Does Hasbro ever actually see any of this? (merged thread)

[INDIANA]

I read an article in Entertainment Weekly for November (I work in a hospital, what did you expect) that said how closely the creators of the Lord of the Rings movie were working with web sites to really make the people/fans feel a part of everything. They said it was a wonderful colaboration that benefitted everyone.
Why doesn't Hasbro do this? Why don't they respond to their customers? Why not explain why the E2 figures are posed as they are? Why not tell us the Epic Force line really did sell well from their numbers and felt it could support the E2 Ultra line? Tell us when stuff will be out to wet our appetites, not keep everything a secret and just **** us off! Artoo News had a great comment in one of their sections that Hasbro or StarWars.com should have THE kick-butt sites that we go to everyday to look for new stuff and info.....they SHOULD have one site that (sorry to say this) makes sites like SirSteves/Rebelscum/TheForce/Jedinet basically second hand info. THEY ACTUALLY HAVE THE INSIDE INFO!!! THEY ACTUALLY KNOW THE E2 STORY!!! THEY ACTUALLY HAVE THE CARDED E2 FIGURES!!!!

I don't understand the disregard Hasbro has for the fans/customers. I aintnogenius....but would it not have made sense to ASK some collectors what they thought of the prototypes of the E2 figures? I think I can say with 100% hindsight that the leg poses would have been a problem.

I read SirSteves comment that Hasbro reps read this forum but can respond. Maybe they should. E1 was somewhat of a confusing nightmare, a lot of which is having a direct effect on the E2 line. I don't believe it bodes well that so many of the people who WERE planning to spend a ton of money in April are now waiting to see the rest of the line before deciding which specific figures they will buy OR they aren't buying any at all. I think we ALL want the best for this line of figures, Hasbro and the collectors. I fail to see the problem with working together.....

[El Chuxter]

Here here!

Hasbro's websites and their interaction with fans isn't what it should be. The Hasbro Star Wars site sucks--it's incomplete, user unfriendly, and offers no method for feedback. And want an even sadder joke? Check out http://www.gijoe.com--the official Hasbro GI Joe site. No mention of the new comic book, no mention even of the new RAH line!

I don't understand it. Hasbro owns all rights to GI Joe and Transformers, plus licenses Star Wars, Superman, and Batman. Those five alone should be enough to make it the most successful toy company out there. Yet with GI Joe, we get the lackluster RAH line. With Transformers, we get an odd meshing of old characters with new bodies and old bodies with new characters. Superman and Batman? We're lucky if we get anything. And there's plenty of rants here about Star Wars: Unleashed, the "one step forward, two steps back" method they take with the 3.75" Star Wars line, and the shoddy distribution.

No wonder they've had money troubles over the past couple of years.

[SithDroid]

Because unfortunately, I don't believe that Hasbro cares what the collector thinks. Granted they have given us some awesome figures with the POTJ line. But then why do they revert back to horrible figures as the new EP II ones? Even if Hasbro does indeed look at this site, which I don't believe they do, and saw us complain about the wide stances, what good what it do. The figures are probably already in mass production and are, as I type this, being put onto cards and boxed up ready for shipment. Hasbro isn't going to want to just discard all this money they just spent on having these figures made and packaged. Instead they are going to take a gamble. "Well I know the fans might not like these figures, but some of them will probably buy them and so will children because they don't know any better." Unfortunately when it all comes down to it, it is all about the money.

Like I said in an earlier post on another thread, take a look at the new Toyfare magazine issue #55. There are some custom made EP II figures in there that look awesome. I would rather buy those then what we are going to get. Why can't Hasbro hire some of these customizers, who are obviously Fans, to help design the new line of toys? That way they wouldn't end up looking like cr*p.

Same thing goes for the whole midichlorian thing that I have ranted on before. George is getting too old to write AND direct these movies. He has made some huge continuity mistakes with TPM. Either George should get a co-writer, I know he has one for EP II, but one that knows what he is doing, or he should just direct the films. Don't try to do everything yourself. That is why I blame him for a majority of the stuff that is wrong with TPM because when it all comes down to it, he has the final say in everything. So he is the most responsible. I would love to get a chance to sit down with him and explain the continuity errors and how they can be fixed, seeing as I am an aspiring screenwriter/actor/director, but unfortunately I probably wouldn't be given the chance. I thought the whole point of creating something so large as the SW universe is to have other peoples input on the whole thing. It is a franchise no different than that of TSR. The same person doesn't write every single one of the books for them. They are allowed creative freedom as long as it remains true to the story. I wish GL would learn from this, but unfortunately he won't.

Anyone from 20th Century Fox or Lucasfilm reading this?

[Wolfwood319]

If Hasbro had the interaction with collectors as McFarlane does, it'd be too perfect. The problem is McFarlane Toys is a company that makes figures FOR collectors. Hasbro is a faceless corporation that makes toys FOR profit. They don't give a crap about collectors, kids, fish, puppies, mail boxes, lawn clippings, etc, etc, etc.

Its a movie year, to them that means larger market share. Their hopes are that the movie will bring in the kids to buy massive hordes of toys, in which the line could survive without the collectors' aspect.

As for George Lucas...

Star Wars is his. Not yours or mine, but his. He's said many times, that its his, and if he died tomorrow, there would be no Episode 2, Episode 3, movie re-releases, etc. I think that his problem is that he listened to the wrong people (i.e. Rick McCallum )

If he wants to get creative, and change the story to fit his new whims that he has acquired in the past 20+ years, so be it. Plot holes aside, his biggest problems are on the corporate level, and from there stems the root of all your problems.

[SithDroid]

I do agree that Star Wars is GL's. What I don't agree with is that he doesn't listen to anyone elses input. I could be wrong, but some ideas in the movie are just horrible. I am a screenplay writer myself. Although I haven't sold anything, it is because I am fresh out of school and working to save up money to make the big move to Hollywood. An example.

If I have a huge franchise with a huge fan base am I going to intentionally put in something that the fans don't like? Movies generally have screenings months before they are released. They invite people to come in and watch the movie. Then they hand out a survey and ask what you liked and disliked and based on this they sometimes rearange the movie to fit more of what the people will like. If the fans didn't like something and I could see why, then I would probably change it.

Unfortunately due to the "secrecy" of Star Wars they never gave any screenings to anyone who wasn't "Hollywood." And as we all know most people in Hollywood are afraid to speak their mind for fear of getting put on a black list. This is true, "Just look at Ewan McGreggor who said he didn't like the new title of EP II. The media went crazy and Ewan was forced to retract his statement. If he doesn't like the title he should be able to say so. We all say we hate it, so why can't he? Because he is part of the movie and it would be bad for business for one of the stars to bad mouth something."

Also TPM was still in the editing process up until two weeks before release, so no one would have gotten to see the final product in time to make any changes.

Just finish the film, show it to Fans and listen to their feedback, that's all I'm saying. Many movies have been changed at the last minute to appease the general audience, mostly for the better. SW should be no different.

[JediTricks]

Lawsuits. I think Hasbro is afraid that if they let ANY employees go on the internet and talk on public forums they can't control, that someone might say the employee read their idea on the forum, took it and used it without paying them.

[El Chuxter]

I can see their reasoning. . . somewhat. I think I speak for almost everyone here when I say I'd be happy if Hasbro "stole" some of the ideas I've had.

Especially for the theoretical Batman line I came up with a few months ago.

[DarthMaulSithLord]

...actually reading this? If they are, why the hell don't you guys respond? Isn't your slogan "We really do care"? So show us that you care and communicate with us!

And now that i am talking about communicating. When are you guys finally going to treat Jurassic Park like a kids/adult collectors thing? And when are we getting a Q&A with you guys (at my site called InGenOps)? I e-mailed you guys millions of times and i never get a straight answer. It's always the "we will forward it to the right dept." (probably the nearest shredder) thing or the "Thank you for contacting we appreciate it" blah blah blah. I am so tired of that. C'mon Hasbro, show some compassion and do some promostuff to show us you really do care.

[Battle Droid]

It doesn't seem like anyone is reading it or they just don't care one.

[Beast]

I'm gonna make some calls tommorow afternoon to the corporate office, I have done it in the past and gotten to talk to the head of the Star Wars team. I am not a very happy customer about this shuttle business. I know that it's not Hasbro's fault on the price or the limited number, but they need to know how this is hurting fans, allowing FAO to have this exclusive.

MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks