Universe 2.0 Sidswipe In-Package

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I mostly agree with that. Money talks and you-know-what walks. And kids aren't stupid... they'll also boycott toys or toy lines if it's below their standards. Look at how Transfandom took a sharp nosedive after the introduction of Action Masters and Generation 2.

I personally wouldn't mind Hasbro gettin' a wake up call. But with a very big movie on the way and a strong brand, I don't think they'll be getting that anytime soon. Quality issues, paint apps issues, whatever.

Overall while I agree that TakaraTOMY's actions appear to be more collector orientated, I don't think it's accurate to say that the company is intentionally established to be that way. They're a toy company just like Hasbro and their primary target market is also kids. It's just that TakaraTOMY seem to be more attentive and take greater care in their work, so as a result they seem to produce quality that is more appeasing to discerning collectors. And yes, there are some lines which are exclusively aimed at collectors such as G1 reissues, Binaltech, Masterpiece etc. So it really depends on which line you're talking about.

I'm talking about the relative disparity of criticism when it comes to Takara. Takara to be honest deserve a lot criticism for the two aforementioned releases. They're very lazy and yet no one's cooking up a storm. I think that if you're going to be angry you should be angry at the company who's supposed to be more quality orientated, the company who cares. But I hardly ever see that. All I see is the same jumping up and down and screaming at Hasbro cursing them for some sort of "systematic" plot against customers/collectors.

Hasbro cares about delivering a product but I think most of us are aware and agree that quality isn't one of their highly prioritised factors. And I don't like that. But if I were being fair and complaining, I'd have a fair crack at the avenue to the same toys, Takara, who's supposed to be more "quality-orientated" and "care a lot" too.

Having said that, I have found in my experience that TakaraTOMY are far more receptive to feedback and criticisms than Hasbro. Some of you may remember the incident we had with the Encore Ironhide and Ratchet online surveys and how TakaraTOMY updated their database after I reported the problem within less than a day. When my MP Convoy was missing a piece Takara FedExed me replacement parts within less than a week.

Ah, the perks of being able to communicate in Japanese. I knew I should've studied that in year 12.