Agreed, however, Hasbro's behavior with the GI Joe figure line seems to be antithetical to common sense.
IE, "You are allowed to ask us about future products, but you are not allowed to ask us about future products" kind of shit.
IMHO, Hasbro's bit about "not being allowed to ask specific questions related to future product" is a slap in the face to people who request simple answers.
Any slap in the face should be responded with brass knuckles.
I'm sorry, but at the end of the day the Hasbro reps come across as complete assholes if they won't allow people to ask the important questions such as where precisely the line is heading, and what kind of items we can expect to see in the future.
Why even bother holding a fucking conference if we are "not allowed" to ask the important questions?
You may as well be asking Carney for DOJ names from the damn "Fast and Furious" murders if non-answers, generalizations and "you are not allowed to ask that" is the response each time.
In fact, that's my question to Hasbro after reading "their rules" several times:
Who at Hasbro has determined that their customers are "not allowed" to ask certain questions, and what the fuck is the point of the customer/business conference if their business leaders won't allow customers to request information about the future releases of the line?
BTW, I agree with your statement about the Joe community being equal to Rhode Island, whereas the Star Wars crowd is the equivalent to India's population. My point, however, is that it's total bullshit to have this petty "you are not allowed to ask that" kind of response to ANY fan base, REGARDLESS of size.
Do Hasbro's reps have the same condescending attitude toward the Star Wars fans? My guess is probably not, unless of course they are all snarky assholes at Hasbro these days.
It takes a pretty fucking pretentious attitude for ANY businessman to speak to ANY customer in such a manner, and expect said customer to be okay with that kind of behavior from the fucking business.
Hasbro's attitude makes me feel like Samuel L. Jackson's character in Pulp Fiction when that guy kept saying, "What" each time Jackson asked him something.
"Tell me I am 'not allowed' to ask you about the release dates of the Techno-Viper and Sci-Fi figures you talked about and even displayed earlier, you dick-teasing motherfucker! I dare you, I double dog dare you!!!"
For the record, I apologize for my language and frustration.
It's just that Hasbro's incompetence and assholery is getting to be too much to handle with a civil response, and it is as wrong as two men having sex for a business to have a "you are not allowed to ask that" type of attitude with ANY customer. A decent business will not disallow customers from asking questions that are relevant to upcoming releases from said business.