Mee two.
I didn't want yo run the risk of it slipping right past my fingertips the way so many others have. At least for those there's Ebay, but on a confirmed "last hurrah" I'm not taking chances.

 

A long list of sites have it up for preorder, with only some showing pricing, but nearly every single one of them cheaper than TCP at $215USD, the most extreme likely being OhMyPrimus, with it currently for $111USD and $25USD DHL shipping to the US; or The Falcon's Hangar has it for $122.50USD (shipping is unconfirmed, but likely very comparable to OMP as they're both located within about 3 miles of each other) TFS-Express has him for about $180USD shipped, and ShowZ has him for about $177USD shipped. I'm sure many European buyers will pay plenty more with duties and conversion rates, but ultimately, I'm sure many outlets will be charging a premium solely on the belief that since this will be the "last" UT offering, they can charge more for the novelty.

 

it wasn't iron man that did it, hasbro China hired one of Disney's hounds.

 

Well, as long as Hasbro is a public company it has to aim for improving the books as the primary target instead of pleasing the fans. Moving back to Americans means Deluxe figures need to priced at $100 MSRP and that certainly won't help with the selling.

Stealing design is the least concern I image from Hasbro, since Hasbro and 3P are not aim at the same customer group, as Hasbro keeps saying, collectors only contribute to a very small percentage of it's revenue.

 

Honestly, I think we really need to question how much the price would actually increase if production was brought back to America... I don’t think we truly understand how much profit Hasbro makes off of these toys compared to how poorly they manage their expenditures, nor do we understand the potential cost of production in the US when almost no company is even attempting to manufacture in America.

 

Labor cost is huge difference.

Vietnam (I use Vietnam instead of China since Hasbro's factory is in Vitenam now) monthly minimum wage is $125 in 2020.
Vietnam to Increase Minimum Wage from January 2020

While US monthly minimum wage in 2020 is $1584 ($9 X 8 X 22)
Minimum Wage By State In 2020 | Paycor

That's more than 10 times difference. Not to mention Vietnam is using monthly minimum wage, probably means works more than 8 hours a day, overtime without pay, etc. And the related benefit payout is much higher in US, like vacation, insurance...

Assembly toys is not some high tech stuff can only be done by US workers with higher educations. In the future after Vietnam's minimum wage increase to a level that less profit for Hasbro, like 1/5 of US, it will move the factory to another country, just like how Hasbro moved factory from China to Vietnam. But it will never move back to US, simply because no profit operating here in NA.

 

So.... kinda related. The Lepin (KO Lego) people got sentenced to 3 to 6 years in prison and charged 90 million RMB (oh so that is what the chinese yuan is abbreviated as?)

TransFans

 

RMB=renminbi.
apparently renminbi is the name of their currency as a whole, while yuan is a unit of measurement for their currency.
like how you don't count coffee in "coffees" but in "cups"(of coffee).

 

Interesting. Does that mean no more Lepin Bee Movie lego sets? I have the Optimus Prime (no 661) and it's pretty awesome. Was looking forward to the Bee and Soundwave.
Show.Z Store

 

Weijiang Never Dies.


【图片】王姐不但没死还出了新品【变形金刚玩具吧】_百度贴吧

 

Huh! Interesting to know. I never heard any culture count money like this. That'd be like saying "I will pay in 5 bills of 100$"  
Anyway, based on Lepin's fate, the Weijiang/BBsomething (were the people doing oversized movie toys like Brawl the same team?) are looking at quite large sentences too. Though will take time. I think Lepin/Enlighten Bricks was caught last September (I remember, as they suddenly discounted everything on Aliexpress, I bought many of their "Humans/Dwarves vs Night Elves" not-Warcraft3 sets, including that epic transforming castle. Guess it took a year to get a sentence.

I remember them rebranding almost immediately. But checking now... their store still exists. So who knows? Maybe it is just another company selling their remaining stock.
LEPIN Shop | Lepin Brick Sets 2020 - Free Shipping - Cheap Price

Those seem like brand new molds. Are you sure it is them? They are not the only ones using this faux Generations box.
Odd, some seem very loosely based on stuff like Generations Skids or Animated OP.

 

Not gonna lie, that green third bot looks pretty awesome.

 

my country did at some point have a similar oddity with currency.
before the euro, the Netherlands had the "gulden"(golden) but prices where listed as "fl," for "florijn".

 

Yeah, pretty sure it's WJ's new molds. Because on the package is called "陆霸", LuBo, which is a sub-brand of WJ. These 2 are released using LuBo from WJ.

 

The percentage of collectors Hasbro caters to or whatever can be discussed in another thread. This thread is for Weijiang updates.

 

Those new "Lubo" molds look kinda meh to me *although, the green one totally looks like Siege Hound merged with HFTD Hailstorm), but if it provides the funding for WJ to cover their legal fees and get everything back in operation, go for it. Considering how many sister or sub-brands they already had, even if the WJ branding actually does go away, it has little impact at all on their products.

 

Neither of those are new. That rescue thing is old as hell.

 

No, I just use that 2 old products from Lubo/Wj to show why these 5 are new products from WJ.

 

Those are knock offs again.

Animated Optimus Prime.
Animated Ratchet.
Animated Sentinel Prime.
Animated Bumblebee.

Dunno about the jet though.

 

What the hell, this is really cool <3