YMMV on cleanliness

 

The arguements are fair against this piece. I agree with
1- Hasbro's "surprise guys crowdfund", not factoring collectors have other expenses and financial commitments.

2- For a $600 piece it looks good, but not what is expected for a $600 toy. Hasbro is probably still producing this piece to satisfy all US child safety laws. Imo, we are paying for engineering and overall size.

3- The production time, this should be a year or less, it's Hasbro, it should be expected that the world's largest toy manufacturer can go from prototype to production run within a year (twelve months or less).

4- The Barge is probably the best Hasbro/Kenner SW piece to be released, but is it a $550 piece, yes it is, for its size and overall quality, but also no a it was still made following child safety laws.

5- Yakface, the addition of the POTF carded Yakface, made the Barge more affordable and I am surprised that the Barge's crowdfund did not hover around 15,000 backers. Many Barge buyers sold the Yakface for $250 - $350 USD, reducing the Barges overall cost.

6- The Masterpiece line and some 3p companies, for at least myself has raised the bar to what is now collector grade/quality. I bought some of the POTP and Seige line, and I do not care for it. I buy a lot of Hot Toys and that is the quality level I will only buy for a 12" figure. Would more people be into this piece of it were half the size and the overall aesthetic and quality were in line with the MP quality?

 

What purpose in the promotional cycle would that even serve?

Early review samples are to help promote sales, but if Unicron is in production, then that's well past the sales window. For there to be any purpose in it, they'd have to put out review copies before August 31st, which is impossible.

The only thing they could potentially do is invite internet personalities to Hasbro HQ to see and play with the test sample.


Aside from that, I've seen absolutely zero history of internet personalities being "gifted" HasTak product for reviews. That's a thing that happens in the 3P circles, but for HasTak product, they actually have to buy their own. Well, unless one of the online retailers playing middle man gift the reviewers a copy. But that's highly unlikely, given the figure's cost, plus the above.

 

You all think this will happen? I\'ve been keeping an eye on her ow many backers Unicron has been making everyday and it seems to be slowing down. Went from averaging around 100 a day to around 50 now. At that rate there\'s no way he\'d reach 8k by the 31st. 8000 backers is a little far fetched.

 

As has been noted repeatedly, crowdfunding campaigns never follow a linear trajectory. There is always a surge in the first couple of days of announcement, and lull in the middle, and a huge push at the end. Especially in this case, with a very expensive buy-in, people need time to get their financial accounts in order. This is absolutely normal.

 

Sorry. What I meant was the closer we get to his official release date (early 2021), not the crowdfunding target date. I thought I made that pretty clear to understand.

 

Let's just put it this way, Unicron will be fully backed and released. We all know it. I'm not sure why anyone would think otherwise. No offense to the Star Wars fans out there, but let's look at it logically and truthfully for a moment... Jabba's Sail Barge is basically a detailed and painted giant plastic tub with cutaway panels. When you put it like that, there's really not much to it beyond it being a product that never really existed before. True? True.

Unicron has been made before, but not at a scale befitting him, and certainly not with this level of detail or articulation. When news sites such as IGN and the like (Cnet, too, I believe) start reporting on it, you know it's made waves.

So, yes, Unicron will be backed and will be produced. There's no reason to worry about it. If there's any camp that should be worried, it's the people who want Cookie Monster. I'm not joking, there ARE backers who want it, but it has a snowball's chance in Hell of actually making it to production.

Too many people are getting angry, anxious, and losing sleep over Unicron. It's not necessary, he'll be backed. Get some sleep, throw your money at Hasbro and just move on with your life until he ships. *shrugs* If for some reason he wouldn't be produced, you get your money back (or they didn't take it at all) and you also go on with your life.

This is needless anxiety over NOTHING. Please, go live your lives.

 

Where is the dam transformation video we were promised two weeks ago?

 

And that's what I was saying. The very notion is absolutely pointless.

If someone wants to gift some online reviewers a $600 toy, that's their prerogative. But they won't, because it serves no purpose in the promotional cycle.

 

Okay, okay. I sure hope that you're right.

 

Well that makes me feel better, I've been wanting a Unicron like this since I was 4, im 32 now.

 

1. I don’t understand this issue. When would it be a good time for Hasbro to announce this? It’s always gonna be a surprise and hardship for some fans.

Regardless, Hasbro needed to announce right before SDCC when it could get the maximum amount of “in-person” exposure. It would be hilariously bad to announce this during non-convention season.

2. I think you’re making wild assumptions on what you’re getting for $600. I think if this were 3P, and it was exactly the same product, it would retail for at least $1k.

3. Why should it be a year or less to produce? How many times has 3P ever landed a release date? Takara and Hasbro have stuck a lot more to release dates then not.

Omega Supreme just got delayed but the vast majority of HasTak releases have been on schedule. Maybe let Hasbro have a reasonable release schedule then be unrealistic in order to please inpatient fans. They can always beat it. How is this a bad thing anyway?

—-

I really wish 3P would do something comparable so that fans can stop complaining that this is not worth the price. It really seems like people forget how huge this is and keep thinking Hasbro is selling a $600 Titan class figure.

 

Not entirely accurate. It's a surprise because they said "Oh, hey, btw... We're @SDCC and we need 8,000 of you (or 4,000 of you buying two!) to come up with $600+ in exactly 1.5 months. Raid your piggy banks, everyone!"

It's a surprise AND a hardship for a LOT, not just some, because of the time constraints. If they said you could make payments, or the funding deadline wasn't until Christmas or New Years, then yes, your post would make sense and be accurate. With payment plans or more time to come up with the money, it would only be some or maybe next to none being unable to afford it at that point.

Be careful what you wish for. Lately, 3rd party has been pulling that off with releases such as Transform Element's Optimus ($135, shipped) compared to Takara-Tomy's MP-44/V.3 Optimus. ($350ish-440.00 depending on retailer/location)

Either way, it's still a shock to request $600 in 45 days. People make that in a month, most times. (No, we're not getting into that discussion. I'll report anyone who responds to this part for the purposes of discussing THAT matter. That's not why I brought it up and you know it.)

Unicron will somehow get backed, 3rd parties will make their own, this one will probably get KO'd and people are worrying for no good reason.

 

Maybe Cookie Monster can make an appearance on Ellen to promote his crowdfunding and bring Unicron as his surprise guest.

 

Eh, weirder things have happened. *shrugs*

 

I\'m feeling like Dave Mustaine over here! I\'m sweating bullets!

 

I really hope I'm wrong, I really do. But I seriously doubt this is getting funded. Everyone keeps comparing this to the barge.

Look. I'm HUGE TF fan and honestly just don't like Star Wars enough to want anything of that franchise. However, I'm not going to kid myself and think Transformers has anything near the fanbase numbers that Star Wars has, or as rabid for more content/movies/stuff. Most Crowdfunding gets funded right away if it's going to be successful. It means people want it right away. Also, most crowdfunding has tiers of payment. There are some where obviously that final push actually makes the numbers needed, but that's not usually the case because people simply forget about it, or already brushed aside.

Again! I really do hope I'm wrong. It would actually bring more joy to be wrong here.