) I also try and wait for a sale...is this game of cat and mouse hurting sales and profits to the point we don't get all the releases?

For the record, I heartily support a beefed up HTS and think that's a nice solution. Sounds like a question for the next round--can we get shipping rates lower from HTS? Look at Automaton--flat rate, $9.99, anywhere in Canada. Compare that to $35 for Long Haul, and something is surely amiss.

Perhaps HTS Canada is actually shipping out of the US and not a Canadian warehouse?

I'd offer my basement as a warehouse for them. ;-)

[joshimus]

Not only that, but when online u.s. stores like BigBadToyStore can ship cheaper to Canada, it makes you wonder how a powerhouse like Hasbro can't.
I got Buster Prime from them recently and shipping was still roughly under 20.00 but even Buster Prime being a larger figure is still cheaper than Long Haul from HTS.
That said I still would't pay 15.00 to have Long Haul mailed out to me buy Hasbro. Not saying I expect it to be 5.00 but 10.00 is a more reasonable price range than 35.
I honestly think it's in Hasbros best interest to get MUCH better shipping options to Canada. If they ship it out of the Hasbro U.S. site that means high shipping costs and potentially customs too. This in no way inspires me to order from them. The only way they can grab the canadian online market, assuming they give a damn and they honestly SHOULD, is by having a HTSC where items are shipped from a Canadian warehouse.
I wonder if they are even discussing this as a possibility? It makes sense from a business standpoint. We may be a small Country compared to U.S., but we aren't THAT small.
Also if they aren't fixing the shipping rates, wouldn't hurt to have canadian promo codes that WORKED. U.S. gets them with WAY cheaper prices AND shipping costs, so why can't we at least get some sort of discount?!

Also wouldn't hurt if they didn't have 7 months of wave 1 and 2 when wave 5 and 6 are already out in the u.s., but that could also be a retailers issue and not a Hasbro one.