JP Masterpiece Road Rage to be released at ToysRUs Australia

[TAAUBlaster]

AFAIK...
I think it's Hasbro HK who decides which toys they want to bring over, and as Hasbro HK and Hasbro AU are both part of Hasbro AP, Hasbro AU are given the opportunity to also distribute these toys. Hasbro then offers these toys to retail buyers, but so far only TRU have picked them up.[/list]

Thanks for that info. I was always under the impression the MP's were TRU exclusives (ie: only TRU was allowed to sell them.) I didn't know that other retailers were given the chance as well. Glad to know that now

• The majority of more hardcore fans have been pre-ordering their MPs since 2003. However, these toys are more appealing to more casual collectors who aren't into the franchise enough to keep track of these toys and pre-order them. Having said that, when TRU's prices begin to significantly exceed even the post-order price of MPs, then even casual collectors will still go online rather than considering the local prices. I think that $100 for an MP car is the most that TRU can get away with charging, as it's not too much dearer than post-order MPs and on par w/ aftermarket MPs. Although special promotions can bring the price down to that threshold.

True. But a lot of the casual collectors would have no idea who Road Rage is. Optimus, Ultra Magnus, Bumblebee are all well known characters even to casual collectors. Most people who know the character od Road Rage would've already found her online. It just seems strange that TRU would want to offer her (and Starsabre.)

• I agree that this character wouldn't bring out as much nostalgia, however, there may be more nostalgia appeal than with say Star Sabre, as the red Tracks is something that would be familiar to Australian fans due to its appearance on the back of every 1985 diorama art.
  I have explicitly mentioned this in the booklet.

Fair enough. Just seem like a really obscure nostalgic reference to me though. I do think it was a pretty cool idea to point it out in the booklet translation.

They're just my thoughts. I know a few people were hoping that Road Rage came out at TRU, I just find it a really strange choice for TRU to pick up.

Of course, in saying all that, you've done a great job on the booklet again.
I would love to get the English booklets that you work on, but I just can't justify the high prices of TRU releases.

[GoktimusPrime]

True. But a lot of the casual collectors would have no idea who Road Rage is. Optimus, Ultra Magnus, Bumblebee are all well known characters even to casual collectors. Most people who know the character od Road Rage would've already found her online. It just seems strange that TRU would want to offer her (and Starsabre.)

Totally agree. If I could, I would attach images and texts on the box to try and give these toys a broader appeal to the Western/Anglophone market. Here's a quick mock up of what I might do for Road Rage's box -- replace the blurb about the Road Rage character (which most Hasbro market consumers wouldn't be familiar with) and replace it with an image of the 1985 diorama, a close up of Road Rage from it, as well as an image of the red Tracks toy from 1985 in Tracks' original G1 packaging.

I would also include a small blurb beneath the picture to explain it; something like:
Road Rage is based on Tracks’ original Diaclone red colour. The red Tracks appeared in the battle diorama artwork on the back of all 1985 packaging, and was also available in some parts of Europe.

But alas, I have no influence over the packaging, just the instructions. So it's in the instructions where I try to adapt these translations with a Western/Anglophone bias. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but as you've rightly pointed out, most hardcore fans who would be more familiar with these obscure characters would be more likely to have already pre-ordered them from Japan anyway. So IMO it makes more sense to make these translations appeal to a broader base of more casual collectors. This was something that I suggested to Hasbro when they first asked me to translate MP22 Ultra Magnus' instructions. When they showed me a print out of the Japanese instructions (as well as their hilariously horrible attempt at translating it themselves ), I immediately noticed that it made several references to Japanese continuity which wouldn't mean anything to casual Western fans (e.g. Scramble City, eHobby G2 Laser Magnus etc.); hence I removed those references altogether and focused the translation purely on Ultra Magnus' Anglophone character (as well as a little nod to IDW with the "Ambus Class Laser Gun" ). Hasbro thought it was a great idea and I've been 'Westernising' all my MP translations ever since. Obviously being able to modify the packaging would be great too, but I have no control over that.