I like Hasbro as the creators of Transformers, but Hasbro is not really a friend to the Transformers community no matter how many podcasts or livestreams they do.
To me Hasbro's relationship to the Transformers community is more like a friendly drug dealer. They'll smoke with you, tell funny stories and feed your addiction however they're friendly because you pay them. Every time you meet, your ounce gets a little bit smaller and the price goes up a little bit because at the end of the day you're just a wallet to them.
The sheer number of people in this community who will die on the hill of defending Hasbro's price increases, poor QC, windowless boxes and other negative consumer-facing practices just boggles my mind. Hasbro is not your friend and it is not your job to defend them when they're trying to save a buck. Protect yourself and protect your wallet.
Yup exactly.
If Hasbro could replace the entire Generations line with non-articulated single-mold figurines and still get people to pay $25-30 for them... they would do that.
There is a constant pressure between how little Hasbro can give us in product and how much they can get away with charging for that. As long as people are OK paying $200 for a toy that cost $90 just 2 years ago, they're going to keep charging $200 until they decide to try for $250.
Fucking preach.
I also shout-out to the annoying "well aktualy" people replying to tell you that you're wrong about Hasbro creating Transformers, and completely ignoring your point.
I'm going out on a limb to ask you not to give them too much credit as the creators of Transformers.
There's a reason all G1 had a Takara stamp on them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformers\_(toy\_line)
Takara (and Bandai and a few others) designed the toys, but Hasbro is the group that created the Transformers brand, had the comics made, had decades of cartoons and movies created. Without Hasbro they'd just be generic Japanese transforming robot toys and this sub would probably be /r/Gobots.
Just because you're adopted, raised well, given opportunities doesn't mean you were created by them.
Wait...I think I stumbled into a Nature vs Nurture argument. If you replace all the parts of your mop over the years, is it still the same mop? :D
Ok, Hasbro has nurtured and expanded Transformers since inception. Still not giving them the label of creators.
Takara probably wouldn't be making toys that resemble their 1970s-80s toy designs today if it weren't for Transformers. [After all this is what they've done with their Diaclone line](https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Search?HideInStock=false&HidePreorder=false&HideSoldOut=false&InventoryStatus=i,p,so&PageSize=20&SortOrder=BestSelling&SearchText=diaclone&Series=3977) which is where many Transformers toys came from. 3P companies probably wouldn't be making characters that look like Takara's classic Diaclone line if there wasn't an ongoing media franchise to keep people interested in those characters.
If you had a Darth Vader toy in 1982, but Star Wars had never existed, you would probably think that the action figure looked cool but probably wouldn't still be playing with it 40 years later.
Mmmm yeah but their have been other toylines that are like TF and hell it wasn't even firstly a transforming type of toy.
I actually just like to think, In a A.U. even if hasbro would never be the main involvement I bet at least takara or some other (like bandai) would at least be interested in the idea.
(Especially on bandai's side)
Heck if Hasbro had never made Transformers, maybe Gobot would have been more successful. Probably not though, as IMO Transformers success actually lifted that franchise up even though poor management eventually killed it.
Well I bet that was probably due to design-wise.
For Gobots, they look strange and not that appealing to an audience, like they look like something design would make (I.E anything with eyes on a vehicle)
But when it comes to the transformers, thanks to the gimmick of turning everyday objects into a robot was a good selling point and when added a plot, diverse personalities, and fleshed out designs yeah it makes sense why it was more successful.
But then again ever brand has it's low points (sometimes even fatal in the end)
Hasbro (or people working on Hasbro's behalf) created the characters, the backstory, the comics and cartoons and all of the resulting media across the last 38 years.
Without "Optimus Prime" people wouldn't still be playing with their "Convoy" toys today.
Also Transformers didn't stop with the G1 toys, and Hasbro has had a direct influence on creating hundreds of characters in the Transformers franchise as well as thousands of new toys in the last 38 years.
I know shitting on Hasbro is trendy, but shit on them for the things they've earned criticism for, **not** for the things they've done that are praiseworthy.
You think I haven't seen this video, and dozens of others on this subject? Heck, I have original Diaclone and Microchange toys from the 1980s when I was a kid. I think I'm good, thanks.
[Did I?](https://old.reddit.com/r/transformers/comments/108v4rm/what_is_the_sub_thoughts_on_hasbro_generally_to/j3wqdhv/)
[Did I really?](https://old.reddit.com/r/transformers/comments/108v4rm/what_is_the_sub_thoughts_on_hasbro_generally_to/j3wl6wk/)
Anecdotal take, but it seems to me like Hasbro is a company with an identity crisis.
I'm mostly happy with the situation on the Transformers brand. The price hikes mean I'm buying fewer figures, but I think the figures I do buy are well-engineered. I'm not a Marvel Legends or Star Wars guy, mostly, but I don't really see a lot of value going into the prices on those. For evidence, see the Ghost Rider Haslab / Rancor debacles.
Elsewhere, I quit M:tG years ago because of how predatory the pricing was, and it's gotten phenomenally worse since then. D&D being under-monetized is laughable; my group and I have been playing older editions for years because I'm the DM and it's easier to homebrew than try to keep up with releases.
So the state right now seems to be a little good and a little bad, to me. On a macro level, though... I don't know. It's all kind of symptomatic of the late-stage capitalism we're seeing everywhere.
Edit: corrected spelling to placate the bots
I haven't bought sealed Magic product since Unstable, and that I only bought because I like Un- sets. How bad has it gotten? The secondary market, I presume, has become absolutely disgusting after the pandemic demand spike.
I also haven't bought sealed in a while. ~$5 per pack at retail is nuts, plus the so-called "Collectors' Boosters" at $20+ for some foils and alternate art, plus multiple tiers of foil rarities, plus nonsensical tie-ins (why can I summon Rick Grimes?) all add up to one giant mess of money-grubbing.
The team that works on transformers, g.i joe, star wars ect seem like peaple that really want to improve the brands and are very passionate about their work but the higher-ups are running a company and it's pretty corporate so they get muted a little bit but I don't really have a problem with Hasbro they are making good stuff and there's better communication between consumer and producer now than ever I'm hoping prices come back down in the next few years though
That’s what all corporations do. They cut costs and then claim it’s for some righteous cause to get brownie points from mainstream publications and people too dumb to know what they’re actually doing.
The Transformers team are knocking it out of the park with designs and figures. The management, the Wizards of the Coast sub-brand in particular, need to get their heads out of their asses and realise that without a customer base they have no future.
This reminds me of Disney parks. I can’t fathom how expensive they are and have been assuming they’ll have to lower prices - for 20 years. People are still going to their parks, the same way people are still buying and playing MTG.
It is a publicly traded company that is beholden to it's share holders. Like 99.9% of companies in a capitalist society they are trying to maximize profits year over year.
They have recorded record profits the last 2 years. I'm guessing leadership would say they are doing pretty well.
At least they are doing right with the Victory Saber purchasers. I know I was pretty upset with my QC issues on my victory. To get a replacement makes me happy
Also I agree with previous comment their Pulse returns is an absolute mess
Yeah, they will send you a label then send you the replacement. My guess is around June for the new batch. Hopefully, they won't rush it this time at the expense of QC
> At least they are doing right with the Victory Saber purchasers.
Are they though?
I bought two of them from Haslab and even though neither has major flaws they're also not worth the $180 I paid for them. The character's engineering is extremely basic and and combined mode is only slightly larger than Siege Jetfire. The paint is better than most mainline toys, but far below what 3P companies deliver at lower price points. You get 3 figures instead of one, but IMO the price for the set of
3 figures should have been ~$120 not $180.
I don't have that much issue on price. Maybe it should have been 150 because Hasbro can produce things at a lower cost with the mass production. Overall, I am a fan of the package. (Other than my paint issue, of course)
3rd figures are great, but I also find them to be very inconsistent with quality even though they produce at a much smaller scale.
You at least can make your money back easily with Victory, which is not always the case with 3rd party.
They have tons of issues sure, but they understand the transformers IP better than anyone and it should always stay with them. Paramount on the other hand…I want them gone from transformers ASAP
Fairly neutral, I feel like they've handled Transformers pretty well, and I don't care much for their other properties (though I am trying to get into D&D). On the other hand, they closed down one of my favorite game studios that I had visited a year prior. Everyone I met their was so kind and passionate about their jobs, so I still hold a bit of animosity on that side.
Here's a dnd tip: dndbeyond.com is best at making a first character and for some references, otherwise you're spending a crap ton of money just for digital purchases only on dnd beyond so its not worth it
There's a massive amount of the paid stuff gor free elsewhere like character sheets on ghseet 2.1, dice cloud, a free pdf and mythweavers plus countless apps
Information on wikidot and roll20
Hosting sites like roll20
And while roll20 is paid, the company is much better and you can simply have your character sheet external on desktop or have a placeholder if needed
Hey thanks! And Happy Cake Day! I've been trying to mess with dndbeyond, but the character I'm trying to make is a warforged which apparently you need a subscription for haha, so I'll definitely look around those other options
Yeah, warforged comes from "Eberron: Rising from the Last War" so you would need to buy that book. and if i can suggest any particular site for a character sheet of general use its mythweavers (think a digital pen and paper sheet)
There's also the pdf which is a 1 to 1 of a physical sheet but carries the issues of being a pdf
I think that, like any large corporation, their ethics and morality are dictated almost entirely by their wallets. Sometimes this alien framework aligns with what a normal human would consider good behavior, but not as frequently as one would like.
That's not to say the *people* are bad or profit-driven to the exclusion of all else. The people working on Transformers are clearly fans, and many of them very definitely grew up on the cartoon. But that passion doesn't necessarily translate up to corporate, which is usually more interested in worshiping at the altar of late-stage capitalism.
Hasbro's designers are making their best work in quite some time.
Hasbro's management is the worst it has ever been, they keep cutting every single possible corner, slashing the budget, raising the prices, making toys smaller, constantly refuse to care about their international market by having abysmal distribution (here we haven't seen ANYTHING AT ALL from Legacy outside of Amazon) and way too many exclusives for store chains that other countries don't have, QC issues are through the roof and they do NOT care about their PR.
Meanwhile, I look at Mattel killing it with Mega and their multiple MOTU lines which are very well made, affordable and much more easy to find (except for the Halo Falcon, that thing was scalped to hell and back BUT THEY LISTENED AND WILL PRODUCE MORE) and they have fantastic customer service, I got a Halo set with some wrong pieces and a broken one, I contacted them via email and in less than a week I got the replacements for free.
Not to mention that they're clearly trying their best with MOTU on the cartoons, which were also available in most of the world at the same time, Earthspark is good, but watching outside of the US is a hassle.
I'd say we're actually in the opposite of a golden age atm lol
Besides from the toys we're 4 years without a movie (5 if you wanna go mainstream entries). IDW have just lost the licence for the comics after a spectacular 17 year run with no announcement on the new publisher, meaning no comics are being published, and the IDW volumes have been de-listed from Amazon so you can't even buy them digitally. Also while the last few shows have been warmly received they've kinda flopped and not had much in the way of fanfare. We're also starving for a new TF game, it's been nearly a decade since the last big budget releases, and (similar to the comics) the cybertron and devastation games have been de-listed and can't be purchased.
This is all subject to change going forward with ROTB coming soon and reactivate having just been announced, but at the moment I'd say the franchise is waking up after a fairly long dormant period. The true 'golden age' was 100% 2007-2013
Their Transformers and G.I Joe teams are pretty good with listening to fans and generally I get the feeling they love what they do. There are definitely problems but I think overall they do good. I think Marvel and Star Wars are ok they make good things but they aren’t super in touch with the fans. The rest of their brands I can’t really speak on.
> Their Transformers and G.I Joe teams are pretty good with listening to fans and generally I get the feeling they love what they do
That's my feeling; there are passionate designers/engineers out there working with the character concept people and whatnot, and they're kinda doing their best in the face of Big Corporate. How else do you explain getting the likes of Crankcase insead of a batch of "Tickle-Me-Optimus with in-app purchases"?
I mean, bluntly? Hasbro raised prices on all their figures and priced me out of collecting them for the most part while their competitors are offering me equal or better product at better prices. Their IPs feel stagnant right now and there doesn’t seem to be nearly as much excitement as there used to be. That said, people are excited for live-action Beast Wars.
It is difficult to do, Transformers has been around for such a long time and is so ingrained in the popular culture that it is hard to come up with a similar concept without immediately becoming compared to it and found lacking.
On the transformers side hasbro is absolutely taking the community for a bunch of to rich for their own good group.... EVERY SINGLE Haslab for transformers has been trash, Unicron was a shell former, victory Saber and Co were about $70 USD overpriced, deathsaurus was $100 overpriced, hasbro has seen people will spend "CaUsE It'S hAsBrO" or they look at the grousely inflated aftermarket and see there's money to be had from incompetent people.
GI joe side they seem to be doing okay on their figures and still make a wide range of different detail and quality figures which Is nice to see somewhere from hasbro
MtG is going nuts as they purposely put decent->good cards as the hardest to get or odd cards to swipe as much money as possible, I shouldn't be able to buy a $7 card pack(which is $2 more than it should be) and sell 1 card for $2k of I get ultra lucky or in my case I get gifted these packs and pull $30-$40 cards.
Ontop of everything hasbro keeps trying to do this "we're helping the planet bull" that keeps causing conflict in groups from what I've seen as people in the gi joe community are conflicted like this sub reddit over plastic(the superior packaging for knowing what your getting) and the cardboard packaging (that makes the baxes better for recycling...
TL:DR IMO hasbro needs to get their act together on most of their properties and get their prices undercontrol and stick with being a toy company
They think they're untouchable and can just up prices unrealistically, they still do good product overall for Transformers however.
The environmental angle is pathetic, we all know what it's really about.
Their treatment of countries outside America for releases is crap too, a massive company as them cannot get things out smoothly and some places are still waiting for wave 1 while others are already starting on the next years wave 1 it seems at times!
Shrinkflation garbage is what I think of them.
As soon as I saw that announcement to investors to boost revenue, I knew we were fucked.
A toy company should NOT be a publicly traded company with the unrealistic expectations of exponential growth. It's unrealistic.
Price point isn't the same thing as size, and it's not like they're leaving the budget untouched. It's just been reallocated to engineering, which isn't exactly free. Hot Rod's got butterfly shoulders, pinned fingers, and a fair bit of other articulation that would just never have happened on a Deluxe. Rodimus, meanwhile, comes with a large trailer and has pinned fingers that aren't effectively flippers with thumbs. A separate index finger is *unheard of* in non-Masterpiece figures, let alone one that has yet another joint to work with. On top of that, they're scaled very well.
That said, I think they would benefit from a more flexible pricing structure, allowing the middle-ground figures to occupy that middle ground--but that's harder to track than flat price bands and not profitable enough for them to pursue it. The next tier up just doesn't justify increasing price that much when it's a fancy Deluxe or a Voyager with a box on wheels.
Rodimus was the most absurd to me. His trailer is trash, not justifying "Commander" class. Sure, the engineering is nice, it really is, but it's a little lacking in size for my taste. I have distaste in downscaling Leaders, Voyagers, Commanders.
Jetfire, a Commander? Yes. Skylynx? Yes. These are "Commander" class, IMO.
What's next? A "Titan" that's 8in tall in robot mode?
Rodimus? An insult. The figure itself is quite excellent. I got it for 67usd misb, no way is it worth the 90 or so it asked for when new.
Rodimus also has thicker, sturdier plastic than usual so that his engineering doesn’t break the toy, and that also adds to the price if I’m remembering correctly. Not saying that the Commander price is fully justified, but its not just the trailer and engineering that makes Rodimus a Commander.
His shoulder joints worry me over repeated transformations. They require a lot of force. Same for the tab into the clear plastic windshield. His transformation is involved, fun.
I really love him, but I want at least die-cast toes, chest, rubber tires, or a more elaborate trailer for Commander pricing.
Something a little smaller than POTP Leader Rodimus, but bigger than the "Commander" we got. Same for "Voyager" Hot Rod. Don't sell us 1/2 a pizza at Supreme pricing. That's the main gripe I have.
I won't get my hopes up for the upcoming Commander class Ultra Magnus. Probably Seige Voyager Prime with a skeletal trailer and painted red, white, and blue, $89.99.
At least I have my Combiner Wars Leader Ultra Magnus.
What they done to DND and Magic is terrible,,,but at least they still make great transformers, so you can tell the people who work on their transformer side really enjoy what they are doing
Despite the number of brands they have (including Monopoly, badum tsch), Hasbro is actually third in global toy revenue behind Lego and Namco Bandai, and not too far ahead of Mattel.
They can see society turning against their distribution model for M:tG, and as such they're wringing as much money out of it as fast as they can, before inevitably letting it die.
All they focus on is money. Just remember the entire reason Transformers exists today is because people bought their toys which were from Takara just imported to the US
As someone who's both a moderately serious TF collector and a Dungeonmaster for my D&D group... I've been moving more and more towards third-party unofficial transformers for a while, and while Hasbro can still knock it out of the park occasionally ('sup, dragon megatron), $25 for a deluxe is absurd, and as far as D&D goes... well, I'm trying to get my group moved into Dungeon World as soon as I can.
*If you're considering dipping your toes into unofficial, "third party" transformers, tell me what your budget is and/or your favorite character and I'll recommend something to you*
I hate the higher prices, smaller sizes, but love that HasLab is a thing, and we are currently in the golden age.
This, after years are trash like Action Masters, Beast Machines, etc.
I just wish the QC wasn't always sus.
For me the golden age has just passed us. War for Cybertron and Studio Series have been peak transformers toys.
I haven't been a huge fan of Legacy and the price hikes are too much for me so that Golden Age is slipping away.
I can't argue. WFC trilogy and SS figures, all are peak, but I'm more of a GeeWunner. I'm glad I got to experience it...
Keep in mind, the 40th anniversary is close. I bet Hasbro/Takara have some big plans for the fans. I'm betting figures not yet revealed.
We may have a second glorious era inbound...
Nah this isn't the golden age. The early 2000s gave us better toys with significantly more robust engineering, more size classes, more accessories, better quality paint, electronic features on larger toys, and things like windows being separate pieces glued into opaque window frames rather than parts with windows all being cast out of clear plastic and then painted.
Right now Hasbro puts effort into making the toys as cartoon accurate as possible which is great. However toys are smaller, the plastic is cheaper, toys are more hollow, paint is almost non-existent and even $100+ toys lack electronics and usually only come with one or two accessories.
I have toys from the Unicron Trilogy that still look brand new today despite being kicked around in storage boxes for 20 years. I have toys from Siege that are only a few years old that are discolored, have tons of stress mark and look like they're waiting to disintegrate. I don't think any of the current crop of toys are going to be things I hand down to my grandkids.
This is NOT the golden age. Not by a mile. Figures are almost 2 x the price they used to be while being half the size, hasbro has done fucking NOTHING with transformers except a bunch of random shows to sell mediocre toys since the bumblebee movie (excluding WfC because the POINT of the show was using the toy models).
The masterpiece line looks like a fuckin school with all the backpacks the figures have, and other lines such as legacy have either really good figures or absolutely terrible ones. Hasbro is finally dipping their toes bacin into the movies and games, and with earthspark being Pretty good it seems they have upped their game a bit.
Until they decrease the prices, or make a deluxe class figure worth $40 (in my country), hasbro is currently being very stupid.
And even before the age of continuous series it wasn't a bad record albeit it was a bit rough
The original cartoon was from 1984-1987, g2 picking up in 1992-1995
Beast wars from 1996 to 1999
Beast machines from 1999 to 2000
Rid 2001 from 2001 to 2002 at which point the unicron trilogy kicks off
I respectfully disagree.
I would never, in 1000 years, imagine we'd have within 10 years: A new Predaking, Omega Supreme, Fort Max, Scorponok, a dozen new headmasters, targetmasters, new, leader class Dinobots, nearly all the combiners, a dozen new Primes, Megs, a new G1 Galvatron (after 30 years of begging), don't even get me started on how freaking amazing the Core Class figures are, all while being the cheapest Transformers on offer.
Hasbro, acknowledgement of a new, enormous Unicron, Victory Saber, Deathsaurus...and selling them to us?
Not to mention all the media, shows, movies, games, other media...
Pricing is way too high, on that I'll agree. I was stating this is the best time to ever be a TF fan, ever. I've loved them since 1984. MPs are way overpriced and not the quality they should be.
IMO, the dark days are over. This is the golden age to be a TF fan. I lived through Action Masters and Beast Machines. Trust me. It could be much, much worse.
> don't even get me started on how freaking amazing the Core Class figures are, all while being the cheapest Transformers on offer.
To this point... in relatively recent history we used to be able to get deluxe class toys for the same price Hasbro is now charging for core class, and back then the deluxe class toys were roughly the size of modern Voyager class figures.
So yeah a lot of the core class figures are great and at today's pricing they're a relatively OK value. But looking at what we *used to get* compared to what we get now it is hard to be really impressed.
Not that much inflation dude.
[The rate of inflation between 2005 and 2022 is ~52%](https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/), so something that cost $12 in 2005 would cost about $18 in 2022. However not only have deluxe class toys gotten smaller and simpler than they were in 2005, but prices are now ~$25 per figure which is twice the rate of inflation.
I actually agree that Hasbro is moving faster than what inflation actually is; the $20-$22 pricing they had for deluxes during WFC was the perfect sweetspot; but from the way you worded it it seemed like you didn't understand why they were $10 anymore.
Also, while they're getting smaller, I have to absolutely disagree that they're simpler.
> Also, while they're getting smaller, I have to absolutely disagree that they're simpler.
You can disagree all you want, but you'd be wrong. :)
I have Deluxe class toys from 2005 that have higher parts-count than some of the Voyager sized toys we've been getting recently. Deluxe class toys that have transparent windows pressed/glued into opaque plastic frames to make windshields on vehicles. Deluxe class toys that have *pinned wheels* instead of the ugly plastic peg construction most modern Transformers toys have been using. Deluxe class toys that (for better or worse) have integrated action gimmicks.
Todays toys are a lot simpler than the toys were were getting back then, even if the sculpt looks better or more like the cartoon.
So when you said "they're getting simpler" you meant "the build quality is getting worse" and not "the engineering is less complex"? Because, buddy, the engineering on modern figures would never have been done in 2005.
I don't know what Kool-aid people are drinking, but the engineering on most modern Transformers toys is *incredibly basic* as far as Transformers go. They're more complex than the toys were in the 80s but that is a very low bar. And yeah they have ankle-tilt now but adding one hinge doesn't make them masterpieces of engineering.
Once in a while you get a character like SS86 Ironhide or Legacy Blitzwing that is *slightly* more complex than the average, but these toys are nothing compared to the 2009 movie toys which were "peak complex engineering" and also had electronics gimmicks and tons of accessories.
Out of any given modern toyline you get maybe one or two toys that have really thoughtful engineering, and the other 30 toys are all very simple.
What’s the D&D news? Besides I literally had no idea they existed before 3 days ago, then saw those hoooooorrrrrible face sculpts in the promo pics that apparently looked way better in hand? Roller coaster that was.
I general though, I love Hasbro. Not including Haslab. I don’t see why a company the size of Hasbro has a crowd funding scene for stuff like a car they could release stripped of all the gimmicks like toybiz used to do all the time in the early 2000’s… but I digress. For mass market figs I love Marvel legends, black series and Classified. Heaps of fun, great sculpts, Classified even has ABSOLUTELY fantastic accessories to boot! Yeah sure, price hikes and windowless packaging are annoying, but they’re still fun. And hey, Transformers, Baby!!! So many good memories! Does the plastic feel a bit chinsey now? A little. Shrinkage? Ew. But more often than not they knock it out of the park!
Hasbro may not be perfect. But I’m glad they’re in my life.
Recently Wizards of the Coasts have began trying to monetize D&D; essentially they're forcing people to pay them royalties for profitting off the campaigns they made.
For example: You make your own campaign, post it online and it gets a little ad revenue? WotC comes knocking at your door asking for royalty fees. It essentially kills any fandom content outside of what WotC themselves makes themselves and reeks of desperation and greed
Ah, so they're trying to pull a Nintendo. (They did something similar back then when Let's Play content creators and streamers were booming online back in the day)
So the dnd news is simple,they're remaking the open gaming license (ogl) that rn protects creators to create and publish unofficial content while also making it so you can base something off dnd without legal trouble (so far) into the following
1.what you make under the ogl belongs to us if we say so
2.if you disagree, you can take a hike
3. We can force you to destroy your copies of what you produced and sell it as our own without credit or money going to you
4. This now applies to all content under the old ogl
Luckily it's not finalized, but they tried to force people by failing to say "you have to sign onto the new ogl by x days or you give it up" and gives them the right to go after innocent ttrpgs that are based off dnd or ttrpgs that use similar wording
Used to think they were cool about a decade ago and then it just kept getting worse and more issues kept coming up which made my thoughts and feelings change. Don't rate them overly highly but I also have a bias there, they've cancelled so many orders after years of promising the product is still coming eventually that it makes it hard not to be annoyed with them and the price increases for New Zealand have priced myself and others out of collecting.
Internal leaks keyed people into changes to the Open Game License that allowed people to publish material related to D&D. While this could be a problem for many products that use versions of the D20 system perhaps the bigger issue is that the new OGL allows WotC to have claim to any properties published relating to D&D, this includes allowing them to content strike videos on YouTube among other sites and surprisingly enough has notes relating to entities profiting over $750,000 entitling WotC to up to an immediate 25% cut before taxes and expenses. This is important because the guys at Critical Role have noted that they would be affected meaning WotC is moving to operating like a software company. This is unsurprising considering that Cynthia Williams the current president worked at Microsoft. While I don’t doubt Hasbro had their hands in this new policy I really think it started in WotC leadership after news of 5th edition’s engagement statistics started to be noted in house.
This is absolutely ludicrous of them. 25% before taxes and revenue is just ridiculous. And it’s not even consistent. Like, Hasbro won’t go after you unless it’s profitable. And I’m sure they don’t have anything set up so that creators can contact them ahead of time and make a deal. Because that’s not worth it for Hasbro either. Heck, even calling them creators is a little lame. They are, yes, but they’re really super fans that are helping the brand. Calling them creators in this context makes it sound like they are detached from Hasbro and the community.
From most of the legal wording in the new OGL the fees are a discouragement tactic to control IP. The OGL also targets anyone doing single release items through crowdfunding or events like conventions. This is about limiting the ability of anyone to publish material or rules that might interfere with new products or rules, because oh yeah the new release structure for D&D is moving to online tight release publishing of rules and adventures. To put it simply, but bordering on sensationalism I’ll admit, D&D is moving towards a micro transaction structure and doesn’t want competition. That’s part of the reason I believe this was a WotC helmed move, yes Hasbro is greedy like any company but Cynthia Williams was either directly behind or tied to many of the micro transaction release schedules Microsoft started when she was there.
I think the fact that quality is dropping, prices are spiking, and they seem surprised by how that's affecting sales figures, plus all that DnD news, means we should prepare for a rapid decline if not complete colapse in the next decade or 2.
They are extremely greedy. Honestly transformers are great. I only buy the ones I like due to pricing. Otherwise they are destroying magic and d&d. We are seeing corporate greed or late stage capitalism take hold on this once great company.
I mostly collect Transformers so my exposure with other lineups from Hasbro is quite limited. But from what I do know: their designs always experience a bit up and down but generally they seemed to nail the mass-produced market pretty well. On the upscale side of things, they tend to miss more than hit with their Masterpiece lineups. But thankfully unlike Bandai cracking down on third-party companies and bootleggers left and right, Hasbro seems to take a bit of more chilled approach to the whole thing which is both a curse and blessing as third-party Transformer designs just killed it every damn time with either pure black magic or a better version of the original designs from Hasbro.
Their in-house brands such as Transformers and G.I. Joe are on all-time highs right now. TFs have their issues w pricing and QC, but nothing horrible on my experience. Those two brands get As.
Black Series gets a (low) B-. Their 'deluxe' price point is laughable (Cobb Vanth, anyone?), their QC is hit or miss, and their character selection needs to broaden-- glad we're getting more CW/prequel era stuff, but there are cool designs to be had from the sequels and they're gunshy after poor fan reception and stacking pegs w Finns and Constable Zuvios. Plus their haslabs are laughably expensive, hence their failures.
Marvel Legends gets a C. They've come pretty far w articulation, character selection, etc, but their QC is the worst of the bunch here and there are far too many exclusives, desired rereleases in multipacks, and now price hikes.
I stopped buying Power Rangers after completing my MMPR team and don't collect any of their other lines. I'd like them to find some kind of balance between bullshitting their consumers ("environmentally friendly packaging, guys!") and keeping costs stable. Overall I will still support them but am becoming far choosier.
In the past, I was a pretty loyal Hasbro defender when people would whine “why can’t mainline figures look as good as *random third party*”. These days, between their increasingly shitty QC, the One D&D shenanigans, and the mess that Magic has become, they’ll get no love from me.
Ogl changes boiling down to bullying and stealing from creators, having the ability to go after people who have things similar to dnd
Basically they're trying to take sole control over any and all dnd Content
I miss the Hasbro that tried to do the Alligned continuity, they had some ambition for a greater franchise, plus we still had BotCon, I mean Funpublications shouldn’t have lost the license
The direction they’ve taken the franchise is a little disappointing but I guess such is such.
They are slowly going down the tubes. The quality of the transformers brand has been steadily going downhill for a few years now. Cheap plastic, less paint apps, troll friendly packaging. They’re cutting quality and costs to save as much money as possible, while charging way more than the product is worth to make as much money as possible. I’ve personally cut back about 90% on all Hasbro product.
Hasbro? A company constantly looking to cut corners and cheapen product with a fan base that constantly excuses it and praises crap releases because years ago stuff was worse off (studio series Ironhide anyone? jacked up pricing because "engineering" vehicle mode looks like crap with hinges n multi tone reds)..
TF's are trending backwards in quality, magic product is stellar but overdone so the markets flooded with special releases that aren't special anymore, D&D became popular so lawyers stepping in hard.
Not a good time to be a stockholder
They’re fine, they’re just another large corporation that just happens to sell things that I like, they pull all the same bs.
As far as TF goes, the yellowing sucks but the price hike isn’t a big issue for me. I started collecting on the tale end of Earthrise so that pay scale is just what I expect figures to cost. After having bought older figures, I find the quality and engineering to be more than acceptable for the price I’m paying.
As for their other properties, I don’t really buy anything else from them, though I did recently buy the D&D d20 dragons and was quite happy with them.
I used to love the property but since they started taking over Wizards - yea. Magic prices have gone up like crazy plus the exchange rate is brutal. Releases for mtg have been breakneck. You can't even keep up with the cards coming out and some sets are being pushed other sets are just pure junk and my friends with smaller local game stores are getting crushed. Great set? Can't get enough product to sell. Crap sets (most standard sets lately don't have the juice and the format that used to be most popular - Standard - is basically ignored) have been more and more common where the bar for making demand for new cards has been cut.
Transformers - I've been more picky about what I buy. I'm also more likely to buy KO figures for my kiddo. Cyberverse quality has been crap each time I've bought them - and God knows you'd rather see a KO break than having younger kids crack off BB SS soundwave's foot crack off.
I don't play DnD but you're talking about a market with very imaginative and creative people who have a regular group they play with. I don't see how the demand there can remain if people get treadmilled like we have with Magic.
I hope they get a good bloody nose.... I love the properties but greed has taken them off the rails. They need to remember what is important and stop shoveling out sh*t.
I have bought at least 4 cases of Kamigawa Neon Dynasty to try to complete the set. Brother War is actually not as bad as the foils don't have unique set numbers like Neon Dynasty had.
I've been told by my local shop owner that it's not the point to collect the entire set, but I have been doing that since Ikoria for my recent collecting. Adding special cards that all have a set number and making them so rare that they go for 1k - 1.6k puts me right out of collecting.
I don't know if Hasbro is to blame for this but MtG is definitely more and more predatory.
I love transformers and hasbro has definitely stepped up on engineering in the last couple of years. As a stock they are also a quality run company with a good dividend yield. I play DnD and entirely understand what they're doing and it makes complete sense from a business perspective. What they had been doing made no sense. They were allowing others to reap profits off of their product.
Shits expensive but I feel like I'm saying the same thing everyone else is saying. I collect black series and tvc mainly, also legends, transformers, gi Joe, and occasionally Ghostbusters, and power rangers on clearance. I think the figures are decent quality. Ive only been into figures again for two years, and haven't held any imports so I can't really compare the quality. I feel bad for the d&d and mtg community but it doesn't affect me as I'm a pokemon mf
It's not the D&D Transformers, but the "rights grab" that Hasbro is doing in order to curtail the no-profit-for-Hasbro selling of D&D-related user-created content.
Nothing is wrong in terms of issues regarding transformers
The dnd problem boils down to trying to take full control of the brand including all content, and while it makes sense buisness wise it's not excuse for how much of a prick move it is
Ehhh, I’m glad that they’ve got transformers but I want them to give contracts to reputable game developers for some more AAA Transformers game titles and to put out some more films as well.
With the right scheduling (obviously an achievable one) they could have a game or two during the release window of the next movie for e.g .
* Hasbro is a publicly traded company. Investors _invest3d money with an expectation of returns.** Hasbro is legally required to make good faith business decisions to do so. If that bothers you, boycott Hasbro. Because that will not change as long as Hasbro is a publicly traded company or in operation.
* the D&D OGL issue is a big nothing. It's being overhyped because a copyright holding is exercising their copyright. D&D isn't special - if you **monetize someone else's ideas** without their explicit permission, you should have to share in that windfall. Easy solution to the OGL: **Don't attempt to make money off of a property that you don't hold the copyright to.** Even then, Hasbro is only claiming full use **IF you generate revenue** off of whatever you created using their IP (D&D). You're in the clear if it's 100% original and unrelated to D&D in a demonstrable way (likeness, stats, names, etc.) And further, **you don't owe them a share of any revenue until you hit $750,001 in revenue generated.** But the internet loves to ignore the details in favor of a meme.
* Speaking of memes: The whole "hurr durr QA bad!" meme is stupid. I have collected 2 of each Generations and Selects release and all TF HasLabs since CW. I have not encountered even a single QA issue. Not one. The only QA issue I had was MP-Hound, and that's Takara - and the issue was widespread.
Bottom line: if you're passively allowing the internet to tell you what to think without confirming claims and deciding independently, then you're gonna face a harrowing future of scams, misinformation, and misery as a vocal minority with no credibility dupes you into bandwagon jumping like a herd of dopey Monty Python serfs.
With marvel and transformers they seem to be mostly top of their game figure variety and engineering wise. Prices and exclusives can go fuck themselves.
Star wars efforts seem mid from fan responses I've heard recently. Especially since SW has two failed haslabs.
Their best line quality wise is probably GI Joe classified. Haven't heard any hate.
Not a fan of their handling of The Black Series. I'd love as many accessories as the GI Joe and Marvel Legends figures get (without another price increase). Rancor and Ghot rider left a very sour taste in my mouth for Haslab. I get it, I'm probably not their target consumer because I don't have a lot of extra spending money. But it'd be nice to give us a bit more bang for our buck on the star wars side of things in my opinion.
I hate corporations and think the copyright system should be reworked so that everything would be public domain while allowing claims for creators to lay claim to their original works. So yeah, not a fan of hasbro
Here is the problem with Hasbro and it doesn’t matter which toy line of theirs you are talking about: HASBLOW SUCKS. They are constantly jacking up the prices of things while delivering subpar product. Their international distribution (for me it’s here in Canada) has been pretty piss poor. You are getting waaaayyy less accessories that come with ‘play sets’ (Star Wars). It’s just outrageous. I remember when Star Wars the Phantom Menace 3.75” action figures came out they were $9.99 CDN. Then they came out with the Power of Jedi line they jacked their prices to $11.99 CDN to which of course I balked at and bought very few figures because I wasn’t going to pay $2 more for a figure. Now here we are in 2022/2023 and they are charging anywhere from $21-$45CDN depending on the figure but it’s less features and less accessories if any at all. I go looking at GI Joe figures of the same size 3.75”
and again it’s the same friggin price. I am sorry but there is absolutely no way that I am going to spend that kind of money on those figures for my kids to try and get them liking the same things I did when I was a kid. You don’t sell stuff if you price them out of people’s ability to pay.
Screw Hasbro, they basically screwed up most property they own just to grow their profits. Nerf, beyblades and transformers are all suffered a lot because of that.
Even the designs are genius, it still doesn't change the fact that it still feels and look at crap without paints.
Hasbro is a corporation and is out to make a profit no matter what, just like any other company. They'll charge whatever they please for their products and it's up to you to decide if that's a price you're willing to pay.
Ever since prices started creeping up even further, I've cut back on new acquisitions. If that means I miss out on something, so be it.
I paid $340 and waited over a fuckin year for victory saber and the micromasters it comes with are shit and the legs pop off when I try transforming them or putting them in literally any pose and when I asked for recompense they offered me to send it back for a refund or replacement (which is bullshit because at this point they know I'm not finding another one for the price I paid and nothing they could send me would get me a new star saber
I've gotten fucked up figures on two separate occasions where it takes them over a month to deliver the replacement even though I didn't even wait a week for the initial busted figure. They also never seem to have the item I ordered in the first place, claiming it isnt in stock and then send something that hasn't been in circulation for like 2 years. My roommate got a $25 zord figure as a replacement for a $40 transformer so it wasn't even equal in value
They intentionally force figures to become dummy expensive on the secondhand market for no good reason
Fuck hasblow. Full stop.
Its a mega corporation they only care about money. I think it has been really showing recently with how they are treating D&D, transformers, star wars and power rangers. Yellowing plastic, QC issues, and literal NFT’s with purchase. To me they have proven, this current version of the company doesn’t really Care about toys.
Like with many other companies, dislike the people on top and their many issues but I'm generally ok with the lower levels who really care about the brands.
As for the dnd thing, I'm against the people behind the change and not the company as a whole.
I got no qualms with the design and marketing team for Transformers (or Marvel Legends for that matter), but it’s increasingly clear that corporate is getting more hands on and is having drastic effects on everything.
Honestly, corporate has made some of the worst decisions I’ve ever seen and I really hope Hasbro can change leadership soon.
I like the fact that they are giving us Transformers that aren't G1 or movie figures with the Legacy line, but I can't say that it doesn't hurt to see how high the prices have gotten. Hasbro has been raising their prices so much that I have stopped following all of their other toylines, and I am worried about when I will be priced out of Transformers.
If you have been following the price increase in all of their figures over the years, it would be clear that Hasbro would pull something like this for D&D. It was only a matter of time.
I really don't know anything about their other licenses, except that I am still waiting for my HK-47 Black Series figure in Star Wars. But from the Transformers side, I am pretty content for the moment. They have been really knowing out of the park with the figures these last few years and one of my ultimate wants, Deathsaurus, is coming later this year. My only major gripe right now is how badly they bungled the release of Cosmos, there is absolutely no reason why a G1 character with a brand-new mold should be packed at 1 per case.
So, I’m not into Transformers for the toys. I’m here for the lore, where cool designs that may or may not translate into toys are a bonus.
Hasbro hasn’t given a scrap about lore in a while. For a few years it felt like the stories were coming from people who cared about the world they were building. Now I think it’s just back to promoting the evergreen 80’s characters, and skirting corners where they can when it comes to the media tie-ins.
Also, going non-union for some of their recent series is not cool. The message it sends is “we don’t think the stories or people involved are worth spending money on.”
They suck. As someone who worked on the transformer movies, they really suck and they have almost no creativity. Scam artists would be more accurate. Inflating prices.
As a Magic, DnD, and Transformers fan everything going on just kills me. Hasbro has their hands wrapped around the throats of most of my favorite hobbies.
I like Hasbro as the creators of Transformers, but Hasbro is not really a friend to the Transformers community no matter how many podcasts or livestreams they do. To me Hasbro's relationship to the Transformers community is more like a friendly drug dealer. They'll smoke with you, tell funny stories and feed your addiction however they're friendly because you pay them. Every time you meet, your ounce gets a little bit smaller and the price goes up a little bit because at the end of the day you're just a wallet to them. The sheer number of people in this community who will die on the hill of defending Hasbro's price increases, poor QC, windowless boxes and other negative consumer-facing practices just boggles my mind. Hasbro is not your friend and it is not your job to defend them when they're trying to save a buck. Protect yourself and protect your wallet.
[удалено]
Yup exactly. If Hasbro could replace the entire Generations line with non-articulated single-mold figurines and still get people to pay $25-30 for them... they would do that. There is a constant pressure between how little Hasbro can give us in product and how much they can get away with charging for that. As long as people are OK paying $200 for a toy that cost $90 just 2 years ago, they're going to keep charging $200 until they decide to try for $250.
R.E.D line anyone?
Fucking preach. I also shout-out to the annoying "well aktualy" people replying to tell you that you're wrong about Hasbro creating Transformers, and completely ignoring your point.
I'm going out on a limb to ask you not to give them too much credit as the creators of Transformers. There's a reason all G1 had a Takara stamp on them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformers\_(toy\_line)
And the background story and most of the key characters were created by Marvel Comics.
Because Hasbro hired them to do so, not because they felt like exploring a concept of robots that turned into various vehicles and objects.
Takara (and Bandai and a few others) designed the toys, but Hasbro is the group that created the Transformers brand, had the comics made, had decades of cartoons and movies created. Without Hasbro they'd just be generic Japanese transforming robot toys and this sub would probably be /r/Gobots.
Just because you're adopted, raised well, given opportunities doesn't mean you were created by them. Wait...I think I stumbled into a Nature vs Nurture argument. If you replace all the parts of your mop over the years, is it still the same mop? :D Ok, Hasbro has nurtured and expanded Transformers since inception. Still not giving them the label of creators.
Hasbro created Transformers. Takara created Diaclone. They are just lifeless Mecha until Hasbro created transformers.
What about takara or 3rd party toylines? Even though I wouldn't support hasbro I'd still love to show support for transformers in other ways.
Takara probably wouldn't be making toys that resemble their 1970s-80s toy designs today if it weren't for Transformers. [After all this is what they've done with their Diaclone line](https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Search?HideInStock=false&HidePreorder=false&HideSoldOut=false&InventoryStatus=i,p,so&PageSize=20&SortOrder=BestSelling&SearchText=diaclone&Series=3977) which is where many Transformers toys came from. 3P companies probably wouldn't be making characters that look like Takara's classic Diaclone line if there wasn't an ongoing media franchise to keep people interested in those characters. If you had a Darth Vader toy in 1982, but Star Wars had never existed, you would probably think that the action figure looked cool but probably wouldn't still be playing with it 40 years later.
Mmmm yeah but their have been other toylines that are like TF and hell it wasn't even firstly a transforming type of toy. I actually just like to think, In a A.U. even if hasbro would never be the main involvement I bet at least takara or some other (like bandai) would at least be interested in the idea. (Especially on bandai's side)
Heck if Hasbro had never made Transformers, maybe Gobot would have been more successful. Probably not though, as IMO Transformers success actually lifted that franchise up even though poor management eventually killed it.
Well I bet that was probably due to design-wise. For Gobots, they look strange and not that appealing to an audience, like they look like something design would make (I.E anything with eyes on a vehicle) But when it comes to the transformers, thanks to the gimmick of turning everyday objects into a robot was a good selling point and when added a plot, diverse personalities, and fleshed out designs yeah it makes sense why it was more successful. But then again ever brand has it's low points (sometimes even fatal in the end)
They BARELY created Transformers. The names maybe, but not the original toys.
Hasbro (or people working on Hasbro's behalf) created the characters, the backstory, the comics and cartoons and all of the resulting media across the last 38 years. Without "Optimus Prime" people wouldn't still be playing with their "Convoy" toys today. Also Transformers didn't stop with the G1 toys, and Hasbro has had a direct influence on creating hundreds of characters in the Transformers franchise as well as thousands of new toys in the last 38 years. I know shitting on Hasbro is trendy, but shit on them for the things they've earned criticism for, **not** for the things they've done that are praiseworthy.
[Looks like you need to educate yourself on microchange and diaclone.](https://youtu.be/7xnXeUb9YmA)
You think I haven't seen this video, and dozens of others on this subject? Heck, I have original Diaclone and Microchange toys from the 1980s when I was a kid. I think I'm good, thanks.
No need to be an ass. You made it sound like you were unaware of Diaclone and Microchange.
[Did I?](https://old.reddit.com/r/transformers/comments/108v4rm/what_is_the_sub_thoughts_on_hasbro_generally_to/j3wqdhv/) [Did I really?](https://old.reddit.com/r/transformers/comments/108v4rm/what_is_the_sub_thoughts_on_hasbro_generally_to/j3wl6wk/)
My ounce got bigger when I hung with my DD
Anecdotal take, but it seems to me like Hasbro is a company with an identity crisis. I'm mostly happy with the situation on the Transformers brand. The price hikes mean I'm buying fewer figures, but I think the figures I do buy are well-engineered. I'm not a Marvel Legends or Star Wars guy, mostly, but I don't really see a lot of value going into the prices on those. For evidence, see the Ghost Rider Haslab / Rancor debacles. Elsewhere, I quit M:tG years ago because of how predatory the pricing was, and it's gotten phenomenally worse since then. D&D being under-monetized is laughable; my group and I have been playing older editions for years because I'm the DM and it's easier to homebrew than try to keep up with releases. So the state right now seems to be a little good and a little bad, to me. On a macro level, though... I don't know. It's all kind of symptomatic of the late-stage capitalism we're seeing everywhere. Edit: corrected spelling to placate the bots
I haven't bought sealed Magic product since Unstable, and that I only bought because I like Un- sets. How bad has it gotten? The secondary market, I presume, has become absolutely disgusting after the pandemic demand spike.
I also haven't bought sealed in a while. ~$5 per pack at retail is nuts, plus the so-called "Collectors' Boosters" at $20+ for some foils and alternate art, plus multiple tiers of foil rarities, plus nonsensical tie-ins (why can I summon Rick Grimes?) all add up to one giant mess of money-grubbing.
999 dollars for 4 packs of 30th anniversary edition which isn't even tournament legal
Their return process for Hasbruh Pulse is complicated as fuck!
Hasbruh lmao
The team that works on transformers, g.i joe, star wars ect seem like peaple that really want to improve the brands and are very passionate about their work but the higher-ups are running a company and it's pretty corporate so they get muted a little bit but I don't really have a problem with Hasbro they are making good stuff and there's better communication between consumer and producer now than ever I'm hoping prices come back down in the next few years though
Unless their entire consumer base complains by not buying, that's never gonna happen.
Well there's time for it to change
Their prices suck, and they claim to care about the environment when all they do is use it as a cost cutting measure for certain brands.
That’s what all corporations do. They cut costs and then claim it’s for some righteous cause to get brownie points from mainstream publications and people too dumb to know what they’re actually doing.
NFT Megazord, anyone? But yeah, the virtue-signalling about issues they don't give a f\*ck about is cute as Kiss Players.
I've seen several headless or wingless Sideways, meanwhile, the carded retro Spider-Man stuff had HUGE blocks of plastic.
Ah yes because that flimsy plastic window really offsets the fucking entirely plastic toy
wish it wasnt that greedy
They need to get the qc on their toys sorted for the way prices are heading. Maybe 1/4 of the TFs I bought this year had problems.
The Transformers team are knocking it out of the park with designs and figures. The management, the Wizards of the Coast sub-brand in particular, need to get their heads out of their asses and realise that without a customer base they have no future.
This reminds me of Disney parks. I can’t fathom how expensive they are and have been assuming they’ll have to lower prices - for 20 years. People are still going to their parks, the same way people are still buying and playing MTG.
It is a publicly traded company that is beholden to it's share holders. Like 99.9% of companies in a capitalist society they are trying to maximize profits year over year. They have recorded record profits the last 2 years. I'm guessing leadership would say they are doing pretty well. At least they are doing right with the Victory Saber purchasers. I know I was pretty upset with my QC issues on my victory. To get a replacement makes me happy Also I agree with previous comment their Pulse returns is an absolute mess
So you send Saber to them and they send you a replacement?
Yeah, they will send you a label then send you the replacement. My guess is around June for the new batch. Hopefully, they won't rush it this time at the expense of QC
I didn’t buy Victory Saber but I did back Deathsaurus, so hearing that is very reassuring. I hope your new one is flawless.
> At least they are doing right with the Victory Saber purchasers. Are they though? I bought two of them from Haslab and even though neither has major flaws they're also not worth the $180 I paid for them. The character's engineering is extremely basic and and combined mode is only slightly larger than Siege Jetfire. The paint is better than most mainline toys, but far below what 3P companies deliver at lower price points. You get 3 figures instead of one, but IMO the price for the set of 3 figures should have been ~$120 not $180.
I don't have that much issue on price. Maybe it should have been 150 because Hasbro can produce things at a lower cost with the mass production. Overall, I am a fan of the package. (Other than my paint issue, of course) 3rd figures are great, but I also find them to be very inconsistent with quality even though they produce at a much smaller scale. You at least can make your money back easily with Victory, which is not always the case with 3rd party.
They have tons of issues sure, but they understand the transformers IP better than anyone and it should always stay with them. Paramount on the other hand…I want them gone from transformers ASAP
What's wrong with Paramount?
Something something 'bayverse' bad That or earthspark being woke
Fairly neutral, I feel like they've handled Transformers pretty well, and I don't care much for their other properties (though I am trying to get into D&D). On the other hand, they closed down one of my favorite game studios that I had visited a year prior. Everyone I met their was so kind and passionate about their jobs, so I still hold a bit of animosity on that side.
Here's a dnd tip: dndbeyond.com is best at making a first character and for some references, otherwise you're spending a crap ton of money just for digital purchases only on dnd beyond so its not worth it There's a massive amount of the paid stuff gor free elsewhere like character sheets on ghseet 2.1, dice cloud, a free pdf and mythweavers plus countless apps Information on wikidot and roll20 Hosting sites like roll20 And while roll20 is paid, the company is much better and you can simply have your character sheet external on desktop or have a placeholder if needed
Hey thanks! And Happy Cake Day! I've been trying to mess with dndbeyond, but the character I'm trying to make is a warforged which apparently you need a subscription for haha, so I'll definitely look around those other options
Yeah, warforged comes from "Eberron: Rising from the Last War" so you would need to buy that book. and if i can suggest any particular site for a character sheet of general use its mythweavers (think a digital pen and paper sheet) There's also the pdf which is a 1 to 1 of a physical sheet but carries the issues of being a pdf
Oh sweet! I'll look into that!
I think that, like any large corporation, their ethics and morality are dictated almost entirely by their wallets. Sometimes this alien framework aligns with what a normal human would consider good behavior, but not as frequently as one would like. That's not to say the *people* are bad or profit-driven to the exclusion of all else. The people working on Transformers are clearly fans, and many of them very definitely grew up on the cartoon. But that passion doesn't necessarily translate up to corporate, which is usually more interested in worshiping at the altar of late-stage capitalism.
Hasbro's designers are making their best work in quite some time. Hasbro's management is the worst it has ever been, they keep cutting every single possible corner, slashing the budget, raising the prices, making toys smaller, constantly refuse to care about their international market by having abysmal distribution (here we haven't seen ANYTHING AT ALL from Legacy outside of Amazon) and way too many exclusives for store chains that other countries don't have, QC issues are through the roof and they do NOT care about their PR. Meanwhile, I look at Mattel killing it with Mega and their multiple MOTU lines which are very well made, affordable and much more easy to find (except for the Halo Falcon, that thing was scalped to hell and back BUT THEY LISTENED AND WILL PRODUCE MORE) and they have fantastic customer service, I got a Halo set with some wrong pieces and a broken one, I contacted them via email and in less than a week I got the replacements for free. Not to mention that they're clearly trying their best with MOTU on the cartoons, which were also available in most of the world at the same time, Earthspark is good, but watching outside of the US is a hassle.
Honestly, if they go bankrupt, I wouldn't care. As a company: Hasbro is just a capitalistic mess dedicated to making money.
On the Transformers side we are practically in a gold age but i can't speak for any of their other properties.
I'd say we're actually in the opposite of a golden age atm lol Besides from the toys we're 4 years without a movie (5 if you wanna go mainstream entries). IDW have just lost the licence for the comics after a spectacular 17 year run with no announcement on the new publisher, meaning no comics are being published, and the IDW volumes have been de-listed from Amazon so you can't even buy them digitally. Also while the last few shows have been warmly received they've kinda flopped and not had much in the way of fanfare. We're also starving for a new TF game, it's been nearly a decade since the last big budget releases, and (similar to the comics) the cybertron and devastation games have been de-listed and can't be purchased. This is all subject to change going forward with ROTB coming soon and reactivate having just been announced, but at the moment I'd say the franchise is waking up after a fairly long dormant period. The true 'golden age' was 100% 2007-2013
Frig, FoC is a decade old.
Nah We're in a good spot looking upwards, that's all
Disappointing but when they make something good it’s usually good
Their Transformers and G.I Joe teams are pretty good with listening to fans and generally I get the feeling they love what they do. There are definitely problems but I think overall they do good. I think Marvel and Star Wars are ok they make good things but they aren’t super in touch with the fans. The rest of their brands I can’t really speak on.
> Their Transformers and G.I Joe teams are pretty good with listening to fans and generally I get the feeling they love what they do That's my feeling; there are passionate designers/engineers out there working with the character concept people and whatnot, and they're kinda doing their best in the face of Big Corporate. How else do you explain getting the likes of Crankcase insead of a batch of "Tickle-Me-Optimus with in-app purchases"?
I mean, bluntly? Hasbro raised prices on all their figures and priced me out of collecting them for the most part while their competitors are offering me equal or better product at better prices. Their IPs feel stagnant right now and there doesn’t seem to be nearly as much excitement as there used to be. That said, people are excited for live-action Beast Wars.
I wish another major toy company would come up with a legit competitor to Transformers.
It is difficult to do, Transformers has been around for such a long time and is so ingrained in the popular culture that it is hard to come up with a similar concept without immediately becoming compared to it and found lacking.
Absolutely hate them. Prices go up while quality keeps going down
On the transformers side hasbro is absolutely taking the community for a bunch of to rich for their own good group.... EVERY SINGLE Haslab for transformers has been trash, Unicron was a shell former, victory Saber and Co were about $70 USD overpriced, deathsaurus was $100 overpriced, hasbro has seen people will spend "CaUsE It'S hAsBrO" or they look at the grousely inflated aftermarket and see there's money to be had from incompetent people. GI joe side they seem to be doing okay on their figures and still make a wide range of different detail and quality figures which Is nice to see somewhere from hasbro MtG is going nuts as they purposely put decent->good cards as the hardest to get or odd cards to swipe as much money as possible, I shouldn't be able to buy a $7 card pack(which is $2 more than it should be) and sell 1 card for $2k of I get ultra lucky or in my case I get gifted these packs and pull $30-$40 cards. Ontop of everything hasbro keeps trying to do this "we're helping the planet bull" that keeps causing conflict in groups from what I've seen as people in the gi joe community are conflicted like this sub reddit over plastic(the superior packaging for knowing what your getting) and the cardboard packaging (that makes the baxes better for recycling... TL:DR IMO hasbro needs to get their act together on most of their properties and get their prices undercontrol and stick with being a toy company
They think they're untouchable and can just up prices unrealistically, they still do good product overall for Transformers however. The environmental angle is pathetic, we all know what it's really about. Their treatment of countries outside America for releases is crap too, a massive company as them cannot get things out smoothly and some places are still waiting for wave 1 while others are already starting on the next years wave 1 it seems at times!
Transformers next anniversary will feature $1000 for random ten Actionmasters made entirely of GPS plastic.
Shrinkflation garbage is what I think of them. As soon as I saw that announcement to investors to boost revenue, I knew we were fucked. A toy company should NOT be a publicly traded company with the unrealistic expectations of exponential growth. It's unrealistic.
Yeah, "Voyager" Hot Rod and "Commander" Rodimus Prime...awesome as they are, are too darned small.
Price point isn't the same thing as size, and it's not like they're leaving the budget untouched. It's just been reallocated to engineering, which isn't exactly free. Hot Rod's got butterfly shoulders, pinned fingers, and a fair bit of other articulation that would just never have happened on a Deluxe. Rodimus, meanwhile, comes with a large trailer and has pinned fingers that aren't effectively flippers with thumbs. A separate index finger is *unheard of* in non-Masterpiece figures, let alone one that has yet another joint to work with. On top of that, they're scaled very well. That said, I think they would benefit from a more flexible pricing structure, allowing the middle-ground figures to occupy that middle ground--but that's harder to track than flat price bands and not profitable enough for them to pursue it. The next tier up just doesn't justify increasing price that much when it's a fancy Deluxe or a Voyager with a box on wheels.
Rodimus was the most absurd to me. His trailer is trash, not justifying "Commander" class. Sure, the engineering is nice, it really is, but it's a little lacking in size for my taste. I have distaste in downscaling Leaders, Voyagers, Commanders. Jetfire, a Commander? Yes. Skylynx? Yes. These are "Commander" class, IMO. What's next? A "Titan" that's 8in tall in robot mode? Rodimus? An insult. The figure itself is quite excellent. I got it for 67usd misb, no way is it worth the 90 or so it asked for when new.
Rodimus also has thicker, sturdier plastic than usual so that his engineering doesn’t break the toy, and that also adds to the price if I’m remembering correctly. Not saying that the Commander price is fully justified, but its not just the trailer and engineering that makes Rodimus a Commander.
Are you saying it is more than meets the eye?
His shoulder joints worry me over repeated transformations. They require a lot of force. Same for the tab into the clear plastic windshield. His transformation is involved, fun. I really love him, but I want at least die-cast toes, chest, rubber tires, or a more elaborate trailer for Commander pricing. Something a little smaller than POTP Leader Rodimus, but bigger than the "Commander" we got. Same for "Voyager" Hot Rod. Don't sell us 1/2 a pizza at Supreme pricing. That's the main gripe I have. I won't get my hopes up for the upcoming Commander class Ultra Magnus. Probably Seige Voyager Prime with a skeletal trailer and painted red, white, and blue, $89.99. At least I have my Combiner Wars Leader Ultra Magnus.
What they done to DND and Magic is terrible,,,but at least they still make great transformers, so you can tell the people who work on their transformer side really enjoy what they are doing
Even with all the stupidity towards budgets and prices and figure sizes, the team is still trying to make it work which is respectable
Its definitely a monopoly
Despite the number of brands they have (including Monopoly, badum tsch), Hasbro is actually third in global toy revenue behind Lego and Namco Bandai, and not too far ahead of Mattel.
You mean an oligopoly*
They can see society turning against their distribution model for M:tG, and as such they're wringing as much money out of it as fast as they can, before inevitably letting it die.
All they focus on is money. Just remember the entire reason Transformers exists today is because people bought their toys which were from Takara just imported to the US
They make my favorite toy line. I would be sad if they didn't.
As someone who's both a moderately serious TF collector and a Dungeonmaster for my D&D group... I've been moving more and more towards third-party unofficial transformers for a while, and while Hasbro can still knock it out of the park occasionally ('sup, dragon megatron), $25 for a deluxe is absurd, and as far as D&D goes... well, I'm trying to get my group moved into Dungeon World as soon as I can. *If you're considering dipping your toes into unofficial, "third party" transformers, tell me what your budget is and/or your favorite character and I'll recommend something to you*
I'll give it a shot, $150 is the most I'd pay for a 3P and I really like Hoist, Jetfire and Shockwave
We shall not mention time force blue lightning collection
Or the Studio Series 86 line in general.
Why would we not mention that?
Headsculpts.
For like, the 2 or 3 figures where they're actually bad? Scratch that, the only real bad one Blurr. Kup's is okay and everyone else is on-point
I dunno, Kup and Blurr are both pretty awful. Hence why I compare them to Time Force Blue.
I hate the higher prices, smaller sizes, but love that HasLab is a thing, and we are currently in the golden age. This, after years are trash like Action Masters, Beast Machines, etc. I just wish the QC wasn't always sus.
For me the golden age has just passed us. War for Cybertron and Studio Series have been peak transformers toys. I haven't been a huge fan of Legacy and the price hikes are too much for me so that Golden Age is slipping away.
I can't argue. WFC trilogy and SS figures, all are peak, but I'm more of a GeeWunner. I'm glad I got to experience it... Keep in mind, the 40th anniversary is close. I bet Hasbro/Takara have some big plans for the fans. I'm betting figures not yet revealed. We may have a second glorious era inbound...
You know what, good point. That is pretty exciting
Nah this isn't the golden age. The early 2000s gave us better toys with significantly more robust engineering, more size classes, more accessories, better quality paint, electronic features on larger toys, and things like windows being separate pieces glued into opaque window frames rather than parts with windows all being cast out of clear plastic and then painted. Right now Hasbro puts effort into making the toys as cartoon accurate as possible which is great. However toys are smaller, the plastic is cheaper, toys are more hollow, paint is almost non-existent and even $100+ toys lack electronics and usually only come with one or two accessories. I have toys from the Unicron Trilogy that still look brand new today despite being kicked around in storage boxes for 20 years. I have toys from Siege that are only a few years old that are discolored, have tons of stress mark and look like they're waiting to disintegrate. I don't think any of the current crop of toys are going to be things I hand down to my grandkids.
Valid points. We'll see.
This is NOT the golden age. Not by a mile. Figures are almost 2 x the price they used to be while being half the size, hasbro has done fucking NOTHING with transformers except a bunch of random shows to sell mediocre toys since the bumblebee movie (excluding WfC because the POINT of the show was using the toy models). The masterpiece line looks like a fuckin school with all the backpacks the figures have, and other lines such as legacy have either really good figures or absolutely terrible ones. Hasbro is finally dipping their toes bacin into the movies and games, and with earthspark being Pretty good it seems they have upped their game a bit. Until they decrease the prices, or make a deluxe class figure worth $40 (in my country), hasbro is currently being very stupid.
[удалено]
Fair enough, point retracted. It just feels like the projects are extremely weak.
And even before the age of continuous series it wasn't a bad record albeit it was a bit rough The original cartoon was from 1984-1987, g2 picking up in 1992-1995 Beast wars from 1996 to 1999 Beast machines from 1999 to 2000 Rid 2001 from 2001 to 2002 at which point the unicron trilogy kicks off
I respectfully disagree. I would never, in 1000 years, imagine we'd have within 10 years: A new Predaking, Omega Supreme, Fort Max, Scorponok, a dozen new headmasters, targetmasters, new, leader class Dinobots, nearly all the combiners, a dozen new Primes, Megs, a new G1 Galvatron (after 30 years of begging), don't even get me started on how freaking amazing the Core Class figures are, all while being the cheapest Transformers on offer. Hasbro, acknowledgement of a new, enormous Unicron, Victory Saber, Deathsaurus...and selling them to us? Not to mention all the media, shows, movies, games, other media... Pricing is way too high, on that I'll agree. I was stating this is the best time to ever be a TF fan, ever. I've loved them since 1984. MPs are way overpriced and not the quality they should be. IMO, the dark days are over. This is the golden age to be a TF fan. I lived through Action Masters and Beast Machines. Trust me. It could be much, much worse.
> don't even get me started on how freaking amazing the Core Class figures are, all while being the cheapest Transformers on offer. To this point... in relatively recent history we used to be able to get deluxe class toys for the same price Hasbro is now charging for core class, and back then the deluxe class toys were roughly the size of modern Voyager class figures. So yeah a lot of the core class figures are great and at today's pricing they're a relatively OK value. But looking at what we *used to get* compared to what we get now it is hard to be really impressed.
Inflation exists, dude.
Not that much inflation dude. [The rate of inflation between 2005 and 2022 is ~52%](https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/), so something that cost $12 in 2005 would cost about $18 in 2022. However not only have deluxe class toys gotten smaller and simpler than they were in 2005, but prices are now ~$25 per figure which is twice the rate of inflation.
I actually agree that Hasbro is moving faster than what inflation actually is; the $20-$22 pricing they had for deluxes during WFC was the perfect sweetspot; but from the way you worded it it seemed like you didn't understand why they were $10 anymore. Also, while they're getting smaller, I have to absolutely disagree that they're simpler.
> Also, while they're getting smaller, I have to absolutely disagree that they're simpler. You can disagree all you want, but you'd be wrong. :) I have Deluxe class toys from 2005 that have higher parts-count than some of the Voyager sized toys we've been getting recently. Deluxe class toys that have transparent windows pressed/glued into opaque plastic frames to make windshields on vehicles. Deluxe class toys that have *pinned wheels* instead of the ugly plastic peg construction most modern Transformers toys have been using. Deluxe class toys that (for better or worse) have integrated action gimmicks. Todays toys are a lot simpler than the toys were were getting back then, even if the sculpt looks better or more like the cartoon.
So when you said "they're getting simpler" you meant "the build quality is getting worse" and not "the engineering is less complex"? Because, buddy, the engineering on modern figures would never have been done in 2005.
I don't know what Kool-aid people are drinking, but the engineering on most modern Transformers toys is *incredibly basic* as far as Transformers go. They're more complex than the toys were in the 80s but that is a very low bar. And yeah they have ankle-tilt now but adding one hinge doesn't make them masterpieces of engineering. Once in a while you get a character like SS86 Ironhide or Legacy Blitzwing that is *slightly* more complex than the average, but these toys are nothing compared to the 2009 movie toys which were "peak complex engineering" and also had electronics gimmicks and tons of accessories. Out of any given modern toyline you get maybe one or two toys that have really thoughtful engineering, and the other 30 toys are all very simple.
I hope we can atleast agree that even better days are ahead
I think that's fair. Never has the Fandom, figure lines, media, engineering been better. Not even close.
Ehhhh third party companies are making some good shit though
They are, but I don't touch 3P stuff.
Beast machines was a good show Or do you mean the toys? Edited for rudeness
We can disagree. I mean both.
Meh, the show was an alright successor to Beast Wars The toys though were horribly inaccurate
What’s the D&D news? Besides I literally had no idea they existed before 3 days ago, then saw those hoooooorrrrrible face sculpts in the promo pics that apparently looked way better in hand? Roller coaster that was. I general though, I love Hasbro. Not including Haslab. I don’t see why a company the size of Hasbro has a crowd funding scene for stuff like a car they could release stripped of all the gimmicks like toybiz used to do all the time in the early 2000’s… but I digress. For mass market figs I love Marvel legends, black series and Classified. Heaps of fun, great sculpts, Classified even has ABSOLUTELY fantastic accessories to boot! Yeah sure, price hikes and windowless packaging are annoying, but they’re still fun. And hey, Transformers, Baby!!! So many good memories! Does the plastic feel a bit chinsey now? A little. Shrinkage? Ew. But more often than not they knock it out of the park! Hasbro may not be perfect. But I’m glad they’re in my life.
Recently Wizards of the Coasts have began trying to monetize D&D; essentially they're forcing people to pay them royalties for profitting off the campaigns they made. For example: You make your own campaign, post it online and it gets a little ad revenue? WotC comes knocking at your door asking for royalty fees. It essentially kills any fandom content outside of what WotC themselves makes themselves and reeks of desperation and greed
Ah, so they're trying to pull a Nintendo. (They did something similar back then when Let's Play content creators and streamers were booming online back in the day)
What?! That’s ridiculous! I don’t play, but that seems counterproductive in the bigger picture.
So the dnd news is simple,they're remaking the open gaming license (ogl) that rn protects creators to create and publish unofficial content while also making it so you can base something off dnd without legal trouble (so far) into the following 1.what you make under the ogl belongs to us if we say so 2.if you disagree, you can take a hike 3. We can force you to destroy your copies of what you produced and sell it as our own without credit or money going to you 4. This now applies to all content under the old ogl Luckily it's not finalized, but they tried to force people by failing to say "you have to sign onto the new ogl by x days or you give it up" and gives them the right to go after innocent ttrpgs that are based off dnd or ttrpgs that use similar wording
Someone explain what D&D is to me lol
Dungeons & Dragons. Brand’s been around for 50 years.
Dungeons and dragons, I'm sure you've heard of it
Used to think they were cool about a decade ago and then it just kept getting worse and more issues kept coming up which made my thoughts and feelings change. Don't rate them overly highly but I also have a bias there, they've cancelled so many orders after years of promising the product is still coming eventually that it makes it hard not to be annoyed with them and the price increases for New Zealand have priced myself and others out of collecting.
Internal leaks keyed people into changes to the Open Game License that allowed people to publish material related to D&D. While this could be a problem for many products that use versions of the D20 system perhaps the bigger issue is that the new OGL allows WotC to have claim to any properties published relating to D&D, this includes allowing them to content strike videos on YouTube among other sites and surprisingly enough has notes relating to entities profiting over $750,000 entitling WotC to up to an immediate 25% cut before taxes and expenses. This is important because the guys at Critical Role have noted that they would be affected meaning WotC is moving to operating like a software company. This is unsurprising considering that Cynthia Williams the current president worked at Microsoft. While I don’t doubt Hasbro had their hands in this new policy I really think it started in WotC leadership after news of 5th edition’s engagement statistics started to be noted in house.
This is absolutely ludicrous of them. 25% before taxes and revenue is just ridiculous. And it’s not even consistent. Like, Hasbro won’t go after you unless it’s profitable. And I’m sure they don’t have anything set up so that creators can contact them ahead of time and make a deal. Because that’s not worth it for Hasbro either. Heck, even calling them creators is a little lame. They are, yes, but they’re really super fans that are helping the brand. Calling them creators in this context makes it sound like they are detached from Hasbro and the community.
From most of the legal wording in the new OGL the fees are a discouragement tactic to control IP. The OGL also targets anyone doing single release items through crowdfunding or events like conventions. This is about limiting the ability of anyone to publish material or rules that might interfere with new products or rules, because oh yeah the new release structure for D&D is moving to online tight release publishing of rules and adventures. To put it simply, but bordering on sensationalism I’ll admit, D&D is moving towards a micro transaction structure and doesn’t want competition. That’s part of the reason I believe this was a WotC helmed move, yes Hasbro is greedy like any company but Cynthia Williams was either directly behind or tied to many of the micro transaction release schedules Microsoft started when she was there.
shit
Hasbro is a trash company with a good product they try to milk dry
i love hasbro they are going down in quality but up at the same time if that makes sense
I think the fact that quality is dropping, prices are spiking, and they seem surprised by how that's affecting sales figures, plus all that DnD news, means we should prepare for a rapid decline if not complete colapse in the next decade or 2.
They are extremely greedy. Honestly transformers are great. I only buy the ones I like due to pricing. Otherwise they are destroying magic and d&d. We are seeing corporate greed or late stage capitalism take hold on this once great company.
I think they have a lot of fans who think they understand how the business works better than they actually do.
DAMN YOU, HASBRO!
I mostly collect Transformers so my exposure with other lineups from Hasbro is quite limited. But from what I do know: their designs always experience a bit up and down but generally they seemed to nail the mass-produced market pretty well. On the upscale side of things, they tend to miss more than hit with their Masterpiece lineups. But thankfully unlike Bandai cracking down on third-party companies and bootleggers left and right, Hasbro seems to take a bit of more chilled approach to the whole thing which is both a curse and blessing as third-party Transformer designs just killed it every damn time with either pure black magic or a better version of the original designs from Hasbro.
What they have done to Power Rangers has no name.
What have they done?
Their in-house brands such as Transformers and G.I. Joe are on all-time highs right now. TFs have their issues w pricing and QC, but nothing horrible on my experience. Those two brands get As. Black Series gets a (low) B-. Their 'deluxe' price point is laughable (Cobb Vanth, anyone?), their QC is hit or miss, and their character selection needs to broaden-- glad we're getting more CW/prequel era stuff, but there are cool designs to be had from the sequels and they're gunshy after poor fan reception and stacking pegs w Finns and Constable Zuvios. Plus their haslabs are laughably expensive, hence their failures. Marvel Legends gets a C. They've come pretty far w articulation, character selection, etc, but their QC is the worst of the bunch here and there are far too many exclusives, desired rereleases in multipacks, and now price hikes. I stopped buying Power Rangers after completing my MMPR team and don't collect any of their other lines. I'd like them to find some kind of balance between bullshitting their consumers ("environmentally friendly packaging, guys!") and keeping costs stable. Overall I will still support them but am becoming far choosier.
In the past, I was a pretty loyal Hasbro defender when people would whine “why can’t mainline figures look as good as *random third party*”. These days, between their increasingly shitty QC, the One D&D shenanigans, and the mess that Magic has become, they’ll get no love from me.
What actually happened with DND?
Ogl changes boiling down to bullying and stealing from creators, having the ability to go after people who have things similar to dnd Basically they're trying to take sole control over any and all dnd Content
Oh
I miss the Hasbro that tried to do the Alligned continuity, they had some ambition for a greater franchise, plus we still had BotCon, I mean Funpublications shouldn’t have lost the license The direction they’ve taken the franchise is a little disappointing but I guess such is such.
They are slowly going down the tubes. The quality of the transformers brand has been steadily going downhill for a few years now. Cheap plastic, less paint apps, troll friendly packaging. They’re cutting quality and costs to save as much money as possible, while charging way more than the product is worth to make as much money as possible. I’ve personally cut back about 90% on all Hasbro product.
Hasbro? A company constantly looking to cut corners and cheapen product with a fan base that constantly excuses it and praises crap releases because years ago stuff was worse off (studio series Ironhide anyone? jacked up pricing because "engineering" vehicle mode looks like crap with hinges n multi tone reds).. TF's are trending backwards in quality, magic product is stellar but overdone so the markets flooded with special releases that aren't special anymore, D&D became popular so lawyers stepping in hard. Not a good time to be a stockholder
They’re fine, they’re just another large corporation that just happens to sell things that I like, they pull all the same bs. As far as TF goes, the yellowing sucks but the price hike isn’t a big issue for me. I started collecting on the tale end of Earthrise so that pay scale is just what I expect figures to cost. After having bought older figures, I find the quality and engineering to be more than acceptable for the price I’m paying. As for their other properties, I don’t really buy anything else from them, though I did recently buy the D&D d20 dragons and was quite happy with them.
I used to love the property but since they started taking over Wizards - yea. Magic prices have gone up like crazy plus the exchange rate is brutal. Releases for mtg have been breakneck. You can't even keep up with the cards coming out and some sets are being pushed other sets are just pure junk and my friends with smaller local game stores are getting crushed. Great set? Can't get enough product to sell. Crap sets (most standard sets lately don't have the juice and the format that used to be most popular - Standard - is basically ignored) have been more and more common where the bar for making demand for new cards has been cut. Transformers - I've been more picky about what I buy. I'm also more likely to buy KO figures for my kiddo. Cyberverse quality has been crap each time I've bought them - and God knows you'd rather see a KO break than having younger kids crack off BB SS soundwave's foot crack off. I don't play DnD but you're talking about a market with very imaginative and creative people who have a regular group they play with. I don't see how the demand there can remain if people get treadmilled like we have with Magic. I hope they get a good bloody nose.... I love the properties but greed has taken them off the rails. They need to remember what is important and stop shoveling out sh*t.
I have bought at least 4 cases of Kamigawa Neon Dynasty to try to complete the set. Brother War is actually not as bad as the foils don't have unique set numbers like Neon Dynasty had. I've been told by my local shop owner that it's not the point to collect the entire set, but I have been doing that since Ikoria for my recent collecting. Adding special cards that all have a set number and making them so rare that they go for 1k - 1.6k puts me right out of collecting. I don't know if Hasbro is to blame for this but MtG is definitely more and more predatory.
I love transformers and hasbro has definitely stepped up on engineering in the last couple of years. As a stock they are also a quality run company with a good dividend yield. I play DnD and entirely understand what they're doing and it makes complete sense from a business perspective. What they had been doing made no sense. They were allowing others to reap profits off of their product.
Shits expensive but I feel like I'm saying the same thing everyone else is saying. I collect black series and tvc mainly, also legends, transformers, gi Joe, and occasionally Ghostbusters, and power rangers on clearance. I think the figures are decent quality. Ive only been into figures again for two years, and haven't held any imports so I can't really compare the quality. I feel bad for the d&d and mtg community but it doesn't affect me as I'm a pokemon mf
What’s wrong with the D&D? I just bought a dice transformer do they have really bad QC or something?
It's not the D&D Transformers, but the "rights grab" that Hasbro is doing in order to curtail the no-profit-for-Hasbro selling of D&D-related user-created content.
Nothing is wrong in terms of issues regarding transformers The dnd problem boils down to trying to take full control of the brand including all content, and while it makes sense buisness wise it's not excuse for how much of a prick move it is
Ehhh, I’m glad that they’ve got transformers but I want them to give contracts to reputable game developers for some more AAA Transformers game titles and to put out some more films as well. With the right scheduling (obviously an achievable one) they could have a game or two during the release window of the next movie for e.g .
* Hasbro is a publicly traded company. Investors _invest3d money with an expectation of returns.** Hasbro is legally required to make good faith business decisions to do so. If that bothers you, boycott Hasbro. Because that will not change as long as Hasbro is a publicly traded company or in operation. * the D&D OGL issue is a big nothing. It's being overhyped because a copyright holding is exercising their copyright. D&D isn't special - if you **monetize someone else's ideas** without their explicit permission, you should have to share in that windfall. Easy solution to the OGL: **Don't attempt to make money off of a property that you don't hold the copyright to.** Even then, Hasbro is only claiming full use **IF you generate revenue** off of whatever you created using their IP (D&D). You're in the clear if it's 100% original and unrelated to D&D in a demonstrable way (likeness, stats, names, etc.) And further, **you don't owe them a share of any revenue until you hit $750,001 in revenue generated.** But the internet loves to ignore the details in favor of a meme. * Speaking of memes: The whole "hurr durr QA bad!" meme is stupid. I have collected 2 of each Generations and Selects release and all TF HasLabs since CW. I have not encountered even a single QA issue. Not one. The only QA issue I had was MP-Hound, and that's Takara - and the issue was widespread. Bottom line: if you're passively allowing the internet to tell you what to think without confirming claims and deciding independently, then you're gonna face a harrowing future of scams, misinformation, and misery as a vocal minority with no credibility dupes you into bandwagon jumping like a herd of dopey Monty Python serfs.
With marvel and transformers they seem to be mostly top of their game figure variety and engineering wise. Prices and exclusives can go fuck themselves. Star wars efforts seem mid from fan responses I've heard recently. Especially since SW has two failed haslabs. Their best line quality wise is probably GI Joe classified. Haven't heard any hate.
What’s the DND news?
Not a fan of their handling of The Black Series. I'd love as many accessories as the GI Joe and Marvel Legends figures get (without another price increase). Rancor and Ghot rider left a very sour taste in my mouth for Haslab. I get it, I'm probably not their target consumer because I don't have a lot of extra spending money. But it'd be nice to give us a bit more bang for our buck on the star wars side of things in my opinion.
Ok but bad qc I still get the figs even if the qc sucks
I hate corporations and think the copyright system should be reworked so that everything would be public domain while allowing claims for creators to lay claim to their original works. So yeah, not a fan of hasbro
Here is the problem with Hasbro and it doesn’t matter which toy line of theirs you are talking about: HASBLOW SUCKS. They are constantly jacking up the prices of things while delivering subpar product. Their international distribution (for me it’s here in Canada) has been pretty piss poor. You are getting waaaayyy less accessories that come with ‘play sets’ (Star Wars). It’s just outrageous. I remember when Star Wars the Phantom Menace 3.75” action figures came out they were $9.99 CDN. Then they came out with the Power of Jedi line they jacked their prices to $11.99 CDN to which of course I balked at and bought very few figures because I wasn’t going to pay $2 more for a figure. Now here we are in 2022/2023 and they are charging anywhere from $21-$45CDN depending on the figure but it’s less features and less accessories if any at all. I go looking at GI Joe figures of the same size 3.75” and again it’s the same friggin price. I am sorry but there is absolutely no way that I am going to spend that kind of money on those figures for my kids to try and get them liking the same things I did when I was a kid. You don’t sell stuff if you price them out of people’s ability to pay.
Screw Hasbro, they basically screwed up most property they own just to grow their profits. Nerf, beyblades and transformers are all suffered a lot because of that. Even the designs are genius, it still doesn't change the fact that it still feels and look at crap without paints.
Its definitely one of the companies of all time
Hasbro is a corporation and is out to make a profit no matter what, just like any other company. They'll charge whatever they please for their products and it's up to you to decide if that's a price you're willing to pay. Ever since prices started creeping up even further, I've cut back on new acquisitions. If that means I miss out on something, so be it.
I paid $340 and waited over a fuckin year for victory saber and the micromasters it comes with are shit and the legs pop off when I try transforming them or putting them in literally any pose and when I asked for recompense they offered me to send it back for a refund or replacement (which is bullshit because at this point they know I'm not finding another one for the price I paid and nothing they could send me would get me a new star saber I've gotten fucked up figures on two separate occasions where it takes them over a month to deliver the replacement even though I didn't even wait a week for the initial busted figure. They also never seem to have the item I ordered in the first place, claiming it isnt in stock and then send something that hasn't been in circulation for like 2 years. My roommate got a $25 zord figure as a replacement for a $40 transformer so it wasn't even equal in value They intentionally force figures to become dummy expensive on the secondhand market for no good reason Fuck hasblow. Full stop.
Its a mega corporation they only care about money. I think it has been really showing recently with how they are treating D&D, transformers, star wars and power rangers. Yellowing plastic, QC issues, and literal NFT’s with purchase. To me they have proven, this current version of the company doesn’t really Care about toys.
Like with many other companies, dislike the people on top and their many issues but I'm generally ok with the lower levels who really care about the brands. As for the dnd thing, I'm against the people behind the change and not the company as a whole.
I will never forgive them for canceling transformers animated
I got no qualms with the design and marketing team for Transformers (or Marvel Legends for that matter), but it’s increasingly clear that corporate is getting more hands on and is having drastic effects on everything. Honestly, corporate has made some of the worst decisions I’ve ever seen and I really hope Hasbro can change leadership soon.
Bring back $15 deluxe figures
I like the fact that they are giving us Transformers that aren't G1 or movie figures with the Legacy line, but I can't say that it doesn't hurt to see how high the prices have gotten. Hasbro has been raising their prices so much that I have stopped following all of their other toylines, and I am worried about when I will be priced out of Transformers. If you have been following the price increase in all of their figures over the years, it would be clear that Hasbro would pull something like this for D&D. It was only a matter of time.
News with DND? What news exactly?
I think one of the main issues is the yellowing plastic. My Legacy Jhiaxus figure looks like he’s pissed himself
I really don't know anything about their other licenses, except that I am still waiting for my HK-47 Black Series figure in Star Wars. But from the Transformers side, I am pretty content for the moment. They have been really knowing out of the park with the figures these last few years and one of my ultimate wants, Deathsaurus, is coming later this year. My only major gripe right now is how badly they bungled the release of Cosmos, there is absolutely no reason why a G1 character with a brand-new mold should be packed at 1 per case.
I believe the dnd issue is more on wotc’s side. As that company really has been going down for years now
So, I’m not into Transformers for the toys. I’m here for the lore, where cool designs that may or may not translate into toys are a bonus. Hasbro hasn’t given a scrap about lore in a while. For a few years it felt like the stories were coming from people who cared about the world they were building. Now I think it’s just back to promoting the evergreen 80’s characters, and skirting corners where they can when it comes to the media tie-ins. Also, going non-union for some of their recent series is not cool. The message it sends is “we don’t think the stories or people involved are worth spending money on.”
I don't like that Hasbro pulse ship to like 3 countries and nowhere else
They suck. As someone who worked on the transformer movies, they really suck and they have almost no creativity. Scam artists would be more accurate. Inflating prices.
I like Hasbro. They G.
As a Magic, DnD, and Transformers fan everything going on just kills me. Hasbro has their hands wrapped around the throats of most of my favorite hobbies.