TakaraTOMY Reveals Henkei Thundercracker, Skywarp and Crystal Convoy

Hydra's said he's happy to accept orders from folk not on his mailing list, I checked with him before posting his message here.

Is anyone offering Thundercracker separately? I don't really care to have Skywarp, and if I could cut the cost by eliminating him, that would be spectacular.

I doubt it matters to Takara whether FP is "ok" with it or not.

YAY! Henkai Thundercracker, I'd definately get him.

Also, is that a translucent Convoy? Is he a exclusive?

honestly i would have preferred a magnus over another prime but I'll get him anyway

emailed hydra to maybe get TC and Crystal Convoy instead of TC and SW

Hmmm...

Quick, someone check the trademark database to see if "Feralstorm" has been registered recently.

(yeah, like you wouldn't buy any toy that used your screenname. )

Hahahaha, facts. Don't throw words around so loosely. I didn't use it.

I also didn't say there was never a jet with jungle camo. But I'm pretty damn sure you'd find them exceedingly rare not to mention exceedingly pointless.

Oh, by the way...



OMG POWERGLIDE IS REAL THERE ARE RED JETS...c'mon, Google image search is fun but you can find almost anything in 5 seconds.

Win!

....Can I say something that has little to do with this. I hate the term "seeker". Yes I know it's history, but it sounds stupid. Seeker this, Seeker that. Stupid. "I want to collect all of the Seekers!" " Did you see the Seeker that I have?" I just flat out hate it.

I have one! Though it's not TF related, it's from a childhood nickname.

Not as much as I despise 'Conehead'.


I quite like Seeker

Well, they are both retarded. Ramjet hates it. Starscream told me that the term Seeker sucks.

If someone doesn't want the whole set, the savings are significant.

Assuming of course that TC's price doesn't go into the stratosphere immediately. Which is by no means a safe assumption.

This give me an idea for a Pepsi Prime variant:

Pepsi Clear Prime!

Stupid, I know. But it just popped into my head!

Lets see here.

1. The camo'd jets were, in fact, F-15s. What the Seekers are, just FYI. A *military* jet.
2. They're not that rare. In fact, they're very common applications in jungle/forest environments, employed by Air Forces around the world (the Israelis, as linked in the pic), the US during Korean and Vietnam wars (Google "F4 Phantom II")
3. Since you apparently dont understand military tatics, to explain why it's not "exceedingly pointless", it's called camouflage for a reason. To blend in with the environment, to hide it from above when they're packed and vulnerable to bombing or aerial reconnaissance.

Fail.

I still want a cartoon-accurate TC.

To add to Chaos Sorcerer's reply, I do not believe there are any modern fighter jets painted red serving in a military capacity, since it would pretty much stick out like a sore thumb during daytime operations against the sky.

That picture you linked is an old Soviet MiG painted for a Redbull promotion, no longer a serving military fighter.

So yes, Fail. Epic Fail.

You know... I went and bought a Botcon Thundercracker at $100 partly because I wanted to test a theory--if I went and bought something at a high price chances are it could get sold at a lower price (like half or something) due to something like really declining interest or the item getting reoffered/rereleased or something else.

This just indicates to me that I should go buy Dinoking or something to see if Takara will end up rereleasing that, too.

But botcon toys are planned a year ahead of time, correct?

Wouldn't that mean that they were planned when Classics were still on the shelves?

How can a line 'not do well enough' if it's still in the process of being sold?

buy Overlord!

I wouldn't mind seeing one based on the IDW version of the seekers.

Its all Semantics. Dead, cancelled, never-planned-to-be-more-than-two-waves all apply here.

The only thing to take away is that whenever FP started designing their set, Hasbro had made a decision that TF Classics was only going to be two waves, and had no further plans at the time.

Pete says it all, over at the Allspark :

http://www.allspark.com/forums/index...dpost&p=931939

And from our standpoint, no worries again. We appreciate that the Henkei version will be different than the BotCon Classics version. The goal all along was to create a BotCon set that gave people the chance to finish a Seekers set (all at once) from a line that had been cancelled.

QFT. I'd love to see the IDW seeker mold show up at some point in toy form. (not the masterpiece version from AHM.)

Yeah, I was hoping they would have made the Classics seekers Raptors when they originally came out. That would've been awesome.

Man, at least I don't have to wait in line overnight to get these seekers. Now, I want to see how backlogged the server is going to be tomorrow. When E-hobby released Nemmy Convoy their webpage wouldn't even load up because of the massive hits that they were taking.

And I thought TFW2005 was down whole yesterday evening because of the outraged Botcon seeker owners crying about ruined collectors value (reminds me of a certain Powerpuff Girls episode) and overloading the server...

Since TFW2005 was down I was forced to post these below on Seibertron first! See what you made me do!

Since I'm in geek heaven thanks to finally being to get TC and NOT having to pay 300$ for him, I decided to quickly photoshop some comparison shots:

Skywarp comparison

Thundercracker comparison





Frankly, Skywarp is the one who's more different then the original - in both cases, Heinkei used the toy colors, not the show colors... And there are many other little differences on both toys, like the 'same color as body' nosecone, the 'stripes' going all over the end of the wing, less silver paint, etc...

Anyway, I hope we can get them from a Hong Kong Ebay seller in a few months, the same way the other Heinkei are avaliable today... 'Cause don't forget, they are made for Japan, but still made in China...

Classics wasn't a truncated line because it didn't do well. It was truncated because it was a filler line. Hasbro only planned so many toys out in late 2005/early 2006.

Originally, the Michael Bay Transformers Movie was scheduled for release in November 2006, shortly after Cybertron ended. But the movie was bumped to July 2007, which created a sizable product gap.

So Classics was created to fill it in, hence it being called a filler line. By the time the last of the Classics were in stores, the first of the Movie toys were coming in.

we haven't been down at all?

i like the clear convoy and the seekers too. hopefully i can get some friends to help.

Yeah, the site hasn't been down at all.


????

The whole yesterday afternoon and evening I couldn't access the site neither from home nor from work... I had no problems accessing any other website. But I saw TFW2005 lists 'we got a facelift' so I thought that was the cause... Weird.

no, we did get a facelift, but that was like a 2-3 weeks ago.

This is half true, but the other issue is the initial run. Even on a limited initial run, if you ahve the right 'friends', it won't be that pricey. And even if the market is flooded with these in those chains as what happens in america, the Botcon set will still be its own value.

This is more just to appease the people who want the character, it honestly will have no effect on the Botcon sets value.

For example, I've already said I'm a cheap person who won't buy the botcon set, and I'm pretty sure so long as I jump on this near release I could get it for moderately reasonable as a bundled buy. (45-60 USD for both at most, or I won't be buying) But I'm not a collector who cares about how rare the fig is or the value, I just want the characters for when I pass on my collection to my unborn children and future wife who I've yet to find. xD

Heck, I bought the 3 dollar knock off starsaber robot master set, just so I didn't have to spend 20-30 on the robot masters import. Is the Robot master one still pricey? You betcha. Even though the KO one is still on shelves. Character variations tend to vary in price themselves, not really forcing the other to drop. So sure TC could be cheap, or pricey, but it's not the same colorings, so the botcon set is still valuable to the purists who would buy it anyway. Essentially, that off coloring makes the Botcon set the 'elite fan' thing, whereas us who don't care about taht and just want the character are still appeased.

The values won't reflect each other much, as the rarer one will still be sought after by the 'elite' fans who want to own it all, or whatever other reasons may drive them.

It shouldn't matter what your Botcon jets are worth as long as you like them. So what if Takara makes a version of them, those that have them will still have them... they won't be less "cool" will they? Is it all about the value of the figures? If I had that Botcon jet set I wouldn't care who else had them because they are pretty darn nice. Screw how much there worth...if you love Transformers, then they are all priceless.

It was the wrong night to fall asleep early! I'm glad the seekers are released and I hope the coneheads are released as well. Now I can complete my classics collection without paying after Botcon prices. I may have to pick up that clear convoy but I hope that doesn't encourage me to get clear omega prime and sonic convoy.

They will be expensive but the prices won't be that bad.

It's late, and I am tired, but before I go to sleep I will once again say that the term "Seeker" is stupid. Regardless of where it came from or how widespread it has unfortunately become, it's stupid and I cringe when I hear people say it. It's just as bad as when people refer to their toy as a "piece" as in: "This Cosmos is a very nice piece." Remember when you were ten years old and you were smashing these valuable "pieces" together because they're toys, well that because they still are. That's why they are fun. Now, I display my stuff on shelves very nicely and no longer roughouse with them, and I have a good time when people come by to have a gander, but it is not a museum, and since they are toys that are meant to be futzed with, you can. No pretentious "please don't touch that, that's a valuable piece." from me. Sorry about this rant, but I have had about an hours sleep in 2 days and I kinda got on a roll. Please just be happy with your toys, they like you!

I am sorry, but making up arbitrary prices of what you deem the worth to be? You do know even if you lived in japan and bought from the store directly, you couldn't get both figures for less than 60$ combined.

QFT. I was never a fan of the line enough to be a completist by any means, but guess which two Go-Go-Gobots I HAD to have.

Diet Pepsi Prime?

oh man, JAFR (Just Another F#@%ng Repaint)
Already have Skywarp from the Classics Ultra Magnus vs Skywarp
Now what? spend more money on a "let's add some silver and purple strips" version?!

Fail!!! Because.....

Yes. This. This is ownage. To elaborate, camo jets are not useless; they are used in desert and jungle situations for - get this! - camo and hiding while on the ground or low flying. You should try Google search sometimes. It works, it really does! So does any number of online resources that keep you from making assinine statements and smarmy, smartass comments to other members in this discussion from hell. It also helps with the realistic "red" RED BULL repainted air-show plane. However, I am sure when the commies and nazis attack, we will put these red planes into service again. Neato kid!





Further, fanboys complaining about Thundercracker, i.e. plastic toy (as has been discussed before), = EPIC FAIL.

Draven, et al. as voice of reason = WIN!!

Honestly, you are making the hobby look bad, guys. Bad.

Already got Classics Skywarp? Don't want to spend more money importing a Japanese version with different paintjob?
Why not keep your money and stop whining? It's not for you, it's for the Japanese market, who don't already have it.

As has been pointed out, anything sold through sellers in Hong Kong on ebay when it's an exclusive is not an extra figure left by the wayside: it ends up being taken directly out of the supply the store has for exclusives, meaning the store won't get the amount of figures it paid for. You want it on a Hong Kong ebay seller? Someone else suffers; the retailer, and the consumer.

It'll STILL be as rare, and it'll STILL be overpriced; the only difference would be that someone from Hong Kong would steal (yes, STEAL) one of them from the retailer's supply.

Also, Japanese releases getting stolen from the factories is quite the rarity, so I wouldn't expect it.

Thanks for the comparison photos. I prefer the Henkei versions after seeing those!

I'm not going to bother, because I don't want to break up my Botcon set and have no need for two Thundercrackers.

Hooray, I preordered mine. Happy day, oh happy day. I've been wanting Thundercracker for too long. I also ordered Skywarp so it looks like I'm going to have to get Starscream so I have a matching set.

Nice. That really shows off the differences between the two. Believe it or not though I actually like Hasbro's version of Skywarp better... the purple is a little too light for my tastes on Takara's version and I like the little touches that Hasbro did for Skywarp to make him similar to his older self yet at the same time a slightly different deco. I don't need it to be an exact replica of his G1 toy, cartoon or comic model so I'm very happy with my Target version.

Now, with Thundercracker I actually like the Takara version better... the darker blue just looks nicer and I like the fact that his blasters are painted up with some black to help break up his color scheme in robot mode more. Not sure if I'd go out of my way to replace my Botcon TC though... but if BBTS gets some in for preorder I may bite if it's around the $80 to $100 range (which is what I'm expecting the online retailers to put these guys up for if they get any before eBay prices go nuts with these guys) and resell my Botcon TC (which I'm confident I could still sell for around $150 if I so desired, but I really have no desire to sell him and could honestly care less about his perceived value), but only if I can get one through BBTS or another online shop (and sense I have no interest in Skywarp I won't attempt to go through Hydra either).

totally correct regarding the Israelis camo issue, the jets' camouflage is actually two color schemes,
the upper part is various brown shades for hiding while on the ground or low flying situations, the bottom part is light blue so the jet won't be spotted from the ground by enemy anti-aircraft units.

Looks like I will have 12 jets when Takara is done. Maybe 13 if Sunstorm makes the list.

What's kind of bad is that answers to how to end Thunder-gate over in the GI Joe hobby, but instead of some answers we can just fight out Thunder-gate forever.

First is to never use the word "dead" but to use "on hiatus". The 12" GI Joe line has been dead and back more times than Freddy and Jason combined. When it's not doing well or Hasbro just doesn't have the resources to work on 12" then the line goes on "on hiatus". Even the 8" Sigma Six line is on "on hiatus" even though the chances of that line being back is about as good as peace and good will between all Transformers fans.

So it's sort of funny to be using the term dead when Energon and Cybertron molds are still showing up with different colors and under a different banner. Until Hasbro smashes a mold and throws it into the deepest part of the ocean a mold is never really dead.

Instead of the Thundercracker war just do like with the Crimson HISS tank. It was a great toy that went beyond the Joe clubs expectations on the demand. Now Joe Con could have sat back and said our exclusive too bad if you didn't have the money to get one that year, but instead they helped convince Hasbro to do a retail release of the Crimson HISS so more fans could enjoy it because there was just no way the club could ever produce enough of them and at a good price for all the demand. Joe Club looks like heroes because they were willing to be less exclusive so all the fans could have a shot at the toy, people who went to the con were not upset because hey cool I can get another Crimson HISS to go with my con tank, Hasbro was a hero for doing something nice for the fans not lucky enough to go to Joe Con that year, and the fans who couldn't make or afford Joe Con got to be winners as well for an all around win.

Just seems like there are answers out there on how to make everyone look like the good guys and ways to work where everyone wins, but instead of putting some heads together for a win/win for everyone this whole silly battle gets dragged on forever so that everyone can get made to look bad in some way and everyone ends up losing some how. Lots of smart people at FP, Hasbro and in fandom, so why can't we come up with the win/win already?

The problem is that the almighty righty popular people here said "DEAD", so we pretty much have no say on the matter. "Dead at the time" is the most idiotic thing I've ever read in my life.

That's the key, folks. Win/win/win situation. Not Don't care/will scalp/got screwed.

That Thundercracker photo is terrible. It looks more green than blue.

Here's a better one, courtesy of the Transformers Wiki.

those comparison pics sold them completely to me, i'll try and get both since i don't have the original skywarp.

and thank god for the huge resurrecting potential of dead toy lines. i guess fanboy whining actually serves a purpose once in a while (annoying as it is to read and hear, at least it must have contributed to the return of classics this year)