War For Cybertron - Earthrise

[griffin]

Doubledealer in-hand video on youtube, and screen-shots.

[griffin]

A posted image on the official Transformers facebook page has let us know that there will be 4 waves for Earthrise, compared to 5 waves for Siege.
The image is what the planet map will look like, with the first wave pieces highlighted. It's only a small image, so the planet names are not visible.



It's hard to tell if Earthrise actually has less figures planned than Siege (particularly if any end-of-year toys gets cancelled due to falling sales during the impending long-term recession), because Siege had its first two waves just a month apart, while Earthrise has a 5 month gap between its first two waves.
With the first two waves of Earthrise being March and August, at the time it was announced it seemed like an unusually long gap for the middle of a Generations toyline, but now that the virus has slowed down the economy and the primary Transformers market (USA) is mostly in lockdown at the moment, that 5 month gap could be a blessing, to give a little more time for the wave 1 toys to sell out so that retailers don't skimp on, or skip, wave 2. If it was a usual 2-3 month gap, I would have expected a lot of US stores wouldn't have shifted enough inventory to order more in, which would probably push back or cancel future waves if Hasbro have their plans for 2021 already locked in.

[griffin]

Just a warning for those still intending to buy Earthrise Starscream, especially since it is short-packed (1 Starscream to 2 Grapples), a number of sightings in America have been reported of people returning Siege Starscream (and even POTP Starscream) in Earthrise boxes for a refund, because they want the new version in place of the older one, but don't want to be stuck with two toys, or lose money reselling the old one.

Check out the last few pages of this topic on TFW2005, to see some examples people have already been finding of Earthrise boxes that have older toys inside them.

The POTP Starscream is obvious to dedicated collectors, but would fool a parent looking to buy "Earthrise Starscream". However, a Siege Starscream in an Earthrise box, could be easy to not notice, as the robot modes look very similar (see post #872 for an example of the wrong toy in the box, and post #882 for how similar they can be next to each other).

Also found in America recently is a Titans Return Astrotrain in an Earthrise box (see post #827), and POTP Optimus in an Earthrise box (see post #836).

This has raised concern over Hasbro having plans to remove all plastic from their packaging, which would mean no more windows on the boxes, making it harder to know for sure that you are getting the right toy if it was re-sealed well by someone who switched out the toy (or not even put a toy back in there). There have been various expensive exclusives in the past that haven't had windows, but if all of the cheaper toys have solid boxes, it makes it easier for the general public and non-dedicated fans to swap out the toys and return it sealed, or claim that the box didn't have the right toy inside and still get a refund.
If you look at post #840 in that TFW2005 topic, a person is claiming that a returned box of Lego was filled with ziplock bags of pasta, which probably would have sounded enough like Lego to fool the retailer staff and the next customer.


We haven't had too much of a problem with toy-swapping in Australia (our topic on the matter has only had a few examples, from several years ago), but be careful and keep an eye out if ever shopping at a store, just in case it starts happening at a time when more people don't have the money to buy new toys, but instead decide to get free toys by returning their older toys in the packaging that they no longer want.

[Unicran]

Just a warning for those still intending to buy Earthrise Starscream, especially since it is short-packed (1 Starscream to 2 Grapples), a number of sightings in America have been reported of people returning Siege Starscream (and even POTP Starscream) in Earthrise boxes for a refund, because they want the new version in place of the older one, but don't want to be stuck with two toys, or lose money reselling the old one.

Sad, sad self entitled thieves in the fandom.

We haven't had too much of a problem with toy-swapping in Australia (our topic on the matter has only had a few examples, from several years ago), but be careful and keep an eye out if ever shopping at a store, just in case it starts happening at a time when more people don't have the money to buy new toys, but instead decide to get free toys by returning their older toys in the packaging that they no longer want.

You need to spend more time in Demonac's hood when you're down here.

[Tha_Phantom]

This has raised concern over Hasbro having plans to remove all plastic from their packaging, which would mean no more windows on the boxes, making it harder to know for sure that you are getting the right toy if it was re-sealed well by someone who switched out the toy (or not even put a toy back in there).

Yet another reason I'm glad I do most of my collecting by online preorder. The Aussie retail game of chance is looking less and less appealing.

[griffin]

A youtube video review of the Earthrise Scorponok has surfaced, showing it's modes and comparing it to most of the other Titans in recent years. Some screenshots can be seen here.


The toy isn't due out for another 5 months, so I'm not sure how these toys get into the hands of fan reviewers so early, unless Hasbro are arranging it.

[DELTAprime]

The toy isn't due out for another 5 months, so I'm not sure how these toys get into the hands of fan reviewers so early, unless Hasbro are arranging it.

The same way people get the latest smart phones in their hands months before release. People making jack all money at the factory steal them to sell them for a bit of extra income.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

The same way people get the latest smart phones in their hands months before release. People making jack all money at the factory steal them to sell them for a bit of extra income.

I have an image of some guy leaving the factory with a scorponok shoved under his shirt

[Unicran]

I have an image of some guy leaving the factory with a scorponok shoved under his shirt

I thought they stow it up their butt hole. That's gonna sting.

[reillyd]

I thought they stow it up their butt hole. That's gonna sting.

I'm just trying to picture how that might work? Robot mode or scorpion mode? Actually some things are best not thought about.....

I can't see anyone slipping scorponok under a jacket either. Maybe they are early review copies, or copies used for marketing purposes? It seems strange though too to have a five month gap between waves. And remember those dates were pre-carona too. So I wondered if we'd see stock before September anyway.