Combiners: Hasbro or Takara ?

[serialmonkey]

Hi guys

My son has reached that age now where he is collecting his own lines using his pocket money. He will no doubt grab all the new RID Warriors, so I was thinking I might import the Takara Adventure line for something different. Ok, no issues here.

But what about the Combiners line ? I see that the only real movement from Takara here is the Superion gift set under the Unite Warriors tag. Would we expect that all the combiners that Hasbro release would, eventually, see a Takara release ?

Sorry for the n00b question, the only Takara I've collected so far is Masterpiece

Thanks
Mark

[SMHFConvoy]

Well the takara aerial bots set does come with slingshot while hasbro has replaced slingshot with alpha bravo. Also I think the takara superion has white feet and hands that and it's a complete set as opposed to hasbro selling it's aerial bots separately.

[prjkt]

Takara will most likely release most of the CW sets, maybe a little different (ie a repaint for Wildrider as they've done for Slingshot) and probably slightly different, more G1 paint jobs.

So far I'm not convinced of the need for the Takara when I have Hasbro already, however the set price for Superion is a lot cheaper than I expected, so the choice is yours

EDIT: Forgot to mention, Takara's releases for mainline figures are always later than that of Hasbro, so you're in for a little wait.

[ampoldj]

Prices are just about the same...so for me just depends on the box packaging Takara will soon reveal...

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

I imagine that all of the G1 teams will get a Takara release sooner or later, probably with substitutions for non-"G1" characters where appropriate/doable. For instance, Defensor is purportedly getting a new character as a limb and (ironically) using Groove as a weapon. So to make a TT Defensor 'G1 accurate' they'd have to engineer an entire new mold, or possibly try and shoehorn the probable Afterburner mold as Groove instead, neither of which seems likely. So, TT Defensor will still probably feature a new character, the same as the Hasbro version.
I'm not sure about some sets like the fan-made combiner thing going atm, but you should at least be able to get all the 80s combiner groups.

My question, though, is this: if I'm understanding you correctly you seem to be saying it's for your young son, who's buying them with his own pocket money. Given the increased cost involved and his (presumably) not being attached to the old G1 characters as we (wo)man-children, it seems to me you/he'd be better off going for whichever release was more affordable. Unless you've introduced him to the old cartoons and he's into them rather than Transformers in general (with exceptions for RiD), then I don't see it making that much difference which version he gets as long as he likes/enjoys them.

If you mean 'How do I get a different set for me', then I imagine the deco might be a bit different for Takara, but really...just get what you like. If there's overlap you can just keep them separately and/or wait to open them until Junior is into the next line/wave of whatever floats his boat.
EDIT - and of course there's always the 3rd Party option, if you and your budget are comfortable with that.

[Bladestorm]

I haven't seen the Takara CW's yet, so can't comment on their playability but I have the Hasbro Superion set (and Optimus) and they are highly playable toys. Optimus is LOADs of fun, Superion is challenging enough to put together to know you're playing with a Transformer yet simple enough that you don't feel utterly stumped by him (ie ideal for kids in the 10 to 15 age range).

My 7 year old has a blast playing with them when I pull Superion down from time to time and I am contemplating whether to replace the Hasbro one with the Takara release for myself and give my son the Hasbro set as his own. The Hasbro CW so far seem to handle being played with in real play scenarios really well from my personal experience.
Having said this, my son ADORES the G1 cartoon so he is well versed in combiners (and hanging out for Devistator) and he does take particular care when playing with his (or my) Transformers because he takes great pride in displaying them.

[Deonasis]

I preordered the Takara jets and now have to wait till their release in June. The figures are attracting that much praise that I almost dislike reading their review threads.

[serialmonkey]

Thanks everyone

I definitely meant "get something different for me", so my main concern was starting to collect the Takara releases and finding they missed major gesalts that Hasbro has already announced. Sounds like if I'm patient Takara will most likely release the majority. Just a little concerning that Superion is the only one on the books, and for June release !

I'll be patient ;-)

[Doubledealer]

Hasbro Menasor comes out next month and looks spot on, I can't imagine the Takara version being much of an improvement (Hasbro Wildrider is on his way too if you're a G1 purist). Maybe wait for Takara Superion if you really want that version and snag Hasbro Menasor to make the wait a bit more bearable?

[Zippo]

First thing to teach - go with what you want, not what the rest of the internet wants you to go with.

I go Japanese for most things because they put in a little bit extra for roughly the same (when you have to import both). However for the Combiners I have purchased Wave 1 and will purchase Wave 2 of the Hasbro versions because they are coming out so much quicker and I have been so "pumped" to get the toys.

I did the same in 2006 when Classics hit, as it was around 18 months before Japan released their versions

However, I don't go Japan only as Hasbro do release some toys that never see light in Japan so on the safe side, I have also been known to purchase Hasbro only to then sell Hasbro if Japan releases