Zing/EB exclusive MP Smokescreen & JP Optimus 2 toy set

A couple of new pre-order listings on Zing and EB Games for release early next year...

Japanese 35th Anniversary Optimus & Convoy set - this one is a real surprise, and a real treat for us here in Australia. This is a TakaraTomyMall exclusive in Japan (which would also be released in Asia), of two separately packed toys in Gen1 style packaging. One is a reissue of the 1984 Optimus Prime toy (cab only) which was called Convoy in Japan, while the other is a very minor redeco of the 2019 Studio Series Voyager Optimus Prime from the Bumblebee Movie.
Release date here - January 5th 2020
Price - AU$160 (pre-order deposit of $50)
Zing preorder page
EB Games preorder page

http://www.toycollectors.com.au/news/2019/072105.jpg

http://www.toycollectors.com.au/news/2019/072103.jpg

http://www.toycollectors.com.au/news/2019/072104.jpg


MP-19+ Smokescreen (Anime redeco) - Entertainment Earth in America started releasing these Japanese MP toys earlier this year, with an English slipcase but everything else inside should still be Japanese. Smokescreen is the first one to show up here, so we might be end up getting whatever else EE releases in the future.
Release date here - January 26th 2020
Price - AU$130 (pre-order deposit of $30)
Zing preorder page
EB Games preorder page

http://www.toycollectors.com.au/news/2019/072101.jpg

http://www.toycollectors.com.au/news/2019/072102.jpg
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Not sure about the google translation they've done for the Optimus pair, as they have this product description on both pages...

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Over 35 years, the original and latest commanders appeared in sets. The original convoy that appeared 35 years ago is bundled with the PKG image of the nostalgic release time and reproduces the design with the header that imaged the car robot format at the time. The Convoy Gun is in a special reproduced version (in which the container section is not included) that includes two types, the early version and the late version. Optimus Prime (studio series version) that appeared in the latest movie changed the colour specification with the image base based on the G1 toy version. It is packed the same as Convoy above and the PKG is designed by assuming if this Optimus Prime was released 35 years ago... It is a set that can enjoy the past of 35 years of history and the present.

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Did no one there check the text, or think to rework it to be more readable?

I feel like EB Games would be perfect to stock a certain planet-sized Transformer. Video game collectors editions often are needlessly huge.

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Originally Posted by DELTAprime

I feel like EB Games would be perfect to stock a certain planet-sized Transformer. Video game collectors editions often are needlessly huge.

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For the price and what it is I think even zing regulars would scoff at it, but then again all I ever see anyone buy is funko pops...

I feel like I need to see the Bumblebee Prime from the set in person before I make a decision. It's a great mould but the colours on the regular release are a little too dull for my liking. If the set improves the colouring by making the colours a bit more vibrant, then I'd be up for it.

I just pre-ordered the Optimus/Convoy set.
As noted on our facebook page, the price here is actually quite close to the Japanese retail price without shipping, so even if you bought this from an online store or through someone from TakaraTomyMall (who doesn't ship outside of Japan), our price here is going to be way less (which is a refreshing change from the ToysRUs era).
I do want to note that these are significantly expensive in Japan, so having AU$80 for each Voyager sized toy is intentional, as these are a limited run of special anniversary packaging (and probably some minor deco differences to the actual toys), for those like me who intend to keep these sealed for display, as I already have these two moulds, and don't need to "play" with these two.

I don’t usually buy a second of a MP I already have, but I’m loving the smoke coming out of Smokescreens alt-mode.

Only thing is why is it coming out of the sides of the car? In the cartoon it always came out of the exhaust ports :confused:

At any rate, looks good and it’s a decent price but with my TF funds I’ll either have to skip it or wait until somewhere has it on sale

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Originally Posted by BigTransformerTrev

I don’t usually buy a second of a MP I already have, but I’m loving the smoke coming out of Smokescreens alt-mode.

Only thing is why is it coming out of the sides of the car? In the cartoon it always came out of the exhaust ports :confused:

At any rate, looks good and it’s a decent price but with my TF funds I’ll either have to skip it or wait until somewhere has it on sale

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There are other pictures showing you can make it come out of the exhaust pipe, think the main swirling shots are to simulate him being covered in smoke, and to show what you can do other than just the ONE type of shot

Wouldn't it be like doing a burnout... and the smoke accessories should have been placed at the back tyres instead of the front.

EB Games and Zing have taken down the 2-pack Optimus page on their websites so I'm assuming they're already out of stock.

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Originally Posted by griffin

Wouldn't it be like doing a burnout... and the smoke accessories should have been placed at the back tyres instead of the front.

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The Fairlady is a rear-wheel-drive car, so yes, burnout tire smoke would come from the rear wheels.

Both Smokescreen and Optimus are sold out on both sites now.

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Originally Posted by nalops

EB Games and Zing have taken down the 2-pack Optimus page on their websites so I'm assuming they're already out of stock.

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That's weird. They wouldn't have both sold out at all stores at the same time... it must mean that they had a very short pre-order period before they had to place their order with Hasbro Australia. They did the same with the Movie Masterpiece Jazz and Megatron, but these two weren't up for very long at all. I think it was only 7 days ago that the listings were first being reported here, which is why it doesn't make sense that they would only have a week pre-order period. And if it is that short, they should say so, like TakaraTomyMall does on their listings when they have a pre-order cut-off.

The thing that has me worried is if they had a really short pre-order period and didn't get their minimum amount, they will cancel the orders they did get and people like me will have to source it from somewhere else now.

Considering their 20th anniversary Digivice pre-order page only lasted a day, it seems they're allocated a set number of stock to begin with rather than waiting until a certain date and then ordering stock. Could be wrong though.

Speaking of Megatron, I was super lucky to get him. Went in-store to pre-order, staff wasn't able to find him on their system so they rang head office and was told I had 15 minutes to order from the website before the page was going to be taken down.

At least I didn't wait any longer to pre-order the Optimus set then, as I only just pre-ordered it the night before. I will have to keep that in mind in future, to jump on their listings as soon as they go up.
(I'm still a bit bummed that I missed Movie Jazz and Megatron, as they would have been cheaper to get through Zing/EB than importing them.)

The other frustrating thing for me is that I asked them if I could submit a better product description for the Optimus set, as they only had the google translated version of the TakaraTomyMall description on there... which was embarrassing. They said to send something in, and I did... a day before the listing came down. :(

It’s still orderable in store

Sorry for the thread necromancy, but has anybody got their Smokescreen? Mine's showing as being pushed out to 11/5.

Most of the items due from the last three months were pushed back to mid-late March. If they have told you May for Smokescreen, then that one is also 2 months late.

Zing still has no eta for the Optimus 2set, despite sending an email in December they were about to process the remaining balance on the set (still haven't by March)

Anyone gotten their Smokescreen?

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Originally Posted by jaydisc

Anyone gotten their Smokescreen?

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Nope. Haven't heard about him or the Optimus 2 pack I ordered through Zing.

^ I'm getting the feeling I should go back to ordering via the Asian based TF retailers.

Called this morning to inquire about the Seacons and Smokescreen, he offered to chase it up and get back to me. Then he emailed me this:

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We spoke earlier regarding some of your Transformer preorders.

Another team member had already inquired for another customer for Gulf & Turtler.
Last week they were updated to TBA by the vendor and unsure on when further information will come through at this stage.

I also asked about Smokescreen and they have let me know that a date has not been committed to and we have updated the expected ETA to sometime early May.

If you like, you are welcome to get back in touch early may and we can follow up to see if any other updates have come through.

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Was that a call to head office (customer service) or your local store?

I'm hoping that the "vendor" is their own head office getting these things in and distributing them to the stores... but I'm fearing that they are referring to Hasbro Australia, who may still be operating with a skeleton crew from their homes, which could be slowing down or suspending the importation of their toy products (including the regular retail toys).

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Originally Posted by griffin

Was that a call to head office (customer service) or your local store?

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I always talk to the people at their call centre. They actually have some idea of what's going on, though they are not perfect. The folk at stores just give the same information that you can see for yourself by going to this address on the EB Games site: https://www.ebgames.com.au/ebworld/o...=openpreorders

Quote:

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Originally Posted by griffin

Was that a call to head office (customer service) or your local store?

I'm hoping that the "vendor" is their own head office getting these things in and distributing them to the stores... but I'm fearing that they are referring to Hasbro Australia, who may still be operating with a skeleton crew from their homes, which could be slowing down or suspending the importation of their toy products (including the regular retail toys).

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It was the 13 number. After the call he said he would call "the purchasing team" to get me an update.

Picked up Smokescreen today!

Has anyone received their Optimus 2set from Zing yet?

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Originally Posted by reillyd

Has anyone received their Optimus 2set from Zing yet?

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Unfortunately no. Went yesterday to pick up Smokescreen and was told that they were slowly coming in. Should've asked when OP was coming in but she mentioned something about Burning Convoy coming soon.

I asked today about the Optimus/Convoy pair while pre-ordering Super Megatron, and was told that the current estimated release date is May 11th (the original release date was January 5th).

The new date has been passed, but still no toys... or updates.

Saw on FB that someone got theirs from Zing.... now to find a set in store!

Nice. Hopefully this bodes well for the other TFs they had up. Still waiting on the rest of the Seacons.

I picked up my Op/Convoy set yesterday. Apparently they tried ringing me a week ago about it arriving, so I was surprised that they had been released (and surprised that they were still on hold, as EB could sell them off at any time if they aren't fully paid off).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by griffin

I picked up my Op/Convoy set yesterday. Apparently they tried ringing me a week ago about it arriving, so I was surprised that they had been released (and surprised that they were still on hold, as EB could sell them off at any time if they aren't fully paid off).

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Oh, I can hopefully go get mine soon then. I believe they're holding on to pre-orders indefinitely for the time being due to covid but even before, you'd get between 2 to 14 days hold guarantee depending on EB level.