I wish every such project could get funded, but I think there was a fundamental flaw in the pan here, and that is the project is more exclusive than inclusive.

To clarify:

Something like Gigawatt and other crossover figures tend to be inclusive. Whether you are a fan of Transformers OR BTTF, there's a good chance you'd want to pick up Gigawatt. That's made easier by the low price, but it is still a thing that brings two fandoms together.

The chess set, though, isn't a thing that would appeal to chess players generally, who likely already have one or more sets they are perfectly happy with. And Transformers fans who don't play chess were not likely to pick up a set, even at a lower price. So rather than combine the two groups, the market was the slice of consumers found in the overlap of the Venn diagram. Then toss in two more circles - people who can afford a $600 chess set, and people who have the room for such an oversized set, and it isn't hard to see why it failed to get funded.

It likely didn't help that this launched concurrently with the HasLab Star Saber either.

Personally, even though I love both chess and TFs, wouldn't drop $600 for this. Even at $200 and the smaller size I simply dislike the piece selection.

 

I think it getting made will have an effect on me as a collector because other companies see that and think "if people are willing to pay $600 for something like this we are selling our product too cheap lets change that". Just like how Apple made their phones over $1000 and soon other companies followed suit because they will be stupid not to. And no, I don't take enjoyment in other people's failures, but to me my reaction is not uncalled for 'crappy behavior' like you suggested. But thanks for the comment.

 

But if you’re not interested in chess sets why would that affect you? I agree things being expensive is not good but a transformers chess set is nowhere on the level of one of the largest tech companies in the world.

I didn’t mean to offend, but coming into a thread about a product meant to be for discussion to celebrate its down fall is absolutely uncalled for. “Crappy” was the nice way of putting.

 

Fair enough. I was probably overreacting. I apologize.

 

Don't judge- but I backed it at the tier for just the book. I loves me Transformers reference books.

I can't remember if that tier came with the Optimus king piece. The fact that I can't remember is probably telling in itself.

 

What a suprise, nobody was interested in paying the equivelent of HasLab Unicron for a freakin chess set. I would pay, at the very most, $100 CAD for a set like that, and even then I would have to think long and hard about it. What were they thinking?

 

600 for a chess set. Yeah no thanks.

 

And if that was a good enough reason for you, so be it. Anyone judging someone else for their purchases (unless they neglect the important things in life like bills, rent, groceries, savings, kids, etc) is being rather immature.

The project was ambitious, but shows a lack of marketing research. There's clearly a market for fandom-specific board games. Wizards Chess for Harry Potter was freaking awesome back when I was a kid, from a generation that grew up with the Harry Potter movies and games. Wizards Chess tied into the first Harry Potter film's story though. For Transformers, they would have been better off releasing it as a $30-$50 family board game type of thing.

 

I think they were referring to when Hasbro gave air time to this at fan first Friday instead of wave 4.

 

Should anyone be surprised by this only people who will be interested in this game are people on this site and other it’s hard read pieces who is king pawn bishop

 

Wow, big surprise absurdly overpriced Chess set fails to be funded. You could practically field an entire chess set of legends figures for that price!

 

I'm sad to see it didn't get funded but I can't say I'm surprised. $600 for a chess set is a pretty tall ask for even the most hardcore fan and I don't think there's alot of overlap between Transformers and chess fans. It's about what the Haslab Unicron cost but at least that transformed.

A sad day to be sure, if it was maybe $200 or if the pieces actually transformed it might've been more successful.

Me personally? I had no interest because as a fan I prefer transformers who you know, actually transform. Here's to hoping they'll come back with something that would be more agreeable.

 

I am fully aware of how stuff like this usually goes, but its not happened yet, so theres no need to shut it down. Personally, I hate that certain individuals with personal biases have full control over what can and cannot be said, but if I go any further into that the thread will definitely be locked down.

 

Pieces should be easy to identify. There was sort of a mish-mash of characters here that made no sense to me. I also didn't care for the mixing of S1/S2 with S3 figures.

Because there seems to be more recognizable characters in S1 and S2, that's what I'll stick with.

Pawns are always the smallest pieces on the board. Assuming you want individual characters, then 6 minibots and 6 cassettes would be the easy choices for me, and fans would grasp that quickly.

Bishops are fast and nimble, weaving in and out of a crowded chessboard. Sounds perfect for any two car robots, TIhundercracker and Skywarp.

Knights are slow but able to strike early in the game because they can leap over other pieces. Not sure there are easy parallels, but maybe Blaster and Perceptor for the Autobots, Soundwave and Shockwave for the Decepticons?

Rooks are powerhouses but not very nimble. I think Grimlock and Slag (or Snarl or Sludge) for one and Astrotrain and Blitzwing for the other.

Kings and Queens? Optimus and Megatron obviously as Kings. Elita and Starscream (with crown?) as queens?

You could then include some extra pieces to swap out if you wanted to do S3. Say Rodimus, Arcee, Kup, Blurr, Magnus and Springer for the Autobots, Galvatron, Cyclonus, Scourge, Sweep for the cons.

 

It's kinda unfortunate that this didn't make it, even if I wasn't very enthusiastic about it. Honestly, I think the biggest issue is that the board itself was way too big and extravagant for a freaking chess set. I garuntee that was one of the biggest things that caused the price to be so damn high.

If the board was a bit simpler, like a basic square shape with each space having some minor circuit and plated detailing, could have dramatically reduced the price to a more reasonable level.

 

Did the Wreck-Gar incentive ever make it to the prototype stage? I’d be interested to see what a miniature statue of him might look like.

 

No, unfortunately. I also noticed something. They added 2 more $300 tiers just for the 16 Autobot or Decepticon pieces plus the book and pin. Not sure when they added that but it seems nobody went for that.



Also a not-so-friendly reminder to stay on topic. Thanks!

 

Eaglemoss wouldn’t be the greatest company to make it. Materials are way too expensive. Hasbro should buy the design and release it in plastic for a retail cost of $40.00. Then I’d buy it.

 

Posted by Eamonn Casey