WTF. That actually puts the weight of this into perspective very well. I just thought "yeah, 10 pound stand, that's heavy". But realizing that's the same weight as a sledgehammer brings a whole other level of "Oh shit, That IS heavy"

 

I gotta say, as nice and clean as Zeta's absolutely does look, there's just something about the look of Haslab's robot mode that I genuinely prefer. I have no idea specifically what it is, but it just feels more "right" in some ways.

 

Or there hasn't been an incentive until now. Third parties have avoided going toe to toe with Takara on putting out the same characters at around the same time. FansToys waited a good while after Hot Rod came out to put out theirs. Ditto with Grimlock. Ditto with Badcube with Sideswipe and Red Alert.

You don't fuck with the big dog when you are using their IP without permission.

 

I'd have backed this Haslab back in July, has this been the case. Oh well. Their loss.

 

A hundred off the retail price would also do very nicely.

 

Transforming Badcube Sunsurge and Warpath make me feel like a god.

 

Or includes $100 worth of bonuses.
Better yet, make a base option (just the bot), and a premium $575 tier with the extras ... you know, like real crowdfunds! (Better again, just drop the crowdfund nonsense, make it, sell it, like other companies.)

 

I’ve said a couple of times in this thread that I’m as interested in the experience here as much as I am the toy. A $600 transaction isn’t that compelling to me versus the idea of being involved in something special and unprecedented. Mostly due to the radio silence on Hasbro’s end, the feelgood factor has gone presently and frankly, I’m a little less interested in this if the next thing I hear about this is the package arriving on my doorstep 18 months from now. Hopefully they pick the energy back up.

 

I wish, but it will never happen, they would instantly lose $565,000 based on the current backers that are willing to pay $600. What they should have done is different levels of backers with different add ins..

 

I need it so bad. But i think Armada Prime needs it more than RID Prime does though.

 

So you are saying that 30 years of KOs and the creation and rise of a whole 3rd party industry are not incentives enough to act?

However, this one figure of Unicron will get Hasbro to bring the noise? Not the direct competition from TE and MS to MP-44? TE is selling out another run of Optimus Primes as we speak. Not the numerous runs of KOs of MP-10 in every size imaginable over the years, not the multiple versions of Devastators and Seekers? Seems to me that the big dog doesn’t mind being fucked.

If Hasbro goes after these Chinese companies to protect their IP, more power to them. The reality is that if this Unicron doesn’t get funded, Hasbro lost a tiny investment and that’s it. They paid $4 billion for Entertainment One, this is a drop in the bucket for them and we’re the only ones losing and overreacting.

 

Eh, what they could do is offer like a $75-100 off coupon for Hasbro Pulse items. Sure they might lose a bit of money but I guarantee you'd have people still sitting on it years later unused. However it would look like they were at least trying.
Or if they really wanted to offer something completely useless, give all backers 2yrs of Pulse Premium for free.  

 

TBH they should send us a free metroplex and trypticon with that price tag.

 

You can discuss, but at least get your facts straight. Reading your reply makes me wonder whose feelings are hurt right now...

 

I’m more than fine with a $600 price tag.

The largest transformer of all time. All time! 19lbs pounds, without the stand. That’s 3x the mass of a proper titan figure, >4x the mass of the “competition” (despite reportedly only costing ~2x as much). Over 27 inches tall in robot mode (almost 10 inches taller than other little guy). 30 inches ring-to-ring in diameter for planet mode. That’s two and a half feet long!

A beautiful, near perfect planet design. Stylization of the rings aside, this thing looks like it flew off the screen. An articulated lensing maw feature, incredibly accurate (both open and closed) to the feeding of Lithone. No need for partsforming, this thing can look like (and function!) like the source material on its own.

A massive, imposing and accurate robot mode. Transformation actually inspired by the movie (blue/gray shells recede, arms transform out of the planet back and end up facing the planet/robot front). Kibble from the planet shells and lensing maw largely confined to the back of the robot. 50 points of articulation, ability to be posed without a stand (though a 10-lb one is included for safety / increased stability and optimal presentation of the planet). Articulated eyes, mouth and even teeth. Removable head with battle damaged face to recreate Cybertron’s new satellite. Even options for different chins to satisfy the people who care about that.

This thing is a labor of love, and it shows. It’s epic! It’s not just another figure, it’s the ultimate representation of the biggest bad guy, and the biggest figure to boot. I think the price point more than makes sense when compared to anything that’s come before it. It’s 30 lbs of toy being shipped for free, and it’s an incredible toy!

 

I don't think it was particularly smart of Zeta, a third-party manufacturer operating in a very legal grey area, to release their figure at the same time that Hasbro is trying to crowdsource their own version. They may be in China, but it's not impossible to get Chinese companies shut down if enough pressure is brought to bear, and I doubt a company like Zeta could outlast Hasbro's legal and financial resources for very long, regardless of the actual merits of the case.

Whether or not Hasbro will is a different question. Thus far, they haven't, and Zeta is obviously gambling that they won't. If Hasbro feels like Zeta cost them $3 million to $4 million in gross revenue, that equation might change, and it might change fast. It's hard to say--that much revenue isn't much compared to their 2018 net revenue of $4.58 billion, but it's enough money that you could actually see the failure of this campaign in a number that big, which would make me nervous if I was them.

I personally wish they hadn't done it either. Not only because I still hope to back HasLab's Unicron, but because I also really don't want Hasbro to drop the hammer on third parties. I'm not a huge collector of 3P stuff, but I do have a few 3P figures and a lot of 3P accessories/upgrades for official figures, and I'd prefer that not end because Zeta fired a shot across Hasbro's bow they decide can't be ignored.

Honestly, Zeta could have just waited until after the crowdfunding was complete and then released their own figure; they would still have had it out before HasLab's, without anyone being able to make the argument that they cannibalized sales, since HasLab's would no longer be available for purchase. That they didn't implies heavily that they either wanted to take some of the sales away from Hasbro, or (and I admit, this is a stretch, and possibly involves some mustache-twirling) they wanted to crater the crowdfunding campaign entirely and pick up a large fraction of the disappointed backers who couldn't get Hasbro's.

It doesn't change my opinion--if HasLab's Unicron fails, I won't be buying Zeta's; I already have the Platinum reissue of the Armada mold and don't need another Unicron that's smaller than Fortress Maximus. The main attraction of HasLab's Unicron for me is the planet mode and the fact that it's actually bigger than the Titans I have already; Zeta doesn't check either of those boxes off, and so I won't be purchasing theirs regardless of the outcome of the crowdfunding campaign.

 

A posing and articulation showcase video would be nice. :v

 

Sometimes being fair and calling it down the middle will just make you the enemy of all. Or at least just on message boards where everyone tends to fall too often into extremes.

Anyway, it's like almost page 700, the backer count may not be moving very fast but this thread definitely will keep going and going and going...

 

My feelings aren’t hurt. I don’t get upset when some random internet stranger claims that I’m trolling. I apologize for my comment about the mini figure. My point still stands. If someone says anything negative about this figure, the folks who plan to support or are supporting it get upset. Someone legit made an appreciation thread because they were apparently tired of the “negativity” in this thread.