One of my answers has to wait until tomorrow, I would imagine because it involves some extra research and writing (and is hopefully informative)…but here are the two answers that I DID get today:
All of my answers can be found below!
Q: Can you explain the process behind producing store exclusives? Do stores have sole discretion over what’s in the set, or do your designers build out several various “exclusives” sets and sell them to buyers that way? Are there consistent budget restrictions, or does it depend on which retailer you’re trying to sell to? How much say to they have over included characters, tooling costs, or MSRP?
A: We really try to look at how best to blend the needs of both the retailers and the collectors. Ultimately, it has to sell well… and we do have to factor in many components as you mentioned, but with the wealth of Joe-knowledge and fan base here at Hasbro – the designs are primarily internally generated to fit best within the overall GI Joe line.
Q: One of the fandom’s favorite things about Resolute were the character designs and the art style, and in fact, Deviant Art has supplied the fandom with a great assortment of Resolute inspired concept art and designs. When can we expect to see an “Art of G.I. Joe: Resolute” book to celebrate the unique style of the great designers behind the creation of G.I. Joe: Resolute?
A: While there are no firm plans in place at present, the publishing team is looking at various options for the use of this material.
Q: With so much demand from fans for vintage homages in the Rise of Cobra line, why does Hasbro continue to do these “homages” in strange and different ways? Why not put Footloose in a Jungle Operations set and give him a proper “vintage” look? Why not do a night operations or urban operations set with a proper Lowlight that folks have been asking for? Is Hasbro “saving” these figures for something in the future? It seems like a no-brainer….
A: We always try to do what’s best for the brand depending on the current context and situation. We try to mix classic looks with modern gear to keep the brand relevant and accessible for the next generation of GI Joe fans but also keep the brand relevant to current fans.
I’ve defended Hasbro pretty heavily on their Q & A process in the past, but this is getting a little silly. I tried to ask a relatively in depth question in attempts to get some insight into their decision making, yet it was still returned with the typical marketing speak. I only hope my third question maybe offers a little bit more information, I don’t think I’m really asking for a whole lot. Certainly not trade secrets or anything.
Hasbro, a note…we’re collectors here. We LOVE this stuff. We simply want to know more about it. Why can we not get informative and insightful answers to questions that don’t even ask about upcoming product? I’m really not understanding this.
In the meantime, keep watching the Q & A page for more answers…hopefully with more information than I got here.
I agree with you Justin. I think it was also ridiculous that they used the “holiday excuse” last week too. It was only a federal holiday, not a holiday where everyone shuts down. I don’t get why they can’t commit to the dates they gave us. And their answers are very quickly becoming a joke.
These Q&As are a joke. If they’re not willing to answer simple questions, then they might as well stop doing them. Because we’re not getting any useful information, and this entire process has become a farce.
You were expecting a huge toy conglomerate to be honest and sincere? Bwaahaahaa! A company that big knows answers like “It was done for cost cutting purposes,” or “Our marketing department decided it would be that way,” will go over like a fart in church amongst hard core fans.
You were expecting honest and sincere answers from a huge toy conglomerate like Hasbro? Bwaaahahahhaaa!!! They’re big enough and political enough to know that honest answers like “It was done to cut costs,” “Our marketing department made that call,” or “We really don’t care what collectors want, we’ll decide what they want,” will go over like a fart in church with hard core collectors.
Honestly, I wish that they would hire just one collector in their Joe marketing team to really give us a voice. We don’t need someone who merely watched the show growing up, we need someone who obsesses in all media containing Joe lore. Maybe then we’ll get that true hybrid of a modern/relevant toy line combined with the proper vision of these characters. In closing, Hasbro…hire me and I’ll make the ultimate Joe line.
Good grief with this answers. I agree Justin, why do a Q&A if they are going to try and corporate/market speak us to death.
Very simple we have answers put some time and energy into it and answer them.
“In closing, Hasbro…hire me and I’ll make the ultimate Joe line.”
Hire both of us. Give me two minutes and I can work some magic.
Okay, geez… where to begin.
Primo: Your question sounded a lot more like a complaint than an actual question.
“Why is Footloose a sucky modern desert trooper instead of looking like he did 24 years ago?”
“Why don’t we have a new Low-Light yet?”
“Seems like a no-brainer…”
Honestly, now, what kind of answer were you expecting?
“Thank you Justin for showing us the error of our ways we shall cancel Rise of Cobra and get back to the 25th Anniversary right away!”?
Footloose isn’t even an homage figure, not any more than ROC Flash or Breaker. He’s a new take on the character for the ROC-verse, just like Repeater and Dial-Tone from the same set. Hence, being an infantry specialist, he’s in the fatigues most common for infantrymen today: desert. And he’s modernized because ROC takes place in more modern times. They gave him the essential Footloose elements. A helmet, a rifle and a mustache. That’s more than his Battle Rangers figures would’ve gotten.
And as for everyone else talking about how Hasbro should hire you to run the brands… send your resumes or shut your yappers.
These Hasbro Q&As seem to work the same way with all the franchises they do them with. If they can actually get input from a member of the brand team (design, marketing, copy), the answer is usually pretty good and (depending on what is asked) in-depth. But evidently when they can’t get anybody, it’s up to the PR team to give some sort of form response.
Ok…I dont get us collectors????? Did not one site ask about the Iron Klaw fig? It got such high praise yet questions about stands get asked…….again?
YoJoe asked about the Iron Klaw figure space’ and they got the typical response out of it, “no plans right now, but we’ll look into it.”
*sticks neck out*
Okay, um, question 2 was a solid answer. It’s worded to be less insulting, but its meaning is clear. Some old characters look stupid. Some of them look like a kid threw some rubber bands and random paint at a figure and called it a new character. Some of the main characters looked awful in the old days, and there’s no reason to repeat those hideous designs.
I think I’m going to have to write an article about these Q&A sessions, I find I have lots to say about them lately!
I understand what the brand is trying to do with Rise Of Cobra. I’m all for it, when I saw the display cases at JoeCon this year I got really excited about most of the upcoming releases. However, the Footloose complaint really is a valid one. Hasbro has been teasing us with Footloose for the better part of a year, and we end up with a half-assed, thrown together TRU exclusive. That wasn’t the Footloose any of us were really looking for. Hardcore collectors should really get a voice. If you think about it, G.I. Joe really started to heat up after Hasbro listened to the fans and gave us the 25th Anniversary line. I find it doubtful the movie would have been made if not for the positive buzz (and sales) the 25th figures had garnered. I understand (and support) Hasbro’s desire to branch out to the next generation with the movie stuff, but that doesn’t mean they can’t find a better balance between enticing new fans, and keeping the old fans happy. It’s going to take more than just reusing an old codename to keep the classic fans happy.
And Jay, that was really what I was trying to get at. It’s not as simple as just sending a resume to get hired on at Hasbro. You need marketing and business degrees. Hasbro isn’t going to give the job to a fan because he supports the brand. The people who get those jobs are only after the bottom line, not the overall betterment of the brand. So maybe think a bit more about what the other person is trying to say before you open your ‘yapper’.
HAHAHAHAHAHA
Oh Andrew, you do so crack me up.
The lead designers on the Joe brand are obviously Joe fans. At this point, they’re not out-of-touch 50-year olds who’re clueless about everything… they’re thirty and forty-somethings who GREW UP WATCHING GIJOE ON TV AND PLAYING WITH THE TOYS AS CHILDREN. This is how stuff like the Jungle-Viper and the Raptortastic Zartan get made.
And production on the GIJoe film began in 2005. It didn’t “get made” because the 25th Anniversary did well. It predates the 25th Anniversary by years.
I think there are really two sides to the general Q&A situation. We have been getting a lot of PR talk, there is no doubt about that. But at the same time, the Q&A sessions are, imo, a great idea. They are a lot better than the days when most fans didn’t get the opportunity to hear information straight from Hasbro other than Toy Fair, Joecon, and SDCC. And even with those, unless you attend the info came via someone making a post who may not have gotten the details right.
Another thing that has bugged me as these have progressed is that many of the questions have seemed loaded to me, worded in a way that is like, “Hasbro, it is clear that you enjoy making inferior product that no one wants. What is it like to suck so hard?” OR questions press an issue that we know they can’t answer, “Hasbro, when is the club going to ______” when we all know full well that they don’t know everything the club hopes to do at every given moment. And how many times did we ask about Resolute? At this point, I’m expecting one of the 7-packs to actually include a beaten dead horse. 🙂
Ask a silly question…get a silly answer. The problem in the end the majority of the questions (well worded or not) are well-meaning. And I think Hasbro could do a better job of gathering the answers to those questions. Hasbro isn’t just one person. Gathering better answers may take more time. Wave 3 Combat Heros were out in Canada about a week before the Q&A where Hasbro said they were never produced. That right there is a sign that the questions could be better researched prior to us getting answers. But in turn, we would need to give them a longer turnaround time to get the answers back to us. We do at least get a few golden nuggets of info each round.
It is a two-way street. Joecon isn’t too far off. Maybe we can sit down with someone and hammer out a better method for these Q&As. I would certainly like to see them continue and I don’t want Hasbro to see them as bad PR when they really are a great concept. We just need to be executing them better from both ends.
Not sure how much longer they need notpicard. They normally get about 2 weeks and this time they used Veterans Day as an excuse to extend it to Tuesday when we finally got them. I just don’t see why these can’t be answered with some more thought. We did get some descent stuff as Justin pointed out in his latest post, but for the most part we got nothing. Five little bits out of how many sites that participated? Kind of sad.
Pre-production in movies means nothing. The new He-Man movie has been in pre-production for what? 6 years now? It’s no closer to being made than it was the first day the script was commissioned. The G.I. Joe film came about due to the success of the Transformers movie and the toy sales. That’s when the G.I. Joe movie was officially greenlit and put into production. If you don’t think toy sales factored into Paramount handing over $150 million to Stephen Sommers then you clearly don’t understand the very basics of business. Also, I had already stated in my first post that the Joe team watched the cartoons. The point I was making was we (as collectors) need a voice from someone who is obsessed with ALL aspects of Joe lore, not just the cartoon. Someone who wouldn’t stand for a needless race change on Repeater, or a needless sex change on Dial Tone, or a half-assed version of characters we all love. If Hasbro had gone that extra mile, I wouldn’t have any complaints about these figures. Put Footloose in Green camo and give him a leafy helmet, I’d have no issue. Call Repeater ‘Hardball’ and give him a grenade launcher. No issue. These are just a few examples of how the big ‘H’ dropped the ball.
I think it is very interesting how so much verbage is spread over the ball drops, and how little people have to say about the gems and glories. When something irritates a fan, we have no shortage of dirt to talk about.
I really enjoyed the direction Hasbro and DDP were going, until the random killings and Valor vs Venom oddities clouded the image of the G.I. Joe brand. Once Sigma 6 got up and running I could see the hope for a real new take on the line that leads us exactly where we are now. Plenty of great history, lots of good story arcs, a couple of head scratchers and mis-steps and finally a charged and interesting mainstream media product for a modern audience.
So far I am about 85% pleased with the toy line produced thus far. The things I don’t like are not the end of the world. I just don’t want this brand to play second fiddle to Star Wars (or Transformers) and I firmly believe it could benefit from a Clone Wars (or Resolute) style daily/weekly cartoon.
That’s a fair statement and I do agree. The good stuff is REALLY good. I’m really looking forward to the Pursuit of Cobra line.
Are we actually going to get another animated show at all for GI Joe? In Fall 2011, after the next live action movie on Hasbro Discovery Channel? A digital cable channel that is carried in far fewer households worldwide than Cartoon Network?