MMC is about 3 inches too short for MP, so if you have a bunch of Toyworld/Zeta/etc. then a much shorter Defensor will look a bit out of place. I'm fine with him and Menasor being a touch smaller but not a hair over Combiner Wars height.

 

And the quality, engineering, and materials used just flat out don't stack up to FTs. Period. The "new normal" pricing structure is not a good idea imho.

One accessory this trailer needs to come with is a jumbo value-sized tube of KY... due to over-hyped, under-delivered promises it has caused collectors. G2 tube repaint and alt tube color versions available at an additional cost.

 

I never pre ordered this trailer cause I thought the toy combiner looked better.

You think you guys are waiting, how many years should I pencil in for the second toy trailer release?

 

Nobody's pre-ordered Gravestone Part B yet, at least not from a legit retailer that posts the correct price, as it hasn't even been solicited/listed yet.

 

That's my concern now you mention it - it being too short. I went for 3 of the 5 MMC bots but solely for bot modes. I'll take MMC Defensor for bot modes and FT for the combiner ((when it happens) Probably still before this XTB trailer though).

 

I agree by comparison, MP-45 Bee at $120 retail compared to FT minibots $75-99, or MP-47 Hound $160 retail compared to FT combiner limb bots $104-140, rough estimates depending on time bought and retailer, etc. XTB and Dr. Egg is a real humpty dumpty move, poor sales won't put Dr. Egg back together again.

 

Nice wordplay there, haha.

But yeah I totally get what you mean. XTB is really futzing around with their prices and are riding high just for the sake of "If Takara's doing it and people are willing to pay that much, then we'll charge that much since we think people will buy our products for the same price". Except they kept the idea in their minds that electronics inside a gigantic fucking egg-shaped judge with a twisted concept of due process would make it worth $180 by any shadow of a doubt. I'd pay $120 at most, honestly.

And need I say anything about the trailer?

Keen eye, my guy.

Though I may come off as a bit of a hypocrite since I do actually have Hoist on pre-order, haha. He's the best Hoist out there so far and i'm not missing out. But I do agree that the hikes are indeed a problem.

Powermaster Prime though is egregious. When Fans Hobby can do the same for about $400, not to mention that they put Prime and the Apex Armor in one release for $200-215 when KFC is making you pay an extra $100 by comparison, there's some sort of problem here. In this case, it's that pricing.

Keith can make a knockout figure, but hopefully he doesn't always let it get to his head like how it all is now, not to mention that we can hopefully get his head out of the clouds.

 

There is a reason why motormaster got named gravestone.

 

If the trailer is too expensive, I’m out of xtb. I already have all of dx9 which is way more fun to transform even though I like the xtb look a little better. I started out with xtb for the price but got hooked on the dx9 with atilla.

 

wat if theres a secret pact between the 3 companies to finish menasor at the same time? 

 

This has all been brought up multiple times before, but yes, they see Takara's BS and think they can copy it. They see FansToys overcharging and think they can copy it. And for as many problems as I have with FansToys, they're a special case in the third-party world, and for better or worse, whether deserved or not, they have a far better reputation than X-Transbots and KFC.

To be fair, KFC's God Ginrai set is meant to be HUGE, but I don't really see the point - they want to scale it with Masterpiece figures but then it's going to be enormous. He's going to be too big for MP Star Saber, and he's going to be too small for everyone else if they scale him with Star Saber, but I say scaling him with Star Saber makes more sense since they're from the same continuity anyway (I mean, they all are, but the Japanese G1 stuff mostly stands on its own past Headmasters).

 

Exactly this.

 

With a theory like that you need to ask who would benefit. I can't think of any benefit for either XTB or DX9. Even more so to give up on being "first" (though XTB probably has most of that money already anyway due to the reasonable assumption at the time they would be first). Obviously it could benefit FT to have the chance to catch up, but I can't see any other 3P company doing anything to benefit FT. As much as I love their figures they simply do not play well with others, specifically offending at least Daca Toys (before Kronos bombed), Giga Power, KFC, XTB, DX9, and MT. I'm not certain on MMC.

It also holds no benefit for consumers. Maybe if it was known about ahead of time they could wait and see them all complete to decide, but keeping it secret means around 99% of buyers (not counting future new collectors) have already made their choice.

My assumption is that DX9 is just playing their cards super close to their chest (likely caused by FT's history of announcing figures way out to step on other companies sales like DX9 Blitzwing and Sixshot). FT might be waiting for TFCon (XTB could be too, but there is more harm for them since theirs is delayed whereas FT Menasor is basically on schedule), but if they are holding back due to another company the only thing that makes sense is that FT and XTB don't want to be the first to put all their cards on the table. There isn't much that can be changed with DX9 since just Dragstrip left (barring accessories or replacement parts packed in for the team), but both XTB (further along so less flexibiity) and FT could still alter their plans to some extent if they deem it necessary. Note that I don't actually believe either will at this point, but if we are theorizing on them affecting each other that is where I would go.

 

For DX9, the news/rumors I read is the original designer left and started NewAge. So no more good design for the future (unless they find other talents).

 

OK, nevermind, was thinking Kronos the combiner not Kronos the Jetfire/Skyfire. Was like, "how did Kronos bomb?" reading is fundamental, lol.

 

Real quick, do we have a confirmed height for KFC Raijin? I considered that he'd be similar in height to Power Baser in my earlier comment. Silly me, haha.

 

Man, that KFC Powermaster Prime looks super undercooked and dated to me, I'd be surprised if it ever even came out

 

Fwiw that's an old render. Afaik it's had a bit of work done on it since then. If there's one thing xtb tend to get right it's aesthetics. I have no doubt it'll come out, when that will be is another question.

I'd take the cab as an initial release though and enjoy it till the armour arrives because when that armour comes I'd never display it without it anyway.

Problem with Powerbaser is the proportions. He has minuscule thighs, do a PMOP with the right proportions and it'll be taller straight away, even if the cabs are similar sizes.

 

Ok cool, I’d love a good XTB PM Prime, hopefully they tighten it up

 

Popping in to see if I've missed anything. No? Still no word on the trailer? At all? Okay. I guess that's all. See you guys in a month or two.