Wow Hasbro really does bend over takes it. They were so insistent on not releasing the TC, Dirge and Thrust as mass release because of the FunPub thing but Tak just keeps undermining their agreements and release these figures. I wonder if Hasbro can actually release Hot Rod Wildrider and Clear Convoy as exclusives over here in America with their own packaging. It seems only fair that way. I hate paying 150 bucks for a wildrider but DragStrip needs his buddy when he comes out for the Universe SE. Why should the people in the US be always the one who pays too much for these Japanese exclusives?
Exactly, and for that matter our European friends too. Why do the Japanese get all the good stuff and Hasbro shoves crap down our throats, then bends us over and shoves what's left up there? They should know what is more preferred by now. And I thought demand was the number one factor in a market? Hasbro just do not make any sense. It's time we got some more things done right like the Japanese get thanks to Takara Tomy.
Yeah I knew this news would bring the Hasbro hate. Takara's Transformers cater almost directly to the fans alone, and thus faithful fan service is possible. Hasbro does not have that luxury, all kinds of other factors are considered other than "hey...how can we fully capture what the fans, only a small part of our market, want?" I'm sure the Hasbro TF team would've loved to give us all the seekers at retail, but they thought the line was done - and as a business decision they halted all of that and focused on the movie line - a smart move seeing as it's made them a ton of sales, far more than endless Classics repaints and remolds that most kids aren't familiar with would have. Hasbro gave us the remaining seekers the best way they could at the time. It was not some evil, hateful "fuck you" to the fans. It can't be forgotten that they're a rather huge toy company that has to make money. To get that done, they have to play along with the rules of what's marketable on a wide scale, not just what all the fanboys need. Overall I think they've done a good job of balancing the differing "good for kids" and "good for collectors" factors very well.
I have to say that despite their release, I'd be tempted to still make customs of Thrust and Dirge. Getting a Henkei Thundercraker wasn't easy to pay for . . . .
This is great news. Living in the UK can be costly when buying US exclusive figures and in most cases, getting Japan figures is a little cheaper. This release of more coneheads in Japan means that I can complete my set without paying stupid money. I am very happy right now
Well I'm excited about the news the seekers are a huge want of mine and it's always been a huge gap in my collection. I figured it would probably happen. I'm a bit bummed they are still the same venue as the other two. Like others have said i don't think the initial price is that bad, but all mark up because of the hassle of getting them is a annoying. But if takaras busting out new tooling on these i have a feeling these will probably get done by hasbro. Toolings really expensive, i doubt they'd use that money only for a small run figure. It will probably be released again to offset the cost. Remember what hasbro said last q&A... I think this will be like ratchet, something with new tooling that gets released by takara first then later on by hasbro. At this point i feel pretty confident we'll see hasbro versions just not sure when. It's kind of annoying timing wise with the movie coming. If these were just regular henkei releases i'd snatch them up no problem, but at the price i'm not going to be in a big hurry. Probably at least wait till after toy fair to see if hasbro has plans for them.
Yep. I made my own Thundercracker out of an Acid Storm and it was ridiculously rewarding. Easy on the wallet, fun to execute, and it turned out great.
Well you know, we were all kids before we were collectors... so I don't buy the logic of kids vs collectors. A good Transformer is a good Transformer. And kids like good Transformers just the same as collectors. We're all the same with the exception that collectors are much more picky to a proper representation. Kids don't have preconceptions about the toys like collectors have character standards/desires with. They just like a good toy. They see it in the store or on TV, and they want it. So if it's a good toy, and it happens to be a good interpretation of an original character, why wouldn't a kid want it too? I don't buy that logic, K. But I do agree with "business decisions". However I do not agree with Kids vs Collectors logic. Both demographics love a good Transformer as much as the next, just that kids care more about play/fun value than anything else. I don't see how a nice shiney Thrust with turbine wings, an accurately painted Cyclonus with a cool transforming gun takes anything away from that. We were kids ourselves when we first began to love these toys and characters. We loved them because they transformed and were good toys and turned out to also be good characters (bios/tech specs helped this along). It's no different these days, and that goes beyond just Transformers. I also don't see how an odd ball "Acid Storm" green camoflauged repaint of the exact same mould it takes to do these is any better for the market and their bottom line when there is a much bigger demand for Thrust and Dirge. It's the exact same mould, so saying it was a decision to sell to kids wouldn't make any sense there.
I'll bet you a dollar FunPub wouldn't give up the Thrust wing mold, so TakTooomie had to make thier own.
Kids and their parents are apparently a much bigger part of the sales, and the target demographic for wide release toys in the US. Whatever their interests are perceived to be has to be acknowledged. The "we were kids when we liked these" argument doesn't work for me so much since the characters in question were on television at the time. Kids in 85 that watched the Transformer cartoon would stand a way bigger chance of knowing who the hell Ramjet is than the tons of kids out there who only know about the movie and Animated. Of course there's the "it's just a cool toy" factor but lines with actual recognizable names on the shelves simply do better - thus the endless toys of Wolverine, Spider-Man, Superman, Batman, Optimus Prime, the four Ninja Turtles, Snake Eyes, etc. They don't always have to cater to that obviously, hence characters like Acid Storm being released, but the reliance is always there to some degree. All I'm saying is that Hasbro has to play to those odds a lot of the time, and it doesn't mean they don't care about the older fans. Given all the other factors aside from "getting it right for the collectors" I truly think it's amazing the amount of homages and general fan service we do get.
IIRC, FunPub's molds are generally beyond use once production of exclusive parts is finished. Your comment does bring up the question of who paid for the new molds. I doubt either of the stores paid for them, and i doubt Takara footed the bill on their own. On that basis...... Hasbro may use the new molds for those wings yet. Remains to be seen however if they will be used for Dirge and Thrust though.
will be ordering thrust to go with Ramjet and my kitbashed Dirge. So glad of these as they're very difficult to geta hold of in the UK and everywhere else. I would have kitbashed my own but as a result of the botcon release Ramjet became hard to find as everyone else decided they would have to do the same thing as me.
Hmm, if dirge has remolded wings I may swing for him. Thrust, always my favorite seeker design is very tempting as well. But I do have all the Botcon seekers, so it isn't the end of the world. But having a Dirge with remolded wings would be some nice icing on the cake. Just have to see what they end up costing and when they come out.
Yeesh... someone should just merge this thread (and the future threads that will surely come once color pics are released) with the ones for Henkei SW & TC. It's already all the same questions of when or if they'll ever get released over here, all the same theories of why Hasbro does & does not do certain things, all the same speculations of what could happen now that the molds are made, all the same bitching about the pricing, exclusivity, lack of availabity for $10, etc etc etc. Word for word verbatim, in fact. Ridiculous.
*sun rays filter down through the clouds and the "Hallelujah! Hallelujah!" hymn starts playing* Takara, I could kiss you. I never bothered getting Henkei TC because I knew it still wouldn't complete my Classics Seekers. But with the imminent release of Dirge and Thrust - with remolded wings no less - these are an absolute must on my purchase list. ***EDIT*** Flamebaiting is not tolerated on our boards. -TFW2005 Staff I agree that both demographics are TF fans at heart, but there's is still a difference: collectors usually have larger wallets than kids, which is why Takara can splurge a bit more on paint apps than Hasbro and market the toys at a slightly higher price. This is more obvious with these Ganbo exclusives.