True, but with Unicron you’re also paying to be part of an exclusive club by owning it which in Hasbros mind justifies charging as much as they did for him. Third party is a different beast.
Let's stick to comparing Apples to Apples here, no reason for us to get off topic on an Apple to Orange comparison. Hasbro products against other Hasbro products, these things arguably the smallest Transformers Deluxe figures at the most expensive price. The worst part is is I think they look great, but they are just not worth the money. I'll hold off for a MPM versions.
I agree that 3rd party is odd, as some figures *cough* Toyworld constructor *cough* can be ridiculously expensive and turn out to be complete trash, while some figures, like MMC assaultus, are wonderful and way cheaper. Hasbro charges these prices as I shall now explain why. 1. designing a transforming figure that doesn't sacrifice the either mode is a hard challenge 2. paint costs 3. plastic costs 4. worldwide shipping and distribution 5. assembly 6. packaging 7. making a profit
He's... okay to me. Not bad by any means but definitely not a knock out like Brawn and Arcee have turned out.
Here's a thing, though. We know that budget for the toys is not spread evenly. My take is that they're intended as a filler wave and some budget is saved for later Studio Series releases.
Why does it bother you? The leg gaps are only visible from the back. And most flip-out fist deluxes have gaps in the forearms without covers. Always have been, always will be. I mean this guy was an Ultra and still had them... So did they... The alternative was to NOT have the hand fold away at all, or use one of those "push-out-button" things like on G1 Razorclaw and Mindwipe. Y'know, the ones that break off a lot. I really dunno why people are expecting masterpiece style myriad folding panels to cover every exposed space on a small deluxe... Add in copyright costs (when they turn into real vehicles), QC and QA that many third party companies never do - I know, I bought Hercules... I remember the extra replacement parts sent with later toys), and the tons and tons of tests they do - such as drop tests, forcing moving parts, etc. Third Party actually makes a lot more profit because mostly, they do not handle worldwide shipping -they are made in China, sold to local retailers who then ship them elsewhere - they also do not care about paying for copyright, obviously, and they skip most of the testing and QC too. Do you remember when one of these factories was discovered by the police like, last year or so? They had quite clear figures on what a giant business this is, and how much money the creators make on them. Neither they, nor Optimus had a cybertronian mode design in the movie, sadly. These are all based on CGI already created.
No I understand the why (make a profit and manage cost) I just don't care . It's too much money for physically too little. Please don't take the tone as directed towards you I just find these ever-growing prices and ever shrinking mass from hasbro frustrating.
I'll echo this. I think most people get the profit point. But more and more of us are starting to see the difference for what we're having to pay. To repeat myself--if others like them, great. It's not like I won't be buying a single one. But I'm certainly not buying most of them.
Optimus had concept art I believe, but it didn’t get used in the end. I don’t know if it’s real or not though.
Oh god yeesh, that is SMALL I was going to have this be my definitive rachet in my collection but now I\'m not sure considering he\'s around the size of an average deluxe I might try to track down the Galactic Odessy one but I\'m not sure
Huh, not bad at all but definitely smaller than I thought. How big was that Lemon Prime? He might work with this crew after all. Actually the top of LP's head comes to top this prime's pecs. Small, but still taller than these munchkins.
I don’t understand the comparisons between this mold and er ratchet. The er ratchets entire roof parts forms and the feet don’t even transform in alt mode. Even though this figures smaller, I still think it’s better than that mess IMO.
Yeah all the BB Movie car cast members are smaller than the average Bay bot and suffer immensely from it.
At least SSBB Ratchet actually transforms. ER Ratchet gains height by being hollow and basic as possible. I don't get the complaints of a Deluxe being Deluxe sized.
Looks okay, still think he's the weakest Autobot of the wave, but I don't think he's terrible. Still gonna get him and all the BBM Cybertron SS figures (minus Core Shockwave). It's real he was gonna look like that in the Cybertron scene but they decided to just go with the Earth design since it's more G1 That might be true with also how ER Hoist has a bit of gap like the back of his feet.
I'm pretty sure it was actually just a case of them not having the time to make as extensive an alteration to his model, the Cybertron scene was rushed af after all
I actually think the concept Cybertron design looks a lot better than what he looked like on Cybertron in the movie. Once he got to Earth it would still make sense since the designs are similar enough imo
