Hong Kong sourcing of Japanese Exclusives misses out on goodies

[jaydisc]

So, my crew and I all got our e-Hobby sets from Hong Kong and none of them include the booklet mentioned here:

http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/japanese-transformers-40/united-e-hobby-autobots-and-decepticons-set-booklet-images-and-story-scans-171860/

Similarly, I got Alternity Ultra Magnus from RK and the other from HLJ, and the HLJ one came with a comic, the RK one did not. Additionally, I heard that Wave 1 United from HLJ came with character cards whereas versions from RK didn't.

So this seems to be a pattern. Sourcing from Hong Kong is considerably cheaper but it does seem that this is a side effect.

1. Did anyone else source e-Hobby sets from RK? Did you get this booklet? Did anyone else source direct from Japan? Did you get it?

2. What other exclusives or even regular Japanese releases have others experienced this with?

[Tober]

2. What other exclusives or even regular Japanese releases have others experienced this with?

This has been a real pain at times.

e-Hobby Masterpiece MP-1B Black Convoy came with Comic 01. The Asian release included a base or nothing.
e-Hobby Masterpiece MP-3G Ghost Starscream came with Comic 02 in Japan.
Toy Hobby Market Masterpiece MP-5S Sleep Mode Convoy came with a Japanese Collector's Card. The Asian release came with an Asian Collector's card.
Movie Masterpiece MPM-1 Starscream was packed with Movie Comic 01 in Japan
Movie Masterpiece MPM-2 Bumblebee was packed with Movie Comic 02 in Japan

Then you have Masterpiece MP-9 Rodimus Convoy from robotkingdom.com which included a coin, bag and display box. I'm not completely sure what the tie-in with MP-9 and the exclusive mail-away base was in Japan.

[gamblor916]

My ehobby Sunstorm and black Megatron came from RK and both were missing the comic.

[GoktimusPrime]

:eek: :eek: this is the first time I've ever heard about this! (I always get my eHobby exclusives from Japan)

I wonder what the reason for removing the comic is... is it because they couldn't bothered translating it, or they couldn't secure the rights to the comic???

[SkyWarp91]

:eek: :eek: this is the first time I've ever heard about this! (I always get my eHobby exclusives from Japan)

I wonder what the reason for removing the comic is... is it because they couldn't bothered translating it, or they couldn't secure the rights to the comic???

Probably the former? Maybe RK don't want to go through the efforts of doing it and just want to sell TFs

[griffin]

It's not just RK, it would be Hasbro-HK acquiring TakaraTomy items, but licensing would probably only cover Japan with any printed material. (and even if it wasn't, they probably didn't see the point of printing up and distributing JP-language comics in a non-JP country)

[Mr Ed]

I bought Alternity Ultra Magnus from BBTS and I got a comic

[Krayt]

It's not just RK, it would be Hasbro-HK acquiring TakaraTomy items, but licensing would probably only cover Japan with any printed material. (and even if it wasn't, they probably didn't see the point of printing up and distributing JP-language comics in a non-JP country)

I was looking forward to the "booklet" withthe universe ehobby sets as they went to the effort of english language as well as japanese....