A macross valkirye is not as posable as an MP (especually the battroid mode) and SOCs simply dream MPs transformations. But yes, HOLLOWWWPLASTIICCSYNDROME !!!! How someone else spends his money IS NOT YOUR BUSINESS. Someone here is really thick as a brick, as ol' Jethro says ...
Seriously, they claim brand unification between Hasbro and Takara and we can’t get a Peter Cullen option for the voice chip!?
Some people take that "brand unification" line way too literally. That's just marketing copy for "we no longer deem it a worthwhile practice to produce region-specific variants of the same toy". It doesn't mean that Transformers is now a worldwide market free-for-all, and it's not an immutable rule. Hasbro USA simply has no viable path to releasing MP-44 in North American retail, so why would they bother spending the extra money for a USA version? This is just Hasbro Asia serving as a middle-man importer for non-Japanese distribution regions, which is what they've always done for collector-market pieces.
Why the hostility to those getting this? You're saying Takara is charging too much/taking advantage. What do you think this is worth? Keep in mind as well the $450 is US retailer pricing. It can be had for significantly less through Amazon Japan.
Do you actually think your words are making a difference to anyone? How many pre-orders do you really think you’ve stopped? Insulting people isn’t a good way to get them to come round to your thinking.
In other news, no company makes any product and sells it at cost. I know what you're trying to say, but it's a necessary part of business to make a profit on an item, it's how they can afford to turn around and make the next item, and the next. It's your job as a consumer if you want to be a part of that or not, but don't act like it's some practice exclusive to toys and Hasbro, and that the people who are willing to buy the product are somehow being corporate shills.
Completely agree. To each their own. There are people that would spend that cash on a statue....something that doesn't even mood. Would I poke fun at that or call that absurd? No. You be you. Everyone is different. Let it be. People want to buy it, let them and let them feel good about it. Who cares. Those who think it's too much or cannot afford it, go your way. Let people enjoy what they're doing!
Welcome to the boards! I like you already. Keep a positive attitude like that and you'll do well around here. Let's stop the bickering, guys. If you can afford it, awesome. If you can't, understandable. If you're able to justify the price, perfect. If you can't, no problem. We all have different financial situations and different ideas of worth when it comes to this stuff. Being of one mindset or another doesn't make anyone bad, it doesn't "feed the issue of increasing price" or anything. It just means they can afford it and are okay with the price point. There's nothing wrong with being able to afford it and there's nothing wrong with not being able to afford it. There's also nothing wrong with preferring one of the third party options (just leave it for those threads) or waiting for a KO. I can tell ya'll right now that some of the mods can afford this dude and some of us can't. Hell I can't even afford the Amazon.jp discounts. But nobody cares in the end cause we understand each other's situations and are happy for one another. Ya'll've been warned. Keep it up and I'll hand out infractions.
Personally I blame Diaclone Returns for the price jump. Takara must have seen some sort of success with the line seeing as they keep releasing new stuff for it, and then realized they might be able to get away with it on the Transformers Brand. The issue is that Diaclone Returns is a bubble, it came into the market at that price and terms, there was no previous examples for fans to go off of when justifying the purchase outside of other niche releases like SOC. Eventually though that bubble will pop and the line will fold. That's just how bubbles work. But then compare to MP Transformers. They are trying to apply the logic onto repaints of previous releases, and I personally believe most people see through it, the only people buying the expensive re-releases are those that missed the initial run. The only way Takara will see success is with drastic redesigns like Prime and Megs and new characters like Dinobot, BW Megs, Hound, etc. What complicates things the most is the way Japan handles msrp's. It's really common for a MSRP in japan to be inflated, then its up to retailers to fight it out for the best "discount", it's not uncommon for customers to haggle with stores for things like big box appliances. Hasbro just saw the MSRP, didn't account for the cultural differences, and slapped it on their listing. That's why you can get it on Amazon.co.jp for 300, but EE wants the full price.
I got yer $400 Optimus Prime RIGHT HERE!! LewinResources optimus prime L MP10 71CM With Alloy Robot | eBay
I'm honestly surprised there hasn't been a story yet where Optimus goes up to titan size and fights Trypticon and Scorponok.
And the best part, I would bet real money that the EE Distribution "wholesale" price is higher than Amazon Japan too. Back when I was ordering cases, it was almost always cheaper to go through HLJ retail. And HLJ didn't pull any horseshit like shipping a case of 12 as 3 shipments of 4 either.
Dont pay full price for Prime unless there isn't another option, besides not getting it all together of course. Ordered Prime for 316.00 and Bee for 90.00 and still had dough leftover from saving (goddamn change jar). Getting both for less than the cost of one Prime. Amazon JP all day, check it out now.
