I think Hasbro went about this the wrong way, Swindle should have gotten the truck mold, while Blastoff the new mold. Trailbreaker and Hound would have been fine as the truck mold too.

Either way I'm happy we get this Blastoff. He was always my favorite as a kid, and much more fun than his friends....because he fun to swoosh and could leave the planet!
Takara has hard core fans (like myslelf) over a barrel, but only because Hasbro is letting them. Not to say that Hasbro's Blastoff is garbage its very nicely painted, and I might have been okay with it....if I didn't know that Takara would do the obvious.

 

Blast Off looks pretty cool. Also, is it just me or is that a Breastforce homage on that Optimus?

 

I've got to say, the Prine universe Optimus has a lot of toy bodies.

1st Edition/PRID Optimus
Beast Hunters
Go!
RID15
RID15 Supreme Mode
RID15 Hyper Surge

 

I think several people misinterpreted the intent of my previous post some pages back just because I challenged Hasbro to step up their game. And because I challenged them to do better, some of the people here are flipping out of their freaking minds. "Don't DARE question the mighty Hasbro! Elitist scumbag!" How is challenging a company that cuts corners "elitist"? Some posts on this forum make no sense and just rush right into insults because they can't handle what someone else has to say. The fact of the matter is that 90% of the Transformers I own are made and released from Hasbro because I would rather not have to jump through hoops and spend lots more money just to get decent version of the Transformers.

So before you ass-u-me I'm some kind of "Takara fanboy elitist" find out the facts before calling names. Otherwise, you're proving who is the elitist with "The stick up your ass" (as someone put it) in this conversation.

So what you're saying is that Combiner Wars has no intention what so ever of being targeted to collectors simultaneously while the Robots In Disguise line is going on? So they have TWO lines marketed for only kids? So you have inside information on Hasbro's inner workings that none of us have?

Okay. Glad you think that makes sense, but I would encourage you to consider more possibilities.

There we are with the personal insults. Way to go. Nice Job. Thanks for proving who is "elitist".

It appears you've forgotten all the Hasbro releases that don't even have properly painted wheels. Instead of making them just a big piece of black plastic, they could have made it look like it was a car wheel and rubber tire and something of quality simply but minor painted wheels. Takara always fixes this problem. I just don't have the resources to go Takara all the time. Which means I will also pass on Hasbro if they are too lazy to do something as simple as stamp paint on wheels to make it look more realistic. I'm tired of plain blobs of plastic with no paint apps in the alt mode. I'm surprised there aren't more like me who are because it makes no sense. Instead what I get is insults and name calling only because I challenge Hasbro to do better so we would actually buy their brand instead of having to jump through hoops and pay a small fortune to get decent representations of these characters.

There were are again with the incorrect assumptions and personal insults. Who is the elitist now?

And again, like CW isn't a collectors line, because you know, Robots in Disguise must be the collectors line.

Let's all continue to ass-u-me!

Some of you here either have selective memory, or just haven't been around long enough to know better, so let's take a quick abbreviated trip down memory lane of some of the corners Hasbro has cut, cheating out domestic releases...

-Commemorative Edition Optimus Prime - Neutered smoke stacks, no die cast.
-Masterpiece Optimus Prime (MP-01) - Neutered smoke stacks, no die cast, less accessories among other things.
-Masterpiece Rodimus - Half the features weren't included. Didn't even turn into his namesake.
-Alternators Tracks - Yellow? What? It took fan outcry to get a proper blue one.
-Classics Skywarp - They decided to invent their own version of his stripes and colors.
-Classics Starscream & Skywarp - (subjective) They made up their own color deco and had to release a new version for fans to get one that represented his show appearance.

BEST EXAMPLE...
-Classics/RTS Jazz - A sports care without silver wheels. Among other missing paint apps.




-Classics Skywarp

-Classics Starscream
-Classics Astrotrain
-Classics Megatron - He was nerfed into something all neon green and purple.  



-Classics RTS Tracks (See Jazz.)
-Classics Hound (Again see Jazz)


Practically the entire Henkei and United line fixed the characters Hasbro butchered with their versions.

-CW Ultra Magnus - A decent figure except it has no paint apps and no wheels. (Full Disclosure: I will be buying one but I'm upset I have to go through the hassle of having to paint the rims myself. I shouldn't have to.)

Then of course all the combiner figures mentioned in this thread like Devastator's lack of joints, apps, and the in-congruent uses of molds on characters that aren't suited for them . It was common in G1 for them to repaint molds, but then they kept it to maybe 3 characters. Here they are doing it to 5 and more which is overkill and it doesn't even fit some of the characters. And most of them are rushed and end up at discount thrift five and dime type stores when the new waves hit.

I'm not wasting any more time making what could be a page long list of figures Hasbro cut corners and cheapened where as Takara saved the figure. There has been countless of other Transformers they wouldn't even paint wheels on the car. I think from some of the above examples and the recent CW misses you get the idea. It has been going on for well over a decade now. And until people stand up collectively and say "I want better" they will continue to cut corners because why should they invest any more time and money for paint apps or quality control or joint articulation of people are just going to say they don't care and buy it anyway?

I DON'T' WANT to have to buy Takara. I don't want to jump though the hoops of having to import and pay twice as much for the same figure that should have been done correctly in the first place. There is NO reason Hasbro can't put something as simple as silver paint onto plastic wheels to make it look more realistic. That is not going to hurt any bottom line number.

But until people create the demand for better quality and better paint apps to do these characters justice, than Hasbro will continue to rush things and treat them cheaply and we will all have to fork out an arm and a leg to import Takara.

If you want a better product, you can't apologize for it and you can't make sympathetic excuses of reasons we don't even know could even be true. And to ask for a better product isn't "Elitis" it's just good business.

The free market will set it all out. If Takara provides the better QC, tooling, and paint apps, then people are going to buy Takara. But if Hasbro were to step up it's game and provide better quality paint apps at the very minimum, than fans like me will buy the Hasbro versions. It's as simple as that.

When you're in school the teacher doesn't give you an A by not doing your homework and cutting corners. When you're running for President people aren't going to vote for you if you say you're just "good enough". If you're in the military you aren't getting promoted for slacking off. You don't get a promotion in your job by cutting corners. Likewise if you cut corners too much you're likely to get fired. So why does Hasbro get a free pass from some of the fans on here? Don't we want improvement? Don't we want better? Why should we have to go through Takara to get what we want for these characters?

I certainly don't want the hassle of that, when it SHOULD be done properly the first time right here domestically by Hasbro.

You're wise, unlike some others who presume to know everything about Hasbro's business model.

The way I see it, it's totally a missed opportunity by Hasbro. Which is a shame because most of us love these characters and Hasbro's Transformers brand so much but these shortcomings are making some of us doubt getting them.

It doesn't make sense to me because Hasbro could be the one's making that profit if they just stepped it up a notch for improvement.

This.

And definitely, This. I agree. As far as I'm concerned that is the bottom line and the main point I am making.

Now back to Blast Off. I'm looking forward to seeing what his colors will look like. I think I can get over the oversized blocky chest and skinny arms because at the very least it's a better representation of who the character is and originally was. I like.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclaimer: The express written previous post is the views of it's author and only it's author and thereby not intended to offend, hurt, or flame any board members. If you are so offended by said opinion then you may wish to seek counseling. The author likes Blast Off and approves of the original topic of the thread. If you have a problem with that, the author may wish to provide you with counseling.

 

No. What I'm saying is that Combiner Wars and Unite Warriors have been released under completely different circumstances. Combiner Wars toys are released separately in waves and are made to appear to the general public. Just looking at the way their advertised shows that, unlike Unite Warriors, they've stressed the Scramble City aspects of the toys (The first wave showed Superion with Dragstrip as an arm, Galvatronus is made out of two Aerialbots and two Stunticons, Ultra Prime from various assorts limbs, both Betatron and Optimus Maximus use the same limbs) whereas Unite Warriors are released as complete boxsets. It has nothing to do with having internal knowledge on Hasbro's business model and everything to do with using common sense.

That being said, let's actually look at the Unite Warriors releases, shall we? Of the six combiners being released, only three have actually been regular retail. Half the line is flat-out not available to the average customer or casual buyer. It's a line specifically targeted to collectors and nobody else. This method of using online exclusives and boxsets is a HUGE difference to how Combiner Wars is being handled. The lines are just not comparable to one another.

"Fanboy" is not a personal insult. Calm down.

So they don't have painted rims, but they also have a lot more going on in the actual decos. If you prefer the rims, fine. But ultimately that's just personal opinion and you can't deny that the rest of the figures have less paint (admittedly to match the cartoon, but a fact is a fact).

As for the rest of your post, you've chosen some interesting choices to compare Hasbro to Takara.

Jazz was released in the United line, which was an interesting line because each individual figure was priced differently based on size, paint apps and such and it didn't have distinguishing between Deluxes,Voyagers or Scouts. RTS Jazz was released in a line with a fixed price-point and as such had less freedom. Classics Megatron was given a brightly coloured deco in order to remove even the slightest chance of it being confused as a real gun based on toy gun laws. We know this for a fact, so complaining about it not matching the Henkei release is completely pointless. You complain about MP01's shortened smokestacks: a change made to pass safety laws and you also complain about Hasbro Rodimus... Which was far cheaper than the Takara release, fixed a heap of problems that the original run had and was was probably only called "Rodimus Prime" because of naming problems with "Hotrod" and the fact that it still had the gimmick to transform into Rodimus Prime. The actual toy itself had a deco based on Hotrod and even came with Hotrod's Targetmaster.

 

Did I just see a multi paragraph essay with side by side comparson pics from multiple angles in a post claiming they *weren't* a Takara fanboy?

Because WOW if I didn't burst out laughing. This thread fell down a goddamn trash hole in a hurry.

Also, drop the talk of "hard core" fans. That kind of No True Scotsman business already wrecked the gaming "community". Don't need that infecting this fanbase too.

 

for a 76 usd figure, that Prime looks surprisingly poorly built and unpainted.

 

For the record the claim that TakaraTomy doesn't look to reuse their molds as frequently as possible seem sketchy at best, completely false at worst. Nearly every Masterpiece mold thus far has had obvious reuses from the start and including MP5G every single mold has been reused AT LEAST once by Takara if not more with the single exception of Star Saber.

 

That's not even mentioning the fact that every single reuse of a mold in Combiner Wars has been used the same number of times in Unite Warriors bar two: Alpha Bravo (who never got a UW counterpart) and Blastoff-Slingshot and that they also have two extra reuses in Starscream and Thrust, discounting the lateset reveals until we know for sure that Takara will or will not be doing them as well (in which case: Hey! Look! A second use of Groove, effectively giving Takara MORE reuses than Hasbro).

 

I think most people were expecting something like Fansproject's Explorer or an amalgam of G1 Blast Off's toy with elements of the show model thrown in (like the forearm flaps).

 

Hm, when it come to white Generations-type Autobot carbots, I do tend to go for the Takara version. I went for the Takara versions of Jazz, Drift and am considering waiting for Unite Warriors Wheeljack.

However, I sometimes prefer the Hasbro TFs (CW Dragstrip, Rook, etc). I suppose the 'good' thing about living in the UK is that by the time the Hasbro releases get here (when they actually do, that is) we know what the Takara ones will look like.

 

damn, Blast Off bot mode looks perfect! Finally, we're getting him as a shuttle. Can't wait to get my hands on this bad boy.

 

Dude, after all that long winded bullshit...you have room to think others need counseling if they x and y about all the blah blah you wrote and ranted on about? And, damn, you really have an issue being challenged about what you wrote, which clearly said what it said, there was no ass-u-ming about it.

And about the supposed "cut corners" on the list you made...like Gaga said...hello, the US has strict safety laws on "kids" toys and yes, here Masterpiece figures are sold as "kids" toys, so safety laws do apply. And about Classics Megatron...do you live under a rock about stupid ass gun laws in the US or what?

And about CW and RID...my 6 year old has zero interest in terms simple ass shit from RID, he has his own Combiner...And, hello...um, check the age on the packaging... CW doesn't say 30+ or for Adults only it says 8+, if that's not aimed at kids...I don't know what is. It's certainly a toy line made safe so kids can play with these...toys.

And about paint...you do realize no company has unlimited budget for a given task. But, I know, somewhere you'll likely come back with some more wisdom as to why this is all wrong, but, whatever, still doesn't mean you'll be right.

 

Astrotrain and Megatron are uber subjective, considering Hasbro almost always does black and white Astrotrain instead of grey and purple (and plenty of people like the more realistic colors on the altmodes), and Takara's Megatron is basically 32 flavors of illegal to sell here.

 

I find it funny that people will accept any propaganda they are force fed to believe even if it's not the truth. Smokestacks: MP-10 had NO problem passing child safety laws. Why is MP-01 and the first reissue of Optimus Prime should not have been any different. They fixed it in later subsequent releases and were able to release at retail stores across the nation so it is quite obvious it was not a child safety law.

As for Megatron, why would there be an issue with something that doesn't even look anywhere near a real known gun in the existance of mankind like this one all the while the US has no problems selling more realistic looking toy guns at Walmart like
this or even this?

I hope you realize that when you look at the reality of history none of those excuses make a bit of truth. If you honestly believe that gibberish of "toy laws" than I've got ocean front property to sell you in Arizona and if you'll by that, I'll throw the Golden Gate in free. After it snows there, we'll turn it into our own brand new little nation where we can all live under a proud fascist government and they'll tell you all types of false propaganda to satisfy your conformity to our idea of patriotism. It will be the greatest nation on Earth and together we will create the great Aryan race. You are the perfect candidate to be such a good citizen for such a great new nation. We can build this thing together.

 

You're totally right, actually. They changed MP01's smokestacks just because they hate the fans! And there's no way they could be cautious about using Megatron because of earlier problems with people mistaking Megatron toys as real guns. Between you and me, I think Hasbro just didn't release MP05 because they were worried it'd make fans happy.

I am so glad that after all your lengthy whining you ended up just spouting tin-foil hat BS as it really just shows how out of touch from reality you truly are, effectively winning everyone else's arguments without anyone having to say anything.

 

I'm just going to leave this right here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrgpZ0fUixs

If you can't understand logic and the original sarcasm from pages back than laugh and move the F on. This is a waste of energy so find some humor.

 

I swear the hubris on you and Afterburner suck the life out of a thread in record time. What's really telling though is your insistence of convincing others of your opinion as irrefutable truth.

I believe if hasbro had released this same toy you and the usual hasbro decrier/Takara pom pom wavers would be here ripping it apart because clown shoes, blaster hands, "non iconic" shuttle mode, over-sized chest, "lazy redisgn of rook"..etc.

 

You apparently missed the post where someone was saying all posts should come with a disclaimer stating the previous was the authors opinion. Way to take something gravely serious that was never serious in the first place.  

You're lack of attention span is showing because you clearly missed the part where I want to buy Hasbro and own 90% Hasbro. I have a right to want to buy Hasbro with good paint apps and good quality control parts. The free market is that if they don't make it, then we have to look else where, which I don't want to do. This whole entire thing began when assholes like yourself turned it into personal insults on 1 single post I made about 10 pages back stating MY OPINION which you obviously don't think I'm entitled to. Clearly I'm either elitist or I'm speaking to intolerance with a lack of social intelligence who refuse to allow anothers point of view to exist, or even attempt to see the reasoning behind said point of view and I'm done with that. If you want to tell everyone one this forum to f* off because they have a different opinion, congratulations. You've done it. Yo're the winner. You're the king. You're the champ. You get the imaginary trophy of the internet.