Ok, well glad I didn't rush out and preorder Blackout in that case. This is the worst QC I've seen out of HasTak in years.Quote:
Originally Posted by AJ_Prime
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Ok, well glad I didn't rush out and preorder Blackout in that case. This is the worst QC I've seen out of HasTak in years.Quote:
Originally Posted by AJ_Prime
Thats bad news :/
Do you think there will come a time where people avoid tfs bcoz of quality issues? I wouldnt buy crap for my kids :<(
Bit of an over reaction to it though, I actually ended up unsubscribing because of that :/Quote:
Originally Posted by AJ_Prime
Regardless I usually expect wild qc from retail tf's so I'm trying to steadily get off them just to get out of this mess
True enough though you need to consider that Movie figures have a lot less retool potential than the Generations line so HasTak will try and cut corners where possible.Quote:
Originally Posted by hYpNoS
The first eight of the Japanese release of the Studio Series toys are now up on HLJ, for an April release, and all but one are already pre-soldout.
(these are just the same toys and packaging as the Hasbro versions, but with stickers on the boxes with Japanese names and details)
SS-01 - Bumblebee Deluxe
SS-02 - Stinger Deluxe
SS-03 - Crowbar Deluxe
SS-04 - Ratchet Deluxe
SS-05 - Optimus Prime Voyager
SS-06 - Starscream Voyager
SS-07 - Grimlock Leader
SS-08 - Blackout Leader
Bummer. Because Bumblebee and Stinger look like the only ones worth getting.........................provided they're cheap of course.Quote:
Originally Posted by AJ_Prime
Any word on if these are hitting retail here?
I've watched a few video reviews of Stinger and am mega keen.
Shelf tags for Deluxe and Voyager were seen at Kmart a couple of weeks ago, pre-emptively put out before the must have had stock in-hand.Quote:
Originally Posted by SharkyMcShark
Thanks Griff :)Quote:
Originally Posted by griffin
Wait. I’m confused. Aren’t these Takara Tomy? Why would Kmart sell these?
The Studio Series are Hasbro toys that Takara is also releasing unchanged.
Takara also has the Movie The Best line which are older toys with better decos and in some cases accessories
Ah ok. It’s all so confusing. Lucky I only preordered Blackout and Stinger online. Might try and pickup Brawl from Kmart.:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Paulbot
Yep, the same toys in the same packaging, released by Hasbro and TakaraTomy at about the same time (on the TT website here)... in addition to the TakaraTomy Movie Best toyline, and the upcoming Bumblebee movie toyline.
That's a lot of Movie toys this year, after the market was already just saturated with Movie toys last year by both companies.
I know it was the 10th anniversary last year, and they want to cash in on that, after cashing in on the movie of that year (TF5), but they learnt after TF2 that the market (and retailers) need a break from Movie toys, or else the whole line suffers (and it makes it harder to promote the "new" Bumblebee toyline, if Movie toys have been on shelves non-stop for the last two years.
I've seen a couple of comparison pics popping up on Twitter that aren't favorable to the Studio Series. One of Stinger showing he's the same height as FOC Ultra Magnus, one showing how pale his reds are to the AOE Stibger toy, and one showing Studio Bumblebee is several heads shorter that earlier deluxe BBs. Would definitely suggest looking at reviews of these.
The TF team has gotten really good with making bigger toys using far less materials than previously figures of the same size class.
I wonder if these smaller figures are a sign of new cost cutting? Or maybe their increased steps in transformation take up more of the production budget than a simpler figure? Or maybe they are not made by the regular TF designers? (Hasbro does like to shift designers around from time to time)
You’re gonna love the height of SS-Jazz!Quote:
Originally Posted by Paulbot
To try and scale all these movie designs into just deluxe, voyager, and leader classes they have messed with the heights of them as best they can. So some will seem to small for a deluxe but to complex for legend class.
So i am giving Hastak a free pass on the size issue this time BUT the issue of pieces just popping off on Crowbar and Bee is ridiculous.
I am only really looking forward to Starscream, Megatron, Blackout, and Grimlock now. Plus I believe there is possibly 1 more leader figure to come.
If you want Jazz to Grimlock within 3 size classes this is what needs to happen. And Walmart (and Hasbro) probably do not want a line with just a legend class Bumblebee. They would see that as lost profits. I wish the influence of stores back to Hasbro was not a thing but it definitely is.Quote:
Originally Posted by DELTAprime
Video reviews are surfacing for the Wave 1 Voyagers (Starscream and Optimus Prime).
The paintwork on Starscream looks absolutely divine, for a mainline release. It also looks like the transformation has been tweaked to tighten the belly of the jet mode. Will probably buy, and wouldn't mind a Thundercracker either.
I think they're attempting to have all the figures in the line scale with one another, which is why the deluxe Ratchet and Lockdown figures are quite a bit larger than the deluxe Bumblebee, Jazz and Stinger.Quote:
Originally Posted by Paulbot
I've lost all enthusiasm for these toys now that a major reboot is planned. I would buy (again, since I bought the original releases, many characters multiple times at deluxe and Voyager and legion price Points) if they were ongoing characters/deisgns I would see again, but the movie continuity was killed. Bay broke it. There are more movie OPtimus and Bublebee toys released than there were characters in the movies. The inner fanboy in me weeps at all this wasted tooling that could have been used to bring new Generations/POTP toys to market.
It looks like QC continues to be a problem from just one review I watched, but at 8:44 guy cracks me up with an absolutely savage joke, and he's got a valid point.
His robot mode is fantastic but from what i can see the dino mode looks gappy. Overall that robot makes it waaaay more win than fail though.Quote:
Originally Posted by griffin
Would explain why SS Jazz has weird, stumpy shins, he’s supposed to be as short as Bumblebee, if not smaller.Quote:
Originally Posted by SharkyMcShark
The first four Studio Series Deluxes have now been found in the UK, a couple of weeks after Hasbro America put them up for sale on their website.... so they might be closer than we think in Australia (after seeing the shelf tags at Kmart a few weeks back).
As mentioned in the TRU exclusive Thundercracker news topic, the second wave of Japanese releases of the Studio Series toys, is slightly different to the Hasbro releases.
The toys aren't going to be different, but the numbering is, due to Thundercracker taking up the number 9 spot for Hasbro, but is absent in the Japanese series.
The second wave of Japanese figures will be released at the end of July.
Hasbro numbers
01 - Bumblebee
02 - Stinger
03 - Crowbar
04 - Ratchet
05 - Optimus
06 - Starscream
07 - Grimlock
08 - Blackout
-
09 - Thundercracker
-
10 - Jazz
11 - Lockdown
12 - Brawl
13 - Megatron
TakaraTomy numbers
01 - Bumblebee
02 - Stinger
03 - Crowbar
04 - Ratchet
05 - Optimus
06 - Starscream
07 - Grimlock
08 - Blackout
-
09 - Jazz
10 - Lockdown
11 - Megatron
12 - Brawl
Keen for Bumblebee, Stinger, Thundercracker and probably Blackout.
Amazon in America have added listings for Deluxe Jazz and Lockdown, giving us some nice new official images of each, and their packaging.
What could be the third wave of Studio Series toys have been found listed on a Swedish retailer site, revealing some new names that could be related to the Bumblebee movie (that wave should be out just before the Bumblebee movie toys come out in September-October.
(the first one though is obviously one of the drones/bots in the TF4 movie, but which one is anyone's guess... and hopefully the last item means that Ratchet is in the Bumblebee movie in some way, as he didn't really change form at all in the first four Movies, so there wouldn't be a need to have another version of him in this small series of toys)
Quote:
Previously known Sentry (E0750) is named as KSI Sentry, which may mean that the toy could very well be a KSI robot from Age Of Extinction. Since it’s a Deluxe class figure, it rules out the possibility of Galvatron due to the fact that Studio Series line adheres to a relative size scale.
Code name Mercenary (E0976) is titled as Raider. It is unsure whether this is another code name or the actual name of the figure.
Blue Light (E0958) is given the name Unknown Hero, implying that the character may possibly be an Autobot.
Stryker 1 (E0975) remains as Stryker 1. Since Hasbro France still keeps their Studio Series 01 Bumblebee as Stryker 2, we know for sure that this figures is none other than Bumblebee. Stryker 1 however is speculated to be his VW Bug altmode.
Last but certainly not the least, we have another Deluxe Ratchet (E0977). He is a different listing than Studio Series 04.
Im loving what I've seen of these, so this all welcome news.Quote:
Originally Posted by griffin
Of the "major" "characters" that would fit at Deluxe scale, we've yet to get
- Sideswipe
- Drift
- Crosshairs
- Hot Rod
- Barricade
- Dino
Having a hard time bringing myself to count Roadbuster, Leadfoot, Top Spin, and Sideways with their combined 27 seconds of screen time, but they'd also fit for a deluxe release.
These are the only ones I want.;)Quote:
Originally Posted by SharkyMcShark
The release of the first wave here is getting closer, as the Deluxes and Voyagers have now been found at US Retail stores (after the advance release of the Deluxes last month through HasbroToyShop).
The Deluxes are Bumblebee, Stinger, Crowbar and Ratchet, while the Voyagers are Optimus and Starscream.
Take note of the prices though, as the Deluxes were US$25/27 and the Voyagers US$37... which is significantly more than the price point of Deluxes and Voyagers in the mainlines, and would translate to about AU$45 for the Deluxes at retail here, and about AU$70 for Voyagers at retail here (based on the price differences of those size classes in the past). They will be slightly cheaper at Walmart and Target in the US, but not by too much, as the prices for Deluxes have been going up a lot in recent years.
That means that even if our prices are bumped up to $35 for Deluxes, it is still cheaper than in America (at the current exchange rate), and way cheaper than what a US$25 toy usually gets sold at here in AU$ from Hasbro Australia.
I have a feeling that because Drift, Crosshairs and Hot Rod are recent characters and toys, they may not get the Studio Series treatment; thus far, the Studio Series seems to be sticking with older characters and will later make Bumblebee movie toys.Quote:
Originally Posted by SharkyMcShark
TFWiki speculated that Dino never got a licensed Ferrari toy, despite Ferrari allowing Paramount and Michael Bay to have one for Dark of the Moon, because Mattel, Hasbro's biggest competitor, had exclusive rights to make Ferrari toys when DotM was made. Mattel's exclusive licence expired in 2014, with Ferrari replicas now being made by the May Cheong Group.
Since other model makers make licensed Ferrari models (in small numbers), it would be nice if Hasbro could get a Ferrari licence for Dino (I'd definitely buy a Dino if Hasbro made one), but there's no way to know if they can.
TakaraTomy have done up some promotional videos and images on their website of the first eight Studio Series toys (wave 1)... along with the Turbo Change toys (four Knight Armor, four 1-step, and the re-release of the Battle Command Optimus from 2014).
Some leaked images of the second wave Voyager Megatron, giving us a clearer look at this new mould of the TF2 Megatron.
He is a wee fella, but full of detailed sculpting. All joints on this one are tight, a few overly so, esp the shoulder hinge behind the cockpit but got a finger between the tab and hinge and it popped out.
For me the alt mode is the star, but that is probably influenced by having seen the jolly green giant in action when on deployment.
http://i66.tinypic.com/2s6kg90.jpg
http://i67.tinypic.com/hva3de.jpg
It seems the size of the figures in the Studio Series have been "averaged" out in the line. Blackout is a bit shorter than standard Leader figures while Grimlock is taller to make up for it (he's taller than TLK Leader Megatron). Same with the voyagers and deluxes.
I read somewhere recently that the budget assigned to the design team for figures is done so on a $X for the entire wave of that class basis. So, for example, instead of there being an individual budget for Blackout and then another one for Grimlock they draw from the same pool.Quote:
Originally Posted by FruitBuyer
If this is correct, im really enjoying how Hasbro are using it to give us significantly differently sized figures in a single size class to try and maintain scale with the SS line.
That makes sense and I prefer it as well. It's good to see more variation instead of 3 different sizes. Does make it a bit iffy when going with other lines but I can deal.Quote:
Originally Posted by SharkyMcShark
^This makes so much sense. It is a bit sad it has taken so long to happen but perhaps this stop-gap line will take off like the original Classics line did, or at least, this budget allocationing will continue.Quote:
Originally Posted by SharkyMcShark