If it's true that they had to start the skeleton over, I hope that means they ditched the trailer mode and decided to have a base mode instead. Imagine how much better symmetry it would have with the aerialbots if the skeleton became a sort of display platform for the stunticons in alt mode. Would make way more sense and would allow for a far simpler transformation.

 

A comment I made on FB regarding the last member of the combiner coming together with the combiner parts - The price problem at the moment is worse than it was before (and I continue to think that the price problem was alwats the main problem with the combiner). With current prices, the last member with the combiner parts together would cost more than 400 USD, it could even reach 500. This is way too much for most people, particularly tofay with the renounds from the pandemic and no current expectation of a better economy in the near future.

 

Which really makes you wonder about the FT Fort Max!

Maybe FT should go like the Magratheans (Hitchhikers Guide) and go dormant until the Galaxy can afford their products?

 

Yeah, but I think it's a different kind of problem, which already happened to Terminus Giganticus. The expectation of having separate parts of FM is partly to address this problem.

 

Is this TaoBao price, China-based seller price or US store price?  

I'm thinking $130 for the figure and $100 for the body for China-based stores. Is it possible?  

(Should the skeleton cost so much?)

But then there is runaway inflation now, so prices in the future are hard to guess.

 

No, the 400-500 would be the International price.

Taobao PO price would be... let me check my data... some 900-1000 for combiner parts, and 700 for the last member. So 123-136 + 95 = 220 - 231 USD.

As the international price is usually double the Taobao PO price, this goes into 440-460 USD.

 

At that price, the final member + skeleton would cost more than what I paid for the first 4 Stunticons.

 

I need to get on taobao...

 

I need to stop buying transformers.

 

And buy Kenner OG Star Wars figures instead? Tempting.

I'm close to the end of my collection (am refocusing on S2 while abandoning a full Headmasters display), and I'm honestly just getting too impatient with Fans Toys taking as long as they're taking to progress on this project.

I like the long game... It's rewarding. But Spring 2023 will be THREE YEARS since Air Raid/Iceman came out. Yeah stuff has happened since then, but that hasn't stopped FT from releasing new bots that were received lukewarm, reissuing stuff at inflated prices that's since sat on shelves for over a year, and other business moves that are unnecessarily aggressive.

In the meantime, there is literally no reason for the 4th Aerialbot to not be pushed forward and released. A 3D print in Q1 2022... An update on the combiner parts in Q4 2022... And that's it.

I preordered DX9 Dead End yesterday because I'm displaying mine in bot mode anyway, and it's definitely good enough.

Last thought on this rant, but I am going to have a hard time justifying ~$600 USD for XTB Defensor, while FT Menasor is going to end up costing $1100 USD and up.

 

Did we get a tentative release period for the arm bots with the pre-order? I can't remember.

 

ShowZ lists it as unknown, but I remember reading somewhere it would be early 2023. But that is with a huge grain of salt.

 

Fortunately for you, you’re on the deformation robots part of the forum so you’re safe.

 

Doing juuuuuust enough to keep the community really interested/invested?

 

It can't be helped, like it or not, we are approaching endgame. They'll try to push as many secondary characters as they can before the ones you really want, they might loose some customers in the process, but there's always buyers.

 

If they don't have the designs for the combiner parts they would still need to figure out how it was intended to combine using the existing figures and whatever preliminary work they have(sketches, mockups, ect) in order to work backwards to recreate the missing pieces and work them into a palatable product.

 

Oh so they had to reverse engineer the combining parts and the last member, that would definitely explain about 4% of the delay.

 

As much as I wish there were no delay, my ultimate preference is for them to take their time and nail it if opposed to shipping a shit show. They must have their reasons. IMO, it doesn’t really matter what those are as long as when the end of the delay is reached, FT deliver on what they promised.