Brian was very clear in one of the video interviews that they would not be rubber but a plastic formulation, that they would be designed not to disintegrate. He knows better. You may want to wait till folks get them in hand and post reviews but I think this is going to be a non-issue for you if that was your only concern. Me, I am coming to accept I have no where to display the thing, it came out much bigger than I was imagining. So I'm passing at this point.
I’m sure that the treads will hold up over time. But I still think they went too cheap/thin with the final production treads. I’m hoping a customizer makes upgraded ones, but that’s pretty unlikely.
I think 3D printing really changes the game where repro parts go. It only takes one person to make replacement treads. Granted, there are 10x as many people who got the Haslab Proton Pack as ordered the Thundertank. But it's been out maybe 7 days in the U.S. and I'm already seeing 3D printed repro parts and one guy developing a new electronics microcontroller for it. And while you don't see it MUCH because it's higher grade than a lot of CURRENT 3D home printers, there are a lot of sites where you can 3D print in rubbery plastics, industrial grade materials, stainless steel... New treads shouldn't be hard at all. It's basically like modeling a cylinder with a tread texture on it. I don't know that they'd be AFFORDABLE but it's not like you need a whole production run. And if you DID have that kind of demand, it would be easy to talk Ramen Toys into doing an upgrade kit. I believe I saw them say that their highest production run of anything ever was 1500 pieces. And they're making accessories for MOTU and TMNT now and obviously big 80s fans with their not-Silverhawks, not-Bravestarr, not-MASK, and not-Centurions figures. Think of what you'd get in addition to treads and pitch them on a full upgrade kit.
My $220 Neptune 3 Pro can print TPU, a flexible material. I've already seen guys home printing treads for 80's toys.
3D printed tires on a 3D printed Jeep…thing. I used TPE (similar to TPU). It comes out kind of shiny, though, so you have to scuff it a bit and put some powder on it to knock down the shine…but it works pretty well.
Looks great! I've started messing with those Thundertank files, i'll probably go all in on it once the Max arrives.
Toss me in ring as somebody that would be super pissed about the thundertank going on clearance. I actually got bigbad to cancel my second one that I had ordered without keeping the deposit. I actually just canceled my order for the electrocharger because let's be honest, that thing is highly likely going to go on clearance and they have a ton of them still.
I could see the tank going on clearance more than the electrocharger just because they probably made far less of those. The tank went up for preorder when everyone was preordering everything.
I can see BBTS and EE doing it. But given the mark-ups they charged, a price reduction might look like Super7's pricing. I think that's what happened with MOTU Classics Snake Mountain.
BBTS did not mark down Snake Mountain. I paid $949 for mine and they added some additional stock a month later at $1000 which sold out.
There was a shortage of Snake Mountains relative to demand. But in general, BBTS marks things up, particularly if scarce, and EE marks them down, because EE gers things at a distributor discount whereas BBTS pays what a retailer would pay. Granted, both could mark them down if they're sitting on dozens. My impression is that this thing only made MOQ because EE and BBTS ordered hundreds and that demand at full price was light.
Don't forget Sideshow. I think getting them on board was why the Thundertank wasn't a crowdfunding campaign like Snake Mountain. They had enough of a retailer commitment that they could make them like a normal release. The problem this exposes is that crowdfunds FORCE people to pay up front and takes away the option to cancel. When really expensive items are offered the normal retail way, they fail, because there is no sense of urgency. People (adults) have patience and realize they can put off the purchase until finances are more conducive or, even better, wait for clearance.
Diamond is likely to silently cancel their orders. It's been years since my local comic shop has been able to get anything that I've preordered through them. Also, calling Embarrassment Earth a distributor is extremely generous. They're probably offering these to clients at $495 plus mystery ($125) shipping.
When it comes to high-end items I go where I can get a payment plan. When SOC Voltron and Optimus MP44 cameout I ordered from Amazon and every month I put money into my Amazon debit account till the money was there by release. I went to AwesomeCollector for SOC Vehicle, Blitzway and now 3Z Voltron. I went to Sideshow for Turtles Party Wagon and Thundertank, there basically paid off except that final payment that they keep emailing me every month saying there holding off the final payment till its ready to ship.
I think EE does get these at wholesale though. Whether they pass that on to shops is another question but they don't mind unloading Ultimates direct at $20-30, undercutting everybody. That's insane if they don't get them cheaper than shops do.
No doubt they get them at some sort of wholesale but they heavily subsidize their operations by ripping off distribution clients too.
I used to run a comic shop and am friends with the owners of all the local ones. Nobody uses EE as a wholesale resource if they can help it, the prices and terms are worse than Diamond.
