TakaraTomy Premium Finish series

[griffin]

From an online store comes an advance reveal of a new series from TakaraTomy called Premium Finish Collection (https://news.tfw2005.com/2021/05/06/takara-tomy-new-transformers-premium-finish-collection-433017).

Similar to their previous Premium series (Lost Age Advanced and Movie The Best), these ones look like slightly altered decos of Hasbro toys (which would have been released in Japan unchanged).

The first two are the first in two different sublines of this series...

PFGR-01 - Generations Optimus Prime (Voyager from Siege)
PFSS-01 - Studio Series Bumblebee (Deluxe SS-18 VW from Bumblebee movie)

http://www.toycollectors.com.au/news/2021/050801.jpg

http://www.toycollectors.com.au/news/2021/050802.jpg

[griffin]

A number of Asian and American importers have started listing the first two Premium Finish toys (https://news.tfw2005.com/2021/05/14/pre-orders-for-premium-finish-wfc-prime-and-ss-bumblebee-live-433380), and an image has leaked, suggesting that there are 6 of each in this series (12 in total), to be released 2 per month from October.
The images are very obscured, but I'm sure there are fans out there right now trying to unfilter the images to work out who the other 10 toys are.

With the pre-order listings come official images, some of which are below.

I don't think these are coming to Australia through Hasbro, so if these are something you want, perhaps lock in a pre-order with a foreign source or local importer.
(hopefully they show up on HLJ, as they aren't noted as being exclusive to anywhere, yet)

Prices at one source (https://news.tfw2005.com/2021/05/13/takara-tomy-transformers-premium-finish-new-images-information-433252)...




PF SS-01 Bumblebee – Price: 4180 Yen (about au$50)
PF WFC-01 Optimus Prime – Price 6380 Yen (about au$75)



http://www.toycollectors.com.au/news/2021/051401.jpg

http://www.toycollectors.com.au/news/2021/051402.jpg

http://www.toycollectors.com.au/news/2021/051403.jpg

http://www.toycollectors.com.au/news/2021/051404.jpg

http://www.toycollectors.com.au/news/2021/051405.jpg

http://www.toycollectors.com.au/news/2021/051406.jpg

[griffin]

Looks like HLJ has them up now too, so they aren't TTM exclusives - Optimus (https://www.hlj.com/pf-wfc-01-transformers-premium-finish-optimus-prime-tkt18092) (5300yen) - Bumblebee (https://www.hlj.com/pf-ss-01-transformers-premium-finish-bumblebee-tkt18091) (3500yen).

[griffin]

I hope there is something really special about these (mere) redecos... looking at the prices on HLJ and TTM, the PF toys are significantly more expensive than the regular size class toys.
The RRP before tax has Bumblebee at 3800yen, compared to all other Deluxes at 3000yen.
Meanwhile Optimus is at 5800yen, compared to all other Voyagers at 4500yen.
That's almost a 30% increase for toys that have about as much paint apps as the Netflix or Siege toys, meaning the extra expense must be for the fancy box.

[Krayt]

You think that’s a bad increase????.... Zing has preorders up

[DELTAprime]

You think that’s a bad increase????.... Zing has preorders up

Holy ####!

https://www.ebgames.com.au/product/toys-and-collectibles/274344-transformers-bumblebee-premium-finish-ss-01-figure

https://www.ebgames.com.au/product/toys-and-collectibles/274345-transformers-optimus-prime-premium-finish-wfc-01-figure

[Gehirn]

$50 more for Bumblee and $70 for Optimus and you get a nice new box and weathering. Pretty tempting...

[Sinnertwin]

Holy ####!

https://www.ebgames.com.au/product/toys-and-collectibles/274344-transformers-bumblebee-premium-finish-ss-01-figure

https://www.ebgames.com.au/product/toys-and-collectibles/274345-transformers-optimus-prime-premium-finish-wfc-01-figure

What is BB doing in photo #3?

Import them if you can, "supporting local" can only go so far when EB's prices are almost double that of the Asian retailers.
Seems to be a trend for EB charging double for TT releases...

[SharkyMcShark]

Anyone with a keener eye than me sleuthed what the rest of those figures are?

I think I can spot Wheeljack on the bottom right.

[DELTAprime]

Import them if you can, "supporting local" can only go so far when EB's prices are almost double that of the Asian retailers.

I love supporting local. It's why when I can I buy Transformers either from Big W or Kmart. Too bad Amazon AU is about as Australian as McDonald's and KFC.

[Sinnertwin]

I love supporting local. It's why when I can I buy Transformers either from Big W or Kmart. Too bad Amazon AU is about as Australian as McDonald's and KFC.

I also enjoy walking into Kmart & buying a mass release deluxe for $29, but I would be questioning anyones sanity if they walked into an EB store & dropped $200 on exclusive figures that would cost you $104 + maybe $20 (?) post from somewhere like OMP etc etc

[griffin]

What is BB doing in photo #3?

He saw the EB Games pricing and is taking dump on it... :p

It's not the best looking pose (or the 5th one), but that squatting pose was in the Movie a couple times when he was inside Charlie's house. (his robot mode in the Bee movie seemed to be more to scale to his car mode than the Camaro Bumblebee in the earlier movies)



Import them if you can, "supporting local" can only go so far when EB's prices are almost double that of the Asian retailers.
Seems to be a trend for EB charging double for TT releases...

It's not really EB Games to blame here, as their prices aren't significantly higher than other places that get their stock from Hasbro Australia... it's the prices that Hasbro Asia are charging Hasbro Australia for the stock (which is so stupid, as you'd think that branches of Hasbro would do discount deals with each other, instead of charging them more than they charge their own retailers). Remember when TRU was selling TT Unite Warriors combiner sets for $400 each - I could have imported two for the same price from Asian sources (with postage), but it wasn't TRU marking up the product 400%.

[kovert]

It's possible the UW-01 Superion was $399 when it first arrived in stock at TRU back in the day.

[JJJ]

So I've been ignoring these things since assorted sightings first alerted people to the existance of some new line, and now that I bother looking...

I don't get it.

Siege Prime is very nice (certainly the best Prime toy at it's release, and I still display it as the centre of my Ark crew), but Earthrise Prime is better (I have him on a flight stand, re-creating that gunning leap that takes down half-a-dozen Decepticons during the battle of Autobot City, a pose that toy was made for).

This doesn't seem, from what I gather, to be a controversial or uncommon opinion.

And the prices are just absurd, in any frame of reference. Ridiculously absurd - how on earth does anyone go from $60 for that (inferior) Prime in 2019 to $120 in 2021?

What is Takara trying to do here? What's the target market? What's the point?

I'm just baffled by this whole thing. Even allowing for a strategy of positioning the toys as high-grade collector items (think Neca TMNT, or Blitzway's Inspector Gadget) for people who know nothing of Hasbro's main-line commercial products, where prices can safely be jacked up because the target customers don't know (and don't care to know) any better, it just. doesn't. make. any. sense.

[griffin]

It's possible the UW-01 Superion was $399 when it first arrived in stock at TRU back in the day.

Yes, I put in the wrong number, so have fixed my post.

[Penetrator]

a Premium finish studio series revenge prime this time including all this missing colors and flames would be a nice addition....

[Sinnertwin]

He saw the EB Games pricing and is taking dump on it... :p

It's not the best looking pose (or the 5th one), but that squatting pose was in the Movie a couple times when he was inside Charlie's house. (his robot mode in the Bee movie seemed to be more to scale to his car mode than the Camaro Bumblebee in the earlier movies)



It's not really EB Games to blame here, as their prices aren't significantly higher than other places that get their stock from Hasbro Australia... it's the prices that Hasbro Asia are charging Hasbro Australia for the stock (which is so stupid, as you'd think that branches of Hasbro would do discount deals with each other, instead of charging them more than they charge their own retailers). Remember when TRU was selling TT Unite Warriors combiner sets for $400 each - I could have imported two for the same price from Asian sources (with postage), but it wasn't TRU marking up the product 400%.

Odd though considering that EB have been reasonable with their GS releases - I went through EB for Black Zarak at $300
Different supply paths perhaps?

[Krayt]

Yeah, PF series is some kind of “Japanese import”

Their MP end up overpriced

Their Gen Selects end up ok priced

[griffin]

Not yet officially revealed, but we have a first look at the second pair in this Premium Finish toyline (https://news.tfw2005.com/2021/06/09/takara-tomy-premium-finish-pf-wfc-02-megatron-and-pf-ss-02-optimus-prime-bumblebee-movie-images-434975)...

WFC-02 is Siege Voyager Megatron
SS-02 is Voyager Optimus from the Bumblebee Movie

Both seem to pair up with the first two.

[JJJ]

And both up for pre-order on EB...

[griffin]

Yep, and they are both au$120 on EB (https://www.ebgames.com.au/search?q=transformers&sort=releasedate&order=desc).... both being Voyagers.

It reminds me of that Japanese Cloud series of 8 toys, which were also recolours with new heads, but twice the price of the original toys of that size class.
The paint details on the SS-02 Voyager Optimus is quite impressive, but it's like they are trying to make cheap plastic retail toys look like expensive Masterpiece collectables.

[DELTAprime]

So... More of the Premium Series figures are coming apparently. This time an Ultra Magnus that looks suspiciously like a previously released Hasbro version and a Movie Megatron.

https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/premium-finish-wfc-magnus-and-ss-megatron-revealed-and-available-on-amazon-japan/46090/

[Tha_Phantom]

I really hope that the rumoured Premium Springer doesn't double down on the battle damage too. I just want a clean version of Siege.

[griffin]

A leader class toy... nah I'm out.
These being twice the price everywhere (not just here), with just paint improvements and nothing added or changed..

[griffin]

A couple of images released by TakaraTomy of SS-03 VOY Megatron (https://news.tfw2005.com/2021/07/09/takara-tomy-premium-finish-pf-ss-03-megatron-transformers-2007-official-in-hand-images-437163), showing a toy with just about every part painted to look like battle wear... which could be where the inflated cost is going.

[nalops]

Up on Eb Games and Zing. SS Megatron is 119, Ultra Magnus is 169!!??

[JJJ]

Yup.

I think I've worked it out - since Takara stopped issuing their own lines of CHUG toys with better paint (and accessories), their place of prestige (superior product to Hasbro) has fallen away.

This will be their attempt to claim it back, using a clearly over-priced line to do it. Because of course more expensive must mean better, regardless of the actual quality.

It may even work if there are enough suckers, and hey, there could be; look at fashion.

For me though, Takara is (beyond their design work) simply irrelevant, and nothing like this will change that.

[griffin]

TakaraTomy have also put out images of Ultra Magnus (https://news.tfw2005.com/2021/07/13/takara-tomy-premium-finish-pf-wfc-03-ultra-magnus-official-in-hand-images-437366), with one image comparing it to the regular Hasbro release... and aside from the white plastic being grey, there doesn't appear to be too much different between them, making it less inspiring to me.

[JJJ]

If anyone is particularly interested in this over-painted and extra-grey Magnus, The Falcon's Hangar has it listed at only SGD 85. That's one hell of an Australia tax we're being stuck with...

[griffin]

Yep, and they are both au$120 on EB (https://www.ebgames.com.au/search?q=transformers&sort=releasedate&order=desc).... both being Voyagers.



I just noticed on the NZ EBGames site (https://www.ebgames.co.nz/search?q=transformers&order=desc&sort=releasedate), they still have the second wave on offer, but the Australian site doesn't (even though we still have the first wave on offer).
And... their Voyager sized Transformers exclusives are cheaper than in Australia, when they should be more expensive (due to exchange rate) like all of the other items on there. Their Voyager Premium Finish toys are nz$109 compared to au$119 here... and I see that one of their Gen Selects Voyagers is also $5 cheaper than here.

[JJJ]

Like I said last week - we're getting stuck with the Australia tax.

[griffin]

The 4th wave is now officially revealed (https://news.tfw2005.com/2021/07/27/premium-finish-studio-series-ratchet-and-war-for-cybertron-siege-starscream-official-images-438233), and also now on EB Games - WFC VOY Starscream at $120 (https://www.ebgames.com.au/product/toys-and-collectibles/277214-transformers-generations-premium-finish-wfc-starscream-action-figure) and SS DLX Ratchet at $78 (https://www.ebgames.com.au/product/toys-and-collectibles/277215-transformers-generations-premium-finish-wfc-ratchet-action-figure).. for release in January.

[griffin]

The more of these that are revealed, the less interested in them I am getting because of the price, based on what "extra" we are getting for toys that are 2-2.5 times the price of the original versions, which already had significant amounts of paint on them.
The first four pair up nicely enough to keep, but the next four just haven't got any "wow factor" for me, or "bang for my buck" for that amount of bucks they are asking.

[JJJ]

Yeah. I took a look at the Starscream because he's a favourite character and the Siege mould is one of the very best things that HasTak has ever produced, perhaps the best.

But... it's pretty much the same thing. Less battle damage paint (but still plenty there on the alt-mode), and, if the renders are accurate, different shades of red and blue (not so plasticy). Wow. Not worth buying the toy again; absolutely not worth paying more than twice as much.

Takara prestige? Stick it.

[JJJ]

Okay, someone is taking the absolute piss with the pricing on this stuff.

That Starscream can be had from Singapore for SGD 50. That's AUD $50.31.

[griffin]

Official images of a Ratchet sample (https://news.tfw2005.com/2021/08/09/takara-tomy-premium-finish-pf-ss-04-ratchet-transformers-2007-official-in-hand-images-438749), which I would imagine is a hand-finished sample, as the toys wouldn't be in production yet, and this sample has some rough bits and scratches to it.
It looks really nice and vibrant, but not enough different to the Studio Series toy to be worth the expense to me.
(and the hinge on the side breaking up the word "Department" really bugs me... almost like it should have missed letters just to look right)

[griffin]

A couple of images of Starscream from TakaraTomy (https://news.tfw2005.com/2021/08/10/premium-finish-pf-wfc-04-starscream-official-in-hand-images-438773).

I think if the regular release of this Siege Tetrajet was "clean", this premium version would actually look like it is more expensive with all of the extra paint... but as it is, it just looks the same with the grey splotches in different spots.

[griffin]

The first two are now out in Asia, and some photos of them compared to the regular toy versions have surfaced - Bumblebee (https://news.tfw2005.com/2021/10/30/transformers-perfect-finish-pf-ss-01-bumblebee-in-hand-gallery-444106) and Optimus Prime (https://news.tfw2005.com/2021/10/30/transformers-premium-finish-pf-wfc-01-optimus-prime-in-hand-gallery-444023).

This October pair was officially revealed in May.
The November pair was revealed in June.
The December pair was revealed in early July.
The January pair was revealed in the last days of July.

There are supposed to be another four in this series, and we should have had those remaining four revealed by now (two in September and two in October)... so I'm wondering if the pre-orders have been so bad on these that the line was cancelled after eight.

[griffin]

The second pair are out this month in Japan, and a couple of images of the actual Megatron toy have been posted (https://news.tfw2005.com/2021/11/25/takara-tomy-premium-finish-pf-wfc-02-megatron-war-for-cybertron-new-official-in-hand-images-445462)... and I think the pixellated painting is really bad.

[JJJ]

Uh, wow.

I thought you meant that the image was somewhat pixellated, but no, they've actually gone with a halftone appearance to the tampographed details. Which is absurd; halftone is a method used to overcome the limitations of off-set multi-colour printing processes (several passes, each with one colour), and can look good in spite of the production method (because of the size of the dots and how the human eye works). This is completely un-necessary for something that is a) monochrome and b) produced by tampography.

This is just ugly, and I cannot understand why they went for it. But now I start to understand why they jacked up the prices (apart from the status symbol thing); this must have hugely increased the number of paint applications.

Oh, and it was originally being advertised as all painted silver (or maybe silver plastic), not bare off-white plastic with a few tampos...

[griffin]

Some more images of the new Ultra Magnus (https://news.tfw2005.com/2021/12/22/takara-tomy-premium-finish-pf-wfc-03-ultra-magnus-new-official-in-hand-images-446993), showing the difference of the cab, being entirely grey... which helps with the look of the robot mode (the grey blends better with the grey in the trailer), but I think the the truck mode looks a little off with a grey cab.

[griffin]

After a long delay, the ninth (of 12) Premium Finish toys has been revealed by TakaraTomy, being the SS Voyager Optimus truck (not sure if it is Movie 1 or Movie 2 version), and is listed on TakaraTomyMall for release in July (https://takaratomymall.jp/shop/g/g4904810188308/).

As noted in the second post in this news topic, these were supposed to be released monthly, and the 9th and 10th toys were originally scheduled for February (this month)... but as we saw last month with the delay of the release of the 8th toy to March, and no new reveals for just over 6 months.

[griffin]

Amazon Australia has now listed the newest Premium Finish figure (PFSS-05 Optimus Prime (https://www.amazon.com.au/Transformers-Takara-SS-05-Optimus-Prime/dp/B09T5WC6GR/)) for pre-order, for au$120 for October 30th.