The first wave of Japanese Animated figures will be hitting Japanese retailers on March 27. TA01 optimus prime TA02 bumblebee TA03 ironhide TA04 ratchet TA05 prowl TA06 megatron TA07 starscream TA08 lockdown TA09 blackarachnia TA10 cliffjumper (activators) TA11 dirge (activators) Optimus vs Megatron Bumblebee vs Starscream Rachet vs Lockdown The second wave is scheduled for Release on April 24 and will include TA12 arcee TA13 blitzwing TA14 decepticon shockwave TA15 decepticon ragnut TA16 soundwave Ironhide vs soundwave Prowl vs blitzwing The third wave is May 22 and includes TA17 grimlock TA18 snarl TA19 autobot swoop TA20 blackout and finally wave four is on June 19 TA21 jetfire TA22 jetstorm TA23 skywarp TA24 thundercracker (activators) TA25 soundblaster (activators) Safegurd Thats what I know so far. I will be posting release dates for other lines too.
Did they explain why they have a safeguard set the same time they are releasing jetfire and jetstorm separately?
I'm guessing since they arent big on repaints in Japan, this is a way to get collectors to double up on a one use mold.
from what i have recently heard and got from a close source, all the figures are being released at once... Collecticon dot org|A resource for Transformers collectors, collections, and collecting
I would think that to be highly unlikely for multiple reasons. The two biggest being the following. 1)The size of Japanese retail shops. While there are large scale retail stores in Japan like there are in the States. The vast majority of Japanese retail is done in much smaller specialty retail stores. Simply put there just isn't the shelf space for a 32 figure launch. 2)They don't do assortments in Japan. In the US you get waves of various figures packed in one box. In Japan you get a case of one figure, one time! Given those two facts alone a huge 32 figure single launch would go against everything in Japanese retail. I think this single launch theory is coming from a single order deadline date for all four waves (this is very unusual).
