Takara Asia Exclusive Henkei Ultra Magnus

[SuspectimusPrime]

Not sure why it is being called "Henkei", but this is an "Asia" exclusive, meaning it is released by Hasbro HK (sourced from TakaraTomy, like various Encore & MPs), so unless it is noted as being released in Japan, there is no indication as yet.

Perhaps its a marketing objective? Since the recent "Asia exclusives" are not exclusive enough. Henkei-line Classics toys did have the greatest show-accuracy and quality. Or just something else to justify the high secondary-market-level RRP.

[Decepticon]

He looks sexy!

[gdmetro]

I think this was rumored a while ago? I remember UltraMagnus saying something about it a while ago.

The colour scheme, though plain, does look nice. Its expensive for what it is. But its exclusive. And I always wanted a Takara version of this character/mould. And even though its slightly disappointing to me that its a limited release (and not in the Henkei styled box) Ill still count it as a Henkei release since the figure is in substance, Henkei UM. Chrome Grilled!

As for City commander compatibility, as I already have the Hasbro version, its not that big of an issue, but would be interested to see how it looks in the armor even with mismatched white/blue legs.

Overall I'm unsure whether to get it.

Not sure why it is being called "Henkei"

Is that an official reference, or just a convenient reference by fans/RobotKingdom/retailers? The box does say "classics ultra magnus" in those pics.

Despite that, I think the reference to Henkei is apt, being that the toy is in essence, a "Henkei-fied" UM with the g1 faithful colour scheme and chrome in the rights places, where henkei convoy had it.

[griffin]

Ahhh, it could just be RK using the term as a guess then... because even though Hasbro HK gets a lot of JP toys for themselves, they did just produce "Generations" toys, so don't have a problem with using "Hasbro" terms if a toy isn't being released in Japan at all.
I think the same happened with Sixshot - fans and online stores were labeling it as "Encore", but since it was a Hasbro HK exclusive, it wasn't actually labelled anywhere officially as "Encore" - which we know is a JP-exclusive product line.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Some in-hand pics courtesy courtesy of Full Metal Hero by way of seibertron.com.

[Doubledealer]

I am weak. Pre-paid for this last night. What's that saying again... "It's only money" right?

[Zippo]

Damn, I had forgotten all about this and my funds are pretty tight again for the next couple of weeks. Fingers crossed it is still in stock when I can afford -- 2 of them!

[griffin]

We FINALLY get to see the box for this toy.... as it is about to be officially released.

Surprisingly, the packaging says "United", despite this being a HK Hasbro release, NOT a JP release.
I know we've had JP toys released here in JP packaging, and Hasbro toys released in Japan (as TRU exclusives), but they were just stock taken straight from those markets and released as-is to the other market. I don't recall Hasbro or TakaraTomy ever producing a toy exclusively for their own market but having it the other market's packaging.

[SuspectimusPrime]

Just mentioned in the unauthorised products section, but this news impacts this thread's topic at least financially (aggregate demand due to increased availability of a complimentary product good old economics ) - BBTS has restocked Fansproject City Commander. Looks like Henkei Ultra Magnus may make a jump on evilBay.

[kup]

We FINALLY get to see the box for this toy.... as it is about to be officially released.

Surprisingly, the packaging says "United", despite this being a HK Hasbro release, NOT a JP release.
I know we've had JP toys released here in JP packaging, and Hasbro toys released in Japan (as TRU exclusives), but they were just stock taken straight from those markets and released as-is to the other market. I don't recall Hasbro or TakaraTomy ever producing a toy exclusively for their own market but having it the other market's packaging.

I believe that whatever arrangement Hasbro and Takara had when it comes to their markets, it has been revised and changed after the merger with Tomy or simply no longer applies as we knew it.