TBH I don’t really get the objection to paying at the time. Now or then, I’m spending the money either way, and I’m Canadian, so those import charges aren’t an issue on collectibles. Frankly, buying from an American retailer is a big enough increase on the price, I’d go as far as to say it’s foolish to go that route. You’re covering their import charges on top of missing out on the 30% discount.

Now, Amazon is a whole other thing. Frankly, it’s a personal choice, as I’ve had years of problems with their “customer service”, and the other issues of the company. On the other hand, the only time I’ve had any issue with AE, they were really nice and addressed it with little fanfare, so I’m happy to give them my money.

 

Two reasons...one, if you pay via Paypal like you do with AE, you have some recourse within 180 days if you have a problem and AE decides not to reply to your emails. Two, and admittedly this is less of a concern with these bigger shops, but if these shop go under or have some other kind of financial issue and don't get their stock, you're likely past your 180 days and possibly SOL. I've had it happen twice now where shops with good reputations have gone under or otherwise had issues. I luckily didn't get outright screwed, but I didn't get my preorder, had to do a lot of unnecessary dicking around to get some kind of resolution, and would have been screwed if not for the shop owner trying to make it right. I have seen instances posted here where people did get straight up screwed...

Sure, a lost preorder isn't going to cause a major strain on me, but at the same time, especially with as expensive as these things have gotten, I'd rather not get screwed. I personally have never had a problem when contacting Amazon with an issue. It's always been quick and hasn't cost me out of pocket. To be fair, I've never had a 'legit issue' with AE, either (shy of them taking their sweet ass time shipping because Christmas break or some shit, but that's not 'legit'...just a minor annoyance)...but it's been some luck there because I haven't needed to contact them. I have heard people complain about their customer service, though...not responding or getting a less than great resolution to their issue. And I will say Amazon shipping is always faster and cheaper...AE seems to overcharge for their shipping, especially for a single figure. I guess we'll see what happens with the price, though...if Prime and Hound result in less of a discount going forward to compensate for the rampant returns with A.jp. So far AE has a cheaper sticker price...but with their shipping cost, it's probably a wash.

 

Well, all I can say is that my Hound that I paid for at preorder came out of the box missing parts, and they set up my return and sent out a replacement that got to me in a week, so while I’m sure there are people who’ve had a bad experience with AE, I’m definitely not one.

I used to be in logistics, and I’m
a support manager in startups these days, so I do have a lot of inside baseball knowledge that colours my perspective. I can honestly say that EMS is priced reasonably. I know it’s tough to get off the Amazon teat, but it’s truthfully a personal call, and I can talk to my experiences, but the reality is that they’re so massive that they’ll always have speed and ease on their side. That said, returning something to Amazon JP is equally challenging as smaller Japanese companies. Now, mileage will vary, so there’s not a lot to debate there.

 

Difference is Amazon will cover the return shipping. Sounds like AE won't.

Not trying to talk you into using Amazon...just throwing out the positives and negatives.

 

Actually, they did cover it.

Shipping was under $20 for that one, I believe. The smaller box helps a lot.

 

Aren’t you assuming Studio Series Jazz will be officially licensed by Porsche? That could happen since other SS cars In the past appear to be officially recognized ( I’m actually not as familiar since I haven’t collected SS yet), but the ‘86 line are mostly from TF the Movie which is a new direction. I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just thinking Hasbro could just make Jazz’s alt mode “Porsche like” if they couldn’t get the real deal. Just like earlier Generations versions. Unless you’ve heard something new. Whichever way it turns out, I hope you’re correct. I want that MP Jazz ultimately.....and then Cliffjumper!

 

Wait,... what? AE actually paid the shipping for something to be returned to them? It had to have been a refund since AE rarely keeps items in stock for exchanges.

 

I am assuming SS Jazz will be Porsche-licensed, because what was the point of putting him in there otherwise? They could have put Ironhide, or Prowl, or Ratchet into SS and licensed them, and Jazz in Earthrise or Kingdom, but they didn't. I see SS for the licensed guys, or in the case of the other 86 characters, an opportunity to increase the parts count or paint apps with the higher budget (which is also just my own assumption, before Fenrys comes in here to dispute me).

 

I mean if its licensed, Takara pretty much has to announce an MP version, people have been waiting for that since the reboot. An honestly it would be pretty fitting after the beauty that is MP52.

 

You guys are looking at the wrong lines, Generations/Studio Series aren’t very good for clues on new MP’s, especially when 1 or a few MP’s predate Studio Series by years even if they’ve yet to be released in the MP line.

 

I wish that were true, except the ‘86 line seem to be an orphaned idea that just found them selves in the STUDIO SERIES slot. Why else would they break up Cyclonus in Kingdom and Scourge in SS? Kup doesn’t have lots of extra accessories (2) or appear to have higher parts count than the Generations counterpart. In fact , the Deluxes and Voyagers of both SS and Gen are the same price point. It doesn’t seem likely that the entire reason for doing the whole ‘86 line in SS was to have Jazz be officially Porsche endorsed while 99% of the ‘86 line didn’t need it. SS was the realistic movie line but after adding the ‘86 stuff, I’m not sure what it’s purpose is anymore. It makes more sense for the ‘86 stuff to remain under the Generations banner but it seems they’re pushing the Beast Wars stuff instead. Maybe (speculating) this has something to do with John Warden leaving and handling the direction over to someone else. That new person is going all Beast Wars but the ‘86 stuff was already designed under Warden’s time (probably initiated after Warden knew a $600 Unicron was in the works). So they just jammed the 86 stuff into an channel they could, and picked the SS. That makes sense. Otherwise the ‘86 stuff that’s already design doesn’t match the new direction the brand manager is going.

 

So, let's see...

Cyclonus was designed under the Kingdom budget, Scourge was designed under the Studio Series budget. Ideally, I suspect Cyclonus would also have been Studio Series but there wasn't enough slots. And if Kup had been designed for Kingdom, I doubt he would even be coming with any accessories.

They can design a Kingdom figure for $8 and a SS figure for $10 (made-up numbers) and still sell them for the same $20.

It wasn't. They split the 86 movie characters between the two lines because there wasn't room to do all of them in one line. But why is Jazz in there? Why not do Jazz in Earthrise and do Arcee in SS? Wouldn't that have been more fitting? I say it's to take advantage of the built-in licensing money in SS.

 

It was the week of release and I contacted them immediately. I keep seeing these weird horror stories but they’re alway “he tell me.” If someone had a bad experience, I’m not questioning it, but did anyone?

I think Takara’s been crystal clear that their thing is licensed alt modes wherever applicable. I know the idea that they just do an unlicensed Jazz comes up sometimes, but I’d bet it’s not an option they afford themselves.

I’m really hoping they’ve finally broken through on the Porsche license... if only so we can all stop talking about it  

 

I've read a number of firsthand accounts of less than great, if not bad, customer service. I have no reason to think the people would be making it up, but I've never experienced it (good or bad) myself.

I'd have to agree. The only reason I think they'd ever consider a possible exception is because I think Jazz would be an above average seller either way if done well. But I don't know that they'd do it, and I can promise TT really doesn't care how big a hole Jazz leaves in a collection. It will be very interesting to see how SS Jazz is handled...although the only real implication it has on the MP line is if he's actually licensed. If so, MP has got to be not too far behind. But if not, it doesn't really mean much to the MP line other than the rumors of a licensing deal already being in place are probably not true.



Not sure why people assume Cliffjumper is a sure thing if TT and Porsche come to terms, though. I certainly wouldn't rule it out, but I don't think he's a shoe-in by any means. Don't think there's really anything special about Cliffjumper. He's not an A-list character and TT hasn't done any other MP mini-bots beyond Bumblebee to suggest he's particularly likely.

 

Except that they specifically said they wanted to do more minibots. CJ would be an easy foray into that as the design and engineering basis is already there in Bee. Suddenly doing, say, Brawn, is a bigger departure than they might like for the first non-Bee minibot

 

Except, and this is key, Bee was licensed despite being solidly chibi. I think that MP-45 is a fairly strong vote in the “license all of it” column.

Frankly, I think Cliffjumper might be more of a licensing holdup due to the desire to present him like a penny-racer as he was on the show. Porsche like their stuff to be represented as they envision it.

 

I've been proven wrong with 3rd Party turning v1 Bumblebee into a Porsche Cliffjumper...so it seemingly is possible to pull off...and that was even non-Chibi! But I still don't assume an official Cliffjumper would be a retool of Bumblebee. Possible, yes, but there's nothing saying it has to be...

I sort of remember the info about more minibots, but dunno what to make of it. If it was TT's plan...if it was the designer being interviewed's desire...if it was another mistranslation like TB and Hoist being worked on...? Like I said, I wouldn't rule it out by any means...I just don't assume it's a lock even if Jazz actually happens. At this point, about the only thing left I feel comfortable calling a lock for the MP line is Galvatron. I think they'll eventually do him because he's A list, a leader, they've been talking about him for years, etc... But anything else...who knows?

 

He always was a big head ...

 

He made their list of survey options last time. Which is kind of important as there hasnt been a "who would you like to see"question in a while.And judging by tweets and comments Huffer and Brawn are pretty popular choices. Is that enough to get Huffer and Brawn, I don'tknow. But CJ ending up on their last survey is a pretty good sign they want to get him done.

 

Random thought while looking at news.
If Takara ever made an Action Master subline part of the MP line, it should be something like the upcoming PG Gundam Unleashed. Google it. It looks amazing. And worth the price.
@Liampope You seen it?