Poll of the Day > Meanwhile, today in *real* news...

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://io9.gizmodo.com/uh-is-this-transformers-toy-a-trump-supporter-1820555691/amp
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Well you got me to click it so we made that site some money yo!
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Hasbro is going to fix it going forward so... COLLECTOR'S ITEM! Totally going to try to get one now although, in general, Transformers *are* something which needs to be made great again. Most of the stuff they're churning out looks like shit.
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darcandkharg31 posted...

Well you got me to click it so we made that site some money yo!

Ad block them so they don't see a dime, brother.
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Zeus posted...

Hasbro is going to fix it going forward so... COLLECTOR'S ITEM! Totally going to try to get one now although, in general, Transformers *are* something which needs to be made great again. Most of the stuff they're churning out looks like shit.

Shit! I'm disappointed in myself for not even thinking about the misprint collector's value...
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If you're going to surreptitiously put a Trump slogan on a Transformer, why would you pick Jazz?

It's like inscribing "Drain the Swamp" on Clamp Champ's butt.
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Update 4:45pm: A Hasbro spokesperson responded to us with this statement:

It was brought to our attention that a graphic appears on one of our Transformers figures that, when translated from Cybertonian letters to English, spells out MAGA. We investigated the issue, and discovered that one of our vendors inserted this as part of the design without authorization. We are addressing this with the vendor.

We do not intend for our products to carry political messages, and apologize to anyone who was offended by this message.

lol
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Had they done MACA, they might have got away with it!
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would have a better chance at walmart
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Zangulus posted...

Target didnt have any.

That was fast.

Granted, as a MOC collectors item, I'm not sure how other people could verify it was the immediately discontinued one.
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Good luck snatching these up, I can't even find this one on Amazon, and by now eBay is going to either be fakes or jacked pricing by now.
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Yeah, I can hear the scalpers revving up their engines already. iirc, I *think* I might have seen one on the shelf at a retailer last week, but I can't remember if it was Target or Wal-Mart and I expect it won't be there now. Granted, it usually takes a while for issues like this to be fixed and, even after the fix, you'll still have some in warehouses which will be shipped out rather than scrapped.
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And you're less than a week out from Black Friday now. Finding some backwater toy store that ships is one thing, but by now for the major chains the dime has already been dropped for vendor returns in a crazy panic.
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Holy shit this is real isn't it?
2017 is driving me insane with its news.

dainkinkaide posted...

If you're going to surreptitiously put a Trump slogan on a Transformer, why would you pick Jazz?

It's like inscribing "Drain the Swamp" on Clamp Champ's butt.

Is this a serious question? They picked Jazz because A) Jazz music is associated with the black community and B) Jazz's most notable voice actor was Scatman Caruthers, a black man.

If you were not aware, the alt-right, including both Trump and his support base, are extremely biased based on race. The most obvious choice for a troll job would, obviously, be a toy associated with blacks.

WhiskeyDisk posted...

And you're less than a week out from Black Friday now. Finding some backwater toy store that ships is one thing, but by now for the major chains the dime has already been dropped for vendor returns in a crazy panic.

No, what I mean is companies like Target, Wal-Mart, etc, have already purchased shipments which are either at their warehouses or sitting ready at ship at a manufacturing facility. While the problem is embarrassing for Hasbro, it's not a safety concern so they're not going to issue a recall. Odds are the change might not even be made immediately at the manufacturing plant.

knivesX2004 posted...

Holy shit this is real isn't it?
2017 is driving me insane with its news.

It's been a very fun year. Granted, there's also a bit of inherent hypocrisy in the move since I'm sure a hidden "Yes, we can!" wouldn't have raised any uproar.

JTekashiro posted...

dainkinkaide posted...

If you're going to surreptitiously put a Trump slogan on a Transformer, why would you pick Jazz?

It's like inscribing "Drain the Swamp" on Clamp Champ's butt.

Is this a serious question? They picked Jazz because A) Jazz music is associated with the black community and B) Jazz's most notable voice actor was Scatman Caruthers, a black man.

If you were not aware, the alt-right, including both Trump and his support base, are extremely biased based on race. The most obvious choice for a troll job would, obviously, be a toy associated with blacks.

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Zeus posted...

No, what I mean is companies like Target, Wal-Mart, etc, have already purchased shipments which are either at their warehouses or sitting ready at ship at a manufacturing facility. While the problem is embarrassing for Hasbro, it's not a safety concern so they're not going to issue a recall. Odds are the change might not even be made immediately at the manufacturing plant.

I wouldn't be so sure about that, if there's the potential for controversy, especially with companies like Target at Christmas time, those shipments will have hold orders placed and an automatic lock at the register to prevent them from being sold. I'm sure they're already scrubbing the distribution center for them on the vendor's orders.

I've done warehouse and logistics jobs for 20+ years...I'm positive these are already being rounded up and by Monday they are going to be very, very hard to find.
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I find it hard to believe that they'd care enough to go all-out over a relatively small issue. It's not like the stuff is being embargoed, as was the case with Django Unchained figures where -- even then -- you could possibly get a copy before stores actually removed them from shelves.
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Right. A company like Target (I worked for them btw, doing reverse logistics) that doesn't have gendered toy aisles or gendered bathrooms isn't flipping it's shit over a toy with a pro-Trump message on it.

OK.

Can I interest you in some beachfront property in Arizona while I've got your attention?
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I was hoping a car transformed into Trump.
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JOExHIGASHI posted...

I was hoping a car transformed into Trump.

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WhiskeyDisk posted...

Right. A company like Target (I worked for them btw, doing reverse logistics) that doesn't have gendered toy aisles or gendered bathrooms isn't flipping it's shit over a toy with a pro-Trump message on it.

OK.

Can I interest you in some beachfront property in Arizona while I've got your attention?

Uh, Target *does* have gendered toy aisles. It's not like they're mixing the dolls with the action figures. Even if they aren't calling them gendered toy aisles, that's what they are. Your Star Wars dolls aren't with the rest of the Star Wars merchandise despite it all being Star Wars. Your superhero dolls aren't with the superhero stuff despite it all being superhero.

Otherwise, I can't see Target flipping its shit over this. And just googling "Target pulls Transformers toys" yields no results *despite* the fact that the Transformers community is very active and would be on top of that story.

Keep in mind that after the Hulk Hogan n-word sex tape leak, Target *still* had Hulk Hogan figures on its shelves. It didn't send those back to Mattel in protest of the Hulkster's racist rant and that was a much bigger controversy. MAGA is just a political message and, all things considered, this story hasn't got much press. The Hogan tape leak led to the WWE cutting ties with Hogan, discontinuing all new merchandise, and organizations dropping their affiliations with him.
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Zeus posted...

Had they done MACA, they might have got away with it!

Don't you mean MCGA?
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adjl posted...

Zeus posted...

Had they done MACA, they might have got away with it!

Don't you mean MCGA?

D'oh! Yeah, that.
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