Hasbro has been using the masterpiece bumblebee mold for pictures on their Facebook page for a while though and its clearly is the takara verison

 

I find it disappointing that it acuses 65$ I don't have the masterpiece bumblebee mold and as soon as I saw It was getting a release I was going to get it but then I saw that its even more expensive than starscream and I was hoping for the 40$ price range which I would take into conaideration but nope it didn't happen

 

Hopefully there will be a 20% sale during the time of release! I got mine for less than $40 while I was in Japan, but for a figure I really want like BB I don't think I would hesitate to pay $65.

I had to pay a little bit over MSRP for Starscream when he came out here, but I was lucky since I got into contact with a collector and he only charged me extra for gas and a bit of his time to meetup with him. I'll probably pick a couple of these up in stores to re-sell to fellow fans at MSRP if I run into them.

 

Don't recall exactly what I paid for my TTBB from HLJ but it feels very close to 65 shipped. When you compare that to a TRU Seeker and its price, this seems overpriced.

I prefer thr TT packaging and finish of most MPs. Rarely does it work out to be the better (or same) price.

 

Right when I was trying to think about getting another Bumblebee. I guess we have to wait till Toy Fair to confirm it.

 

No, that's not how they MPs have gone at all lately. The only moderately recent release that I can think of that was ever sold at less than the standard price was MP Grimlock was sold for $60 in a only a select few stores before his street date, and then his price went to $80 and stayed there. The Manhattan TRU (which is closed now I think) was the only TRU I know of that jacked prices (and the prices of everything). The rest of the recent MPs were released at a steady price and only went down during sales. I managed to buy MP Prowl for $36.

20% off coupons are easy to come by at TRU, I got MP Starscream for $48 after coupon in store. Maybe I have more time on my hands than everyone else, but I work a 40hr a week job too.

 

SMH. Eff you TRU with that kind of price for such a little toy. Bluestreak is $49.99 for crying out loud.

 

I want that grass fed, beer watered, hand massaged TT Kobe masterpiece experience, not the hormone loaded, cheap corn raised Hasbro masterpiece.

I find that doubtful. Any half attentive mom knows the name "Bumblebee", even though (especially because?) they have no idea that their kid is watching TF Animated or Rescue Bots or whatever, they'll just see Bumblebee on that giant box and think "wow what a great $65 treat for my kid". It'll be a funny look on their faces after the box is opened of course.

Not to mention a character like this brings the casual nostalgia fans out as well. There are plenty of people out there who don't remember Prowl at all, can't recall Thundercracker other than as "the blue jet", but will pop online or into the store to get an Optimus, Soundwave, Megatron or Bumblee.

I'm not saying this will definitely be a nightmare to get, but I'm not going to put much hope into that not happening.

BTW robwhit1, checked my shipped cost of BB from HLJ by itself, 5880 yen or just under $50 USD. $65 + tax (I never seem to have TRU coupons at the right time) sounds like major suckage in comparison.

 

Yes, I'm sure the parent that knows nothing of the different themes but knows the name bumblebee will decide to buy the $65 version for little tommy and not the $10 version on a peg two feet above it.

Parents aren't buying these for their kids.

 

I'm going to save my money and just get the KO

 

this might sound crazy, but some parents spoil their kids. I'm not saying a ton of parents will buy them, but a name recognition character like this will suck in a bigger market then older hardcore collectors, such as casual collectors, nostalgia purchasers and yes, the occasional parent who picked him up thinking their kid loves Bumblebee.

My dad bought me and my little bro the original Fortress Maximus when we were kids. Could have easily bought a couple of $4 ninja turtles.

 

I got my G2 MP BB for $45 shipped or less. Even then I felt that was a stretch. For $60, even if this comes with Spike, all faces and the G2 jet pack, I still think it's a stretch. Honestly MP BB should be $30, maybe, MAYBE $40. I can't help but feel that anyone that buys it for over $45 will feel very underwhelmed.

 

My kids have all of the TRU MPs (and some TT ones as well). They love the hell out of them. My oldest (when he was 3, he is now 7) received MP10 from TRU for Christmas the year he came out. They are actually easier to transform than many of the mainline figures, especially Optimus and Grimlock. And now that he is 7 he definitely knows the shit from the good stuff.

Remember, parents of toy age kids are one of the target markets for these things (albeit for themselves, not necessarily their kids). We are of an age where we watched the G1 cartoon when it was first aired on TV. So you would be surprised how many of us there are out there.

That being said, it is a helluva lot easier to plop down $70 for Grimlock, $100 for Optimus, $60 for Starscream, or $100 for Soundwave and 5 minions than it is to spend $65 on BB. $50 for BB shipped from Amiami is a lot easier to handle.

 

Some of those comments link to our front page. The reaction of one poster is hilarious. He's so angry, like he was personally wronged or something. Why so salty, brah?

He acts like board politics only happen here. LOL If you peered into a window behind the scenes in all of them, you'd find some ugly stuff. Even worse in the Facebook groups a lot of times. I just find it so hilarious how someone posts the fact that Bumblebee's been found in TRU computers, but the first thing this guy can do is bitch instead of celebrate.

The colon cleansing some people need, it's going to have to be nuclear powered.

 

How do you get these coupons? I had a five dollar rewards but I haven't been getting these 20% off coupons since Prowl and Sunstorm were around (they could be regularly found on Snip Snap at that time) but after that I haven't seen any.

 

Toys R Us corporate management just knows less than nothing about toys. If economists really wanted to know what's wrong with the economy, they'd do Jay Leno "man on the street" interviews with these people. Honestly, they could all be replaced with a dart board, roulette wheel, or garden-variety dice.

::rolls dice:: More reality shows.
::rolls dice:: Game shows are back.

Collectors just can't win. You wait for Hasbro, they manufacture 25 and send them all to Alaska. You throw your lot in with Takara, HLJ cancels your order a few days before release.

 

The price problem is Hasbro and TRU together, they share blame on that front.

 

Like the others, gotta be the yellow from the cartoon.

But $65? That's nuts. I can get a Bluestreak (which I've passed on) for $49.99 from Toys R US right now if I wanted to. I just don't have much of an attachment to the character and think the paint apps are show accurate enough for a "Masterpiece". Plus I have other Transformers wants on a limited budget right now. Therefor, I'm not paying $50 for it. So they better do better with Bumblebee if they expect to sell units.

 

I agree that the price could be better, it does seem odd that bumblebee will cost more than starscream, but I suspect that has to do with the production run for bee, I would guess that there were probably more starscreams produced, which lowered the cost on him.

With that said, bee is pretty cool and I would not mind getting another.