APS-03 Human Alliance Barricade & Soundwave

[griffin]

This is out now... but not cheap, with places like this one in HK selling it for about US$120 (that's double what the Human Alliance toys were originally sold for in 2010/2011 - at US$30 each).

Still no idea yet if they have different paint apps, as I haven't seen any photos posted up yet.... and the bonus Frenzy boombox isn't worth the extra US$60.

The early word is that they DON'T have new or improved paint decos... which is a shame and surprise, considering the spectacular decos on the last two APS toys, and the markup on this 2-pack over their originals.

[Deonasis]

I don't have the originals to be sure but the decos do look fairly standard still.. http://snakas.blog95.fc2.com/blog-entry-4282.html?sp . Definately no silver paint for Soundwave

[griffin]

Well there you go... absolutely nothing premium except the price.
US$60 for a tiny plastic boombox.


I know that Hasbro HK have been doing this for a while now (pricing things according to their secondary value rather than at normal retail profit margins of the regular release toys), but even this is a new level of price-gouging for them... which we've seen is now inspiring Hasbro US to do the same with their Platinum Editions (especially the Gen1 sets), because enough fans just keep buying them.

[Bladestorm]

The interesting thing about these releases is they are REALLY HARD to source on the ground here in HK too. I haven't found a shop on either side of the harbour with this release or the previous Skywarp in their stock or on the shelves. So either they are being snatched up by pre-orders or seem to be almost exclusively for the online (overseas) retail market...
I was hoping to find a store with these guys to figure out what the real markup on them was (and I have a son who would LOVE a movie version of Barricade... but not at those prices!)

[DELTAprime]

So for someone with a Soundwave shelf is HA Soundwave worth having or should I just stick with the Deluxe DOTM Soundwave?

[SharkyMcShark]

HA Soudwave is the definitive version of that character if you're including movieverse Soundwaves on your shelf. The only negative thing I can say about it is that the paintwork is lacklustre, something not fixed at all with this release, but it's definitely a figure worth having.

[griffin]

The HA version is definitely better than the Deluxe version (and comes with a Laserbeak too).
But since both versions of Soundwave had a limited release, they can both be hard to find and can be expensive.

[ampoldj]

Well there you go... absolutely nothing premium except the price.
US$60 for a tiny plastic boombox.


I know that Hasbro HK have been doing this for a while now (pricing things according to their secondary value rather than at normal retail profit margins of the regular release toys), but even this is a new level of price-gouging for them... which we've seen is now inspiring Hasbro US to do the same with their Platinum Editions (especially the Gen1 sets), because enough fans just keep buying them.

Got my HA Soundwave at RRP price but never got Barricade before his tag price sky rocketed...good thing a KO was released that favours the MISB collectors because i saw some loose items that looks crappy and well "loose". It is a good thing to rerelease items just to normalize the prices on the market but this one is just an example that Hasbro is starting to be after the money again rather than giving its fans anew opportunity to grab a collection they have missed.