Sell him to me? Hahaha

 

Woah, that's the old Leader Class? How big is the old Supreme class compared to that?

 

They used to be around sixteen inches tall.

 

Looks over at Energon Omega Supreme and Starscream lovingly.  

 

And how big is that compared to Cybertron Optimus?

 

The smaller size actually makes me more likely to bite.

 

Yeah, I've come to appreciate smaller bots nowadays because my collection has blown up so much. Back when I first started, I didn't have as many as I do now so I didn't mind big bulky bots. But the last few lines had me buying like crazy so now I'm like,"Crap. I'm running out of room."

As long as the quality is good, I'm fine with scaling down. Just kinda sucks that they won't scale with the rest of my collection (as I'm sure Hasbro makes evil grinning mustache twisting gestures back at HQs).  

From head to feet with the legs folded like in the pic (my preferred set up as he looks more bulky that way), it's 8 1/2 inches (I just measured it). He's actually taller than that as his legs unfold and extend but I don't like it like that.

 

Yeah I usually didn’t like older supreme or leader class figures cause they just didn’t seem to look as detailed as the smaller size classes. It wasn’t always the case but some of those larger figures haven’t aged well (IMO).

 

Yeah, I never got a lot of leaders in the past because they're too big. I actually prefer Siege UM's size to the CW one.

About the only time I like the Leader size is Titans Return, because the leaders served as bases for the Titan Masters so them being large is useful, rather than just taking a lot of shelf space for me.

... speaking of which, I wonder if that Soundwave from the Bumblebee movie is on clearance at Target yet.

 

Depends on where you live. Here in my neck of Minnesota they've long since been Clearanced (last batch were $15 and those are gone).

There's one Target near me that never got the memo...and maybe corporate didn't either because this week's ad listed him as "On Sale" for $39.99.

You know why.

 

Personally I can't wait to get a look at the vehicle mode. Cybertron Prime is my number one favorite Optimus Prime design period, in all modes. The 'fire engine' in particular trumps and truck or hauler Optimuss has had before or since. I also really hope they found a way to keep the flying truck of doom mode. I love that.

On another note, something funny I just realized. As soon as I saw leader Shockwave and his "armor up mode" I immediately compared him to Cybertron Prime and his super mode. Funny how things work out isn't it.

 

This figure is my new Holy Grail!!!

 

For frame of reference, despite the smaller size, inflation and parts count does play a part in overall cost. Case in point? Look how small Hybrid Style Galaxy Convoy was and it went for $30+, it was the size similar to a GI Joe or Legends class figure.

 

Also: those absofrigginglutely gigantic simplified Voyagers at the tail end of Beast Hunters. They're bigger than modern leaders and sold for $20.

 

A lot of people chalked that up to it being a Japanese exclusive. Robot Kingdom has preorders for the "Year Of The..." repack that went to Walmart Canada and it's like $50.00 or so...

Just because the parts count and the paint went up, some, doesn't really or entirely explain away the costs. I do fully agree that those two issues can indeed raise prices, but I wish people were a little more honest about Hasbro raising prices partially because they want/choose to, not because they need to. Sure, something needs to give to offset the higher production costs, but there's no good reason why Voyagers with accessories strapped to them should be going for $50.00 Leader Class pricing. I can see people paying $50.00 for Optimal Optimus at the tail end of POTP due to his capabilities and size, but I can't honestly justify Ultra Magnus and certainly not Shockwave at that price. I don't care how many paint apps they have, there's not enough there to make them $50.00.

I'll meet you in the middle at $40.00 and call them Ultras, but that's the limit. And I'd even say $40.00 is a fair price.

People are just so happy to get these figures after so long that they're willing to excuse away pretty much everything while those of us in the vocal minority are just asking for some honesty, both from Hasbro and the collectors.

I guess the biggest problem is movie fans are getting Studio Series and they're more or less mini Masterpieces that are affordable while the G1 fans among us are getting robot mode Studio Series that's crippled by "No one actually asked for these" alt modes that seem to confuse and homage oddities. I mean, no one expected a G1 Ultra Magnus to transform into RID Ultra Magnus, but here we are. It's just odd how they get so close and then pull back just before crossing the finish line.

By no means do I think the Siege line is a bad line, I do indeed like the toys and have most of wave 1 and will buy a good portion of wave 2 and so on, but I'm just seeing the truth in it and it bothers me that people are viewing it all with rose-colored glasses and excusing everything away when in a few years they'll reboot AGAIN and that line will be "the best EVAR" and how "Siege sucks!" and "What was Hasbro thinking? I can't believe I bought that garbage!" (and yes, there will be posts like that, there always is... It's like clockwork, you can set your watch to it)

Is $20.00 for a Deluxe outrageous? No. That's actually quite reasonable. Even $30.00 isn't terrible for a Voyager. (It IS pushing it, though.) $50.00 for a Leader that's really an Ultra (proven with pictures) is too much and a lot of people are starting to notice. Even those who bought them have said "Yeah, it stung a bit."

I'm not trying to take away anyone's joy, and I guess that's what this is, people are overjoyed by them (I'm honestly not sure why, yeah I've read the threads...) and they're trying to avoid the negative. It just drives me nuts that being realistic is considered something to hate these days. *smh*

 

Somehow I expect it to be a mess like Siege Ultra Magnus.

 

Don’t take this the wrong way, but your post comes across as kind of narcissistic. You’re implying that you being “realistic” is an absolute truth and that anybody who is actually satisfied with these figures is wrong as a result. Honestly, I’m perfectly content with shockwave, without any qualifier. Are they a bit on the small side? Sure, but it is what it is. If someone isnt happy with them, including needing to make up excuses for them, then said person probably shouldn’t buy them.

Sorry if that’s not your intent, just how it comes across to me

 

I have to side with @TFXProtector here because I've seen way more people unhappy with prices the last few years. I don't recall exactly when we got our first look at Siege but, despite being packed with A-listers, I don't feel like I missed out due to losing my distribution accounts. Once the newness of this change in direction wears off in a few months, I think people are going to be even more critical and tighter with their money.

 

Heh I felt like I overpaid for POTP Rodimus Unicronus and Prime given that they're hollow deluxes with underwhelming trailers that boost them to leader size.

Just because I feel like something like this new Prime are more substantial doesn't mean I'm shilling for the line and overjoyed and crying tears each time I see something for SIEGE. It's bad enough we have someone borderline shilling the line in every thread but to compare me to him, to even IMPLY that I am doing so is massively ignorant, plain wrong and any list of things I could go on about. I sure as hell wish this thing was $30 but looking at how big Magnus is in vehicle mode there was no way in hell they would've been priced at a voyager price point.

If this were 2006 this would be too less for $40. However this is 2019 and inflation is just 1 factor. It's funny how people think and imply that because I like these toys, I am being dishonest with myself. What? And this is what, not even the 2nd time this has been implied? I wish people could just accept the fact that people have different tastes. If you don't like the price for these things, don't buy it. Wait for a sale. Or buy the POTP leaders on clearance. I like the SIEGE leaders and that's me being honest and I like them a lot more than the POTP leaders.

How the bloody hell is there even an incentive to liking these things? What, you folk that actually think I like SIEGE think I get paid to do so? I WISH I COULD. I could say I lovingly paid $50 for my POTP Optimus with its hollow Orion Pax and lackluster trailer that left me underwhelmed compared to my Magnus which I like a lot more but that would be unrealistic and dishonest because I WOULD BE LYING.

Don't loop me in with the shills because I'm not one of them. I wish I had a YouTube channel where I could review a SIEGE leader and some of you could keep bitching about me being unrealistic and dishonest because at least then I'd be making ad revenue off of your complaining and free advertising ironically through your false implication that I put blinders on my eyes just because I like these.

Thanks to all for aiding me in helping me make my future business plan.

It's not being unhappy with the prices that's the issue because let's face it, who doesn't hate the price increase? The issue is the implication that fans who like these toys are being unrealistic and dishonest. Having collected more often since 2006 up until now I've seen the highs and lows of the figures and these new SIEGE figures, like the leaders, are much better than the Prime Wars trilogy figures. That's just my opinion but I won't claim that someone who prefers POTP leaders is delusional or unrealistic, to each their own.

 

Not my intent and no narcissism here. Honestly, you're clearly misreading what I'm saying here.
I'm not at all saying people shouldn't be satisfied. I can absolutely understand why people are satisfied with them, I even said that I like the figures and I'll make it extremely clear... There's nothing wrong with liking these figures. If people love them, even, that's great. Honestly, it is.

My point is everyone's claiming they're all heavier (they're not all, only a few are), everyone's claiming they have more paint apps (yes and no), everyone's saying the parts count is up (we don't have proof that all of the figures have that going for them. Some do, though.) and everyone keeps using those points to justify the higher pricing. That's fine for Deluxes and Voyagers, it's not for Leaders that are clearly Ultras with a higher price tag.

Hasbro could make some of these figures for a few bucks cheaper, we all know it, but only some of us are willing to admit it. People are willing to excuse it because the figures make them happy. I'm guilty of that in the past, I've done that before, but I don't anymore. I think they're fine figures, I think they're worth the Deluxe and Voyager pricing, and I can see why people love them, I'm just tired of hearing that the parts count and paint and weight justify the higher prices and that they're pretty much perfect figures in some people's eyes when they're anything but perfect. Nothing is.

I don't think asking for people to be reasonable and realistic is narcissistic. I honestly don't see how anyone could extrapolate that from my post.

Then again, this is the age of people being offended by facts and passing off opinion as fact, so... Yeah, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.