Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner hosted the Hasbro Toy Fair 2016 Investor & Press Day today and revealed future plans for the Transformers Franchise.
During last Monday’s 2015 Financial Results reveal, Hasbro announced that Nerf dethroned Transformers as the biggest Hasbro franchise. But, the game is on as Hasbro prepares to take the entertainment world by storm with Transformers 5 and the Transformers Cinematic Universe.
Highlights:
- New Toys Revealed – Titans Return, RID, Rescue Bots (Images with this news post)
- Transformers 5 Release Date
- Transformers 5 Sneak Peek
- Bumblebee Spinoff Announced – Release Date
- Transformers 6 Release Date
- Plans unveiled for the Transformers Cinematic Universe
- Transformers: Generations
- Transformers Live Action Show in China
- Quickshadow joins Transformers Rescue Bots.
For our full coverage with images, read more after the jump.
The presentation started with a slide containing a new image of Robots In Disguise Bumblebee.
Slightly different RID Bee and Prime. More glossy.
Amazing moment came when Hasbro revealed the release date of Transformers 5, Transformers 6, a sneak peek of the Writers Room and a spinoff of Transformers Movie Bumblebee. You can check it out on our slide screens.
- June 23rd, 2017 – Transformers 5
- June 8th, 2018 – Bumblebee Spin-off
- June 28th, 2019 – Transformers 6
Said that Transformers: Generations will continue to cater the adult collectors.
New Live action Transformers show in China in a custom theater for 45,000
Entertainment and storytelling to continue.
Fans are now categorized:
- Casual Fans
- Core Fans
- Hardcore Fans
- Super Fans
More polls will be carried out to know what fans want.
griffin-of-oz
You might find that that slide is actually referring to "Generations" growing to a 30% share of the Transformers brand sales (which is the toyline aimed at adult collectors)… not 30% of buyers being adult collectors.
Unless Hasbro has done extensive polling at a lot of stores, there is no way they can give more than just a guess at their demographics (like their previous 10-15% estimate)… but they can give accurate numbers on what percentages of each toyline in Transformers is selling at. (Generations has been the one growing in recent years, to the point that it featured more than RID this year at various Toyfairs, despite not having a cartoon or movie behind it that Retailers will only prioritise)
Oshboggy
Happened to pop in here. Enjoying the discussion. Good food for thought and mental exercises from SMOG, goaliebot, bellpeppers et al.
Rodimus Prime
The problem is that this is the first time they did genuine scramble combiners since G1, so of course fans of the originals want to see their favorites updated. However, what I don't understand is why didn't they just use the original characters for Cyclonus' limbs? Heck, then they wouldn't have had to change it from Ruckus at the last moment.
Collectibot
Ruined FOREVER
GrimlockPrimal
To be fair, when was the last MP released by Hasbro (that wasn't a re-release of a previously-released one)?
Still, I don't get why Combiner Wars got flak for introducing new characters to the mythos. Obviously it's the designated "older audience" line, but it's been 30+ years since G1, and it looks like Hasbro decided to try doing something different with the Scramble combiners.
Going by the threads on this board, obviously enough is never enough.
Again, the fandom won't be satisfied unless it goes 100% collector-oriented, hence why MP's are the new big thing in 3P.
SMOG
Yeah, they're diversifying a lot. I think they are definitely responding to the growing and more vocal collector market, and I'm happy about that. They still make some calls I'm not happy about, but it's hard to argue with Combiner Wars and Titans Return… that's pretty much aimed squarely at us (while hoping kids will also find the toys cool, even if they aren't directly linked to a regular TV series).
zmog
Cal
Hey… uh…. aren't we going to see photos from the panel? The staff mentioned something about a rough prototype for Trypticon being shown.
Hollywood Hoist
You make a lot of great points, we're all just speculating about what happens behind closed doors. 30% is a decent percentage, and if all adults stopped buying TF, Hasbro will certainly feel it, which is good that Hasbro has stuff aimed at adults (MP and Generations), preschool kids (rescue bots), the 6-12 age kids (RiD and generations). They even have different sub-lines to cater to the different play patterns like one step, warrior class, generations.
SMOG
Or… the means of reporting changed as well… or they started bringing in more data from Asia… or they redrew certain categories… it's hard to say.
I'm still very curious how they obtain this kind of market research, because I'm not sure how they can precisely account for where those dollars are coming from. Statistical calculations like this have all sorts of methodological dynamics to consider.
30% is actually pretty huge. Cut your income by 30%, and then you'll start taking that a lot more seriously.
And let's just put this into a practical context day-to-day scenario… if I'm out buying toys, I would say that typically, 1 out of 3 people I run into specifically looking at or buying Transformers is an adult fan (as opposed to a child or a parent). Seriously… it's actually a -novelty- when I actually see a KID in that aisle. And that doesn't factor in the fact that I'm a collector myself, observing this ratio in action, so that jigs things even further.
Plus, I'll bet you that I'm in that TRU more regularly than the majority of those parents, and probably drop a lot more money on TFs. How often do these kids get new toys? Once a month? On Birthdays and Christmas?
Of course all of this is totally anecdotal and proves nothing at all… there are ton of variables involved there. But it's still pretty strange when you think about it.
It could be a chicken and egg question as well. If you make more TF toys, more adults will buy them, right?
There are factors that contributed to this, for sure… Bayformers changed the game by dramatically boosting the brand's visibility and profile beyond the fandom and little kids, and shuffling the perceptions about at what age you're still allowed to think this stuff is 'cool'.
Geek culture took off, and now it's really not nearly as much of a stigma to be obsessed with the material culture of your childhood anymore. We're a generation of escapists, and we're not afraid to admit it.
And of course, Hasbro started actually developing material to directly appeal to those markets, so by any logical reasoning, the sales returns from the adult market would go up because those products existed now to be bought.
Or it says that boys need more positive reinforcement to be seen collecting MLP, while with girls, it's not so weird that they have to push that market.
Honestly, I think being a girl who is into robots is seen as way less "weird" than a (straight) guy into MLP. Remember that half the reason we've all heard so much about the 'Brony' movement is because it's seen as something weird and slightly creepy… it's sensational, so people talk about it, and it gets treated somewhat like there must be something 'wrong' with them.
I doubt girl Transformers fans would barely make the news, and that's because it's just not that shocking. Or that's my perspective anyway.
Yeah, though again… I think that so-called 'boys' content has actually become way more accepted as appropriate 'unisex' content for girls, than the other way around. I think the colour-coded barrier of the "pink aisle" is way more of an impediment to boys, than the other aisles are to girls.
Either way, I do agree it's a problem. We should be trying to de-segregate the streams a bit. And although both boy/girl toys tend to reinforce gender stereotypes (violence/action vs domestic/fashion) I think that the typical girl tropes are more limiting, vacuous, and overbearing.
There's another factor too… its not always just the toy companies, but also (and maybe largely) the dealers themselves… big chains like TRU and Walmart. Ultimately, they have a lot of power to tell even giants like Hasbro "We want that/we don't want this". I think this came up recently surrounding the whole Black Widow / Rey action figure shortage. Hasbro said that Rey was actually part of the demo line they shopped to retailers, and most of the big chains said "we don't want all these girl figures, they don't sell". That could just be Hasbro passing the buck, but I think that's also part of the problem.
zmog
Kranix2k
So most of us can call ourselves the "30-Percenters" now?
Hollywood Hoist
That's the thing we don't know if more adults have started buying TF's or if the number of kids has gone down. It seems Hasbro is happy with their sales figures, so my guess is that more adults are buying TF's then there was 10 years ago or maybe even 5 years ago.
Hollywood Hoist
More boys like Transformers and more girls like MLP, but that is a generalization, there are a lot more girl Transformer fans than I think people realize. The gender separation is getting better, but still has a long ways to go.
Hollywood Hoist
I don't believe anyone says that adults don't make up any percentage of the buying group. The general comment is that adults don't make up a large percentage. Given that in the last 4 years it has increased by 55%, to a total of 30%. So that makes adult collectors at best 20% prior to 2012.
People made up percentages to suit their argument either for or against. I've read posts proclaiming adults aren't a blip on Hasbro's radar, and I've also read people saying that adults are the main group purchasing Transformers. Neither of these are accurate. It's obvious that adult fans are on Hasbro's radar for a while based on early Masterpiece and the classics line. All I recall Hasbro saying is that adults make up a small percentage of the purchases, and that was long time ago that they said that. 20% and even 30% aren't huge numbers. I think the reason we are getting more figures directed to long time fans is a result of that percentage increase.
In the end Hasbro is making figures with adult collectors in mind and it seems to be building.
SMOG
I feel that in practice, this was a bit of a straw argument though. It feels like far more often, there was an immediate 'Hasbro white-knight' response to anybody if they even so much as dared to criticize a Hasbro product or marketing decision.
Of course, the amusing thing is that I suppose that argument above turned out to be the 'right' one… because Hasbro DID decide that adult fans were an important demographic, and DID start aiming product directly at them. So at least Hasbro saw the reasoning there, even if their overzealous supporters didn't.
Exactly. But I'm still also curious to know how that data is collected. It seems like a very difficult thing to measure.
You? I have no idea. I haven't been keeping a list. But comments like that sure were common. And as always, my point is that it's one thing for a consumer to criticize/complain about a giant corporate body… and quite a different thing for a fan to personally attack another fan for expressing a negative consumer opinion. I think there's a significant line that is crossed there.
Reeeeeally? I guess I must not be a real fan, because I rarely hear much of that. Like I said, it feels like a bit of a trumped up charge… there's always an internet blowhard ratio on any forum, but I don't see that as a prevalent attitude at all.
zmog
Goaliebot
As I said earlier, it was a counterargument based on outdated data in response to what we now know was a faulty premise from the "HASBLOW" crowd:
"Hasbro isn't making product adult/older fans want, and they should because we are a large percentage of those buying".
The counter was "well based on this older data we aren't a big percentage", but we were countering the wrong part. Because the truth is Hasbro *is* making toys adult collectors want, as shown by the 55% growth over the past 4-5 years until we've reached 30% of the market.
That said, I never called people "man children" nor said people couldn't have or express their opinions. When I object it's to the attitude of "real collectors wouldn't want this
I agree, but that's not the story we're sold daily by the HASBLOW crowd here, who tell us that real fans only buy 3p now, with the occasional Takara product to augment.
Prime135
Hate to sound like a broken record buuuuut…pics?
SMOG
I think that's probably even an under-assessment. I'm not sure how they track data like that, but if you factor in the number of TFs that are purchased by adult fans trying to indoctrinate their kids, nephews, etc…
I'm curious too, but I think it's probably closer to what we consider 'adult'. Most 10-12year olds don't have the same disposable income that adult collectors do (or even the less-disposable income that goes to robots anyway).
I know, right? I don't think it's actually Hasbro who has had a hard time acknowledging that though… it's that weird breed of fandom crusaders who are hellbent on invalidating fans for daring to have opinions about the products they buy. You know, the guys who spout things like "these are TOYS for CHILDREN, boohoo, waaaahmbulance, entitled, manchild, blah blah". They're not 'toys for children'. They're products. The market is whoever is paying for them.
I think we can start acknowledging now that the adult demographic is a big part of the pie… as if that hasn't been obvious in recent years… Combiner Wars is pretty compelling evidence, with Hasbro putting their money where their mouth is).
It's adorable how you're desperately trying to spin this into an anti-G1 diatribe. Have fun with that. I'll be busy putting money into Hasbro's pockets for their second straight major mainstream toyline based almost exclusively on G1 content.*
* that's if you just count Combiner Wars and Titans Return, and don't even factor in the heavy ongoing presence of Generations-branded figures that have been a staple in toy aisles for the past 10 straight years…
Plus, all the 'floating' fans who have recently gotten sucked into the franchise are also getting in on that action, or bonding with G1 through the comics. G1 is part of the history… the foundational part. It's always going to be the most important touchstone that is returned to again and again. No way around that. New fans like digging into the canon. It's natural.
And yes, of course, that also means that the Beast Wars generation is coming up as well, and soon it'll be the RID and Armada crowd. The funny thing is though… most of my local collecting friends are themselves part of that Beast Wars generation… and they're looking forward to the 'revival' (MP Primal on the way). But y'know what? They're also all hardcore G1 fans and collectors. Go figure.
You're the one trying to turn it around. That's called a growing 30% share. That's a hefty chunk. That's almost a full third of the market. That's clout.
And it's not going to taper off until we codgers start croaking, I'd say. Kids are playing less with toys, and collecting longer. Meanwhile geek culture is going more mainstream, and with the popularity of the Bay movies pushing the brand forward, more adults are collecting. And an adult collector's 'active purchasing lifespan' is longer (and has deeper pockets) than a kit
I think adults tend to be less likely to "fall out of interest" than most kids. And if we're worried about that adult collector market literally dying… we've got at least 40 years before we're looking at that. Wait for Star Wars to become insolvent first. That will be your canary in the mineshaft.
I think things will be plenty different 30-40 years from now, for a bunch of other reasons… so for now Hasbro should worry about where the money is coming from in the immediate future, not the distant Blade Runner-esque hellscape that we're no doubt heading into.
Kids will always be part of the market, for sure. But at this point, primarily as a gateway. Every adult fan is probably 'worth' at least a dozen kids, in terms of actual profits. What this means is that Hasbro will just have to continue marketing Transformers across those age divides, by making stuff that both demographics will be drawn to.
I think the difficulty there is that kids are dropping toys earlier in favour of video games and stuff, so with more toys aimed at younger kids, the age gap is going to be harder to reconcile.
The solution to this is found in the fiction. Kids are going to drop the toys, but if you keep them interested in the property through the fiction (movies, comics, games, TV, fan-cultures, whatever), then they are more likely to hold onto the brand, rather than leaving it behind with their 'baby stuff'. And the way to do that is to make Transformers into a media brand/fiction that feels 'adult' or cool enough to hold their interest through adolescence.
So the answer really isn't "remember it's for the kids above all else!" It's to make it no longer just a kid thing, and instead make it a more ubiquitous, all-ages, multimedia phenomenon (something Marvel, DC, and Star Wars have been doing for a looong time now).
zmog
Goaliebot
Wait, this is confusing:
Me: "…the argument "Hasbro isn't making figures adult collectors want, and we make up a significant percent of the buyers" – and then people would argue about the latter half of that statement. But it turns out it was the first half that was-"
You:: "- proven right"
(the first half of the statement was "Hasbro isn't making figures adult collectors want")
Then:
Me: "Hasbro *is* making stuff adult fans want, at a 55% growth to become 30% of the buying market today."
You: "Has been. For a while."
Which are you saying?