The Collectors Matter To Hasbro...Not

Fred Broca · 02-07-2010, 06:04 PM

I originally posted this on the Tank. I thought y'all might appreciate it.

I don't have a computer, but I'm able to surf the site via the web browser on my phone. Through the various reading I've done on this site, I've come the startling and unfortunate realization, that we the loyal, faithful, fanboys of G.I. JOE really don't matter to the executives at Hasbro.

Hasbro, (in my honest opinion,) they completely and totally take us for granted. The brass at Hasbro probably says, "It's cool that we have a percentage of the collectors. We like and appreciate their support. But the reality of situation is we're a toy company that carters to children. The target demographic of the G.I. JOE line is boys between the ages of 5-11, maybe even 12. Besides, when it comes to 3 3/4" military based action figures and accessories, where are they going to go?"

When you think it, all of Hasbro's decisions concerning Joe makes sense. Especially when you think about the design of certain characters and figures. This train of thought especially makes sense when you think about the direction the movie took.

Sure Hasbro will throw us a bone every now and then, but we're not the focus. But like somebody so eloquently put in the Joes not selling well thread, http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-jo...ling-well.html, "Hasbro needs to realize that as with Joes are concerned that the target demo shouldn't be 9 yr olds, but guys who started buying the line when they were 9.

fogger1138 · 02-07-2010, 07:50 PM

It's true - the collectors are not the demographic that they're going for.

*Ewokhunter92* · 02-07-2010, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fogger1138

It's true - the collectors are not the demographic that they're going for.

and the movie line proved this.

Maritime96 · 02-07-2010, 09:28 PM

From what I understand there is alot of turnover of employees at Hasbro in their various toy line departs. I have been told by some people that becuase of this no one is left around to say "hey we tried that a few years ago and that idea is not going to work". This is why they always seem to go back and make the same mistakes in their lines that the pervious employees made only few years prior, like having no desire to hear the collectors desires. I remeber the GI Joe show the year Sigma Six first came out. Hasbro said they had asked children in their "target" age range and that the kids had said these were the EXACT style of figures they wanted and that they had no desire for vehicles for their figures, so there would not be any. (Then some kid got up and asked what good were these figures if they had no vehicles to ride in LOL) Look how well that worked out for them. - I think this is just a case of a new bunch of folks running the line who believe that the collectors just don't matter and the line will survive no matter what we do. These guys will learn the hard way as well I think. Cause I don't know about you guys but when I see kids in the store they are running to the video games not the action figures.

Paul · 02-07-2010, 10:16 PM

I've responded to this in an editorial now on the front page. My response became too long, and i think it's relevant to our site.

http://www.fighting118th.com/2010/02...my-of-g-i-joe/

midgettem1 · 02-07-2010, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul

I've responded to this in an editorial now on the front page. My response became too long, and i think it's relevant to our site.

http://www.fighting118th.com/2010/02...my-of-g-i-joe/

I liked the editorial Paul. I think the last paragraph pretty much nails my feeling on how Hasbro (mis)handles the Joe franchise.

Paul · 02-08-2010, 05:43 AM

thanks, midgettem.

K-Tiger · 02-08-2010, 05:45 AM

Very good editorial.

I think the fans need to do some moving on, too. It's not gonna be a successful one-way street.

nacho · 02-08-2010, 05:54 AM

Paul, that was incredibly insightful. It was truthful in it's criticisms without coming across as a typical "whiny fanboy". Bravo.

I can't agree more, as I've argued many times in this vein about the reboot of the Joe comics by IDW. The continuity created by the original Joe run gave the characters depth that they will likely never see again. Yet reboots are the soup-du-jour, in comics, in comic and toy film franchises, etc. Companies feel that it's consumers have the memory of a goldfish, and the only way to reach us is to give us the same thing over and over, only ratcheting up the wow-factor each time. It reminds me of the early 90's when everything from comics to toys to breakfast cereal was "eXtreme!" As if we're only attracted to bright lights and shiny objects. Drama in conjunction with character development is for chumps!

As a contrast, can you imagine the outrage if Lucas said he was going to reboot the Star Wars franchise, and this time Luke was going to be a Ninja, and he was going to have lightsabers coming out of his fingers like claws. Chewy would still be a wookie, a wookie with dreadlocks. Leia would be modeled after Angelena Jolie, and Luke would fly around in the XXX-Wing fighter, now with three times the wings for more awesome death star blasting power!.....

Kinda turns the stomach, doesn't it? That's the feeling I get every time they give us a new version of Joe or Transformers that crushes what I know, rather than building on it to form something greater. It's not that I'm stuck in the 80's. I enjoy nostalgia as much as the next guy, but it mostly makes me sad that the property will never go beyond constant reboots and rehashed toys of the same dozen characters. They claim that they want to keep it fresh for each new group of kids. But deep down we all know that's marketing speak for, "It wasn't selling, so we had to change it." They can't seem to realize how great a property can be by giving it both an opportunity and a reason to grow beyond it's initial concept, to create depth - not repaints, to create drama - not 'nanomites'. It's the dividing line between a "property" and a "franchise".

Paul · 02-08-2010, 06:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nacho

to create drama - not 'nanomites'

This sums up my problem with Rise of Cobra. The Commander could only get people to follow him, not because his scheme was better, not because he was charismatic leader, but because he injected them with a deus ex machina miracle techy thing.

Welcome to the definition of bad writing and poor film making.

I get that Hasbro didn't write the script, but come on, take some ownership of your baby. Bungie had the Halo script written in house before pitching it to the studios. Instead, Hasbro just licenses out GI Joe. Such shameful treatment of it's work.

Quote:

Originally Posted by K-Tiger

Very good editorial.

I think the fans need to do some moving on, too. It's not gonna be a successful one-way street.

This is true. Fans can get so stuck in an era, with no possible hope for accepting anything given to them. A Real American Hero era stuff simply doesn't work today and fans can't come to terms with that. Hell, the entire adult collecting industry is built on taking advantage of people's obsession with not being able to move on from 1980s. An entire generation, lost.