Ok so kinda cool but other than looking at the pre installed voice comand list cant really do anything with it

 

Both these points make me wish I jumped on it with Hasbro to begin with...

 

Well, the box has a #0001 on it, but I don't know if that's the toy's designation number in it's line or if that's the production number, which if it is, they could make up to 9,999 of these for the whole world, which seems plausible. 9,999 spread worldwide, (Hell, they might even mark one #0000 so they'll make an even 10,000) seems like a good number to make as it still keeps it in a limited production number range.

 

We are slowly releasing it. So that people have time to order it. We noticed people are ordering more than 10 at a time. People are sometimes are not aware of the operations. We are closely monitoring it and people had bought more than 10 and then canceled later and so the numbers will fluctuate.

This was Robosens response to my query as to why the numbers bounce back to 50 after selling out

 

Who are those assholes who preorder 10 and then cancel their orders?

 

I’m glad I preordered mine. I can’t wait.

 

I wonder if it's potential scalpers who then have doubts (maybe they notice they don't have the readies available, or they doubt they'll be able to still them) and cancel. If that happens, I doubt it would be that many people doing that, though.

 

I know the Hasbro release the special edition will be numbered and have the clamshell styrofoam latching case and different black on Grey box.. in the videos I see a gray upper leg version and then there is a white upper leg version I'm wondering if they differ or if one was just a prototype.

 

Interesting, so the scalpers are basically throwing away their $100 deposit? Is that what robensen is saying...That's a thousand bucks if that's really the case....although I guess it beats $7000 when it comes down to it...

 

I forgot that they lost their deposit if they did that, to be honest. It does seem rather strict, eh? Deposits are often refundable.

 

I believe it is refundable. listing mentions a 25$ cancellation fee. That implies that is all to it. It does not say anywhere deposit is nonrefundable

 

I hope the scalpers get stuck with a lot of merch they cant sell or take a loss on..i hate scalpers

 

problem is scalpers know that supply and demand means people with disposable incomes will pay the prices

 

One could argue that the original manufacturer has undervalued the product, thus enabling the scalpers. I think it'd be better to price it higher and clearance what doesn't sell. But then I don't run multi-million dollar organizations...

 

That causes other problems. Price it too high and customers will not purchase it. And if you clearance unsold copies then you build the reputation that you are severely marking up your product and maybe folks should just wait for the clearance sale. Your product starts to look cheap and overpriced. Customers can also just lose interest if they feel they are being price gouged.

It’s super tough to gauge interest. Who thought a $700 TF would be such a huuuge hit?

 

First of its class product?

Very wide coverage targeting other audiences that do not necessarily collect TF's? IGN, Cnet and the like did pieces on this thing. They are going for a diverse crowd, those that sometimes pay 10K for a gaming set up.

 

I give Hasbro a lot of credit with how they rolled this product out but giving it wide coverage does not guaranteed wide approval. The market is super unpredictable (IMO).

This was probably the first of its kind product to be introduced to a mainstream audience with a very high price point. I don’t think we had anything else to compare it to at this point.

I mean, I think it’s an unprecedented level of success but not at all predictable. I can easily imagine Walmart strongly urging Hasbro to get them something similar for under $300 and be a store exclusive for this holiday season.

 

The quality/user experience regarding the software is a bit of a concern. I haven't played with Robosen's older T9 robot, but I downloaded the desktop application used for "Advanced 3D Graphical Programming" and the barebones/clunky UI leaves a lot to be desired. I guess that is part of why they haven't bothered implementing the desktop application for Optimus Prime or mentioning anything about it in the promotional material, so hopefully the usability of the mobile app is significantly better.

 

available again:

 

Ouch!