Quite possibly! I'm prepared to bet that I missed it somewhere in the 544 pages  

 

Here's hoping all 8,000+ of us gets to have their head implode or explode after getting him. Unicron was the best thing I saw at San Diego Comic Con Geekapalooza, even beating out Tom Cruz's toothy smile, Ahhrnold Schwartzenburger, Conan O'Brien's yackity yakface, and the gorgeous Agents of Shield cast.

 

It'd be weird if they didn't produce it after all the fuss that's been made around it. I mean I get that they have to motivate people to buy the thing but man I can't imagine the disappointment if they reached say 7895 supporters and then shut everything down.

Maybe they would still sell some prototypes to the highest bidders?

Or let's not talk about this. They will release the damn thing!  

 

I would love to see the packaging. For the Barge, that was a big moment that pushed more people into supporting the campaign. I would like it to be G1 but would be happy with WFC. Other the other hand, maybe a G2 style with a giant Unicron sandwiched between two vacuformed pieces of plastic.

 

I don't think you understand the subtleties of the various distribution methods in play here.

Hasbro requires 8000 units to be sold to be worth starting up the production line at all. All factories are like this. The time and workforce are in-demand, and if they're not being put to good use, those resources will be prioritized away from that project (hence the constant delays for 3P toys. The factories probably got an order for 50,000 kitchen shears, which is a simpler, steadier job than that order of 800 weirdly expensive toys). So the minimum production level is non-negotiable. If there's any play at all there, it'll probably come at an impact to the unit price.

So, you've got 8000 units to offload. What online retailer can support and store a $5M order of 8000 hugeass toys? I guarantee you that even if you were to divvy that total up between all the major online retailers and what they're willing to carry, you still couldn't account for even 1/4 of that amount. Some of the most popular 3P toys only have maybe 3-4000 units produced (over multiple production runs) and distributed worldwide, and a large majority of those are ~Voyager-sized figures. In a traditional retail model, the retailers serve as the distributors. All the product goes from Hasbro directly to them. They have to be able to handle the volume. Additionally, with the glut of stock available, that invites clearance-pricing strategies as the retailers eventually would rather just have their space back rather than deal with the stock, which then undermines consumer confidence at the ability to deliver similar products in the future, as they're now proven to devalue.

The products we typically see as exclusives are all low-cost supplementary products: redecoes and remolds. The original R&D costs are already largely accounted for and paid, and lower production runs are viable. Single retailers can feasibly foot the bill for the entire shipment.

With this direct-market sales model, you cut out most of those logistics. You don't have to find buyers willing to take on significant portions of those 8000 units, and you don't have to worry about intermediary shipping and storage costs.

 

I mean honestly, I won't be as gutted if it fails, because for me that's $890 saved. How tragic.

 

any knowledge on Taobao I know they do shipping to USA

 

I swear if I have to read “loyal fans” one more time...

 

I’ve only ever used taobao through middleman services like bhiner.com and never on any preorders so I wouldn’t be able to help you there. I highly doubt any site will let you do a deposit of whatever you want though, it’s supposed to be a deterrent for cancelling and if you only put like $5 down then that’s not much of a deterrent

 

Shadenfreude, my old friend
i've come to talk with you again ... 

 

$890 saved, may be true. But those same $890 will be slowly chipped away by buying less significant toys, snacks, drinks...etc. Tragic indeed. I would prefer my funds to go out with a 'bang!', like a biggest TF in history.  

 

Or I could preorder a PS5 or two  

 

3 days. 3000 people still needed. went from 4000 to 5000 in about 25 hours.

I want to believe.

 

Use the rationalization that I'm considering: "just this once, but never again." Sort of like "fool me once, shame on you".

Make no mistake: we're getting gouged. It's full on bend-over-and-spread-the-cheeks time.

However, after discussing shipping/taxes/tariffs, about a third of it can be blamed elsewhere. So their "SOB quotient" has gone down some to me. Is it enough to make me want to back it after all? Maybe.

Dear Hasbro: Sweeten the pot some more, and we can still talk.  

Nah. Grocery budget is never toy budget. Essentials vs. not.

 

3 days to go!  

1000 a day? Can it happen?

What happens if it doesnt make it?

 

I'd like to think so, but I can't say with certainty that I'd turn down a Primus.

 

Just noticed the Dinobots in the artwork, also if Unicron put Galvatron down he'd be Godzilla relative to the buildings.

 

I wasn't expecting it to be different, though. Thanks for the update.

 

Finally got around to backing Unicron. I'm a Barge backer from last year too. Same last minute excitement . I know it's a big financial risk but had I ordered 2 Barges and sold one, the one I kept would've been virtually free. The Barge was $500 and sell for $1000 today , give or take. I'm not telling anyone to do that, just wish I had. In case anyone is wondering where Hasbro came up with the 8000 unit threshold; It's a rounded down even estimate of the size of the Barge backers (which was almost 9000). Maybe they are assuming the demographics are identical enough. I have a foot in collecting Transformers and Star Wars and I see the difference in both the fan base. IMO, TF collectors are way more active and engaged than the SW crowd. We should crack 8000 by Friday. Just get the word out to friends who use to collect, you'd be surprised how many people want a signature high end centerpiece even if they don't collect the regular line.

 

I had mentioned that a while back and nobody else noticed.