Tricking you into waiting 6 months to pay double to import from Japan for identical product?

Berry berry sneaky those guys.

 

What exactly is it saying “hi, when released stateside, we’re pretty much the same damn toy?”

 

Not all MPs have been released "Stateside". the US is not the center of the universe, FYI. : )

 

I love you, @PlanckEpoch ! Some Hasbro supporters are blatantly forgetting THE EXTRA EFFORT AND INCREASED VALUE TAKARATOMY ADDS TO THEIR TRANSFORMERS RELEASES! JEESUS FUCKING CHRIST.

 

what if you support both?

 

Good for you?!

 

I understand peoples upset but there just toys you all are freaking out more then the people I sell meat to at my work

 

I know you're usually anti-Hasbro/pro-Takara but this move, is too early to accurately describe with what little info we have and you act like the sky is falling.

Takara brought over TLK largely unchanged but added an exclusive Calibur Optimus and are getting the Movie Best line, which Hasbro isn't getting at all. Takara will do something for their market where they see fit.

However until we know for sure what they are actually doing, it is far too early for doom and gloom.

 

It'll be a damn shame if Takara sits out PotP Optimus entirely. A Generations gimmick wrapped in a Masterpiece shell, how often does that happen?

 

Uh, he's in the first wave.

 

If they initially go with Hasbro colors 1st, they might go G1 cartoon colors later. I look at the way they handled the TLK line. Some of those figures are getting movie accurate repaints in the Movie Best line, which Hasbro isn't getting at all.

 

So. they're telling me that I'll be saving some cash, then? I should theoretically be spending less on postage and (more importantly) customs charges. Also, I won't be buying two versions of a particular figure, and in some cases, probably not even one.

 

"Increased Value" is such a weird way of putting it... Takara occassionally has more involved details and changes to a figure in order to better direct it at a collector market rather than regular retail, but theor shelf price is also more expensive than the Hasbro versions.

The news about POTP is disappointing gor sure, as I always like having two options for most figures (although not all, there's still a large amoint of TR retools that Takara never got around to)... but it was predictable. Fans living in Japan have been saying that the Legends line is hard to find and isn't carried in many stores, so Takara choosing to try for a broader market was almost an inevitability.

The people blaming Hasbro are hilarious, though.

 

Dreading UW 2.0 if I have to settle for this kind of effort,



 

 

I think it's great that Hasbro and Taktomy will be releasing mostly the same stuff, especially if it means that both companies survive and keep putting out toys. Cost-cutting is a fact of life, even for the mighty Tak-Tomy. I buy 99% Hasbro stuff, so it doesn't bother me. Maybe it will raise Hasbro's game.  

As for everything else, well...  

 

It certainly doesn't sound good for those of us who don't like figures without painted wheels (Jazz) or no body paint whatsoever (Titan Masters) because it looks absolutely terrible and like something that should be $.25 in a dispenser. Instead Hasbro wants to constantly raise prices. I don't mind stickers but I hear they have not been done well. And they must learn to paint essentials like wheels if they are even to begin to compete with the standards the brand can and has lived up to in the past. Standards they constantly try to cheapen regardless of anything else.

Clearly TakaraTomy was either paid by Hasbro to do this, or they are delusional. If there really is no true good version of most of these designs, the magic is gone for a lot of fans. I don't spend large sums of money on crap, it's that simple. I will spend money on quality items. There are plenty of other quality things out there for me to enjoy, so TakaraTomy needs to provide something or lose my money. Hasbro is not currently in a position to get that money instead.

Remember, the brand has gone south before, and there were people who thought they were making the right decisions then too. To be honest, it's probably time for it to go south again and them to learn some very hard lessons about what it takes to compete in today's significantly collector-driven marketplace.

 

Hasbro didn't pay Takara to stop making changes to toys. That doesn't even make sense.

 

I'm reading some overly bias posts here so again, I'm gonna input my thoughts.

I support BOTH Hasbro & TakaTom products & I don't think that Hasbro is overly poor & likewise TakaTom is overly good. Both have merits & demerits (geez, I must have said this a dozen times over the years?)

While I do adore/favor TakaTom most of the times, there are scenarios which I just had to give Hasbro the nods:

1) Every time when I looked at that CWs Liokaiser done by Hasbro & while it's not sitting well within me to justify a purchase, that is STILL an effort from them. Where is my LG/UW Liokaiser TakaTom? Will it ever be made? If so, probably another 4 years later just like that Generations Blackshadow that appeared in TAV? And I heard that THOSE are YOUR CHARACTERS in your Universe...Cool I know.

2) Where is my Metalhawk, Tidalwave/Shockwave, G2 Laser Convoy, Quickswitch & Nautica again TakaTom? Oh wait, I've given up waiting for those simply because you won't get to them as you have a "rule" for no repaint? (Don't even get me started on more characters like Ramhorn, Lione/Sawback, Shuffler which Hasbro gave me the complete package. TR Arcee & that accursed/godd@mn TR Grotusque which I might have to travel all the way to HK to pickup myself...But at least I can STILL pick him up in that sense.) Again, I heard that some of THOSE mentioned are YOUR CHARACTERS in your Universe...Cool I know.

And I must be blind because I still can't see LG Quake, Krok & MORE PIECES COUNTING? Either that or those must have been the "Emperor's new clothes" which my folks used to tell that story to me in my younger days...But I still thank you for those pieces which you did churned out while that "lazy as f*#k HASBLOW" didn't. But do forgive me for not worshipping you like God nor kissing your toes because afterall, you did good for some while doing nothing for some.

Hey, I'm a fair man...I did gave merits/demerits for both Hasbro & TakaTom. I hope I'm even fairer in now joining/teaming up with the camp that hurled dirty abuses towards Hasbro (see my quote above) & champion TakaTom because...You know...TakaTom does no wrongs ever!

*Ahem, I heard a distinct voice afar...Oh, that's a fellow Boardie tigatron2002 who reminded me that TakaTom has QC defects in their produc...Like WTF is this mate?!!! Can't you see I'm trying to stone Hasblow like the other guy so this is definitely not a good time to wash the dirty linens of TakaTom here. We might get killed for this midway so lets just pretend & be delusional for a while, paint up TakaTom in all positiveness while taking down Hasblow we shall. That's the game plan!...You know? The ones that's simply blind hating for no proper justifications/purposes? That's the one I am talking about here, get it? Good!

I promise you we'll talk about this again after the war is won!*

 

LG line was (is?) the shit ... anybody else have all the releases to date MISB? I just finished packaging them all together and placing them in the attic before the “roommate” could do anything funny ...