$60 for limb bots is a huge draw. For me personally if the price goes up then so does my expectations of quality and overall value for the money, and an increased likelihood of choosing a competitor. Especially so when assessing aesthetics for all 3 modes of a set (bot, vehicle and combiner)

 

Defensor. Seriously, we need an MP Defensor and the Zeta design sensibilities perfectly.

We have 3 sets of Stunticons coming out more or less simultaneously we don't need another.

I would like a set of Predacons but I'd prefer to wait until we have the original combines done first.

Edit: As for the price increase, I know Zeta had a lot of engineering and molds already done when they went their own way from Toyworld so it makes sense that prices would need to raise some to accommodate new molds/ designs.

That said, I'd like to see some news bells and whistles too.

Maybe figure out a way for future combiners to do the Scramble City thing. I personally don't care but I know lots of folks do.

Alternatively, if this won't happen I'd love to see diecast used in the leg bots for added stability.

Finally some paint would go a long way.

 

@Blaque_Ravage this sounds like, "can we charge more for the same quality/engineering". the answer to that will always be no, so no real point in asking. do it or don't.

if the point is to solicit feedback as to what needs to change in order to charge that price then frame the question that way.

this is the second or third time I've seen you suggest this. I don't think you have a firm grasp on how this works, or why some companies get high quality KO'd and others don't.

 

On the flip side it's getting better and better. Superion is the most stable combiner ever made and extremely posable with strong ratchets and fantastic proportions. If that's all accomplished by giving a combiner a few extra parts then more please Zeta. If you don't like it then MMC and TFC are catering for you and everyone wins. Let's not get them all making small thighed, weak jointed combiners and being stuck half a decade ago. Choice in style and size is good for the consumer.

Also best of luck with not using Silverbolt in the torso and keeping the arm connections not broken.

 

This is what I have always thought, and I always expected them to raise prices when running out of the designs they made for Toyworld. That's also why I'm not expecting a significant increase in quality for the higher price, of course they'll have to make some improvemennts to justify it, but maybe it will be a 10% better figure for 25% more.
I bought their Superion for $375, I have yet to decide if I'm fine with spending $450-500 for a combiner (be it from Zeta, FT, Dx9,...), but there are some considerations:
-the regional lock has to go away, or else for people like me in Europe they risk becoming the most expensive options if you want proper customer service;
-with a higher price point, I'll start to pay more attention to details, like the tolerances issues in the chest and shoulders transformation for the aerialbots, and the kibble in bot mode for the combaticons;
-combined mode has to be always rock solid, as Superion;
-if they keep the enginerring from Superion, with the shoulder connectors not integrated into the torso bot, consider adding a butterfly joint;
-if possible, more than 90° bend for the combiner's elbows;
-please focus on combiners who have no representation in MP scale like Defensor or Computron, no more Menasor or Devastator for a while.

 

I'm ok with a price hike if that means more modern engineering.

Zeta's figures look really good in combined mode, but the individual bots look dated from a design standpoint. I'd expect that with a price increase, there would be more time spent on design elements.

 

More engineering doesn't necessarily mean more costs all at once. It's not like Zeta is going to toss out the knowledge they've already learned with Aerialbots. You can say that a set of Protectobots is going to be vastly different, and they will be, from a design point, but to a point. They are going to have to have arms and legs and a torso, and a head. The folding that goes around that is where it gets interesting.

Make incremental improvements on engineering, but I don't need it to be super clever. The original G1 bots weren't. The animations certainly don't need fancy details. (The mass shifting might be an issue.) Just about anyone who collects TF accepts some degree of partsforming, so don't worry too much about that.

Put money it in where it counts: the head sculpts. Everyone is going to be looking at this, be it in combined or separate mode. Make them balanced between toon and toy, and for heaven's sake, hire some visual artist who can sculpt, rather than getting a graphics designer who is mapping to a head peg. There are intrinsic features in a humanoid facial structure that are needed (Cheek bones! A nasal bridge that isn't a pencil! Eye brow ridges! An appropriate sized forehead! A mouth/oral aperture that has a sphinx-like/Mona Lisa-like expressiveness!) to make this work, and I guarantee, we can overlook blockishness and weird hollowing (TT MP Prowl) and odd proportions (FT Grinder, MP-10), but that head has to work, or else, it's just a cheaper version of a better looking toy.

 

This. And they continue to be bad at designing individual bot faces, their botmodes are always overly chunky because combined mode is their focus, and they sometimes deviate too much from G1 or from masterpiece aesthetic in aspects of the botmode. So if they charge more, they're going to have to compete more with the XTransbots and Fans Toys of the industry.

I do hope they do a G1-inspired Defensor set to complete the Season Two combiners in their current Zeta combined aesthetic and engineering. But I wouldn't pay a lot for it.

 

Really? If Zeta keep going this current trend -- less and less need the actual robot, but relies on the part for combiner, eventually it's just 50 cm of this guy

 

That's an interesting idea.

 

Zeta dominates because their combiners are cheap. Keep them cheap.

Make new single figures. I like the OX aesthetic. Crush MMC.

 

If they don't hike it up too much they'd still have the price advantage and they could use their Air Raid as a base to build great seekers at higher quality abd and make a bundle doing them in any color.

 

That thing looks cool...I would prefer something with a little more detail...but not as stylized as constructor. Something more toon but with more detail.

 

I do not mind a price hike as long as the quality and engineering is better. I would like to see less kibble on the individual bots. I get that they are going for the Studio Ox look but I would like for additional options like they have already presented like animation heads or something that I hope they would release like a G1 toon torso set for Bruticus.

I do not mind the "region lock" seeing as I have not problem buying through the proper channels.

As for them "being more vocal with the community", entitled much, Hasbro does not communicate either so why do you feel they have to. These companies do not need to provide the public updates every week or every month. We do not need to know what goes on behind the scenes. As longs as they deliver a good product, that is all we need.

 

Perhaps I was hasty. But there's a lot of guys who go into forms and say they represent something and they don't represent s***. Personally these are not $100 figures. $60 yes. But for $100 I'm taking my business elsewhere and I like this company for the most part. They designed Devastator and I paid $400 for him but I would not have paid more. At the end of the day it's still a piece of plastic

 

Zetas take on groove. I'm scared yet intrigued.

 

After reading more of these posts and getting a better understanding of the picture, I must reword my earlier post a bit...

No. Just no.

Your company was able to skate on thin ice because you took designs that were yours, using another company's R&D and their funding to get where you are today. You should consider that a blessing and be thankful that you were able to pull it off. As-is, your products are pushing the limit at $60.00 a limb (USD) and $130 a core bot (again, USD) and that's your biggest selling point.

Considering there are others in the market doing the same thing and integrating everything, the engineering proves THEY are worth the extra money while YOU are not.

You parts form to make this visual magic happen. A lot of people, myself included aren't entirely on board with that kind of combiner. MMC's upcoming Bruticus forms vehicle, robot and combiner component all in one robot with no parts to keep an eye on because they're built right in. Of course, that will raise the price and that's understandable.

What's also understandable is that your prices are lower because you DO partsform the torsos with a trunk piece. Because of the current pricing, the partsforming is more or less forgivable. Past a certain point, people are complaining just to complain (myself included) at your current pricing. If you raise the prices for what you're churning out as they are now, not a chance in Hell will you deserve that raise. Period.

People went for your products for aesthetics, functionality (such as the Bruticus slider to adjust the center of gravity, that was a nice touch) and price. You can still produce positively received items and keep the costs down, or maybe a 10% jump, but nothing more than $70.00 per limb. At 30% you're raising prices from $60.00 to $78.00 at the current 30% uptick. I don't own your products, but I've seen them. They ain't worth $78.00 a pop. Sorry, but no. This may come across mean-spirited, I don't mean for that, I'm just being brutally honest.

What makes you who you are is the ability to make these combiners at an affordable price. People don't WANT to spend $600.00 for a combiner anymore. They do it because there's nothing else filling the void, but others miss out entirely because the pricing is out of hand. You guys (and gals) made it possible to not spend that much on a single set of figures that really only do one thing or have one gimmick going for it.

I understand the cost of inflation, I do, but let's be reasonable here. You ain't Takara Tomy and even they don't deserve the prices they're asking. We like you because you're cheap. There's nothing wrong with that.

 

They already have Starscream done, from their Coneheads. They just wont release it.

 

Would you happen to have a link with pictures? Or is this something they've just discussed? I'd be interested in seeing what that would look like.

 

I’m glad Zeta is reaching out to its customer base for feedback. However, a price hike would put their combiners in more direct competition with fans toys, MMC, and DX9. These companies have a history of quality products. So if Zeta hikes the price too $85 or so per limb bot then I would expect the plastic to feel more quality and less cheap as it does now. Also I would expect more paint! My first impression of Zeta’s Armageddon was...this is cool...feels kinda cheap like MP scaled chug or a K.O...but the price is right and this set does the job overall.

So please increase quality if you increase the price Zeta, otherwise I would spend a little more and get a better quality product with other 3P offerings.