Yes, apparently PayPal (and therefore PayPal Credit) is not an option like it was for the Sail Barge. (I have a feeling it's due to PP's rules about pre-orders.) Which is a shame, as having that option is what made me hit on not only getting the Sail Barge, but getting a second one as well.

 

Hahaha, good luck with that!

No, I don't think we get to see our number and I'm assuming that counter goes up once they've validated your card or something.

 

The comments on reason #7...  !

 

I think the real question in #8 is, will I need five to six Japanese designers to help me transform Unicron?

 

Yeah, I was a little sad to not be able to use PayPal credit ... guaranteed 6 months no interest...

That said, I have a pile of available credit cards so I just stuck it on the one that gave the most points and I’ll cover it from savings and pay myself back in the same installments  

 

It’s already been explained several times in this thread this position is wrong. In the first 35 days in the Barge it only had 3800 backers; 1200 below the 5,000 threshold. In the last 6 days — 4,600 backers.

The Barge had an initial rush of backers in the first week then stalled for almost a month, then the last week had more backers than the first month in total. But don’t let actual precedent influence your position.

 

Put me in the camp that thinks this will get funded. So many people have stated they are leaning towards ordering but haven't done so yet. I was surprised accessories weren't announced at SDCC. Further announcements for this were basically confirmed leading up to Aug 31st by the rep in the Unicorn.com video.

I can see the main focus of a line in the near future being centered around playsets / battle stations / city bots / existing Titans, new Titans Etc (Something smaller than 3rd part Legends figures). Maybe in 2021 when Unicorn releases?

 

I mean that restaurants can order food in bulk and save on each ounce they serve (by buying more). But then you have the problem of how to serve that extra food, right? Not really: you've increased the cost of everything served, and customers complain there's no "value" in paying so much for each menu item. Therefore you pile extra food onto the plate (and I'm not saying stacks of steak - no one has ever made that stupid decision in the history of restaurants!).

Every time you order food at a restaurant, you are getting more than you need (an unhealthy amount). This isn't ignorance: restaurants want to charge more, and they understand less for more money doesn't work.

No one is claiming I've seen every display. I mean that from the many I have seen, Unicron has never been the focal point. And without seeing every display or doing a universal poll, I can tell you that Optimus Prime is the most popular character and is featured heavily in MOST displays. But disagree if you like - the retail presence is all the proof I need of how some things sell better in the TF universe. Unicron is not heavily sold. I guess Hasbro is either underestimating how popular he is, or you're overestimating how popular he is!  

An Ark playset would obviously be made to scale with one of those you mentioned. I'm not sure why you're keen on Hasbro selling an item that scales with every collection, as they have never done this.

You are insulting and assuming a lot about my perspective on this, and then you agree with me at the end of your statement while claiming to say something against my comment. I'm not your enemy, even if we don't share the same socks!  

And to use your own argument style: you seem to assume everyone wants to display Unicron in the back to make him imposing!  

You don't need to be a d*ck, just because the idea doesn't strike your fancy. I didn't spend 3 months on those ideas, so it hardly makes a difference if you hate them - I'm not personally invested in any of those. I wish I had the fan-shelf picture to show you, so maybe then you could appreciate the concept better. A fan DID make a shelf like the one I described, and it looked phenomenal! Anyway, when you say there are different scales of TFs, you hit on a good point - not every product will fit every collection. And there's nothing wrong with that.

You could be one of those guys who debates about whether or not a toy will fit in an MP display, or if it's CHUG scale. I don't get involved in that, though I do appreciate the need for proper scale.

Anyway, he's 19 pounds and $600. If you feel like tossing him into the back of your display, where you'll never have access to him, go for it. I don't personally treat my TF collection like fine art, but that doesn't mean you can't do so!   I'm sorry to have deeply offended you with contrary opinions. But please don't assume I'm the average TF fan here to fight and debate and curse you. I'm not, and I don't care to have a rivalry with you or anyone. Take that attitude somewhere else, ya? You could have asked your questions or debated my points more politely, sir.

 

Thank you!      

This is what I'm talking about! Where the hell is everyone gonna put him?

I'm in awe of your planning, as I predict most fans won't even think about it until he arrives on their doorstep and ends up in the middle of their floor!  

Still, keep him close to the ground, or find some way to strap him to the shelf/wall. I am eagerly awaiting the horror stories of Humpty-Unicron taking a great fall!   But it's Hasbro, so there's every chance he will be sturdy and safe from small drops, right?  

 

Good point. I can't wait to see what fans do with this guy! Honestly!

(And I'm more of a Metroplex fan, so if Hasbro wanted to do a 20 pound Metroplex, I'd definitely sell off a ton and create an elaborate new display!  )

 

Well got $500 today from selling some 3p stuff. Time to throw that at the balance of one of my cards and order this guy!

 

Give me some good analogies, rather than dismiss the argument entirely. I didn't take hours on those analogies, so of course, "they're bad". It's a different point of view.

Your argument about scale is irrelevant: Unicron does not scale to every collection, too. Are you saying that a lot of collectors are upset because Unicron is too big or too small?  

Sorry, I assumed we're talking about displays. I thought I made that clear: the argument is about displays, not playing with the toys. I guess I see more displays than I see fans playing.   So... sorry?

Did I say Unicron should have no special features? I thought I said the opposite: he needs sound clips, lights, etc. All of which would be fun for both display AND playing.

I think your argument is that Unicron need not be displayed too prominently because most people are playing with him instead?  

The problem with TF fandom? Express a contrary opinion and everyone gets angry! Granted, I must apologize if my enthusiasm was misinterpreted as hate toward your own opinion. It wasn't hate. It was a different opinion.

I'm still eager to see new displays with this Unicron. I just personally think he's not worth that much money AND that most fans will have a hard time fitting him into a display! For play-ability, I still think a Metroplex or Fort Max type of toy is better. But then I've also people express disinterest in more micro-masters, and the way those figures languish on the shelves, it seems that fans don't care for them in general.  

As cool as Unicron is, I think a Cybertron surface or Iacon City display would be cooler. Of course, you will not agree, and I don't speak for the entire fandom. I know this: I'm not your typical TF fan, so my ideas should NEVER be construed as the proper direction for the brand. The way Micro-Masters were the last bit of effort, and failed to revive the brand? Yeah... the toys I like will not sell well, most likely!  

 

That was fast, my friend!   Yowza!  

I'm selling random bits of my collection: Beast Machines, Mega Bloks toys, etc. I'm up like $300...   I've got a lot of worthless junk!  

And just when you consider buying a Unicron, Hasbro releases a metric ton of exclusives (TF and ML), making it virtually impossible to own both the exclusives AND Unicron!   I honestly can't remember a time when Hasbro had this much product coming out for collectors....  

 

The barge also required less backers and from the SW fan-base which is much broader/numerous. From experience the core big spender SW collector base is a totally different market to TFs.

In theory, this should be a way more exciting and interesting proposition than Jabba's Barge. The relative % of backers for the barge was also higher. When this hits 4k it's only 50% there still.

Outside of Masterpiece & 3P masterpiece, TF collectors do not have this sort of money to spend on CHUG. How often do the Titans take an age to clear out on sale and this is the same market.

Across this and the other forums / groups the actual sentiment to Unicron and the crowdfunding approach is not sufficiently positive.

Again the raw numbers of collectors who spend big money on single TFs is pretty low. This is a non masterpiece (and looks it) so it's limiting this further.

I stand by my views that this has been pitched, priced and sold through the wrong medium; especially given the timeframe to delivery.

What may happen is that it is opened up to normal retail distributors who won't have to commit the cash up front once it reaches a certain sell-through which means it still hits target.

Presently they are trying to raise $4.6m to fund.

Let's assume normal production costs factored up for the low run & specialist nature of this are 30%. They need c2.5k backers to fund production.

After that, they could afford to open it up to retail commitment on promise of sale deferring payment on account or within 30days of delivery.

The big specialist retailers may order 10-100 of a high value collectable item. No retail would commit $58k of cash up front against a 2 yr lead in time.

Equally now it's been seen, the 3P/4P manufacturers could have a unicron to market in 12 months, another reason why I suspect they are seeking cash up-front.

 

This is also the point where fans need to decide how seriously they want hasbro to take them. If this doesn’t get funded hasbro has no reason to consider the adult collector market for transformers because they (collectors) will be seen as no willing to put their money where their mouths are

I sold some stuff I didn’t want to and got less than I hoped, but backing this takes priority over 3p figures

 

I agree this is kind of put up or shut up time for North American transformer fans. Is this a true "masterpiece" Unicron? No buts it's about as close as we're going to get. At that point we're not talking $600 were talking $1600 and for most people on this earth that's just too much, so this is looking like a reasonable compromise.

 

No way am i reading through books worth of posts.  

 

The more I think about this piece, the more I think I need to try and find a way to make it happen. It would be a kind of wish fulfillment about 30 years in the making for me. I'll have other cracks at Prime 3.0 and other pieces, but not this.

And I think funding will probably happen. The ends of these types of campaigns tend to get a huge surge of pledges and I don't see this being any different. We'll see how the next ~40ish days go.

 

 

Haha, glad you enjoyed it by the end! I definitely had a lot of fun writing this one... and yeah, I certainly hope to get the chance to take some pics of him at some point! I'm pretty sure I'm going to go for it...

Ha, I know right? When the first one came in I was like "Um, ok?", but then it just kept happening!

Sounds like a party!

 

If the designers came with the toy that would be awesome!