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Hasbro Can't Toy with Optimus Prime

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Written by Lane Crockett

Kids not only say the darndest things, but when they speak as one, they get things done. Ask Alfred C. Carosi.

Carosi is a corporate vice president of marketing services with Hasbro, a toy company. Hasbro happens to be the creator of Transformers, a popular children's program featuring a range of robots as heroes and villians. They're called autobots.

Locally, the series can be seen at 4 p.m. Monday through Friday on KMSS, Channel 33.

Hasbro, in an effort to revamp its toy line pertaining to Transformers, used its feature-length film of the same name to kill off Optimus Prime, leader of the good guys on the TV series.

The philosphy of Hasbro in terms of toy product is to turn its entire line every two years and introduce new toys. The company thought the feature film a good place to kill off Optimus Prime and give a reason for his disapearance from the toy line.

"There was immediate reaction," says Carosi. "We got a lot of phone calls and letters from kids. We were frankly surprised at the number of letters. When we killed off Optimus Prime, I thought they might be a little bit upset, but we had new heroes for them in the movie. That didn't seem to matter."

So for the first time, Hasbro brought back a series figure. Optimus is back on the TV show, but he's still out of the toy line.

"We did it because the kids seemed to really like him. He's in all the new episodes, but he wasn't a part of the series after the movie. That could be confusing because we killed off a bunch in the movie... easily half a dozen.

"We didn't get any letters about any of the other characters. Based on that, we took a look at bringing Optimus back. If Bobby Ewing can come back, why not Optimus Prime?"

In the storyline returning Optimus, Carosi says, the reaction was fantastic from the kids. Generally speaking, he says, Transformers ratings were up in major markets like New York and Chicago, where Hasbro is headquartered.

Although Optimus doesn't find himself in the toy line right now, Carosi says Hasbro is seriously looking at bringing the toy back next year.

Oddly, Optimus was not the leading toy in the Transformers line. He sold for $20. Carosi says some of the lower-priced ones sold better. Of the larger toys, Optimus was No. 1 at his price range.

"Optimus was leader of the good autobots, I guess that's why he was so popular. He was replaced in the movie by Rodimus Prime, who is the hero in the new episodes. Optimus came back and took over in a two-parter. He was Rodimus' father figure.

"Well, we've done it and we learned. The key is to be responsive to the kids, not upset them. We did that inadvertently. By definition, what we do should be fun."

Carosi says the feature-length film did well and engineered good responses from kids. It is now being readied for videocassette release.

"Hasbro probably won't do another film," Carosi says. "They are very expensive to produce. We lost money on Transformers and My Little Pony, which we also created."

Hasbro's most popular creation is the G.I. Joe animated show. Transformers is No. 2. G.I. Joe was created in 1964. Carosis says, in 1982, G.I. Joe was made into action figures.

"There's no one G.I. Joe now. He has become a G.I. Joe team. By the way, the good figures outsell the villains."

The lead seller for the bad guys is a figure called Cobra Commander, who appears on G.I. Joe.

As for Optimus Prime, he seems to be secure now. Hasbro has learned not to tamper with him. After all, he has an army of youngsters backing him.

Editor's Note: This newspaper article was obtained through Linden High School's micro-fiche film library during my senior year in 1995. Linden High School is located in Linden, Mi. See ... it pays to save all that stuff!!!

Hottest toy sells out before it's delivered

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The mustachioed man in the blue jogging suit was in a dilemma.

He kept staring at the rack of Go Bots and Robo Force creatures. Sure, the Robo Force robot has "powerful crusher arms" and can stick to walls, and the Go Bot robot can change from the Block Head Enemy to a cement mixer.

But the big question remained: Would they satisfy his son? Would they hold his attention?

Jason is 10, and like thousands of other youngsters across the country, he has put Transformers - the new Hasbro Industries, Inc., wonder toy - at the top of his Christmas list.

But he may have to settle for one of the other robot-type toys, such as Go Bots or Robo Force. His dad, 37 year-old Joe North of Mount Washington, is among a growing number of parents who can't get their hands on the darn Transformers.

They are too popular. The craze for the colorful little plastic and metal robots which can be transformed into cars, planes and guns has turned normally polite parents into pushing and shoving fanatics who will do almost anything to get little Johnny or Sue what they want.

Yesterday, a mother awaiting a toy shipment at Toys-R-Us in Towsontowne Marketplace recalled getting caught in a mob scene at the same store several weeks ago.

"I'm not very good in crowds. People were pushing and shoving and I didn't get anything." she said, even though she had been among those waiting the longest.

And several weeks ago at Kiddie City in Eastern Center Plaza the police were summoned by a woman who wanted to press charges against the pushy person behind her, recalled Eric Blackmer, the store's assistant manager.

The toys, which range in price from $3 to $30, are so much in demand they rarely make it to the shelves. As soon as the toys are brought in off the truck in cartons, scads of eager parents grab them up.

But early yesterday morning at Toys-R-Us there were only two mothers, including the one with the bad luck, hovering in the back of the store near the coloring books and blocks, awaiting the day's shipment. The hordes must have known it wasn't the day, because the truck didn't come.

The day before there was a line and a truck did come in. But there were no Transformers aboard. And that's expected to be the scenario until the new year, when Hasbro comes out with dozens of new Transformers including Dinobots, which turn from robots into dinosaurs.

"I could kill myself," said Pat Milan, 30, of Baltimore City. "I saw an Optimus Prime in the summertime for $20 and I didn't buy it."

Optimus Prime is the Transformer to end all Transformers. He is the leader of the noble Autobots (the evil Transformers are called Decepticons) and with a few twists and turns he becomes a tractor trailer. (Second in popularity is Soundwave. It looks like a miniature cassette player until it is magically transformed into a robot. He is a Decepticon, a bad guy, whose motto is "Cries and screams are music to my ears.")

Will Mrs. Milan's son be devastated when he wakes up Christmas morning and doesn't find Optimus under the tree?

"He won't hold it against me," Mrs. Milan said. "He happens to be a smart kid. He understands that toy makers have kids on a string."

Transformers have been a hot item since they hit the market in May [1984], and that was the time to shop for them.

"This is beyond our wildest dreams," said Stephen Schwartz, senior vice president of marketing at Hasbro in Pawtucket, R.I.

Hasbro - which also brought kids GI Joe and My LIttle Pony - has shipped $100 million worth of Transformers since their introduction into this country eight months ago. That is wholesale dollars, he said.

To give a comparison, Mr. Schwartz noted that Coleco shipped $60 million worth of Cabbage Patch Kids in its first 12 months.

Coleco has little to worry about, however.Their homely dolls once again are among the most wanted and hardest to get toys.

People can put their names on a waiting list, but with little hope of receiving a doll before Christmas. A person who signed up at Toys-R-Us in Towson became number 10,219 on the list yesterday.

And the glum prospect for satisfying a child with a Transformer this season is echoed in toy stores all over town.

"The truck came this afternoon and we got 32 cartons. But no Transformers. I doubt if we will get any more [before Christmas]," said a worker at Best Products in Towson.

What's the attraction?

Mr. Schwartz believes it lies in "the magic of transforming something from one thing into another ... it's a real fantasy world."

One 8-year-old summed it up this way: "They're neat. GI Joes and those kind of toys are just boring. But these new things can change form robot to vehicle or plane. It's really neat."

Incidentally, Joe North, the man in the blue running suit who was trying to find the toy with the most action, finally settled on a Robot watch. Time will tell if he made the right choice.