Transformer Statues

[griffin]

The extra chase figure has been found - Thundercracker, which is exclusive to Walgreens in America.
If these come to Australia, we probably won't see Thundercracker, unless the local distributor (Banter) finds an outlet for them.

Only a couple days after Thundercracker was found, another chase figure has been found - Skywarp, which looks like it could be exclusive to Target in America.

[Ultra Mackness]

Not sure if these have been seen in Australia yet, but I saw them tonight in a Toyworld for $25 each.

[griffin]

Not sure if these have been seen in Australia yet, but I saw them tonight in a Toyworld for $25 each.

The connecting diorama figures?
Daaaaaaaaaamn. They are only us$8 each in America.
And I thought the expected $16 at BigW was expensive.
(and if they don't have the two exclusive redecos in Australia - Skywarp & Thundercracker - that would be a VERY expensive set for anyone here wanting them)

[Ultra Mackness]

Yeah it was the connecting diorama figs, and yes I did a double take at the price. Tbh I think $8 would be about right and $16 is already over priced, but at $25, no thanks.

[1AZRAEL1]

I paid more than that for Soundwave...

[griffin]

A new reveal by Prime-1 Studios of some upcoming statues of theirs... and some look very big, so are probably very expensive.
The big one is DOTM Jetwing Optimus, which is almost 1 meter tall!
Two others are WFC Optimus and Megatron (separate statues).
And a teaser of ROTF Sideswipe.

[griffin]

Apparently this has been a thing in Japan, from Prime-1 Studios...
Soundwave bag (from November last year), and Blaster bag (not yet out).

[griffin]

A new reveal by Prime-1 Studios of some upcoming statues of theirs... and some look very big, so are probably very expensive.
The big one is DOTM Jetwing Optimus, which is almost 1 meter tall!
Two others are WFC Optimus and Megatron (separate statues).
And a teaser of ROTF Sideswipe.

The two big and VERY expensive WFC statues of Optimus and Megatron by Prime-1 Studios have been cancelled, a year after they were revealed, due to lack of interest.
They also note rising costs, but that wouldn't have been a factor for lack of interest, as the people interested in these sorts of things are already willing to spend over a thousand dollars on a non-playable $50 toy, so would be willing to pay a little bit more if the price went up a little more. Rising costs wouldn't have doubled the price of these, so the level of demand on pre-orders would not have significantly changed the numbers to meet their minimum orders.

Don't get me wrong, I think the detailing on most of these is spectacular, but I like most "toy" collectors, don't value spending over a thousand dollars on just one item, that doesn't do much or anything... unless you are a dedicated fan of a specific character.

These are a couple of youtube videos of one person in America who has a large collection of statues, including about a dozen Transformers ones, and he mentions the retail price of a few of them (which would be about double in Australian dollars, or more if you include shipping, as the big ones are said to be about 40kgs).



This one shows the construction of his biggest one, DOTM Shockwave, which ships in 4 massive boxes and took over an hour to build - I was surprised at first how many parts are involved, but then realised that it makes more sense to get all of that movie-universe detailing than it would with a single piece (or small number pieces) moulded item.



Watching the construction video made me interested in having something massive like that, as a one-off premium visual figure for visitors, but OMG the cost... it would be close to my annual toy budget, so I'd have to sacrifice buying toys for a year just to justify getting it.

[griffin]

Not sure if these have been seen in Australia yet, but I saw them tonight in a Toyworld for $25 each.

I just saw them on the Mackay Toyworld site for $20 each, and they have the image of Skywarp, which is one of the two chase figures... so not sure if they actually have it, or have both chase figures.
I was really hoping that they would at least show up at BigW, as they had the other series for $16 each and likely to have sales... but the other series have been on clearance for a while now, so still no sign of the Transformers ones after about 9 months of the other two series.

[griffin]

A Grimlock Diorama statue (with both modes), for release late 2022, standing at an impressive 75cm tall... for a hefty us$1850 (about au$2500).

It looks nice, but who is buying all of these thousand-dollar statues, and affording all of the expensive collector-focussed toys.