Was really looking forward to this figure. ..oh well

 

Can I just point out how much I want Phillip Morris (the company AND its employees) to burn in hell? They are the textbook definition of a greedy, manipulative and despicable company. In a way, it's surprising that the US government (and other large governments) have managed to suppress the bastards as much as they have.

If anyone has a direct HLJ link (or other direct links to Japanese retailers who have de-listed it but theoretically still have it for pre-order), please let me know. Getting it from a US retailer or even someone like Robot Kingdom that charges in USD is too expensive for me. Alternatively, I suppose I could wait for it to show up on Mandrake or ask a Japanese friend to get it for me, but I'd rather be sure I could get it direct from a retailer. I suppose Nippon-Yasan might be worth a look although I've never bought from them before so I don't know much about them (other than that they're clearly Japanese).

 

But we haven't heard anything from PM since the initial letter that was posted saying they wouldn't let it be sold within the US. Since then, we've only had hearsay and rumor AND takara changed the deco.

I really don't think we have anything to worry about.

 

Whose on the box in the pic with exhaust with his back to us ?

Edit * never mind . It's soundblaster.....dam eyes

 

I pre-ordered from Anime Export, but now it's saying something about them not having enough stock, and that my order might be cancelled/refunded? Anyone else seeing this?

 

Look again.

 

You can relax they just haven't updated the release date and are awaiting stock. It's all good.

 

Why would you think that? This is international. PM are in Japan anyway. This has certainly threatened the Japan release too, hence the deco change. Damn I wish this would hurry up and be released!

 

Even without the change, it'll still get released in Japan. The reason they made the change was to appease the release for other regions, but apparently, it still wasn't enough for PM. As far a getting it form US retailers, well, there might be some under the table.

 

So far my preorder remains intact, but I went with a store in Japan so it's really not an issue anyway.

 

Wait... this guy is canceled?

 

The page for Exhaust has been removed from HLJ. So you can't order him from them now.

Even if you could, they tend to be sold out of their preorders pretty early on. Exhaust being just 12 days away, it'd wouldn't be likely they'd have any available even if you could order him at this point.

Randy

 

I messaged RobotKingdom just because I was curious and here is their reply:

Robotkingdom orders of exaust is fulfilled unless Hasbro has any other information.
Please keep update to Robotkingdom facebook.

Thanks.

Best Regards,
Alice

 

Do we really know that? I'm not sure we do unless you know something we don't. Is trademark law much more relaxed in Japan? Would PM in Japan really be happy while PM in other regions are not? Surely they should be globally aligned (though i wouldn't be surprised if they arent).

 

Probably not universally, but we'll know for certain in 12 days.

 

Signs are still pointing for a release in Japan. I just got a new email from Amazon Japan advertising a bunch of Transformers and he was among them.

Randy

 

What really gets me about this is there is so much wrong with the world now a days that a multi billion dollar company is willing to throw money around to try and bully or prevent a simple toy from being sold yet look at all the harm PM actual products have caused? Wouldn't it be better if that money when to cancer research or help the needy? Just goes to show how some big CEOs think

 

What info do you have that hasn't been posted anywhere? All the US sites are supposedly still honoring their pre-orders (now that the deco has been changed)

 

They (PM) are actually trying to save money. The problem isn't that the deco looks like their logo (though that is *a* problem to them), the problem is they're not allowed to "advertise to kids" so if this toy gets released here (in the USA) theoretically the govt could fine them a crazy amount of money even though the US branch of PM didn't approve it or license it for sale here. So that's why they were trying to stop it.

 

Let's think outside the box for a sec. Is it possible that this whole thing could be a marketing scheme from both TT and PM to cause a massive sell out of a repaint? I know how unlikely it is but if you think about it that would sell units. Look at how many pre orders are sold out?