JP MP-34S Shadow Panther at TRU Australia (pre-order by FEB 25th)

The Japanese TakaraTomyMall exclusive Masterpiece Shadowpanther (redeco of Cheetor with some new parts), is now up for preorder at ToysRUs Australia, for just AU$110 (plus shipping - which for most people will be about $10).
That compares to the Japanese retail price of 8000yen, which is about AU$100... before shipping. (some HK sites have it for just under AU$90, but that's also before international shipping)
The only real drawback here, is that this stock is to be released in October, compared to August in Japan and Asia... but if you are willing to wait, this is one of the rare occasions that the price here is on par, or better, than in Asia.

Pre-orders close February 25th though, so you only have two weeks to think about it.

It is online only too, so this item is not expected to show up in their stores, and it is not known if they will cut off pre-orders after a set amount, as they note that there is a limit of 2 per customer.
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Thanks. Just preordered one with Afterpay and free shipping. Just hope TRU will still be around by October.:o

I hope this does well, although once again we are offered a more obscure piece rather than the regular releases.
I wasn't going to get this but now I will be having a serious think about it, especially if our local translator is involved, but we won't know that until later :(

I really hope that collectors can forgo the impatience tax and wait for the later release of this figure.

I pre-ordered one, and shipping was $10, which in total would be slightly cheaper than getting it from an Asian source.

Since it is just a redeco (mostly) of Cheetor, which I wasn't too excited about in the first place, I can wait the extra two months for this limited edition TakaraTomyMall exclusive.

It's really pretty, and I want the communicator piece, but I cant justify Shadow Panther in my collection at this time.

I hope though there's a good enough response to this that they consider it for the mainline releases and/or other TTM Legends releases, because I would be very interested in those.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Seraphim Prime

I hope though there's a good enough response to this that they consider it for the mainline releases and/or other TTM Legends releases, because I would be very interested in those.

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Yes... I really hope this is just in time for Hasbro Australia to get us hooked up with the future TTM Legends exclusives. If the prices are close to JP Retail like this one, I'd be happy to keep pre-ordering them through TRU.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by griffin

Yes... I really hope this is just in time for Hasbro Australia to get us hooked up with the future TTM Legends exclusives. If the prices are close to JP Retail like this one, I'd be happy to keep pre-ordering them through TRU.

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^^THIS^^

Normally I'd go "rah rah I can get it cheaper elsewhere" but since all other local (reputable) dealers are technically third party and this is the one BIG seller I'm willing to throw my support especially if it makes LTD releases like this easier to come by.

I hope eventually this extends to the upcoming POTP blastoff figure release and just mp's in general

Sounds like either Hasbro or TrU listened to you and the community Griffin and got the price right for the first time in a very long time. That is a properly good price for what looks like an amazing toy (I’ve purposefully been avoiding reading about the MPs and other figures I would otherwise want and it has saved me a lot of money!).

This is the kind of thing TrU, toyworld and other more dedicated retailers should be doing across the board (ie larger or more collector focussed lines) to re engage the Australian public. The prices Zing and other places want to charge is ridiculous and untenable with the global market.

Might have to convince myself not to get this, it is a lovely combo of fantastic looking toy, exceptional price and interesting item.

At the POTP Hasbro event I did ask the Hasbro reps if they were planning on importing any more Transformers from Japan and the response I got was, "We're thinking about it." I only found out about this today and haven't been approached for any translation work, so no idea if the bio/instructions will be in English or only Japanese.