Received the following email.. Good news for me.. but maybe not so good for some others... "Hi – I wanted to let you know that your preorder for the BAPE convoy will be filled. Our buyers were able to secure only a small amount of pieces because it was much more limited than anticipated. You were first in line and your preorder will be filled. Please note that if you ordered more than one piece, we reduced your order to 1 total piece so we could get the figure to as many customers as possible. We will be sending out a mass email titled ‘BAPE Convoy – Bad News’ to ALL preorder customers – please disregard that notice, your orders will fill Thanks! Joel Boblit" www.bigbadtoystore.com Some additional info from Bodhar2000 of TFW: "About the Bape Prime - I am going to explain to everyone what happened Saturday to avoid misinformation. Bape has about 20 some stores across Japan. Each store had a few dozen of these and that's it (although I heard Bape kids had more stock than the adult stores). Based on what I saw I am guessing the production run is well under 1000. There were whole families lined up along with the regular scalpers I see at every show. So there are a lot of regular Japanese people trying to cash in on Transformers now."
Here's the follow-up.. Just received. (Doesn't apply to people who received the first notice in my first post.) "Hi - the BAPE Convoy figure ended up being much more limited than our suppliers had anticipated. Our buyer had a team of helpers each visiting a different store in Japan, each person was only able to secure 2 pieces (Each store had under 2 dozen pieces available with a 1 per transaction limit). We will not be able to fill your preorder for this item, but will leave the preorder open in case any further supply turns up in the coming month. After around a month, we will cancel your preorder. I'm very sorry for the problem on this item, it was a conditional preorder and in this case the conditions worked out against us - sorry! Thanks Joel"
i just dont get this thing. must be for those prime collectors. the price on this is already going 200 plus.
Although it would have been cool to have, I can't say I'm disappointed my preorder was not fulfilled. Oh well.
This designer could really use a different acronym... cos at first glance, that sure looks like "RAPE CONVOY"
This is figure is overated and def. made for a niche crowd, more power to them. As said in this thread, it will be jacked up on Ebay.
At least they let people know. I wish they would give an updated on the UN Frenzy & Rumble preorder I still have. Especially considering that other stores have had restocks. I got one from Robotkingdom but I'll take two.
Some additional info from Bodhar2000 of TFW: "About the Bape Prime - I am going to explain to everyone what happened Saturday to avoid misinformation. Bape has about 20 some stores across Japan. Each store had a few dozen of these and that's it (although I heard Bape kids had more stock than the adult stores). Based on what I saw I am guessing the production run is well under 1000. There were whole families lined up along with the regular scalpers I see at every show. So there are a lot of regular Japanese people trying to cash in on Transformers now." I also posted this in my 1st post for consolidation.
Maybe Bodhar doesn't know, BAPE is the one of the most popular fashion brand for pro-scalpers in Japan. even Yakuza doing scalping by hiring homeless people, I heard.
I wonder when BBTS will be shipping out the pre-orders they can fill. Their website says 4th quarter. Just because for those who want this and dont want to pay the $300+ its going for on eBay, and can wait till the 4th quarter, ToyArena has their pre order still up for $175 and listed to fulfill in December. http://www.toyarena.com/bathing-bape-transformers-optimus-prime-japan-exclusive-figure-p-5511.html
I also got the bad news email from BBTS. They're keep the preorder stage for 1 more month, if nothing come up, then BBTS will scrap it. Toyarena...Dec, hm....
