Talk:Multilingual packaging

2009-10-13T02:29:47Z

189.155.170.130: /* spaniol (spanish) */ new section

Duh. Seems like we were working on the article at the same time and screwed up each other's corrections.--[[User:Nevermore|Nevermore]] 14:22, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

== So, that's better. ==

Still, the "Psychology" section needs some reworking.--[[User:Nevermore|Nevermore]] 18:11, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Love the writing on the "Psychology" section. [[User:86.132.249.195|86.132.249.195]] 04:07, 9 March 2008 (UTC)a lurker

==A thought==
Would it be perverse, hilarious, or just annoying to reproduce this article's introductory paragraph three times in three different languages? -- [[User:Repowers|Repowers]] 05:40, 14 March 2008 (UTC)
:All three, which means ''do it! '''Do it! DO IT!!!''''' --[[User:M Sipher|M Sipher]] 06:25, 14 March 2008 (UTC)
::Just put in French, Spanish and German translations of the first paragraph, but it was just done with Babelfish, so it's probably... wrong. Not bad until someone who can actually speak those languages comes along, though. [[User:Semysane|Semysane]] 08:24, 14 March 2008 (UTC)
:::Fixed the German version. Trying to find someone for the Spanish and French ones.--[[User:Nevermore|Nevermore]] 22:32, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

==no voiseovers in english==
:Should it also be noted somewere that hasbro now scraps all voiseovers of new products because some kids won't understand what the products are saying? Like movie 'prime and megatron, or the bumblebee voise changer helmet?(this pisses me off ''so much'')--[[User:Sunjumper|Sunjumper]] 12:46, 10 October 2009 (EDT)

== spaniol (spanish) ==

Sorry for my bad english.
I'm mexican, and i tried to fix the text in spanish for be more conprensible for people who can read spanish, if you think my text is bad just undo it.
--[[Special:Contributions/189.155.170.130|189.155.170.130]] 22:29, 12 October 2009 (EDT)

Multilingual packaging

2009-10-13T02:25:10Z

189.155.170.130: spanish corrections

[[Image:Energon rapidrun cardback.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Typical trilingual cardback: photos of the wrong toy representing a different character, with misidentified factions and swapped names. No room for characterization, function or stats, but a franchise description longer than the Gettysburg Address appears in three languages.]]
'''Multilingual packaging''' is essentially the standard way ''Transformers'' toys are available in other countries outside the United States. Rather than producing packaging sporting texts in a single language for different countries, Hasbro saves money by putting texts in several different languages on the same packaging, which will then be released in all the target markets. (There are a few exceptions, such as places like Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore or the Philippines, which traditionally get their toys in the same packaging that is available in the United States.)

Un '''empaquetage multilingue''' est essentiellement le format standard dans laquelle les jouets de ''Transformers'' sont disponible dans les pays autres que les États-Unis. Plutôt que de produire des emballages portant du texte dans une seule langue pour chaque pays, Hasbro économise de l'argent en mettant des textes dans plusieurs langues différentes sur le même emballage, qui sera alors envoyé sur tous les marchés. (Il y a quelques exceptions, telles que des endroits comme l'Australie, la Nouvelle Zélande, Hong Kong, la Malaisie, Singapour ou les Philippines, qui obtiennent traditionnellement leurs jouets dans le même emballage disponible aux États-Unis.)

'''El empaquetado multilingüe''' es la forma comun en la que los juguetes, ''Transformers'', estan disponibles en otros paises fuera de los Estados Unidos. Hasbro ahorra dinero imprimiendo el texto de varios lenguajes en un mismo empaque en vez de hacer empaques con un lenguaje unico para cada region. (Entonces este empaque universal es distribuido en todos los mercados, con la excepción de paises como Australia, Nueva Zelandia, Hong-Kong, Malasia, Singapur o las Filipinas, que usualmente usan el mismo empaque que en los Estados Unidos.)

'''Mehrsprachige Verpackungen''' sind gewissermaßen die übliche Form, in der ''Transformers'' Spielzeugfiguren in Ländern außerhalb der Vereinigten Staaten erhältlich sind. Statt für verschiedene Länder Verpackungen mit Texten in einer einzelnen Sprache herzustellen, spart Hasbro Geld, indem dieselbe Verpackung mit Texten in verschiedenen Sprachen bedruckt wird, die dann auf den jeweiligen nationalen Märkten veröffentlicht wird. (Es gibt einige Ausnahmen, darunter Orte wie Australien, Neuseeland, Honkong, Malaysia, Singapur oder die Philippinen, an denen die Spielzeuge normalerweise in denselben Verpackungen erscheinen, die auch in den Vereinigten Staaten erhältlich sind.)

==Multilingual packaging in America==
[[Image:StormSurgeUSCanMex.jpg|left|300px|thumb|In Soviet Canada, I'm an Autobot.]]
When the original [[The Transformers (toyline)|Transformers toyline]] was introduced to the Canadian market in 1984, the packaging was bilingual (sporting texts in English and French), using a smaller printing font to fit the [[Tech Specs]] and [[Bio|bios]] in both languages onto the packaging. Even the ''characters' names'' required French translations!

With the launch of the [[Beast Wars (toyline)|''Beast Wars'' toyline]] in 1996, Hasbro introduced trilingual Transformers packaging, sporting texts in English, French and Spanish, for the Canadian and Mexican markets (prior to that, Mexican Transformers toys had been distributed by a sub-contracted company named [[IGA]] between 1985 and 1986, with the packaging being completely in Spanish), now also featuring abbreviated bios in addition to the already used smaller print. In addition, the toyline itself sported additional, alternative titles for the French Canadian and Mexican markets, ''Guerre Bêtes'' for the former and ''Guerra Bestias'' for the latter. However, at least the individual toys' names no longer required translations into French (the Mexican toys had always used the English names).

With the launch of the [[Robots in Disguise (toyline)|''Robots in Disguise'' toyline]] in 2001, Hasbro decided to cut costs by using the trilingual packaging for the US market as well, which meant they only had to design one kind of packaging for three markets rather than two. Thus the standard United States packaging, traditionally sporting English-only texts, was replaced by trilingual packaging with texts in English, French and Spanish as well. This move was, of course, [[Ruined FOREVER|well-received]] by fans.

In 2002, when the [[Armada (toyline)|''Armada'' toyline]] was about to be launched, someone (probably a lawyer) informed Hasbro that if any part of the packaging was trilingual, the ''entire'' contents had to be trilingual, including the [[Armada (mini-comic)|pack-in comic books]]; this resulted in the comics' dialogue being in stilted, unpleasant prose, but on the bright side the unsightliness of the comics may have prompted the creation of the popular [[jaAm]] joke.<ref>"Everything must be trilingual" from the 2002 Hasbro BotCon panel, [http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/3003d05818cf8b5e?dmode=source&output=gplain Steve-o's BotCon 2002 Report,: Zobovor Edition]</ref> Hasbro later realized this person was overcautious, and volumes 3 and 4 of the pack-in comic were printed in a much more eye-pleasing way: in English.

[[Image:LegacyBumblebeeCanadian.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Everything must be translated. ''Everything''. Tout doit être traduit. ''Tout''. Todo debe ser traducido. ''Todo''. Alles muss übersetzt werden. ''Alles''.]]
Instead of settling for "incredibly short and banal" on-package [[Bio|bios]], Hasbro's Transformers team sent kids to the English-only [http://www.transformers.com Transformers.com] website, where they promised-hope-to-die there would be bios for the characters. Sometimes this was true, but often it was not.

In 2005, Hasbro's Transformers team successfully lobbied the Brand Overlords to return to English-only packaging; arguing that the multi-lingual packaging was so ''phenomenally ugly'' that it was costing them sales.<ref>Kids also hate foreign languages; [http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/0cd6f0724b39615f?dmode=source&output=gplain Steve-o's 2005 BotCon Report]</ref> As a result, the launch of the [[Cybertron (toyline)|''Cybertron'' toyline]] heralded the return not only of English-only packaging for the US market, but also of full bios printed on the packaging. At the same time, ''[[Alternators (toyline)|Alternators]]'' packaging intended for the US market also became monolingual (although bios would still not be included).

Meanwhile, the Canadian and Central/South American markets still have to live with trilingual packaging to this very day... except for store [[Exclusive|exclusives]] that are intended to be released in Canada but not in Central/South America, which only feature bilingual English/French texts. Amazingly, French translations are required for even the most incidental bit of English texts on the packaging (such as "[[Size class|Deluxe Class]]" or "[[Premium Series]]"), with pretty much the only exception being the characters' names (which ''is'' an improvement over the ''Generation 1'' days). As a quick Google search shows, nobody actually seems to care for those alternate non-English names outside the toys' packaging. However, it appears that the term "Robots in Disguise" is finally allowed to remain untranslated starting with the newer waves of the ''[[Universe (2008 franchise)|Universe]]'' line.

[[Image:UniDelWave1CanMex.jpg|left|300px|thumb|Beast Machines anyone?]]
The requirement for multiple languages also leads to unfortunate omissions for the non-US markets, such as the comic reprints from the ''Universe'' comic two-packs or the DVD from [[Optimus Prime (G1)/toys|25th Anniversary Optimus Prime]]. This even leads to modifications of the toys themselves. For example, the electronic Leader Class figures from the [[Revenge of the Fallen (toyline)|Revenge of the Fallen toyline]] have alternate versions distributed in markets outside the US and English Canada that only say their names rather than saying full sentences in English (ironically, these markets include the UK). In addition, trilingual packaging occasionally features odd errors, such as the packaging for all of the [[Movie (toyline)|2007 Movie]] Scouts sporting Autobot logos on the packaging, regardless of which faction logo the toy itself sported. Also, the ''Universe'' toy line's Deluxe Class figures only sport the [[Packaging art|character art]] of one "representative" toy per wave (Wave 1: [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]], Wave 2: [[Acid Storm]], Wave 3: [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]]) on the front of the card, regardless of which toy actually ''is'' in the packaging. (The artwork on the side of the bubble is correct, though.) The Voyager Class toys, meanwhile, feature no character artwork on the front of the box at all.

Another problem with trilingual packaging is that trying to put three times as much text on a packaging of the same dimensions (especially on Deluxe and smaller-sized figures) would result in having extremely ''tiny'' (and therefore, pretty much impossible to read) text, so Hasbro had to find another way to keep the information that formerly was on the packaging. This resulted in the idea that what could not be on the toy's box had to be placed somewhere else. As such, some toys had their packaging's back filled with [[Cross-sell|cross-sells]], and what would normally be on the back of the box ([[tech specs]], [[Bio|bios]], quotes, stock photography, features, etc.) is moved either to the back of the instructions ([[Transformers Animated (toyline)|''Animated'']]) or in a [[Pack-in material|separate flyer]] inside the box (''[[Universe (2008 franchise)|Universe]]'').

==Multilingual packaging in Europe==
[[Image:Desertattackeurope.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Just three languages? Europe should be so lucky.]]
[[Generation 1 Europe (toyline)|Europe]] has its own history of multilingual packaging:

When [[Milton Bradley]] started distributing ''Transformers'' toys in mainland Europe (Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Denmark) in 1985, the packaging sported ''four'' languages, namely German, French, Dutch and Spanish. As with the trilingual packaging, that meant that instead of bios, the tech specs simply sported the characters' mottos in four different languages.

A year later, the "MB" logos on European packaging were replaced by Hasbro logos, though the local MB branches still handled the distribution, and some of them weren't officially renamed into "Hasbro" until years later. Possibly because sales in Germany were less than stellar, German texts on the packaging were replaced with their English counterparts (even though the United Kingdom continued to get toys in plain English-only packaging), or perhaps to "cover" more European countries.

By 1987, Hasbro apparently realized that English as a fourth language was pointless when the United Kingdom was getting toys in different packaging, so the languages on the European toys' packaging were reduced to bilingual Dutch and French texts. Spain later got their own toys in Spanish-only packaging; although it's unclear at what point exactly that packaging was introduced, Spanish-only packaging is confirmed for the 1989 Micromasters toys and the [[Classics (Europe)|Classic]] reissues (this is not to be confused with the Spanish-only packaging for the early 1984-86 toys originally distributed by [[IGA]] on the Mexican market, which were later semi-legally imported to Europe).

[[Image:CybStreetSpeedTeamUsEuro.jpg|left|300px|thumb|It could only get better after this.]]
In 1991, after the original [[The Transformers (toyline)|Generation 1 toyline]] had ended in the USA, Hasbro continued producing new toys for the European market. Starting with the [[Turbomaster|Turbomasters]] and [[Predator|Predators]], English and Spanish texts were merged into a new, bilingual packaging which would be released on the markets in the United Kingdom and Spain. In addition, the French/Dutch packaging now sported different (but still English or at least English-derived) names for the individual toys and sub-groups than the English/Spanish packaging.

The European version of the [[Generation 2 (toyline)|''Generation 2'' toyline]] introduced yet another variant: The formerly bilingual English/Spanish packaging became trilingual, now incorporating Portuguese as well. At the same time, the formerly bilingual French/Dutch packaging also became trilingual, incorporating texts in German language again for the first time in nine years. Also, name variants for the different markets were abolished again (although some of the toys still sported different names than their ''American'' counterparts).

With the launch of the [[Beast Wars (toyline)|''Beast Wars'' toyline]], trilingual French/Dutch/German packaging remained the same (with the toyline itself sporting an additional alternate title, "''Ani Mutants''", for the French market), while the formerly trilingual English/Spanish/Portuguese packaging replaced the latter language with texts in Italian, thereby gradually shifting out [[GiG]], the company that had previously been distributing ''Transformers'' toys in Italy, in favor of Hasbro's own Italian branch. For the Italian and Scandinavian markets, the toyline also sported the alternate title "''Biocombat''", as well as Italian (or at least Italian-esque) names for the individual toys.

With the later waves of Beast Wars and going into early waves of ''[[Beast Machines (toyline)|Beast Machines]]'', the toys in "Biocombat" packaging started to include an additional instruction sheet in Scandinavian languages (Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish). The packaging itself did not include nor hint at those additional languages, though, and this practice was abandoned with later waves of ''Beast Machines''.

[[Image:UltimateBattleUSEuro.jpg|right|150px|thumb|European stores gave away the DVD as a freebie separately. Seriously.]]
With the launch of the [[Robots in Disguise (toyline)|''Robots in Disguise'' toyline]], the two trilingual packaging variants were merged into a single, quadrilingual packaging style featuring texts in English, French, Dutch and German. This also finally marked the end of any further name variants for the individual toys between the different European markets, as well as between the European and American markets.

With the launch of the [[Armada (toyline)|''Armada'' toyline]], the number of languages on the formerly quadrilingual packaging was expanded to hexalingual, now incorporating texts in Spanish and Italian again. Also, at least since the days of the ''Armada'' line, whichever packaging was available in Europe has also been used for Israel.

Finally, in the middle of the [[Cybertron (toyline)|''Cybertron'' toyline's]] run and with the shift of the red ''[[Alternators]]'' packaging to the bubble-style packaging, the number of languages on European packaging was doubled to dodecalingual, adding texts in Portuguese, Swedish, Danish, Greek, Polish and Turkish to the established languages English, French, Dutch, German, Spanish and Italian.

Somewhere around the addition of the six new languages and the replacement of [[package art]] with stock photos of the toys themselves (see below), European packaging also started to feature obtrusive "2 in 1" logos ("3 in 1" in the case of triple changers). Apparently, ''Transformers'' is considered not as much of a household name in Europe as it is in the USA, so Hasbro feel that they really need to drive home the point that ''Transformers'' toys are really two (or three) toys in one.

Amazingly, unlike Canada (which requires French translations for even the most incidental cases of English texts on the packaging, except for the individual toys' names), European packaging has gradually ''reduced'' the amount of multi-lingual versions of text elements over the years. The ''[[Transformers Animated (toyline)|Animated]]'' and ''[[Universe (2008 franchise)|Universe]]'' toys even feature text blurbs describing a toy's gimmicks in ''English-only'', with only the back of the packaging featuring translated and country-specific texts (bios, Hasbro contact info etc.). On the other hand, European ''Universe'' packaging replaced individual [[franchise]] logos used for the "timeline" on the back of the US toys' packaging with the name of the franchise in a generic font.

The occasional officially imported toys in US packaging are still isolated incidents.
{{-}}

===Package art===
[[Image:AltPrimeUSEuro.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Transformers: 2 in 1! Find more information on the underside! (Not a knockoff.)]]
In addition to the increasing number of languages cluttering the packaging with an abundance of text, European multilingual packaging also didn't sport [[package art]] for several years, replacing it with airbrushed [[stock photography|stock photos]] of the toys themselves instead. One of the commonly suggested possible reasons for this was that some countries might have rigid regulations concerning "deceptive depictions" (i.e. artistic renditions) of products on the packaging. However, no official explanation has ever been given by Hasbro.

Package artwork was dropped from European ''Transformers'' packaging and replaced with stock photos of the toys themselves starting with one of the last waves of ''[[Energon (toyline)|Energon]]'' (the first wave of [[combiner]] limbs, featuring [[Treadshot (Energon)|Treadshot]], [[Sky Shadow (Energon)|Sky Shadow]], [[Sledge (Energon)|Sledge]] and [[Duststorm]], still used package art; the second wave, featuring [[Terradive (Energon)|Terradive]] and [[Windrazor (Energon)|Windrazor]], already used toy photos instead) and ''[[Alternators]]'' [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]] and [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] ([[Jazz (G1)|Meister]], who had only ever been released in Italy, had still featured package art).

The first toys to feature package art on the European ''Transformers'' packaging again were the [[Robot Heroes (toyline)|Robot Heroes]] and [[Fast Action Battler|Fast Action Battlers]] from the [[Movie (toyline)|2007 Movie toyline]] (the "main" Movie line toys still used stock photos of the toys instead of the artwork of the robot heads). With the launch of the ''[[Transformers Animated (toyline)|Animated]]'' and ''[[Universe (2008 franchise)|Universe]]'' lines in 2008, European multilingual packaging as a whole has finally returned to depicting package art, coinciding with the aforementioned drastic reduction of texts in multiple languages in favor of English-only texts wherever possible.
{{-}}

==Psychology==
[[Image:UniRedAlertThreeVersions.jpg|right|280px|thumb|Hasbro eventually gave up on European packaging and opted for a minimalistic approach instead.]]
Fans ''hate'' multilingual packaging (although having the tech specs and bios on the instruction sheet is a great space saver versus hanging on to a chunk of the box in addition to the instruction sheet).

While a typical child rips open cardboard packaging to free the misassembled plastic figure encased within like the sweet meat from a nut, discarding the useless shell, adult collectors store their mint-on-card Transformers unopened in humidity-controlled fireproof rooms. Because this is essentially playing with the package rather than the toy, adult fans prefer cleaner mono-lingual packaging.

This can affect the secondary market value of a toy; if there are monolingual and multilingual versions of the same toy, the monolingual version is ''usually'' worth more money.{{fact}} One of the possible reasons for this is the omission of features (bios, tech specs etc.), which make up part of the nostalgia value especially of older toys. Frequent errors (such as the wrong [[packaging art]] or [[insignia|faction logo]]) are also possible factors for a collector's rejection of multilingual packaging.
{{-}}

==References==
<references />

[[Category:Armada]]
[[Category:Energon]]
[[Category:Fandom]]
[[Category:Toys]]

MediaWiki - User contributions [en]

Talk:Multilingual packaging

Multilingual packaging