http://(bleep)/news.php?catid=9&itemid=18719
-JJJ
I just saw this on other sites. Wonder what it means for all the toys that should be coming out anytime now. Are they going to wait? Will they just produce more closer to the movie's release? Should be interesting.
That's...really just mind-boggling. Don't know what else to say. :b
As far as the toys are concerned, one of two things will happen. 1.) The toys will be sold as much of the product is sitting in the stockrooms or 2.) The product will be shipped back to Hasbro. Stores will NOT sit on product for a year. Space is limited & if there isn't money to be made off the real estate, it might as well be trash.
I think if anything this means it will take even longer for Kwinn to get released. He might have been scheduled for release next year but now Retaliation will probably be promoted well into 2013.
It'll be interesting to see what happens. I can't imagine the Retaliation figures will do well for almost a full year before the movie even hits a screen (or well, at all, considering how long the first movie figures languished), but that's what's been in development and, as said above, is minimally headed to, if not sitting in, retail warehouses now. Even if Hasbro recalled all the Retaliation stuff until next year, what takes its place? I can't imagine there's much tooled beyond the movie stuff and, even if it is, how long before it could reasonably be on the pegs?
If feels, to me, like this is going to be more bad, possibly horrible news, for Joe at retail.
-JJJ
I'm really curious to see how this pans out. The nearest TRU had 1 each of Snake Eyes, Cobra Commander, Zartan, and a Cobra Trooper on the pegs this past weekend. I doubt they're still there, but will Hasbro re-arrange their upcoming assortments, ship more of the prior waves, or release the movie figures now sans movie?
I saw most of the toys today at both Walmart and TRU, and bought a few. Word has come down from Hasbro to retailers: "Sell them now, forget the street date". So at least the first 2 waves will be around for awhile. The remaining waves may be the ones delayed. I think it may be a good thing for the brand. Generate the interest in the characters for kids, then the movie will resonate more with them. And less chance of a glut of product on the shelves like all other Hasbro movie brands.
I saw most of the toys today at both Walmart and TRU, and bought a few. Word has come down from Hasbro to retailers: "Sell them now, forget the street date". So at least the first 2 waves will be around for awhile. The remaining waves may be the ones delayed. I think it may be a good thing for the brand. Generate the interest in the characters for kids, then the movie will resonate more with them. And less chance of a glut of product on the shelves like all other Hasbro movie brands.
But will kids care at all enough about the characters to buy them with no movie to support them?
I think this is going to be a disaster for Joe at retail. It was struggling enough as it was after the first movie line choked the pegs for months. If that happens again, and I can't really see why it won't, I think retailers could easily jack it in with the brand, period.
-JJJ
I have to agree with JJJason. This could be disastrous for the Joe line. No matter what Hasbro does at this point there is going to be a bad taste in the mouth of Big box retailers. Its MOTU 200X all over again. Instead of repaints its
Kid "Why is that old wrestler guy a GI Joe mommy?"
Mom "He was in that movie dear."
Kid "Can we go see that movie?"
Mom "No. They canceled it or something. Let's just get you another Beyblade."
It would be great if they would just make & ship more of that recent wave with the Zombie viper and Storm Shadow - both of which I still have yet to find at retail!
Joes survived and even thrived for decades without a movie. There's always been some sort of media to keep them in kid's minds. Cartoons, comics, video games. To the few kids who haven't been exposed to the Retaliation trailer, what they'll see on the pegs is no different than what they've seen for years - Soldiers, bad guys, ninjas, guns and swords. As long as there's a Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, they'll figure out the rest.
Joes survived and even thrived for decades without a movie. There's always been some sort of media to keep them in kid's minds. Cartoons, comics, video games. To the few kids who haven't been exposed to the Retaliation trailer, what they'll see on the pegs is no different than what they've seen for years - Soldiers, bad guys, ninjas, guns and swords. As long as there's a Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, they'll figure out the rest.
Obviously, there's a point at which speculation becomes moot and I'd say we're pretty much there, but the fact remains the first movie line did not do will with the movie in the theater and it cost Joe a lot of retail space. I can't see a scenario in which this isn't worse. Saying that, we'll see what happens.
Saying THAT, I want my Kwinn.
-JJJ
Hasbro replied to my email with a short statement:
G.I. Joe is an ongoing consumer franchise and therefore there is merchandise available to consumers. There is a limited amount of G.I. Joe Retaliation product at retail now, but in light of the movie moving out to March 29, 2013, the majority of the movie line will be made available early next year in time for the film’s release.
I'm not really sure what everyone wanted them to say, but it's better than recalling everything putting it into a landfill, I guess.
So, what do they do once the initial Retaliation shipments, I wonder.
-JJJ
Since nothing like this has ever happened, its hard to say what will indeed happen with the Joe line. Lets look at the past 11 years here,
early 2000's
ARAH vintage style, lots of repaints, vehicles, new characters, decent easy to find exclusives (no cartoons, comics etc) Did pretty well!
JvC/Spy Troops/ Venom& Valor DTC- All new sculpts lots of vehicles new characters easy to order Dtc figures(new comic series, 2 animated movies) did great!
Mid 2000's
Sigma Six- whole new format mixed reactions high price points, weird character selection (comics animated series) Mixed bag
25th Resolute Great update to the series lots of characters, army builders, vehicles, exclusives (several comic series, animated mini series)
ROC First movie line, massive character avilabilty, vehicles playsets, exclusives, mixed bag mostly based on reactions to the movie. (movie, comic, video game)
Now we get to modern times
POC/30th/Renagades Some of the best figures ever to come from Hasbro but sadly avilabilty is a factor here based on the fallout of the ROC line. Plus for the first time since Sigma 6 we have an animated series to back them up but its canned for the movie which again now leaves to What now? Basically we have never been without a Joe line no longer then 4 or 5 months. To me you dont have to HAVE a media source to sell the figures, the early 2000's proved that. Sadly since this just happend Hasbro had all their focus on the movie With them not shipping anything past MAYBE wave 2 (wouldnt hold my breath on wave 2 even making it out) what can they do besides take a massive loss in sales? The easiest thing to do would to rerelease the later waves of PoC/30th in a combined Best of assortment kinda like what the DG figures are. No new sculpting would be needed, just look how simple repaints can make a brand new figure! Honestly what will happen is Hasbro wont do anything though. What worries me is the stores and how they will be able to accept Hasbro early next year since they all got screwed big time this summer will they be forgiving? Joe fans will no matter what they say now but it is indeed a dark time for a Joe fan...
" F***Ing Ebay!!"
