Let's think positively.  

There should be low hundreds of orders by LBP. Since they are not ordering anymore, it is likely that the slack will be taken up by other sellers.

 

Hey @ChromeMagnus, is it's true what you said about vendors pressuring the Chinese market to raise prices? What will that mean for Taobao?

 

I've only heard about USA retailers particularly, TFSource, threatening XTB by telling them to raise their prices for Chinese retailers or they (TFSource) will stop carrying XTB products. It doesn't seem to have any effect on Chinese sellers on Taobao however.

I hope it makes to Taobao as well and that we get a chance to preorder. I wouldn't mind a having a second copy for alt mode.

 

I did a search and saw one seller but their POs were cut - it was in the listing. I think they're sold out already. Was pretty much the same with FT-16M

 

The only listings I've seen are for a handful of clear version's and one seller offering standard or metallic versions for outrageous prices. And I suspect they just haven't bothered to update their listings and probably all sold out a long time ago.

Given the trend with FT products, I'm half expecting this to just skip TaoBao altogether.
Although... I did manage to pick up two copies of Koot from separate sellers during his last re-release and that was without pre-ordering, just buying live. It was more expensive than pre-ordering through TaoBao but still bearable. And I picked up a second Brawn for a reasonable price as well. No such luck with a 2nd or 3rd Thomas though, prices are insane.

 

The cheapest I've seen Thomas is 1,600 yuan. PO is almost 1/2 that. That's a huge mark up for normal retail

 

i m thinking with LBP playing me out with the PO on ft dragstrip...i might hv to pay for ard that price for a available piece

i m boycotting LBP

 

I imagine a lot of folks are. He's left a lot of us high and dry by cancelling his FT pre-orders.

 

Thomas got here yesterday. It came in a shipping box that was just a little larger than Thomas’s box with bubble wrap in between. Box looks fine but some of the styrofoam inside was broken but the figure was okay

 

Thanks for the update. Great to know it arrives safe.

 

I have 10 FansToys pre-orders with LBP.

Of them, FT-31D Smokey and FT-31E Bandit are the most troublesome, since they are needed to complete Menasor.

The rest are standalone figures, whether I get them or not depends on their price.

 

I'm holding on, or atleast not saying anything, in hope LBP reverses their decision.

I can probably claim a refund anytime in the future as I'm playing ignorant and LBP hasn't made contact yet to say my orders have been cancelled

 

yup i m doing the same...but chances r slim to none

LBP has played us out...... no more able to po any more Ft figures.... i hv to settle po on dx9. as stand ins

 

I'm afraid the writings on the wall for LBP.
I also left it in their hands and said nothing. Then, when I was arranging payment for my Thomas pre-order they advised that they are no longer selling FT and that they would credit the deposits from any outstanding FT pre-orders to the balance for Thomas. I hadn't asked them or mentioned anything, they simply told me:
This was the translation from Alichat when finalising my Thomas pre-order:
LBP: Other FT deposits, we will deduct it to you on FT-44. Please submit your order and change the price
Me: I also have the following four pre-orders: FT-02, FT-21, FT-44, FT-45. Are you no longer selling FT products? Will you deduct the total amount of FT-44 from these deposits?
LBP: For the remaining 3 items, the little girl can cancel the deposit for you and deduct it on FT-44 together.
Me: Are you no longer selling FansToys products?
LBP: We don’t sell FT products anymore

I'm lucky I only had those three figures ordered with LBP, but still, no chance of picking up pre-orders of them anywhere else now. I either pay the inflated release price or wait for 2nd or 3rd runs, possibly 2 years or more down the line.

 

That sucks. Still don't fully understand why they felt the need to stop selling FT.

I feel 2nd or 3rd reissues are more expensive with FT so it's best to grab them on first release. Time passes and FT feel they can increase prices as the markets moved. Soverign is one case, so too is the M version. Inflated M after stock got scarce, was the general release price for the reissue. I'd bet the Phoenix reissue will be more expensive than the first one too. Koot is also an example.

I don't think first release is inflated though. Yeah it's more expensive than PO'ing but that's not an avenue anymore with LBP.

 

It really sucks. LBP along with Thor Toys is among the top 5 sellers for many of us. I'm not even sure about PO'ing with Thor Toys anymore because they didn't confirm mt FT-40A preorder and it timed out after the preorder sat for a year and the preorder was automatically cancelled. I never had that issue with another seller. So for me those are my top 2 go to TB sellers gone, at least when it comes to FT preorders.
Fortunately I was able to lock in POs of my outstanding LBP FT POs with other Taobao sellers early enough. If you can't find any other Taobao sellers for your FT POs, try other Chinese sellers that are not on Taobao like ShowZ, Bababobo00712 aka Baba, TerrysTFClub, TFSafari, etc. Since my FT Berserk PO from LBP won't see the light of day, I was able to get it through Baba's website before they sold out.

I don't buy whatever story LBP is giving as to why they won't sell FT anymore.

 

I wonder if there's any "bad blood" between LBP and FansToys.

I remembered LBP was responsible for two "scares". First, that a second FT-30A Maverick (sort of) was needed to form the combiner body. Second, that FT-39 Jabber was purple. (Well, it is purplish.)

But these are minor. Maybe LBP sold FansToys stuff ahead of the stipulated time once too often and that got on FanToys nerves.

They are no cheaper than TaoBao in-stock price + shipping? TaoBao pre-order price is one hell of a discount.

 

A second Maverick component needed for the combiner mode? Hmm. I never heard about that situation before.
LBP selling FT stuff too early? What is that exactly and how would that upset FT?
As far as the Chinese non-Taobao sellers pricing goes, at least you won't be paying sales tax if you are a USA customer. Also you can pretty much guarantee your preorder deposit with them will be locked and they won't pull a LBP on you unless there is some strange unforeseen circumstance. Besides Baba and some of those other Chinese non-Taobao sellers still have preorders available on FT products that you currently can't find on Taobao.
Also, as far as I can tell, whatever in-stock FT items you can find on Taobao these days are only replenishment listings, meaning they are only for those who preordered and the price will be adjusted/lowered for those customers only and accordingly.....in effect there's almost no in-stock FT item availability on Taobao. Basically if you want to get FT items on Taobao, either you preorder on time or you're out of luck.

Going forward, when preorders for the the next all new FT release show up on Taobao I'll reserve a copy (not sure if I'll do it through Thor Toys though) there as always but also place a preorder deposit for a 2nd copy with Baba or ShowZ just to cover my tail.

 

I haven't used Baba or ShowZ, but I have used some of the "smaller" sellers like Eslite Play mode and Mowan Machinery, along with Quigdao. Varying levels of satisfaction, all pretty good. I'm glad I ordered Roadking and Suyperator from the first 2 in early November, though - Superator went up 500 yuan in 2 weeks! Which is crazy to me since GP is re-releasing all 5 dinos.

 

Comparing Baba etc to Taobao, and shipping to Australia? Taobao has always been cheaper. For example, Baba is $300 USD FOR FT-16M, dearer than Taobao + postage at its current price.

Taobao is cheaper than all options, or at least aligned to all the online retailers I've checked. The exception being Thomas.