Yeah, I made my feelings pretty clear about this one in the other thread. I'm definately not paying this outrageous price for it, especially when all the way around it looks and feels like a cheap knock off. Shame on Hasbro.

Speaking of the horrible color shades, even the Trailor is the wrong color.

And I dont care if there is a DVD, comic, or voice box in there. I have the entire series on DVD AND VHS, I have comic books (though not this one) and even so this is only worth about 3 dollars, and the voice box is just a cheap add on that will get very boring in less than weeks. $70 is NOT justify-able or worth it. Especially when it's such low quality in this version.

Hasbro/retailers is commiting sales suicide for this figure by pricing it so high. Like you said, there is no parent or kid who's going to buy this. And didn't they always claim to us that because there is more of them, that kids/parents are 90-sum% of their revenue??? Makes no sense at all. They should make it so more can be sold. After all, more sold=more profits right?

 

Wow, good for you. But apparently there are NEW collectors (as some one else pointed out) and other long-term collectors that might NOT have exactly what you've got in your collection, who might be interested in these extras. Hasbro's selling strategies do not just revolve around you, or even those of us on this site!  

This'll sell well. It's primary target are adult fans BUT NOT NECESSARILY COLLECTORS. I've said elsewhere this is the kind of thing my brother would get for Christmas/birthday. He liked TFs as a kid, doesn't collect them, liked the new movie, remembers the original toys nostalgically etc etc.

It's these kind of adults this targets; the original Prime (and yes, most of these people won't care or remember how long the smokestacks were) toy! The original three episodes! (probably the best remembered as well, thanks to the classic "Arrival From Cybertron" video here in the UK). The original comic! It's a neat package for those who just want a neat display piece in their study/workplace, or are just "dipping their toes" into collecting.

Hasbro knows what it's doing with this. Of course, existing fans - even those of you moaning! - may also get this, as will some lucky kids.

So yeah, this is a good move on Hasbro's part. Kudos to them.

 

Im willing to bet these will sit on the shelfs. This is a BAD price, and had been reissued before.
Wait till spring, clearance at walmart for sure. Like DVD Movie Prime.

 

Yeah, I don't think there's ANY such thing as a "bad Transformer" - but at $70 you could get a Leader Class AND a Voyager Class, right? I dunno - if I had the choice between Animated Ultra Magnus + Animated Grimlock OR this 25th Anniversary Prime, I think I'd opt for the two-fer.

And I didn't know that they chopped the smokestacks AGAIN - is that true? Geez. Next they'll refuse to include the trailer anymore because some kid could choke on it. Oh it'd take them awhile and they'd REALLY have to WANT to swallow it - but it could happen. Or they just won't make toys at all anymore because heaven forbid an accident happen and some child gets an "ouchy". Safety first, eh?

I'm waiting to hear on the news how one kid beat another to death with a Dora the Explorer doll, so they'll stop making them. Oh, it's coming. Wait for it.

 

$70 is a bit more than I'm willing to spend on this figure. Sure the package may include a lot of goodies, but they're things that I don't really care for. Hasbro should release the Prime figure alone with the trailer and all his accessories and give it a $25-$30 MSRP. Now that'd sell well!

 

Nah...it was cool for back in the 80s...it'll still be cool today! Prime is loaded with tons of accesories!!

 

$70 does not seem that bad when you take into account the rest of the package.

It is still a pass for me based on the neutered stacks alone. Otherwise it looks like a nice set that I would have considered dropping some cash on.

 

  What Hasbro will think will happen is some kid might get his finger pinched and amputated by the opening/closing trailer! "No we can't sell the trailor anymore because we don't want any child amputees!"   But yeah, unfortunately they put nuggett stacks on this one too.

You made a great point about the 2 toys instead of just one though.  

And Magnus' Mate I'm glad that other fans who may have missed out will be able to get this. I really do want that option. But I just think that A)many of them will pass up due to either the price or quality issues, and B) that there really aren't that many of them. At this price it will be a shelf warmer, and if you think the Smokestacks aren't noticable go look at the pictures. They basically end with the fat part at the top of the cab and only have a little nugget. It's easy to tell that it don't look right.

But even more importantly since you mentioned new fans, is that they can get a much better quality Takara Encore reissue with proper colors, proper smokestacks, and the right sized missile launchers, all for less than this release. And you can buy the comic for 3 bucks at your local comic book store, and you can get this DVD for maybe 5 bucks off ebay or just simply watch the episodes on youtube. There is no way a significant number of consumers in their right mind is going to shell out $70 bucks for it. And other (long time) collectors who might have been interested already have the toy so $70 is way to steep for something they already have.

So you can see why I don't think it makes much sense. I do agree with the suggestion Pikatron made about releasing him alone at a lower price. Maybe $40 would be somewhat fair (even though I still think it's not even worth that in quality compared to other releases.)

 

You can't say that this is not for COLLECTORS. It's the 25th anniversary line so it is for the collectors. As an adult I cannot rationalize paying $70 for this. The goodies included in this pack aren't sweet enough imo.

 

unintentional rvb reference?

Reminds me of Donut.

"Not pink! Lightish red."

 

I really want it but cant see spending 70 i spent almost that much on my huge prime!

 

I spent over 200 on my MP-4.

If you just want a reissue of G1 Prime and not thr 25th anniversary reissue specifically, just buy one of those Japanese reissues. Takara reissues that thing like once a year so you're bound to find it on ebay for dime a dozen.

 

IMHO:
Honestly, I have no G1 toys (or reissues) at all. They are just too expensive and compared to recent lines, they're not that cool. So everytime I saw one I opted for a different line.

Hypothetically, for 70 bucks, Id wait til December and get Uni. Voyager Inferno, Uni. Deluxe Starscream, Hound, Cyclonus... Then still have plenty left to hit up McDonalds or something, lol!

 

Over-charging even on a "collector's item" is no way to get rekindle interest in long lost fans or new fans.

If anything, 25th Prime should be underpriced to entice those very fans. This is the type of item, which should be somewhat cheap and gives you that itch to start collecting again. Hell, 20th Anniversery Masterpiece Prime could not entice many people to him and he was worth $70 so what makes them think this Prime will. The movie? Come on, the movie hype is over and done with for the most part. They should have reissued him back when the movie premiered.

All and all, this is just blatant price gouging by Hasbro plain and simple. Sad part is that this reissue not selling will probably kill all future US reissues.

 

I'd buy an Encore Prime for 70, but not this salmon circumcised trukk. At least the Encore has sexy original Japanese style packaging and long smoke stacks. I got the Encore instead of the 25th off an awesome dude from the boards!

 

I was so looking forward to this, and while the price doesn't bug me so much, and I could care less about all that extra stuff - all this talk of wrong colors and shorter-than-short smokestacks is really making me think twice.

I'd have to see one in person to make the choice.

 

He's been scalped in my area, I've only seen one or two on the shelves, but their boxes weren't in great shape.
DN

 

I haven't even seen one trace of him. That's good, because even though I think it's overpriced by $20 and I don't need another G1 Prime, seeing it in person may just make me impulsively buy it.

 

Honestly, every damn thing in this country is overpriced (which likely explains the economic state we're in right now) so there's really no sense in arguing this vociferously about one particular item.

If anything, it's comparitive pricing. It's not necessarily what something is worth per se, but rather what it should be priced when compared to other items in the same category.

- Leader figures have sold well at $40 (with no accessories other than a weapon)

- Supreme figures generally sell well at $50 (with no accessories other than a weapon(s) and/or minicon in Unicron's case).

The G1 Prime mold is smaller than a Supreme fig, but when you factor in the transformable trailer, roller, etc. then let's say they equal out. So there's a $50 selling point right there.

As for the DVD, you can talk about cost of materials, etc. until you're blue in the face, but when is the last time you saw a DVD of a popular children's series (or adult collector's) that is 1-hour plus in length for less than $10? If the DVD were sold by itself it would probably have a minimum $14.95 sticker price, but just for argument's sake let's say $10. $50 + $10 = $60 selling point so far.

Then you have the miscellaneous items (voice box, reprint of Marvel's Transformers #1), plus the "collectible" packaging that officially launches the 25th anniversary line, and the nostalgia factor: I'd say that's at least $10 worth.

So $50 + $10 + $10 = $70


Look at last year's big, expensive item, Ultimate Bumblebee. It sold decent at first for a price of $80, but then went on clearance for a bit before it went back to regular price. Ultimate Bumblebee, while quite the novelty item, wasn't too aesthetically pleasing on the eyes and most retailers tended to overstock on the item due to the craze brought about by the movie. Comparatively speaking, I've only seen about 3-4 copies of the 25th Prime at the ones that have it in stock (and, whether you believe them or not, all of the Walmart stores that I've called about it say that it's a Christmas item only and there is no reorder point. So once they're sold out, they're out. Maybe that's just a sales ploy, maybe not).

Now ask yourself, in comparison: If you were going to spend that much, would you rather pay $80 for an Ultimate Bumblebee, or $70 for a 25th Anniversary G1-Prime (short stacks or not) with all of the goodies?