So finaly had them together yesterday. 1 left to go.

What in comparison really stood out for me though was Spoiler's face. The paint job and the design. I really don't like it. Hope they bring out a new face plate sometime.

 

That moment when you grab the last Smokey in stock...



My points with ShowZ went to real good use to soften the late tax on this guy (And I still have some left over!). But hey, I now secured my alt-mode/combiner copy on top of my bot mode copy!

 

the only figure i have bought or seen where the smirk looks really good love it  

 

Roadking's yelly face and Smokey's smirk are pretty great.

 

<RANT>
Interesting (probably the wrong choice of word but anyway) to see the second trailer discussion come up again. I maintain, as others have said, that it should either not transform or be a simple base mode like Zeta's Bruticus. It just doesn't make sense to screw up the structural integrity for a dumb gimmick.
Also, if Zeta can do less than $200 for a core figure and the combiner pieces, I don't see that this thing should be that much more expensive, just with more paint and such (obviously increasing the price a little above what Zeta charges). I really hope it's not $300, but I wouldn't be surprised at this point and am expecting as much. Hopefully it's no more than that.
I know people keep saying it's been confirmed, but we last heard about the second trailer at the end of 2019, so that's still over a year. It's still possible things have changed. They might have. They might not have.

ANYWAY, I think the prices are completely out of control at this point. All the people over-paying isn't helping those of us who missed pre-orders, especially when you're in the middle of buttfuck nowhere like I am, because you can't just go to US retailers without crazy shipping prices (and tax on literally everything now, including eBay charging me tax in the wrong currency so I pay double the tax i.e. 30% - thanks, communist government). Most of us have to go to Chinese retailers, and they seem to be the ones running out of stock (or overcharging) the quickest.

Also, Smokey's price went up to $180-ish almost immediately upon release (a day or two, tops, if I remember correctly). There's still plenty of stock. A lot of this is from retailers, too. No way they all just bought extra stock from scalpers on eBay. I'm sure at least some of them are taking advantage of "market value" and scalping themselves. I know BBTS and TFSource aren't new to this, and they're likely far from the only ones. I wish people would stop paying these crazy prices because it just makes it even more expensive for others.
Hell, I realise it means pretty much nothing to anyone here, but US$180 is about NZ$250. That's a LOT. Roadking is currently only available for about NZ$350 minimum, but often going up to NZ$400 or more. Yeah, it doesn't seem like much in USD, but it's a lot in NZD. It's just not worth it at that price. I don't even mind US$150 aftermarket for the limbs, within reason. But when we have these retailing for barely more than $100, $180 is just insane on any and every level.

Personally, I've spent HOURS looking for a way to get Roadking for no more than about NZ$300 shipped (even that's expensive - I got Phoenix for about NZ$275 shipped and DX9 Gabriel for about NZ$350 shipped) and only found one that's probably not even legitimate. Spoiler and Magnum shouldn't be NZ$250 shipped, but I might be more willing to pay a max of NZ$200 shipped.
These prices are just getting insane though, and blaming FansToys on not producing enough seems silly considering there's a ton of stock everywhere and yet it's all at ridiculous prices as soon as the figures release. Which isn't to say FansToys aren't partly to blame, but still.

I know this post is rant-y, and I apologise for that, but I'm genuinely frustrated at this, especially after spending hours over the past few weeks looking at every retailer and seller I can find to get reasonable prices. I have the money, I want to buy them (not all at once, mind you, because I personally don't think dropping $1k or more on toys at once is particularly sensible), but I can't find them anywhere.
Either the shipping to New Zealand is batshit crazy, or, more commonly, they're just sold out (or scalper prices). On the one hand, we've got X-Transbots just upping prices for the sake of it (and definitely not upping their quality), whilst we have no stock available (at reasonable prices) from FansToys.

I don't blame people for wanting to get out of collecting this stuff. I don't, however, nor do I plan to stop collecting, probably ever. Doesn't mean I don't want to be able to get the stuff, but having the mindset of just "buy it before it sells out, no matter the cost" or "ayylmao get out of this hobby if you're poor" is ridiculous.
Just look at the damn HasLab Unicron and all the people trying to justify their overpriced figure. I'd be paying NZ$1000 or more if I wanted one, and that's just not worth it. HasLab Unicron isn't some super-rare Japanese G1 toy or a Lucky Draw figure, and even then, those are only going to be for niche collections.

For the record, I'm sitting here transforming FansToys Sheridan and managed to get pre-orders for all the future FansToys stuff I want (assuming baba ever asks me for payment because it seems my Beachcomber pre-order has just evaporated), so I'm not a "hater" or anything (despite being very critical of them still). I just don't like the direction in which this entire market is going.

And that all said... this set still looks amazing and sounds amazing. I just wish I could actually buy them for not-stupid prices.
</RANT>

 

What do you mean we last heard about the second trailer at the end of 2019? are you saying that bc Dalianjj's post 2 weeks ago didn't specify that and just mentioned the price or do you not know about that post? I assume maybe he didn't mention it either bc it hasn't changed or he didn't decide to

 

I'm having difficulty with Smokey not holding his guns very well: the tabs don't seem to want to stay in there. Anyone else experience this? Have a fix?

 

@timcourtois
Maybe You are not tabbing them all in? They are very tight fit on mine. Really need to use some force to push them all in.

 

My Smokey holds his guns great to be honest.

 

thanks, I'll try pushing a bit harder next time he's in bot mode. Sometimes these tight FT bots need to be broken in a bit.

 

Ive had this issue too actually. I’ll try pushing harder too

 

This is great. I can hear it!

 

Phew, got my refund from the board member for the Smokey I was going to purchase off of him... So, now I have the money, but still no Smokey... eBay is calling, but I'm trying not to answer! haha

 

Very niceu! Blaster-Chan!

 

So, rant aside... Anyone got a Roadking (preferably sealed, but it's whatever at this point) that they'd sell me for about $215 (or less) shipped to New Zealand, pretty please...?

He didn't mention a trailer in his recent posts, as far as I'm aware. The cost bit has me assuming it will be a transforming trailer, however. Either way, making an assumption on why he didn't mention it recently means neither of us have an argument to say whether or not there's still a trailer, and so it remains that the latest concrete confirmation we have of the combiner parts turning into a second trailer is his post from the end of 2019. But again, judging by the price, I'm just going to assume the trailer's here to stay, which is unfortunate because it'll end up costing more than it really needs to.

Out of curiosity (though I'm sure you've mentioned it elsewhere, so I apologise for the likely repeat question), did you make that set yourself? If so, what materials did you use? I've been meaning to try my hand at dioramas at some point, so I'm curious.

 

I did make this myself. The full diorama is 6ft x 4ft so I’m only using a small section here. The materials used were insulation foam, patch and paint caulk and interior house paint. Transformers Diorama Appreciation Thread is a great place to browse through. We talk about techniques and method on diorama building.

 

Obligatory Smokey arrival picture #7562672950

 

I agree. I seem to remember (someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) that initially we were told that the trailer + Dead End would be the same price as Roadking. While I appreciate that things can indeed be subject to change I do feel a bit annoyed that I jumped in on this set with the understanding that I would be paying no more than Roadking price for the final bot + combiner parts and now that's been retracted when I'm already 4 bots in and totally invested in the set.

I agree with this entirely. I see similar issues in the videogame industry where there are endless (legitimate) complaints from people about incomplete games being released full of bugs with half the content being DLC that you have to pay extra for and then the same damn people buy the game and DLC anyway hence perpetuating these toxic practices and ruining it for themselves and others. If people just had some self-restraint and the self-respect to stop letting themselves be taken advantage of like this then eventually it would stop.
If you are someone who has paid the inflated price for part of a combiner then I have at least some degree of understanding due to the fact that it diminishes the use of the other combiner parts not to have the complete set, but it's something I wouldn't personally do when the price is inflated by as much as 50% or more and definitely not with a stand-alone product like FT Thomas and his grossly inflated post-release price for example.
Sorry this is a bit preachy but frankly the way prices have been rising is bloody ridiculous and it is, in large part, those who have been paying the inflated prices who are to blame and will perpetuate this nonsense for everyone in the future.

 

It’s been so long and I’ve been hoping that TCP would list Bandit. I can’t find it anywhere for preorder. Given the way things are selling out I’m thinking I’m probably going to miss out on this one. Have they done rereleases of others? What’s the chances?